❝In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt❞
"I'm fine." I said, trying to hide the frown and tears that threatened to spill.
Percy looked at me once.
"I'm not going anywhere, unless you tell me what's wrong," he declared and I would h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal. The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. We played capture the flag (though we all avoided Zeus's Fist). We sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins. I spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Percy and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with him, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with him, too. It was a whole mess.
July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on my bed after breakfast, warning me that the cleaning harpies would devour me if I stayed past noon.
At ten o'clock I stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take Percy and I into the city. Percy'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after. Tyson, Percy and I would take turns visiting her during the year.
Since Percy's birthday was only two days away, he had pleaded for his mom to let me stay with them until then. She said yes happily and I found myself where I was now
I hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with us, but she only came to see us off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer. She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months. Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.
"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.
"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"
"Sure," she said half-heartedly as I scooted away, not wanting to eavesdrop. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."
There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.
"Annabeth," Percy said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"
She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.
"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," He remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead. We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."
Prophecys have double meanings. 'The traitor', could mean several people. Ethan, my brother, Luke.. it was an endless list.
Annabeth shook her head like she wanted him to stop.
"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," He pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us. And the child of Athena's final stand—that was Daedalus."
