𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

𝐗𝐗𝐕 ; the tears fell in synchronicity with the score

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄
the manuscript ( taylor swift )

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

I COULDN'T STOP CRYING.

everything had happened so quickly. the pit to tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris. leo pulled the argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.

the argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. jason, hazel, frank, and i had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save percy and annabeth, but we'd come back demoralized. the cavern was simply gone. the scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. no mortals had been hurt, but the italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.

dazed with grief, we carefully loaded the athena parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches with an assist from frank zhang, part-time elephant. the statue just fit, though what they were going to do with it, i had no idea.

coach hedge was too miserable to help. he kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head, muttering, "i should have saved them! i should have blown up more stuff!"

that was the first time i ever genuinely felt sympathy for the old coach.

the seven of us demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion.

"it's my fault," leo said miserably.

the others stared at him. only hazel and i seemed to understand. She'd been with him at the great salt lake.

"no," i insisted, but my voice sounded watery. "no, this is gaea's fault.

"yeah," hazel agreed. "it had nothing to do with you."

leo didn't look convinced.

"leo, listen to me." hazel gripped his hand. i didn't feel even a shred of jealousy. "i won't allow you to take the blame. i couldn't bear that after—after sammy..."

she choked up.

nico shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "leo, they're not dead. if they were, i could feel it."

"how can you be sure?" leo asked. "if that pit really led to... you know... how could you sense them so far away?"

nico, hazel, and i shared a look.

"we can't be one hundred percent sure," i admitted. "but i think is right. percy and annabeth are still alive... at least, so far."

jason pounded his fist against the rail. "i should've been paying attention. i could have flown down and saved them."

"me, too," frank moaned. he looked on the verge of tears.

piper put her hand on jason's back. "it's not your fault, either of you. you were trying to save the statue."

"she's right," nico said. "even if the pit hadn't been buried, you couldn't have flown into it without being pulled down. i'm the only one who has actually been into tartarus. it's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. once you get close, it sucks you in. i never stood a chance."

frank sniffled. "then percy and annabeth don't stand a chance either?"

nico twisted his silver skull ring. "percy is the most powerful demigod i've ever met. no offense to you guys, but it's true. if anybody can survive, he will, especially if he's got annabeth at his side. they're going to find a way through tartarus."

jason turned. "to the doors of death, you mean. but you told us it's guarded by gaea's most powerful forces. how could two demigods possibly—?"

"i don't know," nico admitted. "but percy told me to lead you guys to epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. he's planning on meeting us there. if we can survive the house of hades, fight our way through gaea's forces, then maybe we can work together with percy and annabeth and seal the doors of death from both sides."

"and get percy and annabeth back safely?" leo asked.

"maybe."

i didn't like the way nico said that, as if he wasn't sharing all his doubts.

niico took a deep breath. "i don't know how they'll manage it, but percy and annabeth will find a way. they'll journey through tartarus and find the doors of death. when they do, we have to be ready."

"it won't be easy," hazel said. "gaea will throw everything she's got at us to keep us from reaching epirus."

"what else is new?" jason sighed.

i nodded. "we've got no choice. we have to seal the doors of death before we can stop the giants from raising gaea. otherwise her armies will never die.

"and we've got to hurry," piper agreed. "the romans are in new york. soon, they'll be marching on camp half-blood."

"we've got one month at best," jason added. "ephialtes said gaea would awaken in exactly one month."

leo straightened. "we can do it."

we all stared at him.

"the archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship," he said. "i'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. there's got to be all kinds of new weapons i can make. we're going to hit gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."

at the prow of the ship, festus creaked his jaw and blew fire defiantly.

jason managed a smile. he clapped leo on the shoulder.

"sounds like a plan, admiral. you want to set the course?"

they kidded him, calling him admiral, but for once leo accepted the title.

for some reason, that moment told me that we would find the house of hades. we'd take the doors of death. most importantly, we would save percy and annabeth.

"yeah." leo took one last look at the cityscape of rome, turning bloodred in the sunset. "festus, raise the sails. we've got some friends to save."

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

published: july 31, 2024
author's note:
— that's a wrap on the mark of athena!
— QUESTION: do you guys like having camille as a softer and more emotional main character?

** i'll be including some AI visuals as a thanks for 10k reads before the house of hades! thank you so much for all the support!