Confused by Time

Chapter 4

The torrential rain battered ceaselessly against the windows of the Big House. Annabeth grimaced as she heard the violent roar of thunder over their heads.

Annabeth's hands cupped around her mug of coffee, frowning down at it as if it was personally responsible for her current frustrations. "You're telling me that Kampê is probably the vanguard of the Titans – again," she said.

Chiron inclined his head slightly. "It isn't something we can dismiss," he said.

Thalia sighed, tilting her head back to glare up at the ceiling as another loud rumble of thunder rattled the building. "We've been tracking her since she escaped from down there with no luck so far," she said, clearly irritated. "Lady Artemis thinks she's got help at avoiding us."

That would make sense, Annabeth mused as she thoughtfully traced a finger around the rim of her mug. "But which immortal?" She questioned.

Thalia just shrugged. "No idea," she said tiredly.

"If she comes here we can all deal with her," Clarisse suggested.

"It won't happen," Thalia said flatly. "She's not attacked anything like Camp yet, mostly the odd few unlucky nature spirits." The daughter of Zeus pressed her lips together. "She's mostly laying low."

"She's not going to be a problem in the immediate future."

Annabeth raised her head, relieved to see Rachel up and moving around. "All good?" Annabeth asked.

Rachel smiled and nodded slightly. "All good," she confirmed as she stepped through the clutter crowding the wooden floor and settled into a chair. "Leo's nearly here," the Oracle added a few moments later.

"And we're still waiting for Nico to get here with the Romans too," Thalia added. Annabeth glanced over to Thalia, trying to judge how things were going between her oldest friend and Jason. Like the relationship between Nico and Will that seemed to change regularly, Thalia and Jason also still had their own issues. But Thalia seemed vaguely irritated at the thought of the imminent arrival of the Romans, so Annabeth assumed that they were not currently on speaking terms with each other.

Clarisse rolled her eyes at the look shared between Annabeth and Thalia. Considering how long they had all known each other for now, there was little that they could all hide. "I suppose it'll be good to see Frank again," she mused, though said nothing of the others. Clarisse, like the other immortal campers who'd also never been on the Argo II, had never been particularly close to the Roman demigods. While collaboration between the camps often meant speaking with their Roman counterparts was needed, talking outside of such required moments was rare and Clarisse had only really become close with her Roman half-brother. Annabeth always found the differences between the half-siblings fascinating. She'd expected that they might not get along, but had been pleasantly surprised when they did.

"Could someone get the door for Leo?" Rachel asked, her lips twitching slightly.

Annabeth was quick to do so, pulling the door to the war room open in time for Leo to rush through. "Sorry," Leo gasped out, welding goggles propped above his eyes and streaks of dust over his cheeks. He dripped water onto the floor as he hovered briefly just inside the room, forming a small puddle at his feet. Annabeth's lips twitched as she closed the door behind him. "I was in Bunker Nine," he said as he dropped into the chair closest to the door with a wet squelch. "Heard there was a prophecy? One of the others grabbed me – we're getting Percy out?"

"Well, there could always be more than one Hero in the Pit," Thalia slowly said, her tone vaguely sarcastic.

Leo eyed her suspiciously. "Right," he said with a snort after a brief pause. "Sure."