Annabeth Chase and the Titan's Curse

Chapter 25 - Bad news galore

The first thing I did the next day was Iris-message my father. We'd spent the whole night at the party and it was early in the morning and I was exhausted but I had some time before I could get back to camp and I knew my father would be awake. Two young children were a good alarm.

We didn't talk much, mostly just me telling him that I was safe and that everything was well. Or as well as an impending war could be. He told me about what was happening at home and I tried my best to listen but it was hard. It just wasn't my home. Camp was.

The conversation sort of dwindled off after that, neither of us knowing what to say next. We mainly just avoided each other's eyes through the screen until I pretended that I heard Percy calling me so I could say goodbye.

"Annabeth," my father called just as I was about to swipe my hand through the mist. "Please just . . . know that you are welcomed here. We can make it work. You're my daughter and I love you. I can't believe it's taken me fourteen years to say that but it's true. Please stay safe."

I felt a lump in my throat and had to force back my tears. "Thanks Dad. I, uh, I love you too. Bye."

I cut the connection before he could see me cry and handed the fountain over to Percy so he could call Tyson and Sally.

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Argus, camp's thousand eyed security chief picked us up and ferried us from the Empire State Building to camp. It was so early in the morning that no one was out yet, even though it was the Friday before Christmas.

It was kind of sad but nice too trudging up Half-Blood Hill and seeing Thalia's former pine tree. It looked like it always had but it felt like something was missing now that Thalia's spirit was gone from it. It felt kind of empty but I knew that Thalia was better off with the Hunters, already on their next adventure.

We had a good greeting at the Big House, Chiron waiting with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. We filled our bellies while the rest of the camp counsellors were summoned. There was a lot to discuss.

Grover didn't wait around for it though. He was off with the other satyrs to tell them about the experience he had in the wild and how he felt the magic of Pan. The news made the other satyrs get pretty excited as they were racing all over the camp, trying to find tin cans and espresso.

The meeting got underway as soon as all the counsellors arrived, but I couldn't stop staring at Clarisse. I heard that she had gone on a quest, but it didn't seem to end well. She had a long jagged scar on her chin and her stringy brown hair was chopped up short like a child had been let loose with a pair of scissors.

"I got news," she said, an anxious look in her eyes. That was enough to make me worried. If the toughest person in camp was scared, that wasn't good. "Bad news," she added.

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said, trying to smile although I could see that he was worried too. Whatever it was, it was big. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

I turned to smile gratefully at Percy, pushing my worries out of my mind, but they all came crowding back when he looked away. There was something bothering him now.

"Luke is alive," he said suddenly, his head still down. "Annabeth was right."

I say up, tempted to make him say it again but realised now was not the time. "How do you know?"

He looked irritated by my interest in the matter but told us about how his dad had confirmed my beliefs. And how the Princess Andromeda was sailing from San Francisco with Kronos's remains. Luke was aboard and more dangerous than ever.

"Well," I said, feeling uncomfortable at the accusing tone Percy had taken, like he was blaming me for everything. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

Two years to change Luke back to the way he was. I didn't know if it was possible, but I was going to try.

Chiron didn't look as hopeful as I felt. He looked old, maybe not as old as he really was, seeing as that was thousands of years, but still old. "Two years may seem a long time. But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But, if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron explained. I didn't exactly like being described like that but I knew it was true. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous . . . We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but -"

There came a knock on the door and before any one could invite him in, Nico di Angelo burst in. I recognised him from Westover Hall although he looked a lot different in a camp t-shirt and without his sister by his side.

"Hey!" he said, smiling although I could see him looking around for someone in particular. "Where's . . . where's my sister?"

I felt like my heart would break. Percy told me his sister had died saving him and the others during the quest. It had been part of the prophecy that she would. It seemed that no one had told Nico yet though.

Percy stood reluctantly, looking like he would rather be back holding the sky than doing this. But he prepared himself to do it anyway.

"Hey, Nico. Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."

He placed a hand on the younger demigod's back and guided him out of the room. We all watched in silence.

"Meeting dismissed," Chiron said once Percy and Nico had left the room. "Annabeth and Clarisse. A word, please."

The others gave us strange looks as we remained behind. I wished I was going with them. Whatever I was going to hear wasn't going to be good.

"What's wrong?" I asked once we were alone.

Chiron and Clarisse exchanged nervous looks, which didn't do much to calm my nerves.

"Its about my quest," the daughter of Ares began then stopped. She looked ready to throw up.

"Where did you go?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"To investigate," Chiron supplied as Clarisse looked incapable of speaking. "It seems, Annabeth, that the labyrinth has been reopened."