"First order of business," I whispered to Grover. "Find where they're keeping Annabeth." The sea of tents that surrounded us seemed to swallow us up as they stretched on and on in every direction. We had almost made it to the center and surprisingly, no one had even given us a second glance. In fact, I could've sworn some of the guards had caught my eye more than once but they all just looked away. An internal warning system triggered inside my head, but I couldn't let that stop the search for Annabeth.
Grover had tried to voice his opinions about the large possibility of a trap but I just kept going. I mean, I knew that we should turn around. I knew Annabeth would tell me to turn around if she were here. But she wasn't here. And that was the source of the trouble in the first place. The talk with the gods back at camp had made me realize something. What Kronos was doing was horrendously wrong and terribly evil, but in ways, the gods weren't any better. Talk like that is what lured half-bloods to the Titan's side in the first place. But I didn't want to switch sides. I had only learned that I wasn't on anyone's side but my own and that of my friends. And I would fight to the death for them.
The echoing memory of holding Annabeth under water as the Sirens song lured travelers from above made me remember that this was my fatal flaw. And fatal flaws were aptly named for being, well…fatal. But as I sat there, looking at out the tents that contained Annabeth and my worst enemies, I couldn't help but feel that this, not the war, was a cause worth dying for. After all, who are we without our friends?
Without Grover, I may have been killed before even making it to Half Blood Hill. How easily I could've gone on with life, feeling miserable about who I was and why I was the way I was. Without the enchilada-loving satyr next to me now, I could never have found the Golden Fleece or overcome the wrath of the Titans. I had found in Grover a true spirit and a loyal companion who would die for something he believed in. Maybe that's what drew us together in the first place. Well drew us together after the fact of him being a satyr and I the son of Poseidon.
Without Chiron, I would be lost and alone, unsure of myself and everything decision I ever made. I could've never found a true home and a true family…or even a true life. The wise centaur had taught me more about life than I ever dreamed of knowing back at Yancy Academy. Camp Half Blood had changed me in a way that I wasn't sure I could ever fully put into words.
Without Luke, I may have had fewer troubles… that much is guaranteed. But then again, I never would've been half as good at sword fighting. I would have never learned what true evil was or how to identify it even among the closest of friends. Without Hermes son, I would've never shared as many comforting moments with Annabeth or learned of betrayal the hard way. As much as I don't like to admit it, Luke had made me who I am today. Because of his betrayal, I was stronger, faster, and fiercer than I could've been before I came to Half Blood Hill. But most of all, I was better person. Because now when I thought of Luke, I knew exactly what I didn't want to be…him.
Without Annabeth…. without Annabeth…. I would've never made it anywhere on this quest or really any of the countless ones before this. I would've never survived the Sea of Monsters. I would've never held up the world. I would've never entered into the Underworld. For the first time, I had had someone who could see who I could be, not who I was. She saw the true Percy. If Annabeth had been apart of the campers to see me swear on the River Styx never to go after her, she would've known that something was up. She would've felt it. And if she had done the same, I would've known it too. We knew each other better than at face value. We saw further into each other than that….down into the complex emotions of betrayal and cowardice and fear. She was my best friend. And when I felt like I couldn't go on any further, she was the one to help me keep going, to help everyone going. Without Annabeth, I would've never learned to trust, never learned to fight with my brain and with my heart, never learned to see behind the walls people put up to protect themselves, and most importantly, never learned how it truly felt to love something so much that you would die to protect it. And just for reference, I was talking about like the gods and our war and friends and general and stuff, not Annabeth herself. I don't even know what anyone would think that. At least I think I don't know why anyone would think that….
