Percy Jackson and the Dark Elites

XXXVI

Annabeth

They rode back to Camp Half Blood in silence. 

Annabeth couldn't understand what had happened or why Grover had insisted they leave.

Everything was going to well! They invaded the compound with such a small force and had taken out so many Riders.

Jason had electrocuted all of the Riders who had gone to the garage for backup. Annabeth, Piper, Travis, and the few Elites went to go find the Romans, when they saw Thalia and Dakota marching side by side with their hands on their heads.

Thalia told Annabeth to listen to the Riders.

As Annabeth was leaving the compound she had racked her brain for a plan to take out the Riders, but Thalia had insisted she listen.

When they were outside, the Riders blocked the door and Thalia took them twenty feet to the right, and told them to stand down.

Annabeth looked at the two Riders and wondered why they weren't attacking her.

"Annabeth, you have to trust me." Thalia had whispered.

"I do, but I don't understand."

"Omega-" Thalia stopped and looked at the clouds.

A bolt of lightning popped Annabeth's ears and struck the roof.

"Was that Jason?" Piper took a couple steps back to see the roof.

"Yes, Jason is-"

"Oh my gods!" Piper exclaimed.

"Piper stay calm." Thalia warned.

Annabeth didn't see how she could.

Jason was floating, his body clearly limp, twenty to thirty feet above the roof. And he was flying higher.

He started to move towards the garage when he stopped, he hovered, then he fell.

Annabeth and Piper called out when they heard him hit the roof. Thalia looked up in shock.

Back on the jet, Piper leaned against Annabeth's shoulder. It hadn't been easy to get her to leave without Jason.

Her charmspeak had been all over the place. Somehow Grover stood his ground, and they boarded the Elite ship they took here.

Grover and Thalia Radioed Blaze, and she sent six more ships to gather the Romans.

After an hour of quiet flight, Piper sobbing, and Grover avoiding eye contact, Annabeth spoke up.

"Why did they let the Romans go?"

Grover shrugged. "I think he just wanted Jason."

Piper wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Who's he?"

Grover and Thalia shared a look.

"Stop doing that!" Piper demanded. "Tell us."

Travis sat up from his corner in the back, trying to listen in on the conversation.

Thalia averted her gaze and she turned on Grover. "He-he has my brother, I thought you said you could handle him!"

Grovers eyes were red. "I thought I could too. I thought if I put enough force into my link, we could talk."

"He dropped Jason off a roof!"

"Guys please-" Travis tried to calm them down.

"No." Grover groaned. "let's just, I'll tell you at the big house. I can't do it more than once. I'm not strong enough."