(Finally!)
ANNABETH
I hate shadow travel. It's fast, it's dark, and it's nauseating.
In other words, Nico and Percy probably love it.
When the black fades away, I blink the spots from my eyes and look around. Nothing's changed about the place; it still radiates misery, and I fight the urge to stay on Mrs. O'Leary for the ride back to camp.
The boys slide off the hellhound's back. Percy readjusts his backpack on his backpack. "You coming?"
I blink. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." I jump down, grimacing as my feet hit the black-glass floor.
Nick eyes me wearily but doesn't say anything.
I look around. "Where are the Doors?"
He shifts his weight on his feet. "Yeah, um, since I never actually found the Doors, I couldn't tell Mrs. O'Leary where they are, so..." He trails off, withering under my death glare.
Before I can strangle the kid, he turns back to Mrs. O'Leary and scratches her behind the ears. "Good girl. You can go back now." The hellhound gives him one last slobbery lick across the face, turns around, and bounds back into the shadows.
Percy clears his throat. "So, you guys ready?"
"Not really," I mutter.
"Ditto," Nico says.
"Good. I'm not either." He grins at me in an effort to cheer me up.
It doesn't work.
"So, let's get going then, shall we?" Nick suggests.
We start walking.
ΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘ
We're silent as we plod along, our footsteps crunching in the glass sand.
Percy makes his was over to me, so that he's between me and Nico. "You okay?"
I scowl. "What do you think, Seaweed Brain?"
He frowns. "Uh, do I have a nickname for you? You call me Seaweed Brain a lot."
"Wise Girl," I say wistfully, wishing he could remember our first exchange.
"Uh, guys?" Nico interrupts. "I think we have company."
My eyes dart around. All I can see is the firewater river we're walking along and the endless stretch of sand.
"What?" Percy looks around.
Nico points wordlessly to a blister in the ground. Crouched inside is a familiar figure: sandy blonde hair, white shirt and khakis, and a barely visible scar running down the side of his face.
Luke.
I pale, and Nico glances at me.
"What... What's he doing here?!" I sputter.
"Luke's soul is in the Underworld," Nico explains quickly, "but his body is still holding Kronos."
I take out my dagger. Nico's eyes widen, but I step past him. Squeezing my eyes shut, I plunge the dagger into the blister, and it bursts, spewing Titan goo all over us.
I wipe the tears out of my eyes and sheath my dagger. "Let's keep going."
++
I always wondered if Kronos would be waiting for them. Now he is! Kind of... Heh.
I am sosososososo sorry for such a late update! I know, I lied, it's a bit late, but at least it's up!
No minimum votes/comments for this one, and I'll start working on C17 soon.
All rights go to Uncle Ricky... :D
Happy reading,
Katia
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FanfictionPercy Jackson thinks he's pretty normal. All of that changes when he meets Annabeth Chase, who claims to know him and his parents, even though he can't remember a thing about her or this Camp Half-Blood place she keeps talking about. Realizing his m...
