Too Many Memories

Getting To Know Someone I Met But Never Knew

Getting To Know Someone I Met But Never Knew

When I woke up the next morning, Percy greeted me. "Hey."

"Hi." I smiled as he helped me stand and hugged me.

"Listen, we need a break. My team and I. It's been hectic for all of us, I almost went crazy when you were missing. After days of demanding, they convinced me to take a break on my planet, as long as they came with me." He tugged on my hand and we walked out of my cabin.

"They already left, all of them except for Bianca. She's staying here, as a precaution. I would like to stay, but I swore on The Beginning that I would go." He saw my face and quickly added, "Don't ask."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A day at the most. Hopefully Gaea doesn't attack, it might delay our return. But don't worry, Bianca will contact me if anything happens."

"All right, this is very good for you. You're still getting used to your powers, you need a 'day off.'" He laughed and I grinned. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Annabeth." He bent down slightly and kissed me. "I'll be back before you know it."

He backed up and started to glow. I turned away, and when I looked back, he was gone. Bianca walked up to me.

"Hi, Annabeth. I was thinking, do you want to take a walk with me? We never really met and got to know each other. You fell off a cliff and were kidnapped, I died. And the last time I came here, you weren't yourself."

"Sure." We strolled along the lake and talked, finally getting to know each other. She explained to me her life--from all that she could remember when she was with Hades, being stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and her life at the school where we found her.

After she was done, I told her about my life with my dad, stepmom, and stepbrothers, how I ran away when I was seven and met Luke and Thalia. How Thalia became a tree, and my life at Camp Half-Blood from then until now.

I was just finishing up when a crack sounded through the air. We froze. Bianca took off in the direction of Half-Blood Hill. I caught up to her, panting. "Gaea--army--hill." She spit out and doubled her speed, until it was unnaturally fast and I couldn't keep up.

I passed a few campers on my way after her. "Sound the alarm!" I shouted at them and then raced off (as well as I could) to the Big House.

Finally, the hill came into view and I gulped. Leading an army of telekhines, dracaenae, empousa, cyclopes, crazy centaurs, and earthborn, was three giants. Alcyoneus, Enceladus and Porphyrion.

Campers gathered around me and I found myself standing at the front next to Bianca. "I couldn't get a hold of Percy, but managed to send a message. We may be on our own for this."

I whirled around and addressed the campers. "All of you, focus on the monsters. Bianca and I will handle the giants."

Hollers filled the air and they charged. I stuck close to Bianca and we charged Alcyoneus first. She was Nyx, so she was an immortal. Mostly. I sincerely hoped she was, that way we would be able to kill the giants. Otherwise, we were screwed.

Alcyoneus beat his hands together when he saw us coming and gestured for Enceladus and Porphyrion to wait. "I can handle these puny demigods."

Bianca slowed as we approached him. "He's the bane of Hades. It's affecting me."

I grimaced. "Are you sure you can do this?"

"If you can occupy him and maybe daze him, I'll get him where it counts. After that, we'll do the same with the other two, but they may charge at the same time."

"Sounds like a plan."

We fought hard. Bianca was affected by Alcyoneus, but it wasn't too serious. Tyson appeared at one point, I'm not sure when or how he got there, but he tossed me high into the air and I landed in one of Alcyoneus' eyes. He howled in pain and whipped his head from side to side, but I clutched his eyelid and held on. Once he realized that wasn't working, he lifted his hand to pluck me off.

A car materialized out of nowhere and smacked his hand. I glanced around and saw Bianca floating in the air, items that were rarely seen at Camp circling around her.

Even though she wasn't Thesis, the Primordial goddess of Creation, she did have an immortal's powers, which meant conjuring things out of nothing. Hot dog stands, cars, TVs, bikes, chunks of concrete, pretty much anything you could think of flew at the giant as he tried to pull me off his eye. I beamed at the sight and turned back to Alcyoneus' head.

His nose looked abnormal, as if it had been broken but didn't heal correctly. I targeted that with my knife and fist. I hit it repeatedly, like I had with Polybotes, until he was dazed and confused, and Bianca went in for the kill.

She leveled her bow and arrow at the giant's neck, and released. The arrow hit him with such force that it flew out of the other side of his neck and yanked him backward. He disintegrated as he fell, and unfortunately, I was still on his face when it happened.

I dropped, the wind whipping through my hair and landed roughly on a piece of concrete. I saw Bianca with her eyes closed in concentration and knew that she had saved me. The concrete lowered and thumped to the ground. I quickly hopped off.

Enceladus and Porphyrion bellowed in rage and ran toward us. I was slower while facing Enceladus, since he was the bane of Athena, but we still managed to defeat him while fighting Porphyrion. We used the same tactic as before--I hit them repeatedly and Bianca shot them with an arrow.

As soon as the giants were killed, I surveyed the Camp. It was destroyed. Every cabin except for Percy's was nothing but rubble. The Big House was charred, but otherwise fine. Greek fire burned nearly everywhere. And the campers were still fighting.

Bianca and I joined the fight, and with her help, the remaining monsters faded into dust. Not one camper escaped unharmed, not even me. Tyson, thankfully, wasn't hurt and neither was Bianca, because she had bathed in the River Styx.

Many were unconscious and being taken to the infirmary. Chiron was limping and I was feeling lightheaded since I hadn't fully recovered from my broken limbs. The campers that could celebrate did, they thought the worst was over. But I knew better. Gaea sent only a portion of her army, there was much more to come. Possibly soon. Very soon.

A crack filled the air and Percy's team appeared, Percy at the front. He saw me and rushed over. I saw his legs moving, his face relieved to see I was okay. Wait. Something was wrong. His face changed. It was filled with worry. His speed doubled.

I lifted a leg to move toward him, and collapsed. My knees buckled and I fell forward. Tyson was next to me and grabbed my arm, hauling me up. Percy reached me as my eyes closed.

"We have to get her to the infirmary, now!" Percy's voice sounded panicky.

The last thing I felt was being transferred into his arms and bouncing around, before I fell unconscious.