PJO/HOO Fanfiction- Behind Closed Doors

Chap 46

Annabeth's pov:

The burning heat of the sun irritated my eyes, causing me to shield them every two seconds. A raven cawed from a distance, until it was merely a miniscule dot on the beautiful canvas we call the sky, then Leo appeared from behind me.

"Hey, we're going to stop at a small alleyway a few metres (not saying it the American way, England is my city) ahead," Leo told me. "Is that fine by you?"

I nodded. "But why are you asking me?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know, you seem like the leader of this whole plan, just seems right I'll ask you."

I smiled. "Thanks Leo."

"Anytime, Annabeth, anytime." He shot me those weird finger guns people did, then went back to Jason, Percy and Frank.

Jason, Percy, Leo, and Frank were together walking, whilst Piper, Hazel, Thalia, and Rachel were talking. I was walking alone, too busy in my own thoughts to get distracted and talk about some nonsense.

I hadn't realised I went past the alleyway until the others called my name. I jogged over to them, wobbling a bit because of my mangled shoe.

"You okay with the shoe, Annabeth?" Jason asked, and I nodded.

"It's fine, my shoes are so old they were bound to tear anyways."

Jason nodded then went back to talking with the boys. Everyone here looked fine as if this was some get together we had made.

Except for me. I was getting restless every minute, always checking the roads and the streets, making sure no unexpected guests came strolling over to us.

Percy sighed, causing me to jump. "Annabeth you need to eat, you're not even doing anything."

"I am." I said indignantly. "I'm scouting out the area."

Percy made a face. "You've been doing that for so long, people are looking at you thinking you're crazy."

"Well, excuse me for acting crazy, I'm just trying to make sure we don't die."
And anyway Percy, you're the one that's been looking out for us."

Percy smirked, then mimicked my tone horrendously in a high pitched voice. "Well excuse me, I'm just trying to make sure we don't die."

I sighed. "Percy, you've got to start caring about yourself, not us."

"Hey, we're talking about you, okay? Don't try to turn this on me."

Percy then grabbed my hand. "I don't even care anymore, you're eating something."

He practically dragged me to our stash of food we had set on the floor with our bags and stood there, still holding my hand. Jason and Piper who were sitting quite close to us honed into the conversation.

"Eat." Percy said.

"No."

"Eat."

"No."

"You have to."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Percy shrugged. "No."

I smirked. "Percy? Do you really think I'm going to say yes, even when you tricked me? Sorry, but it's not going to happen."

Percy sighed. "You're impossible."

It was my turn to shrug. "Yeah, well you're -"

Hazel had a small smile on her lips, so did Frank. "You guys are cute."

I scrunched my nose. "I am not cute. Scary? Yes. Cute?" I laughed. "Nope."

Hazel smiled again. "But Annabeth, I really do agree with Percy, you need to eat."

I groaned. "Not you too."

Leo put his hand up. "And me."

"And me." Thalia said.

"And me." Frank said.

"And me." Jason said.

"And me." Piper said.

I raised my eyebrow, then bent down to pick up a cracker. "There, you happy?"

Piper threw her hands up. "You serious Annabeth, one cracker?"

I bit into it, smiling. "Yes, yes I am serious."

We talked for a while, me only taking crackers, they were the most decent thing in there, the rest were either too filling or too sweet.

I checked the time. "Come on guys. We've got to go."

The others sighed, annoyed at the fact that they had to leave again. "We're so close to the Empire State building, only a few minutes." I said.

I was right, once we crossed the road, you could see the tall building jutting out towards the sky. I could hear shouting from the building, and a few crashes.

I turned around to the others, and we all glanced back at the building. It was now or never.

"There's shouting inside, must be Kronos's guards and some other people."

"We go in?" Thalia asked.

I winced. "Yeah, yeah we do. I guess the real fight starts now."

We ran into the building, ignoring the shouts from shocked pedestrians.

Once inside, my eyes widened at the sight. Glass was strewn everywhere, and two bodies were laid lifeless on the floor, their blood mingling with the odd spots of water that had come from the pots with plants.

No one alive was in there, thankfully, yet I still shuddered from the two people dead on the floor.

"Should we, should we check on them?" Piper whispered, a hand to her mouth.

I stopped her from going any further. "Sorry Piper, they're already dead."

Piper grimaced, and I could see the tears about to form. Oddly enough, I wasn't scared at all, like as if I was meant to see this, to do this even.

Percy snapped us out of our trance. "The elevators," he pointed to them. "We'll go to the top floor, that's where they'll be."

I nodded, sending him a smile, grateful that he was actually cooperating. Before we pushed the button to go up, I stopped everyone.

"Wait," they all looked at me confused. "Does anyone not want to do this?" I paused. "What I'm going to say next will scare you, but it's the damn truth." I took a deep breath. "At the top of the elevator, Kronos will be there, probably with a bunch of people, and . . . and maybe some of us won't make it back. So please, you're not a coward if you don't want to do this. Just tell me, I don't want to force you guys into helping me."

They all paused, probably thinking over what I had said. But to my suprise they all shook their heads.

"Nah, we've made it this far, and we will never make you do this alone." Percy put his hand on my shoulder, anchoring me back to reality.

I smiled. "You guys ready?"

They all replied whooping, shouting, acting like our lives weren't on the line. Though underneath the mask, I could tell they were all terrified, too shy to convey their feelings to any of us.

I sighed as I pressed the button of the top floor, wobbling a bit as the nausea of the elevator reached my head, making me feel a bit dizzy.

I nodded to the others.

It was now or never.