Zeus' Choice (A Percy Jackson Fan fiction)

Chapter 9 - Annabeth Goes Down

"Ok what's your plan now, genius?" I asked, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

"Now we go back to our original plan, which is burning the forest."

I nodded. As much as I didn't want to embarrass Annabeth, I still took out the small glass bottles from my pockets. Jenia did the same. We knew what to do. One by one we poured a little of the transparent liquid onto each tree. It was a quicker process since we were still on the branches. Jenia insisted that being high on top of the trees is better than on the ground.

If anyone saw us from below they would probably mistake us for squirrels, jumping from tree to tree. By now both of our palms were bruised from scratching them against the rough branches of the trees.

"How long?" I asked, more like whispered, sending my last bottle of transparent liquid dripping down the tree.

Jenia turned her head around and whispered back, "We're almost there." She tossed me some of her bottles as she still had a lot.

"We're almost where?" I whispered.

She placed a finger to her lips, basically asking me to shut up. With a mischievous smile glued to her face she turned around and jumped on the neighboring tree.

We did so for the next five minutes and then Jenia came to a stop. I looked down at our surrounding to see where we were, but everything was the same as where we were 5 minutes ago. For a second I thought we were going in circles but then I noticed the trees were slightly thinner in this part of the forest.

As we climbed down, I heard distant battle voices and something told me that the Hermes cabin is winning but still had a tough time.

At last my feet touched the solid earth, which was not shaking, cracking, bouncing or falling under my feet unlike the branches on the trees. I made a quick vow to myself that as long as I lived, I would never climb a tree that high again. Unless it was absolutely necessary that someone's life depended on it ...

Jenia took out her lighter and just as she was about to light the nearest tree on fire, we both heard an angry 'EHM EHM' noise come from behind us. I quickly pulled an arrow, at the same time jumping 180 degrees around. Jenia did the same maneuver, holding her sword in front.

And we were face to face with a furious ... Nymph!?

I was so stunned I nearly shot her. Luckily I pointed my arrow down at the last second, so no one is harmed and my arrow is not lost. Jenia let out a sigh of relief and placed her sword in the ground.

"Hi, Pine! What brings you down here? She smiled.

Pine, whose skin was slightly green with plants growing in her hair, was a little confused by Jenia's reaction, but then she recovered quickly and remembered why she was angry. She crossed her arms across her chest and took a step toward Jenia.

"You will not burn these trees!!!" she said, stomping her foot.

"What? Oh no, you've got this all wrong. We didn't mean to burn them literally! It's just a part of our prank. We poured a special liquid on the trees and when we light it up, it will only give the illusion of burning fire." Jenia quickly answered.

Pine took a minute to consider this, but she didn't seem convinced. Finally she let out a deep breath, knowing she was going to regret this later.

"Ok, I'll let you do this. But if these trees are damaged in any way ..."

"I promise they won't be" Jenia interrupted her.

"Jenia Vetrova, if somehow your plan fails and the trees are harmed, so help me I will stuff your pillow with centipedes tonight!" Pine warned and ran away.