Annabeth Chase and the Last Olympian

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

        My knees buckled and I fell at my mother's throne. I immediately began to weep. My shoulder heaved with every breath I took. 

        Luke's final words to me kept replaying in my head. After he's done, you won't ever be able to lay a hand on me, so you might as well fight me right now, because this is the last chance you'll ever get. 

        The last chance. It was more than a last chance for me to fight him, but it was the last chance I had to change his mind. If I had gone with him, there could have been something that I could've done to make him good again.

         "Annabeth," Percy said, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know . . . he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

        I wiped my eyes and stared at the warm hearth. It reminded me of all the times we built campfires while we were on the run. 

        Percy shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't, right?"

     I didn't answer him. I was too busy wiping the concealer from my eyes. Thank god Silena didn't add mascara to my lower lashes. I would have been crying black tears, and that definitely would've scared Percy. 

        "Percy," I said, once I was sure I had gotten it all off, "what did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"

        Percy nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different. She was really off, mostly. Kinda crazy. She had a bunch of burnt cookies and rotting sandwiches and—"

        I looked at him pointedly. 

   Percy sighed. "She kept talking about Luke, and I guess that triggered something, because her eyes started to glow and she started talking about his fate. I guess him leaving really destroyed her."

        I frowned. Glowing eyes? Maybe Percy had too many burnt cookies. "That doesn't make sense.But why were you visiting—" My eyes widened with the sudden realization.

        "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"

        "Don't change the subject."

        "Percy! Did you or not?"

        "Um . . . maybe a little. Do you want me to tell you the story or..."

       I fixed him with a glare. He gulped. "Nico had the idea. He's been pestering me about it for a while now, and I finally took him up on it. That was when I disappeared," he said, fiddling with a rip on his pants. "Anyways, we went to Ms. Castellan's house because we needed to know what we were supposed to do before I got to the Styx." He winced at his own words. "We found out that we needed my mother's blessing, so we got that. Then I went to the Underworld and Nico tricked me into meeting with his dad and he put me in a prison. And then I got out and took a dip in the Styx and defeated Hades and a huge army." He looked down at his torn clothing. "That should explain the clothes."

        I blew my hair out of my face. "You know, you really aren't the best at explaining things."

        He smiled apologetically. "I know. Sorry."

        I shook my head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

        "I had no choice," he said. "It's the only way I can stand up to Luke."