Demigods Assemble (PJO/MCU)

Chapter 43

Annabeth

Even though she was in the middle of a vicious battle with monsters attacking her from every angle, Annabeth felt like she was walking on water. Chrysaor was defeated. The son of Poseidon had fallen. The prophecy had been fulfilled. Percy would live.

A tiny voice in the back of her head told Annabeth not to make any assumptions or let down her guard yet. She only listened to half of it—the part about not letting her guard down. They might be nearing the end of the fight, but that didn't mean they could afford to be sloppy. The monsters were replenishing without end, and Echidna, Phorcys, and Keto were still MIA.

Cowards, Annabeth thought. They go to all the trouble to bring us here and then send out their children and mortals to finish us off.

At this point, Annabeth wasn't really worried. Chrysaor was dead and Percy was safe. Their victory was inevitable. They just had to last a bit longer until Echidna, Phorcys, and Keto grew bored and decided to show their ugly faces. The ancient laws might restrict them from fighting outright, but heroes were under no such obligations. As soon as they appeared, they would be finished.

Annabeth felt invincible next to Percy. Sure, neither of them bore the Curse of Achilles or a nice Nemean Lion coat or even a blessing from one of the gods, but they were together and the future looked bright. They fought as a team, already knowing what the other was planning before they did it. They didn't need words or hand gestures. Just a quick look and they were in sync. They were unstoppable. By the end of the day, it would all be over. And if the Fates tried to rope her and Percy into another prophecy or war or quest, Annabeth would personally march up to Olympus and burn their entire stock of yarn.

Peter dropped into the battle next to them, wrapping up monsters in his webs like neat little presents for Annabeth and Percy to kill. "Daredevil took out Medusa," Peter announced. "He looked straight at her and it did nothing, and he just sliced her head off. It was so cool."

"Good, she can join her son in Tartarus." Percy grinned, hacking through an empousai.

Annabeth smirked, knowing exactly why Daredevil could "look" at Medusa and not be affected, but then remembered something. She snapped her head towards Peter. "Where?" She demanded, ducking under a dracaenae's spear and stabbing her in the gut.

Peter looked up from the hellhound he was strangling. "What do you mean?"

"The head can still petrify people, we need to take care of it," Annabeth explained. "Where is it?"

Peter's mechanical eyes widened. He dropped the hellhound and grabbed Annabeth, then fired a web and pulled them into the air. The quick ride was much more comfortable than the first time Annabeth had swung through New York with him, since this time she trusted him and was no longer freaking out about the spider-ness.

Peter deposited Annabeth on one end of the battle, pointed to a pile of rubble, and started walking towards it with her, but he disappeared under a mob of telekhines. Annabeth knew he could handle it, so she made her way to the place he'd indicated.

At first glance, it was just littered with a few chunks of concrete and layers and monster dust. But then Annabeth noticed tiny green things wriggling behind some rocks and grimaced. She approached carefully, staring only at the snakes as she moved the rubble out of the way so she knew exactly where it was. So far, it looked like no one had been accidentally turned to stone by the severed head, but if Annabeth did nothing, that would surely change.

She bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do with it. She had no clothing or even a blanket to wrap it in, and if she just covered it with rubble, she'd forget where it was and that wouldn't end well. Then the answer came to her.