The Storybook [Percy Jackson-Land of Stories crossover]

2

Annabeth, Leo, and Percy stood knelt behind a bush. 

Yes, this sounds like the beginning of a bad, cheesy dad joke, but it wasn't. 

Annabeth stared at the two of them. 

"Whatcha thinking?" Percy asked, grabbing her hand. 

"Romance later, sneak in now," Leo said, watching for an opening. The lights to the Big House were barely lit, and Hecate campers stood with fireballs at the ready. 

"Oh, shut up," Annabeth groaned, watching for a way to get in. "We have to sneak through the attic." 

"Ah, yes, let us fly up there," Leo said sarcastically. Annabeth smacked him. 

"I meant that we have to climb."

She hurried out from behind the bush, scrambling onto an overgrown vine hanging from off the top.

The boys followed, Leo stepping on every branch he possibly could have. 

"Careful!" Annabeth hissed as she started the climb. 

"So, Annie-girl, what do you think is up with the book." 

"Call me Annie-girl one more time and I will throw you in the lake." 

"Dearly noted," he gulped. "Back to my question: What's up with the book?" 

"It looked old when I saw it," Percy added. "Maybe magical." 

"It hummed after you left," Annabeth said, pulling herself up to the roof. 

"Magical," Percy said. 

"Probably," Leo said. 

"But I don't get it!" Annabeth exclaimed, helping Leo up. "There's no reason a magical book should have any reason to be in the middle of nowhere." 

"Well, it was," Leo said. "That's that." 

"But maybe..." 

"You can run tests on it later. Test it for magical purposes. For now, though, we have to get to it," Leo said. 

"You guys are scary when you do that," Percy said, staring at them.

"What?" Annabeth asked. 

"You literally had a whole conversation in Ancient Greek." 

"Oh," Annabeth said, shrugging. 

"Smart people are scary," Percy said, eyes wide. 

"Let's go," Annabeth said, grabbing his hand and walking through the roof-access manhole in the roof. She hopped down, landing in the attic. Percy and Leo followed. 

She hurried out. Even if the old oracle didn't live here, it was still scary. 

She pulled her hoodie over her head and walked through the dark doorways to the right room, the boys following. 

And there it was, two stories down, a perfect, glowing book. 

Percy grabbed Annabeth's arm. 

"Is it-" 

"Glowing? Yeah," Annabeth said. 

She jumped towards it, hardly making a sound. The Hecate kids were guarding the outside, not the inside. 

Slowly, she reached out towards the book. Her hand dissipated in a glowing, tingling heap. 

She almost screamed, but Leo held his hand over her mouth. She bit his finger, causing him to yelp. 

"Shut up!" She hissed. 

"That was your fault!" Leo whispered back. 

"Annabeth, you're arm!" Percy yelped as quietly as he could. 

Her arm was gone now, all the way in the book. She pushed it further in. 

And then she jumped. 

"Annabeth!" Percy screamed. "Gods, this is Tartarus over again." He jumped in as well. 

Leo, left with no choice, muttered some curse words under his breath before jumping in as well. 

Some Hecate kids, a boy named James and a girl named Elli simply stared at the book. 

"What was that noise?" Eli asked. 

"Dunno," James said. They nodded to each other before leaving. 

Meanwhile, Percy, Leo, and Annabeth were falling into the book.