Age of Chaos and the Reign of Darkness

VII. Annabeth

After the curfew duty was over, Annabeth and Percy went to see Will.
'What's going on between Ajax and Chiron?' Percy asked.
'I don't know. They went in Chiron's office. Must be something top secret', Will replied.
'And how is Mr. D?' Annabeth asked.
'He'll be fine but he was in a pretty bad shape. I am worried about the other Olympians. I mean they are gods and everything but this Erebus guy, he seems a little too much for the Olympians', Will looked worried. 'Anyway, I should get going. It's getting pretty late. Good night you two.' Will was already running towards his cabin.
'Yeah, it is late', Percy said.
'I should get going too. Good night seaweed brain', Annabeth kissed him and ran to her own cabin.
Percy smiled and went towards his.

Annabeth walked in and her cabin was eerily quiet. All the bunks were empty.
Where is everyone? She thought uneasily.
Suddenly two blinding rays of light hit her in the face.
'Aghh!'
The flashlight went off and her second in command came forward. Everyone had surrounded her.
'Annabeth, I tried to stop them from poking their noses in everything but it was a havoc!' Malcolm said.
'Calm down and tell me everything', Annabeth said.
'Tell her Malcolm', everyone said in unison.
'We looked up some scrolls and well we read about Erebus and Chaos and other primordial gods a little bit. There wasn't much written about them. Just a reference here and there', Malcolm said pointing to three tables piled with hundreds of scrolls. 'However there was no reference of any demigod brother of Erebus. Even in ancient times Chaos never had a demigod kid. Now even if we presume that Ajax is a new addition to their primordial family, that still leaves a lot of questions. Questions that seem quite obvious to answer when you think about them-'
Annabeth cut him short, 'Guys if you want to know what we talked about in the war council, I can't tell you.'
'We kind of figured it out', one of the campers said.
'We know he isn't a demigod', Malcolm said with a smile. 'He is a god, isn't he?'
Annabeth's eyes widened with shock. 'The truth is no one in the war council figured out that he is a god. Everyone thinks he is a demigod. I didn't tell anyone about this because I didn't know how the Olympians will react but now the Gods....'
She stopped midway. She looked worried but continued nevertheless. 'Anyway, you can't tell anyone about this. Swear upon River Styx right now.'
Everyone swore upon River Styx.
'Tell her the other thing Malcolm', everyone said again.
'What other thing?' Annabeth eyed them.
'Why does it have to be me?' Malcolm asked.
'Cause you are second in command. Now speak', someone replied.
'Fine. So, after the campfire when we came to our cabin, there was something that was troubling us. You remember, how Erebus had said that so many wars happened and Olympus was almost on verge of falling everytime but he finally managed it. Naturally that meant Olympus has fallen this time around but we were not sure. So, I was coming to the Big House to talk to you or Chiron or Calypso but on the way I bumped into Jancy, the nymph who is Juniper's best friend. Well, she told me that she saw an injured Mr. D stumble from a doorway that materialized out of thin air while the war council was going on. She had probably gone to see Chiron or something and accidentally saw everything because the door was slightly open.' Malcolm took a deep breath.
'Oh my gods! So you guys know this as well. Anyway continue', Annabeth said.
'The problem is if Olympus has fallen then we don't know where the Gods are right now and they must be very weak and powerless or even gravely injured to protect themselves', Malcolm said.
'So are you suggesting that we have to rescue them again?' Annabeth inquired.
'Yes. Wasn't it obvious enough?' Malcolm replied.
'And I believe you even found the way to find them?' Annabeth asked.
'Who other than Hephaestus can track all the gods? Besides he is the only Olympian who was literally thrown off Olympus. So, I don't think he'll be much affected with Olympus having fallen', Malcolm said.
A smile spread across Annabeth's face. 'That was very impressive what you guys did. Looks like we have a lot to do tomorrow. Better get some sleep.'

It was a dreamless sleep which was weird since Annabeth was a demigod and nightmares were a regular thing.
She heard creaking upstairs and woke up at once. It is strange. Who could be using the battle strategy room at this hour? She thought.
They only used the battle strategy room for Capture the Flag or for some really serious discussions. No one knew about the first floor, not even Percy.
She got up and drew her ivory sword, a last gift from her friend...Damasen.
She slowly sneaked up the staircase and peeked through the door. She saw three people bent over the 3D Map table with bunch of stylus and tablets.
Annabeth opened the door, ready to stab everyone when a guy with dark circles under his eyes turned around and said with a yawn, 'Oh, morning Annabeth. What are you doing with your sword?'
They were Malcolm, Lizzie and Robert.
'What are you guys doing here?' Annabeth asked.
'We were looking for Hephaestus on the map', Robert said sleepily.
'For how long have you guys been up here?' Annabeth asked.
'Why? What is the time?' Lizzie asked.
'It's 5 in the morning', Annabeth replied.
'For 3 hours', Lizzie said without lifting her head.
'But we found him', Malcolm said with a little sleepy ta-da.
'Where?' Annabeth asked excitedly.
'Mount St. Helens', Robert said.
'Oh! You guys did amazing but you need to sleep now', Annabeth said.
'Yeah, sure', Malcolm said. 'Let's go downstairs.'
As soon as reached their bunks, they collapsed and fell asleep.
Annabeth decided to go out for a walk. It always calmed her down and she needed it especially after all that happened last night.
Maybe I can go to Percy's and see if he is awake. Then we could have a walk down the beach. She thought.
But before she could decide on anything, Nico came running towards her. He was wearing Bahamas pyjamas. Annabeth could not help but smile.
'Chiron has called a war council', Nico was almost breathless.
'In the morning?' Annabeth asked.
'Yeah. Almost everyone is assembled', Nico replied.
Both of them sprinted towards the Big House. She had a feeling of dread at the back of her mind but she forced it down.
What more can go wrong? Annabeth thought sarcastically.