Tangled Legacies: A KOTLC and PJO Crossover Story

We Talk Prophecy. My Brain Hurts: Chapter Twenty-Five: Percy's POV

Leo never showed at the Big House. I'd found Nico at the Zeus cabin, for reasons unknown. He'd come to the Big House with surprisingly little protest. Then I went to find Piper and maybe Leo. He'd probably had a project idea, gone to Bunker Nine to jot it down, and gotten sidetracked. It had happened before. But this was important. How could he bail on Annabeth? He could be clueless about what was happening for all I cared.

I found Piper at the canoe lake, after some complaints from the Aphrodite cabin when I asked them.

"Percy? What's wrong?" she asked when I arrived at the dock. My face must have looked pretty bad.

"It's Annabeth. And some more brain expansion." She followed without question. Her face was pale. I assumed that after losing her former boyfriend, she couldn't handle it if her best friend (and my girlfriend) died. I couldn't either.

When we arrived at the Big House, Leo still hadn't showed. So we headed upstairs without him. Nico melted into the shadows in a corner of the bedroom. Piper sat on the edge of Annabeth's bed, despite Will Solace's protests to "give Annabeth some space."

Sophie and I took turns explaining the whole "They're elves and they can read minds and inflict pain and, oh, yeah, we got another death prophecy and Annabeth is on the edge of death for reasons unknown! Let's go on a quest!" When we were done, Piper just stared at me. Nico melted farther into the shadows. Will Solace stopped whatever medical thing he was doing and blinked.

"I don't believe you." Surprisingly, that came from Nico. "They're lying. They're demigods. And they can't read minds." He was in denial.

"Nico, yes they are. They showed me." I tried to convince him.

"Prove it," he challenged. "Tell me what I'm thinking."

Sophie closed her eyes. Then they popped back open. She whispered something in Nico's ear. His face went red.

"I didn't think you would want everyone to know that," she told him. His cheeks turned even redder.

"Baaaack to the scary-quest-of-death thing," I reminded them. "We need to talk strategy." I told them the prophecy.

"Two teams unite," Piper mused. "That's elves and demigods. Right?"

"It must be," Biana said. "To unite the two worlds... The worlds are the Lost Cities and the camps. So the teams are the elves from the mission team and your group of demigods."

"That makes sense," I admitted. "And we know... we know someone's going to die."

"Okay, then the next line is "A hope for a cure will connect with the moon." What does that mean?" Will interrupted.

"Annabeth!"

"Keefe!" Sophie and I answered at the same time.

"I think it could be either," Fitz said.

"Who's Keefe?" I asked.

"Our... friend." Sophie mumbled.

"Okay... And the cure for whoever has to do with the moon." Piper chimed in.

"What if... just a thought here... What if the cure has to be made or gathered by the Hunters of Artemis? Thalia and Reyna are both Hunters. What if we need their help?" I added.

"That... actually made sense, Aquaman!" Nico piped up.

"Not you, too," I groaned. "Wait... HEY!" I protested.

"Guys," Sophie cut in. "Focus. Prophecy?"

"Right. Where's "the place under the dunes"? Elf-y dudes, got any ideas?" Will asked, changing the subject again.

"Actually, that could be..." Fitz trailed off.

"Exile." Sophie finished for him.

"Who?" I asked.

"Exile." Biana corrected. "The interspeciesal prison. For ogres, goblins, dwarves, and elves."

"Beneath the sea could be Atlantis," Sophie suggested.

"Or my dad's palace," I said.

"And the former enemy could be Kronos," Piper said.

"No." I said. "Too evil and too dead."