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FIC: Daughter of Wisdom, chapter 19
Title: Daughter of Wisdom
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Grover Underwood, Chiron, various others, Gen
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: What Annabeth Chase wants most is to undertake a quest, and when that chance comes, she’s taking it-even if that means teaming up with the son of her mother’s biggest rival. She thinks she’s prepared for everything that could happen, but right from the start, nothing goes to plan. And everything she thinks she knows about the quest, her life, and her family, may just be turned on its head. An alternate PoV retelling of The Lightning Thief.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Time Stops In An Epic Battle
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Ares, Luke Castellan, Chiron, various others
Word Count: 3,506
Chapter Summary: Percy duels a god and Annabeth and Grover return to camp at last.
A/N: As always, recognisable dialogue comes from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
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Hades's palace must have been directly under the sea because the pearls emerged and deposited us in the water. Grover and I splashed and spluttered, but luckily Percy knew his way about the sea. He hauled us to a life buoy and managed to get a Coast Guard vessel to drop us back on Santa Monica beach.
He wouldn't say a word about his mother. The hollow look in his eyes told me everything, though.
I wished I knew what to say to him. There was no way I could even pretend to know what he must be feeling. What did I know about losing a parent? I'd left my dad twice and not felt anything like the grief stamped across Percy's face.
It made me feel guilty-about taking his mom's place, certainly, but there was something else, too.
Ares was waiting for us on the beach. 'Hey kid,' he said casually. 'You were supposed to die.'
I didn't like his nonchalant tone, nor the way he just happened to be waiting. Percy, of course, had been miffed at Ares since Denver. He confronted him immediately, accusing him of deceit, theft; he'd apparently gone through the same thought processes as I had about the possible servant, because he accused Clarisse as well.
'Doesn't matter,' Ares said. 'The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this …'
And he brought it out: the final missing piece of the puzzle. Hades's bronze helmet, in all its terror-radiating glory.
Ares had had it all along. In this, too, he was the missing link.
'Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going.' Ares looked positively gleeful at the idea.
'But they're your family!' Even as I said it, though, I knew I wasn't making much of an argument. After all, who could hurt you better than your own family?
Ares kept on boasting about his grand plan-sending us off to deliver the bolt, magicking the sheath to hide the bolt until we got there. Except his strategy-and from everything I'd ever heard, Ares wasn't exactly a brain trust-sounded like it fit very well into what I'd worked out Kronos's to be. Then there was the way we'd nearly ended up in Tartarus, along with the bolt.
Did Kronos have the power to manipulate a god into betraying his own family?
Percy had picked up on it, too. 'But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself? Why send it to Hades?'
Ares took on that same unsettled look he'd had when we'd talked in the diner in Denver and I'd asked him who Hades had used as a thief. Like he'd lost some information inside his head and was trying to consult some manual to get it back.
'I didn't want the trouble,' he blustered. 'Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing.'
Percy called his bluff. I was impressed at how he'd worked out the strategy, although he didn't seem to have identified Kronos yet.
Or maybe, like me, he knew better than to say the name aloud.
'I am the god of war!' Ares insisted. 'I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!'
That settled it. I think even Ares looked somewhat disturbed to think that something had been-or possibly still was-controlling him. There were no prizes for uncovering the truth, though. Ares simply brushed off the thought and proceeded to attack.
He called down his sacred boar to kill Percy.
In the myths, Ares had transformed into a boar to hunt down the guy Aphrodite had been having a fling with. He didn't do that now, but the boar that erupted from beneath the sand had his same ugly grimace and fiery, hateful eyes.
Percy, the idiot, demanded a one-on-one fight. He barely spared a glance for the boar that was pawing at the sand, getting ready to charge.
'Percy, run!' I yelled.
He made it look easy. A quick dodge, a lightning-quick slash of his sword, and all the power of the sea to drown the sacred animal of Ares. And then he stepped up and challenged Ares again.
I didn't know if it was the bravest or the most foolhardy thing I'd ever heard. When Ares finally accepted and stepped forward with his massive, ruby-encrusted sword, I was definitely leaning towards the latter.
'Percy, don't do this.' I grabbed his arm. 'He's a god.' I could count on one hand the number of times a mortal had survived a duel with a god. Possibly one finger, if that.
'He's a coward,' Percy said simply.
What I did then was probably as foolhardy as Percy's challenge to Ares. The gods didn't take kindly to people supporting their challengers. But after everything we'd been through-the monsters, the Underworld, Percy leaving his mom behind for me-the least I could do was stand behind him.
I slipped my camp necklace off my neck. 'Wear this, at least. For luck.'
He looked at me, a little dumbfounded, but his eyes were soft when I tied the string of beads around his neck. My father's ring flashed at the end of the row. His fingers brushed lightly across it.
'Reconciliation,' I told him. 'Athena and Poseidon together.' Maybe it would help. He was battling the god of war; he could use the goddess of war and wisdom combined on his side. I hoped my mother would be okay with it.
He smiled and thanked me, and then Grover stepped up too, with a tin can and the support of the satyrs.
The battle began.
What can I say? It was magnificent. Terrifying, because I was so worried for Percy, but he fought like a hero, with heart and courage. He kept his head and parried Ares's strikes with his sword. He stayed quick on his feet and played to his strength: the power of the rolling sea behind him.
For years I had read about heroes from ancient to modern times and imagined their battles. I probably wasn't the best judge, but I was sure that nobody watching Percy fight could deny that he had the potential, at the very least, to be one of those greats.
Grover and I weren't the only spectators. The fight drew cops to the scene, sirens blaring. I called out a warning-much good it would do, with the two locked so intently in battle-but it turned out to be unnecessary. I felt the mist swirl around us with the appearance of a rising band of souls … Hades's vanguard army, led by the three Kindly Ones. But they didn't attack. They simply watched.
And then the eclipse happened. Only it wasn't an eclipse. It was like all the substance in the world was being leeched out into a vacuum, the same way the pit of Tartarus had tried to inhale us into its bottomless depths. Time froze for a heartbeat, in which everything and everyone around me was a shapeless line drawing. Only dotted outlines remained: colourless, not even black and white.
Will time cease to have meaning? Will all civilisation grind to a halt?
When it was over, we stood in a circle of destruction. Police cars overturned and in flames, side casualties from the battle. Ruined beach huts bobbing away on what had previously been a crashing tidal wave. Three wizened Furies looking absurdly gobsmacked.
Ares looked as startled as all of us. Part of me kind of hoped he'd done it to win, but he'd been caught in the spell as well. Whoever had caused the eclipse, he was stronger infinitely more powerful than Ares. Even just reaching out from his dark prison.
What will happen when Father Time is freed?
Ares lowered his sword and stepped away. That actually scared me more than his wanting to kill Percy. The eclipse was an intervention, a warning to the god: leave this half-blood alone. I could only imagine that Kronos wanted Percy for a far more sinister purpose.
With a final threat to Percy, Ares drew together the scattered elements of his being-I barely had time to shout a warning-and his true form lit up the sky. Snatches of the Great Prophecy danced before my covered eyes, words I'd seen on parchment: half-blood/three/sixteen/choice/breath/destroy. I heard cold laughter and Grover's frantic scrabbling against a pair of winged Hermes sneakers.
Was Ares the only god Kronos had managed to corrupt?
When I opened my eyes, Percy stood at the edge of the sea, the waves lapping at his feet as he handed a bronze helmet-Hades's Helm-over to the three Furies. Their talons clenched over it and they disappeared in a flutter of bat wings.
Percy walked up the beach towards us.
Grover shook his head in disbelief. 'Percy … that was so incredibly …'
'Terrifying,' I filled in for him.
'Cool!' he amended.
Percy gave us a wan smile. 'Did you guys feel that … whatever it was?'
I knew immediately what he was talking about. Grover said something about maybe the Furies, but I met Percy's eyes and I was sure he knew. Kronos, Tartarus … he'd figured it all out, too, who had been controlling Ares and breaking up their fight.
I marvelled that he wasn't trembling in his shoes. Then again, he wasn't wearing any.
All he said was, 'We have to get back to New York. By tonight.'
OoOoO
Percy got us on a flight. In spite of the risks-as Chiron had rightly pointed out in the beginning, the son of Poseidon trespassing on Zeus's territory wasn't something to take lightly-he insisted that it was the only way, and eventually I had to agree. We were out of time.
We'd attracted a big crowd. The headlines I'd read on our Amtrak journey had ignited into a nation-wide media spectacle, and the television networks all jumped in for the grand finale, courtesy of the Mist: a gunfight showdown between an abducted twelve-year-old and his crazy kidnapper. I wondered what Ares thought about being painted as an abductor. He wasn't one of the gods who went in for that sort of thing; legend had it he'd been kidnapped himself as a kid.
Percy hammed it up for the cameras like a pro. If I'd seen the way he managed to play the reporters before our quest, I'd have seriously believed he could have been the duplicitous thief Hades had accused him of being.
As it was, I still had no leads on who it really was.
Are you sure? All those coincidences … A voice in my head chided me. I shoved it aside.
Zeus, thank him, did not blast us out of the sky. We touched down safely at La Guardia's domestic terminal (thought the whole time, Percy gripped my hand so tightly I thought he'd cut off my circulation), where it was child's play to distract the eagerly waiting New York tabloid reporters.
'You guys get on to Half-Blood Hill,' Percy said.
'What about you?' Grover asked.
Percy patted the master bolt. Its sheath had turned back into a backpack. 'I've got to return this, don't I?'
'We should go with you. We're a team, right?'
He grinned. 'A good one. I couldn't have-we couldn't have done any of this if we hadn't been together. But this last part … I think I'm meant to do it alone. Besides, Chiron needs to know.' He caught my eye and I knew that he meant more than just the return of the lightning bolt.
'Are you sure you'll be all right?' I asked.
'I'm sure.' He undid my camp necklace, which he was still wearing, and placed it in my hand, closing my fingers around it. 'Thanks, Annabeth. Maybe when I get back, I'll have one of my own.'
Tears prickled at my eyes. I felt the sudden urge to fling my arms around him and hug him tight. But of course I didn't. 'Yeah, definitely,' I said. 'See you back at camp, Seaweed Brain.'
He grinned, his single dimple winking at me, then he got into a taxi and zoomed off in the direction of the Empire State Building.
Grover and I looked at each other. 'A taxi, then?'
I shook my head, counting the cash we had left. There wasn't much-a couple of dollar bills and a handful of golden drachmas. 'I have a better idea.'
Just as I'd seen Luke do months ago, on our return from our field trip, I tossed a drachma into the air and shouted, 'Anakoche, harma epitribeios!' Stop, chariot of damnation.
The Grey Sisters' Taxi appeared right on command.
'Let's go,' I told Grover.
OoOoO
I can't remember what I imagined the return from a quest would be like, back when I used to hope for one. The last returning hero was Luke, and that hadn't been a happy reunion. I hadn't been there when he crossed the boundaries in the dead of the night, scarred and bleeding and alone. He never talked about it. The next morning the whispers had gone round, and there he was again, with the Hermes campers at their table at breakfast. In my head, his actual entrance had been pretty dramatic.
So I didn't really expect our return to feel so normal.
Camp Half-Blood looked almost exactly as we'd left it-minus the rainclouds. From the vantage point of Half-Blood Hill, little orange dots peppered the campgrounds as the campers went around their afternoon activities. Laughter and hooting rang out from the canoe lake, where I surmised from the frequent splashes that campers were happily dive-bombing each other. Lava bubbled over the top of the climbing wall. A flock of Pegasi circled over the forest. Arrows, looking like tiny needles, soared across the range towards their targets.
It felt a bit like coming out of the Lotus Casino, except in the opposite direction. I knew we'd only been away ten days, but it felt like we'd been gone for months.
We burst in to the Big House, yelling for Chiron, but it was empty. He was out on the grounds somewhere. So we took off across the lawn to search.
Chiron was leading the masters archery class. When we came running up to the range, it caused quite a commotion among the senior counsellors.
'You're back!' Anita screamed.
Luke's hand slipped off the bow. His arrow fired, a wide shot that slammed into a tree six feet away from the target.
'Annabeth!' And suddenly I was caught in a bone-crushing hug. I thought I'd melt right through the ground. For a blissful, time-stopping second, I thought, this is what it's like to come home. Luke put me down and held me at arm's length, beaming. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're okay.' His eyes grew sad. 'I'm sorry about Percy … and the quest.'
'What?' The thrill of Luke's welcome drained away. 'What's happened to Percy?'
Luke's face paled. 'Uh-I thought … there's just the two of you, so I thought he-I assumed-'
Chiron stepped forward. 'Where is Percy?'
'He's gone to Mount Olympus,' Grover said. 'With the bolt.'
The tense faces of all the campers around us relaxed. A cheer went up from Lee Fletcher.
'Maybe the kids will finally stop fighting!' Darinia Castle sighed in relief.
Luke looked stunned. 'He-he did it? He completed his quest?'
'Yes he did!' Grover said proudly. 'He went all the way to the Underworld and got the lightning bolt, and he even schooled Ares-'
'Excuse me?' Clarisse said, pushing her way forward.
The questions came in hard and fast: Did you really go to the Underworld? Was it scary? How did you get Hades to give it up? Why didn't you guys go to Olympus with him?
'Okay, okay,' Chiron said. He raised his hands, palms up. 'Annabeth and Grover have travelled a long way. Let's give them some space.'
The counsellors backed up a bit. Clarisse gave us a death glare. I wondered if she had indeed been the thief, but it was impossible to tell. She could as easily be taking offence at what Grover had said. It never took much to set her off.
'I believe we will have much to celebrate tonight, when the last member of our quest team returns. I'm glad your shrouds may be burned under much more joyous circumstances,' Chiron said.
'Ooh, wait until you see it!' Anita said. 'Well, yours, anyway. Percy's is a bit …' She glared at Clarisse, who crossed her arms unrepentantly.
'Come now.' Chiron put a hand each on Grover's and my shoulders. 'You'll have time to catch up later. I'd like to talk to you two, first.' He kept his voice light, but when our eyes met, I knew he'd guessed we had more to tell.
We left the senior archery class gossiping excitedly among themselves. I looked back over my shoulder as we headed to the Big House. Luke was frowning at us.
Darinia nudged his shoulder. 'Don't be jealous, Luke,' I heard her say. 'Someone was bound to complete a quest after you.'
I didn't hear his reply.
Chiron's photo-board of fame beamed down at us from the wall of his office. He led us in and turned to survey us, a smile on his bearded face.
'Well done, my dear.' He held out his arms and I ran into them: my second welcoming hug of the day.
'And Grover,' he continued when I let go, 'I am sure the Council will vote favourably on your license after this.'
'Thank you, sir,' Grover said.
'Now, tell me everything.'
It was a long story to tell. We started from the beginning, from the attack of the Furies on the bus out of New York, and told him everything, all the way up to Percy's showdown with Ares on the beach of Santa Monica, where Kronos had issued his dreadful warning. Grover, who hadn't realised about Kronos, stared at me in wide-eyed horror when I related the conclusion that both Percy and I had come to.
Chiron was an excellent listener. His eyes followed us attentively as we talked and he nodded at all the right places, but not once did he interrupt. He looked sorrowful, but not surprised, when I mentioned Kronos's machinations in the whole business.
'So we flew back, and Percy's returning the bolt to Zeus right now-'
'Did that an hour or so ago, actually,' a familiar voice interrupted. Percy was leaning against the door frame, grinning cheekily.
'Percy!' Grover said.
'Welcome back, child.' Chiron trotted over to shake his hand. 'Annabeth and Grover have been telling me of your exploits. You've certainly been busy. I'm proud of you.'
'Yeah …' Percy ran a hand through his hair. 'Busy. You could say that.'
'So everything's okay?' I demanded. 'You returned the bolt, and told them about-'
Percy shook his head. 'I did, but Zeus wouldn't listen.'
'He didn't believe you?'
'He did, but he said not to talk about it any more. My dad …' He tripped a bit over the word, but when he tried again, it came out like a tasty morsel of candy, albeit one he was particularly proud of. 'My dad said Kronos has been stirring for a long time and making people evil. But that he was stuck where he was. In the pit.'
Chiron folded his fingers together, looking thoughtful. 'This matter of which you speak … the rise of the Titan Lord from Tartarus … it would indeed be impossible for him to achieve on his own.'
'But he's not on his own,' Percy said. 'Someone's been helping him. Someone stole Zeus's bolt, and Hades's helmet, and it wasn't Ares. He was playing Ares just as much as the other gods.'
'I do agree that the amount of power he appears to have is concerning,' Chiron admitted. 'However, if the gods have decreed that the subject is to be dropped …'
'What, we just let it go? Let Kronos keep getting stronger?'
'It will rest for now. You have thwarted his plans for imminent war, Percy. Whatever Kronos has planned for the future, you will have brought us time. And even if the gods are not prepared to discuss the matter at the moment, the Olympians are forewarned. It will not be so easy for Kronos to manipulate them from now on. You have succeeded at your quest, child-you all have. And now …' Chiron glanced out the window. We'd been talking so long, the sun was hanging low in the sky. He smiled at us. 'Now your victory feast awaits.'
Chapter 20
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Grover Underwood, Chiron, various others, Gen
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: What Annabeth Chase wants most is to undertake a quest, and when that chance comes, she’s taking it-even if that means teaming up with the son of her mother’s biggest rival. She thinks she’s prepared for everything that could happen, but right from the start, nothing goes to plan. And everything she thinks she knows about the quest, her life, and her family, may just be turned on its head. An alternate PoV retelling of The Lightning Thief.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Time Stops In An Epic Battle
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Ares, Luke Castellan, Chiron, various others
Word Count: 3,506
Chapter Summary: Percy duels a god and Annabeth and Grover return to camp at last.
A/N: As always, recognisable dialogue comes from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
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Hades's palace must have been directly under the sea because the pearls emerged and deposited us in the water. Grover and I splashed and spluttered, but luckily Percy knew his way about the sea. He hauled us to a life buoy and managed to get a Coast Guard vessel to drop us back on Santa Monica beach.
He wouldn't say a word about his mother. The hollow look in his eyes told me everything, though.
I wished I knew what to say to him. There was no way I could even pretend to know what he must be feeling. What did I know about losing a parent? I'd left my dad twice and not felt anything like the grief stamped across Percy's face.
It made me feel guilty-about taking his mom's place, certainly, but there was something else, too.
Ares was waiting for us on the beach. 'Hey kid,' he said casually. 'You were supposed to die.'
I didn't like his nonchalant tone, nor the way he just happened to be waiting. Percy, of course, had been miffed at Ares since Denver. He confronted him immediately, accusing him of deceit, theft; he'd apparently gone through the same thought processes as I had about the possible servant, because he accused Clarisse as well.
'Doesn't matter,' Ares said. 'The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort. See, you've got to die in the Underworld. Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades is still looking for this …'
And he brought it out: the final missing piece of the puzzle. Hades's bronze helmet, in all its terror-radiating glory.
Ares had had it all along. In this, too, he was the missing link.
'Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going.' Ares looked positively gleeful at the idea.
'But they're your family!' Even as I said it, though, I knew I wasn't making much of an argument. After all, who could hurt you better than your own family?
Ares kept on boasting about his grand plan-sending us off to deliver the bolt, magicking the sheath to hide the bolt until we got there. Except his strategy-and from everything I'd ever heard, Ares wasn't exactly a brain trust-sounded like it fit very well into what I'd worked out Kronos's to be. Then there was the way we'd nearly ended up in Tartarus, along with the bolt.
Did Kronos have the power to manipulate a god into betraying his own family?
Percy had picked up on it, too. 'But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself? Why send it to Hades?'
Ares took on that same unsettled look he'd had when we'd talked in the diner in Denver and I'd asked him who Hades had used as a thief. Like he'd lost some information inside his head and was trying to consult some manual to get it back.
'I didn't want the trouble,' he blustered. 'Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing.'
Percy called his bluff. I was impressed at how he'd worked out the strategy, although he didn't seem to have identified Kronos yet.
Or maybe, like me, he knew better than to say the name aloud.
'I am the god of war!' Ares insisted. 'I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!'
That settled it. I think even Ares looked somewhat disturbed to think that something had been-or possibly still was-controlling him. There were no prizes for uncovering the truth, though. Ares simply brushed off the thought and proceeded to attack.
He called down his sacred boar to kill Percy.
In the myths, Ares had transformed into a boar to hunt down the guy Aphrodite had been having a fling with. He didn't do that now, but the boar that erupted from beneath the sand had his same ugly grimace and fiery, hateful eyes.
Percy, the idiot, demanded a one-on-one fight. He barely spared a glance for the boar that was pawing at the sand, getting ready to charge.
'Percy, run!' I yelled.
He made it look easy. A quick dodge, a lightning-quick slash of his sword, and all the power of the sea to drown the sacred animal of Ares. And then he stepped up and challenged Ares again.
I didn't know if it was the bravest or the most foolhardy thing I'd ever heard. When Ares finally accepted and stepped forward with his massive, ruby-encrusted sword, I was definitely leaning towards the latter.
'Percy, don't do this.' I grabbed his arm. 'He's a god.' I could count on one hand the number of times a mortal had survived a duel with a god. Possibly one finger, if that.
'He's a coward,' Percy said simply.
What I did then was probably as foolhardy as Percy's challenge to Ares. The gods didn't take kindly to people supporting their challengers. But after everything we'd been through-the monsters, the Underworld, Percy leaving his mom behind for me-the least I could do was stand behind him.
I slipped my camp necklace off my neck. 'Wear this, at least. For luck.'
He looked at me, a little dumbfounded, but his eyes were soft when I tied the string of beads around his neck. My father's ring flashed at the end of the row. His fingers brushed lightly across it.
'Reconciliation,' I told him. 'Athena and Poseidon together.' Maybe it would help. He was battling the god of war; he could use the goddess of war and wisdom combined on his side. I hoped my mother would be okay with it.
He smiled and thanked me, and then Grover stepped up too, with a tin can and the support of the satyrs.
The battle began.
What can I say? It was magnificent. Terrifying, because I was so worried for Percy, but he fought like a hero, with heart and courage. He kept his head and parried Ares's strikes with his sword. He stayed quick on his feet and played to his strength: the power of the rolling sea behind him.
For years I had read about heroes from ancient to modern times and imagined their battles. I probably wasn't the best judge, but I was sure that nobody watching Percy fight could deny that he had the potential, at the very least, to be one of those greats.
Grover and I weren't the only spectators. The fight drew cops to the scene, sirens blaring. I called out a warning-much good it would do, with the two locked so intently in battle-but it turned out to be unnecessary. I felt the mist swirl around us with the appearance of a rising band of souls … Hades's vanguard army, led by the three Kindly Ones. But they didn't attack. They simply watched.
And then the eclipse happened. Only it wasn't an eclipse. It was like all the substance in the world was being leeched out into a vacuum, the same way the pit of Tartarus had tried to inhale us into its bottomless depths. Time froze for a heartbeat, in which everything and everyone around me was a shapeless line drawing. Only dotted outlines remained: colourless, not even black and white.
Will time cease to have meaning? Will all civilisation grind to a halt?
When it was over, we stood in a circle of destruction. Police cars overturned and in flames, side casualties from the battle. Ruined beach huts bobbing away on what had previously been a crashing tidal wave. Three wizened Furies looking absurdly gobsmacked.
Ares looked as startled as all of us. Part of me kind of hoped he'd done it to win, but he'd been caught in the spell as well. Whoever had caused the eclipse, he was stronger infinitely more powerful than Ares. Even just reaching out from his dark prison.
What will happen when Father Time is freed?
Ares lowered his sword and stepped away. That actually scared me more than his wanting to kill Percy. The eclipse was an intervention, a warning to the god: leave this half-blood alone. I could only imagine that Kronos wanted Percy for a far more sinister purpose.
With a final threat to Percy, Ares drew together the scattered elements of his being-I barely had time to shout a warning-and his true form lit up the sky. Snatches of the Great Prophecy danced before my covered eyes, words I'd seen on parchment: half-blood/three/sixteen/choice/breath/destroy. I heard cold laughter and Grover's frantic scrabbling against a pair of winged Hermes sneakers.
Was Ares the only god Kronos had managed to corrupt?
When I opened my eyes, Percy stood at the edge of the sea, the waves lapping at his feet as he handed a bronze helmet-Hades's Helm-over to the three Furies. Their talons clenched over it and they disappeared in a flutter of bat wings.
Percy walked up the beach towards us.
Grover shook his head in disbelief. 'Percy … that was so incredibly …'
'Terrifying,' I filled in for him.
'Cool!' he amended.
Percy gave us a wan smile. 'Did you guys feel that … whatever it was?'
I knew immediately what he was talking about. Grover said something about maybe the Furies, but I met Percy's eyes and I was sure he knew. Kronos, Tartarus … he'd figured it all out, too, who had been controlling Ares and breaking up their fight.
I marvelled that he wasn't trembling in his shoes. Then again, he wasn't wearing any.
All he said was, 'We have to get back to New York. By tonight.'
OoOoO
Percy got us on a flight. In spite of the risks-as Chiron had rightly pointed out in the beginning, the son of Poseidon trespassing on Zeus's territory wasn't something to take lightly-he insisted that it was the only way, and eventually I had to agree. We were out of time.
We'd attracted a big crowd. The headlines I'd read on our Amtrak journey had ignited into a nation-wide media spectacle, and the television networks all jumped in for the grand finale, courtesy of the Mist: a gunfight showdown between an abducted twelve-year-old and his crazy kidnapper. I wondered what Ares thought about being painted as an abductor. He wasn't one of the gods who went in for that sort of thing; legend had it he'd been kidnapped himself as a kid.
Percy hammed it up for the cameras like a pro. If I'd seen the way he managed to play the reporters before our quest, I'd have seriously believed he could have been the duplicitous thief Hades had accused him of being.
As it was, I still had no leads on who it really was.
Are you sure? All those coincidences … A voice in my head chided me. I shoved it aside.
Zeus, thank him, did not blast us out of the sky. We touched down safely at La Guardia's domestic terminal (thought the whole time, Percy gripped my hand so tightly I thought he'd cut off my circulation), where it was child's play to distract the eagerly waiting New York tabloid reporters.
'You guys get on to Half-Blood Hill,' Percy said.
'What about you?' Grover asked.
Percy patted the master bolt. Its sheath had turned back into a backpack. 'I've got to return this, don't I?'
'We should go with you. We're a team, right?'
He grinned. 'A good one. I couldn't have-we couldn't have done any of this if we hadn't been together. But this last part … I think I'm meant to do it alone. Besides, Chiron needs to know.' He caught my eye and I knew that he meant more than just the return of the lightning bolt.
'Are you sure you'll be all right?' I asked.
'I'm sure.' He undid my camp necklace, which he was still wearing, and placed it in my hand, closing my fingers around it. 'Thanks, Annabeth. Maybe when I get back, I'll have one of my own.'
Tears prickled at my eyes. I felt the sudden urge to fling my arms around him and hug him tight. But of course I didn't. 'Yeah, definitely,' I said. 'See you back at camp, Seaweed Brain.'
He grinned, his single dimple winking at me, then he got into a taxi and zoomed off in the direction of the Empire State Building.
Grover and I looked at each other. 'A taxi, then?'
I shook my head, counting the cash we had left. There wasn't much-a couple of dollar bills and a handful of golden drachmas. 'I have a better idea.'
Just as I'd seen Luke do months ago, on our return from our field trip, I tossed a drachma into the air and shouted, 'Anakoche, harma epitribeios!' Stop, chariot of damnation.
The Grey Sisters' Taxi appeared right on command.
'Let's go,' I told Grover.
OoOoO
I can't remember what I imagined the return from a quest would be like, back when I used to hope for one. The last returning hero was Luke, and that hadn't been a happy reunion. I hadn't been there when he crossed the boundaries in the dead of the night, scarred and bleeding and alone. He never talked about it. The next morning the whispers had gone round, and there he was again, with the Hermes campers at their table at breakfast. In my head, his actual entrance had been pretty dramatic.
So I didn't really expect our return to feel so normal.
Camp Half-Blood looked almost exactly as we'd left it-minus the rainclouds. From the vantage point of Half-Blood Hill, little orange dots peppered the campgrounds as the campers went around their afternoon activities. Laughter and hooting rang out from the canoe lake, where I surmised from the frequent splashes that campers were happily dive-bombing each other. Lava bubbled over the top of the climbing wall. A flock of Pegasi circled over the forest. Arrows, looking like tiny needles, soared across the range towards their targets.
It felt a bit like coming out of the Lotus Casino, except in the opposite direction. I knew we'd only been away ten days, but it felt like we'd been gone for months.
We burst in to the Big House, yelling for Chiron, but it was empty. He was out on the grounds somewhere. So we took off across the lawn to search.
Chiron was leading the masters archery class. When we came running up to the range, it caused quite a commotion among the senior counsellors.
'You're back!' Anita screamed.
Luke's hand slipped off the bow. His arrow fired, a wide shot that slammed into a tree six feet away from the target.
'Annabeth!' And suddenly I was caught in a bone-crushing hug. I thought I'd melt right through the ground. For a blissful, time-stopping second, I thought, this is what it's like to come home. Luke put me down and held me at arm's length, beaming. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're okay.' His eyes grew sad. 'I'm sorry about Percy … and the quest.'
'What?' The thrill of Luke's welcome drained away. 'What's happened to Percy?'
Luke's face paled. 'Uh-I thought … there's just the two of you, so I thought he-I assumed-'
Chiron stepped forward. 'Where is Percy?'
'He's gone to Mount Olympus,' Grover said. 'With the bolt.'
The tense faces of all the campers around us relaxed. A cheer went up from Lee Fletcher.
'Maybe the kids will finally stop fighting!' Darinia Castle sighed in relief.
Luke looked stunned. 'He-he did it? He completed his quest?'
'Yes he did!' Grover said proudly. 'He went all the way to the Underworld and got the lightning bolt, and he even schooled Ares-'
'Excuse me?' Clarisse said, pushing her way forward.
The questions came in hard and fast: Did you really go to the Underworld? Was it scary? How did you get Hades to give it up? Why didn't you guys go to Olympus with him?
'Okay, okay,' Chiron said. He raised his hands, palms up. 'Annabeth and Grover have travelled a long way. Let's give them some space.'
The counsellors backed up a bit. Clarisse gave us a death glare. I wondered if she had indeed been the thief, but it was impossible to tell. She could as easily be taking offence at what Grover had said. It never took much to set her off.
'I believe we will have much to celebrate tonight, when the last member of our quest team returns. I'm glad your shrouds may be burned under much more joyous circumstances,' Chiron said.
'Ooh, wait until you see it!' Anita said. 'Well, yours, anyway. Percy's is a bit …' She glared at Clarisse, who crossed her arms unrepentantly.
'Come now.' Chiron put a hand each on Grover's and my shoulders. 'You'll have time to catch up later. I'd like to talk to you two, first.' He kept his voice light, but when our eyes met, I knew he'd guessed we had more to tell.
We left the senior archery class gossiping excitedly among themselves. I looked back over my shoulder as we headed to the Big House. Luke was frowning at us.
Darinia nudged his shoulder. 'Don't be jealous, Luke,' I heard her say. 'Someone was bound to complete a quest after you.'
I didn't hear his reply.
Chiron's photo-board of fame beamed down at us from the wall of his office. He led us in and turned to survey us, a smile on his bearded face.
'Well done, my dear.' He held out his arms and I ran into them: my second welcoming hug of the day.
'And Grover,' he continued when I let go, 'I am sure the Council will vote favourably on your license after this.'
'Thank you, sir,' Grover said.
'Now, tell me everything.'
It was a long story to tell. We started from the beginning, from the attack of the Furies on the bus out of New York, and told him everything, all the way up to Percy's showdown with Ares on the beach of Santa Monica, where Kronos had issued his dreadful warning. Grover, who hadn't realised about Kronos, stared at me in wide-eyed horror when I related the conclusion that both Percy and I had come to.
Chiron was an excellent listener. His eyes followed us attentively as we talked and he nodded at all the right places, but not once did he interrupt. He looked sorrowful, but not surprised, when I mentioned Kronos's machinations in the whole business.
'So we flew back, and Percy's returning the bolt to Zeus right now-'
'Did that an hour or so ago, actually,' a familiar voice interrupted. Percy was leaning against the door frame, grinning cheekily.
'Percy!' Grover said.
'Welcome back, child.' Chiron trotted over to shake his hand. 'Annabeth and Grover have been telling me of your exploits. You've certainly been busy. I'm proud of you.'
'Yeah …' Percy ran a hand through his hair. 'Busy. You could say that.'
'So everything's okay?' I demanded. 'You returned the bolt, and told them about-'
Percy shook his head. 'I did, but Zeus wouldn't listen.'
'He didn't believe you?'
'He did, but he said not to talk about it any more. My dad …' He tripped a bit over the word, but when he tried again, it came out like a tasty morsel of candy, albeit one he was particularly proud of. 'My dad said Kronos has been stirring for a long time and making people evil. But that he was stuck where he was. In the pit.'
Chiron folded his fingers together, looking thoughtful. 'This matter of which you speak … the rise of the Titan Lord from Tartarus … it would indeed be impossible for him to achieve on his own.'
'But he's not on his own,' Percy said. 'Someone's been helping him. Someone stole Zeus's bolt, and Hades's helmet, and it wasn't Ares. He was playing Ares just as much as the other gods.'
'I do agree that the amount of power he appears to have is concerning,' Chiron admitted. 'However, if the gods have decreed that the subject is to be dropped …'
'What, we just let it go? Let Kronos keep getting stronger?'
'It will rest for now. You have thwarted his plans for imminent war, Percy. Whatever Kronos has planned for the future, you will have brought us time. And even if the gods are not prepared to discuss the matter at the moment, the Olympians are forewarned. It will not be so easy for Kronos to manipulate them from now on. You have succeeded at your quest, child-you all have. And now …' Chiron glanced out the window. We'd been talking so long, the sun was hanging low in the sky. He smiled at us. 'Now your victory feast awaits.'
Chapter 20