Bonds

Annabeth Starts To Connect The Dots

WOO! HOO! OO!" Annabeth whooped as the Omniferrum plummeted to the picturesque green hills and valleys below. The giant suit of mostly Imperial Gold armor had its arms and legs stretched out and its wings folded on its broad back, falling as if it was about to belly flop the whole of New Tartarus. Tucking its arms and legs and rotating its frame so it fell head first would have allowed for a faster descent, but speed wasn't what she was after.

It was freedom.

For a few brief moments when the Omniferrum reached the top of its arc, she knew what it was like to be weightless. Her body would rise from the pilot's seat (and gods, did she want to remove her safety straps), and her hair took on a life of its own; floating wherever it damn well pleased. The first time it happened (and that was entirely on accident) the shifting of the contents of her stomach combined with the sensation of falling took her back to her first horrifying descent into Tartarus. But the sight of the new and improved realm of monsters and the realization that she was in control, freed her from the dark recesses of her mind. And in those exhilarating seconds, she could forget about the exploding collar around her neck, that she would never be able to return to Gaea, that her friends were in danger, and that the man she loved was dead.

She could however, not forget the Son of Kronos standing just behind her. The blond white-knuckling the back of her seat for dear life.

"Annabeth!" Knight cried, undoubtedly trying to hide the fear in his voice and failing in a most spectacular manner. "Are you-" With a single thought and a devilish smirk, she pulled the Omniferrum out of its fall, and sent it flying upwards once more with a powerful flap of its wings "-TITANAS!" The teen shrieked as he was slammed into rear of the cockpit.

Annabeth couldn't contain the chuckle that bubbled up and she didn't try that hard to fight it. She couldn't come up with a single word to accurately describe how great it was to genuinely smile and laugh- especially after months of isolation and depression.

Things are starting to look up, she thought as she willed the mechanical armor to turn on her seat warmer and continue its climb; the powerful whir of the turbines fighting the winds for volume supremacy. I'm no longer completely defenseless. The Daughter of Athena smiled, glancing down between her legs at her newest acquisitions: a new invisibility baseball cap and a Celestial Bronze dagger that did far more than it appeared.

It may have made her sound petty, but it bothered her that the abilities of mother's gift never returned after Gaea had been laid to rest and the Olympians were restored to one mind. She may have even been a little envious of the rest of The Seven and their constantly growing powers while her one advantage had been taken away. But that was in the past. She and Knight had worked in tandem to create a new Yankee's cap to replace what she had lost. It functioned exactly the same way, had the same dimensions, and even felt just as worn, with the only difference being the Son of Kronos had changed the coloring to red and gold- which she would admit was her fault for not providing those details.

The Celestial Bronze dagger was slightly longer than the one she had lost during her first trip to Tartarus, and to her annoyance had a small scythe- the symbol of Kronos -stamped into the end of its hilt. According to Knight it could transform into a bow that shot arrows of lightning, but she had not had the opportunity to inquire how to use. She would be lying if she said she hadn't felt a twinge of guilt and remorse when she watched Knight forge the dagger, as it had been her dagger that had slain Luke; depriving the young man and his siblings from ever knowing him. So when Knight asked her to tell him about his mortal father, she felt obligated to tell him everything she knew. It was a bittersweet exchange, but it got her some much needed equipment and made the Son of Kronos trust her all the more.