Percy Jackson and the Child of Victory (Annabeth Chase x Reader)

We Almost Die Too Become Invincible

~~~~~Y/N's PΩV~~~~~

We emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond. Mrs. O'Leary and Chimera looked pretty tired as they limped over to a cluster of boulders. Mrs. O'Leary started sniffing around, and I was afraid she might mark her territory, but Nico said, " It's okay. She just smells the way home."

I frowned. "Through the rocks?" "The Underworld has two major entrances," Nico said. "You know the one in L.A." "Charon's ferry" Nico nodded. "Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus." 

"The dude with the harp."

"Dude with the lyre," Nico corrected. "But yeah, him. He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld. He sang his way right into Hades's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul." I remembered the story. Orpheus wasn't supposed to look behind him when he was leading his wife back to the world, but of course he did. It was one of those typical "and-so-they-died/the-end" stories that always made us feel warm and fuzzy.

"So this is the Door of Orpheus." Percy tried to be impressed, but it still looked like a pile of rocks to me. "How does it open?" "We need music," Nico said. "How's your singing?" "HA" I laughed "Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all." Percy asked

"It's not so easy. We need music." I was pretty sure if Percy tried to sing, all he would cause was an avalanche. I couldn't sing either "can I just punch it? I've broken rocks before" "no, like I said, it needs music to open, Its a whole bunch of magic shit" Nico said back.

"I have a better idea." Percy turned and called, "GROVER!" We waited for a long time. Mrs. O'Leary curled up and took a nap. I could hear the crickets in the woods and an owl hooting. Traffic hummed along Central Park West. Horse hooves clopped down a nearby path, maybe a mounted police patrol. I was sure they'd love to find two kids hanging out in the park at one in the morning.

"It's no good," Nico said at last.

we sat in silence for about a minute more till Percy stumbled and almost fell over. "You ok?" I asked "What happened?" Nico asked.

"I got through. He's... yeah. He's on his way." A minute later, the tree next to us shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head. "Grover!" I yelled. "Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if we were going to play fetch with the satyr.

"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.

"You okay, man?" I asked "Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above his curly hair. "I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."

He grinned and got to his feet—well, his hooves, actually. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear jeans, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down. His T-shirt had a picture from that book Where the Wild Things Are. It was covered with dirt and tree sap. His goatee looked fuller, almost manly (or goatly?), and he was as tall as me now.

"Good to see you, G-man," Percy said. "You remember Nico." Grover nodded at Nico, then he gave me and Percy a big hug. He smelled like fresh-mown lawns. "Perrrrcy! Y/NNNN" he bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."

"I was worried," I said. "Where've you been the last two months?" "The last two—" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"

"We haven't heard from you," Percy said. "Juniper's worried. We sent Iris-messages, but—"

"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"