The Revivers

Chapter 22

A/N 3 years later... here's your update! Though my fan fiction days are in the past, I had better finish this one. This was always my favorite story. There's about 4 chapters left, hopefully they get finished within the next decade. Also, side note, this story was started before Nico came out in the actual series, and that's the only reason he and Thalia are together here. 

Annabeth POV

"So fear didn't work?" Juniper asked. I shook my head. Daisy ran around on the beach in front of us as I filled her mother in on what had happened. 

"I'm not sure it was worth it to put Percy in danger like that, but I honestly thought it would work." My head dropped to my hands, "What am I supposed to do now?" Juniper gently wrapped her arms around my shoulders. Nobody had really held me since Percy. I hadn't realized how much I missed the touch of another person... a living person. 

"You'll find a way. His heart is going to beat again, you're going to give him the cure, and everything will be ok." She promised, but I heard a waver in her voice. She was just as scared as I was. I felt the guilt seeping into me. This wasn't just Percy's life that I was working to save, it was Grover's too. I felt the pressure to save him, and the rest of the human race, but nothing pushed me more than the little girl splashing in the shallow water in front of us. I grew up without a mom, I wasn't going to make her grow up without her dad. 

My thoughts drifted to my mother, and then to my stepmother. While I felt the familiar twinge of sadness that came with loss, there was something else growing in the pit of my stomach. My fingers clenched and my jaw tightened as I thought about all the different ways that woman had made my life hell as a kid. As my blood boiled beneath my skin, I felt the pulse in my wrist begin to quicken. That's when the lightbulb went off over my head. 

"Anger..." I said quietly, "Maybe he doesn't get scared anymore, but he definitely gets angry." I left Juniper with Daisy on the beach and made my way back to the cabins. Thalia was sitting on the steps outside.

"Annabeth listen about yesterday..." I cut her off.

"What makes a zombie angry?" Her brow furrowed as she processed what I said.

"Um... why?" My fingers twitched anxiously. 

"I want to make Percy angry, what makes a zombie angry?" I asked impatiently. She pursed her lips.

"Annabeth, purposely irritating a cannibalistic Percy doesn't sound like the smartest idea." We didn't have time to argue. I had loved ones to reanimate. 

"I need his heart to beat again. Fear isn't working, but anger might. You can either help me piss off Percy, or I'll do it myself." She sighed. Thalia understood better than anyone how stubborn I could be, and in that moment she realized that there was no stopping me. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Let's go provoke the monster." 

Thalia wrinkled her nose as the stench hit, but I'd gotten used to it. It was almost comforting. The smell of rotten flesh meant that Percy was still here. He raised his head as we entered, but dropped it again when his hands couldn't break the restraints. 

"Ok... well, all the zombies that we've met have gotten angry when you fight back. Maybe try fighting him?" She suggested. I moved to take off his restraints, but she grabbed my shoulder, "Do it with him still in the chair." 

I stared at Percy for a second. His skin was grey and drooping, and his hair was coming out in tufts. I worried about hurting him, but I worried more about never bringing him back. I raised my hand high above my head and brought it down hard across his face. His head snapped up to stare at me, looking more surprised than angry. So, I smacked him again. There had been a couple of times that I'd really wanted to do that while he was alive. It wasn't as satisfying as I'd always imagined.