The Mark of Athena [Discontinued]

Chapter 15

Finally, the long awaited CHAPTER 15. "Laundry day, see you there, underthings, tumbling". Dr. Horrible? Anyone? No? Okay. Anyway this Chapter took so frickin' long to write so that's why I waited to post it. Chapter 16 is already written and will be posted soon. READ ON

Chapter 15

Percy

Percy and the group descended the long stone staircase. The air was hard to breathe and smelled of mildew, like someone hadn’t cleaned in a really long time. Torches lit the walls, though, Percy couldn’t understand why, considering the fire was completely black. It still somehow managed to light the room enough for them to make their way down into the very depths of Rome. Percy lifted a torch off of one of the walls and the fire instantly turned a deep green, similar to the color of Percy’s eyes.

“Oh, so this fire’s emotion activated, huh? Like a mood ring?” Leo apparently tried to ease the tension, because the torch nearest to him turned a subtle yellow. Percy guessed no one had heard him because the next thing that left Leo’s mouth was, “Hey Jason, did you, you know, deal with Piper after the whole ‘muffin incident’?” Percy didn’t know what the “incident” was, but obviously Jason was feeling embarrassed because three torches instantly lit up a brilliant pink color, the same shade as Jason’s blushing cheeks.

“Yep,” Leo said looking at the fire carefully, “Definitely like a mood ring.” He wasn’t paying attention as Piper held back a blushing, yet furious, Jason.

“Oh you just wait Leo,” Jason began, “If we get out of this alive, I will personally send you back to Camp Half-Blood, the hard way.” Leo gulped and Jason pointed two of his fingers at Leo like “I’m watching you”. Percy forced back a smile. The way the two bickered reminded him of the way he and Grover used to pointlessly argue .Then he felt a heavy feeling on his chest, an aching feeling. Thinking of happier times made Percy…wonder. What would happen after they finished this quest? Would everyone go back to their own Camps and pretend like nothing happened? Percy certainly had created a new life at Camp Jupiter in the last eight months, but what about the one he had left behind? Jason had most likely done the same at Camp Half-Blood. So I guess we’ll come to that bridge when we cross it, Percy thought. His reminiscing came to a halt when he walked into a brick wall. Of course. The sudden change in pace caused a domino effect as each person slammed into the one in front of themselves. Jason pounced off Piper and fell backwards into Leo, who hit his head on the cold, stone floor.

“Jeez guys! Warn a guy next time!” Leo said, massaging the back of his head. 

“It’s not my fault,” Percy said as he backed up and held the torch into the air, “Trust me if I could walk through walls, I’m pretty sure I would have known by now.”

“Well, what do we do now then?” Hazel chimed in. Percy looked at the wall and squinted. There was same ancient righting on it, and it was definitely Greek.

“From here chaos can create, the Doors of Death will await,” Percy read aloud.

“Well that tells us completely nothing. How are we supposed to get through solid concrete?” Leo asked. Annabeth pushed by Percy and put her hand on the brick wall. The Mark on her arm began to glow and her eyes turned golden once more. She whispered something inaudible to the rest of the group and suddenly the wall began to crumble. Brick by brick, the wall collapsed inside of itself until a gaping hole replaced what only seconds before was solid concrete.

“Well I guess that’s how,” Jason said in awe. Annabeth’s eyes returned to their normal grey and she began to sway. Percy steadied her in his arms.