The War Against Chaos (Completed)

Chapter 14

(AN/I changed the format)
     It's a good thing that Annabeth is with me, otherwise I'd be dead. She's so experienced that she's able to take out the monsters easily. I slash and stab at them, getting a few minor scratches. Other than the grunting of the animals and our heavy breathing, it's silent. That's what scares me the most. Not the hoard of monsters, but how eerily silent it is. If what Annabeth said is true, and Eris has risen, then why can't we hear anything? I can't focus on that, however, if I want to stay alive. A manticore leaps at me and I'm able to kill it, but not before it scratches across my check. I can already feel the blood streaming from it. We continue like this for a while, slashing, stabbing, and turning monsters to dust. The stream of monsters is seemingly endless, and I'm getting tired. I can tell that Annabeth is too. Then, a stretch of sound breaks across the forest and I'm suddenly able to hear camp again. There are screams echoing through the branches and I can hear the distant sound of fire crackling. I turn to kill another monster, but it's gone. Every single monster is gone in the blink of an eye.

     I turn to Annabeth, "What-"

     She turns towards where the sound is coming from, fear in her eyes, "I'm not sure. But when I walked through here, everything became silent, I'm sure you noticed as well. I think Eris may have put a sound barrier in here, so no one would find people...so that no one would find you."

     I run my fingers through my hair, a nervous habit I picked up, "Then why can we hear them now?"

     "I think...if I'm correct...Eris is dead. Or at least the equivalent for gods."

     "What? Why would-the monsters! They were brought here by Eris, these specific ones probably were created by her as well. That's why they're gone, and so is the barrier. You're right! She has to be gone! That's amazing!"

     Annabeth frowns, "The camp was basically covered in flames when I left, it can't be in any better condition. But you're right, at least more damaged won't be caused....hopefully."

   "Should we go back then?"

   "Oh gods."

   "What?" I turn to look at what she's seeing. For the first time I notice that the trees in the distance are smoking, some burned half way, some burned till there's nothing but stumps.

    "No...that's where...if...it has to be..." Annabeth mutters.

    She runs off towards the trees and I follow closely behind her. I see distressed nature spirits standing near the untouched trees. They seem to be crying, and that's when I realize that some of the spirits must be dead because of their burned trees. Annabeth reaches down and sniffs a burned leaf that sits next to one of the stumps.
     Her eyes widen and she thrusts the leaf at me, "What does this smell like?"

     I sniff it, "It smells like smoke and...citrus. Why?" She curses and stares at it, examining the details. She turns to one of the nature spirits and it nods slowly. Annabeth puts a hand over her face and a tear streams down her face.

    I look at it, trying to see what's so upsetting, "Annabeth? What's wrong?"

    She turns to me, her eyes already red from the crying, "The leaf...it's from Juniper's tree." Oh gods, not Juniper. As a legacy of Ceres, I talked with the spirits a lot, especially her. She was always so kind and I loved talking to her. She always made me feel calm and happy and-

    Just as I'm about to respond, Piper runs up behind us, looking at us sadly before wrapping Annabeth in a hug.
    
    "Piper? What are you doing?" Annabeth asks, her face getting increasingly more worried.
 
    Piper looks down, "Annabeth-"
 
    Annabeth pulls away, "What happened?"

    "Annie, I'm...I'm so sorry."
 
    "Piper, please tell me what happened."
 
    "You need to get back to camp." Annabeth looks like she's about to argue but Piper's charmspeak convinces her. I take one last look at the burnt trees before going after them. We walk through the trees into camp and Annabeth and I gasp simultaneously. Camp is gone, destroyed. Almost all of the cabins and houses have been burnt, people standing outside them, crying and comforting each other. Chiron stands near the remains of what I assume is the big house. Apollo campers rush around, treating the wounded who lie on sheets on the ground. My home is destroyed. I see groups of people huddled, probably around their loved ones who have died. I'm praying with every fiber of my being that my family is okay. And Leah and August, and...everyone, though I know that many have died. Annabeth is staring at the ruins, her eyes searching for something.
 
     She turns her gaze to Piper, her eyes closed, "Piper-"

     "There was nothing we could do. We tried but-"

     Annabeth's voice comes out in barely a whisper, "Where's Percy?"