CH 56 -PERCY
The sudden change in temperature matched the twist of events, overwhelming Percy and making him feel feverish. He was also scared his nose would start to bleed because of that, but at the moment, he had more important things to worry about.
He knelt next to Annabeth and brushed the hair out of her face. She didn't respond. Her eyes were just... empty. He had never seen her look so hollow. "Annabeth, look at me," he said, taking her hands. She finally looked back at him pleadingly, and her expression seemed to say, Take me away from here.
Percy was still couldn't believe Mr. Frederick Chase was gone. Just like that. Sure, Percy had been through many battles, he had even been to the Underworld, but only now it seemed to really be sinking in. One minute, you were there, alive, and the next, you're just gone. Your presence is wiped off the surface of the Earth. That is what makes death scary, Percy thought. Knowing it can happen at any time.
That was why he had to cherish every moment he had, whether it was his last or one of the many to come. He stared longingly into Annabeth's eyes, and felt more strongly about this than ever before.
"Come on." He helped Annabeth up, Jason doing the same for Piper. Percy couldn't imagine what Piper must've been feeling. She had lost her best friend and her father on the same day. Then Percy remembered how Leo looked; he seemed devastated. Lifeless. Percy said, "You ready, Supreme Commander?" knowing he needed to help him feel better. But when he turned around, Leo wasn't there.
"Where's Leo?" Percy asked Jason.
Jason's eyes widened. He hadn't noticed Leo's departure either apparently. "We have to find him!" he said, beginning to run back into the tunnel with Piper at his side. Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth's waist and they took off after them. He soon didn't have to support her when she was able to run, though rather mechanically.
They found Leo throwing flame balls at a wall which was on the verge of collapsing. Jason flew over and pulled him away just in time. "Khione and Gaea! They're the same person!" he screamed. "We have to stop her before - "
A burst of cold air, like an icy fist, hit Percy on the back. He screamed when he felt something grab onto him and it started pulling him back down the tunnel.
His friends scrambled after him, and Annabeth, finally snapping out of her daze, was the first to reach him. She lunged for his hand, grabbing just his fingertips just before he was pulled over the cliff. Then Jason grabbed on to Annabeth, and Piper grabbed on to Jason, and Leo grabbed on to Piper. "Come on, pull!" Percy felt like he was going to be ripped apart.
"Hang on, Percy!" he thought he heard Annabeth say. "I'm not letting you fall! N - Never again!"
Percy could almost imagine Gaea's cackling laughter. Why does this seem so familiar? It was just like Tartarus, except this time, they were literally falling to their death.
Percy couldn't understand how Khione's ice wasn't melting in the intense heat. But he couldn't look down to see, he didn't want to look away from Annabeth. If he was to die here, he wanted her face to be the last thing he would ever see.
His fingers started to slip from Annabeth's grasp. Khione's pull was too strong. Finally, she let go. "No!" Annabeth screamed. I love you, Wise Girl. He closed his eyes.
Percy's back came into contact with something. He had already reached the bottom? Was this what death felt like? He didn't feel any pain. He hesitantly opened his eyes.
That's when Percy realized a giant eagle had caught him right before he fell into the lava. Frank! He always seemed to be there at all the right times, especially in life-threatening situations.
Percy let out a whoop. "Way to go, Zhang! You're - " His sentence was cut short when Percy noticed Frank wasn't heading back to their friends or to the other side of the cavern. He was flying downwards, towards the fire.
Percy gripped Frank's feathery neck tighter, suddenly aware he might be chocking him if he tightened his grip too intensely. "Frank! Frank! What the Hades are you doing?" He didn't know if Frank couldn't hear him or if he was simply ignoring him, but Percy didn't know what was motivating his friend to want to be roasted alive.
Just before they were engulfed in the flames, Percy came to a sudden realization: Khione couldn't have been pulling him down from all the way down there; the fall was way too long, and she would've melted. She was powerful, but not powerful enough to even survive in the heat. Also, he thought Khione had died a few weeks ago. This only meant... Someone must've been impersonating the ice goddess.
All of these thoughts hit Percy with the same force traversing the flames did. Except, a second later, Frank the Eagle was landing smoothly on solid ground. Percy's first instinct was to look above him; they were back underground - well, even more underground. The domed cavern with the lava had disappeared. It was as if they had passed through a portal.
He wasn't on fire either, which Percy took as a good sign.
Percy hopped off of Frank's back, who immediately changed back to human form. Frank didn't look fazed at all. He must've seen the question marks in Percy's eyes, because he grinned proudly and said, "Hazel's Mist. That fire there? All a trick of the eyes. It was a diversion for the giants. They almost got to the mortals, so Hazel created this whole scene. They had enough time to escape, thank the gods. We're still rescuing demigods, though."
"Wow." Hazel's magic only seemed to keep getting stronger. "Does that mean Annabeth and Piper's dads didn't actually die in the lava?" Percy asked hopefully.
Frank's eyes widened in shock. "They did? I'm sorry, Percy, but I'm pretty sure Hazel didn't create the whole volcano. And even if they had fallen through the Mist, they wouldn't have survived the fall. We would've found them. That's why I was flying around. Gaea's been dragging people down."
Percy frowned. "Gaea? I thought I saw Khione!"
"Khione's dead," Frank said with a shrug. "Maybe Gaea's impersonating her or something."
Percy gasped. "Frank, that's it!"
Frank looked confused. "What's it?"
Percy started to pace. "Gaea's not at her maximum destruction power yet. She's only half awake because of the, uh, male sacrifice." Percy glanced at Frank to see if he was angry at him for basically lying to his friends and being half of the cause of the world ending, but he showed no different emotion. Relieved, Percy continued. "So maybe she has some new powers. Since she's, like, halfway there. Maybe she has enough power to impersonate monsters, like Khione! She probably figured the giant and monster army wouldn't be enough to hold us back, so having one of our worst enemies back would definitely shake us."
Frank nodded. "Sounds like something Gaea would do. Who knows how many other monsters she's become? And as far as we know, they're undefeatable. They're not real, so how do you destroy them?"
Percy thought about this. Frank was right; it was possible this was the reason they were losing. "I guess the only way to stop them would be to destroy their source."
"Queen Dirt Face herself," Frank said grimly. "Everything we do comes down to destroying Gaea."
"Isn't that why we're here?" Percy said dryly. "But hey, it's kinda thanks to Gaea I got to meet you," he added, giving Frank's shoulder a nudge. Frank smiled in return.
"Guys!" Hazel came tearing down the tunnel, out of breath. A gash ran across her forehead, but besides that, she seemed fine.
Percy ran to her to give her a hug. "Hazel, you were awesome!" Frank kissed her on top of her head.
Though her expression remained grim, he saw a hint of pride in her eyes. "Thanks, Percy. No time to chat, though. I need help saving the others."
Percy uncapped Riptide and winked at her. "That's what we're here for, right? Lead the way!" They took off down the passage.
Hazel was even more amazing than before. Her underground senses and Mist powers made her nearly unstoppable. She would create a tunnel at will, leading closer to the center of the labyrinth. She collapsed a whole tunnel on a hellhound who had almost pounced on them.
"Where are we going?" Percy asked Hazel.
Gold eyes looked back at him, kind of like flashlights lighting up the tunnel, Percy thought. He wondered if that was how Hazel was able to see in the dark. "Long story, but me and Frank and some of the others found Gaea's lair, so all we need to do now is to rally the remaining demigods and charge into there."
"It was mostly Hazel who did all the work, actually," said Frank.
"You killed Icarus!" she countered.
"You did?" Percy exclaimed.
"We both did," replied Frank.
Percy whistled in admiration. "Seems like you guys have been busy. All I've done so far is fall off a cliff. Again."
Frank waved that off. "I don't know if you saw, but when the earthquake started and the ground started to split, Hazel and I and half of our group took refuge in that big room, where Icarus and the giants and the ghosts were. We snuck in while they were all distracted. And when they all started to leave, I accidentally dropped the cages with the ghosts on Icarus. Hazel finished him off."
"I didn't want him to suffer too much," Hazel said.
"Only, the ghosts escaped," Frank continued. "Now, they can be anywhere in the maze. Anyway, of course the giants noticed, so that's when Hazel went all crazy with the Mist and started creating new tunnels. After a lot of wandering around, we eventually found Gaea. She could sense our presence, because a kid got sucked in. We got away before any others did, thankfully."
"Then you guys got to the fire pit and started saving us by going all Avengers-y?" Percy guessed.
"Who?" Hazel asked.
"I guess you could say that," Frank said. "Though I was hoping more for a battle of the Five Armies."
"The Hobbit!" Hazel proudly identified. Frank beamed back at her; he was teaching her well.
"I hear someone coming!" Frank suddenly cried. The three of them flattened themselves against the wall, weapons ready.
"It's us!" some familiar voices called. Jason, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth soon appeared, Annabeth running straight into Percy's arms. He felt a tear wet his arm as he hugged her tight.
"I let you go," she whispered.
"No, I slipped," Percy corrected. "And sometimes, that's okay. Especially when you have awesome friends to save you, like Frank."
"Guys." Piper called them over. "Look."
Hazel waved her hand through the air, unveiling the true form of the labyrinth. Suddenly, Percy saw a light at the end of a small passage. An opening.
"The Earth Mother," Hazel whispered, pointing to the light. "She's in there."
"Are there any giants or monsters in there?" Jason asked.
"Probably. At least half of the giants were when we were last there," Frank answered, counting on his fingers. "Around five of them, I think."
"So this is it," Percy said, looking at each of his friends. They had been through so much, and all those adventures and little quests had led to this moment. The Seven all in the same place, maybe for the last time. "Should we wait to get more help?"
A flash of light coming from behind them suddenly lit up the tunnel. "We're here," came a booming voice. Percy turned, and there stood seven of the Olympian gods. Poseidon smiled at Percy warmly and winked. Athena and Annabeth had a sort of stare down. Hazel took a step back from Pluto. Hephaestus gave Leo a small nod, who waved nervously back at him.
"Father," Jason said to Zeus. "You have come to defeat Gaea?"
"We have come to help you defeat Gaea," Zeus corrected his son. "You have all proven yourselves, and now that the Greek and Roman rift has been lifted, we have been able to unite with our true selves. We were just waiting for you to complete your final task, which was to find the center of the labyrinth, where the Earth Mother lies, half awake."
"Wait," said Annabeth, finally looking away from her mother. "Icarus didn't actually create this labyrinth?"
"He did," said Athena, and though her expression was guarded, she gazed at Annabeth with less hostility than expected. "But we decided not to interfere until this final task was completed."
"So now, we're all pumped and ready for 'Bring Mother Earth Down, 2.0'!" Mars said, pumping his fist into the air.
For once, Percy actually agreed with Mars. He couldn't wait to bring this house down.
Together, the Olympians and the children of the Olympians charged.
Kind of cliffhanger? No? Oh well. XD
(You'll never guess how many times I wrote "Pervy" instead of "Percy" in this chapter omg -.-)
Hey hey hey, guys, guess what? I have good news and bad news. Good news is that school's finally over (for us, anyway) so I was able to update! Bad news is that Rachel is leaving for vacay tomorrow and won't have any Wi-Fi for all of July . :( And since I'm such a stupid person by taking too long to update, Rach won't be able to write the Piper chapter until August.
BUT we're going to be updating like crazy in August so we can hopefully finish this book before school starts again, and in the meantime, I will write a bonus chapter from either Reyna or Nico's POV, so tell me in the comments who you would prefer!
Dedicated to carmsies for their fangirl-y comments! XD
Sorry for the long wait and I hope you guys will forgive me!
Lots of love,
~Tess <3