Previously on 'Last Battle'
"Go after Annabeth...Something. Wrong." He grunted out. His ribs were probably bruised, making it hard to breath. But I understood him none the less. Nodding I rushed back out the door and started trying to locate Annabeth. Thankfully I heard an exclamation a few yards away, and rushed towards the commotion.
In the center of it all was Annabeth, trying to fight her way out of the crowd that surrounded her.
"Let me out!" She yelled punching and kicking whoever got in her way. In any other situation I would've stepped back and admired that swift movement of her attacks. But right now, I was too busy shoving my way through towards Annabeth, to care much.
When I neared her I had to quickly drop on the food when she did a round-house kick, unfortunately many did not react as quickly as I did and got hit with a powerful blow.
"Annabeth! Annabeth calm down, you're hurting people!" I tried to reason with her not knowing what was wrong. She seemed fine. In fact the small square piece of muscle I had cut out before was now almost healed completely. What the Hades?
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BETH'S P.O.V
"What do you think you're doing?" A familiar voice asked as I slid through the small opening of the gates that surrounded the Olympian estates to get out without alarming anyone.
Turing around, I stared wide eyed at Hermes' questioning gaze. Going over my rehearsed lie, I said calmly, "I'm going to go pick up A.J.. I left her with a friend."
With that said I turned around and successfully slipped through the cold iron gates without setting off one of Hephaestus' complicated alarms. At this time of the night -or should I say morning- no one was out. The rest of the gods were sleeping, so were the nymphs, dryads, and the rest of the creatures living on Olympus. It was either sleeping or were up to no good.
Gravel was stepped on behind me, making me know of the presence following. Stopping in mode stride I turned around to once again see a skeptic looking Hermes. Before I could snap at him for following me he beat me to it, "You're going to pick up A.J. at two in the morning while dressed in full military uniform?"
Looking down at my navy blue uniform I winced. I should've hidden that with some mist at the least or worn regular cloths and change later. I wasn't anticipating this. How stupid of me, my mother would be so ashamed!
Quickly thinking of any excuse I stupidly responded, "Oh, am I? I didn't notice."
Hades, what the Tararus has gotten into me!
"Of course you didn't." He muttered, his suspicion seeming to grow. His eyes held my gaze, and I knew a hundred thoughts were going through his head at the moment.
Knowing Hermes I knew there was two ways to get through this. Either try to cover up even more, which didnt look very promising at the moment, and risk being caught. And if I was caught in my lie he would not let me hear the end of it, and drag right to the council. Or straight out telling him my plan that even to me sounded impossibly ridiculous, and from that he was either going to drag me to the council or agree with me and keep his mouth shut. But I very much doubt he would do the later.
"Hermes swear to the river Styx right this very moment that you will not speak an utter word about this after I'm done explaining to you." I whispered, my eyes nevously searching the shadows for any unwanted listeners.
"What? No!" He shouted, looking at me as if I were delusional. "Last time you made me do that I ended up pulling you up from Tarartus!"
"Sh! Lower your voice!" I hissed at him, hoping that nobody heard him. After a few seconds of silence I let out a sigh of relief after no lights were turned on, and no signs of any crazy god, in their crazy colored striped pajamas, cussing at us.
"Fine! I, Hermes god of merchants, thieves, oratory, and messenger of the gods, swear on the river Styx not to utter a single word about this until you allow me to." His words seemed to be forced out. "Now, what are you really up to?"
Taking a deep breath, I looked around again to make sure no one was listening and began to tell him my plan.
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"So explain to me why we are here again?" A rather annoying god asked behind me not trying to keep quiet at all.
Rolling my eyes I answered his question the the billionth of times these past few hours. "I'm going to let my friend know that I need them to take care of A.J. for a bit more until I can come back for her."
The cool breeze of the nearby beach made me thank myself for wearing my winter uniform. I wouldn't want to imagine how cold I would've been with my thin dress and sandals.
"You're going to leave her here?" He asked sounding doubtful. "Don't you thinkmit'll be safer at Olympus? Or at your father's palace were there's hundred's of fish men to protect her?"
"First of all, I trust Jacob. He wouldn't do anything to harm her, and I'm sure he won't let anything happen to her. And second of all, they are called mermen for your information. And I can't just leave her with Triton, last time I saw him he was at camp pretending to be a Demi-god so I don't know if he is back yet. Plus, last time Triton took care of a baby he ended up losing him and Percy some how ended up swimming in one of Amphritie's fountians."
Stopping outside the house I knocked on the door a few times. A few minutes passed and nothing happened so I knocked again - a bit harder this time. Finally, a sleepy looking Jacob opens the door.
"Good morning sleepy! I have news for you. But first where's my cuite pie?" I asked, pushing the door open even more and letting me in. I made my way to the living room where a sleeping A.J. was snoring softly. "Aw, hey honey. Momma's here." I whispered, picking her up gently and cradling her in my arms.
"Do you know what time it is?" A annoyed looking Jacob asked coming into the room with Hermes at his heels.
"6:39 a.m. Eastern time. Making that roughly around 4:39 a.m. here in western time." Hermes answered standing next to me while looking at A.J..
Jacob looked even more annoyed when Hermes answered, I had a feeling he didnt actually want to know the time.
"Beth...are yous her about this? I was not sure before, but now I am really against the idea of leaving her here. He's a wolf shifter! You know that they have a bad temper." Hermes scolded me. "You are putting A.J. At risk by having her be in the same room as one if them."
"I would'nt hurt her!" Jacob looked enraged that Hermes would think such a thing.
"Maybe, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Hermes taunted knowing that he was pushing a button.
"Enough." I said, feeling A.J. stir in my arms. "My desition is final, unless that is that Kacob doesn't want to spend a few more days with her!" I asked my eyebrows raised.
"No! No, I'll take care of her." Jacob exclaimed. Smiling down at A.J. becuase of Jacob's boyish actions I was reminded that I'd only have her a few more decades before she moves on with Jake. And in godly time that is like a few weeks compared to human time.
"Okay." I laughed, "But it's on you if anything happens to her." I continued with all the playfulness drained out of my voice. I was serious. If anything happened to A.J. it would be Jake's head that would pay.
"Here. This is some extra cloths for her, her brush, and a few other things." I handed him a small messenger bag.
When he looked at me as I were crazy Hermes explained, "It's one of the bags I made for her. It's enchanted so you could put as much as you like in there and it'll never be full."
"Quick question that is so unrelated to the topic...Bells what the hell are you wearing?" Jake asked. I smiled down at my uniform, or at least what I could see of it since I was holding A.J.
"It's one of my uniforms." I explained. I was about to go more into detail when Hermes inturrupeted me.
"Beth... Dawn is fast approaching. I beileve it's best if we leave now, to get better prepared so we don't miss our window."
He was right. Apollo usually rode the skies beging around 7:15 isn this time of year, and that was less than an hour away. It would be better if we can get there at least a few minutes before so we have time to spare. I rather have more than not enough.
"Okay. Bye sweetie." I kissed A.J.'s forehead and then handed her to Jacob. Before walking out the door I turned, "And Jake? If the Cullen's are still in town, can you let them have some time with her? Thanks for doing this. I wouldn't of had a better life partner to A.J.."
And with those words said, I closed the door, and sent myself to Long Island.
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"Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to regret this?" A skeptic Hermes muttered besides me, looking towards the shore of camp half-blood across the lake.
"Becuase you probably are." I said, in the Isabella Swan's voice. I had once again changed my appearance into her's, something that I was hopping I wouldn't of had to do in long time. But it was easier to come back looking like her, than of to make up a new Demi-god which needed a whole different background story.
"How are you sure this is even going to work?" He asked, shooting me a worried look.
"I don't." I admitted, wincing at our only shot of having Dionysus keep his mouth shut. It had a fifty-fifty percent chance of working. But none the less I endeavored to reassure Hermes of a plan that may or may not work. "But D loves French Vermouth, right? He wouldn't be able to resist a chance of having some and not having any consequences would just blow his mind....right?"
D was banned from having alcaholic drinks for the next century. That's why he is always drinking diet soda instead. That's why I'm almost fifty percent sure that he wouldn't resist a break from his punishment.
"Let's hope." Hermes muttered under his breath. "Are you ready?" He asked sending another nervous glance in my direction.
It's now or never I reminded myself as I slowely nodded my head. We were waiting for dawn, the only time of the day besides twilight that you could avoid being seen by Apollo or Artemis since it was the time they switched turns. The tricky part about it was that you only had a limited amount of time before the next one fly's the sky.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I muttered,thinking of all the loopholes this genius plan of mine has.
"Alright then on the count of three. One. Two....THREE!" Just as the sun rose to the sky I lifted all the water up from the lake and we ran under it. Hopefully Apollo didnt pay too much attention to the unnatural calmness of the lake....or that it was floating a good ten feet from the ground.
"How much longer?" I grunted. A few beads of sweat rolled down from my face as I consitrated fully on keep the thousands of gallons of water from not crashing down on us. This wouldn't of been so difficult if it wernt for the fact that instead of spending my day training like I am supposed to, I enjoy it playing around with A.J. instead. Our powers are like a muscle, we have to keep on using it and stretching it so that we don't get rusty and it didnt help that I was not using my original form and instead also putting on the disguse of the human body of Isabella Swan.
"I don't know. He's taking his time." Hermes answered, carefully examining Apollo's charit -or rather sports car now- carefully through the ripples of water. "judging from his lack of speed and dimness. He seems to be looking for something....or someone."
I grunted as my mind began to slowly aware me of a dull aching pain in the front of my skull. I was distracted for on single second as I paid attention to Hermes, that the water was comming down on us, but quickly just before it touched the tip of Hermes' hair I stopped it.
We waited in tense silence for a few moments until Hermes spoke, "It's okay. I don't think he noticed. My brother was probably admiring how pearl white his teeth are, or coming up with another one of his poems."
But just as he said that the golden ball of light sped off. I would've been relieved if it wernt for the fact that instead of going West like normally, it returned East. Shit! He found us.
No longer caring about our subtle entrance I let the water come crashing down towards us. As it did I willed a waves to push us ashore. And as soon as I my feet touched the dry land I sped off to the Big House with Hermes at my heels.
We ran through a group of Demi-gods talking excitingly about some wild fight between two of their fellow campers. A few of them seemed to reconized me because I heard some exclaim as I passed. "Bella! It's Bella!."
But I didn't pay them any attention. I was solely focused on moving Bella's slow human legs as fast as I could. The Big House was my safe zone. All I had to do was get there befor any other of the gods and I was safe. They wouldn't want to cause a sceen there.
When sight of the Big House reached me I, pushed even faster. There was a dull growing light at the steps and I knew what it was. I only had a few seconds before a barrier of light was put up and then I would no longer be able to go into the house until the one who set it there took it off.
I had just taken a step over the dull light when it blazed for a few seconds before calming and turning into what a was, a barrier of light. Hermes was not as lucky as I was and looked curiously at the barrier between us. He was about to put his hand through when I stoped him, "Hermes no! It's one of Circe's tricks. If you touch it it'll burn you open."
When I said 'burn you open', I meant it. I had seen what it could do. It was as if the light was a sharp blade made up of fire. It was so intensely hot that it would slice open you skin -or to cut off a limb entirely, depending on how much you touched- like a fine blade.
"Go before the other's get here." I advised him, walking into the house. Turning around before I shut the door I smiled, "Thank-you."
"Dear child, what can I help you with?" A voice asked, once I closed the door. Turning around to face Chrion I had to remind my self that he doesn't know who I really was.
"Chiron, I have a confession to make." I admitted. "I'm not Bella. Not really. You the thing is-" I tried my best to explain the situation but I was cut off by the sound of him tring to hold back a laugh. "What's so funny?"
"My apologies my lady. It is just amusing watching you fumble for words to try to explain something that I am already aware of." He apologized, coughing into his fist to try to stop snickering.
"What?! You did? Since when?" I asked, shocked about this information. I wasn't told that Chiron knew who I was at camp!
"Well I would be lying if I said that from the moment you were brought here by Lord Hades' son. But when you started arguing with Annabeth, I knew there was something familiar but I couldn't exactly tell what." He explained. "Even when Lord Poseidon claimed you as his, I did not know. Only did I come to know when certain pranks were pulled on campers."
"Oh." I stood dumbfounded. How is it that even after all these centuries not a single thing goes by Chrion that he doesn't miss.
"Now, may i ask why you are standing in the middle if the Big House while the rest of the gods are out looking for you?"
"I'm here becuase of Annabeth." I told him truthfully, "I'm afraid something is going to go wrong in extracting the venom from her system."
"Hmm. I thought something was odd about that wound," he mumbled softly more to himself than to me. "Follow me."
At first I thought he was going to take me to the infermary where Annabeth most likely would me held. But once he led me underground to where the cells are I stoped, confused about his actions. Maybe the demi-gods caught a prisoner that he wanted me to see? It doesn't matter right now, all that does is that I cure Annabeth the fastest possible. "Chrion, I really need to go to Annabeth. I promise I'll be back to see what ever is down there after." I promised, already climbing back up the stairs. The way he went down the steps in a wheelchair was beyond me, but I didn't really have the time to think about that right now.
"That is where I am taking you my dear. I'm afraid what ever it was that attacked Annabeth already began taking course through her body. We are keeping her down here until he momemt's notice since she brutally attacked several other campers, including young Valeria." His words stopped me from going up another step. Oh no, I was too late!
Without waiting for him any longer I raced down the stairs and into the main cell room. There looked up in the nearest cell was a glaring Annabeth. A few campers were lingering outside the cell, some taking notes on her behavior ,other's quietly whispering amongst themselves. All were cabin leaders. But there was a two individuals in talking to eachother on the farthest wall farthest to Annabeth.
Even though she wasn't looking in my direction, I threw a pitiful look at Annabeth. I knew how unconfertable that cell was. It was the very same cell I was locked in a few months ago when they thought I was a spie. That was around the same time I found out I was pregnant with A.J. and if it wasn't for Triton who came to camp and opened the cell for me I'm sure I would've gone insane.
"I don't know Percy. Maybe there's a way out of it. There has to be right?" Lera's voice differed towards me as I approached them, they had yet to discover my presence though.
"There might be a way. But it's risky." I inturrupeted.
They both turned my way. Percy reacted first since Lera had not seen me in this form before.
"What are you doing here? I though you couldn't come back?" He asked, smiling broadly at me.
"I'm here to help Annabeth. And techniqually I'm not here." I answered, before turning to Lera. "Hey did you miss me agápi?"
As soon as I called her 'love' in Greek she realized who I was. And as soon as she did she launched herself in my arms and started weeping in her Greek, "Mama, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault I did this to her."
It was a good thing she said it in Greek and not in Ancient Greek, becuase in a room full of Demi-gods a lot of the, would of had understood.
"It's not your fault." I told her. "But what good does it do to cry, huh? It doesn't. Better to fix this than to cry."
"So...you said that there might be a way to change this?" Percy spoke up, seeming to be unconfertable will all the display of emotion.
"Yes. A black Hellebore flower from Apollo's stach might help. But it'll most likey come with a high cost. His stach is limited and more powerful than anyother's. You will also need a drop of blood from the right arms of a gorgon. And a cup of water blessed by a fresh water nymph." I instructed.
Percy sighed, "We'll it looks like I'm off to yet another quest."