iii. friend or foe

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

CHAPTER THREE:
FRIEND OR FOE

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

THE LAST PERSON ANNAIS expected to see descending from the heavens like some illusive god was Ezra Min. Ezra fucking Min, her cousin slash sister by choice; however, as of recently, she was nothing more than a stranger, a thorn in her side. She hadn't contacted any of the Mins for four months, yet there she was, coming to their rescue with Annabeth Chase on a frigging pegasus. Like nothing had happened, like she hadn't abandoned them when they needed her the most.

"Uh, guys," Leo drawled from where he was lying on his back with his face to the sky. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."

At first, Annais frowned at him warily. "Are you good, Valdez?"

"Reinforcements," she heard Jason suddenly gasp in realisation. With her brows still furrowed, Annais looked up. A dark shape was appearing from the East, too slow for a plane and too large for a bird. As it got closer, Annais realised it was Eddie, Ezra's pegasus with a chariot not too far behind him. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" she questioned.

"Wouldn't you know about this, Annais?" Piper scoffed, and it didn't take a genius to see she was upset.

Annais didn't have a chance to reply, though, for Leo was groaning and struggling to his feet beside her. "Extraction squad? That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us too?" Piper demanded to know. "Annais?"

"Everything will be explained eventually, okay?"

And that was that. The four of them watched as the pegasus landed gracefully at the end of the deck, the chariot pulling in beside it. Butch stepped out a moment later, assisting Annabeth Chase in lowering Ezra Min to the ground. Annais sucked in a sharp breath, prompting Jason to frown at her as he stood closest to her side, though she refused to look at him as she stared at Ezra. It really was her. She had dyed her hair a light blonde and was wearing glasses to shield her eyes. In fact, her hair was rather like Annabeth's now, the two matching as they stormed up the decking to where they were huddled.

"Where is he?" the daughter of Athena snarled, impatient and frustrated.

Annais frowned in confusion while Jason jumped in surprise. "Where's who?"

Annabeth pursed her lips for a moment, nostrils flaring like a dragon about to breathe literal fire. She hummed, dissatisfied, and turned to analyse the others as if looking for someone. She winced at the sight of Annais with her arms crossed but frowned again when she didn't spot Gleeson standing with them.

"What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?" she asked, subtly stepping further in front of Ezra as if to shield her from Annais' line of vision.

Leo sighed, unsure how to explain it in a way that made sense. "He got taken by some... tornado things."

"Venti," Jason corrected on instinct. "Storm spirits."

Annabeth opened her mouth to speak, though of course Ezra spoke up in her place. "They're actually anemoi thuellai, genius. Seems you have an affinity for the Romans and Latin, how fancy."

Annais clenched her jaw. How dare Ezra waltz into her mission and disrespect her demigods as if nothing had happened. She didn't trust Jason by any means, but he'd proven by fighting Dylan and helping her that he wasn't a monster, he became one of her demigods the moment he showed he was like her.

"Not everyone can be as arrogantly intelligent as you, Ezra," she piped up before she could stop herself.

She watched with great satisfaction as Ezra seized up, an awkward tension lingering between the group. Jason, Leo and Piper were watching them confused while Annabeth sighed and Butch shifted uncomfortably. Annais didn't care what they thought, though. They didn't understand how it felt to trust someone then watch them leave you without hesitation. All over again, Annais was feeling the hurt of wandering into Ezra's cabin only to find her bed empty and Mel frantically searching for her.

"That's the Greek term," Annabeth spoke up when the silence became too much, simply turning back to the issue at hand. "Who are you and what happened?"

Annais remained tight-lipped even though she knew it was her job to explain. Instead, Jason tried his best to make sense of it, though he appeared nervous under Annabeth's scrutinising expression. Finally, when he finished his story, he shuffled closer to Annais. She raised an eyebrow at him but didn't protest as she watched Annabeth shake her hands at the sky.

"No, no, no! She told me he'd be here! She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."

Finally, Annais spoke. "Wait, who would be here?"

No response. Butch grunted, shooting her a warning look as if to say 'don't ask' before he attempted to sooth Annabeth's fraying nerves. "Annabeth, check it out." He pointed down at Jason's feet, prompting everyone to look at them then.

Annais didn't see what the issue was. He was missing one left shoe (obviously stolen from that dickhead, Dylan) and the tops of his toes were the colour of charcoal, but he didn't seem to be in any pain as he put his full weight on it, shuffling back and forth awkwardly under the attention.

"The guy with one shoe," Butch breathed out. "He's the answer."

"No, Butch," she groaned. "He can't be. I was tricked." She glared at the sky again as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she let out. "What have you done with him?"

Annais hadn't seen her so angry in a long time. It was a little unsettling, though Annabeth was quick to compose the shouts as the skywalk shuddered almost in warning. Butch sighed as Eddie and the horses leading the chariot started to whine urgently, pawing the already cracked floor like it was set to finally crumble and break.

"Annabeth, we've gotta leave," he said as he looked towards the animals. "Let's get these four to Camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."

"Fine," she muttered, fixing Jason with a resentful glower. "We'll settle this later."

"Settle what?" Annais called out, though she was ignored as Annabeth turned on her heel and ushered Ezra back to Eddie.

Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? Can somebody please tell us what's going on?"

"Seriously," Leo agreed.

"Look, we've got to get you out of here," Butch sighed. "We'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Jason muttered darkly. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Annais sighed. "Annabeth's usually okay. I don't know what's wrong but she's normally more level-headed."

Butch hesitated, unsure how to respond for a moment. Eventually, he said, "Annais is right, you've just gotta cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"What problem?"

"She's been looking for one of our campers who's been missing for three days." Annais raised an eyebrow in interest, wondering who might've disappeared this time. "She's going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here."

"Who?" Jason asked curiously.

"Her boyfriend." Annais' stomach dropped, breath hitching. "A guy named Percy Jackson."

Suddenly, Annabeth's anger and Ezra's presence made a lot of sense. But understanding was overpowered by Annais' shock, dread pooling in her chest again just like when Gleeson was taken. "What the actual fuck?"

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ANNAIS SHOULD'VE KNOWN THAT getting Piper, Leo and Jason back to Camp would be a lot harder than it needed to be. She stood in the back of the chariot with Jason to her right and Leo to her left, Piper standing in front beside Butch who had the reins. All three of them were staring at her with wide eyes as she squeezed the handle of her sword, watching on in awe as it began to compact back into the plain black and silver band of her ring. Leo and Piper had never seen the side of Annais that lusted for death; for a moment, she was almost worried that she scared them but Leo seemed unaffected as he delved into the logistics of how she stored her weapon.

"This is so cool," he summarised before sparing a glance around them; from the Grand Canyon far below, Annabeth and Ezra flying not far in front of them on a frigging Pegasus (Annais noted with annoyance that Ezra had fallen asleep with her head on Annabeth's shoulder, as if she hadn't just united with her cousin after four months of radio silence) and to top it off, the girl he'd annoyed relentlessly for months was some kind of Death God. "Where are we going?"

"A safe place," Annais muttered. "The only safe place for people like us to survive. Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-Blood?" Piper narrowed her eyes. Annais sighed, she knew Piper had bad experiences with the word (she'd been called half-blood too many times for it to be a compliment) but Annais wasn't sure how else to explain what was happening. Previously, when she thought about how to explain everything to them, she wasn't revealing her extensive combat skills by fighting the resident bully to the death. It wasn't meant to happen this way, and now Annais had no choice but to spring it on them at once. "Is that some kind of bad joke, Annais? I have to say, I didn't expect it from you-"

"She means we're demigods," Jason cut her off before she could get upset. "Half god, half mortal."

Annais narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious again. She didn't know what to think of him anymore. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But you're right, we're demigods. I'm the daughter of Hades--"

"You mean that God dude you're always cursing?" Leo raised an eyebrow and whistled when she nodded. "Gee, you guys must be close."

"Father-daughter duo of the year," she grumbled, voice thick with sarcasm and something akin to envy. "Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."

Leo wheezed, "Your mum is a rainbow goddess?"

"I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you," she hummed. "He's one of our best fighters."

Leo gave a scoff of disbelief to which Butch turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No, no," he winced, quickly raising his hands in surrender. Butch's arms were twice the size of his; in a fight, Leo would lose in seconds. "Rainbows. Very macho."

"Demigods," Piper repeated, the word sounding strange coming from her mouth. She was unsure whether to believe them, Annais could see it in her eyes. "You mean you think you're... you think we're--"

However, before she could put her thoughts into words, lightning lit up the sky. Annais sighed; of course there was more to come. The chariot shuddered beneath them, the horses whining in terror as Butch struggled to guide them down a safe path.

"Left wheel's on fire!" Jason suddenly called out. Annais followed his gaze, half expecting him to be lying just to push her over the edge, but then she saw the orange flames and let out a shout of frustration.

"Come on! What did I ever do to you, Zeus?" Piper suddenly gripped the girl's arm, eyes wide with fear. "What, Piper?" She turned around. Behind them, there were dark shapes forming in the clouds, this time in the shape of horses rather than men. They just couldn't leave her alone, could they? "Hold on, kiddies! This is going to get rough."

Butch flicked the reins helplessly, the horses lowering at a dangerous pace. Annais reached out for the nearest person which just so happened to be Piper, the two holding tight as the world went black. For a moment, Annais felt nothing but weight. It was dragging her down, Piper's hand slipping from her own, then her brain seemed to catch up with her body and her eyes snapped open. She was under water, her surroundings a dark green murk with faces peering through the shadows. The nymphs smiled and waved, grabbing Annais' shoulders and pulling her up, up, up.

Her ears popped as she appeared above the surface, sounds rushing in at once as she paddled to the shore. There were a dozen campers rushing down the hill to where Annabeth and Ezra were climbing off Eddie, shouting words of disbelief to each other. On Annais' right, Piper and Leo were being guided over by other nymphs, Jason and Butch not far behind them. Once she was sure they were okay, albeit a little spooked, she swam faster.

"Ezra! Annabeth!" she heard Will shout as he pushed through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Whoops," Ezra commented, not looking the least bit sorry as she sat down on a nearby rock without a care in the world.

Annais noted bitterly that the blonde was bone dry, having avoided the drop into the lake. However, before she was able to say anything, a familiar light-haired girl was pushing past Will and launching herself at a soaked Annais. "Thank Hades you're alright!"

She let out a laugh, looping her arms around her waist. She didn't realise until then just how much she'd missed her family. "I'm okay, Mel, no need to worry."

Melanie Min pulled away with a dark blush blooming on her cheeks. "I wasn't worried."

"Sure," she hummed disbelievingly. "Whatever you say."

As they stepped apart, Annais caught Will shaking his head at whatever Annabeth had to say, eyes glancing past her to where the three new demigods were lingering behind the Mins uncomfortably. "These are the ones then? They're way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed," Leo repeated in confusion.

"Annais?"

"I don't know," she shrugged when eyes darted to her for an explanation. "Though I do have my suspicions."

"Hello," Leo drawled when everyone ignored him. "Claimed?"

Before Annabeth could delve into what it meant, Will changed the topic again. "Any sign of Percy?"

"No," she admitted, both her and Ezra exchanging a bitter glance at the thought of him.

At that, the campers burst into mutters, though none as frustrated as that of the two blondes. Annais went to say something when a girl stepped forward, her long dark hair pulled back into perfect ringlets with plenty of makeup and jewellery to show off her supposed wealth. Annais rolled her eyes; Drew Tanaka was one of the many children of Aphrodite she couldn't stand. She was just so entitled, especially as she raked her eyes over Leo and curled her nose in distaste. She then fixed her eyes on Jason, batting her lashes like he was worthy of her attention before she pursed her lips at Piper incredulously. Typical Drew. The girl not much older than Annais had arrived at Camp just after the Mins all those years ago, the group of girls quick to express their discontent when Drew started picking on Melanie. Mel was the youngest, the softest, quietest; she wouldn't stand up for herself against someone as pretty and as intimidating as Drew Tenaka. That left Annais to do it for her, putting them at odds ever since.

"Well," she huffed after another moment of judgement. "I hope they're worth the trouble."

"Like you went through any of that trouble, barbie," Ezra muttered under her breath. Annais huffed, though she had to admit, Ezra was right.

From beside her, Leo let out an indignant snort. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"Yeah, no kidding," Jason agreed with a scowl. "How about some answers before you start judging us -- like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Jason, I promise we'll answer your questions," Annabeth assured him before turning to where Drew was standing with her arms crossed and lips pouted. "And Drew, all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"That's nice," Annais scoffed, though there was no malice to her voice as she grinned at the blonde. Neither girl was particularly close growing up. Annais tended to stick to her siblings and Annabeth was really only friends with Ezra, but both respected each other as trained soldiers.

"You know what I meant."

"Anyway," Piper spoke over her with a huff of frustration. It had been a long day and she wasn't in the mood, that much was clear. "We didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Piper stepped forward, ready to teach her a lesson, but Annais stopped her with a raise of her arm. She paused willingly, eyeing Annais as the girl scrutinised Drew. Finally, a long moment of heavy tension, she just laughed and shook her head. The gesture infuriated Drew, who stomped her foot like a child who hadn't gotten her way, but she was soon interrupted by Ezra giving an unamused chuckle.

"Maybe, she looks like that because of the actual fighting she did," she said. "Tell me, Drew, when was the last time you did anything productive other than your makeup?"

"That's enough," Annabeth cut in with a pointed look at them. "We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome. We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of Camp. Hopefully, by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell us what that means?" Piper pinched her nose in annoyance. "Annais?"

The girl tore her heated gaze away from where it lingered on Drew, mouth parting to answer when a startled gasp echoed through the crowd. A red glow was shining around the shoreline, bright and reflective from above a certain boy's head. Annais spun around, a pleased smile tugging at her lips. She had a feeling it would be him. There Leo Valdez stood with a blazing holographic hammer floating above his curly hair.

"That," she heard Annabeth announce. "Is claiming."

"What'd I do?" Leo asked in a fluster. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames above his head.

Annais beamed as she made her way over to him, only somewhat listening to the heated mutters exchanged between Butch and Ezra as she declared, "Congrats, Valdez, you've just been claimed."

"By a God," Jason interrupted before he could stop himself. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

Everyone paused, all eyes turning to him.

"Does he have an affinity for Roman mythology or some shit? He hasn't shut up about the Roman counterparts?" Ezra grumbled.

Even with her own suspicions, Annais fumed. "Would you quit it, Ezra? Nobody asked."

Annabeth stepped forward quickly, shooting her a warning glare before turning to the frowning blonde boy. "Jason, how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure..."

Meanwhile, Leo was still bobbing around the shore, this time swatting at his curls as if that would dim the flames. "Vulcan? I don't even like Star Trek! What are you talking about?"

Mel giggled at him, catching his eyes for the first time and smiling. "Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus, the God of blacksmiths and fire."

"The God of what and who?"

"The God of fire!" Ezra raised her voice impatiently,

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net