We Are Cursed (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 2

Chapter 29 || Annabeth

"We've gotta find Zeus," Annabeth said as they ran down the streets of Lebanon. 

"But Zeus is literally in New York. How are we supposed to get there in such a short amount of time? We can't catch a plane! That'd take too much time!" Frank sighed, his frustration showing slightly. "Plus, you also don't know what Zeus is gonna do!" 

"Well... what are we supposed to say?" Annabeth scoffed. "'Hey, your nephew that you don't really like is dying and we need you to give us Europa so Phoenix can give us a feather?'"

"When you put it that way, it sounds like what an idiot would say," Frank muttered.

"And you think I was aiming to be smart? No!" Annabeth exclaimed. "The point is, we need him to hand over Europa!"

"Convincing Agent Z is literally gonna be so hard! We might not even be allowed to see him for the gods' sake! He could blast us to smithereens in a second when he sees us!" Frank protested. "We have to find a different way to get to Europa!"

"Europa needs to be handed over ASAP! We have no time for some crappy spy plan that takes more time than we have! Just get it all over with quickly and we're out!" Annabeth snapped.

"Did you just call my plans crappy--"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Nico yelled, surprising the two agents. 

"Wha--"

"You two fighting isn't making anything better. It's just taking longer. About the way to get to Zeus, we can figure that out quicker than we can figure out how to convince Zeus." Nico's surprisingly intelligent words flew from his mouth. 

"Bu--"

"If Zeus has hidden her way so even Phoenix can't find her, we can't find her either and we're wasting our time. However, Frank is right about it being hard to convince him. So can we just stop arguing, come up with what we're gonna say, and get our asses over to New York?!" He finished with a large, angry stomp, scaring the shit out of Annabeth and Frank.

"Okay..." both of them sighed.

"Sorry," Frank apologized. "I'm just really stressed right now..."

"Same," Annabeth nodded. "I'm sorry for telling you all that stuff. But how are we gonna get to New York? We have no way of transportation unless it's..." Shadow-travel.

She turned to Nico hesitantly. Shadow-traveling took a lot of energy and she didn't want Nico to be too tired to continue. Nico caught on, his onyx eyes widening.

"You don't mean--"

"C'mon, Neeks!" she pleaded. "We can't wait for a plane or something else of that matter! We need to get to him before it's too late!"

"Annabeth, I can't--"

"Do it for Percy!" she begged.

Nico stared at her for a few moments before sighing, nodding his head. "But what do we say when we get to him?"

"I'll figure something out," Annabeth promised. Her wheels were already turning. "Just get us there first."

Frank sighed, nodding. "Annabeth's right, Nico. We have no time to waste."

Nico grabbed both of their hands before the world rushed in black around her. Letting out a scream, she realized that the shadowy trip would be longer, as it was literally half-way across the globe to get to New York. She could almost hear Frank's stomach making churning noises over the roaring noise in her ears.

When the world zoomed back into focus, she was collapsed against the floor, the green grass creating a soft cushion for her bottom to fall onto. Pulling herself up, she could already see Frank puking into a nearby trash can in what happened to be Central Park. Annabeth looked to see Nico leaning on a tree, his face two times as pale as it was before.

Before she could thank him, he leaned to the side and crumpled to the floor. Panic flared up in her chest as she raced to his side, flipping him over.

"Nico?" she whispered.

He remained unresponsive, his pale face simply lolling to one side.

"Frank!" she yelled. "I... I don't know what's happening, but Nico just passed out!"

Frank muttered a tiny curse word and skidded to Nico's side, feeling his wrist for a pulse.

"He's breathing and his heart rate's normal..." he frowned before pressing a hand onto Nico's forehead.

Frank's hand was like a pancake on Nico's face, considering the size of Frank compared to the small Italian boy.

"His temperature is too high, Annabeth. Do we have a rag?"

Annabeth fumbled through her backpack and pulled out a small towel and a water bottle.

"We have these," she said. "It's not much, though."

"Plenty," Frank muttered in response before wetting the towel in the liquid.

Pressing the towel to Nico's forehead, Annabeth could see the relaxation appear in Nico's face as his body cooled down.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked as she placed her sweater underneath Nico's head to cradle it.

"Shadow-traveling takes up a lot of energy. He used up too much energy and passed out," Frank explained, taking a sip of water.

Annabeth slightly regretted asking him to do such a feat, but she reassured herself that it was for Percy and the benefit of the world. Nico would be fine with it... right? 

"Alright..." she sighed. "Does anyone know where the electricity facility is? That's where Zeus normally spends all his time."

"I do," Frank said. "I've gone there with Thalia and Jason before."

"Great," Annabeth sighed, hearing a groan as Nico stirred.

"Wha... What happened?" he yawned, looking around him groggily.

"We're in New York, Nico. You shadow-traveled us here so we can talk to Zeus."

Nico's eyes flashed with the memories of what happened and he quickly sat up, ripping the towel off his forehead. Taking Annabeth's hand, he hauled himself to his feet, and the trio raced down the streets of Manhattan. Busy as ever.

No.

It had to be a car crash on the day they couldn't afford to lose any time. So they were simply stuck on the freeway with no way out. Great.