Camp Hermit-Blood: a Hermitcraft fanfiction

Annabeth

Annabeth had to admit that the lie was a pretty good one. And the Mist certainly helped.

They weren't delinquents after all. Apparently, they had been kidnapped and taken on a ten-day trip of terror across the country. All of the explosions that had happened - on the bus, at the Arch, and just barely with the police cars - those had been the fault of gunshots from the kidnapper, aka Ares.

The nice waitress at the diner had managed to catch a picture of the kidnapper threatening his abductees in the parking lot.

Once they got to Los Angeles, Percy Jackson had stolen a gun from their kidnapper and they had had a stand-off on the beach.

"I just want to go home to my loving stepfather," Percy said with fake tears in his eyes. "And I'm sure he would love to give every person in this wonderful city of Los Angeles a free appliance from his store."

Annabeth had to stifle her laughter. From what she had heard about Gabe Ugliano, he was a lot like Mr. D. And Mr. D would not like that.

Everyone was so moved that they passed around the hat for six plane tickets to New York.

Ren was still mad. He didn't seem to be able to decide who he was mad at, whether it was Percy or Annabeth or Gem, when she tried to reason with him.

Grian and Grover backed out of it completely, which was probably smart.

They exchanged stories at the airport. Annabeth, Percy, and Grover told Gem, Grian, and Ren about the magic shoes nearly pulling Grover into Tartarus, the talk with Hades during which they realized that the god of the Underworld didn't have the master bolt or his Helm of Darkness, Percy's realization that Ares was the one to blame, and then finally the part of the fight that they had missed.

They talked about the prophecy, or the two lines that Annabeth knew; she suspected that there was more to it that Percy hadn't thought to mention.

You shall go west to face the god who has turned.

That was Ares, not Hades.

Percy told them about his theory that the thing in the pit. Annabeth was pretty sure he was right.

What was his theory?

The answer to that was more than terrifying.

Kronos, the king of the Titans.

He had cut his own father into pieces, only to receive the same fate from Zeus. He had been cast into Tartarus, and since he was immortal, he had been waiting there ever since.

Gem, Grian, and Ren reacted to the story in different ways. Ren was mostly angry. Grian acknowledged that it was a pretty good plan, which worried Annabeth a little bit. And Gem just seemed sad.

They got to the Hermits' tale, during which they (grudgingly, for Ren) told mostly Annabeth about their world and how things worked. Annabeth was fascinated and she had so many questions, but she decided to save them for later.

The Hermits also told all three of the others about their adventures in the Underworld with their dead friend and Cat the hellhound.

Speaking of the giant canine, he wasn't allowed on the plane. Gem gave him a tearful goodbye as they entered the airport.

In response, Cat gave a confused whimper.

That just made Gem cry harder.

"We wouldn't be able to bring him back to Hermitcraft either," Ren said, probably trying to be comforting, but it didn't seem to work that well.

Annabeth had to pull her away from her new pet because they would miss their flight if they stayed any longer.

Percy was tense for the entire flight. Annabeth told him that Zeus wouldn't want to destroy his own master bolt, and that looked like it helped a little.

Grian of all people got airsick. He didn't seem to like being up there without his elytra, which Ren had taken for the sake of the mortals on board.

Weren't elytra the shells of beetle wings?

Annabeth didn't ask. Ren was mad enough already. And although she wanted to annoy the son of her mother's rival as much as possible, he had an axe and he knew how to use it.

Clarisse was more fun, anyway. She actually knew how to make a good comeback.

They were all relieved when they touched down in New York City. They took a bus to the Empire State Building to drop off the bolt.

All of them were surprised when Percy asked to go in on his own.

"You do realize... Zeus might not let you leave alive, right?" Grover asked.

Percy glanced back at the doors to the Empire State Building. "Yeah."

"Are you really sure about this?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes," Percy said, starting to get impatient. "Go back to camp. Talk to your siblings and stuff."

They reluctantly did.

Annabeth and Grover went first and soaked up the attention while the others came in later. There were many hugs exchanged.

"Where's Percy?" Chiron asked.

"He's returning the master bolt," Grover said.

"We will hold the celebration until he gets back, then," Chiron said.

They nodded.

Annabeth glanced over at where the Hermits were reuniting. Bdubs had brought his pillow for some reason and was now hitting Grian, Ren, and Tango with it and yelling at the top of his lungs. Gem and Zedaph exchanged stories in a more civilized manner.

Next to them, Luke watched with a confused expression. He had a sword at his belt, which was a little unusual, even at Camp Half-Blood. They weren't even close to the arena.

Percy came back about an hour later, seeming much happier than he had been when they left him.

Annabeth had never seen the end of a successful quest. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover got to wear laurels for a while. There was a feast in the dining pavilion where the rules where thrown out the window and everyone sat wherever they wanted (to Mr. D's displeasure), followed by a trip down to the campfire where they got to burn their shrouds.

Annabeth thought that her shroud was kind of sad to get rid of. It was very pretty.

Percy told her that it was a shame she wouldn't be buried in it.

Annabeth punched him. In front of the whole camp.

Their reaction was embarrassing.

Percy's shroud was a bedsheet with a big red "Loser" written in the middle. The Ares cabin had volunteered for his since he didn't have any cabin mates, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he might have even had fun burning it.

Gem, Grian, and Ren had to wash dishes in literal lava for a week.

It wasn't the worst punishment they could have gotten.

But punishment or not, Annabeth was glad about one thing, and she was sure the others were too.

It was good to be back at Camp Half-Blood.

~~~

YES, I PUBLISHED A CHAPTER DURING MY FAMILY THING

It involved staying up late, but I would have anyway because they stay up ALL NIGHT talking and keep me from the precious sleep that I value so much.

My spirit animal is a RainWing.

- Indigo