crow's calling - Percy Jackson (2)

chapter three

No matter what she tried, Piper McLean could not get Annabeth Chase to leave her cabin. And she tried everything - kind words, sympathies, audible frustration, blatant bribery.

Piper was about to go old school and have Leo remove the entire door from the hinges.

At first the daughter of Athena seemed to hold up just fine. They managed to get her back onto the ship before they entirety of the cavern floor collapsed beneath everyone, they matched her up in the infirmary she recapped her quest once more for the group, she even helped Leo fix his calculations so they could try and locate the other side of the Doors of Death based off of what they gathered from Nico and Hazel. Still, everyone was walking on eggshells around her - scared to make a correction to her plans, scared to ask how she was doing, and absolutely terrified of making even the slightest mention of either Percy Jackson or Wren Kelley and the fact that they had just fallen to Tartarus.

Being around the Chase girl was like walking across a field that was littered with hidden land mines: it looked fine, but even the slightest of missteps could result in a catastrophic explosion.

It came almost two days later.

The remaining members of the Argo II could see it coming before it actually happened. Annabeth had spent the majority of the night in the mess hall with books and maps and other papers scattered out in front of her like a mythological criminal investigation board, and when she finally dared to go up to the deck of the ship there were bags under her eyes, her hands were shaky, and she was noticeably of short temper.

It was as though all of the remaining adrenaline that had been coursing through her system to keep her focused after the entire ordeal had finally drained away, leaving the reality to destruct in front of her like a bomb.

And it spiraled from an angry shout of 'no one is helping!' to a heart crushing decree of 'this is all my fault'.

I was too busy bragging. I wasn't paying enough attention. I didn't cut the webs off of my legs quick enough.

Then she retreated to her room and hadn't left since. So while Annabeth hid behind closed doors, biting her nail beds raw and wallowing in guilt, Piper spent her days trying to pick the lock (not physically... yet). She would stand outside of Annabeth's doors, sometimes sit. Sometimes she would talk, try and coax the daughter of Athena out. Sometimes she would sit there in silence, overwhelmed with the reality of the situation.

While Piper was on Annabeth duty, Hazel took charge. And maybe that was part of the reason Annabeth was less inclined to leave the comfort of her cabin - Hazel. She trusted that those who remained on the Argo II were in good hands with the daughter of Pluto.

So even with the McLean girl on the other end of her door trying her best to coax her out, Annabeth Chase let herself crumble.

       "This place smells like my ex-stepfather."

"The statue man?"

It wasn't often that Percy Jackson let himself think about his ex-stepfather. But on the rare occasion that he did, the memory of Sally Jackson using Medusa's decapitated head to turn Gabe Ugliano into a yard statue that she then proceeded to sell was enough to make him, "Yep."

Wren snorted a small laugh, one that made the water that laid past the riverbank ebb like the tide. It was also the very thing that sent fiery bouts of pain shooting through her body.

With their adrenaline gone, both demigods were beginning to feel the after effects of their fall, and it did nothing to ease their moral.

Percy's shirt was ripped to shreds - a sight she probably would have liked more if it were for more... recreational reasons - and his palms and fingers were scraped raw from holding onto the ledge before he let go. He was still shivering, and Wren would have accredited it to the sudden lack of adrenaline had it not been for the way his lips has started to turn a faint shade of blue.