The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

twenty

PERCYS BIRTHDAY

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal. The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. They played capture the flag (though ghey all avoided Zeus's Fist).

They sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins.

Ariana spent a lot of time with Tyson and Percy, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master.

Annabeth and Percy pretty much skirted around each other.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields.

Finally, the last day of camp arrived.

At ten o'clock she stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take her and Percy into the city.

Ariana had made arrangements to stay with Percy and his mother until Percy's birthday.

She hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with them, but she only came to see them off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer.

She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months.

Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said, "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly, "I'll keep my eyes open for..."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.

"Annabeth," Ariana said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," Percy remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead.
We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted them to stop.

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Percy pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like we had thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us. And the child of Athena's final stand- -that was Daedalus."

"Percy-"

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth. But what was the last-"

"And lose a love to worse than death. " Annabeth had tears in her eves. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?"

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago.

"Oh," Percy said, "so Luke."

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I-I didn't know if." She faltered helplessly. "Luke and I for years, he was the only
one who really cared about me. I thought..."

Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to them, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air.

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear."

Standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.

"Hera." Annabeth said.