Annabeth Chase and the Last Olympian

Chapter 1 - I'm Hera's new play toy

I was seriously getting sick of all the cow poos. I had to check my footing every time I stepped out of the house or I'd be in serious danger of ending up ankle deep in cattle excretion. 

Ever since I'd angered Hera, Queen of the Gods, at the end of last summer, she taken it upon herself as a personal mission to make my life hell. The random visits from dysenteric cows was only one element of her master plan - the rest included wild peacocks chasing me across my school grounds and pomegranates falling out of trees that they ordinarily wouldn't grow from. All of it was relatively harmless and weren't likely to injure me too seriously - probably because my mother, Athena, would have had something to say if I was - but it did cause to serve me some frustration and annoyance. 

But it was only one of the reasons that I returned early to camp. Another one was the growing feeling of unease I had among my mortal family. My father had finally come to accept me for who I am, and seemed to genuinely enjoy my company, mainly because I shared his interest in military tactics and warfare, which my stepmother never had. I suppose she put up with my presence out of deference to my father, but she grew more unfriendly to me the longer I stayed. The increased chance of a monster attack when I was there made her wary of me being around her sons, even though I'd easily fought off any monster that had approached us. 

While I understood her fear, and her distaste of my existence as if it made complicated her denial that my father had a love interest before her, it made staying at home more awkward and stifling than I otherwise would like. It felt more like I was on a bad holiday than staying at home, and I always looked forward to going back to camp. Which definitely made saying goodbyes easier. 

But the main reason was that Chiron had sent me an Iris-message specifically requesting it. Conditions at camp had started to deteriorate quickly since I had left. One of the problems was a lack of numbers. Luke's army was snatching new demigods before our satyrs could even find them or get them to camp. Also, many campers were sending in messages saying that they wouldn't be returning in the summer due to the increasing threat of war. They would rather face the monsters on their own rather than fight in the war that we all knew was coming. 

Chiron felt the same way that I did - that we were facing a ticking time bomb with no way and no idea how to stop it. And so that sent me back to camp to prepare for a war that I'd dreaded for years. 

I'd first read the Great Prophecy when I was ten years old, and I'd done my best to expunge it from my memory. As a member of the Athena cabin and one of the smartest campers, Chiron had thought I'd be able to work through the riddle, but it had done nothing more than scare me. I'd comforted myself that the Prophecy wouldn't happen in my lifetime, that it would pass right by me and another generation of heroes would have to deal with it, but there was no denying it now. Percy was the child of the prophecy, that was blindingly obvious to me even as much as I wanted to deny it. As much as he angered me, I didn't want him to die. 

The camp was practically empty when I walked in, Argus picking me up from the airport and driving me to the top of the hill. There was only a few of the seasonal campers heading between lessons as I walked to the Big House, but there was a lot less of them than in previous years. It was almost as if the camp was deserted, leaving a hollow feeling in my stomach. Camp was the closest place I had to a home; I didn't like seeing it so desolate. 

Chiron was sitting on the front porch of the Big House in wheelchair form, reading over some reports. His leg had healed well from where it had been broken in the battle at Zeus's Fist last summer, but I knew that he liked to sit when doing something as humane as reading. There was no sign of Dionysus, who I knew was back in Olympus attending emergency meetings. As stifling as he was, it was weird not seeing him there and I almost missed his presence. Almost. 

"Ah, Annabeth, there you are, my dear," Chiron said, looking up from his reports as I climbed the steps onto the porch. "It is good to see you well. How was the break?"

"Tense," I said, dropping into a seat beside him. "There isn't as much of a monster presence in San Francisco as before, but I can still feel it growing. Less random attacks, like they're preserving their strength."

Chiron nodded thoughtfully. "Targeted into one direction. Kronos is drawing in his forces in preparation for war. Where he will strike next, though, is beyond my knowledge. We must stay vigilant."

"So what do you need me to do?"

He sighed heavily. "There is much to be done. Settle the campers for one. The young ones in particular are spooked by what is happening. I fear that we will lose more if we don't find a way to alleviate their fears."

He rattled off a few more tasks, like strengthening the borders, making defensive plans and tracking the high monster presence that we'd been seeing in the local area - to keep our focus off Luke's actions I presumed. But I could sense that there was something big that he wasn't telling me.

"What else?" I pressed. "Chiron, what else is worrying you?"

He hesitated, like he didn't want to tell me. His eyes roamed my face and something in his expression changed. Maybe he realised that I was no longer the scared seven year old kid that had stumbled into camp so long again, clutching only a knife and Luke's hand. If he couldn't tell me, then there was no one he could tell. 

"The gods have withdrawn to Olympus for emergency councils," he said. "We've had no contact with them for several weeks, not even Dionysus. It is undeniable that they have much to discuss, what with Kronos rising and Typhon stirring, but it is unusual for this amount of silence. I fear that we may be on our own for quite some time."

I smiled thinly. "Have we ever truly had the support of the gods though?"

Chiron pressed his mouth together in disappointment. "Annabeth, my dear, that is unfair."

"I know, I know." It didn't make it any less untrue though. I stood up and shouldered the backpack with all my belongings in it. "Anything else while I'm here? Anything . . . from Percy?"

"He's still on break. I thought it was kind to give him time with his family before the prophecy takes effect."

He met my eyes and a shared feeling of grief and guilt passed between us. How could it not, when we both knew what was going to happen?

"He'll be back for a couple of missions, but other than that, he has the time off."

"Right," I said, trying to push down both my disappointment and my relief. "Right, okay. I'll get to work now."

Chiron nodded his head in empathy as I hurried down the steps of the Big House and to my cabin. 

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Cabin Six had not changed much since I left. Bookcases overflowing with books and scrolls still coated the walls and the desks were layered heavily with maps and battle plans. The only thing that had changed was the lack of beds made up, mattresses bare of sheets. It seemed even Athena's children were avoiding the war. 

Malcom was there, of course, and he smiled warmly at me as I walked through the door. 

"Good to see you're back, Annabeth," he said, giving me a hug as I dumped my stuff on my bed. "There's so much to catch you up with."

"Let's not wait then." 

Malcom spent the rest of the afternoon catching me up on what I'd missed since the end of last summer while also going through all the battle plans in the room. The combination of both left my head spinning but at least I had a better understanding of the situation. And that just reinforced in my head how screwed we really were.