Awakened Memories

I Saw The Sign

I Saw The Sign

Percy

I felt the tremors through the ground even as I read the words and looked at the picture. The ground shook with giant footsteps. It didn't look like anyone else noticed them which confused me. They were practically causing an earthquake.

Burned into the ground were a few words and a map of some sort. The words said, "War has started. Prepare yourself. Follow the map. If you have not shown yourself in one hour, you will regret it. One hour." It was sent by the Oneiroi. I looked at the map and studied it carefully.

There was a trail leading from Camp Half-Blood into the forest and even farther than we had ever ventured. It led out of the forest to who knows where. It looked like we would be in a large clearing with trees circling the area.

"All right, everyone calm down. Yes, the battle is coming. It will do no good for us to panic. Gather your weapons and armor. Go to the infirmary for a square of ambrosia and canteen of nectar. Meet here in half an hour." I ordered the campers, Amazons, and Romans. They quickly rushed off and Annabeth and I took off to find Chiron.

Our footsteps thundered across the wooden porch and Chiron appeared in the door of the Big House. "Percy! The gods have summoned you." Chiron told me and waved us inside. An Iris Message showing Athena shimmered in the room.

"Percy! We need your help with Typhon immediately. We are barely slowing him down. He will reach Olympus within the hour if you do not come." Athena explained and an explosion shook the image behind her.

"What? Chaos--the original Chaos--was supposed to help you. Where is he?" I was about to panic.

"You are correct. Excuse my tardiness, I will be off now." Chaos materialized beside us and spoke before disappearing again. Athena swiped her hand through the Iris Message and her face vanished as she charged back into battle. The footsteps grew louder until they were nearly unbearable for me. I clutched my ears, grimacing, and stumbled as the ground shook.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Annabeth grabbed my wrist, worry filling her eyes.

"Don't you hear it? Typhon. His feet are shaking the ground and it's deafening." I winced as the footsteps grew louder and crashed to the ground as I lost my balance.

"No, I just feel the ground shaking slightly. Chiron, why can he hear it and feel it so much but not me?" Annabeth pulled me up again.

"He is a full major god, the most powerful. His senses are highly enhanced. Not even I can hear it. The ground is rumbling like a small earthquake. The gods have never felt Typhon's footsteps to the this degree, and all they hear is what we would if we were closer to him." Chiron studied me as I scrunched my face together and tried to block out the sound.

"Can you do anything?" I pleaded. "I won't be able to hear during the battle, and I'll be off balance."

"I can try." Chiron said and motioned for us to follow him behind a counter in the room. He tossed a square of ambrosia at me which I quickly chewed down. The sound dimmed slightly and then came back even louder. I shook my head and Chiron tossed a canteen of nectar at me. I chugged down half of it and handed the rest to Chiron. He poured it in my ears. Like before, the sound softened and then came back louder.

"It's not working." I clutched my head as the sound grew and I couldn't hear anything but Typhon's thundering footsteps. Chiron's mouth moved but I heard nothing. "I can't hear you!" I shouted but still didn't hear my own voice.

Chiron talked to Annabeth who bit her lip as she glanced at me, obviously worried. She took Riptide from her pocket and put it in pen form, writing on a piece of paper. She shoved it at me when she finished and I read it.

HAVE SOMEONE WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES TO WATCH YOUR BACK DURING THE BATTLE. I WILL TRY TO STAY WITH YOU AS MUCH AS I CAN. WE CAN HEAR YOU WHEN YOU TALK, REMEMBER THAT. YOU CAN TALK TO US AND TELL US TO WRITE DOWN WHAT WE ARE SAYING.

I nodded. Then I got an idea. "I know sign language. Something like this has happened before." I informed them and Annabeth got a glint in her eyes, the one she got whenever she was thinking.

Annabeth said something and then she signed to me, "So do I." We practiced signing to make sure we could communicate with each other.

I signed, "Everyone on my team knows sign language. We learned it after the first time we needed it to be prepared for the next time it might be needed."

Annabeth nodded. I concentrated and soon my body was encased with celestial bronze armor and I spun Oblivion in my hands. I waved a hand at Annabeth and her armor appeared on her. "Chiron, stay here to heal campers that we'll send to you." I told him. He said something in reply but I waved it off since I couldn't hear him.

Annabeth and I left and raced off to where everyone was gathered. She spoke to all of them and then signed to me what she had said. "Percy cannot hear anything but Typhon's footsteps. If you see him, watch his back during the battle. He can talk to you but if you need to tell him something, write it down or ask me or a member of his team to sign it to him."

They agreed and the members of my team signed to me just to make sure they still knew how. Once the campers, Amazons, and Romans were all ready and had gathered with us, we started to walk through the forest and followed the map that Annabeth had copied. It took too long and I felt like our hour had passed.

I turned to Annabeth and signed, "I'll be back. I'm going ahead to scout." Before she could stop me I launched myself into the air and landed lightly atop the trees. I put a hand on the branches to steady myself as I still felt the effects of Typhon's footsteps. I jumped from tree to tree, moving much faster than we had on the ground.

After jumping for about a minute I landed on a tree that circled a large clearing. I slipped and fell off the tree and landed hard on the ground. I quickly retreated backwards to hide myself, which was good as I saw one of the Oneiroi come to check out what had made the sound.

I dashed back to our group and saw they were much closer than I had originally thought. I jogged up to Annabeth and signed to her, "We're close. I didn't get a good look but I know that at least one of the Oneiroi is there."

She nodded and we continued walking. Soon we gathered in the clearing and faced our enemy. It was time for yet another final battle.