BLURRED | Annabeth Chase

XXIII • ερείπια

ερείπια

ruins

• • •

New York City was a ghost town.

The streets, once filled with chaos and noise, were completely vacant. Trash littered the sidewalks, helping to conceal the abandoned vehicles that lined the roads. Not a soul remained in the city; it was the first place to be wiped out.

Thalia remembered that day well, the day that Gaea took over the world. Greece had been the epicenter of her chaos; she had rose there. But New York City took the brunt of her anger. Giants had stormed the Empire State building, destroying several buildings and killing hundreds of people along the way. And once Olympus had fallen, Gaea had killed every single person living in the city. Thalia had watched the news once the shock of the loss set in, and she still had nightmares about the devastation of it all.

Since then, no one has dared step foot in the city. It was cursed, more so than any other place. Every city was practically empty now, but that was to be expected. How much of the world was dead because of Gaea? The latest reports anyone dared to run reported more than 3 billion people were killed in the initial aftermath. That number didn't include the suicides and deaths since.

Thalia stood in the center of Times Square staring at the blank screens, most of which were cracked beyond repair. She had never seen the place so empty.

"When I was young," Reyna said from beside her, "my sister and I dreamed of visiting this city. We played a game where we would say everything that we would do here. Visit the Statue of Liberty, buy hot dogs in Central Park, ride in a yellow taxi. It seems none of that will ever happen."

This used to be home to Thalia. This is where she ended up with Luke and Annabeth. But Luke was now dead, and Annabeth was missing. How was Thalia the last of them? Luke was the one who was supposed to be the golden child, the perfect hero. How many nights had Thalia stayed up, watching Luke keep watch over Annabeth and Thalia while they were on the run? How many times had he sacrificed his portion of whatever meal they had been able to find to give to the two girls? He was selfless in that sense, but his selfishness won out in the end.

Nico stumbled to stand beside Thalia, apparently oblivious to the somber mood. He ran a nervous hand through his hair.

"Percy's going to freak when he sees what happened to his city," Nico muttered darkly.

"I'll add that to the list of things to be pissed off about," responded Thalia, "right above him disappearing for two years."

"Somehow, I think he'll have a good excuse for that one," said Reyna, her eyes not leaving a crushed taxi cab.

"Have you heard from Jason?" Thalia asked Nico, turning her back on the dead screens.

He shook his head while biting the cuticle of his thumb, a nervous habit that Thalia remembered from a much younger version of Nico; the sight of it was almost enough for her to smile. "It's been radio silence on their end. But chances are that Percy will either go to Camp Half-Blood or the Empire State Building; we'll find him one way or another."

"Yeah, well, we better," muttered Thalia, absentmindedly checking the arrows in her quiver, "or else I might just kill him myself."

But that wasn't the issue. No, the issue was that Annabeth was still missing. Percy was like Thalia's other brother, but Annabeth had been her sister for far longer. Annabeth was her chosen family, more than anyone else.

The radio hanging from Nico's hip suddenly crackled, and Nico jumped at its sound. He raised it to his ear, and the sound of Piper's voice came through.