Bonds

Annabeth Forms A Plan

Annabeth watched the daughter of Kronos -the daughter of Luke- sleep peacefully on the fur covered mattress seemingly without a care in the world. One arm separated her head from the lavender pillow, while the other was stretched out with her hand just hanging over the edge. One bare leg rested on top of the blanket made of what appeared to be the fur of a gigantic bear, while the other was tucked underneath. Her snores were deafening and frequent, Annabeth likening them to the whine of a chainsaw. Every few minutes she would stop and smack her lips in her sleep, mumble something unintelligible, and go back to sawing logs. Queen, the girl had called herself, looked just like any other teenage girl (save for the glowing), but she scared Annabeth more than anything else ever had.

"How could this have happened?" she asked herself in the dark of the sprawling bed chambers for the umpteenth time. But like every other time she asked that question, she was met with snoring instead of answers.

The girl before her and her siblings could have only resulted from a catastrophic failure on Olympus' and, more importantly, her part. Somehow during the brief window of time when Kronos had possessed Luke's body, the mad titan had found the time to sire at least three children; and knowing Kronos she would bet her soul that it wasn't out of love. They were part of some grand scheme to topple Olympus. Possibly the real scheme all along. Meaning all she had done, all she had lost, was for nothing. And if the hushed conversations she heard between Queen and Luke-lookalike were to be believed, they were part of a prophecy.

And that scared Annabeth.

She knew that it was impossible to prevent a prophecy from unfolding, but she also knew that they could be delayed. It had worked for the first Great Prophecy, what with the Big Three killing off their children and swearing to not father anymore mortal children. And part of her was beginning to wonder if the second Great Prophecy was delayed because of Hazel's untimely death. Because of that she believed that if the other Olympians would have assisted Poseidon in trying to destroy the Princess Andromeda, this unknown prophecy would have been delayed for centuries; even if that did mean losing Luke earlier.

Luke...

She couldn't place the blame solely on the gods, even though she wanted to do nothing more. A large portion of the blame could be placed on her, and she knew it. She now saw Luke's visit the summer before the war reached a head in a new light. Perhaps he knew what Kronos planned to do with his body and that was his way of seeking help. That if she would have agreed to go with him they would have ran away together. But at the same time, she doubted that Luke knew about Kronos' plan. As no matter how much he hated the gods he wouldn't have brought a child, let alone three, into the world for the sole purpose of destroying Olympus. And there was no way he wouldn't have tried to warn her before he sacrificed himself to save them, just as he wouldn't willingly send his mother to Tartarus.

Still though, it was easy to blame herself.

Just as it was easy to blame Percy.

The son of Poseidon had told her all about his trip with Nico to Luke's childhood home and their encounter with the elder Castellan. The piles of moldy lunches the old women made everyday for a son that would never return home, the trays of hockey puck-like burnt cookies, the more-than-likely delusions of Hermes visiting her, and the seizure-like prophetic visions. All of which made it perfectly understandable why Luke left and became as bitter as he did. And why Percy promised he would go check on her and try to inform her of the fate of her son.

But that obviously never happened... She reached up and touched the golden necklace around her neck, only to pull her hand away when electricity arced to her fingertips. And now I'm a slave because Per- her stomach began to burn, and her chest tightened at the thought of her former lover's name- he didn't keep his promise.