A Leap of Faith (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

28

"I still think he should come with us," Astri murmured, staring down at the cabins' courtyard. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and they were preparing to leave.

"Apollo really likes you, doesn't he, Astri?" Bianca asked curiously as she looked at her.

A scowl was quick to claim Astri's face. "What in Hades makes you say that?"

"There's only sunlight on you and nowhere else."

Thalia cackled when she, Astri, Zoë and Grover all looked to see that it was true. The light was barely coming up on the amphitheatre and the rock wall. Everything on Half-Blood Hill where they stood was still dark, even the sky above them. The light reached out for Astri as if she were some kind of beacon, looking almost like a searchlight.

"I am going to kill him. He's abusing his sun-god powers." She took a step back, but the light merely followed her. She wasn't in the mood for his antics.

She had barely gotten up in time to meet the four of them at the top. Dreams were the worst, and Astri was close to swearing off sleeping for a few months. Not that she'd be able to do it, but she'd try. At least until she was alone again. She and Percy were too close and too powerful together.

They had shared dreams a couple of times before during the summer, but the dreams hadn't been anything important. Last night's, however, set Astri's mood back at Bad. It had been about Annabeth and Artemis, confirming Astri's suspicion that Annabeth's and Artemis' disappearances were linked, and they were briefly intertwined. It had also confirmed who Astri had suspected the General was.

Annabeth was alive but not well. The poor girl was crouched beneath what looked to be a cavern, on her knees and holding up the ceiling. Her face was white, almost grey, and sweaty. Her eyes were closed, but her face was straining. The weight of the roof was nearly crushing her, but she was refusing to let it.

Artemis had been brought before the girl, her dress in tatters and her hands and feet bound in Celestial bronze chains. Without hesitation, the goddess took the weight of the ceiling from Annabeth, and the girl collapsed beside her.

"She may yet be useful, sir. Further bait," Luke had said to the General when he gave the order to have Annabeth killed.

"You truly believe that?" The General had asked in a near sneer, but he wasn't objecting.

"Yes, General," he said. "They will come for her. I'm sure."

Astri woke up after that, grinding her teeth in frustration whilst Percy still tossed and turned. She had seen him observing, but the boy hadn't seen her. She packed angrily after that. Two changes of clothes, emergency arrow tips, mortal money, drachma. She left her shield because it was bulky, and she was already carrying Solveig with her. She had Solveig on her right hip and the quiver on her left whilst the bow was slung across her torso.

"The prophecy says six shall go west, Zoë," Astri said after a few minutes of silence. "There are only five of us now."

"We are not taking the boy," Zoë said. The Stolls had laced the shirt they'd gifted to Phoebe with a centaur blood spray and the poor girl was now in the infirmary. Astri knew she should have said something when Zoë took it from them to give to the girl.

Astri set her jaw. She looked back down at the camp as she heard a vehicle pulling up on the other side of the hill behind them. There was supposed to be six of them, everyone knew that.

"I do not say this because he is thy brother, Astri," Zoë said quietly as Thalia and Grover began to make their way towards the van. The Hunter rested her hand on Astri's shoulder. "I say it... I say it because I, too, have a feeling. We should not pick anyone else. They will be worse off than Phoebe. Even you must have that sense. I do not wish to risk anyone else."