Chapter 22: My Oldest Friend Betrays Us All

OoOoOoOoOoO

On the last day of camp, for the first time in years, I packed up everything I owned into my duffel bag—one that I hardly ever used because I never went anywhere—and looked, a little wistfully, at my clean quarters in cabin six. My siblings looked at me in surprise.

'You're going home?' Anita said in disbelief.

I shrugged. 'I thought it was time I tried.'

Chiron came down to the cabins, his upper body in the formal shirt he only wore for important meetings—like dozens of parents coming to fetch their kids. Argus trailed behind him, hundreds of eyes taking in the flurry of activity from all the cabins. He noted my packed duffel on the porch and hefted it onto his shoulder, pointing to Half-Blood Hill to let me know he'd carry my bag over.

I looked at Chiron. 'Is my dad—?'

'Not yet,' Chiron said. 'I told Argus to keep an eye out. When he arrives, Argus will fetch us.'

'Us?'

Chiron smiled. 'You wouldn't leave without a proper goodbye, now, would you?'

I hugged him tightly, then I bit my lip. Chiron wasn't the only farewell that meant something to me. I'd already told Luke, of course, but I still wanted to say goodbye to him, too. And then there was Percy—the main source of my guilt.

I had put off telling him because I figured he was staying and I actually felt worse about leaving him behind than I did Luke. Besides, it was a bit embarrassing that he was the one who had ultimately convinced me to give my dad a second chance. Even if he didn't know that yet.

'I have to find …'

'Of course,' Chiron said, glancing knowingly across the green towards cabin three. He trotted away to talk to some of the other campers.

I took a deep breath and headed across the central hearth.

No one answered when I knocked on the door of cabin three, so I inched the door open and peeked inside. I hadn't been in it before—Percy had the whole place to himself, so thanks to the strict camp rules, I wasn't supposed to visit since there weren't any other campers to chaperone us. (The rule still struck me as silly. We hung out in all sorts of places together, what was different about our cabins?) Cabin three was a lot airier than the rest, which struck me as silly because nine months of the year, the open slats were going to make it really drafty. With only one occupant, it was a lot roomier, but just as disorganised. Percy's things were all over the place, his bed unmade and his clothes littered across the floor. I guessed I was right about him staying the year.

'He's not there, Chase,' Clarisse called from the porch of cabin five. 'Saw him headed for the sword-fighting arena. As if any practice is going to keep us from pulverising him once we catch him.' She cracked her knuckles, looking like she was eagerly anticipating the moment Percy's friends would all be gone and she could beat him up.

I rolled my eyes. I'd seen Percy fight her dad. Clarisse didn't stand a chance. But I nodded to her in thanks anyway.

I was halfway down the path towards the arena when I heard the screams coming from the edge of the woods.

'Get nectar, hurry!'

'Oh my gods!'

'Someone call Chiron quick!'

I pushed my way through the throng of senior counsellors. Percy lay prone at the feet of Darinia Castle, his face a deathly grey. There was an eerie green tinge to his skin. His right hand was bright red and throbbing. My throat caught painfully at the sight.

'What happened?'

The dryads had come out of their trees to stare. One of them held something out in her hand: two halves of a palm-sized scorpion.

At least half the counsellors swore in unison.

'Pit scorpion …' Castor Engel murmured.

'Kills in sixty seconds,' someone else said.

Chiron galloped up, conch horn in hand. He blew it nine times—three short blasts, three long, three short—to signal an emergency, then bent down and scooped Percy up as easily as he had the first night we'd found him collapsed on the porch.

'Wait!' I cried. I dashed to the creek and scooped up a handful of water. I splashed it over Percy.

Please, I thought, remembering how the water had healed his cuts during our first capture the flag.

Nothing happened.

'Pit scorpion venom is tricky,' Chiron said. 'Usually it kills within a minute, but Percy is still hanging on—the water may have given him some time.' He looked at Darinia. 'Get Will Solace. We'll need him in the infirmary.'

It felt uncannily like the night I'd met Percy. Chiron got him to the infirmary and instructed me to pour nectar over his palm. He muttered an incantation over it in Latin, a phrase I didn't really recognise. A dishevelled-looking Will arrived shortly, panting.

'Darinia said—pit scorpion—how—he's not dead?'

'Not yet. Nectar and the cura, and of course, water itself gives Percy strength. What we need now is some good old medicinal mud.'

Will's eyes widened. 'The soil of Lemnos, sir?'

'Yes, hurry,' Chiron said. 'I had some in a jar, I believe. And if you could infuse it with some more healing power while you're at it …'

'Got it, sir!' Will rifled around in the medicine cabinets and came up with what looked like a jar of dirt. He uncapped it, put a hand over the top and concentrated, muttering under his breath.

Chiron took care of the rest of it. He dug out a couple of handfuls of dirt and slathered the reddish-brown soil up and down Percy's right arm, chanting softly as he did so. It looked like he was building a sand sculpture out of earth.

I grabbed Will's arm. 'What's he doing?'

'Calling on the power of the godly ichor in the soil. It's meant to be restorative, but it's usually for minor wounds … and it's pretty good for snake bites,' Will explained.

'Will that work?'

'I don't know. It was a scorpion sting, and Percy ought to be dead, so—ouch!'

I'd accidentally dug my nails into Will's elbow. I apologised and released him quickly.

Chiron looked up. 'Annabeth, would you mind helping to get Luke? He's still head counsellor. He needs to know there's been a monster attack.'

I was so glad for the task to distract me from worrying about Percy's survival, I didn't even stop to wonder why Luke hadn't already come running at the emergency call of Chiron's horn. I sprinted all the way to cabin eleven, which was noisy and boisterous as half the occupants were trying to pack while the other half kept nicking their stuff. I burst through the door, shouting, 'Luke, Luke! There's been an attack, Percy's been hurt!'

About fifteen heads looked up at me in shock. A dozen campers shot me questions that I didn't really hear. I scanned the sea of faces for Luke, but didn't find him.

Travis caught my shoulder. 'Luke's not here, Annabeth.'

'Where is he, then?'

'We don't know. He—his bunk's been cleared out.'

'What?'

Travis steered me over to an empty bunk bed by the window. It was completely stripped, the sheets in a small, neat bundle at the foot. All the other bunks in the cabin, as well as the bedrolls on the ground, had bags and belongings littered around them, but Luke's bed was pristine.

'But—he's a year-rounder … why would he—?'

Run away? a nasty little voice in my mind supplied. I shut it out.

'No one's seen him since morning,' Travis said. He waved his brother over. 'Hey, Connor, when was the last time you saw Luke?'

'After breakfast,' Connor said. 'He packed everything in a bag and took it out. I asked him what he was doing and he just said he had something to do. I didn't pry.'

'He … he's got to be around somewhere,' I said. 'He wouldn't just leave camp. If he was going to, he'd—he'd tell me.' I stared at his cleaned-out bunk again, as though it might offer a clue.

'There's something here.' Travis reached across the bed and picked at a little spot at the edge of the mattress. He worked what looked like a crumpled piece of paper out of the space between mattress and bedpost.

I took it, thinking it might be a note or something.

My seven-year-old self beamed up at me. In the photograph, I was looking at Luke—much younger and sans scar—kind of adoringly. He had his arm around Thalia, whose fist was against his shoulder like she'd just punched it, but she was grinning. Luke's eyes were soft as they gazed upon her.

My throat constricted painfully. I couldn't remember when the photograph had been taken, or how. Creases ran along our faces where the picture had been crushed by a big hand—or maybe accidentally crumpled when it fell into the crevice of the mattress.

Travis shrugged helplessly at me, then turned away as a spitball from one of his siblings hit him in the back of his neck.

I went back to the infirmary.

Percy was still out of it, but thankfully, his colour looked a lot better. The greenish-grey tinge had left his face, so that he just seemed pale now. Will was sitting on the side of his bed, bandaging Percy's hand with a white cloth. Next to him, a glass of nectar and a small tub with a washcloth sticking out of it sat on the table.

'You healed him,' I said gratefully.

'Oh no, not me—it was pretty much all Chiron. I'm just doing the follow-up.' Will glanced at Percy's slack-jawed face and blushed for some reason. 'Did you find Luke? Chiron's—um, actually, I don't know where Chiron went. Argus called him away.' He nodded towards our many-eyed security officer, standing in the corner, who gave me a small smile. 'Crazy day, I guess.'

I ignored the question about Luke. 'Can I do anything?'

'Um, yeah, I guess you want to take my place—hang on a sec—' He tied off the bandage and laid Percy's hand gently by his side.

'I don't have to—'

Will got up, not quite meeting my eyes, and passed me the glass of iced nectar. 'You do,' he said simply. 'He's already semi-conscious. Just let him sip at this—it'll give him a fever, but that'll actually help to burn up the poison.'

I took Will's place without further argument.

Chiron rolled in, his hindquarters compacted into his wheelchair for some reason. 'Thanks, Will,' he said, and then he saw me. 'Oh, Annabeth, good. Where's—?'

'He's missing,' I said quickly, before he could say Luke's name. 'The Stoll brothers said he packed up and left this morning.

Will looked between Chiron and me. I guess he put two and two together, because he quickly made his excuses and ducked out of the infirmary.

'Oh dear,' Chiron said. 'Well, he won't be the only one heading out into the world.' He looked at me shrewdly. 'Your family—'

Before he could finish, Percy gave a little cough. His eyes flew open. Although I already knew he'd be okay, actually seeing those sea-green eyes made my heart swell up.

Percy gave me a lopsided smile. 'Here we are again.'

'You idiot,' I told him. Part of me wanted to swat him with the washcloth for putting me through all that worry; another part felt like throwing my arms around him in relief. 'You were green and turning grey when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing …'

'Now, now, Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit,' Chiron interrupted. He looked solemnly at Percy. 'How are you feeling?'

'Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved,' Percy said with a grimace.

'Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened.'

Percy gave me a worried glance. My insides clenched. Somehow, I knew before he started talking, what he was going to say.

I guess it wasn't too hard to put together. I had all the clues. I probably could have figured it out—who Kronos's servant really was, why Hermes's shoes had nearly chucked Grover into Tartarus, the reason my best friend—the person I'd considered family—had disappeared on me without a word.

Percy kept his voice carefully neutral as he told his tale, avoiding my eyes.

'He said everything we did was about being pawns of the gods. That we had to burn it down and start over again. He told me about his quest and how it wasn't good enough, not glorious enough for him. And that was how Kronos got into his dreams, and talked him into stealing the bolt and the helmet at the winter solstice. He was there, at Mount Olympus,' Percy's eyes darted quickly to me and back away, 'with the campers on the field trip.'

Every word he said, every accusation against Luke stabbed me in the chest, too. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to protest that no, Luke would never …

Except it also made sense. Everything fit. Little things I'd seen but never really internalised—maybe I simply wouldn't allow myself to think twice about them—hammered relentlessly at my brain now.

Luke had woken us all up from our Hypnos-induced slumber on Olympus and given me back my Yankees cap. There were all the times he'd seemed to just disappear from camp. When Grover and I got back from our quest, Luke had immediately thought Percy had failed … he'd known Percy was meant to be doomed. He'd gifted Percy the pair of treacherous shoes that only luck had prevented from carrying us all into Tartarus. (Would he have grieved if I'd disappeared into the pit?) His aloofness since our return wasn't jealousy: he'd been plotting against us all. And my last real conversation with him … the meaning underlying every word he'd said hit hard.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend. Percy's quest prophecy was true, after all—Luke had betrayed Percy right from the start; we just hadn't known it until now.

'Ares caught him, but Kronos helped Luke talk Ares into hiding the bolt and helmet to start a war. Kronos told him I was coming to Camp Half-Blood and they set things up so I'd get the quest … Luke called the hellhound so that you'd think camp wasn't safe any more.'

'It worked,' Chiron said grimly.

Percy nodded. 'It was all part of his plan—their plan. He was so angry. He said the gods had let him down.' He looked at me again. 'He said they let Thalia down.'

A ragged sob escaped from my mouth. My eyes stung. I felt like my bronze knife, the gift from Luke that I always carried, was burning red-hot against my thigh. The crumpled photograph that I'd retrieved from his empty bunk felt heavy in my pocket.

'And then—before he set the scorpion on me—he told me Kronos was waiting with more quests for him, and he was leaving to serve Kronos. He's going to help him rise, Chiron.'

I felt like one of Medusa's statues in her emporium. I thought of Luke's warm hugs—before and after our quest—and his admonition to stay safe, his delight at my return. The thought that none of that might have been genuine left a bitter taste in my heart.

He'd told Percy that he'd followed Kronos because the gods had let Thalia down, but everything he'd done could have gotten me killed.

Had he ever really cared about me? Was it even possible that the boy I worshipped could have changed overnight?

'I can't believe that Luke …' I started, but the words coming out of my own mouth sounded false even to me. I did know Luke had been becoming sour for years. But I had never wanted to see it. I didn't want to believe that my dearest friend could be capable of anything but heroism.

Let your head lead and not your heart.

The pedestal supporting my mental image of Luke came crashing down, leaving only bitter, sulphurous anger boiling away underneath.

'Yes,' I said slowly. 'Yes. I can believe it. May the gods curse him … He was never the same after his quest.'

Chiron spoke at last, in a voice full of consternation. 'This must be reported to Olympus. I will go at once.'

I listened, still numb, as Percy and Chiron argued about chasing Luke down. Percy wanted to go after him himself, as if he hadn't just been incapacitated by a pit scorpion. I personally was in two minds about it. I knew we had to stop Kronos. I'd heard his ancient, evil voice and felt the nothingness that he had shown us on Santa Monica beach. But … Luke. Angry as I was about his betrayal, could I head out on a quest to face him as the enemy?

I did want to hunt him down, though, because I wanted answers. I needed to look him in the eye and ask him why.

And then Percy asked about the Great Prophecy.

Chiron looked uncomfortable. 'Percy, it isn't my place—'

'You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?'

I knew this was only partly the truth, but Chiron latched onto the explanation gratefully. HIs reply was familiar; it reminded me of the times he'd promised me I had a heroic future ahead of me.

'You'll have to trust me, Percy,' Chiron said. 'You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year.'

I looked at the two of them, surprised. I had assumed the matter of Percy's status at camp was already a done deal. Only as Chiron offered Percy the decision to stay or return home for seventh grade did I realise Percy had not made up his mind yet.

'When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision,' Chiron told him. 'I'll be back as soon as I can. Argus will watch over you.' Then he turned to me. 'Oh, and my dear,' he said, 'whenever you're ready … they're here.'

My heart thumped uncomfortably. I realised what he had been about to tell me just before Percy woke up. Everything felt too fast suddenly. I wanted more time to compose myself before I met a father I hadn't seen in two years. There had to be more time for goodbyes. I hadn't even told Percy yet that I was leaving.

'Who's here?' Percy asked, looking between me and Chiron. I found I couldn't answer.

Chiron merely patted both our shoulders—giving mine a small squeeze—and rolled himself out.

I looked down, trying to will my heartbeat to slow.

'What's wrong?' Percy asked.

'Nothing. I …' I was still holding his glass of nectar. I put it down with a clunk. This was my chance to tell him the news, but it was difficult to work up to it. 'I just took your advice about something.' I was about to tell him, but Percy adjusted himself in the bed, frowning like he needed a favour. 'You … um … need anything?'

'Yeah. Help me up. I want to go outside.'

I looked dubiously at his pallor. 'Percy, that isn't a good idea.'

He threw back the bedclothes and swung his legs out. He didn't even make it to standing position before collapsing on me.

I pushed him back onto the bed. 'I told you …'

'I'm fine!' He gripped my shoulder tightly and forced himself back up. I sighed and helped him limp onto the porch. He shivered a lot and broke into cold sweat, but I decided not to point it out. We got to the porch rail and he let go of me to lean against it. Percy stared out over the campgrounds, his face serious. I guessed he was considering the choice he had yet to make.

He didn't have much time left to decide.

I glanced over to Half-Blood Hill. Four silhouettes were painted against the setting sun, right under Thalia's tree where the magical boundaries ended. Two were taller and two were tiny. My stomach flipped over. They really had come—all of them.

This was it. I'd made my choice for the year; there was no turning back now. At least, I hoped I wouldn't be turning back this time.

I looked back at Percy. 'What are you going to do?'

'I don't know.' He tore his eyes away from Camp Half-Blood to look at me. 'I think Chiron wants me to be a year-rounder and get more training, but I don't know … I don't know if I want to.'

'You want to see your mom.'

He smiled wryly. 'Yeah. I feel bad about leaving you to deal with Clarisse on your own, though.'

It was ironic, given that the same thought had crossed my mind. Also, it was amusing how he thought that, since I'd already put up with Clarisse for two years before he'd come along.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't put off telling him any longer. 'I'm going home for the year, Percy.'

'You mean, to your dad's?'

I pointed to my waiting family. I wondered how long they'd been there already. I told Percy about the letter I'd wrote, and my dad's reply. Our agreement to try again.

'That took guts,' Percy said.

The compliment made my churning insides settle down a bit. Suddenly there was a ton of stuff I wanted to say and I wish I had told Percy earlier after all. But we were out of time. For now, anyway.

'You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you?' I said. 'At least … not without sending me an iris-message?'

'I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to.'

Give Percy's propensity for trouble, I guessed I might get quite a few messages if he kept his word. The prospect made me feel happy. Whatever the year had in store for me, I'd look forward to catching up with Percy again. And when we next met …

'When I get back next summer, we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?'

Percy grinned. 'Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.'

We shook on it.

'Take care, Seaweed Brain. Keep your eyes open.'

'You too, Wise Girl,' he said.

My dad was looking in my direction, although I knew he couldn't see through the magical barriers. He held the Waterland backpack I had sent as a peace offering in his hands, a talisman. I took a deep breath and looked back again at Percy. He nodded encouragingly at me.

I took one last look into his sea-green eyes. I wouldn't see them again until next June, but that was okay. Maybe we would stay in touch in the meantime. And I had his promise that we'd go questing again next summer. In spite of the betrayal I'd just suffered and the upheavals in my world, I believed I could count on Percy. And that gave me something solid to hang on to.

I didn't know if I'd find Luke next summer, but for now I had an older family waiting for me, and a year ahead to try and make that work.

THE END

OoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: Wow, this is it. Twenty-two chapters, which I think quite possibly means this takes the prize for the longest fic I've ever written. It's been an amazingly fun project, though, and I've come to love Annabeth so, so much. If you've followed the story all the way, thank you VERY much and I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Thank you especially to all my reviewers. I get a lot of joy and encouragement from your words and I'm very grateful for everyone who has taken the time to hit that comment button to say a little something.

And of course, I'm grateful to Rick Riordan for writing the original series and allowing us to play in his sandbox. Obviously this story's plot comes straight from The Lightning Thief, as does any of the dialogue where I have converged with the canon scenes. I hope though that I have managed to succeed at presenting a fresh perspective at the events in the book and done Annabeth justice.

Some of you have asked if I'm going to continue with the rest of the series, and the good news is, yes—I did an Annabeth PoV of Sea of Monsters as a NaNoWriMo project last November, and I'm now working on editing it. I'll be ready to start posting that in a week or two. In the meantime, I have a one-shot or two that I want to polish up and share.

Beyond that, I have a bunch of ideas for what to for Titan's Curse, but nothing concrete yet. There's also a PJOHOO Big Bang running in February for which I have a plot idea that I really want to tackle … anyway, I don't think I'm leaving this fandom any time soon! If you'd like to check out more of my stuff, I'm on LiveJournal and Ao3 as shiiki (or shiikifics, which is where all my writing is archived), and dotshiiki on tumblr.

Thanks again everyone, and bye for now!

-shiiki