Rick Riordan © Percy Jackson & The Olympians

From The Void

Chapter 8

by GaleSynch

Thalia dreamed, as usual.

Even in sleep, she was unable to dislodge the pain that haunted her waking moments. She stood, rooted on the spot, unable to move as lightning flashed overhead. The occasional pain shooting up her spine made her wince but she couldn't do anything. She couldn't even move a muscle to pinch herself and wake herself.

Morpheus hated her, just as he hated every other demigod in the world. She hoped Annabeth or someone, really, would notice the predicament she was in and wake her up. Sleep had never been kind to demigods, no matter how tired they were.

Just as the pain reached unbearable heights, the world was ripped away from beneath Thalia.

The daughter of Zeus jerked away, eyes flying open; she flailed, trying to catch a handhold but failed and tumbled off the hammock someone had placed her on.

She was severely disoriented, all she knew was that this ship was scorching hot. The ship swayed again as the memories from before she fell into unconsciousness sunk in.

Clarisse took us in... this must be her ship... how did she get it? No, it's not important now. It's on fucking fire!

Thalia sprang to her feet, trying to ignore the stabbing pain behind her eyes and in her eyes. "Annabeth! Tyson!" she yelled, voice cracking. Smoke curled in from the door. She rushed towards the only exit, grabbing the doorknob, barely noticing how hot it was with the pain wracking her head, and wrenched it open.

Flames roared.

Thalia flinched backwards. The fires had spread. Where were her friends?

She hoped they were okay.

Thalia staggered back, squeezing her eyes shut as the flames spread into her cabin. Concentrate, focus, she told herself, she had to use the air to push the flames away. That was if she didn't fuel the flames. Nothing happened. By now, flames and heat were licking Thalia's cheek.

She fought the urge to just jump into the fire and end things. She didn't want to go out so slowly. And people didn't say she was impulsive for nothing.

Before she could resign herself to her fate however, the ship lurched and sea water burst into existence, consuming the flames and Thalia and the whole thing.

Thalia clamped her mouth shut even though she wanted to yell in shock. The hammock, crates, nightstand, and her backpack were floating away. She kicked her legs, trying to swim but the current was too strong.

Shit. The ship was probably sinking!

"You... what are you doing here?"

That voice. It was probably the voice of the person she wanted to see the most. Second only to Apollo because she wanted the sun god to heal her—now!

Someone seized the back of her leather jacket and wrenched her back as something exploded—

And there was none.

_:_:_

She coughed, spitting water out of her water and plucked the seaweed from her hair. Her arms trembled from swimming for so long. Her lifeboat had been punctured earlier—just her luck—and halfway to the island, it had started deflating so Annabeth had swam the whole way there.

"Hey," a soft, melodious voice said. "Are you okay?"

Annabeth groaned in response. What do you think? That voice sounded suspiciously like Thalia's. But of course, the daughter of Zeus wasn't there. It was her imagination messing with her.

Gentle hands seized her underarm and pulled her to her feet. Her knees shook. "We'll carry you," said the same girl. "Don't worry. You can rest now."

And Annabeth assumed she passed out after that, for quite awhile too. Because the next time she opened her eyes, she was laying on a rather soft bed. Her first thought was about how thirsty she was.

The next thought was: Where am I?

Demigod instincts kicked in, warning stranger danger, and Annabeth jerked away, ignoring how her body ached in protest. She scanned her surroundings wildly, hand already fumbling for her dagger. It wasn't on her body but she didn't panic—because she saw her beloved weapon on the nightstand, along with a cup of what seemed to be nectar.

She consumed it greedily, licking her dry lips.

She felt energized instantly as she strapped her dagger to her belt.

There was only one exit. Cautiously, she made her way to the door, pressing her ear to the wooden material, discerning that no one was on the other side before she opened the door. The hallway was empty; dagger in hand, Annabeth carefully made her way down the left turn.

Everything was tranquil, a soft mellifluous voice was singing a haunting song, in a language Annabeth didn't understand. She knew she was not in the mortal world and that put her on guard. She didn't know what was waiting for her but she hoped it was enemy she can beat.

Without Tyson and Thalia—and the thought made a lump form in her throat because they were both caught in the explosion—Annabeth would have to rely mostly on trickery. She can hold her own in battles but she could also be easily overwhelmed.

"Oi, Chase!"

Annabeth jumped, whirling around, eyes wide in disbelief. "Clarisse? I thought you—" Her mind registered who she was seeing and rage poured all over her. If only Clarisse had listened to her and took on Scylla instead of Charybdis, Thalia and Tyson would still be alive! If Clarisse hadn't stopped her from going after them, they would still be alive!

Before she could unleash her unholy rage upon the daughter of Ares, Annabeth saw two girls behind her. She kept her temper in check first, needing to know about the current threat. Clarisse seemed quite at ease with them but she wasn't the brightest girl there is.

Usually, it was up to Annabeth to discern threats.

The daughter of Athena glared at the two girls distrustfully. They looked similar with dark hair, eyes and skin, so she assumed them to be siblings. "Who are they?" Even to her own ears, she sounded harsh and cold.

"Reyna and Hylla, whatever."

Hylla smiled at Annabeth but there was an edge in them. She probably didn't like how Clarisse sounded so dismissive of them, who had saved their lives.

"She's the Annabeth I've been talking about."

"We're sorry for your loss," said the younger girl, Reyna, sympathy clouding her eyes. "But Lady C.C said you two can stay and gain new family!"

Annabeth was taken aback. "Loss?" Oh, right. Thalia and Tyson. Somehow, Annabeth's mind couldn't wrap around the fact that they were dead because they always seemed so sturdy and strong. Her jaw tightened at the reminder of their mortality. "Right. Appreciated," she grumbled. "Where are we? Who's this 'C.C'?"

"You're in C.C's Spa Resort," answered Hylla enthusiastically, like some sort of businesswoman. "Lady C.C is the woman in charge. We're currently showing Clarisse on a tour. Would you like to join us?" Subtly, her eyes fell to Annabeth's ruined clothes. "Maybe after a bath. Reyna?"

"This way," said the younger girl. She seemed to be a year or two younger than Annabeth but she came up to Annabeth's forehead in height. She gently took the blonde girl's hand, squeezing reassuringly. "Let's go."

Annabeth didn't bother glancing at Clarisse. Thalia's and Tyson's faces kept swimming in her mind. Mechanically, she let Reyna lead her to their hotspring. She bathed and dressed in the white silk dress Reyna offered her. Reyna even braided her hair with gold but she came back to reality long enough to stop Reyna from applying makeup.

"You're a daughter of the wisdom goddess, right?" inquired Reyna.

Annabeth nodded absentmindedly. "So?"

"Maybe the library would interest you?" Reyna looked subdued. "I mean, you look so sad and we have a wide selection of books children of Athena are bound to love! The best knowledge of the past three millennium. All enough to make you a great sorceress like Lady Circe!"

Annabeth blinked. "Come again? Sorceress?"

Reyna nodded. "This spa resort accepts any females and train them to be great. Lady Circe told me that you and that other bulky girl came from Camp Half-Blood. Whatever that is. This place is much better!"

Camp. Quest. Thalia's tree. Thalia.

Annabeth stood up abruptly, startling Reyna to badly she dropped her comb. "Where's my bag?"

"Er, I brought it with me but I don't think—" Annabeth didn't wait for her to finish. She grabbed the first pair of jeans she got her hands on and pulled them on.

"Annabeth?"

The daughter of Athena didn't ask how Reyna knew her name. Sorceress and their magic. Annabeth could almost hear Thalia's snort. "I have to go," she said tersely.

"Why? You should stay—you're wise and we need more people like you! You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"

Annabeth shot Reyna a tragic look.

"Life is only precious because it ends, Reyna. And I have my home to save. Bring me to Clarisse."

_:_:_

Whatever she was laying on, Thalia thought that it was alive.

It kept flexing its muscles. Thalia kept her eyes close even though she was awake, she needed to assess the situation first before she made a move.

"Oh, drop the act, I know you're awake."

Thalia cracked an eye open. "Percy?" She sounded too hopeful and the daughter of Zeus felt like smacking herself for adopting that tone. She pushed herself up, but nearly fell into the ocean. She yelped, gripping the sides of the creature carrying her. Scales beneath her fingertips, which meant that she was on a...

She glanced at the rainbow-colored mane. "A hippopotamus."

"A hippocampus," corrected Percy, snorting.

Thalia glanced around but failed to see a green-eyed primordial. "Where are you?" she demanded.

"I'm the embodiment of the sea," said Percy's voice, seeming to be inside her head. "I'm around you."

"No, I mean..." Thalia trailed off. Of course, she thought. Percy wasn't human. He was the youngest son of Chaos. But he had always looked so human, acting like a goofy teenage boy, so it had not been hard to pretend he was just a demigod.

"You're asking about my human form?" Even his voice had changed, had a watery quality to it and echoed. Thalia chalked this up to the lack of a human mouth to speak.

Thalia nodded but then realize he wouldn't be able to see. So she spoke. "Yes."

Percy sounded amused. "Does this disturb you?"

"No, it doesn't." Lies. Finally, after nearly a year, Thalia got to see the boy she dreamt about more than once and he wasn't even human. He didn't even deign to appear before her. "I was just curious."

"Right." Percy didn't believe her for one bit and she wondered how he knew. Waters don't have eyes. "You do know I'm protecting you by covering you from Poseidon's detector, right? Poseidon wouldn't hesitate to drown you if he knew you, the only child of his nemesis, is here."

"Oh." A bubbly feeling in her chest that she tried to squash. "Is that why you don't look human?"

A snort. "Gee, you think?"

She tried to kill her smile. "Where are we going?"

"I heard about your tree," Percy answered. "And you're dying. I can sense it. So we're going to get that Golden Fleece."

"Wait, Luke is after it too—"

"Don't worry," said Percy cryptically. "Just rest. I'll wake you once we get there."

She leaned against the hippocampus, feeling its muscles rippling as it swam the expanse of the sea. She was in Poseidon's domain, she was suppose to feel scared but Percy's presence was overpowering and...

Inexplicably, she felt safe.

For the first time, she slept without nightmares.

_:_:_

"Clarisse!" yelled Annabeth when she saw the chaos. "What happened?"

The daughter of Ares bounded over to her, a self-satisfied smirk on her face. "What do you think happened? I shoved Circe's offer up her ass. Well, Blackbeard's mostly responsible for it but... meh."

A scream from behind her prompted Annabeth to turn. "Reyna! Hey, let her go!" But Annabeth's voice was unheard from the screams and chaos caused by the pirates. "Clarisse, she helped me, we can't—"

"Let her be," said Clarisse tersely. "We have to go now. Blackbeard said he'd help us. He's a son of Ares and I'm his younger sister so he's willing. Besides, he wants to beat Polyphemus. That would make any pirate—"

Clarisse rambled on, dragging Annabeth after her.

The daughter of Athena cast Reyna a helpless glance, mouthing 'Sorry' but she wasn't sure Reyna saw it.

She never saw the hate-filled glare.

They were aboard Blackbeard's ship when Annabeth finally managed to wrench her hand out of Clarisse's hand. She glared viciously at the daughter of Ares. Now that the crisis was averted, the rage had returned. "What do you have to say for yourself?" she demanded angrily.

Clarisse looked indifferent. "What is there to say?"

"Thalia and Tyson!" Annabeth exploded. "They're —"

Clarisse made an impatient sound at the back of her throat. "Honestly, Wise Girl—"

"Don't call me that!"

"—do you really think those two T's will get killed so easily?"

Annabeth faltered. "So you think—"

Clarisse turned away. "They're your friends. Have some faith in them."

Clarisse was the last person Annabeth expected to be able to make her feel better about her current predicament, but the daughter of Ares soothed her anyway.

"...Thanks."

_:_:_

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