diásosi

rescue

Somehow, trying not to remember was harder than not knowing anything at all for Annabeth. She spent the entirey of the next day waiting anxiously for Drew Tanaka to return and either tell her more or help her escape.

Shockingly, Dolos hadn't come down to interrogate her at all. She winced everytime the floorboards creaked, yet nobody came down into her cold cellar that she had called home for three years, at least according to Drew.

So Annabeth counted. She would count between the creaks, starting each time someone walked above her and stopping when the noise was audible once again.

"Thalia Grace," she whispered in the darkness once counting had proved pointless. The memory of the name, however, was not enough to provide her with solid memories. Annabeth could only remember a handful of things about the girl, including her eye color and weapon of choice, but neither satisfied her enough to stop thinking about the girl. 

Finally, the floorboard above her shifted. She almost smiled in relief, but thought better of it. Annabeth couldn't ever remember smiling. Drew nimbly climbed down the ladder with a plastic bag clenched between her teeth. She was wearing a different outfit today: tight black pants and a long, loose white shirt that made her black hair look darker.

"This should help," she announced with no preamble, handing the bag out to Annabeth. She accepted it warily and looked at the brown square that rested inside.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked, trying to determine if the mushed item was a type of food.

"It's ambrosia. Gods, it's like you're a new camper all over again, isn't it? It helps demigods to heal faster. You're supposed to eat it," Drew added when Annabeth didn't move.

She did as the other girl commanded and chewed up the brown square cautiously. It was tasteless and chewy, nothing like anything she remembered eating before.

"What did it taste like?" Drew asked lightly, discarding the bag by dropping it on the ground.

"Nothing. Why, was it supposed to?"

The Asian girl blinked twice, clearly surprised. "It's supposed to. Maybe it has something to do with you not remembering anything. I'll see if Chris knows anything."

"Who's Chris?" Annabeth asked.

"Chris Rodriguez. You'll be able to meet him shortly, I'm sure. He's been so worried about you, Annabeth. We all have, including Clarisse, even if she won't admit it. But she's too stubborn to admit anything; it took her years to admit how she felt about Chris."

All the names coming from Drew were just as unknown as the others she shared last night. Annabeth didn't know who any of these people were.

"Stop," she said, holding her hand out. "Please, stop."

Drew stopped herself mid-speech. "Why? Wait, did I say something?"

"I-I don't know who you're talking about, but I feel like I'm supposed to. I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Gods, how many times do I have to tell you not to be sorry?" Drew said exasperatedly. "None of this is your fault, Annabeth. You didn't do anything wrong."

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but stopped once a shuffling noise was audible right above them.

"Aphrodite's lipstick," Drew muttered darkly. Annabeth gazed at her in confusion, trying to figure out what either of those words meant. "Okay, Annabeth, I need you to stay very still. I'm going to hide behind you."

If the tall girl hid behind Annabeth, Dolos would most certainly be able to see her, but she didn't say anything as Drew moved behind her.

The floorboard moved aside half a second later, and Dolos was visible. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything about Drew laying behind her.

"This is becoming dull, Annabeth," Dolos said conversationally. "One would think you would have cracked by now. But no worries, I sense that your breaking point is close. I will ask you another time: where is the dagger Luke Castellan gave to you?"

"I don't know," she whispered weakly.

"Hmm?" Dolos asked. "I couldn't catch that."

"I don't know," Annabeth repeated, her voice shaking.

"You don't know. What a shame that is," Dolos said with mock pity while slipping a knife into Annabeth's hand. "Let's try this again."

"I believe that's enough of that," Drew said from behind her. Both Annabeth and Dolos turned around.

Annabeth didn't know what she was expecting, but this most certainly wasn't it. Drew was curled up behind her, no taller than a foot high. She watched in shock as Drew stretched back into her normal height with a sharp knife in her hand.

Dolos, however, didn't look worried. On the contrary, it looked as if he had been expecting her to come.

"Drew Tanaka, how strange it is to see you risking your pretty neck. Weren't you happy to sit off the battlefield and gossip?"

Drew shrugged, unconcerned. "War changes people, Dolos. You should know that by now."

Dolos smirked. "I am not 'people'. I am something much greater than the mere mortals that pollute Gaia's world."

"How I've missed the narcissistic nature of immortals," Drew crooned, turning the knife in her palm.

"And how I've missed pretty Aphrodite girls."

The tall girl had a poisonous smile as Annabeth watched the conversation bounce back and forth. A thought was slowly spinning in the back of her mind, as if it had been rusted by years of unused.

Annabeth knew that Dolos was stalling. And Drew was falling for it.

"Drew-" Annabeth spoke up, but the other girl shushed her.

"What do you want with the daughter of Athena?" Drew asked him, her thin dagger clutched in her pale hands. "Why have you kept her for three years? What's so important that you have to find out?"

Dalos chuckled darkly. "You never cared for Annabeth before. What caused the sudden change of heart?"

Drew opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted when the entire ceiling was ripped away. Splinters rained down on Annabeth as she gaped upwards. The other girl cursed and darted towards Annabeth.

"I'll be right behind you," she promised. "Trust the girl you find on the other side."

"What? Drew, what are you-" Annabeth wasn't able to finish her sentence because Drew had pushed her towards the wall. She winced and braced herself for impact, but it never came. Instead, Annabeth felt herself falling through air.

Seconds later, hands grabbed her forcefully and pulled her up.

"Where is she?" a female voice growled. "Where is Drew, Chase?"

It took Annabeth a minute to remember that her last name was Chase, and that she must be directing the question towards her.

"She-she said she'd be right behind me," Annabeth stuttered as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of wherever she was. "Where am I?"

"Not heaven, if that's what you were wondering," the new girl grumbled. "There is no heaven, not anymore. Chase, what happened to you? Where have you been for the last three years? I thought better of you."

Once her eyes adjusted, Annabeth looked at the girl. She was muscular and had a scowl etched onto her face. Several scars were visible on her arms, and a spear was in her hand. Mousy brown hair adorned her head as she glared at Annabeth.

"W-who are you?" Annabeth managed to get out.

The other girl looked more surprised than Drew had. "We've known each other for pretty much forever. What do you mean who am I?" For the first time, she seemed to take in Annabeth's appearance. "Gods, where have you been? What happened to you?"

She whimpered as her legs collapsed, bringing her entire body to the ground.

"Holy Ares," she muttered, but the girl dropped her spear and picked Annabeth up. She was surprisingly gentle as she carried her over to a couch.

"Where am I?" Annabeth asked again, clutching the worn-down quilt the girl placed over her. It was soft and smelled like something oddly familiar, almost like a spice. From what she could tell, she was in a small house, and the room Annabeth was in was bigger than Dolos' cellar. The couch was brown and soft, and it matched a plush chair that sat across the room. The walls were painted bright yellow, making it seem brighter than it truly was.

"My apartment. Well, mine and a couple of others. But you'll be safe here. I'm Clarisse." Clarisse's face seemed to fall when no signs of recognition came from Annabeth. "Clarisse la Rue? Daughter of Ares? Come on, Chase, you've hated me for years."

"Then why are you helping me?" Annabeth asked, her nose wrinkling in confusion. "Drew said I hated her as well."

"Yeah, well, things have changed a lot, Chase. We haven't seen Chiron since you disappeared. I think he went looking for you, but something must have gone wrong."

The tough girl's face seemed to fall for a second, no doubt worrying about whoever Chiron was.

"And I haven't seen your boyfriend in ages, either. But he's alive. He has to be. He's annoying, but he's damn near indestructible."

"My boyfriend?" Annabeth asked. "Who's my boyfriend?"

If Drew had mentioned anything about boyfriend, Annabeth had forgotten.

At that moment, a hole seemed to appear in the yellow wall. Clarisse stopped gaping at Annabeth to pull Drew out of a smoking wall.

Drew had several scratches along her arms, as well as a deep gash on her forehead. Oddly enough, the girl was grinning widely.

"Where were you?" Clarisse demanded, her anger melting Drew's smile. "I thought you said you weren't going to get hurt!"

Drew winced as Clarisse practically dragged her to a couch parallel to Annabeth's. "They surprised me. But it's fine, I'm not badly hurt."

"This is anything but fine," Clarisse growled angrily. Annabeth could have imagined it, but she could have sworn that Clarisse's hand reached for her spear. "I've already lost one daughter of Aphrodite; I can't lose another."

Drew's face immediately softened. "Clarisse-"

Annabeth, too confused by what the two girls were saying, watched as a boy holding a steaming mug walked into the room. His gaze fixated on Clarisse first. He seemed to take in her anger and wisely avoided both it and her gaze. Then, he looked at Drew. If he was surprised by her injuries, he didn't show it. He merely frowned after surveying each one. Finally, his eyes met Annabeth's and showed emotion for the first time.

"Annabeth? Gods, is that really you?"

Annabeth was startled that this strange boy knew who she was. His voice, however, brought Clarisse and Drew out of their fight.

"Chris," Clarisse said, her voice softening, but anger still shining through. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come to the apartment today."

The boy, Chris, shrugged as he sat his drink down. "Where else was I going to go? I do live here, you know. But that's not important. Where and how did you find Annabeth Chase?"

Clarisse scowled and plopped down next to Drew on the couch.

Annabeth finally realized how tired she was. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that the girl found her eyelids becoming more and more heavy. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the soft pillow.

|||||

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," Drew said, completely ignorant to the fact that Annabeth had just fallen asleep. "It's a long story."

Chris pretended to look at a watch. "And look at that, I have nowhere to be for the next eternity, why not tell me? I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm one of you." He grabbed a golden medallion that hung around his neck, and held it out for them to see.

Drew pursed her lips and turned away. A silence fell, pierced only by Annabeth's heavy breathing . The three of them seemed to finally realize that Annabeth had fallen asleep beneath the ratty quilt.

"I'll bring Annabeth to her room," Drew suggested. "I think she needs some sleep."

Clarisse snorted. "What gave that away, Sherlock? Maybe since she's already asleep?"

Drew ignored her, and picked up Annabeth, who was surprisingly light. Carrying her, she brought her down the hall, the quilt still wrapped around her tightly. It was almost disturbing to feel how much weight the girl had lost over the course of the past few years.

She walked down the cold hallway and into a dimly lit room that contained only a bed. Drew placed Annabeth into the bed and pulled the blankets up to her chin.

Her blond hair was unbelievably dirty and knotted, and the tangled strands reached past her waist. Dirt, blood, and grime was smeared across her face. Despite being asleep, Annabeth looked anything but peaceful.

Drew laughed softly at the sight of the girl. "To think I used to be scared of you," she said fondly, bringing down a corner of the quilt to cover Annabeth's leg.

Without a backwards glance, Drew left the room and Annabeth.

The blonde-haired girl shivered in her sleep, unaware of Drew's exit, her dreams plagued by silent demons.

|||||

"Where has she been for the past three years?" Chris demanded as Drew returned into the sitting room.

"Locked in Dolos' cellar," Drew answered as she took a seat. "She's been tortured daily, by the looks of it. Dolos wants to know the location of the knife Luke Castellan gave to her."

Clarisse's features seemed to soften at the mention of Luke's name, while Chris became more agitated.

"A knife? Dolos kept her for three years for a dumb knife?" Chris said angrily. He grabbed the cup of coffee he brought and took a sip, hoping the hot drink could calm him.

"It doesn't make any sense to me either, but it's all we've got."

"Who is Dolos?" Clarisse asked.

"He's an immortal of some form, a minor god, if I'm not mistaken. But other than that, I have no clue," said Drew, shrugging helplessly.

"Gods, where's Annabeth Chase when you need her," Clarisse grumbled while polishing her spear.

"Currently an injured and amnesiac mess," Chris reminded her. "Reminds me of what happened to Jackson and Grace a little bit."

"But Chase was tortured while Hera just took their memories," Clarisse argued. "Besides, Jackson remembered Annabeth. She has no clue who he is."

Chris, who was in the process of taking another gulp of coffee, gagged. Tears formed in his eyes from the blistering hot liquid. "She doesn't remember Percy?" he managed to gasp through his pain.

"She doesn't remember anyone. And by anyone," Drew added, "I mean everyone. I tried them all. Piper, Reyna, Nico, Jason, Hazel, not even Luke."

Clarisse studied the couch's pattern thoughtfully. "She doesn't remember anyone?"

"Wait!" Drew exclaimed, causing Chris to choke once more on his coffee.

"Gods, woman, can you not let a guy drink his coffee in peace?" he demanded, wiping the corners of his mouth angrily.

Drew ignored him as she continued. "Annabeth did remember Thalia, but not much. Just her eye color and her shield."

"Who could forget that, it's terrifying!" Chris said, wide-eyed.

"How are we going to contact Thalia?" asked Clarisse. "She's off fighting who knows where. She's not going to just abandon her Hunters."

"She will," Drew said resolutely, "for Annabeth Chase."

Clarisse, however, didn't look so sure. "War changes people. Thalia cannot possibly be the same person she was three years ago. She may not care enough to come back to Annabeth. Besides, the girl went through three years of torture; she needs rest."

"Gods, don't you two understand?" Drew shouted, her agitation obvious. "Annabeth is the sole reason we won the Second Titan War, and everyone knows it. She's one of the most powerful demigods to ever exist, and she can change this war, but not by staying in bed. Annabeth can win this war for us. I'm going to contact Thalia, and Tartarus rise if she doesn't come."

Chris and Clarisse exchanged a meaningful look, but neither said a word. Drew stalked out of the room angrily, her black hair swishing as she left.

"Are you going to remind her there's no way for her to find Thalia?" Chis asked his girlfriend.

"Not yet," Clarisse replied, returning to her spear cleaning. "She'll find out on her own."

The boy chuckled as he sat down his empty mug. "Remember when she was just another shallow Aphrodite girl? She's changed the most, I think. I used to hate the sight of her," he added fondly.

Clarisse smiled, but it quickly faded as she remembered the panicked look in Annabeth's eyes, an expression she had never seen before in the brave daughter of Athena. When they used to fight during Capture the Flag, Clarisse was always so impressed by her intelligence and bravery. And, though she'd never admit it, she was jealous of it. But none of that was in her eyes now.

"I don't think that's true, Chris," she said softly, thinking of how Drew said Annabeth didn't remember anyone. Not even Percy.