Chapter 16:

*Percy POV*

She spoke those chilling words, the ones that had haunted me from across the galaxy.

"Betrayed and cast by ones' own friends
Spurred a darkness till the end

Free the Delphi at a price
Stopped new dead by thrice strife

Clouded eyes cause them to shriek
And lose a love one at their peak

Then Marina collapsed to the ground.

I rushed forwards and picked her up.

"What is this?" I demanded, "what happened to the other oracle?"

Chiron sighed, "we will explain at a meeting. Take her to the infirmary,"

A few paint splattered Ares kids came forwards and took her away. I watched them leave, an Apollo child fussing over her as they walked.

I followed Chiron to the Big House, Astra strode alongside me, occasionally throwing me worried glances. When I would catch her starting she would mouth; You ok? I'd shake off her concern with a quick nod. The Ambassadors followed behind us.

"We need to speak with the gods about the upcoming threat," Astra whispered in my ear.

"I know... We can talk about that at the meeting,"

Everyone entered the Rec room, except for Dionysus, he was almost always absent nowadays. Astra sat at a chair next to Piper and Leo, who was caressing a photo of a girl. Tears brimming on his eyes.

"First things first," I came forwards and addressed the Camp Council, "please explain to me what has happened, our information on your planet appears to be extremely outdated,"

"O Iris, goddess of the mist, show us the War of Monsters," Chiron threw a drachma into a spring, designed for that purpose.

Images flickered of thousands of monsters rising. Chasing humans down the street, destroying buildings.

"Several years ago, another war occurred. The fall of Gaea caused major uproar in the depths of Tartaus, so much so, the Doors allowed a larger portion of monsters to escape the fiery pits. This caused a large strain on the mist, beginning to almost tear it apart. To release the strain on the magical fabric, the gods ordered heroes to track down monsters and kill them," Chiron sighed taking a few moments to regain his story, "demigods were slaughtered left right and centre. It was a bloodbath, not many survived. In the end, the Romans decided to attack, and with what little demigods we could spare, we joined them. The end result, almost the entire twelfth legion, destroyed."

My breath caught in my throat, my thoughts extended to my friends in Camp Jupiter. Reyna, Hazel, Frank, Dakota...

"The Oracle though, is another story. After the Quest to the Ancient lands, the connection with the Oracle of Delphi was severed. Until Marina delivered a prophesy, we considered it as the next great prophesy as it was the only one to go forwards on. Over time, it soon became clear that Marina was the new host for the Oracle,"

"What about the previous Oracle?"

"Rachel? It still partly resides in her, she has visions, but it never fully overtakes her,"

"We need to speak with the Olympic council, urgently,"

"An audience with the Olympic Council has been arranged for tomorrow,"

...

I was lost in my own thoughts, wondering about Grover, wondering about the fate of my other friends. However, I couldn't ask any more questions without arousing any more suspicion. Annabeth was already on my case, it would be harder with most of the campers too.

The calm water of the lake reflected the full moon, only slightly interrupted by the smallest of water movements.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Annabeth stood behind me, gazing out on the water. Taking my calm response as an offer, she sat down next to me.

"Look, I'm sorry, about, the other night,

"Its fine Miss Chase,"

"Sometimes," her voice broke and she sniffed, "sometimes... I just can't give up, I mean he was a great friend... And, I let him go as soon as a little blame was placed on him,"

She pressed her lips together, and I noticed a tear make its way down her cheek.

She gave a half-hearted laugh, "did you know, that one time the gods were playing chess with us... And in an attempt to bring the two camps together, they wiped Percy's memory and sent him to another camp? But the one thing that he remembered... The one thing that motivated him to try... Was his memories of me? And... I guess, I wouldn't be deserving of him. Even if I lived a thousands lives worthy of the Isles of the Blest. Well, that what Thalia said anyway," Tears began running down her cheeks in rapid fire.

"How is this... Thalia that you speak of?" I almost whispered.

"She... Died, in the Battle of the Monsters. So did Nico, and Hazel and Frank, plus Calypso," she took a shaky breath, "a lot of my friends died, there's barely anyone that I love left,"

"Do you love Dillan?"

She laughed and shook her head.

"Then why to you stay with him?"

"I'm not sure, I guess because he reminds me of Percy... That's why,"

A deep lump formed in my throat.

"Annabeth?"

Speak of the devil.

Dillan, stood a few yards behind us, his face a look of confusion.

"W-w-what is this? Are cheating on me?"

Aannabeth furiously wiped off the tears on her face before turning to face Dillan.

"No," her voice was cold, I shivered, "I'm breaking up on you. Your too full of yourself, you don't own camp, yet you treat everyone like you do. There are people that even in a thousand lives you would never live up to. I don't want to be associated with you anymore, in any way, shape or form. So goodbye Dillan, and make sure you get your head out of your arse,"

Dillan seemed at a loss for words.

"You'll miss me when I'm gone!" And he stormed off.

Annabeth sunk to her knees, tears flowing in a rapid fire pace.

"You made the right decision," I whispered and rubbed her back.

"I know..."

Percy, come quick! I heard Luke's voice in my mind.

"I have to go, my soldiers are calling me, goodnight Annabeth,"

As I was walking away I heard her speak the words, "goodnight Percy,"

Another chapter up and done, apologies for the quick break in updating. But to continue writing the next chaoter I need some answers. All will be explained in the next A/Ns.

First:

Annabeth or Marina? (I was thinking Annabeth, try not to guess)

Second:

Should I do an Avengers crossover? Or just an Avengers fanfic? I want to do one of them.

That's all.

Happy Wattpadding!

FOR OLYMPUS!