𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

xxi.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

summer passed, as it always did. long, hazy days spent doing various activities, singing by the campfire, watching the sun reflect it's light off the water for hours on end. repeat the cycle, until the week comes where there is a slight chill in the air, like fall's warning that she is on her way.

maddie was surprised at how normal everything felt. of course, there was that slight shift in the air, the knowledge of what they had lost and what was still to come the thought that haunted most of the campers, but the majority put on a smile and pretended everything was fine.

cabin three was quiet, like it had been all those weeks ago during maddie's time there alone, but instead of the silence being eerie, it was peaceful, one of those brief moments of quiet that was so rare to find nowadays.

the girl packed her things slowly, partly because of the early morning taking a toll on her energy level, but also because she didn't want to leave. it almost felt like she was betraying camp, leaving it when things are beginning to stir.

it didn't take her long to finish packing, and with one last glance around at cabin three, maddie left and began the hike up half-blood hill, leaving the sound of laughter and splashing water behind.

"took you long enough," percy called when he saw her.

"some of us have more than one pair of trousers."

"hey! i have three—"

"do you two ever shut up?" annabeth grumbled. the twins grinned at her in response. maddie dropped her eyes quickly. something had kept her away from the daughter of athena for the past few weeks. maybe it was her conversation with silena, but maddie almost found herself glad that annabeth and her wouldn't be in close proximity for the next few months. that wasn't saying that she wasn't going to miss the girl's presence, because maddie was certainly aware that it wasn't herself that kept her stable in all those days in the labyrinth.

"what's your plans, then?" percy asked her.

annabeth glanced back at camp. "i'm staying here for a little while longer. chiron still needs tending to, and i want to get a good look at daedalus' laptop, in peace that is. then i'll head back to san francisco. there's a private school out there that i'll be going to. i'll probably hate it, but . . ."

she shrugged half-heartedly. maddie frowned, tilting her head as she studied her best friend. something was off, that she could tell. maybe it was just because of everything that had happened.

"call us, okay?" percy said.

"sure. i'll keep my eyes out for . . ."

they didn't need her to finish, knowing she was talking about luke.

"annabeth," percy asked slowly, as he did when he was about to bring up something sensitive. "what was the rest of the prophecy?"

annabeth's jaw ticked and she fixed her gaze onto a distant tree, but didn't say anything.

"you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," percy remembered. "the dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. we raised a lot of the dead. we saved ethan nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor. we raised the spirit of pan, the lost one."

"with the trick of death, the twin flame shall extinguish," maddie continued. "that must have been about us. and will only ignite with the traitor's relinquish . . . uhm . . ."

"ethan swearing to kronos, i guess," percy said. "you shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand, that wasn't minos, like i'd thought. it was nico. by choosing to be on our side, he saved us. and the child of athena's final stand—that was daedalus."