The Mark of Athena,Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Annabeth XXVII


Annabeth wasn't scared. "Scared" wasn't strong enough a word for it

Freaking out, yes.

Terrified beyond all help, yes.

Scared, no.

Annabeth was trapped inside of a gym with a human torch and a girl who had just beat her in swordplay. Annabeth pounded on the stone with her fist.

"C'mon, Gaea!" she shouted. "Let us out!"

Not going to happen.

Annabeth stomped in exasperation, and found that the floor was much harder than it should be. She became aware of her surroundings. Not only was the door suddenly covered in stone, but the walls... and the ceiling... where the back wall should have been, there was open air.

"That's probably not going to work," said a new voice. Annabeth swiveled around to face a girl with glossy, dark brown curls and deep brown eyes. The girl stood up. "I'm Victoria Leak, daughter of Tyche."

"Who's Tyche?" asked Hazel.

"Goddess of luck. Fortuna, in your terms," answered Annabeth. Victoria nodded. She held up a coin.

"I use this to make decisions."

"Like heads or tails?" Leo said, staring at Victoria with wide eyes.

"Nope. My mother actually gives me advice through it. Whenever I have a big decision to make, I just flip the coin, and the side that turns face up tells me the answer."

"I haven't seen you at camp." Annabeth gave Victoria a confused look.

"I came right after the Titans were defeated. Did you find Percy?" Victoria asked. Annabeth grinned and nodded.

"That's cool. I already know who you two are." Victoria pointed to Leo and Annabeth. "You're Leo Valdez and Annabeth Chase."

"That's us!" agreed Leo.

"But I don't know you. Who are you?" Victoria pointed at Hazel while rubbing her coin.

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto." Hazel stuck out her hand. Victoria hesitantly took it, eyeing the long sword in Hazel's other hand.

Then she caught sight of Leo's.

"Whoa! How'd you make that?" she exclaimed. "I mean, I know you're the son of Hephaestus, but I've never seen anything like that!"

"Well, normally, I can do this." Leo set the sword down and held out his hand, in which a small fire danced across his hand. "I think the stone absorbs it into the sword." Leo picked his sword up again. His thumb ran nervously across the red stone. The stone glowed for a minute, then the light died. Leo was left holding only a stone.

"That's even cooler!" Victoria seemed to be just about as crazy as Leo.

"I didn't even know it could do that!" laughed Leo. He ran his thumb over the stone again, and he was holding his sword in the same second. "That rocks." Victoria laughed at his stunned expression.

Well, Annabeth thought. A girl Leo likes might actually like him back. This is a first.

"So, uh, you're not, um, a hunter of Artemis or anything, are you?" Leo asked nervously. Victoria stared at him, then cracked up.

"Nope!" Victoria giggled. "Why?" Victoria had a mischievous glint in her eyes that Annabeth had always seen in the Stoll brothers'.

"I... um... uh... err... you're pretty," Leo blurted. Annabeth and Hazel burst into laughter. Victoria looked deep in thought, then she flipped her coin.

"You're cute, too."

"Leoria," Annabeth whispered to Hazel. Hazel looked confused. "Leo-Victoria, Leoria."

Hazel laughed. "So, what, you and Percy would be Percabeth?"

"Oh, please don't get that started again. Drew made it up." Hazel laughed again. The two watched Leo and Victoria talk with each other.

"It's actually pretty cute," Hazel said.

"What?"

"Leoria." Annabeth rolled her eyes. What had she done?

"Tell anyone else, you'll meet an axe murderer in the middle of the night." Hazel cracked up again. The sun began to rise outside of the cave, and Annabeth was brought back to the situation.

"Hey! Either get a room or help me figure out what we're supposed to do about..." Annabeth waved her hands around. "This!" Leo and Victoria blushed. Hazel stifled a laugh, and Annabeth gave her a warning look. Of all the people she had to be trapped in a cave with.

"Well, we can think of a plan, and then, I'll flip my coin."

"For what?"

"So we can decide whether or not to do this."

"Do you ever just take a chance?"

Victoria was about to answer, but then, Annabeth heard a voice on the other side of the stone wall.

"Annabeth? You in there?"
Annabeth XXVIII


"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed as she pressed her ear to the stone. "Where are you?"

"On the boat, like a normal person! Where are you?"

Annabeth fell silent. He was on the boat, yet Annabeth was positive the voice was coming from directly behind that wall.

"You're on... the boat?"

"Where else would I be?" Annabeth whipped her head around so fast she cricked her neck.

"But... I'm... in this... cave place, yet you... are on the boat... and I can still hear you?" Annabeth was so confused. "What?"

"Cave?"

"Yeah. Found another demigod. Victoria, daughter of Tyche. Leo likes her."

"He likes every girl," Piper said.

"Is Hazel with you?" said another voice. Annabeth assumed it was Frank.

"Yeah. Why?"

"She can control stone!" exclaimed Leo. Hazel gasped.

"Wait, you're in a cave? But... no. You guys are in that little gym thing in the bottom deck."

"Gaea got us here somehow," Victoria said.

"Who was that?" asked Jason.

"Victoria Leak, daughter of Tyche."

"Hazel can control stone. She can get us out!"

Victoria flipped her coin and grinned. Hazel took that as her cue. She held out her hand, and the stone trembled. Annabeth gasped. Leo was smiling.

"I need help!" Hazel yelled.

"I've got it!" Jason yelled back. There was a huge BOOM! and the wall cracked. Hazel held out both of her hands and spread them apart slowly. The stone walls pulled apart. There was another sound, and the fracture became a gap large enough for someone no bigger than Hazel to get through. Victoria bit her lip, turning her coin over in her hand. Leo was nodding. Annabeth crossed her fingers, praying this would work.

Then, with a groan, the crack spread wide enough for anyone to get through. Hazel lowered her hands, and Leo cheered.

"Yeah!" Leo ran towards the boat. "You better not have hurt my-" Leo tried to run between the walls, but an invisible force threw him back. Victoria grabbed him before he could fly out of the cave.

"But... your coin..." Leo looked at Victoria in confusion.

"I can only make decisions with my coin. Should we try this or not? My mother doesn't know everything."

Annabeth could see the Argo through the opening in the wall. She saw Percy, Luke, Piper, Frank, and Jason, all looking worriedly at the gap. Annabeth then noticed that the space was rippling, as if it were made of fabric. Leo gasped.

"The Argo!" he exclaimed. "There's a tracking device! It can teleport to any place that the members of the crew are!" Percy's eyes widened.

"How?"

"Okay, what you do is you press a button marked with a Tau and a screen will pop up. Find one of our names and press it. You should end up here."

Annabeth only caught sight of Percy nodding for a second. The walls slammed together again, leaving Annabeth, Hazel, Leo, and Victoria waiting for the Argo II to show up.