A Crown of Golden Leaves: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Caput XLIX: Eye of the Storm

"What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution." - Henri-Frederic Amiel

Caput XLIX: Eye of the Storm

"SMELLS... good..."

There was something wrong.

"Smells... good..."

Annabeth wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but she could have sworn she heard somebody keep saying that something smelled... good. But that was ridiculous, because they were all focus on trying to get to Tarentum without any delays or running into unsavory characters.

"Smells good..."

Not only that, but something inside of her was screaming that something wasn't right about this. That there was something or somebody following them, even though she didn't know what. It was similar to the feeling she got occasionally, right before something terrible happened—or when her life was in danger, but she couldn't sense it physically.

It was just a gut feeling.

"Smells... good..."

She bit her lip. Maybe she was reacting to something that wasn't there. After all, nobody else seemed to think that there was something wrong in the air, and everyone else had seen more battles in their lives than she would ever see in her own lifetime.

But there was still something in the air that made her feel uneasy. She couldn't describe it, and there was nothing rational about it, but she just knew that something was going to happen.

She touched Percy's wrist, and he met her gaze. He looked openly confused, and he opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head minutely so that they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. He paused, and then he slowed down with her until they were both walking in the back of the group. But before she could say something about what she was thinking, he looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened.

"Get down!" he gasped, grabbing her shoulder and falling like a rock. Annabeth twisted around to look over her shoulder, and felt her heart stop. The creature approaching them – the creatures approaching them, some had horns and tails. Some were twisted and shaped strangely. There were even a couple of small cyclops, and the rest she didn't recognize. In all, there was about seven creatures.

Seven monsters.

"Monsters," she breathed.

"Holy sh—" she heard Thalia begin to say loudly, before Nico shushed her. Annabeth was too startled and horrified to even curse at the situation.

"Uh..." said Percy, sounding shaken as well. Annabeth slowly drew her sword out of its sheathe, taking care not to make a sound. Those were monsters, and they had come for them. They had come for them and they were going to eat them if they didn't fight and oh, gods—

How had she forgotten that monsters were attracted by large groups of demigods? The only person here, who wasn't a demigod, was Percy—and even that she wasn't entirely sure about, at times, since he seemed to know too much on an instinctual level about the nature of the gods.

Rising slowly, Annabeth carefully stepped across the forest, taking care not to step on any twigs. Behind her, she could hear the rustling of moving bodies across the floor as they overcame their shock, and started to move forward. Another ten steps through the trees, and she felt Percy at her back— a hand landing lightly on top of her shoulder for a heartbeat, announcing his presence.