Thalia

I entered command, a few of my hunters on my tail. My bow was drawn taught, an arrow ready to fly at the first threat. I walked on tiptoes, searching every corner.

I heard him before I saw him. He was yelling at something. I rounded the corner, back against the wall, signaling my hunters to stop. I saw Everette, the man that killed my cousin, and would've done the same to my brother and all of my friends if given the chance.

He was throwing a tantrum over the screens that were fuzzy. "Damn it! Get the camera's back on! Sound the alarm! I need guards to the cells!" He slammed his fists into the desk and let out a low scream.

"Put your hands up!" I screamed, charging into the room, bow drawn, my hunters flanking me. Everette turned around, surprised. A smile broke out on his face. "Thalia Grace? Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis? I've finally found you."

I scowled. "I said put your hands up," I ordered, moving the tip of the arrow to his face. "So what brings you here?" He asked casually, leaning up against the desk he was hitting moments before.

"We came here to save our people and destroy everything you've built," I said.

His smile dipped slightly. "We?" He asked. I allowed myself a devilish smile. "That's fucking right. We."

I nodded to my hunters and they rushed him, forcing him into a chair and binding him there. He struggled, but there was no way he was getting out of Celine's knots.

I walked over to him and got right in his face before spitting on him. "Fuck you," I said.

He scowled at me. "You're just a scared little girl. You won't succeed. You're weak."

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow at his attempts to deter me. "I have nothing to say to you," I said.

"You speak to me as though we are equals," he taunted. My eye twitched. I nodded at Raine. "Gag him," I said, slinging my bow over my shoulder and walking past into the next room.

"Annabeth?" I called. No answer. No sign of a head of blonde hair. I checked the next room and there she was. I let out an involuntary gasp at the sight of her, before running to her side. She sat straight-backed and expressionless. She had this whole helmet/electrode contraption on her head, her eyes wide and glossed over.

"Oh, Annie," I said, reaching out to brush a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, ending up cupping her cheek in my hand. I could almost convince myself that she leaned into my touch.

Lyra came up behind me, resting a hand on my shoulder. She fingered the electric blue machine, hovering over the electrode on Annabeth's temple. She made a tsk tsk sound and turned to the computer screen and started typing away. About thirty seconds and a few hissing sounds later, the helmet type thing lost its blue color and the electrodes detached themselves from her face.

"Annabeth," I whispered. She blinked once. Twice. Her pupils dilated a little and then slowly returned to a normal size. Only then did she seem to focus on me and register who I was.

"T-Thalia?" She asked, "What...where am I?" I smiled a little. "You're okay. We're still in the Harvest compound, but I'm here to save you. We'll get you out of here," I whispered soothingly. Annabeth nodded, looking around a little more.

"Where's Percy?" She asked, and I instantly looked down. "Is he safe?" She was oblivious for the moment, and I almost wanted to keep her that way. But she needed to know.

"Annabeth..." I started, but trailed off. I couldn't say it. How could I possibly say it? My throat was closing up and I felt like I physically could not get the words out. But I had to try. She deserves to know.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked. She looked so scared my heart ached. She didn't dare jump to conclusions, because the truth she saw just around the corner was too hard for her to bear.

"Annabeth...Percy is...Percy is dead."

Her lips parted in surprise and everything was silent, if only for a moment. The tears started to fall before she even fully registered what I'd said. And then it was like a dam broke. She fell into my arms, sobbing.

And I held her.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she finally pulled away, her eyes red and puffy, but no longer crying. "How," she choked.

I shook my head. "In the Harvester. I guess it was just too much for him."

"I killed him," she whispered. "What? No Annabeth, you had nothing to-"

"I designed the Harvester. Leo built it, but I made the blueprints."

I tried to protest again but she interrupted me again. "And I organized the schedules. I ran the whole fucking program-"

"Annabeth," I said, steadying her shoulders. "You were brainwashed. He used your powers, it wasn't you."

She thought about it before nodding. "Where is he," she growled. I nodded back toward the main room. "We've got the fucker tied up."

"Good," she said, nodding. "I want to kill him."

A quick breath in and out and I was on my feet, holding out a hand. With eyes shining with sadness and determination, she grabbed my hand and let me pull her up.

I led her into the main room carefully, avoiding Everette's perverting gaze. Annabeth was mad as hell, and I could feel her pain and her grief rolling off her in waves.

Just then, Leo burst through the door. "I destroyed the Harvesters!" He announced. Everette gritted his teeth so hard I thought they would break.

Leo saw Annabeth standing there and his mouth fell open slightly. He took a step forward and then another. And then he was right in front of us and he had Annabeth in a hug. I was honestly a little surprised.

He pulled away smiling. "I'm so glad you're okay. We were so worried about you!" He gushed. Annabeth offered a small smile, though it was fleeting.

Everette's presence in the room was too strong in that moment.

I turned to Annabeth. "I think an execution is in order," I said. Annabeth nodded. Leo winced.

Something caught Leo's eye and he ran over to a safe in the wall. He simply place his hand on the complex lock and a few seconds later, it hissed and swung open. He grinned. "Ah, yes!" He retrieved his tool belt from within, tying it around his waist.

He grabbed a dagger and threw it down the floor to Annabeth. Then he started stuffing other weapons in the pockets of his tool belt. After he was done he came back over to us.

Everette had started to squirm in his seat. Good, I thought, let him be afraid.

Leo got some oil from his tool belt and made two lines leading to Everette like some sort of runway. He silently lit them on fire. Everette yelped in surprise, though the flames didn't reach him.

Annabeth twisted her dagger in her hand, approaching him along the 'flaming path of doom'. She got right up in his face, her hand over his shoulder and on the chair.

"Your first mistake," she said in a voice so low, it gave me chills, "was letting me live."

She removed the gag and it hung around his neck, but he had nothing to say.

"Your second mistake was killing him." Everette knew who him was. I could see it in the fear in his eyes. There was no mistaking it.

Annabeth breathed deeply. She was in pain and she was letting him know it. "Percy swore to the gods that he would kill you. I'm here to finish that."

Everette's eyes widened humorously. Annabeth raised her dagger, ready to finish the deed, when Leo yelled, "Annabeth, wait!"

She turned around angrily. "What?" she yelled. Leo ran down the path and reached into his pocket, not his tool belt, and pulled out a pen.

A pen.

Riptide.

He held it out for Annabeth to take and for a moment she just stared at it, her lip trembling. Then she reached out gently and took it from Leo's open palm. She clutched it to her heart for a moment and closed her eyes.

Then she spun to face Everette again, a different look in her eyes. One that needed revenge. She uncapped the pen and Riptide sprung to all its glory. Everette recognized the sword, I could tell. And he looked downright terrified.

She gave him half a smile.

"Karma's a bitch," she said and swung.

His head rolled to a stop at my feet. I kicked it away. I wondered briefly how the sword was actually able to take off his head. I guess he was just so much of a monster that the sword accepted him as one.

I walked over to Annabeth and put an arm around her shoulders where she promptly started sobbing again.

"Shh, shh, hey it's okay, I'm here. You're okay."

The screens around us clicked back on and I saw the chaos happening around the complex I caught a glimpse of Piper leading Camp Half-Blood, and Reyna and Jason with Camp Jupiter, guards chasing them all. It was then that lights started to flicker and sirens started blaring.

That's when I heard the voice behind me. "I heard there was a war," he said.

I spun around. "Grover! You came!" He was smiling, reed pipes hanging around his neck. "Hedge is around here somewhere. He's probably going ballistic on all the guards and yelling, 'DIE'."

He saw Annabeth shaking and his lips started to tremble. He ran over and wrapped her in a hug. They stayed like that for a while. I noticed the smoke starting to get thick and I nodded to Leo.

"Let's get out of here," Leo suggested and I nodded, leading Annabeth by the shoulders, hunters following. As we were leaving, Leo threw another bottle of gasoline behind him, shooting a fireball out of his fingertip. We left a roaring inferno in our wake to burn the body.

As we were walking, I started thinking about Everette's death. Sure, I was happy. Hell, I was delighted he was dead. But his death definitely left something to be desired. It just wasn't satisfying enough. It didn't hurt as much as he'd hurt my family. He deserved so much worse.

But then I realized that Annabeth did the right thing, making it quick. If she didn't, we'd be no better than him.

We were almost to the landing pad when Annabeth stopped. Her face was wet with tears and a terrified expression crossed her face.

"We have to go back!" She exclaimed. "What? Why?" Leo asked. "The bodies," she said frantically. "We can't leave them. I can't leave him."

I grimaced looking back the way we'd come. Most everyone must be out already, because I could feel distant tremors from Building One. The Amazons had started their destruction already. The Morgue was also in Building One.

"Annabeth, we can't. We have to go," I tried pulling on her arm, but she stayed put stubbornly. "No, we have to get the bodies," she insisted.

"Annie, I promise when we get to the Safe Haven, we'll have a proper funeral and we'll burn shrouds, but we have to go. The bodies will burn anyway, just like how we do it at Camp. Annabeth, I know it's hard, but we have to go."

She reluctantly agreed and we continued on our way.

"Annabeth, before we get up top, there's something else you should know," Leo said slowly.

"What is it?" Annabeth slurred.

"Hazel's gone too," he said mournfully. "Oh," was all Annabeth said. I looked her over and she just walked silently, tears falling freely. She'd reached her grieving limit for one day.

In no time, we reached the landing pad and we climbed onto one of the sky canoes. Leo ran right to the cockpit where Calypso was waiting for him. They hugged for a long time. Glancing around I saw that the whole helicarrier was packed with demigods. I smiled a little. We were able to save everyone, just like we said we would. I walked up to the cockpit and glanced out the window at the two other sky canoes that were surely just as full.

"Do we have everyone?" I asked Calypso. She relayed the question to Rachel and another girl, who were piloting the other two crafts. She frowned. "Where's Reyna? She should've been back with New Rome."

"And Jason," I added, remembering the footage I saw of the two of them leading New Rome to safety.

Calypso pulled up the camera system on a screen and searched around. Finally she found them in Building Three, ten floors below us, being chased by an agent.

"They're still inside," Calypso gasped. Leo squinted at the woman chasing the two.

"Montgomery," he grumbled.