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Annabeth had learned a lot of things from myths over the years.
Sure, there was the standard ‘don’t be a dick unless you’re a god’ and ‘murdering and eating your family members is frowned upon’, but there was also ‘cunning and lying will get you out of a lot of situations’ and ‘invisibility powers are handy.’
Those last two were particularly relevant to her situation, since she was using her invisibility cap to eavesdrop on a conversation between a couple immortals.
Look- She wouldn’t have done that if they’d been honest with her from the get-go.
In a way, she was doing them a favour. She could help out if she had all the information already at her disposal. Knowledge was power, and she hated being powerless. Almost as much as she hated lying to Chiron, but, well, needs must.
It wasn’t exactly how she expected her evening to go, but that was irrelevant. Once she saw the light on in the Big House in the middle of the night, she knew there had to be something important going on in there. Something they definitely didn’t want campers to know about.
After that, it was simple enough to put on her cap and sneak out.
Still, she didn’t push her luck. She was invisible, not intangible, and she could still set off a creaky floorboard or get blocked by a door.
Annabeth walked straight past a cleaning harpy. It was still thrilling to her, even after so many years, to be able to go where she pleased. Normally, she only used her god-given powers to carve out some peace and quiet for herself- summer camps were not intended for kids who just wanted some silent study time- but she wasn’t above eavesdropping. If Odysseus himself could win through sneakery, so could she.
She kept close to the side of the Big House, keeping an ear out. Bingo.
It was a balmy summer’s day, and the grown-ups had given into the temptation to crack open a window, even with the top-secret meeting. The Big House was far away from the cabins, anyway, and the cleaning harpies were on the prowl- who on earth was suicidal enough to risk angering a god just to eavesdrop?
Her, apparently.
The voices inside were a little muffled, so Annabeth leaned slightly over the windowsill, both to hear better and to get a view of inside.
Just as she suspected, Chiron and Mr D were in the middle of a debate, and neither of them looked happy about it. In fact, Mr D was death-glaring him over the top of a handful of cards, and Chiron was pacing back and forth as much as he could with an entire horse body stuffed into a human-sized room.
‘We were fortunate indeed, that Luke showed his hand too soon.’ Chiron said.
Annabeth winced. She always did, these days, when Luke was mentioned. He’d literally tried to kill her, but…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Mr D. ‘Fortunate? I think our former golden boy’s been praying to the patron titan of shitty strategy, and then jumping into a vat of bad luck for good measure. He had so many chances to kill that kid- how has he fucked up every single one of them?’
Chiron didn’t answer.
Mr D raised his eyebrows. ‘Hey, professor, care to share with the class?’
‘I believe I may have a theory.’
‘Don’t leave me hanging, here- even immortals can waste away from sheer fucking boredom.’
Annabeth barely breathed while she listened.
‘Luke did not kill Percy.’ Chiron said. ‘Because he was under orders not to. If I’m correct, and I have good reason to believe I am, Kronos wants Percy to lead his army, not Luke. Luke is an exceptional fighter, to be certain, but Percy can already match him. Add in the benefits that being a child of the Big Three would bring…’
Mr D hummed. ‘Grandpa wants him so he can blow stuff up with his magic aqua powers.’
‘There’s a little more to it, but yes- that is the gist.’
‘That explains a few things. The cruise ship, for starters- if he wants a son of Poseidon on his team, working from the sea would make things a lot easier.’
‘And the name…?’ Chiron prompted.
Mr D took a pointed sip of his drink. Chiron sighed, then continued;
‘The name of the ship is the Princess Andromeda. In clear reference to the original Perseus’ wife.’
‘Gods, Kronos has all the subtlety of a brick.’
‘Quite.’
Seymour the leopard head growled from his spot on the wall, and Mr D tossed some nachos in his direction.
‘Y’know-’ Mr D said through his own mouthful of nachos. ‘I did always think the thing with the scorpion was convoluted. He had Pedro at his mercy- why bother with getting a monster to do it? Why even reveal it all in the first place? They were already at a secondary location. He could’ve slit his throat or stabbed him- Hel, he could’ve even made it look like an accident, since everyone trusted him.’
Annabeth gripped her necklace for comfort.
Mr D kept talking. ‘We had absolutely no reason to suspect him. He could’ve killed him and gotten away with it or killed him and ran off without having to worry about Salty’s son going after him.’
Chiron drummed his fingers against the pinochle table. ‘He could not directly kill Percy. Perhaps he hoped the scorpion’s attack would be a loophole, or, failing that, Percy would be in near enough proximity to our healers to avoid actual death. What Luke lacks in pure strategy he more than makes up for with personal manipulation- the theatrics were the point.’
‘You’ve lost me, Teach.’
It wasn’t lost on Annabeth, in fact, she wanted to storm in and demand Chiron take back what he said- even if it was true.
‘Let me simplify.’ Chiron said wearily. ‘Kronos wants Percy. Luke does not. After the injustice Percy faced during the lightning bolt incident, it would have been simple enough for Kronos to contact him and present him with a choice. Stay, and serve gods that would happily see him dead- or go, and take control of his own life.’
‘With you so far.’
Seymour yowled in agreement.
‘If Luke could not persuade Kronos to choose him over Percy, then he had to dissuade Percy himself. We have already seen that he is unflinchingly loyal. He’d fight to the last man and then some, I’m sure of it. So, if Luke were to gain his trust and then obliterate that trust-’
‘Then Pierre wouldn’t go to Kronos. He’d be so mad he’d stay with us, even if that meant staying with the gods.’
‘Precisely.’
Mr D exhaled. ‘Be honest with me here, bud- do we have to worry about Phillip changing sides? I mean, it’s not too late to turn him into a nice, harmless dolphin…’
Chiron shook his head. ‘I was his teacher, and then his mentor. He is not a traitor.’
‘Neither was Luke- until he was.’
‘Percy is a scared and desperate young man who the world has not been kind to. I still cannot believe that he would turn against the camp. The gods- perhaps. They allowed his mother to be harmed, after all, and he will never forgive them for that. But the camp? I do not think he would hurt his fellow campers, even at his worst.’
Mr D sighed, and he sounded genuinely grieved when he said, ‘If you took what you just said and swapped the names, it would still fit.’
‘Then we just have to trust that maybe this time it will be different.’
‘You’re an optimist.’
‘I have seen many good people.’
‘And bad. Both of us have.’
‘Would you have me tar Ariadne with the same brush as Theseus for no reason other than they both stepped foot in the Labyrinth?’
Mr D glowered. His wife was a sore spot, then. Annabeth tucked that information into the back of her mind for later.
‘I didn’t think so.’ Chiron said, almost apologetically.
‘I’ll give him a chance. But only one. Then it’s bam! Dolphin time for Preston.’
Chiron gave him a tiny, strained smile.
For a second, there was silence while Mr D shuffled his card deck. Then he asked Chiron; ‘Why didn’t he take Abigail? They were thick as thieves- and I sincerely doubt she’s as beholden to a moral code as Paul.’
‘You’re hard on her.’
‘That’s because Athena doesn’t pick favourites based on silly things like morality.’
Annabeth flushed. He had a point.
Chiron sighed and, thankfully, changed the subject. ‘To answer your question- I do not know why he left her. She is more than capable of handling the strategic element of the operation that Luke himself struggles with. Add in to that that they also shared a strong bond, and, well, I am perplexed.’
Part of her wished Chiron had the answer. She didn’t have a clue why Luke left her, either, and every day the not-knowing ate up another bit of her.
Annabeth had heard all she needed to hear for one night.
She snuck back to her cabin, and didn’t mention any of what she’d learned to anyone else. Not even Percy.