I Steal Crazy Lady Bellatrix’s Stick
Annabeth
It was a pretty normal day on the Argo II. You know, Mr. D was away, so no campers (namely, the Hermes’ cabin) that were misbehaving were being turned into a scraggly shrub of some sort. Aphrodite’s campers (except for Piper) were checking out their reflections and gossiping away. Pollux, the only member of the Dionysus cabin was over at the strawberry fields, making our fruit grow, blah, blah, blah.
So there I was, innocently studying some blueprints when Jason tapped me on the shoulder. “Annabeth? Hello?”
“Huh?” I muttered listlessly.
“ANNABETH!”
I sighed and looked up, annoyed. “Please, make it quick.”
“Broomsticks aren’t supposed to fly, are they?” Jason pointed to some figures riding on…flying broomsticks. I blinked hard. They were still there.
“Ooookay, since when did broomsticks fly?” I wondered out loud.
Leo withdrew his head from a supply closet he was making. “Annabeth,” he snorted. “C’mon. Don’t be ridiculous. Broomsticks cannot fly. Only those mortal fairy tails with those witches that have a wart on their big noses had flying broomsticks.”
I pointed out the specks. “Well, that rule never applied to those brooms.”
Suddenly, Piper dove to the side of the Argo II. The tree that was behind her was hit by a blazing streak of blood-red light, setting it on fire.
The camp burst into complete pandemonium. Drew and the rest of Aphrodite’s campers at the lake screamed, scooped up their makeup kits, and dashed for the safety of their cabin. Almost everyone else started running in meaningless circles, screaming, “WE’RE ABOUT TO DIE!”
“That is NOT supposed to be possible!” Leo yelled. I was probably screaming the same thing, for the people in cloaks (I could see them clearly now) had crossed Thalia’s pine tree.
I saw everyone that was remaining in the central green get engaged by a hooded figure. That, unfortunately included me.
I was slammed into the ground by a person that sounded like an insane lady. I looked up, and found myself staring into a grotesque, silver, mask. Weird cackles were being issued from behind it.
Somehow, I managed to squirm from the hands that were gripping me. I only managed to draw my knife when the crazy lady pulled out a stick. A stick? I didn’t have time to ponder it, though, because the lady shrieked something like ‘Crucio’. I didn’t have time to dodge it, so guess what? Naturally, it hit me.
I felt like there was a billion—no, trillion swords being stabbed into me. I guessed that this is what it felt like to bathe in the River Styx (from what Percy told me, anyways), maybe even worse. Black spots danced in front of my eyes.
When I regained control of my senses, I was flat on my back on the ground. The woman that I was supposedly ‘dueling’ (although I wasn’t exactly doing a good job) was laughing hysterically above me.
“Not so cocky, now, are you?”
What? I was never cocky! I thought. I staggered to my feet, and nearly fell back down again. “Who are you?” I asked. My voice sounded extremely small.
“I? I’m the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant, Bellatrix!”
“Okay?” So: I knew three things about my opponent now, one, that she was insane/mad, and number two, her name was Bellatrix, third, she was a ‘Dark Lord’s’ servant. Not so helpful to me.
I was so distracted and nauseous from pain that I barely noticed another jet of red light flying towards me at breakneck speed. I only managed to stumble out of the way. The beam narrowly missed Jason, who was fighting another hooded meanie. It almost set his hair on fire.
Insane Bellatrix was sending a bunch of colorful beams of light after me. I just rolled on the ground under them, and slashed at her hand that was holding the stick. Now, I know that Celestial bronze doesn’t harm mortals, but I was so desperate right now that I didn’t really care.
But guess what? It actually hurt her hand. I was probably as surprised as she was, but I recovered faster. While she was staring in disbelief at her bloody hand, I silently scooped up her stick that had caused so much trouble, and made a run for it, towards the woods.
An enraged scream behind me told me that Crazy Bellatrix had found out what I had done, and I broke into a sprint. I managed to reach the woods before her. I guessed that I was safe now, since I knew the woods better than her. I dashed toward Bunker 9 to hide it in a tree or something there. My question was: Who were these people that had attacked us, and how did they find Camp Half-Blood
