<small>[Annabeth thought about going invisible, but she's not sure it's a trump card she wants to reveal right off the bat. So visibility it is!]

[Immediately she recognizes the tranquility of the place, the feelings of nonviolence. The utter calm and inner peace. Some of the logic behind holding something sacrificial here makes sense at that -- any rescue parties now have to deal with this. It delays them. Potentially foils them. But it doesn't explain how the gangs are able to kill here.]

[But Annabeth Chase has willed herself to hold up the world, and so she trudges closer to the center, each step another thought in what she might need to do.]

[<i>You don't have to kill. Disarm. Only disarm</i>, she repeats, as the atmosphere pressures her to leave the knife in place at her side forever. Violence isn't necessary.]

[<i>There are <b>people</b> to save.</i> She slips a little on the ground, but quickly regains herself. Takes a deep breath. Two of the kedan have already been killed -- she <i>has</i> to save the other hostages. They can't be lost.]

[And finally, she pushes herself to take her knife in hand. It's a start.]