kaleidoscope gold ● jason grace

burning

 Percy wasn't the best at communication.

Truthfully, he had no idea whether or not his thoughts were getting through to Daria. Unlike the empathy link he shared with his best friend Grover, this didn't come as easily. It was like something (or someone) was blocking his vibe.

He didn't want to think about it, but ever since Annabeth posed the question, he wondered which one of them was more likely to stay behind. He hoped it was neither. He hoped that Nico's outburst was a sign that the rest of them underestimated the pair.

There was a knock at the door. "Hey," Annabeth said, peeking her head in through the door. Her blonde hair was curling in the humidity of the Mediterrean and she had that familiar expression on her face, like she was ready for war. "Any luck?"

Percy sat on his bed, which Annabeth took as an invitation to come in.

"No," he admitted, shoulders slumped. "But, I'm beginning to think that Daria just doesn't want to talk to me."

"You said you could feel her emotions," Annabeth pointed out. "As long as she can feel yours, it's okay."

"We don't know that she can," he shot back.

Annabeth didn't respond, so Percy looked up at her. Her eyes were curious, like she was solving a Rubik's cube. "What exactly happened in your dream?"

When Percy was telling the others, all he had said was that they fought. He didn't elaborate, partly for the fear that Hazel and Piper would tag team to kill him.

"We fought," he turned up his palms. "And I tried to apologize to her, but she was preoccupied with you know, imminent death." All of a sudden the energy drained out of him. "But when I felt her emotions, Annabeth...I just, she felt so guilty. I think anyone who doesn't trust her is making a huge mistake."

Annabeth took one of his hands in his, leaning against his shoulder lightly. More than anything, he wished they could have a moment together-like Paris, or even at his mom's apartment, somewhere.

"Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm not supposed to be on this quest," she said. She wasn't really speaking to him, more at the wall, at the ring Percy had thrown on his desk in mild frustration. "I feel like an outsider. I think I've forgiven Daria for her secret, I'm ready to apologize if she wants to hear it, but I can't trust her."

"Because of Luke," Percy realized.

"Because of Luke," Annabeth agreed sadly. "He definitely had some sort of effect on you too."

Percy frowned; he didn't want to be biased because of something that had happened in the past. "What about Nico?" He argued. "He tried to kill me plenty of times. Also, did you know he had a crush on me?"

At this, Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You didn't? But the thing about Nico is that we were already suspicious of him. He's incredibly strong, yeah, but we never trusted him in the first place. Until now. With Luke, he was like my older brother, he was your first mentor at camp. We never saw it coming. You just don't want to be blindsided," Annabeth shrugged. "Which is pretty reasonable."

Annabeth still hadn't answered his question. "But do you think she'll betray us?"

"She doesn't seem," Annabeth struggled. "Vengeful, but she's young. Impressionable, like all those demigods who sided with Kronos."

"Yeah, her past is kind of messed up," Percy grimaced. "She definitely has a motive."

"Let's just hope she never acts on it," Annabeth said calmly "I mean, Nico, Reyna, Jason, they all keep talking about how powerful she is, but I haven't seen it. So that either means she's not that powerful, or she's hiding something. And I'm not willing to take chances with that."