[1] 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 ― p.jackson ✓

009.

「009. one petty bitch (sort of)」

CADIE AWOKE to find herself in a rowboat with a makeshift sail stitched of grey uniform fabric. she blinked a couple of times before streaming light was no longer the thing she saw. she hissed as she sat up, looking around with slight confusion. this didn't look like the underworld. she touched her face, solid. she touched her hair, seeing the same strands of bleached platinum hair. same hair, though. it was only when she turned around she saw annabeth and percy looking at her. they had a look in their eyes that said that perhaps they were scared to approach her, like she was a frightened animal and they didn't know what to do.

"what...?"

oh.

memories came crashing back to her in waves. the hydra. another wave. the dream. another wave. tyson going to try fix things. another wave. cadie shouting at percy and annabeth. another wave, an angry one at that. and... now she was here.

"um... cadie?" annabeth spoke, trying to reach out to her, "cadie are you okay-?"

"where's tyson?" she said immediately, staring at the two of them, "well?"

percy had a pained look in his eyes, like he'd already thought over everything that had happened. she couldn't even look at him- as dramatic as it sounded. the only thing cadie could put towards what she was feeling was perhaps when a child so young realises the adults in their life aren't always good. cadie used to look up to her mortal aunt when she was little- proclaiming that she'd be just like her. but as she grew, the little perfect image shattered.

and somehow, looking at percy- it felt exactly like that. she didn't know how to feel about him. but she did know one thing- she was mad and in pain- and those things together were quite possibly the worst combination ever.

"he's... we think he's gone," annabeth mumbled, looking remorseful.

"whatever," she found herself saying. it was weird, she'd never felt so terribly angry at somebody before. not even cam and lilly. sure, they had their spats, but never like this. she'd never felt this insane amount of pettiness, or anger, or quite frankly the amount of adrenaline to speak her mind and not get crippling anxiety about it a few seconds later. it was slightly refreshing, yet totally foreign.

they sailed for hours, not much talking done. now that they were in the sea of monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like hydra acid. the wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent- like a storm was coming. no matter which way they turned, the sun seemed to shine straight in her eyes. it was nightmarish. the only thing they had for substance was a single can of dr pepper they took turns sipping from, shading themselves in the sail as best as they could.

cadie looked at her possessions, hardly anything left. the only thing she still had were her car keys, and that was it.

the long wait was enough time for percy to talk. he spoke about his latest dream of grover- but there was some sort of tension between them. they kept staring at cadie- the scared animal thing dying and replaced with a look that wondered if she was just a ticking time bomb. is there something i'm missing? she wondered, what happened that was so-

she scrunched up her face. oh right. the prophecy. she hadn't said it- not the lines and everything- but generally she'd just said it. she was going to die- and well... there was nothing stopping it. well at least nothing was unclear now. the two of them could give her as much pity as they wished, but she wouldn't take it.