A Tale of Gods and Magic

Annabeth: Idiots of The World, and Some Starbucks

“What did he say, again?” asked Percy.

“You may have ruined this servant of mine, but that does not mean that I am defeated. Exact words.” Annabeth took a long sip of the hazelnut-mocha-marshmallow-frothed coffee-hybrid that Piper had gotten for Annabeth at their rest stop at Starbucks. She spit it out as the sugary substance hit her taste buds. “ugh. How do people drink this?” Annabeth pushed it aside. Piper arched an eyebrow and took a loooooong sip of her drink.

“Sounds a lot like the eidolons,” said Leo. He shivered, like the memory of firing the ballistae at Camp Jupiter was haunting him. It probbaly was.

“Yeah, but they didn’t have weird green eyes,” said Frank.

“Maybe they were extra powerful eidolons.”

“I know we all want to believe that the wizards are nice, little people, but Arnold was a wizard. Maybe one of the wizards didn’t want us to get to their school, so they put a spell on Arnold or just told him to attack us,” said Travis. He leaned back in his chair. “as Sherlock Holmes once said, ‘once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’”

“I think that was Spider Man,” said Connor. He picked at his bagel. “this is soggy. Anyone want it?” No one responded.

“Aaaanyways,” said Annabeth. “I can see Travis’ point, but if the gods knew that the wizards were like this, they wouldn’t have sent us. And the gods can see everything.”

“Sorry, Annabeth, but I’ve already worked that out,” said Travis without sincerity. “Hecate was captured because she knew what the wizards are actually like! The wizards got her! Now they can kill us in peace.”

“Never thought I’d hear anyone saying that,” said Percy under his breath.

“Really? I’ve heard Travis say that multiple times,” replied Connor.

“So let’s just say that Travis is right-” he whooped. “but wouldn’t the gods have figured out the plan right now? If a son of Hermes can puzzle it out, why haven’t the gods?”
“Because it’s too simple?” supplied Piper, nursing her own coffee.

“Exactly.”

“This is sounding way too much like a little Nancy Drew Clue Crew book,” said Leo. “why don’t we all just eat tacos and go to Hogwarts? Then we can figure it out there.”

“Not if they eat us first.”

“Eat us?”

“I meant kill us. I’m just kinda hungry.”

Annabeth realized that this was going nowhere. Maybe she should go back to her research. Or Iris-messaging various people/magical creatures.

“I think we just need to get some sleep. Maybe we’ll have better ideas in the morning. Those scales are stumping me,” said Jason. He yawned loudly and lay his head on Piper’s shoulder.

“Okay. Meeting over.” Annabeth waved her hands and everyone got up.

Annabeth stared out the window at the end of the long table. Through the darkness, the stars’ reflections bobbed on the salty waves below them, little beacons in the unrelenting night. She wasn’t surprised to feel Percy’s arms around her. She sighed into his delicious warmth.

“You okay?” he asked, voice quiet like a still lake.

“Mm hm,” said Annabeth. As long as she was with Percy, she was okay. It didn’t matter if they were in Tartarus, fighting against Kronos on the New York streets, or flying through the clouds on the Argo II. No-when she was with him, she was more than okay. She was whole.

They sat like that for a long time, watching the stars, listening to each others’ steady breathing, hands clasped together.

“We should probably get to bed,” said Annabeth. Her voice broke the silence like a rock through a window. Like the glass, the moment shattered abruptly.

“We probably should,” said Percy, not moving.

Annabeth wriggled out of his arms and took off running.

“Hey! Wise Girl! Come back here!” She could hear Percy’s feet pounding behind her.

Annabeth leaped into her room and shut the door. She locked it.

Percy body-slammed the door.

Annabeth giggled uncharacteristically.

“C’mon, Annabeth! Let me in!” Percy’s voice was so endearing.

She peeked through the peephole at Percy and mentally thanked Leo for this beautiful door features.

“Only if you give me five reasons why.” Aah, Percy was so easy to irritate.

“Um… one, I want to say goodnight. Two, I want to kiss you. Three, I can’t kiss you in the hallway because I know that Leo is secretly watching us from a hidden camera. Four, you know you want to. Five…  the boogie monster is coming!” Percy made a strange noise that sounded sort of like a dying piglet’s last squeals and nails on a chalkboard. Annabeth fell onto the ground in surprise.

“Six,” he said in a loud voice. “I have a key.” The lock clicked and the door opened.

“Idiot,” she said sarcastically.

“Your idiot,” said Percy.

A/N Sorry for the chapter exclusively made of fluff and nothing else. Just wanted a little Percabeth :) Don't worry, Solangelo shippers. IT'S COMING MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!