Percabeth at Stark Tower

28. Truth dust

Annabeth's POV

This is going to be crazy. I knew that this was going to be risky, but I hadn't expected this airborne truth dust. We could handle the attacks, that's why Percy was here after all. Tony had set up sensors to fight anything invisible and give us warning. I had done a bit of extra studying into things the Gods repeated, so I knew what sort of failures we were most likely to run into. I had even taken the risk of giving my bone knife to Natasha. I've fought without proper weapons before, and we needed someone with a proper weapon with the other group.

But, just like always, I had prepared for the wrong thing. Surprisingly, this time it wasn't Percy's fault. Actually, it probably was his fault, but I don't know how. Maybe the dust was designed for use against Poseidon and he triggered it or something. It's a bit of a stretch but this is Percy we're talking about, he can find trouble no matter where he goes. I mean one time I decided to let him walk back to his cabin alone and he vanished for nine months straight!

"You done?" Percy asks and I jump slightly. Everyone else is already done eating, and I have no food left so I must've eaten it. Or Will snuck it onto Nico's plate but I wouldn't be complaining, Nico does need to eat more, he's still underweight. I know he would say that I went down there as well so I need just as much food, but I didn't go into a literal death trance and then almost turn into a shadow. He needs the food, and refuses to take it. Maybe that's because of him being Nico, but it might also have something to do with the time he spent on the streets. After all, it's really hard to get food, so you have to carefully proportion it out. Of course, he did spend some of that time in the tower, but not all of it.

Wait, Percy asked me a question. "Yeah, I'm finished, did anyone pay yet?"

"Tony did," Bruce says. "Are you guys ready to go upstairs to talk?"

"Not really," my mouth answers. Well the dust might force me to talk, but it can't keep me quiet. "I'd prefer to not have to deal with this but under the circumstances it's the best plan."

He nods, "fair enough. You're taking this pretty well."

It's not exactly a question, but I still feel the pull to answer. However it's not as strong which suggests that the dust uses the strength of the question to force an answer out. If that's true then using the upper class technique of not directly asking questions would probably be best so that we feel the urge to answer but aren't forced to do so. After all, I seriously doubt there's a single person here without at least one mental issue. Like all of the demigods have family issues, some form of PTSD, and more. Considering these people have fought off a literal alien invasion I doubt they're any better, especially considering how messed up their personal lives have been. The pull is getting stronger, so I should answer before I get forced. "We've gotten used to strange things. Sure this is annoying, but it's unlikely to kill us."

"Good point," Bucky says. "We're all upstairs, you coming?"

"Yes." he's probably one of the people who use their brain before they speak, just like Bruce, so I should tell them my theory. "I think that the dust's powers are diluted when we don't ask a direct question." Let's see if that works. I said a statement, but it was one that expects a response. This is going to be harder than I expected, as I had to make sure it wasn't a question.

"You're probably right. I believe the same," Bucky says and looks at Bruce.

The combination of the look and words we used should be making him feel the pressure if I'm correct. "As I am currently feeling that way I can not argue with that," Bruce agrees.

"We should tell the others," I state, even though I would usually ask for their assistance.

"Yeah."