Coffee buddies

Chapter 52: The calm before the storm

------------------Annabeth's pov:-------------------

That complete seaweed brain. I could feel my heart drop as she swiped her hand through the IM, a forced smile prominent on her face. I could almost hear the collective mood drop as the message disappeared.

"Is she going to..." I heard the red headed girl ask from behind me, her name was Me'gan if I recall correctly.

"I'm not sure" That was one thing I really hated about Percy. She was hard to read, behind the lopsided smiles and chuckles she was scared. She'd admitted this to me on the Argo II and I admit, I had suspected so but it was always so hard to tell. This was one of those moments where I had no idea what she was going to do. Was she going to try and escape or be a complete seaweed brain and wait. Gods only know what would happen in each scenario. I let out a small sigh.

I just wanted her back. Maybe if I had stayed with her this wouldn't be happening, would she have told me about it? About the prophecy? Or would she continue to be the idiotic hero that she is. With Percy I could never tell.

I turned around to see Tim with a nervous look on her face. This was the one thing I could 100% read about Percy, she really did like Tim. It was obvious honestly. From the little glances, the way she seemed to smile more and the fact that whenever we come over he's always there. I would have no right to be called an Athena child if I couldn't tell.

The plane seemed to shake slightly as we passed through some clouds and I swore to myself that I would hunt down and personally send Zeus to Tartarus if he shot us down right now. My furry would know no bounds.

As soon as I thought this the plane stopped shaking and I couldn't help but smile internally. I'm glad he got the message because that was no joke.

Tim seemed to notice me staring as he gave me a small reassuring smile.

"Hey, I haven't known Percy nearly as long as you have but I do know who she's dealing with and I can assure you Percy will be alright." His voice was calm and determined, much different to his panicked expressions at the table earlier. He was determined.

Unlike Percy, Tim was much easier to read. At least, he is now. When Percy had first brought him into our game night he had been quiet, reserved, his shoulders were stuck in a perpetual state of relaxation. It wasn't natural. That was when I had suspected he'd been trained in this, covering his emotions and all. It was only when Percy came back into the room that his guard dropped and his shoulders relaxed for real, his smile becoming real. It was a sweet moment, I admit. It wasn't hard to tell from there on that anything that had to do with Percy was Tim being real, being as genuine as he could be and that was enough for me. As long as he was upfront with Percy and treated her well then I was happy for them. Percy deserved to be happy with someone she cared for.

I gave Tim a small nod, a smile arriving on my face. In this instance I had no other options than to trust Tim and his teammates. I had to trust in the training Percy had given them as well. Tim had confessed earlier on the plane that the training Percy was giving them must have been for this. Apparently Percy had ordered tons of new weapons from camp without campwide knowledge and brought them to Gotham to train her second group. They had all thought it was for the missions but it seems that Percy had ulterior motives to this little act.

We just had to get her back. That was all we needed. The godly world would not lose such an amazing hero so early on. I wouldn't allow it. 

"How much longer will this take?" I heard from beside me. I turned the chair around to see Frank with a bit of a stressed face. Of course to anyone else he probably looked scarily calm but the way his hand was latched to Hazel's said everything. This was worrying him. 

Percy had gotten really close with Hazel and Frank. When they had gotten together officially Percy had thrown them a massive party, one that involved lots of streamers and gems. Apparently Percy wanted to make Hazel feel proud about her gems, not worried. Hazel cried a lot that day. After the party Frank and Hazel started to joke that they adopted Percy, and Percy welcomed this with open arms, constantly calling them when Leo made a joke about her. It was kinda funny honestly, Hazel would fake scold Leo but Leo would take it seriously and yell back like a toddler. 

I couldn't help but smile sadly as I thought back. 

"It'll be about 2 more hours at the least. We're pushing the plane as fast as we can go." Frank only nodded a little. Leaning back into his chair as Hazel leaned on his shoulder. 

"So do we even know what we're going against?" Wally asked, his red hair poking out of his mask. No one said anything. We all had an idea but even the thought of who it probably was sent shivers down my spine, making me want to curl up into a ball. I had to let them know though. It was better to share then to let them not be prepared. 

"I suspect it may mean Tartarus. Or better known to mortals as hell." The others in the plane gained different looks. The seven all cringing at the word and almost coming in on themselves, the yj teams eyes just opened wide in shock and fear. 

"So...we're literally fighting satan?" Wally asked quietly. I shook my head morbidly. 

"No, I mean hell. Like the place itself. In Greek myth Tartarus is hell itself, an embodiment if you will." The plane went silent besides the quiet humming coming from the machine around us. 

"Alright." He said quietly. His foot bounced up and down at a rapid rate, almost blurring with the speed. I didn't say anything though, everyone had a way of coping with stress. 

The rest of the plane ride was silent as everyone came to terms with the fact that we were going to be fighting one of the most feared beings in the whole Greek world. 

That was until the island came into view, and with it we could see the massive hole that was being surrounded with people. 

The fight for the world was beginning. 

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1135 words