¹𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀. percy jackson

XX.

ｔｈｅ ｂａｔｔｌｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｌａｂｙｒｉｎｔｈ

LUCIA TRIED TO CALM GROVERS NERVES for the council hearing to the best of her abilities. But when he bit the sleeve of her cardigan off she decided it was best to give him time to breathe.

Instead, Lucia stood to the side with Juniper and Clarisse. As the hearing was about to begin she sent Grover a thumbs up, he gave her a weak smile while gnawing on the orange material.

"Have you seen Annabeth?" Clarisse asked

Lucia shook her head "No, not yet."

After a whole 9 months, Percy and Annabeth were coming back to camp for summer break. Throughout those months Lucia had spent more drachmas than she ever did dollars as she sent iris messages to the pair any time she could. Lucia and Annabeth spoke so much that they became close despite the distance and even ended up developing nicknames for each other.

"Lucy!" A voice called

Lucia turned around and squealed when she saw the familiar princess curls and grey eyes "Beth!"

The two girls ran to each other in a frenzy and before Silenus could scold them they were in each other's arms. Annabeth squeezed the shorter girl who only squeezed back. Both of them were in their camp shirts and wore leather cords around their necks. Annabeth reached out to touch the cord on Lucia, it was empty unlike hers which already had 7 clay beads and a ring.

"You got one!" Annabeth exclaimed, "Now you just need your first bead!"

Lucia was about to respond when she heard someone clear his throat behind them. The two girls turned around to see a bunch of impatient satyrs. Grover waved over to Annabeth nervously.

"Forgive us Silenus" Annabeth apologized before the both of them made their way to Clarisse and Juniper. Lucia couldn't stop herself from chuckling into Annabeth's arm.

"Shh you're going to get us in trouble" Annabeth hushed

A bunch of satyrs sat in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, really fat satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes: The Council of Cloven Elders.

Grover began to tell them about his interaction with Pan or more-so lack of interactions in the past few months. He twisted the bottom of his T-shirt, shifting nervously on his goat hooves.

At that moment, Lucia heard a shift in the wind, she turned to see Chiron galloping towards them: a person riding on his back. When she saw who it was she subconsciously held on to Annabeth tighter.

Annabeth looked at her in confusion but Lucia didn't seem to notice

Chiron dropped him off next to them. Percy stood right next to Lucia when he sent her a crooked smile. His dark hair had grown longer and was messily styled. He was always taller than Lucia but now she needed to look up at him. His sea-green eyes were as enticing as ever. Something about him made her brain go haywire. she couldn't help but admit to herself that he looked—attractive.

no what's wrong with you Lucia! stop!

Lucia turned away from him,

Clarisse whispered out "Punk,"

Annabeth had her other arm around Juniper, who began to cry. She was small—petite, with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laced sandals and was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. She was a dryad so her ears were slightly pointed. Her eyes, instead of being red from crying, were tinged green, the color of chlorophyll. "It's going terribly," she sniffled.