The Ambassador of the Gods

13. They're Not Demigods

-- 18th December 2009 --

Clary Fray was incredibly helpful.

As hard as she tried, Annabeth couldn't find a reason to believe that her prophetic drawing was staged (How would she know what the Hall of the Gods looked like?), and she was even beginning to doubt that they were working with Nico if Clary was this open to Nico being the boy in the dream.

But taking Clary in as one of them just didn't sit right with her. Annabeth knew she was prone to a little paranoia at times, but this wasn't that. With Clary in the room, their consensus had still settled into Ethan Nakamura being the Ambassador, and that the conversation with Melinoe had happened around or after last Christmas. Maybe that was the conclusion they'd have come to anyway; but maybe, it was a lot more convenient that Clary was a child of Hermes than Annabeth had thought.

Outside, the front door of the Big House opened. Rachel's irritated voice floated mid-sentence down the hall to the Rec Room, where they were gathered around the ping-pong table as per usual.

"--yeah, but have you considered that he's just an asshole?"

Immediately after, the sound of hooves followed her down the hall with a sigh. All four of them around the table, one on each side, turned curiously to the door. "Occasionally he is helpful," said Chiron, closing the door.

"Hm," considered Rachel. Their footsteps resumed. "Name one time."

Chiron replied, rather evasively, "You didn't seem to dislike him after the Battle of the Labyrinth."

She entered the hallway and her voice sharpened. "And then he spontaneously manifested destiny and gained the temperament of an eighty-year-old in a twelve-year-old's body. Judgemental, elitist, little--"

She turned and stared at them. 

"Hi." Percy gave an ironic wave from across the table.

Rachel's green eyes fell on Clary, closest to the door and sketchbook in hand, and she frowned. "How's... the quest going?"

Percy made an undecipherable, hopeless gesture that somehow conveyed exactly how Annabeth felt about their progress. "What are we complaining about?" he asked her.

Rachel just scowled and hung thunderously by the door. Chiron explained, "Nico di Angelo had an argument with Ms. Dare. He's left camp." Even he looked a little annoyed.

"Clary, right?" asked Rachel, fixating on her. "You drew that?" She pointed at the torn-out sketchbook page lying face up in the center of the table.

Clary slid it over. "It's Percy in the Hall of the Gods."

That was how Clary had introduced it to them, too. For some reason, the drawing made Annabeth uneasy -- it just didn't feel like Percy to her. But then, as Chris had pointed out, how many other bright-green-eyed people did she know? Eyes like Percy and Clary's weren't exactly easy to forget.

Rachel moved into the room. "Huh. Prophetic drawing?"

The older girl seemed surprised, but nodded. Rachel inched closer and picked the page up. She touched the pencil work curiously, her bad mood forgotten. Red hair, green eyes, and a tendency to art. It seemed Clary had also noticed this and found it funny. "Wow," said Rachel. "You're good."

"I like to think so too."

Rachel laughed, but her finger tapped thoughtfully over Percy's green-eyed image. She looked up quickly and shot Annabeth a quick glance. "Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked Clary.

Clary hesitated. Rachel asked anyway, "What's up with Nico?"

"Uhh," Clary said, "I... don't really know him. It sounds like that's just how he is?"