SOLUM DESCENDIT - p.jackson

chapter four

the next morning, azalea and percy both woke with a start. unaware of their position, the two looked up at frank, whom looked terrified.

when azalea looked down, she realized her and percy were now much closer than when they fell asleep. their legs were tangled together in an odd position and they both had an arm somewhat draped over each other.

almost immediately, the two teens pulled away in disgust. after a quick moment, azalea huffed as she looked up at frank.

"we'd better..." he trailed off. "uh, we're meeting for breakfast. can you guys explain what you..uh..did..?" percy and azalea both began to shriek in protest, but frank was already running away.

after getting dressed, the two made their way to the mess hall. percy was simply wearing jeans and a camp t-shirt while azalea had lazily changed into a pair of black leggings and a tanktop and flannel pairing.

as soon as she stepped into the mess hall, jason and piper looked relieved while leo couldn't stop grinning.

the second annabeth saw azalea, she pulled the girl aside.

"did you two-" annabeth began, whispering harshly into azalea's ear.

"no!" azalea shrieked in disgust, much louder than she intended. "gods no!" she repeated, quieter this time.

"well, than what did you do?" annabeth demanded.

before azalea could respond, coach hedge went ballistic as he ran up the stairs.

"never in my life!" he bellowed, waving his bat. "against the rules! irresponsible!"

"we have rules?" azalea murmured, causing coach to whirl towards her.

"coach!" annabeth interrupted. "azalea has reassured me it was an accident."

"yeah," azalea spoke. "we had both had nightmares so we went out to get some air before we could fall back asleep. we were talking about the waves and i realized percy probably hadn't seen the glass floor yet, so i went to show him the stables. i guess we just were both so exhausted from all this quest work that we fell asleep."
the teenage girl defended, giving doe eyes at the end to hopefully make it harder for coach to be mad.

percy peered at her, giving her a quick look of appreciation at her on-the-spot lying skills. "besides," he added on, crackling his knuckles slightly. "you're starting to sound like terminus."

considering percy indeed was not giving seal eyes, coach found it very easy to be mad at him.

the short satyr narrowed his eyes. "is that an insult, jackson? cause i'll terminus you, bucko!"

percy had to bite his lip to avoid laughing. "it won't happen again, coach. we promise. now, don't we have other things to discuss?"

hedge huffed. "fine! but i'm watching you, jackson. you too, azalea!"

before he could rant anymore, jason cleared his throat. "everybody, grab some food. let's get started."

the table that morning was basically like a war meeting with snacks.

percy began by telling the others about his dream. he described twin giants planning a reception in an underground parking lot full of rocket launchers; nico di angelo trapped in a bronze hat, slowly dying with pomegranate seeds at his feet.

"nico..."hazel choked back a sob, causing azalea to stare at the table in sadness. "oh gods, the seeds."

annabeth leaned forward. "you know what they are?"

hazel nodded. "he showed them to me once. they're from our stepmother's garden."

"your step.." percy trailed off. "oh, you mean persephone."