𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗟 . . . 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗬 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦𝗢𝗡 [𝟭]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ

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0.04  run faster than ever

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[name] stared at hera with widen eyes while sitting down on the bench. she's heard a lot about the queen of the heavens but never expected to actually see her in person. right now, she looked a normal mom. but she was actually really beautiful.

it was strange though how she served them sandwiches and poured lemonade.

"grover, dear," she said. "use your napkin. don't eat it."

"yes, ma'am," grover said.

"tyson, you're wasting away. would you like another peanut-butter sandwich?"

tyson stifled a belch. "yes, nice lady."

"queen hera," annabeth said. "i can't believe it. what are you doing in the labyrinth?"

hera smiled. she flicked one finger and annabeth's hair combed itself. all the dirt and grime disappeared from her face.

"i came to see you, naturally," the goddess said.

from the corner of her eye, [name] saw grover and percy exchanged nervous looks.

but she knew what that meant, when gods come looking for you, it's not out of the goodness of their hearts. it's because they want something. something from annabeth.

she didn't add anything in the conversation though as she too busy eating her ham and cheese sandwich with lay chips. she wasn't going to refuse any food she is given.

tyson was inhaling one peanut-butter sandwich after another, and grover was loving the lemonade, crunching the styrofoam cup like an ice-cream cone.

"i didn't think –" annabeth faltered for a second. "well, i didn't think you liked heroes."

hera smiled indulgently. "because of that little spat i had with hercules? honestly, i got so much bad press because of one disagreement."

"didn't you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?" annabeth asked.

hera waved her hand dismissively. "water under the bridge, my dear. besides, he was one of my loving husband's children by another woman. my patience wore thin, i'll admit it. but zeus and i have had some excellent marriage counselling sessions since then. we've aired our feelings and come to an understanding – especially after that last little incident."

[name] let out a small laugh at the marriage counseling part but pretended it was a cough as hera glanced at her with raised brows.

"you mean when he sired thalia?" percy guessed, but [name] knew he was right when hera's eyes turned towards him frostily.