¹𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀. percy jackson

XLVI.

ｔｈｅ ｌａｓｔ ｏｌｙｍｐｉａｎ

WHEN LUCIA WOKE UP IT WAS A WHOLE 35 HOURS LATER, and her mind was racing. Everything in her head had been contradicting each other for days. The one thing she relied on at this point was instinct. The same instinct that told her Annabeth could be trusted, Kronos was not the savior she once thought he was and maybe, Percy Jackson wasn't someone she wanted to drive a knife through.

It was also telling her to not let herself rot into the mattress, so she got up.

"You're awake."

Lucia turned to see Annabeth walk in, Her grey eyes stormy and dark.

"Yup." She croaked 

"Does it still hurt?" she frowned, sitting at the end of the bed.

"I'm fine." Lucia winced, she scooted to give her more space "I can move now."

"Careful." Annabeth scolded "Can you please take care of yourself, Lucy."

Lucia became shy "Hey, I'm fine Beth."

"No." Annabeth frowned "You almost died."

"But I didn't." Lucia comforted "I'm here."

"if you keep this up I'm going to put a leash on you." Annabeth chided

Lucia wrinkled her nose "Could it be a pretty one?"

"No." She said, "because you stress me out."

Lucia fell into a small fit of laughter, Annabeth stayed serious but after a while, a ghost of a smile fell on her lips.

"I'm serious." Annabeth said, "why would you jump in front of that knife."

Her smile dropped. "I—I don't know. Percy was in danger and I couldn't let him die. Which is weird right?."

Annabeth's face shifted in realization "He was?"

Lucia gulped, and she nodded. "He told me where after..,."
Her voice cracked. "Annabeth, I don't think I hate him. I don't know...."

"You don't." she whispered "If I'm honest I'm not sure who you did hate. you were always so...warm."

"But...I feel...For Percy."She squeezed her eyes shut, her hand fell to her chest. Her temples throbbed. I love you Ethan "I can't...."

Annabeth frowned "Lucy, it's not your fault if things..."

"I love Ethan. I really do." Lucia finalized "Percy...He's my friend?"

"You don't seem too sure." Annabeth raised an eyebrow

"I'm very sure."

Annabeth deadpanned.

"Fine! I-I don't know what he is Beth." Lucia looked away, out the balcony. "I just-well...I don't...or I prefer hi-no!...it would feel better if...oh whatever!"

Lucia watched the sun come up over the city. The traffic should've been heavy by now, but no cars were honking, no crowds bustling along the sidewalks.

Far away, Lucia could hear a car alarm echo through the streets. A plume of black smoke curled into the sky somewhere over Harlem. She wondered how many ovens had been left on when the Morpheus spell hit; how many people had fallen asleep in the middle of cooking dinner. Pretty soon there would be more fires.

Everyone in New York was in danger—and all those lives depended on them.

"You asked me why Hermes was mad at me," Annabeth said.