νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 1-25: The Fleece works a little too well

TEMPEST

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My time at camp was basically the same as it had been before. I got into fights. People didn't really like me. I picked on the ones I didn't like. The only difference was that this time, Chiron and Annabeth were actually getting onto me for it. 

I managed to get closer to Percy too. After the guinea-pig incident, I had made sure to apologize to him, and that set us on our former baseline. Now, we had something in common; nobody hurts Tyson. If anyone picked on Tyson, we'd lay into their ass like hell, and I decided I liked Jackson a little more.

Of course, I cussed him out at one point for the whole Polyphemus thing, and then I cussed Clarisse out for getting that ship sunk. Then I got in a fight with her- something about me dishonoring her cabin- and I got stable duty for a week. But, I decided she was kind of cool. Kind of like me as well.

The chariot races went on as planned. Annabeth and Percy teamed up together, which was fine by me. Tyson and I worked as pit crew, basically. We spent two whole days slaving away over that chariot, making sure it was in perfect shape (if you couldn't tell from the rubber duck, I can build shit). We also made them two super-powerful javelins, and Tyson made Percy a wrist-watch shield.

Then, Percy and Annabeth won the race, and everyone cheered for them. They started chanting their names, but Annabeth yelled over the noise: "Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us!"

The crowd didn't want to be quiet, but Annabeth made herself heard: "We couldn't have done it without two other people! We couldn't have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tempest Montgomery!" She nodded at me, and I felt a little awkward as people cheered my name, but it was some of the first real praise I'd gotten in decades. It felt... nice. "And, Tyson, Percy's..."

"Brother!" Percy said, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Tyson, my baby brother."

Tyson blushed and the crowd cheered. I felt happy for him, actually. He was entirely bashful about the whole situation, reminding me a lot of Toliver.

Then Anne kissed Percy on the cheek and the cheering got louder, and for some reason, I wasn't as happy anymore. I felt envious again. I wouldn't have been able to do that to Annabeth without people calling me slurs, or without Anne realizing how cold and dead my lips are. My clapping slowed to a stop, and I realized it was a lot harder for me to smile.

Unfortunately, I couldn't run away. The entire Athena cabin lifted me and Percy and Annabeth and Tyson onto their shoulders and carried us toward the winner's platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths. And I didn't feel very victorious anymore.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked me.

I looked at her, and didn't want to lie, but I guess I didn't have to.

"I... I don't really know."

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So yeah. I wasn't in a great mood after that. But I'm a good liar, and a pretty good actor, too, so I just told myself I had some weird bipolar funk and acted all happy the rest of the day.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer at camp before resuming his quest for Pan (a wild god, apparently, that satyrs had been searching for since like, the B.C. days). His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders (a group of old satyrs) were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills reminded me of a dying cat. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around Percy's feet like they were going to strangle him. In order for Grover to stop, I had to turn into a bunny and go on the attack. Apparently, Grover fears bunnies, so he totally flipped out and I turned back into a human, laughing my ass off as I made my way to the lake.