νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 2-4: I am mentally unstable over a girl

TEMPEST

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I didn't come back until one of the Hunters came and got me. By that time, I was done crying. It was nearly dawn. I took Annabeth's bag and put it on my back, though I kept the Hunter's brochure in my pocket. I walked back with the Hunter. I wasn't mad at her. I was mad at that bitch Zoe.

I found Nico and Grover playing Nico's card game. Bianca was nowhere to be seen. Thalia was stalking among the wolves without fear, and they didn't bother her. I didn't see Percy either. I didn't want to ask what had happened to them, though. I just sat down by Grover and Nico, silently watching them playing their card game.

Then Nico looked at me. "What's your name?"

I stared at him, momentarily forgetting that he didn't know his cat was actually me. "Tempest."

"That's a cool name," Nico told me. "Hey, have you seen my cat?"

Grover made a choking sound. "Uh, Nico?"

Nico suddenly got a worried look in his face. "Oh no! Is he okay? What happened? He just ran off at the dance, but he does that a lot! He- He always comes back though..."

I stared at him. Silently, I turned into a black cat, staring at Nico with a grouchy expression. He gasped, clamping his hands over his mouth, his youthful brown eyes wide and entranced. He reached over and picked me up, setting me in his lap, which I didn't bother fighting. Nico was warm and alive, unlike me. But I had cried earlier, so I felt a little less dead than usual, and decided I wanted to feel someone else that was alive.

"Oedipuss!" Nico cried. "Wait, you're a girl? Wait... you're a human girl?"

I tried to answer, but all that came out was, "Yeeeeooowww."

Grover translated for me. "Yes, she is."

Nico looked like he couldn't tell if he should be excited or sad. "The first animal that likes me, and it turns out to be a human girl." He just sighed and set me aside. I turned back into a human, giving him a sly smile.

"Don't worry, kid."

"How can you shapeshift?" Nico asked me. "Do you have other powers? Wait, what was that thing you did with that shield?"

"Shapeshifting is one of my demigod powers. I can also talk to ghosts. I got the shield from a ghost."

"Are you also good at lying? Is that why you were able to distract the manticore so good?"

"Yeah."

"Who's that girl that fell?"

I stiffened. "Annabeth."

"Whose her godly parent?"

"Athena."

"If her mom is Athena, the wisdom goddess, why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off the cliff?"

I'm not sure if I made a face, but Nico suddenly looked scared and Grover made a bleating noise. "Blaa-ha-ha! Um, Nico, how about you set up the game and I'll go talk to Tempest?"