νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 2-10: MOOOOM! TEMPEST IS BEING CRYPTIC AGAIN!

PERCY

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Yeah. Thalia and I tried to kill each other. Zoe and Tempest tried to kill each other (a lot worse than me and Thalia). Then the Oracle comes out and tells us some crazy shit is about to happen.

I think this was the first time I'd ever seen Tempest look utterly terrified. She wasn't shaking or crying or having trouble breathing- frankly, I don't even think her nervous system works properly, since she never does those things- but her eyes were wide, her pupils nothing but tiny dots, and she refused to move. Even when Zoe tried to say something to her, Tempest wouldn't move. She didn't even move when Chiron told me and her to take the Oracle back into the attic. She just stood there, completely frozen, until Grover played a soothing reed pipe song (which wasn't all that soothing, since he sucks at the pipes) and Tempest finally moved. Probably so he'd shut up.

"Watch her head!" I warned as we went up the stairs.

THWACK! Dust plumed up from her mummified face.

"This is bullshit," Tempest muttered. "We should be talking about the quest, not putting a dead woman in the attic."

I agreed with her, but I kept thinking about her reaction to the prophecy. I think it was because of the fact that she's never seen the Oracle before, but I kind of knew that wasn't all of it.

"What do you think the prophecy means?" I asked her as we went up the stairs. BONK! I really hoped I didn't just break the Oracle with that one.

"I don't know," Tempest said a little stiffly. I noticed she kind of talked like a robot when she was in a bad mood or something.

"Well... we finally got our quest?"

We hauled her up and set her on her tripod stool, and I was huffing and sweating. Who knew a mummy could weigh so much?

I practically bolted out of there. Tempest hopped down the stairs just after me, and slammed the door shut. I sat down on the stairs, not feeling all that great. The whole camp would be mad at me for losing the game to the Hunters, and then there was the new prophecy from the Oracle. It was like the spirit of Delphi had gone out of her way to exclude me. She'd ignored my question yesterday and walked half a mile to talk to Zoe. And she'd said nothing, not even a hint, about Annabeth.

"We have to go on it," Tempest told me. She was looking out the window, at the strawberry fields. "Artemis is our key to Annabeth. I know it."

I nodded. "Great. But, it's Zoe's quest. I doubt she's gonna take a boy, and the girl that tried to kill her." I paused. "Hey... why were you fighting her?"

"Why were you fighting Thalia?"

"She blamed me for the flag," I muttered. "I had it." Honestly, if Zoe had maybe been two more seconds late, I would've won the game. "Now you."

"She hurt Nico," Tempest said quietly, almost like she didn't want me to hear it. "He wasn't even a threat. But she was being a bitch, and I couldn't take it."

"I thought you didn't like men."

"I don't," Tempest replied. "Boys are different. Nico's just a little kid. He didn't do anything wrong. He hasn't turned into..." Then she stopped again. I'd always wondered why she hated men to such an extreme. Well... okay, I guess not hate. She doesn't outwardly try to be mean... okay, she does, but she does that to everyone. She just does it more to men. And I notice how she kind of scoots away if a male comes close to her. I used to think she'd fit in good with the Hunters, but she tried to kill their lieutenant, so maybe not.