𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

18

After everyone had cleaned up, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner. It was the first time they'd all sat down together—just the seven of them. Maybe their presence should've reassured Hadrian, but seeing all of them in one place only reminded him that the Prophecy of Seven was unfolding at last.

No more waiting for Leo to finish the ship. No more easy days at Camp Half-Blood, pretending the future was still a long way off. They were under way, with a bunch of angry Romans behind them and the ancient lands ahead. The giants would be waiting. Gaea was rising. And unless he succeeded, he would never see Kira again.

He didn't feel bad about what he was going to do. It was a necessity. He reminded himself. He had to do it. For her. They would want to be alive. Right? Who wouldn't?

Everything just turned into a whole ball of anxiety.

The others must've felt it too. The tension in the mess hall was like an electrical storm brewing, which was totally possible, considering Percy's and Jason's powers. In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew from Jason's hands. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, Seriously, dude? Hadrian had almost had it with their toxic masculinity bullshit when they ceded the chair to Annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table. Ugh. How was he going to survive the quest surrounded by straight people?

For the thousandth time, he desperately wished Kira was there.

The crew compared notes on what had happened in Salt Lake City, but even Leo's ridiculous story about how he tricked Narcissus wasn't enough to cheer up the group.

"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy was eating a piece of pie, which for some reason was completely blue—filling, crust, even the whipped cream. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

That didn't improve the mood around the table.

"What if we..." Hadrian forced himself to swallow a bit of pasta, "What if we go back to New Rome? Explain ourselves? Maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak"

"Explain with no proof?" Annabeth asked. "And no idea what really happened? I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel said. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and Hadrian was pretty sure they hadn't been there at the beginning of the meal. "Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions post hac."

Hadrian stared at his own dinner. The magical plates could conjure up a great selection of food. He especially liked the fettuccine alfredo pasta. But ever since Kira had died and Hadrian had been homeless for almost three months, he'd just lost his appetite. Even the magic plates and goblets at Camp Halfblood hadn't been enough to make him dig into the feasts.

He would sit alone at his table and flirt with a few Ares girls or Athena guys (especially since it pissed Annabeth off) and the only person who ever noticed he didn't finish his meal was Will Solace. The son of Apollo was determined to make him slowly gain his appetite, he'd nag Hadrian constantly so sometimes Hadrian just flirted with him until he forgot about the food.