𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

31

"Hadrian?"

"Yeah, I mean gods, he's annoying. But if that's your type"

"Percy, what in the name of Hades are you going on about?"

"Well, he's... he's new isn't he?" Percy shrugged, "To the whole group thing. Seems a little out of place. And now that I'm thinking about it, I think he has a thing for blonds"

Annabeth stared at him for a full twenty seconds before she started laughing. "Percy, what are you talking about?"

"Hadrian"

"What about him?"

"Well. I mean, he does talk to you a lot. And to Jason"

"Oh so you saw him freeze in the hallway when Jason was doing a pullup too?"

Percy nodded. Sometimes he wondered how their brains were so in sync.

"Percy" Annabeth lay a hand on his shoulder, "Hads is like that, with everyone."

"Is it just me or is he also annoyingly perfect?" Percy scrunched his nose.

"I- The day he showed up at camp" Annabeth began, "I freaked out because he just randomly appeared by halfblood hill talking in his sleep and it reminded me of you- of the day you showed up to camp and I wanted to believe so badly that he would be the key to get you back"

"But that was it" She continued, "He just looked too perfect, the timing was immaculate, it seemed too good to be true"

"You didn't trust him at first," Percy nodded.

"I do now" She hesitated, "Or at least I think I do"

"It's scary, his powers are scary"

"Percy he had you press a scissor to your neck, he could've killed you with one word"

"He's a little dramatic," Percy agreed, "But only because he was reacting to all the mistrust,"

"You brought up the Aphrodite cabin too, didn't you?"

Percy nodded, "I asked him if he was good enough for the job, apparently he's not a big fan of that"

"He trained with Drew before coming" Annabeth told him, "He's the only one who trained. Jason works out, Leo works on his machines, but he was the only one who wanted to make his powers better, to know more about what he could do. He even picked up a few ancient Greek books from Chiron"

"So you trust him? Definitely?"

"I do"

"Then that's it" Percy decided, "We don't question him. No matter how perfect he looks"

Annabeth sighed, "Sometimes I think I like him, but it turns out he's just making me feel that to fuck with me"

"He never flirts with me," Percy blurted out incredulously. "That's so unfair, he flirts with everyone"

Annabeth laughed again, "If you want him to do it so bad, why don't you do it first?"

That sounded like a terrible idea. Percy grinned. Mortal peril be damned. Why was the pretty boy not flirting with him?

Unfortunately that got him thinking about the war.

"It's easy to forget the world and just be a teenager, isn't it?" Annabeth literally spoke his mind. "Easier to worry about pretty guys and girls than an immortal primordial who wants to kill everyone"

Percy nodded.

"I was having a nightmare when you woke me up," he admitted.

He told Annabeth what he'd seen.

Even the most troubling parts didn't seem to surprise her. She shook her head sadly when he described Nico's imprisonment in the bronze jar. She got an angry glint in her eyes when he told her about the giants planning some sort of Rome-destroying extravaganza that would include their painful deaths as the opening event.

"Nico is the bait," she murmured. "Gaea's forces must have captured him somehow. But we don't know exactly where they're holding him."

"Somewhere in Rome," Percy said. "Somewhere underground. They made it sound like Nico still had a few days to live, but I don't see how he could hold out so long with no oxygen."

"A week and a half more, according to Nemesis," Annabeth said. "At least the deadline makes sense now."

"How can Nico survive that long? We should talk to Hazel." Percy wondered.

She hesitated. "No. It can wait until morning. I don't want to hit her with this news in the middle of the night."

"The giants mentioned a statue," Percy recalled. "And something about a talented friend who was guarding it. Whoever this friend was, she scared Otis. Anyone who can scare a giant..."

Annabeth gazed down at a highway snaking through dark hills. "Percy, have you seen Poseidon lately? Or had any kind of sign from him?"

He shook his head. "Not since... Wow. I guess I haven't thought about it. Not since the end of the Titan War. I saw him at Camp Half-Blood, but that was last August." A sense of dread settled over him. "Why? Have you seen Athena?"

She didn't meet his eyes.

"A few weeks ago," she admitted. "It... it wasn't good. She didn't seem like herself. Maybe it's the Greek/Roman schizophrenia that Nemesis described. I'm not sure. She said some hurtful things. She said I had failed her."

"Failed her?" Percy wasn't sure he'd heard her right. Annabeth was the perfect demigod child. She was everything a daughter of Athena should be. "How could you ever—?"

"I don't know," she said miserably. "On top of that, I've been having nightmares of my own. They don't make as much sense as yours."

Percy waited, but Annabeth didn't share any more details. He wanted to make her feel better and tell her it would be okay, but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to fix everything for both of them so they could have a happy ending. After all these years, even the cruelest gods would have to admit they deserved it.

But he had a gut feeling that there was nothing he could do to help Annabeth this time, other than simply be there. Wisdom's daughter walks alone.

He felt as trapped and helpless as when he'd sunk into the muskeg.

Annabeth managed a faint smile. "We'll figure everything out. I've got you back. For now, that's all that matters."

"Right," Percy said. "No more talk about Gaea rising, Romans after us, Nico being held hostage, the world ending, the giants—"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she ordered.

They sat side by side and watched the world go by below them. Before Percy knew it, the drone of the ship's engine, the dim light, and the comfortable feeling of being with Annabeth made his eyes heavy, and he drifted to sleep.

When he woke, daylight was coming through the glass floor, and a boy's voice said, "Oh... You are in so much trouble."