νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 3-8: What's the problem? I don't know. Well, maybe I'm in love (love)

ANNABETH

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I'd seen Hera once before at a Council of the Gods, but I hadn't paid much attention to her. At the time I'd been surrounded by a bunch of other gods who were debating whether or not to kill one of my best friends.

I didn't remember her looking so normal. Of course, gods are usually twenty feet tall when they're on Olympus, so that makes them look a lot less normal. But now, Hera looked like a regular mom.

She served us sandwiches and poured lemonade.

"Grover, dear," she said, "use your napkin. Don't eat it."

"Yes, ma'am," Grover said.

"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?"

Tyson stifled a belch. "Yes, nice lady."

"Tempest, you look a little parched. Have a drink."

Tempest awkwardly took a cup of lemonade an refused to make eye contact. "Um, thank you..."

I've never felt crazier in all my life.

"Queen Hera," I said. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"

Hera smiled. She flicked one finger and my hair combed itself. All the dirt and grime disappeared from my face, and I felt reinvigorated. 

"I came to see you, naturally," the goddess said.

I frowned. Usually when the gods come looking for you, it's not out of the goodness of their hearts. It's because they want something, or you did something bad. I tried to look at Tempest, wondering if she picked up on that too, but she was sitting weirdly straight and staring at Hera oddly.

I wrinkled my face, disgusted. I looked around for assistance, but of course, there wasn't any. Tyson was inhaling one peanut butter sandwich after another, and Grover was loving the lemonade, crunching the Styrofoam cup like an ice-cream cone. Percy was wailing into a turkey-and-Swiss sandwich like he hadn't eaten since he was born.

I glared at Tempest. "I didn't think-" I faltered. Well, I didn't think Tempest would have a thing for the Queen of Heaven, but I can't say that. Instead, I directed myself to Hera. "Well, I didn't think you liked heroes."

Hera smiled indulgently. "Because of that little spat I had with Heracles? Honestly, I got so much bad press because of one disagreement."

"Didn't you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?" I frowned.

Hera waved her hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was one of my loving husband's children by another woman. My patience wore thin, I'll admit it. But Zeus and I have had some excellent marriage counseling sessions since then. We've aired our feelings and come to an understanding- especially after that last little incident."

"You mean when he sired Thalia?" Percy guessed, but immediately regretted it. As soon as he said the name of our friend, the half-blood daughter of Zeus, Hera's eyes turned toward him frostily.