𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

i.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

when madelyn was a little girl, the idea of a boy showing up by her window in the middle of the night was one she imagined to be romantic. she imagined the boy knocking gently on her window, grinning mischievously and beckoning her to escape under the soft glow of the moon's embrace.

but when sebastian anderson banged on her widow at the early hours of the morning, the only thing maddie could comprehend was the utter rage she felt towards the boy.

her sheets were warm and cozy, a safe haven where she had spent the majority of her summer in. lazy days spent getting up at noon, and dropping right back into bed by eleven at the latest. maddie found that, with growing, her need for sleep increased with it.

so when a loud, consistent sound jolted maddie awake, her first instinct was to roll over and hoped it went away. it was only when her name was called did maddie realize the banging was for her.

she sits up, yawns and rubs, her eyes, her brain trying to wake itself up at the unusual time. at first, she thought the banging was coming from her door, but when her eyes strayed to her window, it took her a split second to make out a dark shape in the frame.

maddie frowns and climbs out of bed, ignoring the complaints from her body. lifting the blind, maddie blinks as sebastian's face comes into view. she furrows her eyebrows in confusion as her fingers work quickly on the latch to open the window.

"finally," is the first word that sebastian says. "i thought you'd never wake up."

maddie raises her eyebrows. "you've got thirty seconds to explain why in the tartarus you're here at—"

she checks her beside clock.

"four a.m? have you gone mad?"

"emergency quest. there's a . . . hostage situation, not far from here. six campers have been captured, and chiron wanted me to bring you."

maddie stiffens. " do you know which ones?"

sebastian grimaces. "three children of apollo, one child of demeter and . . . a child of hephaestus, i think."

maddie feels herself relax slightly, relieved that the name 'athena' didn't pass sebastian's lips. "how come he wants us to go?"

sebastian shrugs. "hey, don't ask me. it must be important though, so we'd better hurry."

it is then that maddie notices the weird bobbing motion that sebastian is doing. leaning out of the window slightly, maddie sees that he is perched atop a pegasus, it's wings beating softly as it suspends the boy in midair. she sighs. "alright. let me wake percy, and then i'll—"

"there's no time," sebastian cuts across. "we have to go now."

"i can't go without him, sebastian—"

"it'll be fine maddie," sebastian says, and maddie can't help but notice how anxious he's beginning to get. "this will only take a couple hours, and then i'll drop you back here. it'll be as if you had never left.

the girl considers it for a moment. she's very hesitant to leave percy, especially after their promise to their father to stick together. but then she sees sebastian's nervous fidgeting, and the idea dawns on her that there might be a camper captured who sebastian really cares about.

"alright," she nods. sebastian lets out a breath. "let me just get dressed."

"obviously," sebastian says, giving her a once over. "i know you're a good fighter, but no demigod can fight in that."