νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 4-5: heart to heart/the beach episode

ANNABETH

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My day got a lot worse from there.

That afternoon we had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say our good-byes. Even the Ares and Apollo cabins called a temporary truce to attend.

Beckendorf's shroud was made out of metal links, like chain mail. Most people wouldn't think the metal would melt, but the enchanted iron did it anyway. The metal melted in the fire and turned to golden smoke, which rose into the sky. The campfire flames always reflected the campers' moods, and today they burned black.

I hoped Beckendorf's spirit would end up in Elysium. Maybe he'd even choose to be reborn and try for Elysium in three different lifetimes so he could reach the Isles of the Blessed, which was the Underworld's most elite afterlife. If anyone deserved it, Beckendorf did.

Tempest left without saying a word to me. The whole time, she'd been very silently crying, like a statue in a fountain. I wondered if she was grieving Beckendorf, even though they weren't close, or if she was still upset about the awful things I'd said to her. Maybe it was both, and Beckendorf's funeral was making her think of the body we buried up on the hill, marked with the murder of her entire family.

I left, too, unable to stand being at the campfire anymore. All I could seem to smell was death. I busied myself in my own cabin, readying the battle plans and keeping track of Kronos's forces.

Malcolm approached me. "Hey."

You're never in for a treat when someone says Hey in that tone. "Hi," I mumbled, sifting through a book of ancient battle formations- which ones worked, which ones didn't, which ones would have worked if the generals hadn't been idiots, which ones never would have worked in a million years.

He pulled a chair up and sat down next to me. "I, um... I heard you and Tempest had a fight."

"We usually have fights," I told him, refusing to look over.

He scratched his head. "I don't... Dammit, I don't even like Tempest."

"I gathered that when you tried to kill her several times. Even after you found out she can't be killed."

He chewed the inside of his lip. "Just... do you remember that time we hated each other a little less, because she got in a fight?"

I frowned. "Yeah. You never told me what it was about."

He looked down. "Someone called me a slur."

I nearly dropped my book and picked my head up. He had tears in his eyes. "W-what?"

"I didn't tell you 'cause I didn't want..." He wiped his eyes. I don't think I've ever seen Malcolm cry. "I didn't want you to know that I'm... You get it, alright?"

I blinked. "O-okay."

"I was just shocked," he mumbled. "Nobody knew I was. Kid was just calling me that 'cause I said something about a pride parade I saw a video of. Tempest got angry, started wailing on him."

I blinked softly. "Why um... Why are you telling me this if you never wanted me to know?"

"I'm trying to say that she's not a bad person," Malcolm said. "I still really hate her, but just because she's a bitch."