TEMPEST
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Annabeth and I would've had our pick of cars, but they were all wedged in bumper-to-bumper traffic. None of the engines were running, which was weird. It seemed the drivers had had time to turn off the ignition before they got too sleepy. Or maybe Morpheus had the power to put engines to sleep as well. Most of the drivers had apparently tried to pull to the curb when they felt themselves passing out, but still the streets were too clogged to navigate.
Finally we found an unconscious courier leaning against a brick wall, still straddling his red Vespa. We dragged him off the scooter and laid him on the sidewalk.
"Sorry," Annabeth said quietly to him. "We'll try to bring it back."
I blinked as I started it up. "We will?"
She glared at me. "We can't be complete assholes, Tempest."
"It's in my nature."
I drove with Annabeth behind me holding on to my waist. We zigzagged down Broadway with our engine buzzing through the eerie calm. The only sounds were occasional cell phones ringing- like they were calling out to each other, as if New York had turned into a giant electronic aviary.
Our progress was slow. Every so often we'd come across pedestrians who'd fallen asleep right in front of a car, and we'd move them just to be safe (Annabeth made me; I didn't really care about the mortals). Once we stopped to extinguish a pretzel vendor's cart that had caught on fire. A few minutes later we had to rescue a baby carriage that was rolling aimlessly down the street (I do care about babies, by the way). It turned out there was no baby in it- just somebody's sleeping poodle (I cared about the poodle and gave it a kiss). Go figure. We parked it safely in a doorway and kept riding.
We were passing Madison Square Park when Anne said, "Pull over."
I stopped in the middle of East 23rd. Anne jumped off and ran toward the park. By the time I caught up with her, she was staring at a bronze statue on a red marble pedestal. I'd probably passed it a million times but never really looked at it.
The dude was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He wore an old-fashioned suit- Abraham Lincoln style- with a bow tie and long coattails and stuff. A bunch of bronze books were piled under his chair. He held a writing quill in one hand and a big metal sheet of parchment in the other.
"Why do we care about..." I frowned at the name on the pedestal. "William H. Steward?"
"Seward," Annabeth corrected. "He was a New York governor. Minor demigod- son of Hebe, I think. But that's not important. It's the statue I care about."
I rapped my knuckles on the bronze. "Is this celestial bronze? Do we want to melt him down and kill monsters?"
"Uh, no," Annabeth said, like I was dumb or something. She climbed on a park bench and examined the base of the statue.
I hesitated. "Don't tell me he's an automaton."
Annabeth smirked. "Turns out most of the statues in the city are automatons. Daedalus planted them here just in case he needed an army."

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νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC
Fanfiction"I'm sorry that I hurt you It's something I must live with everyday And all the pain I put you through I wish that I could take it all away And be the one who catches all your tears That's why I need you to hear I've found a reason for me To change...