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Ever the veiled observer of jubilant masses, Briar circled Camp Half-Blood from above. With keen sight she oversaw children from different cabins run around, place bets on who could climb the rockwall fastest, kick around a soccer ball — some were even making friendship bracelets upon a hill. If it were not for the weaponry and lower halves of the satyrs one would think it were an ordinary summer camp. But this was the place demigods went for safety and to be trained as heroes. For a day will come when a darker evil threatens the lives of all who oppose them.
"B!" a voice twenty feet below made the thirteen year old flinch. Does she have to be so loud, Briar thought to herself in disdain. Nevertheless, she tucked the extra limbs to her sides and bulleted down and threw silver behind her once she came too close to the ground. The landing made Briar stumble on her feet as the weight was uneven.
She already did Grover a favor and wished to be alone with her thoughts. Was that so hard to ask? Very few campers seeked out her attention though she would have preferred if neither of them did. Now, Briar could have ignored the girl with blonde braids and a knack for being a know-it-all but Annabeth Chase was as persistent as they come. If Briar ignored her then she would have had the daughter of Athena trying to corner her at another time.
"Chase," she acknowledged with her usual tiredness.
If Annabeth was bothered by being referred to as her surname, she did not show it. Instead she stood with her back straight and a hopeful gleam in her stormy cloud eyes. Oh great. "You saw his memories, didn't you?" It was asked like any question would be but they both knew the answer already.
And still, Briar lied. "No."
"Did he steal it"
Briar ground her molars in annoyance but her expression never moved from disinterest. Maybe she should have risked being cornered later. At least to save herself the trouble of conversation right then. Did anyone not get tired of always moving their mouths? "What I know, what I see, none of it is your business." If she allowed herself to pass out upon that grassy area would Annabeth leave her be?
Annabeth did not look pleased with that answer but it was the only one Briar was willing to give. "Is he the one?" She pushed. "If he stole it, where is it?" And pushed.
"Annabeth, if you want answers so badly then find them yourself." The calmness dropped for a second, a millisecond — but it was long enough for the strategist to see the discomfort living behind the void. "I'm not a messenger. You want one of those? Ask Luke."
Two different shades of gray collided in mutual vexation. It was not always like this. In the past Annabeth and Briar would have been attached at the hip learning everyone's business. It was something the taller of the duo claimed to need for 'capture the flag'. Know thy enemy and know thy self; in a hundred battles you will never be defeated, Annabeth would quote Sun Tzu any chance she got. ( Though it took awhile to read. )
