𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

vi.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"what's so funny?"

maddie looked up, startled. thalia was staring at her, a questioning eyebrow raised.

"what?" she cleared her throat. "nothing."

truth be told, she was thinking about annabeth. she must have started smiling absentmindedly, as she could feel her lips perked upwards. their kiss had been floating around in her mind ever since she had left the girl to sleep about a half hour ago, settling by a couple campers and hunters who were milling about.

thalia pursed her lips, obviously not convinced, but thankfully didn't persevere. 

maddie sunk further into her chair. the combination of the warm hotel, her full stomach and the soft buzzing of life around her made her brain go fuzzy. she hadn't slept in a long time. maybe if she just closed her eyes for a second . . .

"thalia!" someone yelled, and maddie jerked awake. she turned her head to see a camper running towards them from the entrance. she didn't want to assume the worst, but couldn't stop the panicked thoughts begin to race through her mind.

thalia stood up, her bow already in hand. "what is it? is it kronos?"

"not—not exactly . . ."

the hunter whispered something in thalia's ear, and everyone around watched in silence as the girl's face molded from a worried expression to a confused one.

"are you sure?" she asked. the hunter nodded. thalia glanced at maddie.

"there's a titan here, under a flag of truce," she said. "he says he has a message to us, from kronos."

maddie furrowed her eyebrows. "truce?"

"it could be a trick," will suggested.

maddie trailed her eyes to the floor as she considered the situation.  will was right, it could easily be a set up for an easy capture. but the more she thought about it, the more maddie wondered what on earth a titan would want with them. plus, they were under a flag of truce.

she looked up to find all of the campers around watching her, as if waiting for her to tell them what to do. 

"we'll check it out," maddie decided. 

"are you sure?" saoirse o'flanagan asked, twirling a lock of her curly brown hair between her fingers nervously. "that kronos lad is slippery. you'd never know what tricks he's got waiting."

"she has a point, you know," thalia said.

maddie picked up her weapon from the coffee table. "that could be true. but it's a flag of truce. if it's not a trick, it could be something really important. maybe the titan can help us, offer some information."

the others still didn't look certain, but thalia nodded. "alright. let's go wake that brother of yours, dolphin face."

maddie nodded back and the two set off, climbing up to the first floor of rooms and checking each one for the boy. maddie poked her head into the third room, and felt her stomach clench in relief when she saw the familiar shape of her brother, passed out on the bed. she knew nothing could have happened to him, but her natural instincts meant she was relieved to see that he was safe.

gently, maddie shook him awake, saying his name softly. percy's eyebrows furrowed as he shifted, muttering something under his breath. maddie couldn't help but giggle at his child-like nature.

"come on, idiot," she said, louder this time. 

percy sat up, disorientated, his hair sticking up in multiple directions. "mads? what is it?"