νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 5.5: fireworks.

TEMPEST

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Chiron wasn't very pleased with his very shitty surprise the next morning, but after sharing hateful words on my part to slowly break down his mental will, he agreed to one day of stable duty, which I was obviously going to be doing for Annabeth. It wasn't so bad. I just gave the pegasi some junk food and they got past my dead presence.

Unfortunately, Chiron had started watching me like a hawk. Yeah, I know Annabeth is like his daughter, or whatever, but that wasn't gonna stop me in the slightest. He needed to get over himself before I gave him another shitty surprise- maybe one with the septic tanks this time.

In the meantime, I was busy watching Jason. Annabeth and I didn't really trust the guy. Frankly, we have no reason to. We don't know him, where he comes from, who his allegiance is to, how he might react in a life or death scenario. He's a complete stranger with an ominous background and strange sense of power that I wanted to keep my eyes on.

Naturally, he started dating Piper. I guess it made sense on the outside. She's pretty, they got along, but... What else? I don't even know what interests Jason had. I wasn't sure if Jason knew what interests Jason had. He seemed to be a big ol' nothing burger, honestly.

Leo had begun construction on his new warship, the Argo II. I decided not to really help out with that- mostly just when the bunker was empty, which was rare, because Leo spent his entire life in there. Maybe it was a dick move on my part, but I don't really care. Cabin 9 and I don't get along all that great. Sure, we both have a mutual interest in mechanics and the technical side of things, but I'm not nice and those guys are weird.

And besides, my time in Cuba was worthless, but my time in London was... interesting, to be frank. Egyptians are weird. Once we got back to America, it was a little tricky to shake them, but I finally admitted I was, in fact, not supposed to know they existed, so that weirdo Amos finally let me head back to Manhattan in time for Christmas Dinner.

"It scares me," Annabeth said one day at the arena. Jason was actively sparring with Clarisse, and keeping the pace too well for my comfort. I nodded as I picked dirt out of the lines of my shoe with a toothpick. "Not knowing, I mean."

Not knowing has always scared Annabeth. I think we could face any situation imaginable- even primordial gods- and Annabeth would be able to handle it because at least she would know. "Blind faith is all we have, I guess," I admitted.

"It feels impossible," Annabeth murmured, holding her head in her hands.

I shrugged. "Most things do. I remember when you went missing." She glanced at me. "Blind faith was all I really had. No matter the prophecy or Artemis or the quest, nothing was able to keep my going as much as the faith that you were alive. That I'd get you back." I flicked a piece of dirt down the steps, and resumed my picking. "Now that Percy's gone, it's like I have to do this bullshit all over again."

Annabeth's eyes clouded over. "Last time I had faith like that, the world almost ended, and I had to watch you kill Luke." I froze. Annabeth immediately hung her head and hid her face in her hands. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Frown Town Bucket for you," I mumbled. Connor and Travis were actively constructing one big enough to hold Chiron. I decided I would have to tell them to make room for Annabeth, too.