𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | pjo

nine

"they're looking at us," grover said nervously. 

lyla didn't reply. she just stood there, unblinking. at some point, she had started counting her breathing in an effort to even it out as annabeth basically shoved her to get moving down the staircase. 

736... 737... 738... 

"so we should probably get outta here, don't you think?" grover continued, his eyes flicking back and forth. "dude, they're looking right at us." he elbowed lyla in the side. 

"what?" she blinked and looked up at him. she nodded. "okay. let's go find percy first." 

"lyla..." annabeth looked at her with a pitiful expression. "he's—" 

"he's alive," she said firmly. "i know it." she didn't actually know, but she had to see for herself. she couldn't bear the lack of an answer anymore. without waiting for annabeth or grover, she started walking over to the water. "percy!" she shouted, pacing along the wood. "percy!" 

some instinct propelled her to turn her head just slightly to her left, and there he was, climbing over the railing. he was still paler than usual, with his dirty blond curls dark from the water. he squinted, and lifted a hand up in greeting. "hi." 

lyla blinked, shock pulsating through her. she strode towards him briskly. 

"look, i'm sorry about shoving you in a stairwell," he started. "even hearing myself say that sounds really bad, but i couldn't—i couldn't have let you do that to yourself, and there wasn't enough time, and—" 

"shut up," lyla choked out, wrapping her arms around him. his presence was achingly familiar and comforting, and a small part of her wanted to linger in the hug forever as he hugged her back. 

grover cleared his throat. "so... you're not as dead as we thought you'd be." 

"surprise," percy said. 

she kind of hated the emptiness after he let go, but oh well. 

"what even happened?" annabeth asked. 

"short version, we need to go to santa monica," percy said. 

"what, like now?" lyla turned her head to look up at him. 

he beamed at her. "my father's gonna meet me there. he's gonna help us." 

"okay! so uh, just one problem with this plan," grover started nervously. "the police think that we crashed an amtrak train and then did all... that." he gestured towards the burning arch. 

"the cops are after us?" lyla frowned. 

"yeah, weren't you listening?" 

lyla shrugged. 

"wait," percy interjected. "won't that make it hard for us to get on a train? or a bus? or really anything you need tickets for?" 

"okay, so..." percy thought for a moment. "maybe when we started, my head wasn't fully into this, but since the river... it all feels different somehow.

"he saved me.

"my dad.

"i guess i never really thought that was something he'd do for me," percy commented idly. 

there was the sound of a motorcycle engine revving behind them. grover's eyes flickered nervously. "car." 

"it's a bike. just let it pass, come on," annabeth said, leading them off the road.

"i'm saying, we're not just trying to retrieve a thing," percy continued to say as he crouched down next to lyla. "i think we might need to be detectives here too."

"yeah," lyla said almost mindlessly, zoning out. 

"why are you being weird with me again? i thought we weren't doing that anymore."

"i'm not," she frowned. 

"you've been weird since we left the arch," he said. "oh... i get it." he turned to look at her. "it doesn't have to be a thing, you know? that you hugged me." 

lyla rolled her eyes. 

"i mean, we're, like, friends now. that's a thing friends do. right?" 

"totally," lyla said. "sure." 

"i told her that i saw the fates cut a piece of thread," annabeth said nonchalantly. seeing percy's confused expression, she hurried to explain. "when you see a string cut, it means one of us is going to die." 

"i mean, we're all gonna die... eventually." 

"soon," lyla spoke up. "it's a warning... or something." she fiddled with one of the pearls on her bracelet, strung along a pale pink ribbon that had seen better days. "so if i were you, i'd be careful." 

percy raised an eyebrow. "careful. right." 

lyla sighed, her eyes flickering closed in exasperation just as she heard an engine sputter to a stop. 

"you kids need some help?