𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 | percy jackson

eavesdropping on hades

"Ciarda?" Annabeth inquired, watching the girl's dark hair drape over her sour face. The air smelt smoky and bitter. "Did you know?" She bit out after a beat of silence. "I just wanted you to have a break from all the family theatre. After everything with your Mom and Dad," Annabeth explained calmly. Ciarda stood up abruptly, taking her lean away from the neon arcade box. It showed the digital opening screen to a '90s game. 

Annabeth swallowed, unable to read her friend's face. Body language was Ciarda's speciality, along with Clarisse's. It was how they were so good at installing fear into others - they knew what triggered them. It was easy to figure out what made them tick.

Ciarda closed her nutmeg eyes and breathed in through her nose. "Yeah, okay. Do you want me to tell you that what my father did hurt me? I admit it. I confess that finding out that Chiron lied to me stings. It all sucks. I left with my sister on bad terms, and now I found out she's being prosecuted for stealing Zeus' lightning bolt? It fucking sucks, Anna. But I need to know I can trust you three. No matter how much it hurts, I won't break. You know me. My life has always been shitty. There is no need for comfort now. I'll deal with it. Seriously, I don't want you guys lying to me. Trust is the only thing banding us together." 

Annabeth said nothing, knowing the scolding was necessary. And yet she was pleasantly surprised; she had expected a large fight, filled with a multitude of curse words and potential violence. It was interesting to see a calmer, more forgiving Ciarda - it must be her mother's blood running through her veins that particular day. 

Ciarda huffed, running her hands through her hair. She wanted a warm shower. "Are we on the same page?" She verbalised finally. Annabeth nodded. Ciarda dusted her fingers, looking snarkily at Percy who was pretending to blend in with the dark green column in the middle of the room. He'd rather have been in the depths of Tartarus than under her gaze in that moment. 

"If you tell him I said he was right in telling me, I'll put spiders in your bed when we get home," Ciarda decided. Annabeth's laughter was music to her ears. 

...

"Look, if I tell you guys something, do you promise not to make fun of me?" Percy declared. Annabeth had stuck with them after Percy's whole debacle. He was temporarily stunned to find out Ciarda wasn't coming to take his eyeballs and curse his firstborn child. Instead, Annabeth told him it had all been sorted and he should stay quiet until they found Hermes. 

"Dude," Annabeth groaned. "Right," He realised that would never happen. Gamblers cheered around them as they won, although none of the ecstasy could be infected through Ciarda. She walked with in sync them but seemed off in her thoughts. Her eyes were clouded, lost in her mind. Percy wondered if she was thinking about her sister; could Clarisse really steal the Masterbolt?

"Okay, so I've been having these dreams. For a while, they were weird. Then, like Luke's mom, they got scary." Ciarda's head shot up at the name of her best friend. She'd seen how disturbed it had made Luke and hoped whatever Percy was saying wasn't the same. 

"You have these too, right?" Percy affirmed, referring to his nightmares. "Of course we do, Seaweed Brain," Ciarda answered for the collective. She'd learnt it best not to delve into what Annabeth Chase saw when she slept. The vigorous shaking hands, twitching eyelids and periodic tears told her enough.

"And then this guy started showing up and talking to me. But not like a regular dream, it's like he knows we're in a dream," Percy kept walking over plush carpet, sticky from spilt alcohol, but Annabeth slowed. Her eyes glimmered, reflecting the starlight above them. 

Ciarda noticed and delicately bumped her with her elbow. Annabeth was deep in thought but looked at her friend anyway - she was a master at multitasking. Ciarda raised her eyebrows, mutedly asking her what the problem was. 

"Today it was different. Like I somehow ended up in his dream. Like I was eavesdropping on him talking to-" Percy concluded himself. Ciarda's neck snapped up. It cracked, reverberating down her back. Even Annabeth turned to look at Percy. 

"Talking to who?" Annabeth murmured. Percy looked at them, blonde hair as curly as ever, with a face of recognition. "To the person who stole the Masterbolt for him." 

"You're eavesdropping... on Hades?" Ciarda summarised with an expression of disbelief. It reminded her of the prior December when Eurytion had told her that he was engaged to Artemis and they were going to live in Olympus. Dionysus had found his mushroom stash a week later and made him work in the freezing muck pits until the first week of January. 

"Conspiring with Clarisse through your dreams?" Annabeth quizzed, quietening her voice when she named said culprit. 

"The part I don't get though, is that they were talking about what comes next. Like getting Zeus and Poseidon to fight was only the beginning and they're planning something bigger on top of it," Percy continued. This caught Ciarda's attention more than anything. She said nothing, but Percy felt slightly scared by her expression - as though she was a deer caught in headlights. 

"So, do you think it's real? Because if it's real, something the Gods don't even know about, I mean... what are we supposed to do about that?"

Annabeth sighed at Percy's questions. "I don't know," She answered. "You don't know?" Percy raised his eyebrows, the bushiness disappearing under his ringlets. "There are things I don't know," Annabeth said simultaneously to Ciarda who mentioned, rather harshly, "She doesn't know, Codface, move it along."

The three were pushed to the side by the twenty-two dancers beginning to perform a flashmob in the centre of the room. Ciarda hurriedly moved them all along. 

"If you don't know, what chance do I have?" Percy let out a string of breaths it seemed like he'd been holding in for a while. They cruised into the next room, full of more poker tables, bars and bowling alleys.

"Well, it isn't going to make a difference unless we get to Santa Monica first. We don't have much time," Annabeth explained whilst more gamblers cheered for their winnings. "Come on," She told them as their eyes began scanning the room again.