Pick Your Battles

The conversation

They landed by the banks of the Seine, a stone wall rising behind them, the water gently lapping in the moonlight. Black Latex boy was standing next to a green bench where Percy was sitting, gulping water urgently from a plastic bottle.

At least that will get his strength back up, Annabeth thought to herself. His gaze was unfocused, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

The boy smiled when he saw them land, which had sent a jolt of pain up Annabeth's ankle. "There you are. The boy's fine - well, he hit his head pretty hard on the bars, but his stomach's better now and-"

Percy's eyes seized her's. She ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. "Annabeth," he sighed into her hair. She was shivering, and not from the cold. If Annabeth had lost Percy now, after all they'd been through in a country so far away from home, she didn't know what she would have done. She never wanted to find out.

Eventually, Percy sat up hesitantly. Annabeth kept holding his hand. "Thank you, Cat Noir," Percy said to Black Latex boy, who waved the words away with a flick of his wrist. He turned to the girl standing next to him. "And you, uh..."

"Ladybug," she said quietly. She was fiddling with her thumbs. And was she blushing? "Are you sure you're okay?"

Percy smiled. "I am now, thanks to the two of you. But what happened to He- I mean, that man. You said he was, um, hakuna matata'd?"

Cat Noir sniggered.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Akumatised. Turned into a supervillain by one of Hawkmoth's akumas. I take it you two aren't from here?"

"Well, obviously," Cat Noir jumped in. He turned to Annabeth and Percy. "But you guys must be familiar with Majestia, right? Night Owl?"

"Umm..." Percy glanced warily at Annabeth. His expression looked similar to when Annabeth had first spoken to him when he arrived at Camp Half-Blood, lost, confused, and very tired. Annabeth doubted she looked any different.

Her brain was going at a million miles per hour, trying to make connections and explanations for how these teenagers had these inexplicable powers. She rebuked the idea that it could be anything mythology-related. But if it wasn't that...

"Seriously?" Cat Noir's eyes were wide. "Not even Doorman?"

"We don't have time for that right now, Cat Noir. We need to find Duel and deakumatise him before he finds the person he wants to challenge," Ladybug said.

"You're right, M'lady," Cat Noir turned to Percy and Annabeth. "You two should hide somewhere until we defeat the villain. Won't take long," He did a little bow to Ladybug and extended his stick. "Bugaboo-"

"Hold it, Cat Noir," Ladybug grabbed his tail. Annabeth was usually quite good at reading people, but she was struggling to figure out what kind of relationship these two were in. Then she told herself it didn't matter; they had much bigger fish to fry.

Ladybug studied the two of them. "What are your names?"

Annabeth lifted her chin. "Annabeth Chase."

"Percy Jackson."

"Annabeth," Ladybug took a step closer. "When you attacked the villain with your blade, you weakened him. My weapon and Cat Noir's didn't have that same effect on him." She pursed her lips, and Annabeth could feel her heart racing. She didn't know how much this teenager could figure out by herself, but she struck Annabeth as being a lot smarter than people her age.

"You two have some kind of magic, don't you?" Ladybug's gaze lingered on Percy for a few seconds, then moved to Annabeth, inspecting them like they were artefacts from the Louvre. "The same kind of magic the villain had, even before he got akumatised. And if that's true, we're going to have to work together to deakumatise him, all four of us. So, will you help us?"