𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑮 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬 || 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

percy the passenger princess

Percy had started the car ride with his muscles tense, and his hand gripping the grab-handle above the passenger door. But after a few minutes, he was completely at ease. Although he was not looking forward to admitting he was wrong, he had to say, Maisie wasn't a terrible driver.

Better than himself anyway. Paul had mainly helped him practice in parking lots. He drove the real city streets one time, but had a mini freakout when he skimmed the curb. Paul winded up having to drive him home.

So, needless to say, Percy had been a little nervous when Maisie begged him to let her drive. It hadn't taken much for him to relent, but he was afraid he might regret it. He already knew Maisie was reckless. She gave him about a dozen heart attacks on every adventure they've been on. But he should have known she'd be a decent driver. She was annoyingly good at almost everything.

She wasn't even a terrible singer. "I was Cleopatra. I was young and an actress," she sang, jutting her chin up as if she was singing to the gods themselves. They were listening to the mixtape she had gotten him for his birthday. It pretty much lived in the CD player of Paul's car these last few months while Percy practiced his driving.

Percy watched her out of the corner of his eye. Honestly, she might have been a terrible singer. He couldn't even tell. Because she looked so carefree. And she was smiling. He was pretty sure that combination made him a little biased.

"With my father in a casket," Maisie caught his eye and her smile grew. "I had no plans..." she nodded at him.

"...YeEaaAHhh."

She laughed before turning her eyes back on the road. They had started their drive on desolate side streets. Paul preferred for them not to be exposed on the main roads yet. But one turn after another, and they winded up in a pretty populated area.

"Arf!" Maisie's dog, Hercules, barked out the backseat window. Technically, she had listened to her grandmothers when they asked her to take the dog out. She just decided that taking him out sightseeing around New York City was better.

Percy lifted his hand through the open sunroof to feel the mid Summer air. School was out. He hadn't seen too much of Maisie during the school year. He couldn't even reach her a lot of the time. She spent a lot of time in the Underworld these last few months. Apparently, she'd been taking the Gray Sisters Cab to a secret entrance Nico told her about. An entrance that opened up to a descending stairwell. (Percy didn't ask how many stairs, but he figured it was a lot to say the least.)

"You look paler," Percy told her, as another way of saying that maybe she was spending too much time down there. He'd only been to the Underworld once, but he still remembered the sick feeling in his gut. It couldn't be healthy, spending that much time in the land of the dead. It was only for spirits, gods, and emos.

"I get that Hypnos is helping you out with your powers, but do you really have to sleep down there? That can't be comfortable."

"Hypnos has a cabin," Maisie answered. Perhaps she hadn't told him that before. "And it's a long journey for a day trip. Besides, I kinda enjoy the getaway. It's harder to think about the stuff going on above ground when you're thousands of miles below it."