Percy Jackson: Life In The Land Beyond The Gods [The Completed Rewrite]

"Demonic Cartoon Villains." EDITTED

When the conch horn blew for dinner, the wielders of fire and water walked together to the pavilion, the others having left without either of them noticing. Though Leo wasn't doing a great job of creating a fiery animals, he had succeeded in drawing Percy out of his foul mood. The two were laughing hysterically as they entered Annabeth's line of view, and she could only guess at how awful the joke was as to elicit such an uproarious response.

Percy waved at Piper as she led her cabin, shooting Jason a lopsided smirk and winking at him. The son of Jupiter's face burned and he face palmed, but he smiled nevertheless when he heard his girlfriend join in on the laughter.

However, Jason wasn't the only one two notice Percy's easy-going smile become forced as he slid some of his food into the brazier. His words were muffled, but none of them managed to pick up the slightly pleading tone in his voice. He retreated back to his table, the grin sliding back onto his fade as he watched Jason and Annabeth discussing the terms of their war alliance.

"If we win, my cabin gets your slot in the shower rooms." Annabeth stated. "If we lose, my cabin gets your banner for the next game. Deal?"

Jason nodded, though he looked unsure.

Percy blinked and stoped in his tracks, "Wait, you're telling me that Athena Cabin has joined with Zeus or Jupiter Cabin? Wise Girl! How could you do this to me?!" He held a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

She laughed at Percy's antics and Jason soon joined in, despite the other campers staring at the trio weirdly.

Slowly, as the laughter died down and the stares retreated, Jason and Percy walked over to their respective tables whilst Annabeth slid into an easily-won debate with her siblings about the benefits of using Celestial Bronze over Imperial Gold. She crushed them all by pointing out that she used a drakon bone sword and could still kick all of them into action. Her siblings rolled their eyes but conceded to her point, leaving her to stare at Percy's back as he chatted with Jason a few tables away.

His shoulders shook with laughter as he listened to Jason, a potato wedge precariously balancing on his fork as he pointed at his blonde friend, "-- yellow is only better than blue in two instances Jason, rubber ducks and demonic cartoon villains, you need to remember that. Plus --"

Annabeth let the words wash over her and stared intently at him, her sharp eyes focusing in on his stiff positioning and how he was positioned to run at any moment. Slowly, she forced herself away, pushing all her dark thoughts away as she lead her siblings to the campfire.

Tomorrow, she'd ask.