"and these are our latest pearls, the daring dangers!"
the spotlight lands on each of us as haly, the ringmaster, introduces us. i wave to the crowd as donna danger alongside rob and miss m from the trapeze.
rob tries to grab my hands, but he's an inch short. my chest tightens in horror as he misses my grip and falls towards the netless floor.
at the last moment, conner throws a barrel up. robin lands on it and propels himself up, but it's not enough. m'gann levitates him so he can grab onto my hands. to keep up our act, i push my nausea down and finish out the act as planned. at our final bows, robin tells us he thinks he caught the stomach bug going around.
me and him both.
trying not to throw up myself, i help rob backstage, where haly is arguing with some man. after the ringmaster storms off, the man storms past us, muttering about haly "going to pay." i place a hand on rob's chest to stop him from going after the guy; neither him nor i are in any shape to pursue him, no matter how great the lead may be.
that night, we gather as a team to stake out our supposed next target. considering my current ailment, my mind wanders from the conversation until they stand from their positions and drop to the ground, sneaking into the building.
the suspect they had been monitoring is clad in black. he flips over the fence to make his escape, which leads to speculation as to which circus act can do flips.
naturally, this does nothing to narrow down our search.
i am pulled from this thought as the building around us explodes. i try to pull water in from the closest source, but the fire is too hot, and it's all i can do to just keep myself from passing out. my mind is hazy from the smoke, so much so that i barely register artemis carrying me out of the building.
"the thief is still..." i let out a chest-rattling cough before i can finish my thought.
"we can't catch the thief if we all die in a fire, cy. getting us out of here is more important."
we recuperate in our circus rv, rewatching footage of the attacks from madrid and paris. one by one, each team member storms off; first robin as the team suspects haly himself as the mastermind, then conner, followed by the rest of the team, leaving me and red arrow in silence.
"i know you're set in your ways, but this approach is clearly doing more harm than good," i point out, eyes trained on the ceiling.
red scoffs. "what, and i'm supposed to take your word for it? what's your story, anyway?"
"for the sake of a secret identity, i'll just say i've seen way too much. take it from me when i say your teammates are worth so much more than your life alone. you're better off protecting and befriending them than trying to prove you're smarter or better than them."
"i don't buy it. you're literally fourteen. just because your dog died doesn't mean you understand loss."
i let out a laugh that can only be described as feverish. "i've been hunted for sport my entire life by monsters and gods. i've been through two wars and walked through hell itself. i've been betrayed and maimed by people i trusted with my life, and i've killed my own kind. don't tell me i don't understand loss when it's expected for people like me." i haul myself to the bathroom, tears flowing freely both from the fever and the vulnerability.
once i regress to dry heaving, there's a knock at the door. robin stands in the doorway, looking worse for wear. he sits on the bathroom floor beside me, rubbing my back as i hunch over the toilet, coughing and spluttering.
in between heaves, rob fills me in on the mission status. our prime suspect is ray, another member of the circus; he was the only person to come into direct physical contact with each of our sick teammates. first was rob, then me, and now m'gann.
"well, what are we doing here? let's go check on him." rob helps me to my feet.
turns out, the rest of the team beat us to the punch. by the time rob and i join the fight, they're already engaged. red arrow shouts at me to stay back, something about "ray"--one of the clowns, now revealed to be some sort of parasite that leeches our powers out of us.
ray grabs superboy in his clutches, firing lasers from his eyes, despite superboy never having done so. that's new.
luckily for everyone involved, robin manages to pick the parasite's pocket. he gets to work with the usb drive he found, finding that "ray" is working for the intergang. everything he has stolen are like parts to a puzzle, if the puzzle generated black holes.
the rest of the mission is saved for the non-powered team members as the superpowered members recuperate. the others chase the parasite to geneva, where they power down the machine intergang had been assembling.
we return home in one piece after yet another successful mission. spirits are high as ever, but a feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me something is terribly wrong.
i realize the moment we step in the cave that it's annabeth. she avoids my gaze, chews at the inside of her cheek, and her eyes dart like her mind is going a million miles an hour. i give her a shot while the team relaxes to come talk to me, but in the end, i pull her into my cave bedroom.
"what's up with you? you're not you," i ask softly.
she sighs in defeat. "you have to promise you won't be mad at me."
"you're scaring me, wise girl."
"i'm joining the hunt."
i frown. "what are you talking about? you can't--they don't let--what are you talking about? you can't be on the team and the hunt. can't they find someone else to help?"
"percy, i know. i'm joining the hunt permanently."
my heart drops to my stomach, and i let out an unsure laugh, tears stinging my eyes. "that's not funny. are you serious? you'd just up and leave me like that?"
"come on, don't make this harder than it has to be. you found your niche here, you were always supposed to be a superhero. i'd go to the ends of the earth for you, and i know you'd do the same for me. but i talked to thalia. i leave tonight. let's not end on a sour note, yeah?"
i take a shuddering breath. "okay, okay. i can come to terms with that. plus, you'd be pretty much immortal, right? you have to swear you'll keep in contact. we can't drift apart. i can't live with myself if we grow apart," i plead.
she sobs out a laugh. "come on, seaweed brain. you're not getting rid of me that easily." she pats my shoulder and stands. "do you want to tell the team, or should i?"
i sigh. "go say your goodbyes. i'll pack the rest of your stuff and meet you at the zeta tube."
as promised, she bids the team goodbye, and we zeta to camp together. as our last hurrah, we spend one last campfire together before she stands before me on the edge of the forest. a bag is slung over her shoulder. her hair reflects the silver moonlight.
"percy, i--" for the first time in her life, annabeth is at a loss for words.
"i know." i wrap her in a bone-crushing hug. "i love you forever. stay safe out there, okay? no stupid sacrifices."
tears glisten in her stormy gray eyes. "i am so proud of you, percy. you were made to be a hero."
it's impossible to describe my feelings in one word. devastated, maybe. proud, definitely. heartbroken. hopeful. this is annabeth's calling--being surrounded by people that understand her like herself, who function exactly how she does. how could i even think to take that from her?
i nod in resolve. she smiles sadly.
"i love you, wise girl."
"love you, seaweed brain. i'll see you around."
she disappears into the forest without a trace.
