Alternatively

A Lake of Tears (ii.)

The next night, she tried not to wait for him. She took her time washing off the day in the lake, scrubbing off the lingering curse. It took awhile to detangle her hair; brushing it hadn't been part of her daily routine for some time. The only creatures around to see her were the guardians and they couldn't say shit about how she looked, considering they were birds.

"Stop looking at me," she shoved Katie through the water.

She flapped her wings indignantly.

"Can't I look nice for company?"

Further out, Thalia made a snorting noise.

"Honestly," she scowled, splashing out of the lake. "As if you aren't acting out for him, showing off."

They both ignored the accusation, but Katie was sure to walk all over the dry clothes folded on the beach. Even her towel was wet and Annabeth kicked sand at her every time she could.

Because she wasn't waiting for him, she started cleaning up her work space. Her papers and the books could be useful to someone working for Kronos, and her wards weren't as strong as those of her mother's. She had to work twice as hard to get the results a full enchantress could, and sometimes, things fell through. Extra precautions always had to be taken.

His pulse flared against her senses as he crossed into her land and she made herself busy with distilling more bloodvane, back to him as he arrived.

"Is this Bianca?"

She glanced over her shoulder, smirking at the attention hog nestling up to Percy. "No, that's Elaine. She always did like you."

"I remember," he chuckled, wiggling his fingers at the swan. "You had at least two wandering with us during the summer."

"Usually her and Thalia, yeah," she set the bloodvane down and gestured to the table. "You love trouble, don't you?"

"Why you say that?"

"It's not very responsible to sneak off into the woods at night."

He raised an eyebrow and folded into his chair when she did the same. "Like finds like, Trouble."

The wind rattled through the branches and swept into the cottage, warm and caressing. She studied him carefully and he watched her back, sizing her up. She couldn't pinpoint when she had first met him, and she didn't know the last time she saw him would be the last. The kid she knew was young, scrappy. This...Percy was definitely not scrappy.

She shifted, looking down at her hands. "Your, um, mother. How is she?"

"Good, good," he coughed. "Great, actually, she met a man who really treats her well."

"That's good."

Elaine honked to fill the silence that started to stretch again.

"Right, so," she drummed her fingers on the table. "Basically, Kronos is trying to take over all six quadrants of the forest, and the enchantresses kept wards up to keep him from getting this last piece. He killed them, so I tied myself to it."

"And since he can't hurt you..."

She nodded, swallowing the unexpected nerves that welled up in her throat. "Yeah. And he sends humans after me, since he can't do it himself."

Percy frowned, hunching over the table. "And you can't break the curse?"

"Not unless one of us dies," she jokes.

"Ha," he allowed. "I know you haven't just been sitting idle, what can I do to help?"

You shouldn't say.