Too many pairs of hands are touching me, and Annabeth left the cabin a long time ago. Struggling, I can’t move because of the damn thing they have me in. Moving my head from side to side, I catch a glimpse of a familiar raven-haired boy and call out, my words muffled by one of the various instruments around me.
“Make way, the man of the hour is here,” I hear from the door. Suddenly a hand appears out of nowhere. Peeking around the door, Nico’s eyes widen as he watches all of the people work around me, some doing things like scrubbing my arms and legs and some fiddling with my hair. I flinch as someone rubs too hard on my palm and pain erupts up my arm.
“Unnnfff,” I try to yell, holding back tears. Nico takes one look at my face and backs away, trying to make a sneaky escape. I open my eyes wide as I realize my last hope is gone. Annabeth had left me as soon as we got here, smart enough to avoid the trap that is the Aphrodite cabin.
Gritting my teeth, I watch as Nico’s plot to escape is foiled by… Percy? What the hell is he doing here? Percy grabs onto Nico’s arm before the smaller boy tumbles to the ground.
“What’s going on to make you wanna get out of here?” Percy asks, a coy smile on his lips. Percy’s lips… I’d really like to punch them right now. Nico points at me and I glare at him, that traitor! As soon as fish boy's sight lands on me he explodes in laughter. Too bad he can’t literally explode.
The look on his face changes as soon as he sees my face and he steps forward. Inching towards me, the look of horror grows stronger and he grabs the hand of the girl cutting my hair.
“No,” he whispers. “Why?” he screams, throwing his hands into the air. Pushing his hand through his own hair, he pushes everyone off of me. I barely get a chance to breathe then he pushes the swivel chair I’m in around, causing me to spin until I’m nauseous.
“If you don’t stop I will puke all over you,” I gasp on the hundredth rotation. His hand grabs onto my shoulder and the sudden stop startles me. “Why’d you have to do that,” I groan.
“I didn’t,” he smirked at me, “I was just messing with you. You looked a little overwhelmed so I broke the tension.” He frowns at me, “How come you look manlier than me?” I just look at him until he gets it.
“I have more balls than you,” I mutter and turn. “Did they really have to cut my hair so short?” I pluck at it and turn my head this way and that. Gone are the days of my mohawk-gone-mullet and here comes… a pixie cut with fringe? I guess it could have been worse, since Percy pushed the demons away before they could *shiver* put makeup on me.
“Fish boy go grab my cloak?” I ask him. He throws a grudging look at me and I just glare at him. He knows I deserve to be treated like a goddamn princess after what he did to me. I stick my tongue out at him until he shrugs his shoulders and walks to get the aforementioned clothing from the other room.
I turn back to the mirror to investigate the sexy beast across from me (hardyharr) when I hear steps from the doorway.
“Hey, thanks fish-” I pause as soon as I see who walked in the room. Annabeth. Standing up straight, I look at her with wide eyes as I catch the cloak in her arms.
“Hey,” she says and gives me a small smile. I can tell she isn’t used to seeing the real me as her eyes travel over my face. I try to turn my head away but she makes a noise. Looking at her, her face is red and I can’t help but laugh.
“What was that,” I choke out. “You sounded like Wolfy before he turned into a pussy!” Her face turns redder at my analogy and she looks down, covering her reaction with her hair. Walking over to her, I grab her chin and pull her face up.
Her eyes are just inches from mine and I suddenly get the urge to kiss her. Leaning in, I close my eyes before my face runs into a flat surface. Jumping back, I rub at my bruised chin before turning to Annabeth. She looks at me with a twinkle in her eyes, her form giggling.
“Payback,” she says and smirks. Too soon her face turns serious and she takes a deep breath. “Red, what are we?” she asks me while looking into my eyes.
“We are….” I can’t answer her because I myself don’t know what we are. “We are obviously more than friends,” I say. “But…” I trail off and look down. I’m surprised as I feel her cold hand clasp mine and look up at her again.
“Red,” Annabeth whispers into my ear, “will you go out with me?” A shiver runs down my back and the only thing I can do is nod. Her eyes shine with happiness and this time she pulls me into her embrace. The kiss is slow and tender, and I pull back to lean my forehead against hers.
“Guess this settles it,” I murmur as I pull her hands up to my shoulders. Leaning back into a kiss, I walk backwards into the chair from before. Pulling her into my lap, I forget about everything else and focus on her. Her touch, the feel of her skin, her fingers clutching my shoulders.
“Ahem,” someone clears their throat and I look up. Nico stands where we were moments before and stares at us pointedly. I snuggle my head onto Annabeth’s shoulder and yell at him to go away. He doesn’t move and I look up to see a new person next to him.
“Told you you’d see me soon,” Amber says. With her right hand she traces a pattern along the scar on Nico’s neck with a knife. “Funny how we seem to meet, am I right?” Her grin is malicious and I stand up in front of Annabeth. “Too bad you can only protect one. It’s my time to hold the Twisted Hand.” She lets go of Nico and he crumples to the ground.
Too fast for me to see, she takes the knife and slides the blade across my palm. Holding my arm up, she laps at the dark red, almost black liquid running from my body. I kick out with pain, but her grip on me is like steel and I almost black out before she lets go of me. Too late, black lines curve across her limbs and I look down at my body.
Empty skin is what I see, no marks criss crossing my limbs. I rub at my face and relief hits me as I feel the familiar scars from Hades. I still can’t move as Amber’s body twitches and maniacal laughter comes from her.
“Red,” a voice too deep for my sister comes from her mouth. “Red,” it repeats, “consider this a parting gift for letting me tag along.” More laughter erupts as my vision goes black except for a lonely orb of light.
Watching it with closing eyes, I feel its presence wrap around my body as I fall into an endless sleep.
"Don't worry Little One," a soft voice murmurs. "I will protect you."
YOU ARE READING
A Twisted Tale
FanfictionTwo girls: One fate. Red has never been accepted until Annabeth came along, and even then someone had to come along and screw it up. Can Red save Annabeth in time, or will she lose the only person who she's ever cared for?
