Time to Meet Percabeth

Sofia Sanchez

A/N Just a quick one to say that this is set pre-Percabeth at the start of The Last Olympian. Everybody is beginning war preparations, Percy keeps leaving camp to hang out with Rachel, and here Percy and Annabeth are looking for Grover who is still missing. And... ACTION

"Gods, Percy," a voice bellowed from behind me. "Don't you see?"

I was sat in what I referred to as my 'secret crevice' of Central Park. Amongst the thick of trees that many deem too terrifying to enter, there has always been a small clearing full of fantasy. It's a beautiful space with hues of blue, pink and purple lighting up the forest like a host of fluorescent fairy lights. A small creek trickled into the clearing with a weeping willow spilling over the fish that dance and sparkle in the sliver of light that sneaked through the forest's leafy battalion.

This secret crevice has always been my own personal comfort blanket. There's never anyone here when I come. Sometimes, you'll find a few crumpled cans of beer and packets of chips from where a group of teenagers have trampled through, but it never takes long for me to clean it up. Things were getting harder at home, my dad and my stepmom were always arguing, my siblings always kicking me about and sometimes, an escape was needed.

So, I would come here, tuck my back up against the willow, beside the creek and hide from the world. Nobody ever wondered where I was. I was dispensable, a spare part.

I sat there wallowing under the weeping willow, watching the breeze ripple and dance through the trees, when my peace was corrupted by the angry voice ripping through the bird's song.

"What do you mean, 'don't I see?'" Echoed a man's voice, his feet shuffling through the forest floor. "What exactly am I missing?"

"Your brain for a start!"

"No, Annabeth. Don't you dare give me that!" The boy yells back.

I scrambled to my knees and twisted around to look behind my tree and see what all the raucous was about. I saw a boy and a girl, about fifteen, dressed in matching outfits of blue jeans and orange t-shirts. Maybe they were part of one of those school protests against nature or something that always marched their way through the park, shouting at poor tourists to hand over whatever money they had in their pockets.

Anyway, wherever these kids were from... they were not happy one bit.

"Don't give you what exactly? The truth?" The girl thrusted her hand up into the air in exasperation. Wrestling her backpack off her shoulders, she slung it at the boy's feet, making him squeak a little too indignantly. "Gods, if you weren't do blinded by your obsession with that mortal-"

"She has a name, Annabeth."

"I don't care, Percy," the girl- Annabeth- spat back.  "The point is you're never at camp. You're always here hanging out with her and avoiding the rest of us."

"It's not like that," Percy sighed as if they'd just come to the crux of the argument, and he finally understood what the real issue was. "Camp has just gotten so intense with the war looming over us, everyone is expecting me to be strong and know the answers to everything, and I just don't"

"There's a shock," Annabeth rolled her eyes, making step away, but Percy snatches onto her arm.

I'll admit, I chuckled to myself lightly at that one. But something within me felt nervous. These two were emanating power and the world around me stilled in response to them. They were the kind of kids I'd seriously avoid at school. Not because they were bullies or anything, but they were just extremely out of my social league... and also kind of scary.