Roman Holiday

Another Irish Drinking Song

I'm cool. This is fine. Really.

However, the crunched-up latte clenched tightly in her hand and the deep purple bruises on Piper's throat told a different story. But could you really blame her? Her first vacation in years and she was mind-controlled into flying halfway around the world with four shirts, two pairs of jeans, and nineteen pairs of underwear! And now she's being forced to march down some back road to the queen's summer shack because Piper couldn't read a map! Frankly, Reyna thought her choking out the daughter of Aphrodite on the train was a bit of an underreaction.

Reyna took a deep breath to steady her nerves. There was no need to get all upset again, because like it or not, she was stuck with Annabeth and Piper for the next two weeks.

"I'm really sorry guys," Piper croaked. "I didn't realize everything was in metric." The daughter of Aphrodite began to rub her throat, flinching at the touch. "I would kill for some nectar or ambrosia right about now."

"Suffer in silence," Reyna growled with a devilish grin. Apparently during her "blackout", the two Greeks learned that even with a private jet, you couldn't take food not purchased at the airport into another country, magical food included. Piper apparently wanted to try it, but Annabeth reminded her that one does not fuck with German Shepherds and walk away intact.

But while she got to enjoy watching Piper walk around all bruised up, the TSA had also hurt her as well. Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and Stygian Iron, the so-called divine metals that could not be detected by mortals? Bullshit. The new metal detectors picked up their weapons as easily as any other metal and it was (regrettably) thanks to Piper that they weren't sitting in some jailcell for trying to smuggle weapons on a plane.

So, to recap: they were in Norfolk with no weapons and no medical support.

Obviously, Reyna was thrilled by these developments.

"It's okay, Piper," Annabeth sighed, as he stared contently at the surrounding woods. "The weather is nice, the scenery is beautiful, and a little walk never hurt anyone."

The daughter of Athena was the only reason the Piper wasn't crippled or dead, having pried the praetor off the choking girl before the oxygen deprivation did any permanent damage. Annabeth was also the only one that felt the slightest amount of guilt for dragging her along on this unwanted trip. The blonde was trying to make her time more enjoyable by sharing a bed with Piper, so she could have her own, buying all her food, and acting as a buffer between her and Piper. It was appreciated, but it really just made her within strangling distance.

And there was something odd going on between the two Greeks, and unspoken tension between the two that she couldn't quite explain. But she first started to notice when Annabeth frowned at breakfast, with Piper quick to squeeze her hand. A squeeze of the hand, a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder, even a one-armed hug whenever the blonde's happiness faulted. It was intimate to be sure, but she could tell there was nothing romantic behind it. Then she started to notice that Annabeth, not Piper, was the one calling the shots on the trip. Because even though she didn't know Piper that well, Reyna was positive that the daughter of Aphrodite would have rather stayed in the London rather than travel to some rural area to see a few architectural examples.

"I don't mind walking either, but I get a little upset when I find out we've been going in the wrong direction for an hour," Reyna snapped, as her eyes continued to can the surrounding woods for any signs of an ambush. The first sign of a leprechaun, fairy, some merry men, or whatever was bound to be lurking in the shadows and her ass was hightailing it out of there.

"I said I was sorry," Piper croaked. "I just thought 'The Avenue' referred to any avenue."

Jupiter give me strength...