Going Viral

Chapter 24

August 29th

He pretends not to be bothered that she barely trusts him and instead focuses on celebrating her talent. Annabeth had her own issues when it came to believing people cared for her, she'd told him herself, but it still feels like a stab to the heart when she bites her lip every time the tour comes up in conversation. Of course, there's nothing he can do to stop it. It's not just his career, but Thalia and Nico's too, not to mention the small army of people involved in organising a world tour. He would stop everything if she asked him to, but she would never do that.

Instead, she pretends it doesn't bother her and he pretends he can't see the cracks in the facade in the way she bites her lips or looks away when the topic arises. The words burn like ash in his lungs and he daren't voice them for the fear that he'll suffocate.

Chiron had sent him the provisional timescale of the year now that their singles were on the release.

September - album drop
November - announce tour
December - Christmas single
February/March - tour

Annabeth's Waitress schedule was a little more hectic than his own and nothing was set in stone yet. According to Apollo - the casting director who was apparently also the director, producer and resident pain in the butt - it was looking like the new casting announcement wouldn't happen until late November in order to up their sales before Christmas and she probably wouldn't be used until January. It all seemed a little slow going for Percy's liking but he figures she'll have rehearsals in the meantime. So far, all she had written in her diary (she keeps a diary! Imagine being organised like that,) was a costume fitting.

Everything they have planned seems so far into the future that Percy can't quite believe it's bothering her so much. Loads had changed since they had met in June, and with their first 'test' being in January at the earliest, it seems crazy to waste all the time they could enjoy together by worrying about what's to come. Hell, there was an entire Thanksgiving and Christmas to celebrate before they would have to think about the inevitable.

"You're right." Annabeth announces from where she's perched on the counter.

Percy raises an eyebrow, unsure of what brought this on considering they had been sat in silence for the last ten minutes. "Of course I am, remind me what about though?"

"I need to relax. YOLO and all of that crap. I can't just wish away the rest of the year."

He can tell from her stance that she'd though about this a lot. Truthfully, Percy had just been playing some knock-off version of Flappy bird on his phone he knew better than to comment on that.

"So..." She bites her lip. "Do you have any plans next week?"

~~~

That's how they end up on a plane.

Percy can feel every ounce of tension in his muscles finally ease when they land in Greece and all his worries dissipate when he takes one look at her with her eyes sparkling in the Grecian sun.

As soon as they check in at the hotel, they change and head down to the beach. Annabeth switches on her vlogging camera and films a few shots of them lounging in the sun to add to her weekly upload but she doesn't spend too long on it, deciding to pack it up safe and open a book.

"Reading makes my brain go fuzzy," Percy comments, tucking his head beside her book so she could run her fingers through his hair.

She waves something blue in his face. "Overlays are a lifesaver." When she tucks the overlay back between the pages, they make eye contact. "Do you want me to read aloud?"

In all honestly, Percy didn't pay attention to a word she was saying. He caught a few plot points and listened whenever Annabeth slipped into her own narrative comments to the book, but he mostly just closed his eyes and listened to the sound of her voice. It was the most relaxed he'd felt in a long while.

Their trip is brief, but Percy considers the days they spend touring Greece as an investment in his career. He'd said before that Annabeth was his muse so every walk along the sea front and every time she so much as catches his eye gets written in his mental notebook. On their penultimate day, they take a cab down to Cape Sounion to visit the Temple of Poseidon. It's just a load of old pillars, in his opinion, but he has to admit it looks rather remarkable in the scorching sun. Of course, what steals his attention is inevitably Annabeth. She's somewhat of a history buff and so as they walk the perimeter of the temple, she's able to recount dozens of Greek myths and legends to keep Percy engaged.

She tells him the story of Athena, born of wisdom and strength, raised alongside Triton's daughter Pallas and taught of war and strategy - Pallas is about the only positive link made between Poseidon and Athena, she adds, thanks to their nonsensical rivalry, and even then you can't really call her that. Annabeth whispers the tale of Eurydice's one way trip to the underworld and The Fates cruel teasing of her lover Orpheus quietly from the cliff edge, as though The Fates themselves might be listening and become tempted to drag her down into the depths of Tartarus for her own tragic story. Percy wasn't at all jealous of the people she spoke of. Every story seemed to end in tragedy, an accidental murder or a betrayed lover. But Annabeth told each of them so passionately that Percy couldn't help but wish to hear them all over again.

The temple itself was initially made of some sort of limestone called tufa and built by some guy named Pericles but was destroyed by Persian troops when they invaded. After the defeat of Xerxes in the Battle of Salamis (he stifles a chuckle and comments "I didn't realise salami was worth fighting for") the Athenians placed a captured warship at Sounion as an offering or a trophy to Poseidon. Apparently there would've been a twenty foot, bronze statue of the sea god inside the building but the statue, along with twenty two of the original thirty eight columns, is long gone. It's easy to see why she knows so much about the myths of Ancient Greek times: everything seems like a cross between a soap opera and a tragic love story so it can't be difficult to get your teeth into.

That night, after they've had their dinner at the only non-seafood restaurant on the waterfront, Annabeth sets up her tripod on the sand and hits record. The two of them sit peacefully, hands entwined and hips connected, watching the sunset. At some point, Percy drags her to the waters edge and starts mumbling the lyrics to Billy Joel's 'She's Always A Woman' and they stand in the cold of the water in each other's arms. Her hair whips around into his face several times and he stands on something sharp embedded into the sand, but it doesn't really matter. All things considered, Percy thinks the good outweighs the bad by a long shot.

It's about as close to perfect as he dares to imagine. Despite everything that's gone wrong for him, despite Gabe, despite the difficulties that came alongside his childhood, he must be pretty lucky to have ended up here with someone as remarkable as she is. He recounts what she'd told him earlier in the day and mulls it over.

It's simple enough. Annabeth is the embodiment of the goddesses of old, the living proof of strong princesses and heroines. There's Athena in her head, her thoughts and her brain; Hestia in her warmth and passion and kindness; Artemis in her rebellion and her fight; Hecate in her fingertips that cause sparks to surface on his skin every time they touch; Persephone in her playfulness, delicate like the flowers of Demeter but perfect nonetheless; Aphrodite in the way she holds herself with confidence and finally trusts that someone might see the beauty laced throughout her. It's in the gold strands of her hair, the flecks of pure silver in her eyes, the energy that radiates from her smile.

He's never been one for religion and couldn't care less if the Gods of old are real and out there somewhere in the sky watching over him, but a part of him has to believe in them because right here in his arms is living proof of some kind of divine power. Maybe he's a little biased, but there's definitely something in Annabeth that's descended from legends.