Rise (Percy Jackson x Reader)

two

rewritten: march 8, 2021; edited: july 30, 2023
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Annabeth runs over to her best friend, her eyes widened in excitement. "Did you hear?" she asks, breaths slightly heavy as she comes to a stop.

"Did I hear what?" (Y/N) asks. With a slight chuckle, she shakes out the hand she just used to punch her training dummy.

Annabeth opens her mouth before pausing. She folds her lips inward with a sharp inhalation of breath. "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

(Y/N) furrows her eyebrows, words slightly unsure: ". . . Good news."

"Okay, would you like Good News Number One or Good News Number Two?"

(Y/N) blinks, absolutely confused. "Let's try Good News Number Two."

Annabeth nods, answering seriously, "Luckily, it got taken care of."

Her best friend stares at her wordlessly.

Annabeth shrugs. "You said you wanted Good News Number Two."

(Y/N) sighs, shaking her head. "Number One?"

Annabeth grins, exclaiming, "Grover's back!"

"Really?" (Y/N) asks, her face lighting up. Annabeth nods, but her smile fades away at her next words:

"The bad news is that there was also a Minotaur at the border last night."

"What?" (Y/N)'s excitement drains away, replaced by horror, and she hurriedly makes her way to her cabin's back entrance. A wide expanse of land sits behind her residence, and she brushes past racks of training swords and targets while stepping onto the wrap-around deck. "How come I wasn't told?" she asks Annabeth, who follows her into her cabin.

"That's why there was Good News Number Two. It got taken care of before we found out," is the response, and (Y/N) sighs.

"You're insane," she mutters, the news sinking in as she pulls her sword off of its place on the wall. She slowly puts it into its sheath at her belt, looking at her best friend with confusion. "Wait, but how is that even possible?" she asks, nodding her head to her cabin's main entrance and gesturing for Annabeth to walk with her. The two exit, and (Y/N) makes a beeline for the forest border. "I mean," she continues, voicing her thought process, "we've never had to deal with a Minotaur before. And we didn't have a group on guard duty because Mr. D was being stupid, so who could have taken care of it before we even knew?"

Annabeth shrugs. "People were saying that they're in the infirmary," she says. She purses her lips, thinking. "Whoever 'they' is. I think it's a boy."

(Y/N) hums in acknowledgement, scratching at the protective wrap left on her knuckles. She begins to unfurl it, bunching it up and stuffing it into the pocket of her leather jacket. When the camp's white entryway arch comes into view, she picks up her pace, and Annabeth follows close behind.

Stepping outside the protective barrier, (Y/N) casts a careful look around. Annabeth stays behind, crouching to the roots of a large pine tree and gently picking at some of the moss stuck to the bark. The border's magic visibly flickers as her fingers brush against its origin.

(Y/N) takes a sharp inhale, and Annabeth looks up with intrigue. She stands, moving to another tree and leaning against it to watch her friend examine the area.

"Look over here," (Y/N) says, pointing at a dried-out track left in what had been mud from the previous night's rain. Two imprints stare back at her: one, a large hoofprint nearly ten feet in width, and the other from a regular-sized shoe.