there must be more than this provincial life.
[ percy jackson x original character ]
[ book three in the belle series ]
[ the mark of athena, the house of hades, & the blood of olympus ]
[ bonus: the lost hero, the hidden oracle, the ship of the dea...
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𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊: SAYING HELLO TO THE STARS
★ 。／｜＼。★
THE GROUP HAD allowed enough time for all of them to freshen up after their various trips. Belle and Percy were granted extra time just in case they needed to gather their thoughts, but all they really wanted to do was take a shower. She wasn't very happy about separating from Percy, even if it was for a little while. They had just walked through literal hell together. After everything they had been through down there, and although it sounded childish, she didn't want him to leave. But with a kiss to the forehead from Percy, Belle left to take a shower that she hoped would relax her a little.
Now she stood on hillside while holding hands with Percy, wearing a fresh pair of clothes, her skin clear of all of the grime, and her clean hair left down. She stared up at the Athena Parthenos, which Leo had lowered down onto the hillside with his new mechanical hoist system. The forty-foot-tall statue of the Goddess Athena gazed serenely over the River Arachne with her gold dress shining like molten metal in the sun.
"Incredible," Reyna admitted.
Her eyes were still red from crying. Soon after she had landed on the Argo II, her Pegasus Scipio had collapsed since he was overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a Gryphon attack him and Reyna had faced the night before. Reyna had put Scipio out of his misery with her golden knife. The Pegasus had turned into dust that scattered into the sweet-smelling Greek air. It wasn't a bad way to go for a Pegasus, but Belle knew Reyna had lost a loyal friend although she had never met Scipio before. Belle guessed Reyna already had given up too much in her life.
Reyna walked around the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."
"Yeah," Leo agreed. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."
The Argo II hovered overhead of them. While Festus kept watch for threats on the radar, the whole crew decided to have lunch on the hillside together as they discussed what to do next. Belle figured after what had happened in the past couple of weeks, they had earned a good meal together. Plus, she was eager to eat anything but fire water from the Phlegethon and Drakon meat soup (the thought of that made her heart hurt, she missed Damasen.) She sat in between Percy and Annabeth as she ate a turkey and cheese sandwich with some chips and actual water. Percy kept occasionally kissing the top of her head to reassure her that they were okay and Annabeth squeezed her shoulder every so often.
"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."
Reyna glanced over with her eyebrows furrowed like she didn't understand what Annabeth had just said. She wasn't wearing her armor since it was being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table back on the ship. Instead, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt. Besides the knife at her belt and her guarded expression, she looked almost like a normal teenager.
