#i thought some of you might like a happy birthday to the annabeth who lives in you all too <3

[bookishjules]

"good morning! and happy birthday to annabeth, and by extension, any part of her that lives in you" (transcribed from voice message from my best friend)

[captainsophiestark]

Each Others' Constants

Annabeth Chase x Platonic!Reader

Gif is originally from this really cool Happy Birthday Annabeth post! Go check it out and give the creator some love!

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022! Requested by Anon :)

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Prompt: “I’m not alone and neither are you”

Summary: Y/N first came to Camp with Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, and Grover. Their lives have all taken very different, winding paths, with many ups and downs, and after the betrayal of Luke, Y/N’s first boyfriend, they decided to go far, far away from Camp Half-Blood for college. They come back regularly, but when they return for the winter break of their senior year, after the Battle of New York, they realize they might need to make a point of coming home a little more often.

Word Count: 2,464

Category: Angst, Fluff

A/N: Major spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, if you haven’t read it, and spoilers for the beginning of HoO! If you haven’t read either, check them out, they’re great!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I came to a stop at the top of Half-Blood Hill and put my hands on my hips as I looked down into the valley below, a smile on my face. I looked over my shoulder to find the cab driver still staring at me, a curious look on his face, so I gave him a cheery wave. He scowled back at me and then drove off, like a typical New Yorker.

I’d missed it here.

Camp Half-Blood had been like a home to me for years. I’d first arrived eight years ago with a group of other Half-Bloods and our Satyr, and over that time, a lot had changed.

Thalia, one of my best friends, had died and come back to life. Grover, my other best friend, became a member of the Council of Cloven Elders. Luke, my former friend and first boyfriend, had turned traitor only to give his life defeating Kronos. And Annabeth, my baby sister in everything but blood, had grown up into an incredible, beautiful, strong young woman.

I couldn’t have been more proud of her.

As for me, I’d left Camp Half-Blood just before Luke had turned traitor, about four years ago now. Instead of staying around the Camp I’d basically grown up in, I’d left for college, deciding to go abroad and see the world after so many years in the same place, happy but afraid of the outside world. I’d come back last summer, to help fight the Battle of New York, only to leave again once the dust had settled for my senior year of college.

Now, I’d just gotten back for winter break. Camp Half-Blood had been my only family for a while now, so of course, I’d come back to spend it with them. Our normal protective bubble had let just the lightest dusting of snow in, and in the wake of the changes Percy, Annabeth’s boyfriend, had called for after the Battle of New York, the Camp was livelier than I’d ever seen it in the middle of the winter.

I took one last beat to survey the scene in front of me, then started heading down the snow-covered hill to say hello to everyone. They’d known I was coming back for the holidays, but so far, no one had noticed my arrival.

As I got closer and closer to the Big House and the familiar (but newly expanded) ring of cabins, I started to get a little worried about why that might be. I could feel a tension in the air that had only ever meant something bad in my experience here, and as I got closer the tone of voices coming from the people rushing about sounded more urgent than excited.

“Hey!” I called, stopping the first camper I came across. I didn’t recognize her, which felt a little strange, since I used to know everyone at Camp, especially those who stayed over the winter holidays. I pushed the thought out of my mind however as I noticed her worriedly looking behind her, like she had somewhere to be. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know…” she started, giving me a bit of a suspicious look. I stared right back, and after a second, she apparently decided I probably wouldn’t have been able to get into Camp if I’d been a threat. “I woke up and everyone was freaking out about something. One of my friends said they heard somebody’s missing, but I don’t know who.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. We’d just survived a war. We did NOT need some new danger, especially not so soon.

“Where’s Annabeth?” I demanded. “Or Grover, or Chiron?”

“I don’t know… you could always check the Athena Cabin?”

I grit my teeth, incredibly frustrated but trying not to take it out on some kid who’d done her best.

“Alright, thanks,” I said, then took off without another word. If Annabeth had gone missing, especially while I’d been away, traveling the world instead of here, with her…

“Y/N!”

I turned around at the sound of my name to see Malcolm Pace, one of the Athena kids around the same age as Annabeth, speedwalking towards me. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or more concerned.

“Malcolm! What’s happening? I found a camper who said someone was missing-”

“Percy. Percy went missing sometime last night.”

I put a hand to my forehead, trying to process the news. My gut reaction was incredible relief that it wasn’t Annabeth, but that quickly faded back into a horrible, sick feeling. I loved Percy like a little brother too, and he and Annabeth had finally gotten to their happy ending. This was not good, in any way.

“Annabeth’s in the Athena Cabin,” he said, taking a step towards me and Cabin 6. “I think you should probably come see her.”

I nodded, dropping my hand from my forehead and letting the urgency of the situation clear my mind. I could sort through the worry and fear later. Right now, there were things that needed doing.

First and foremost, checking on Annabeth.

I marched through Camp with Malcolm, laser-focused on my goal. I passed a few other campers I knew and we exchanged curt nods, but neither of us tried to stop and chat. We all knew there were more important things going on now. Hopefully, we’d have the time for small talk later.

We reached the Athena Cabin, and I found a few younger, worried-looking campers hovering outside. I headed for the door and Malcolm made to follow me, but I paused and put a hand up.

“Malc, I think it might be a good idea if I go in and talk to her alone, for a second,” I said. Malcolm nodded and took a step back.

“Of course,” he said, then turned to the campers still hovering around the door. “C'mon guys, let’s go check in with Chiron and see if there’s something productive we can do to help.”

I nodded my thanks to him as he rounded up the stragglers and got them to leave, then turned back to the door. I took a deep breath, then opened it and stepped inside.

I found Annabeth in the middle of the room, papers and notes spread out all around her. She wore one of Percy’s favorite hoodies, and my heart broke a little at the sight.

“Annabeth?” I said, my voice quiet as I slowly approached her. She whirled around as soon as she saw me, and even though I’d seen her just a few months ago, I couldn’t help being struck with the realization of just how grown up she was now. It felt like yesterday she was a little seven year old wielding a ball peen hammer, ready to brain Luke, Thalia, and I when we’d first found her. Now, she was a junior in high school and almost as tall as me.

And she looked absolutely heartbroken.

“Y/N,” she breathed, staring through me as much as she was staring at me. Her blonde hair was a mess in its pony tail, and she had mascara smeared around her eyes like she’d been rubbing at them. I took a few more steps across the room, and she didn’t move an inch the whole time. Finally, I got close enough to pull her into a hug. As soon as I wrapped my arms around her, she collapsed into me, and I could feel her sobbing even though the tears were silent.

“Oh, Beth…” I breathed as I held her tighter. I wanted to take the pain away, but I knew from plenty of experience that there was nothing I could do except be there for her.

We stayed like that for a few long minutes, not speaking, and I could tell this was an emotion dump that Annabeth had been fighting off for a long, long time. Finally, though, she shifted a little bit, resting her head on my shoulder as the tears slowly calmed.

“We were supposed to be done with this,” she finally muttered. I rubbed calm, slow circles on her back as she continued. “When we beat Kronos in New York, it was supposed to be over. Some terrible prophecy from Rachel for the next generation of demigods. Not us.”

“It’s not fair,” I echoed, squeezing her as tight as I could. “It’s total bullshit that after everything you’ve been through, you have to deal with something else, Annabeth.”

She took a few more shaky breaths, but didn’t pull away from me. She breathed in like she was getting ready to say something, but then paused. I stayed silent, waiting, letting her take her time. Finally she breathed, barely above a whisper, “I’m just sick of feeling so alone. With Percy, I finally stopped being alone.”

My heart shattered in my chest, and I had to fight back a few tears of my own at her words. I could deal with my own emotions later, but right now, Annabeth needed me.

“Why did you feel alone before Percy?” I asked, being careful to keep any kind of judgment or opinion out of my tone. She shuddered, and I held her closer, trying to give her all the love and support I could without saying words. She didn’t pull away to look at me as she responded, her words half-mumbled like thoughts she was still working through.

“When I was a kid, we had such a clear, close group, you know?” she started. “It was you, me, Luke, Thals, and Grover against the world. And then… and then Thalia died. And Grover started working on other assignments and his own quests and goals. And… and you and Luke… got together, and you always included me, but… it wasn’t the same. And after Luke’s quest, he started getting more distant anyway, and then you left for school and Luke turned on all of us, and I’ve made other friends here, but… for most of my life, I’ve had to rely on myself. Take care of myself, be enough for myself. And I am enough for myself. But with Percy… it finally felt like I had a partner to go through everything with. And now, after we survived a war together, he’s gone. And I’m alone again.”

I waited as Annabeth finished her statement, gathering my thoughts and just in case she had something else to say. When she didn’t continue, I held her a little tighter, then spoke.

“Annabeth… I’ve felt that. A while ago and even this past semester away from Camp. I don’t know exactly what you’re going through, but… I remember when Luke started pulling away, after his failed quest. He was my partner in things, we told each other everything. But after that, he stopped talking to me. A little wall went up, and no matter what I did to try to tear it down, it was always there. It only got worse as time went on, and then as you know, we both basically lost him for good when he joined Kronos.”

Annabeth took a shaky breath, and I held her a little tighter, as much for my own comfort as hers. I’d worked through a lot of the trauma that had come from everything to do with Luke for the past few years, but not all of it. Still, I shook it off as well as I could and continued.

“Even in college, it’s been the same thing,” I said. “I’ve gone to all kinds of new places and met so many interesting people, but there’s a big part of who I am that I just… can’t share with them. I’m independent, and I’m glad I’m independent, but… I understand feeling like you’re not really connecting with anyone as deeply as you want to. And it sucks.

"But you will always have me, Annabeth. Just like I’ll always have you. And we will find Percy, and then you’ll have him too. No matter how much it feels like it sometimes Annabeth, I’m not alone and neither are you.”

Now it was Annabeth’s turn to squeeze me tight, so hard it almost hurt. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need to. After a few long moments, where plenty of things passed between us even without speaking, we finally pulled apart enough to look at each other. Annabeth still didn’t look happy, but she seemed more determined and settled in herself. That shattered look I’d seen when I’d first come through the door was gone.

“Thank you, Y/N,” she said. I gave her a light squeeze.

“Always. And hey, I promise I’m going to make more of a point of staying in touch while I’m gone, alright? This semester especially, I think I was running from… well, almost everything associated with Camp Half-Blood and all the history and pain that comes with it. But I don’t ever want to run from you. So letters, more frequent visits, an illegal cellphone, whatever. Whatever it takes to stay more in touch, yeah?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay, good. Now let’s see what your notes are looking like on the Percy situation, huh? We’ve got a son of Poseidon to track down.”

Annabeth nodded and we finally broke completely apart as she turned to start taking me through all the notes, clues, and evidence she’d gathered so far. I stood by her side as she walked me through it all, and whenever it looked like she might be overwhelmed again, I put a hand on her shoulder and did what I could to keep her calm.

Annabeth deserved nothing but happiness, especially after everything she’d already been through. But if problems and trouble were going to keep popping up and getting in her way, then I was going to be right by her side, through all of it. No matter what.

We’d find Percy, and Annabeth would get her partner back. But I made a vow as we stood in that room, pouring over information and trying to reason out where Percy might be, that I was never disappearing on my little sister again. No matter what directions our lives took us in, or how separate our paths became, I would always be there for her. We’d been the only real constants in each others’ lives for about a decade now, and we were going to stay that way for many more decades to come.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Percy Jackson Taglist: @valkyriepirate

[chasingpj]

𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬

pairing: percy jackson x child of zeus!reader and jason x older sibling!reader

requested: yes!

warning: two curse words, mentions of stealing, death of a parent, and i believe that is it!

category: headcanons, fluff

a/n: i may have gotten too carried away but... i had a lot of fun writing this haha. i hope you guys like it!

pre-relationship

you and percy invented the phrase power couple but coming together took a while

your relationship dynamic would be very similar to thalia and percy's at first

you're both natural-born leaders, so you guys butt heads very often

you're more calculated and organized when it comes to things and percy being impulsive really annoyed you

he's lucky that even though he is impulsive, things somehow always work out in the end

if it wasn't for annabeth urging you guys to get along, you probably would still be at each other's neck

how did she get you guys to get along, you may ask?

she locked you guys in a storage closet :)

and said figure it out ♡

this happened after a friendly sparring practice turned into a full-on fight with your powers

annabeth insisted she wouldn't let you guys out until you declared to be friends

at the time, you were like, percy will never be my friend, ew

percy was just as annoyed

after a good hour of bickering and resisting your urge to choke him out

you guys found that you had a lot in common, actually?

huh, who would have known?

apparently annabeth

you guys talked about your life outside of camp and bonded over the worst teachers you've ever had

turns out, percy wasn't that bad

you'd never admit that out loud though

after a while, you started to feel things

were percy's eyes always that pretty?

yes, they've always been

oh look, those freckles over his nose? adorable

did you just call Percy adorable? yeah, you did… gross

you tried to deny your attraction to him

you were pretty sure this was a cruel joke from aphrodite (it was… more for your dad's than for you guys, though)

then you started noticing changes in his behavior too

now you guys were sharing blankets at the campfire when it got chilly

he even shared the blue cookies his mother sent him too

that's when you should have known he was down bad

both of you have awful sleep schedules

you hated sleeping in cabin 1

it was clearly built not to be slept in, and every few days, you found yourself having late-night conversations with percy at the docks

once the harpies snuck up on you and percy told you to get in the water with him

you didn't know how to swim, and you were kinda horrified of open water

you wanted to refuse, but you were cornered on the docks

you either jumped or got eaten

the last thing you said was that you couldn't swim before percy didn't give you a choice

he grabbed your hand and jumped in

his arm wrapped around your waist to keep you in the air bubble he had made around you guys

at first, you didn't focus on it

too busy trying to defend yourself from his teasing

he continued to mimic the way you screamed when he dragged you into the water

"wow, you can fly, but you can't swim?"

you rolled your eyes, trying to defend yourself

you called him annoying, and he playfully threatened to let you drown

you guys joked and laughed, staying a little too long underwater

after your laughter ceased, you found yourself looking into his eyes

the both of you became quiet

suddenly his arm around your waist, the way your chests were pressed against each other made you horribly flustered

and you're not sure what you were thinking

actually, you weren't thinking at all, but you leaned in and kissed him

like really kissed him, it was a proper kiss

ahhhhhh!!!

probably would have kissed him longer if the water nymphs didn't giggle, exposing their little audience

once you pulled away, they scattered, ready to gossip about what they saw

the news made it to atlantis pretty fast

after the kiss, things were so awkward

you avoided him for days, and he avoided you

annabeth felt the tension, and she was upset because just when you guys were getting along, suddenly, you guys were avoiding each other

the battle of manhattan was approaching soon and the last thing anyone wanted was for you guys not to get along

you both avoided annabeth’s questions, not ready to confess what you guys had shared

eventually, annabeth kept pressing you about what happened

you blew up and admitted that you made out with percy in the water

annabeth was speechless before she burst into laughter

you didn't understand why it was so funny at first

but then you did

the both of you laughed until annabeth said that she wasn't surprised at all

the battle of manhattan comes around, and in the urgency of the moment, you guys were able to rise to the occasion

your movements, thoughts, commands were completely coordinated

you guys were an extension of each other, kicking ass

at the end, you were both offered immortality

the offer took you back to a conversation you guys had where you spoke about how you'd never want to be immortal

the both of you exchanged looks before you simultaneously denied the gift

zeus was offended x2

after that, you guys returned to camp half-blood

the both of you were upset at the campers you've lost and trying to recover from the adrenaline of battle

you and annabeth sang percy happy birthday and the three of you sat together and ate blue cake in a comfortable silence

weeks passed, and one day, you're met with annabeth barging into your cabin asking when you and percy are going to talk about your kiss

it was the last day of camp, and she was insistent on you talking to him

you reluctantly agreed, mainly because annabeth threatened to lock you in a storage closet again

you guys sat on the dunes in silence for a while

the both of you wanted to confess, but neither knew how to do it

after some silence, the both of you spoke at the same time

you stuttered over each other and then began bickering back and forth on who should go first until you blurted out that you like him

you cringed and looked away as percy froze in his spot

it was silent for a moment before percy whispered, "I like you too."

cue your second kiss

your teeth slightly bumping with his since the both of you were smiling so much

and you swore you heard thunder in the distance even though there were clear skies

relationship

you lived in a foster home on the other side of manhattan, so you guys saw each other every weekend

you guys went on movie dates, long drives, and you would sleep over pretty often

for the spooky season, you went to haunted houses and carved pumpkins

you watched horror movies together, teasing each other when one of you jumped and tried to cover your face during the scary parts

you went to his place for Thanksgiving and you arrived early so that the both of you could help sally cook all day

you and percy put blue food coloring on the mashed potatoes

for the first time ever, you felt like you were apart of a family since sally had welcomed you with open arms

everything was going great but then december came around

the last time you saw percy, you guys were christmas shopping for his mom

your last day of school ended a few days after his, so you planned to meet at CHB

but when you got there, you found out he never arrived

you called his home from the payphone in the big house

sally was relieved to hear from you, a part of her hoping he was with you

but you both found out that neither of you had heard from him in a few days

meeting jason

you and annabeth tried everything to find him

then you got a dream from hera that the answer to where percy is was with the guy with one shoe

you arrive and you find this blonde kid and not your boyfriend; you were kinda actually very annoyed

but this blonde kid felt familiar

you weren't sure what it was, and then you heard his name — Jason Grace

surely, it was a coincidence that he shared the name of your missing brother

you were too young to remember his disappearance

the only remembrance you had of him was a picture of the both of you as toddlers sitting happily beside thalia

you always wondered who was the little boy in the photo and it wasn't until a few years ago did thalia tell you about him disappearing

you were a bit wary of him at first, especially since he had no memory of where he came from

it wasn't until he conjured lightning with his sword, did you have no doubt in your mind that he was your brother

the first night you guys spent in the cabin together was awkward

you couldn't really catch up since he didn't remember anything, so you told him what thalia told you about him and your mother

you didn't reveal him everything, not wanting to overwhelm him and you had decided to call it a night before you went into detail

you explained the rest of the story after he came back from his quest

you tried to ask him questions hoping he’d remember more, but his memory wasn't coming back fast enough

both you and jason were growing frustrated, so one day you iris messaged thalia

the both of you came up with an idea to jog jason's memory by showing him things that he enjoyed as a toddler

jason was pretty sure it wouldn't work, but he went along with it

thalia recalled that the two of you really liked watching the flintstones as babies

so you and jason sat down and watched every season available on dvd

and well, it didn't work...

thalia also mentioned you both really liked sweets, so you tried to jog his memory with candy bars

you had to convince jason to sneak out of camp with you

he thought it was such a bad idea, but you reassured him he'd be fine

after reluctantly agreeing, jason and you escaped at night to buy actually steal candy bars from the closest gas station

jason panicked as he watches you shove candy bars in your sweatshirt

"we're gonna get caught"

"if you keep looking that scared, we just might," you replied a little too calmly

he tried to relax, but he just looked like he saw a ghost the entire time

on your way back, you may have electrocuted a harpy and fought a couple cyclops and all the fighting and running made you lose one of your snicker bars

you were upset, to say the least

unfortunately, after stuffing him with chocolate, that didn't work either

then you tried to show him the few pictures you were able to salvage before you were taken to the foster home after the death of your mother

jason sat in front of you on the floor as you pulled the box from under your bed

you smiled, finding an old picture of your mother, and you put it up to his face, taking in the similarities between the two

"yep, you look just like her," you confirmed as you smiled sadly

even though jason didn't know her, he felt a sense of pride when you had told him so

every time a memory would come back, you were the first person he told

when his memories with lupa came back, you were shook

and then you teased him, saying that he's basically a dog

once you threw a twig and told him to go fetch

he didn't find it as funny as you and leo did, but oh well

you also asked if he howled at full moons, and you were met with the straightest face you've ever seen on jason

it was the funniest thing ever to you

every week you guys kicked ass in capture the flag

you guys were more alike than you thought

it was guaranteed that whichever team you were on would win

in the months when the argo II was being built, you had a lot of times to bond with jason

your dynamic was really fun as you were a bit more rebellious and silly while he was a lot more responsible and mature

after the argo II departed

you reuniting with percy was something you thought about for months

you were so excited when the argo II was officially ready to fly over to camp jupiter

your pulse was thumping in your ears when you saw percy in the crowd

after months of worrying about where he was and if he was still alive, it was almost surreal to see him right in front of you

you lunged into him so hard, he stumbled back as you kissed him

just like your second kiss, the both of you were smiling so hard your teeth kept bumping against his

"i love your new look," you commented on his toga, and he snorted,

"yeah?"

"oh yeah, it's kinda hot."

the both of you laughed, content to be in each other's arms again

after getting on the argo II, you were the reason jason and percy formed some sort of a friendship

you were the mutual ground for the both of them since they had a soft spot for you

the tension between the two was something you couldn't disregard and you hated how weird it was at the beginning

if they butted heads, you tried to mend the problem

you understood both of them well enough to understand where they came from

at some point, you and annabeth thought it would be funny to lock them in a storage closet

so you did

they kept complaining to be let out but eventually, they gave in

little did they know that you were standing near the door and listening to their conversation

jason told him how you helped him a lot and all the ridiculous things you made him do

and percy shared stories of you from quests and at camp

the both of them laughed and bonded over having someone as amazing as you in their lives

"y/n is pretty great," percy smiles

"yeah, they are," jason agreed

needless to say, your heart warmed at the praise from your two favorite boys

masterlists taglist: @xxyrr @nct127bee @mochabreezeee @minamisulemisa @yanfeisluvr @Slytherclaw-kitten @-thatgirloverthere- @passionswift @nanskidoodle @idk-bye-no @ilikefluffygingercats @all-hailreyna @autmngirlworld @Sunkissedskin1328 @Hermioneswifeee @quteez @hajigayy @aleksanderwh0r3 @drayshadow @tonyedwardstarkk @londoncherry @ashookykooky @lotusnegra666 @loverstyless

[phykios]

The Adoption of Paul Blofis Paul has been waiting for the other shoe to drop at Montauk for years. When it finally does, at Percy and Annabeth's birthday party, it does so in the best way possible. [read on ao3]

3rd birthday fic for @perseannabeth​!!! 😽😽😽😽😽 hbd mari!!

It was no longer a big deal that Paul got to go to the cabin on Montauk. 

It had been a huge deal, the first time. Fresh off a prophetic summer, her little boy now sixteen and impervious to all danger, Sally had practically dragged him out of bed the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, bundling him into the car with a sweet, apologetic smile, and a jumbo homemade latte, in the biggest mug she owned, a pastel pink monstrosity with “Yoga Girl” splashed across in dainty, black calligraphy. So entranced by the smell of beans from the Colombian grocery down the street, he honestly hadn’t even noticed that they had crossed the LIR until they were well into their trip. 

Which was probably for the best, because if she had told him where they were going, he undoubtedly would have spent the whole drive panicking. 

Of course he knew the significance of Montauk Beach. They didn’t speak of it often, Sally and Percy, but when they did, it was obvious that it was only for the two of them. And that was okay. Being a step-parent, even one well-liked by his stepson, didn’t automatically grant him access to every part of their lives. There was a Before- and After- Paul Blofis, and if they wished to keep the Before to themselves, then he would respect that wish. 

But, flushed and happy, she had driven him out to the cabin. Bare feet in the surf, softly smiling, her eyes lined with fondness, she had told him all about that special summer, sixteen years ago, when she had caught the gaze of a god. And afterwards, she and Paul had stayed there the whole weekend, holding hands as they walked along the beach, eating fish and chips from the restaurant down by the lighthouse, making love on the blue, lumpy couch, the upholstery soaked with the smell of saltwater. 

Over breakfast, the morning after, Sally smirked at him from across the table. He swallowed his eggs. “What?”

“Just thinking,” she hummed, taking a sip of orange juice. 

“About?”

She shrugged. “Oh, you know.” Her eyes flicked to the couch, and she smiled again. 

But Paul was too old to blush at such implications. “What, that that was the first time that couch had seen any action in years?”

She leveled him with her gaze, eyes sparkling. “I never slept with him on the couch.”

Well. Maybe he wasn’t too old. 

It was intoxicating, in a primal, caveman-y sort of way. He’d process the feeling and put it to rest later, he decided, allowing himself a brief moment to enjoy it. 

What a woman, he thought as he kissed her. He hoped Poseidon was seething. 

They’d gone back the next summer, too, after Percy had come back from his, uh, study abroad, with Annabeth in tow. The kids actually met them there, deposited on the beach by an abnormally tall wave. Paul hadn’t batted an eye at it, by now too used to the weird stuff which existed just barely at the edges of his perception. But he did spend the entire weekend waiting for… something. Not a monster, no--he kind of got the impression that if a monster even tried to approach the demigods, a sudden storm surge might pop up out of nowhere and vaporize the thing--but some kind of comment from Percy. Some sort of observation regarding Mr. Blofis, his English teacher turned stepfather, trespassing on his sacred space. 

No observation ever came. Percy never said anything. Not one surly, teenage typical comment. 

Maybe he had been too preoccupied with his camp stuff, Paul thought. Percy had mentioned a few losses, some friends who had gone to war and never come back. Maybe Paul Blofis at Montauk was just not something even pinging his radar at the moment. He wouldn’t blame him.

Maybe the third year in a row it would finally register. 

“Hey, kiddo,” he calls to Percy as he and Annabeth pour out of the white Delphi Strawberries van, loaded down with paper bags. “What’s this?”

“Gift from camp,” Annabeth says. “Miranda heard about our berry problem and was able to swap out one of the strawberry rows with blueberries for the weekend.”

“Well that was nice of her,” Paul says, taken aback. Sally had bought up their local grocer’s supply of blueberries for the cake, of course, but they had gone bad earlier than anticipated, and she had tasked Paul with running down to the supermarket today as soon as they had settled in. But--that had been the day before yesterday. How… were they able to grow them so fast? “I hope that didn’t put you guys out too much.”

Percy winces, shrugging a shoulder. “You would not believe the amount of favors I had to trade in for this. I’m going to be mucking pegasus crap out of the stables for the next month.”

Taking a bag out of his hands, he peeks in, swiping a picture perfect blueberry from the top of the pile, and pops it in his mouth. 

Oh. Oh dear lord in heaven. He actually moans, out loud. 

Percy laughs. “Good?”

Good? Good?! It’s more than good. It’s--it’s like a blueberry exemplar. It’s the platonic ideal of a blueberry, perfectly sweet and juicy with just a dash of tartness, sun-ripened to the very point of bursting. It melts in his mouth, skin and flesh and juice dissolving on his tongue, transcendent. He might actually be seeing stars. 

Snatching up a few more, he stuffs them in his mouth, just to check if the first berry was a fluke.

Nope. 

“I will pay you,” he groans, mouth full. “I will pay you whatever it takes for more blueberries. Oh my goodness.”

“You’re going to be paying a lot,” Percy says. “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything as bad as pegasus sh--”

“Hi, sweetheart!” Sally pops up out of nowhere, swooping in to give her little boy a hug. “Are these from camp?” 

“Present from Cabin Four,” he says, brandishing a bag. 

Sally smiles, as blinding and brilliant as ever. “That was so thoughtful of them. Remind me to send you back with some cookies for them.” 

“Where’s Estelle?” Annabeth asks, as the van reverses and pulls out of the dirt drive up. Now, Paul hadn’t exactly been looking too closely, but he’s pretty sure he saw the driver wink at him as he left--only, he didn’t wink with his eyes, he thinks. The driver had winked with his… pectoral? 

Don’t think about it too closely, he chides himself. Just let it go. 

“I put her down for a nap just before you got here.” Sally cards her hand through Percy’s hair, taking a moment to just look at him. To confirm that he was indeed here, real and solid. It was a habit she had picked up ever since last summer, and Percy, being a good son, hadn’t protested much. Or at all, really. “I know she’ll be happy to see you. You too, Percy.” 

“Can’t wait.” 

“Yeah,” Annabeth says, bumping his shoulder. “She needs the Diaper Master 3000.”

They all laugh, even Percy, grumbling good-naturedly. Percy, being a very good son, had offered to babysit Estelle for a long weekend while Paul and Sally went down to New Jersey for a conference. Sunday night, they returned to a spotless apartment, a meticulously restocked spice cabinet, approximately six stuffed trash bags, and one very sleep deprived high school senior who, upon seeing his mom, had handed off his little sister in a freshly changed diaper, whispered, “I am the Diaper Master 3000,” and then promptly fell asleep on the couch for fourteen hours. They had never learned what happened that weekend, not even from Annabeth--not even whether or not there had been a monster attack which had forced Percy to clean the place from top to bottom.

“Not my fault I’m so good at changing diapers,” Percy shrugs, hoisting a paper bag. “I bet I’m even better than mom, now.”

“You better watch it, mister,” Sally singsongs, kissing her boy on the cheek. “I’d say Estelle is a walk in the park compared to you.”

Paul takes another bag of blueberries from Annabeth--not to swipe a few more from the top, no--bringing up the rear as they all head inside the cabin.

“I don’t know about that--some of her diapers should be classified as toxic substances.”

“Oh, Percy,” Sally says with a twinkle in her eye, leaning in close to her son, but not so close that he can’t hear what she’s saying, “there were definitely a few of your dirty diapers that smelled worse than pegasus shit.”

Annabeth cackles, her head thrown back. “Mom!” Percy cries, flushing.

***

“Gen--”

“Yen,” Annabeth corrects.

“Yen?”

“Almost,” she says. “A little more--” And then she makes a noise that Paul has never heard in his life, a cross between a hiss and a guttural… sigh, maybe. 

“Gen,” he says, exactly the same way he said it the first time. 

“Perfect.”

What on Earth? “Yen--Genethlios… emera?”

Percy pipes in, licking frosting off his fork. “Imera. Long ‘ee.’”

“Imera.” 

“Ἡμέρα.” 

“Imera?” 

“Longer ‘ey.’”

“I… mey-ra.”

“Γενέθλιος ἡμέρα,” Annabeth repeats. 

How are two words so difficult? “Genethlios,” he says. “Imera.”

“Good!” Annabeth flashes him a thumbs up.

Okay. He doesn’t think that was all that better, but maybe they’re taking pity on him. Sure. “Genethlios imera, you two.” 

Paul would never consider himself an expert in foreign language, by any stretch of the imagination. He had a brief stint with German, years ago, and that had gone down as well as a lead balloon. Or maybe a red balloon. But he wanted to at least make an effort for the kids. 

“Thank you, Paul.”

“Yeah, thanks Paul,” Percy says, a grin on his face that usually spelled trouble. 

Paul narrows his eyes. “What is it?”

Oh no. Did they just spend five minutes teaching him an insult instead of how to wish them a happy birthday?

“Birthdays weren’t really a thing in ancient Greece,” Annabeth says, Percy’s troublemaking smile gracing her face. “So we just usually say ‘Χρόνια πολλά.’”

Paul blinks. He had had a colleague at his previous school who was Greek, who apparently had ten thousand cousins, all named Nick, who she had called to wish a happy birthday every other weekend. And he had heard those words a lot. Meaning he could have been spared five minutes of agonizing language instruction in favor of a simple Google search. “Thanks, guys.” 

Fighting off a troublemaking smile of her own, Sally slides him another slice of blueberry cake. 

It is neither Percy’s nor Annabeth’s birthday today. Paul, unfortunately, has a pre-school teacher’s workshop on Percy’s birthday, and Sally had had a meeting with her publisher on Annabeth’s birthday which had been canceled and rescheduled twice already. To compromise, they’re having a get together at the cabin on August 1st, smack dab in the middle. 

He’s not going to lie--he’s a little nervous. Hopefully the kids haven’t picked up on it. Sally absolutely has; she presses her foot against his under the table, a warm, grounding presence against him. “Shall we move onto presents?” she asks. 

Both Percy and Annabeth perk up, straightening. Even baby Estelle has picked up on the atmosphere, gurgling as she rouses herself from her post-dinnertime semi-nap. “Let me,” Paul says, standing up. “Back in a minute.”

“Do you need help?” Percy asks, blinking… owlishly, ironically. 

“No peeking,” he says. In his peripheral vision, as he leaves the kitchen, Percy slumps.

In truth, Paul needs this minute, just to settle his stomach. Stepping into his and Sally’s room, he retrieves the pile of gifts from the closet. Percy’s sits on top, a small, unobtrusive box, wrapped in blue. 

He and Sally had talked about this for months. She’d signed off on it, and he trusts her word on this certainly more than his own feelings. 

Percy is a good kid. He’s been dealt a rough hand and he’s come out the other end shining. And he doesn’t need a fuddy duddy like Paul to come in and muscle in on his territory, telling him he’s done a good job in a world he knows nothing about. 

Before he can chicken out, he turns around and heads back into the kitchen. “Alright,” he says, interrupting as Percy makes silly faces at his little sister. “Who’s first?”

“Me!” says Annabeth, her hand literally raised in the air. “I am the older one, after all.”

Percy rolls his eyes, but doesn’t fight it. 

She is delighted by Sally’s gift, of course, because Sally may just be one of the best gift-givers Paul has ever known. “I know your classes will have you working at all hours of the night, so I wanted to help make sure you’re still taking care of yourself.”

“This is amazing, Sally,” Annabeth says, running her fingers over the packaging of the ergonomic folding laptop tray. “Thank you so much!”

“It’s very comfortable--I used this desk all the time when I was working on my book, even when I was pregnant. But as comfortable as it is, don’t forget that you still need to take a break every once in a while.”

She nods. “Absolutely. I will.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help, too.”

Sally raises an eyebrow at her boy, and he blushes. 

“Not like that!”

But Annabeth is already moving on to Paul’s gift. She flips the card, squinting at the small letters, lips moving as she sounds out the words. “An… audiobook?”

“I know reading is… harder for you.” An English teacher and a lifelong book lover, Paul had been slightly scandalized at the fact that Annabeth, as smart as she was, hadn’t read many books. Some of that, he supposed, could be chalked up to her childhood at magic summer camp; some of it couldn’t. The shock had haunted him for weeks until he sat with Percy, helping him write an essay, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks--they were both dyslexic. Of course reading was hard. Paul had felt like a right piece of garbage for assuming that they weren’t interested. He was a teacher, wasn’t he? It was his job to meet kids halfway, and provide them the tools they needed. “And unfortunately, I couldn’t find a copy of The Hobbit in ancient Greek, so, I figured this was the next best thing.”

She blinks, uncomprehendingly. “The Hobbit?”

“You know, the prequel to Lord of the Rings.”

“Lord of the Rings?”

“You don’t know it?” he asks, shocked.

She shakes her head.

A part of him dies inside before he can quash the feeling. Differently abled, he reminds himself. A childhood chock full of Greek tragedy. “Oh, you’ll love it. Tolkien was essentially the grandfather of all modern fantasy novels. It’s about a hobbit named Bilbo who goes on a quest with the wizard Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield to reclaim their treasure from Smaug, and so they have to travel across Middle Earth, from the Shire to Rivendell and then to the Lonely Mountain, and then after they got lost in the Misty Mountains, Bilbo finds a magic ring which actually turns out to be--”

Annabeth, wide-eyed, stares at him a little. 

Paul stops himself, clearing his throat. Best not to show his supremely nerdy hand. Or spoil that particular plot point for her. “Well, The Hobbit was one of my favorite books as a child. I think you’ll really enjoy it.”

A grin creeps across her face. “Thank you, Mr. Blofis,” she says, sincerely. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

Percy doesn’t have a gift for Annabeth, and neither does she for him, though Paul figures that the kids probably exchange their gifts on their own time, especially if they were gifts of a particular… physical nature. Likewise, Sally doesn’t have anything for Percy today, as she had gifted him a laptop for his graduation, with the understanding that that would represent his birthday gift this year. He doesn’t seem too put out on losing to his girlfriend in the number of birthday presents, at least. 

Unfortunately, that just means it’s Paul’s turn again. 

He gulps. 

“You okay?” Percy asks. 

“‘Course I am,” he says. “Here. This one is from me.”

He hands Percy a small box, wrapped in blue, who brings it to his ear, shaking it a little, face screwed up in concentration. After getting a snort out of Annabeth, he finally unwraps it, ripping the paper off with abandon, just like any other teenage boy. 

Percy opens the box, and his brow furrows… but he doesn’t look angry, or upset. Deft fingers lift the watch up from its cushion, raising the blue face up to the light. The band is silver, interlocking links that don’t pull too tight on the skin that make for a decent makeshift fidget toy in case Percy needs to concentrate. The numbers even have Latin numerals, instead of Arabic, to make it easier on his divinely-induced dyslexia. “Is this your way of telling me to be on time in college?” he asks, maybe with a hint of a confused smile on his face. 

Paul laughs. Monsters only made Percy late to class a few times last year. “Not quite. It’s… something of a tradition in my family. When I was just about your age, my father took me out to the local shop so he could buy me my first watch.” He had passed before Paul had met Sally, which was probably for the best, as he might not necessarily have approved of the Jacksons all that much. Paul had had more than a few issues with the man, but this had always been a cherished memory. With any luck, it would be for Percy, too. “I know you kids don’t really use them anymore, and you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, but I thought…” 

He trails off, unsure how to verbalize what he’s feeling. Maybe he should have written all this out beforehand. How do you tell a hero that you want to be his father? How does any step-parent tell a step-child you think of them as your own?

But Percy’s eyes are shining. Paul thinks he understands. 

“...Anyway, it’s--it’s waterproof up to 200 meters. So don’t worry if you have to take an impromptu dive with it on, okay? It should still function just fine.”

No one makes a move, save for Annabeth putting a hand on Percy’s shoulder. 

“Happy birthday, Percy,” says Paul. “Chronia polla.” 

Percy snorts. Paul is aware his accent is awful. 

“Thank you,” Percy says, voice thick. “This is--thank you.” 

“It’s my pleasure.” And it is. This kid is a gift--first to Sally, and then to him. 

At age eighteen, like many of his peers, Paul Blofis had not known what he wanted to do with his life. Headed off to college, away from home for the first time in his life, all he really knew about himself was that he liked Tolkien, and that he preferred essays to public speaking because at least a word processor wouldn’t be able to pick up on all his “ums” and “uhs.” He didn’t know what the future would hold for him, whether or not he’d ever have a real job, or a family of his own, or whether he even wanted one. 

Certainly he’d had a boring, uneventful childhood. College had not been much more exciting, what few relationships he did have fizzling out in favor of studying for midterms. And one day, he had looked up at his calendar on the wall, and, realizing that it had been well over ten years since he’d so much as gone out on a date, resigned himself to a life of bachelorhood. 

Of course, that was the day the most beautiful woman in the world decided to sit down next to him in his writing class. A kind of tempting of fate that only the ancient Greeks would have appreciated, maybe. 

His blessings had come at him fast: a wife, a stepson, a daughter. A daughter-in-law as well, in all likelihood. Wherever he stands with Percy, that’s fine, but he just wants him to know how thankful Paul is for these blessings. How much Percy is appreciated. How much he is loved. 

Percy sniffs, smiling. “That makes this so much easier,” he says. Twisting around, he grabs his backpack, pulling out a thin, manila envelope, and handing it to him. 

Paul cocks his head, taking it. “What’s this?”

“My birthday gift to me,” says Percy, eyes still glassy, as Paul opens the envelope, slipping out a piece of paper that says… 

Oh goodness. 

“Wanna be my dad?” Percy asks. “Like, officially?”

He is stunned. Speechless. For a moment, he can’t move, the weight of this request almost too heavy to bear. He turns to his wife, her face shining like the moon reflecting off the surface of the water. “Did you know about this?” he asks, but of course she knew. 

No wonder she was so excited for this weekend. 

Paul is crying, too, now. He can feel it, tears falling down his face and under his chin, hitting his shirt. “Yes,” he manages to get out, “yes, of course. It’d be my honor.” 

Percy exhales, shakily, and Sally presses a pen into his hand. He grips it tight as he signs his name on the adoption form with a shaking flourish. 

And as Paul stands up, he finds that Percy is already there behind his chair, his arms open, unprotesting as Paul pulls him into a hug. He tucks his head against Paul’s shoulder, squeezing tight. 

A wife, a daughter, a likely daughter-in-law--and now a son. A family. 

And as a family, they all have an extra slice of cake to celebrate. 

[bro-ken-spoon]

Percy Jackson Birthday Fic

Hey guys! I know I'm coming in just under the wire here, but it's once again August 18th, meaning it's once again Percy Jackson's birthday! I've written a little fic for the occasion!

Because it's me, it's a sickfic! Content warning for nightmares, and spoiler warning through the Heroes of Olympus series!

I will be posting this concurrently to AO3, but you can find it right here under the cut! If you like it, consider reblogging it or leaving a comment on ao3! Happy Birthday Percy!

Percy’s still in bed when Annabeth knocks on the door to the bedroom.

“You ready? You’ve got about fifteen minutes.” she calls through the door, and Percy just groans and rolls over. He forgot about his birthday dinner. It was too late to cancel, his mom and stepdad would be so disappointed. It doesn’t matter that he feels miserable, he’s got to get up. When he doesn’t give an answer, Annabeth opens the door. “Percy, it’s time to-oh. You’re still in bed.” She walks closer to him, and he closes his eyes. He feels Annabeth’s soft touch on his cheek, and she gasps slightly. “Oh.” she says in a small voice, and Percy’s not sure what that means, but now her hand is gone. That sure isn’t what he wanted.

He keeps his eyes closed. It does keep the headache down, and it stops him from feeling quite so nauseous. He can only sense Annabeth in the room by her footsteps pacing back and forth across the foot of the bed.

“Hey, Mrs. Jackson,” she says, and Percy knits his eyebrows a little. Not only does the sound send a bit more pain through his head, he also wonders why Annabeth might be calling his mom. “I just went to check on Percy to make sure he was getting ready, and he’s running a fever. Maybe we should postpone dinner until he’s feeling up to it, maybe next week just in case? Yeah, I can change the reservation, don’t worry about it. Yes. Yes, I promise I’ll update you every hour. Of course. Actually, yeah, I’ve got enough for tonight but if you wanted to drop by in the morning I’m sure he’d like that. Yeah. Alright, see you then. Alright. Bye.”

Annabeth’s footsteps move closer to him. He feels the same cool hand, this time on his forehead. She moves her hand, which makes him sad, but she plants a kiss there instead, which helps. She leaves the room and returns quickly.

“Hey, babe, do you think you can sit up for me? Just real quick.” she says. He wants more than anything to not move, but he can’t defy Annabeth, not when she’s asking so sweetly. He opens his eyes to see her worried face, and she helps him sit up. She sticks a thermometer in his mouth, which is a surprising sensation, but then she sticks a cool rag on the back of his neck, so he forgives her. When she takes it out, she makes a little sound of distaste. “This must’ve come on fast, huh?”

He doesn’t answer, just takes the medicine she sets in his mouth and a sip of the water. She helps him lay back down, and he drifts to sleep.

--------------

Percy is in pain.

He’s on fire. His body is shaking. He’s on his knees, chained to a wall, wheezing. The air smells and tastes distinctly like Tartarus. That must be where he is, he decides. He never really left. Except he can’t find Annabeth. She’s not next to him. Maybe she made it out. Maybe she...no, she must have made it out.

She’s not there, but he is. He tries to move against the shackles, but it hurts, and he can’t get them free. There’s no water around, no water that wouldn’t also kill him, so he really feels backed against the wall this time.

He blinks, and suddenly Nyx stands before him. He recognizes her easily enough, and she has a wicked smile on her face. He sees darkness. He sees Annabeth, scared, stumbling around as she screams that he abandoned her. He sees his friends, lying dead from a war that didn’t need to happen. He sees his mom, flailing for her life, being squeezed by the giant fist of a minotaur. Anger wells up inside of him. He tries to use that strength to break the chains, but it only leaves welts on his wrists as they start to bleed from the force against the cuffs.

The goddess hums, a deep, discordant sound that rivals that of a dying whale, and Percy screams, the sound drowning out his will to live. The heat seems to rise around him. He was already on fire, but now it feels like the thermostat has been turned up to 6,000 degrees, which he’s pretty sure is bad in Fahrenheit AND celsius.

After the sound, Percy begins to see more scenes. He sees Luke, writhing with Kronos’s spirit in him, as he takes his own life, the blood spilling out onto the floor of Olympus, signaling a new era but also the loss of a friend. He sees Silena, her dying breaths spent believing she was a traitor when Percy only saw someone who wanted to do the right thing. He feels how his gut sank and his heart pounded when he realized that Beckendorf couldn’t survive the fall into the water the way he could. He feels the grief realizing Bianca had sacrificed herself to get them out of the junkyard, the weight of her death and Nico’s loss making him stagger even now.

“Stop, please.” he breathes out. Each wave, each reminder of a friend he’d never see again punches him in the gut. He’s sweating, the air is getting tighter around him, and he doesn’t think it’s the emotional pain. Nyx is doing this to him. He has to break out of it, to fight it, but he doesn’t have the strength. “No more.” he pleads, his voice hoarse and shaky. He realizes he’s been crying, and the tears are still streaming down his face.

Then, he sees Annabeth. He doesn’t remember Annabeth dying, so he knows he can’t take this one. If he doesn’t remember it, he must have repressed it. That must be why she wasn’t with him.

“Percy?” she asks, her voice full of concern as if he’s the one who’s in trouble. He can’t get a word out other than a simple, feeble “stop.”

She walks towards him and puts her hand on his cheek. It feels so good, so blissfully cool and real, that he whimpers.

“Oh, gods,” she says, cursing in Ancient Greek as she walks away. He doesn’t want her to go away. As soon as she leaves him, she’s going to die, and he has to watch. He lets out a strangled cry, which turns into a retch.

He leans forward, trying to catch his breath. He’s not sure what’s bringing it on, but he can’t breathe. The scenes he was forced to watch? The thought of Annabeth dying?

“Shit, Percy!” Annabeth exclaims, coming back over to him.

She puts an arm around him, and he wants to explain to her that he can’t leave even with her help, but somehow he’s moving, leaving Tartarus and everything behind.

------------------------

When Percy fully wakes up, he’s in a bedroom.

It takes him a minute to realize he’s in his own apartment, not the actual hellscape that is Tartarus.

“You with me this time?” Annabeth asks, and Percy takes a second to breathe deeply before nodding gently. “Good. I was afraid I was going to have to haul your ass all the way to camp to get some help.” She says it jokingly, but it’s clear to Percy that she genuinely was concerned.

“I just had a nightmare, that’s all,” Percy says, but Annabeth gave him a look. They both knew that nightmares for them were never just nightmares.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Annabeth asks, sitting on the side of the bed. Her stormy grey eyes fill with worry, and it makes Percy’s heart clench. It takes him a second to respond.

“It’s never going to go away, is it? I mean, after all we’ve seen, is there even such a thing as a peaceful life?” Percy asks aloud, but he can’t expect Annabeth to have an answer. Even in her seemingly infinite wisdom, she doesn’t always know the right thing to say.

“No, Percy. It doesn’t go away.” she says.

“Oh, good,” Percy says sarcastically, “Just what I wanted to hear.” Annabeth smiles at him, and though he doesn’t see much to smile at, Annabeth’s smile has always had that effect on him. She rolls her eyes.

“It doesn’t go away, but it gets better. We’ll keep making good memories, keep having good experiences, and someday, the good ones will outweigh the bad ones. Like, y’know how we almost died like once a month as preteens?”

“No, I seem to have forgotten that.” Percy’s sarcasm knows no bounds. Annabeth punches his arm gently.

“Well, we did. But, you also remember that time the whole camp baked you a birthday cake? And that time we kissed under the water? And the campfires, and friendly capture the flag matches? Basically, what I’m saying is, of course there are going to be bad times,”

“Like the dying,”

“But there will be good times too. And those are what makes it all worth it.” Annabeth finishes despite Percy’s interjections.

“I get it. It’ll get better and all that,” Percy says, but he really is serious. “Thanks, Wise Girl.”

“Of course, Seaweed Brain,” she says, tousling his hair. He leans into the touch. It’s comforting. “Now get some rest.”

He’s asleep before she even leaves the room.

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 16: Mini Elvis

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. "Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." "You knew it was a trap," Percy hissed. Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV." Taking the shield from Percy I shoved it at him. "You're a jerk." Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas." The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. Percy said, "You're kidding." Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos. Percy said, "I don't want your lousy—" "Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving him his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot." I could see Percy gritting his teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I also didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, he swung the bag over his shoulder. I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.

I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER. "You owe us one more thing," Percy told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about our parents." "You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "They're not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?" "I mean Percy's mom was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept. As for yours, I saw them myself. Upstairs with the big guys. Why do you think you're causing one of the biggest uproar up there? They're refusing to tell who your parent is. No matter how much cut." He smirked. "What...?" Percy and the others must've seen something as they all held me back. "What are they doing to them?" I could feel the ground shake as Percy's grip on me tighten. We'll save them... calm down. Not the hero. Us. So calm down. "Calm down Y/N." Percy whispered. The ground stopped shaking and took a deep breath. "I will make you all kneel." I said. He looked at me confusedly. Then he shrug it off then laughed, "Oh yeah? can't wait, kid." Percy gripped my shoulder. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues." Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy." "I don't care." "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." "Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..." He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck. "If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry." I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Riptide. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for. Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL! Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur. "This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and we would've helped him, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down. We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips. I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then Percy used Riptide to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while I used my knife to cut the balloon off his horn. Annabeth wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night. Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time. On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it—he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods. And it wasn't helping knowing they're hurting my parents. Here I was risking my life for them and what are they doing? "Hey," Percy cooed, "We'll save them. No matter what. I promised you that." "Okay." Percy pulled me closer until I was resting on him. Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry I wasn't much help back at the park... I could've helped getting you guys out... It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders." "Because of the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?" She nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things." "We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying. All we did was grab the shield." I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Annabeth, Percy and I laughed. She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me and Percy a half each. "In the Iris message... did Luke really say nothing?" I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree." Percy answered. In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions. Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along." "You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus." He nodded glumly. "And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." Percy looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?" She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us." "I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..." "Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either." "She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so." "Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair." "Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says." Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy." "You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now." She kicked me in the shin. "Yeah," I said, which I would've done even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and Percy, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan. I mean, you found me despite my scentlessness... is that a word?" Percy muffled a laugh. I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep. "How does he do that?" I marveled. "I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him." "I meant it." We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully. Percy didn't take long to fall asleep. Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. "That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?" She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. "Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer...." "And the college ring is your father's?" "That's none of your—" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." "You don't have to tell me." "No... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her.... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him." "That doesn't sound so bad." "Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood." She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain." "You shouldn't give up," I told her. "You should write him a letter or something." "Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with." We passed another few miles of silence. "Luke actually told me about you two coming to camp already." "Really?" She looked at me amazed. "You two must've gotten close fast." "Well, I don't know. I feel like I had to talk to Luke. Like I had to be there for him. The same with Percy." We have to be there for both "You're not wrong. I'm not sure how I'd be without your help." Percy yawned. "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to handle him." Annabeth glared at him. I laughed, "I think you two are cute." Both of them blushed and said some excuse to disprove me. Which then turned into them showing off who's better than who. "If I'm dating anyone it'll be Y/N!" Both of them huffed and glared at each other. I shook my head and smiled. At least I've gotten new friends out of this. "So," Percy trailed off. "If the gods fight," he said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?" Annabeth put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you." "Why?" "Because Y/N will and whether I like it or not you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?" "That's all Mr. Peabody." "Shut up, Droopy." I felt her rest on my shoulder and she fell asleep. "Am I that comfortable?" "Yeah," Percy laughed as he rested on my lap. I had trouble following their example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes. ~~~ I woke with a start. I was second one awake. Grover was talking to the antelope. "Morning?" "Everyone had the Y/N privilege except me?" "You fell asleep first." I stroked both Annabeth and Percy's hair, which unfortunately woke up Annabeth. "Sorry about that." "It's fine." She yawned. She brought out some Oreo and handed me one. Until the truck stopped. "They're checking the animals aren't they?" Annabeth froze. I shook Percy's shoulder. "The truck's stopped," I said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals." "Hide!" Annabeth hissed. She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover, Percy and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips. The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in. "Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous. The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at us. There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?" A voice outside—it must've been Eddie's—shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?" "What are you banging for?" Knock, knock, knock. Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?" Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal." "No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!" "We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at Percy, waiting for his say. "Percy, open the lock." I snapped at his face. Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. He grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas. Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!" "Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said. "The other animals first," Grover said. I cut the locks with my knife which wasn't as easy as what Percy had done. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra. "Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos. "Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—" "Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them." "Meaning?" "Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live." "Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked. "It only works on wild animals." "So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned. "Hey!" He protested. "Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck." We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention. We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick. I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers—lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure. The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?" I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. But my knife wasn't glowing so... I figured. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa." The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine. "Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key." I stammered, "Um, but..." "No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides." He handed us each a green plastic credit card. I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?" His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?" "I mean, when does it run out of cash?" He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this. "Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..." "Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet." There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange. I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. Search and find them Huh? Look for them and warn them I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth, Percy and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, Percy looked like he was having a headache, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel. "Percy you okay?" "Yeah it's just.... All those stations," he told Annabeth, "and she turn on National Geographic." "It's interesting." "I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place." Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. "So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?" Percy and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic Lotus Cash cards. "Play time," I said. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it. I spent most of my time playing and... looking for someone I think. I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing—where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it. Percy was playing with Grover. I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong. Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night. When he saw me he gave a smirk and invited me to play a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better." Groovy? Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before. He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen. I said, "Hey, Darrin?" "What?" "What year is it?" He frowned at me. "In the game?" "No. In real life." He had to think about it. "1977." "No," I said, getting a little scared. "Really." "Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening." After that he totally ignored me. I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care. Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it? I then tried to move, but I bumped into a girl. "I'm sorry!" She said. "Hey, no prob." "Oh... uhm... No prob?" "I--- No problem. Say Uh... I kinda lost track of date. What's the year again?" "Huh? It's 1930. Okay, I'm sorry I have to go. I'm looking for someone." Everyone is important in our story "Did you say something?" I go by Y/N L/N, you'll find the one you're looking for at the zombie shooting game. I left her alone and confused. I didn't know why. But I knew now this place is wrong. I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My parents... for a scary second, I had trouble remembering their names. I had to save them. I found Percy first. "There's something wrong." We said at the same time. "Years?" He asked. I nodded. We then looked for the others. We found Annabeth still building her city. "Come on," Percy told her. "We've got to get out of here." No response. I shook her. "Annabeth?" She looked up, annoyed. "What? "We need to leave." "Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers—" "This place is a trap." She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?" "Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!" "Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes." "Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever." "So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?" I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game. "Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy. I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders." That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we—" "I don't know, but we've got to find Grover." We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter. "Grover!" we both shouted. He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!" "Grover!" He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen. I looked at Percy, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!" The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?" "We're leaving," I told him. "Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget my parents, and our quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever. Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks." We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once.... Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert. I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth. We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days. We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.

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@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000 @katara720 @ynfics

[forevfangirlwrites]

I love your how to handle fame series and I totally get if you’re six of writing for this AU but if you aren’t I’d love one with them making the relationship official like Annabeth telling Percy he can post a picture of them for the first time or her telling him she wants to make it official and post on social media and Percy just being happy to tell the world that she’s his and vice versa

CONTINUATION OF: PART 9

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 , Part 7,  Part 8

If Percy ever decides to pick up the memoir business again, the entire thing could be about the past two days, which have downright been the weirdest, most surreal days of his whole life.

On second thought, maybe he wouldn’t be able to write it because he’s spent all weekend trying to compartmentalize it and it still feels like a blur.

Like one really long day.

And you’d think, given the magnitude of the events that had occurred, he’d remember it better.

CHB had been the first to report the news, courtesy of that lady shoving a mic in his face, but the interview had really sealed the deal. Zoe Nightshade is acclaimed for reporting facts not fiction in the celeb news world, so going on her show to talk about it had been the best way to get the right version of the story out there.

All he remembers about the set are the hot lights, the white couch (that he was immediately worried about ruining) and Annabeth by his side, holding his hand.

Overall, it had been good. The entire thing had been premeditated by Annabeth, who had started off the interview explaining how they wanted to go public on their own terms instead of someone else leaking it, but that they still wished to keep their personal lives private.

Percy had also kept to his premeditated script, saying he’s a barista from New York, and shifting the dialogue (as Annabeth called it) to their meeting.

After the interview Annabeth had given him a big hug and told him it was a success.

But then…..oh then, came The Notifications™.

As if he didn’t already spend too much time on his phone, he’s been glued to it all weekend.

“It’s going to be rough,” Annabeth had said with the same worried face that she had when the talk about going public had come up a month ago.

And Percy knows, right, he’s been in the service industry and knows how people can be jerks. He knows there’s going to be backlash.

Maybe that’s why Annabeth had rented a beach house far down the coast and been by his side constantly the past two days.

He glances over at her, leaning back on her comfy wicker chair with her feet propped, reading a book. As if she can tell he’s looking at her, she puts down her book and turns to face him.

“What’s up?’

Her long legs look golden in the sunlight filtering through the light curtains and she’s practically glowing with the beach air wafting through the open window.

Long story short, she looks beautiful.

Focusing his brain from the detour it took to admire her, he shakes his head.

“Nothing…just wondering how I got here.”

She picks up her cup of tea from the table beside her. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back against the headboard of the bed, he stares at the high planked ceiling.

“I don’t know…just everything. I mean for one, I’ve never seen so many pictures of myself…even my mom’s albums would have a tough time competing…actually, they might still win now that I think about it.”

Annabeth chuckles at that. And while it’s true his mom has an absurd amount of pictures, him and Annabeth have been plastered a fair amount on various articles and social media. He’d kept his Instagram private, but his Twitter hadn’t stopped blowing up.

“And I’ve never had this many people talk or…speculate about me.” He drops his gaze from the ceiling to once again land on her. “Like, it’s the most hate I’ve ever gotten…”

The inevitable comments on him being a gold digger, though expected, had been hard to see. It stung a little to think people thought he was anything other than hopelessly in love with his girlfriend.

But no one had been more pissed than Annabeth and it had taken kisses from him to distract her.

He sees the same anger and worry start to flare up now, her eyebrows already creasing together, and rushes to complete his thought.

“But it’s also the most support I’d gotten.”

Luckily, an overwhelming majority of Annabeth���s fans had been super supportive of them. One picture in particular, one of them standing at the red carpet staring into each other’s eyes, had gone viral and “Percabeth” (as people were dubbing them) had been number one on trending for a whole day.

So many people not only calling them cute, but also describing him as hot. Percy had almost laughed out loud when he’d first read comments gushing about how attractive he was. (Take that, Nancy Bobofit, who called him ugly in middle school.)

“It’s just really crazy I guess, I never expected this from my life.”

He really should write a memoir. Other people need to know how almost comically absurd his life is now. (It would start with riding the subway to school every day.)

Annabeth sits up in her chair, still wearing the frown from earlier.

“Do you regret it?”

She asks calmly enough, but he can see the worry behind her eyes and the fear creep into her tone. He slides off the bed and walks to her, sitting on the footstool she’d been propping her feet on a second ago.

“Not at all.”

Reaching for her hand, he raises it to her lips, keeping eye contact. She needs to know that he’d take it all if it means he gets to be with her.

The day after the interview, Annabeth had told him to pick out a picture of them to post on her Instagram. And though it had immediately become her most liked picture, it wasn’t just fan service. The smile on her face when she posted it had made Percy’s heart melt even more.

Because the truth is, despite everything, it feels so good to call her his in front of the whole world.

Annabeth smiles, pulling their intertwined hands close to her and resting her cheek against them.

“Good.”

His phone vibrates and he can’t help but look over. Annabeth smiles, amusedly. “Who is it?”

He reaches for the device, unlocking it with a swipe. “My mom.”

“What’s she saying?”

He smiles as he reads the text. “That her friends are blowing up about this.”

Annabeth chuckles. “Don’t worry, it’ll blow over soon.”

Almost automatically, he opens up Twitter. It’s become a bad habit over the past two days.  “Well, we have been trending for a while…”

His sentence veers off as he checks the trending tab. Number one this morning had been a kpop star whose birthday was today and “Percabeth” had been second.

But now number one was…Jogan Paul, who had apparently been caught in some money laundering scheme and become the center of all public outrage. Number two was still the kpop star and number three was #ultranatural.

“Percabeth” was nowhere to be found.

“You’re right…we’re not trending anymore, some other guy, Jogan did a—”

“Money laundering scheme?” Annabeth finishes and he looks up from his phone to see her smile over her tea.

“Yeah…everyone’s talking about him….and then it’s a k—”

“Kpop idol? Yeah, it’s P-Dawn’s birthday,” Annabeth finishes again.

Percy stares at her.

Annabeth, after posting the Instagram photo, hadn’t checked her phone almost all weekend, letting him look at everything going on.

So how could she know all this? He’s pretty sure she hasn’t checked her phone in hours, instead working her way though her book.

“Yeah…” he continues, still confused. “So we’re not trending anymore. This Jogan guy really messed stuff up…”

Annabeth shrugs, still smiling. “That’s how it goes, people move on from things quickly.”

He nods. He knows this. And personally he’s glad that they’re not the main topic of conversation now. It feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He puts down his phone with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s fortunate that this guy messed up, really took the eyes off of us.”

Of course, not all the eyes. Annabeth’s fans will still talk about it, but now the media has something juicer to report on.

“Yeah, fortunate,” Annabeth repeats, lifting her cup again to take a sip, but she can’t hide her smile.

Something about this feels…

“Did you know about this?”

Annabeth just takes a sip of her tea.

Peering over the cup, she replies sweetly, “Did you know the season finale of Ultranatural is on tonight?”

And that’s all the answer he needs.

(So he naturally responds by picking her up and tossing her in bed, letting her laughs bounce off the high ceilings as he wraps her in a hug, thinking that there needs to be a whole chapter in his memoir about just how smart his girlfriend is.)

A/N: As I said in the beginning, this is the continuation to the last chapter in the how to handle fame series. Thank you for sending in the prompt! It’s been a popular one and I had a whole storyline for it (though I did include the insta pic :)

When I came up with this plotline I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head that Annabeth would totally mastermind the entire thing and make sure that their relationship didn’t get too much heat.

Plus, let’s be real, news moves fast, and their relationship, while a big thing, isn’t the only thing going on the world for people to talk about. And stories that spark outrage blow up more than two people dating, so I tried to keep this as realistic as I could.

Part of the reason it’s taken so long for this is because I truly wasn’t sure the best way to tackle this whole thing while still staying true to reality as best I could. So when I thought of the Annabeth planning out this whole thing I thought it was fun and cute and went for it. I mean this entire series has taken off in a way I had truly never imagined.

A lot of people had requested the whole going public thing and how it would play out, so I really hope you guys liked this! (And thank you anon for sending in the prompt I used to post this :)

(Also a lot of references to things that have happened semi-recently so lmk if you’ve figured them out, not that they’re that hard lol)

[blackjacktheboss]

“Are you warm enough?”

this super got away from me and I did not proofread so please keep any typos you find your yourself lmao 

Percy sticks two logs into the fire and takes his seat next to Annabeth, wrapping his arm around her. “Are you warm enough?”

She nudges him as she laughs. “For the millionth time, yes. I’m fine!”

“I still think you should go to bed,” he says, despite the fact that he is pulling her closer to him. He places a kiss on her cheek. “I can finish tonight’s watch by myself.”

“I’m not leaving you alone on the solstice,” she says as a shiver runs through her. She tilts her head up. “Besides, the stars are far too beautiful.”

Percy follows her gaze and smiles at the millions of speckles of light that mark the night sky. “None as beautiful as you.”

“For a man who was chosen at birth to take a sacred oath and live his life in isolation, you are quite the romantic.”

“Do you wish me less romantic?” Percy asks, his eyes tracing Annabeth’s silhouette.

Annabeth turns to look at him and lightly shakes her head. “No. I wish you exactly as you are.”

Percy smiles, but as he leans in to kiss her, the trees just in front of them begin to rustle.

He jumps to his feet and draws his sword, which had been resting at his side, and slowly  walks around the fire towards the noise. He hears the sounds of Annabeth taking out her dagger behind him and takes a calming breath, reminding himself this is what he has been training for since he was twelve years old.

“Remember,” he says over his shoulder.

“No getting stabbed, I know,” Annabeth drones, and he can practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“I was going to say protect the Temple at all costs.”

“Oh,” she says. “Right.”

“But also, do not get stabbed again.”

The rustling in the trees grows louder and as Percy readies his stance, a small figure stumbles out of the forest.

They wear a brown cloak covered in multicolored patches, and it has a hood that hangs over the top of their face. A wrinkled hand rests atop a gnarled cane and a satchel is slung across their front, though from Percy’s view it looks empty.

“Hello, young man,” they say in a rickety voice. They pull back their hood and reveal the face of an old woman with kind chestnut eyes and thin brown hair that is pinned back. “Might you have some water and spare food for a weary traveler?”

Percy stares at her from a moment, a small voice in the back of his mind whispering something about her that he can’t quite make out.

“Young man?” she repeats.”

Percy shakes his head and puts his sword away, standing tall. “Of course we do. Please, miss, join us at our fire.”

She sits against a log, putting her diagonal from Annabeth who watches her skeptically while Percy goes to fetch the food and water.

“I bear no ill will, child,” the old woman says, holding her hands close to the fire.

“What brings you out into the woods all by yourself?” Annabeth asks, wrapping herself back up in the blanket.

The old woman sighs and rubs her hands together. “The solstice is a magical time. One never knows what one may find if one is only willing to look for it.”

Percy returns with a pail of spring water which he places next to the woman, and a bag full of food that he hands her. “Hopefully this is enough food to last you through your travels.”

“You are too kind, my son.”

“Not at all,” he says with a smile. “Do you have a canteen you can fill?”

The old woman sips from the ladle in the pail and shakes her head.

“I can fashion you one before you go,” Percy says. “One must always travel with water.”

“What gods do you worship that you would show an old stranger such kindness?” the woman asks as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Annabeth asks pointedly, clearly suspicious of the stranger.

“I await no reward, if that’s what you’re asking,” he answers. “In this life or the next. I simply extend the kindness I would hope to be shown.”

The old woman winks at Annabeth. “You have found yourself a good man.”

Annabeth blushes despite herself. “Of the highest order.”

Percy scrunches his nose up at her before turning back to the traveler. “You may stay as long as you like, as our guest, but I must warn you this part of the woods can be quite dangerous. It may be best for you to leave as soon as you have had your fill of food and drink.”

The old woman smiles as she pulls a loaf of bread from the bag and breaks it open. She places one half to her nose and inhales deeply before tossing it right into the fire. “As long as I walk under the gaze of the moon, no mortal man may harm me.”

“What luck,” Annabeth says facetiously and Percy nudges her with his shoulder.  

The woman laughs. “It is good for a woman in this world to protect herself with wit and anger. Some days, those will be the only things on her side. No one knows that quite like you, Annabeth.”

Annabeth and Percy’s bodies tense in unison, and Percy’s hand slowly moves towards the hilt of his sword.

“Didn’t you hear me?” she says, not looking up at either of them. “No mortal weapon shall harm me while I walk under the light of my sister’s moon.”

“Your… sister’s… moon?” Percy repeats slowly.

“Do not fear me, Percy. It is in my name you hold this vigil, after all,” the woman says, looking Percy in the eye.

Percy’s mind flashes back to the night of his twelfth birthday, when the priests arrived at his village to begin his training. They sat at this very fire, and when Percy looked into the flames, the same eyes he sees now were the very eyes that stared back at him then.

“Lady Hestia,” he says, his voice barely audible over the crackle of the fire.

Hestia smiles, childlike and bright as her wrinkles and the exhaustion evident in her body melt away. Her cloak remains the same, save for the multicolored patches all seem to have a golden sheen to them in the light. She sits up straight and stretches towards the sky. “I am so proud to have a champion with such a kind heart,” she says happily. “And that he has a companion as equally skeptical. Balance is so important in these matters.”

Annabeth blinks slowly as she tries to process what is happening in front of her. “I was rude… to a goddess.”

Hestia waves Annabeth’s concerns away. “I am not nearly as tempestuous as my sisters, dear girl. As I said before, I bear no ill will. In fact, I have been watching you two for quite some time.”

Percy and Annabeth look at each other, and both begin to turn red.

“Not like that,” the goddess assures them. “I mean I have been evaluating to see if you both are ready for what must be done. While I do wish there were more time, events have already begun to unfold that I’m afraid put as at a bit of a disadvantage.”

Percy looks to Hestia, then Annabeth, and back again. “Lady Hestia, I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I bring you two a quest,” she whispers.

Annabeth’s eyes light up at the word quest and she places her hand on Percy’s knee. “What kind of quest, Lady Hestia?”

“The dangerous kind,” the goddess whispers back.

Percy shakes his head. “I took a vow, Lady Hestia.”

“One you have already broken, my child,” she says with a pointed look between the couple. “Many times over.”

Percy blushes again, closing his eyes to refocus. “I am not to leave the hallowed grounds that mark the entrance to your temple. I must not leave, in retreat or in pursuit of enemies, no matter the circumstances. I may not see my mother’s face again until my watch has ended. I must live here, with nothing but the company of the marble doors and I must never, ever enter your Temple or I will face an unimaginable punishment in the Underworld. I have trained since  I was twelve and held this post since I was sixteen. Even with Annabeth here, and the life I dream of having with her, I have protected this place as I swore to do all those years ago. I have given up my life in your service, Lady Hestia, and now you would ask me to forsake all of that?”

Hestia looks at him, her expression blank. “Yes.”

“I can’t,” he says plainly.

“Percy, my priests are all dead,” she says, her eyes suddenly full of sadness. “Everyone who had a hand in training you, slaughtered by the forces that would add your body to the pile without a second thought. I do not wish that fate for you.”

Percy looks to Annabeth as panic rises in him. “You have to go,” he says.

“I’m not leaving you,” Annabeth answers. “We leave together or not at all.”

“Annabeth-”

“If you tell me one more time that you took the vow and I didn’t, I will kill you myself. I will not leave you, Lady Hestia as my witness.”

“I do not ask this lightly,” Hestia says. “But I do ask it.”

Hestia steps forward then, and places her hands on either side of Percy’s face, and his eyes flutter shut. Percy feels his face grow warm as he has visions of himself as a little boy hugging his mom, and again as a grown man. He sees himself building Annabeth a house by the sea, the one she has described to him a million times over, and in that house he sees him and Annabeth having a wedding, and children, and so much happiness he could burst. He sees them all near the sea, dancing in its waves as the sun glows above them, and he feels a peace that he has never felt before settle over him.

When he opens his eyes, he feels the tears that are running down his face.

“That is a beautiful life you have dreamed, Percy,” Hestia says. “Hearth and home are what keep us anchored in the storm of the world. You have pledged yourself to me, and even now you honor my name. But if you do not take up this task, I am afraid you will die here, also in my name, having lived a muted life. And dear hero, please hear me when I say I do not wish that for you.”

“Percy,” Annabeth says, and he feels her hand slip into his and squeeze. “Whatever you decide, I am with you.”

Percy squeezes her hand back. “Until the end?”

“In this life and the next.”

Percy turns back to the goddess and swallows hard, his hand still squeezing Annabeth’s. “Tell us what you need us to do.”

[peachhsocks]

like a lighthouse in a storm

Nico comes out to Percy and Annabeth (OR how that scene should have gone...)

read on ao3

“Hey!” Nico shouted, jogging toward them.

Percy tore his eyes away from Annabeth. His smile was a little crooked, as always. He’d told Nico once that it was what got him detention and an assigned seat in the front row of class. He had a troublemaker’s smile. Nico had never understood that assessment. All he felt when Percy smiled at him was warmth, and maybe a little bit of dread—not because he thought Percy was going to disrupt class or steal something off a shelf, but because he didn’t know how to deal with the warmth. He realized with a start that he didn’t feel that this time. The dread was gone.

“Hey,” Percy answered. “Annabeth just told me some great news. We’re going to do junior and senior year in the city together. Then we’re going to go to college in New Rome...” He trailed off and his smile turned apologetic. “Sorry, I’m just excited.”

He grabbed Annabeth’s hand and squeezed it. His eyes were bright. So were hers. Seeing them like that used to be enough to set Nico off, slipping into the shadows to sulk. Now, he was more happy for them than anything else. They’d been different since Tartarus. Nico wasn’t sure if the others on the Argo II had noticed, but he had. Maybe it was because he’d known them long before the rest of the seven came into their lives. Or maybe it was because he’d been down there as well. He recognized their pain because he felt it too.

They deserved a boring end to high school and peace in New Rome.

“That sounds awesome,” Nico said. “I’m really happy for you guys.”

“Thanks, man,” Percy replied easily, leaning his head onto Annabeth’s shoulder.

She didn’t look as relaxed as Percy. Her eyes, as analyzing and critical as ever, hadn’t left Nico since he walked over to them. He used to hate her for that more than he’d ever hated her for being with Percy. If anyone could have figured out his secret (on their own, without the help of freaking Cupid), it would have been her.

“Is everything okay, Nico?” she asked. 

Percy’s head snapped upright, concern flooding his features. He looked over Nico as if searching for an injury. Nico wished it was that simple. He contemplated faking one, but he knew Will Solace was no more than twenty yards away. That kid was so annoying. He’d probably insist Nico stay in the infirmary for a week instead of three days. Nico hated that the thought of more time with him was a little bit exciting.

“Yeah, I just—“ He nudged the toe of his shoe into the grass. The blades started turning black, crumbling beneath his touch. “There’s something I wanted to tell you guys. It’s really not a big deal, though, so if you’re too busy—“

“‘Course not,” Percy said immediately.

Annabeth nodded in agreement.

Nico’s heart started pounding—too hard, too fast. He sort of felt like he was dying, but he knew he wasn’t. Perks of being prince of the dead.

“I’m gay,” he said, staring down at the wilting grass. The word was a little foreign out loud, heavy. “I know we just fought the earth, and you guys fought a lot of giants, so it’s not that important but I just—“ His hands were shaking so he shoved them into the pockets of his black jeans. “I wanted to tell you guys.”

Percy sprang to his feet. “Dude!”

Nico flinched, but Percy was grinning. He looked almost as happy as he’d looked about moving to New Rome with Annabeth. Nico didn’t really understand it because half the time he wasn’t sure if Percy even liked him. Nico wasn’t always good to him. He’d blamed Percy for Bianca’s death for a year, led him straight into his dad’s prison, pretended he hadn’t recognized him at Camp Jupiter.

But for every moment like that, there were nice moments as well. Percy had rescued him and Bianca after all, he’d invited Nico in through his window on his 15th birthday, sat by him at the bonfire in the weeks following the Battle of Manhattan. He'd always been there for him, or tried to be, even when Nico pushed him away.

Maybe, he’d had a friend all along and had been too caught up in his own head to notice.

“Can I hug you right now?” Percy asked. “I know you’re not into the whole touching thing, but—“

Nico darted forward, wrapping his arms around Percy’s waist. A little oomph sound fell out of Percy’s mouth on impact.

“You’re not as scrawny as you look,” he said.

Nico tried to laugh, but it stuck in his throat. He pulled away, wiping at his eyes.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I was really nervous.”

Percy’s face softened. He pulled Nico back in for another hug, and then Annabeth was there too, her chin hooked over Nico’s shoulder. It was surprisingly nice. The last person who’d hugged him for this long had been Bianca. He felt just as safe between Percy and Annabeth as he used to in his sister’s arms. He started entertaining the thought of maybe staying just like that forever, when he realized they were still in the middle of the quad—where the whole world could see. Then, he felt like he might die from sheer embarrassment.

“Okay,” he said, squirming until they both let go. “That’s enough of that for three lifetimes.”

Percy laughed. Annabeth ruffled Nico’s hair playfully.

Nico had been unfair to her. She had always been kind to him, probably could have been another friend of his if he’d let her. Maybe they could start now.

“I used to be, um.” He let his eyes dart over to Percy for a moment, before looking back at Annabeth. “I used to be really jealous of you.”

She smiled, following his gaze to Percy, who just looked sort of confused. For all his wisdom on a battlefield, he’d always been frustratingly oblivious about this sort of thing. Nico was pretty sure there had been one summer when he, Annabeth, and Rachel Dare were all practically head over heels for the guy. And he’d just lopped around the Labyrinth without a clue—like an overgrown, two-legged labrador retriever.

“You’ve got good taste, Di Angelo,” Annabeth said.

She held up her hand. Nico hesitated for a moment before high-fiving it.

Percy’s cheeks had turned scarlet. “Um. If you’re saying what I think you’re saying... I’m flattered.”

Annabeth laughed and hit his arm lightly. She leaned in conspiratorially toward Nico, pitching her voice lower. “Or maybe we both have really, really awful taste.”

“Hey!” Percy complained.

Nico bit his lip to stop himself from smiling because it was starting to make his cheeks hurt again.

“And since we have similar taste,” Annabeth continued. “There’s this one guy who I’ve always thought was cute.”

Percy frowned, turning toward her. “Who?”

Annabeth’s eyes focused somewhere over Nico’s shoulder for a moment. “I mean, he’s a little young for me—“

“And you already have an amazing boyfriend who—“

Annabeth covered Percy’s mouth with her hand. “But, he’s super sweet and brave. Tougher than he looks. Saved my life once.”

Percy mumbled something against Annabeth’s hand that sounded like ‘who is this guy?’.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m his type.”

Annabeth took her hand off Percy’s mouth. His nose was scrunched up like he didn’t understand how Annabeth could not be anyone’s type. Then, it seemed to click. He grinned at Annabeth, then at Nico.

Nico shifted uncomfortably. “Who—who is it?”

Annabeth looked over his shoulder again. “Will.”

Percy’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he turned to her. “Solace?”

She nodded and a mischievous glint appeared in Percy’s eyes that made Nico sort of understand the troublemaker thing. Then he realized that the same glint was mirrored in Annabeth’s and he understood their dynamic a whole lot better.

“He is cute!” Percy exclaimed. “So cute!”

“And he’s been watching us this whole time,” Annabeth pointed out.

Percy rubbed his hands together. “Has he?”

“Well, maybe not us.” Annabeth’s eyes flicked to Nico. “Maybe just Nico.”

“Guys—“ Nico said. “It’s not like that. He just wants my help in the infirmary.”

“Ooooh,” Percy drew out the word and waggled his eyebrows. “He wants your help in the infirmary.”

Nico’s cheeks felt hot. They were probably as red as Percy’s had been a few minutes before.

“I don’t know what that means,” he muttered.

The two of them exchanged grins—evil grins, that’s what they were.

“So,” Annabeth prompted. “What do you think of him?”

His cheeks felt even hotter somehow. He ducked his head so they wouldn’t see, but it was probably too late.

“I—uh,” he spluttered. “Um.”

The mischievous glints intensified tenfold, the evil grins widened.

Percy glanced at Annabeth. “That means he likes him, right?”

She nodded.

“I’m getting better at this,” he said.

Annabeth shared a knowing look with Nico that said no, he definitely isn’t.

“I think I’m going to talk to him,” Percy said, drifting in that direction.

Nico stared at him in horror. “What? What are you going to say?”

He shrugged. “Just how cool and badass my friend is. You know, reuniting the Roman and Greek camps, battling giants, surviving Tartarus and a jar, wielding that staff of Die—whatever.”

“Diocletian,” Annabeth supplied.

Percy pointed at her. “That’s the one. Yeah, I’m definitely going to talk to him.”

“Percy,” Nico tried. “Don’t.”

He took off without another word, jogging up the hill. Nico followed at his heels, shouting for him to stop. He didn’t really mean it though and based on the way Percy kept grinning over his shoulder, he could tell.

Nico was running into what would probably shape up to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but somehow each step he took felt lighter than the last.

[thebluesideofmyworld]

The Clues - A Solangelo One-Shot

Summary: The five times when Nico's friends should have realized that he had a boyfriend. And the one time when his sister asked him about it.

(Hint: not all of them realized it, though. At least, not Percy.)

Word count: 2400 words | Read on AO3

Author’s Notes: So YEARS ago, I read a fic from another fandom on livejournal, titled The Power of Deduction. I really loved the fic, but unfortunately, the writer deleted their livejournal account, so I couldn't give the link to said fic. Anyway, I got the inspiration for this one-shot from that fic. I hope that you guys will like it :)

***

[1. the keychain]

Leo didn’t usually go shopping with Nico. But somehow, Nico was the only one available to drive him that day. And Leo was desperate. Calypso’s birthday was tomorrow and Leo knew that if he didn’t come up with a great present, he might just have to say goodbye to any chance to date the girl that he’s been crazy about for the last few months.

After almost an hour, Leo decided that the scarf that he was holding was decent enough for a birthday present. Holding the paper bag with the scarf in it, he looked for Nico. He found his friend standing in a corner, near a stand that held various keychains. As Leo walked closer, he saw that Nico was holding a yellow sunflower keychain, examining it closely.

“You like that one?”

Nico startled, and quickly put the keychain back.

Leo chuckled. “It’s okay,” he said. “If you like it, you can buy it, you know. I mean, it doesn’t really suit your doom-and-gloom aesthetic. But it’s still a cool one.”

Nico shook his head. “No… No… It’s just… It’s reminded me of someone.”

“Well, whoever that person is, now you know what to get them for Christmas.”

Nico huffed and ran a hand over his hair. “Whatever, Valdez. You got what you want?”

Leo grinned, and lifted up the paper bag. “Yup. Got it.”

“Okay. Let’s get out of here, then.”

***

[2. the sweatshirt]

“What do you want, Percy?!”

Percy returned Nico’s glare with a grin. A grumpy Nico that woke up earlier than he really had to wasn’t something that unfamiliar for him.

“Hey, don’t kill the messenger,” he said. “I’m here because my mom sent me. She wanted to cook that Italian rice thing-“

“It’s called risotto.”

Percy shrugged his shoulders. “You know what I meant. But she’s running out of a few ingredients so maybe you can lend us some?”

“Why can’t you go and get it from a supermarket as any normal people would do?”

“And risk myself of getting the wrong stuff?” Percy grinned got just a bit wider as he showed a small piece of paper with Sally’s neat handwriting on it. “Please?”

Nico groaned but he snatched the paper from Percy’s hand. “You’re lucky that I love your mom,” he mumbled as he turned around and walked away from the door.

“Well, what can I say? Everybody loves my mom,” Percy said as he invited himself in. He let the door closed with a soft click behind him. As he followed Nico to the kitchen, he felt like there was something different with his cousin. He took a seat on one of the high stools by the kitchen island. Percy scrunched his brows as he watched Nico who was going through his cabinets.

“Hey, Nico. Are you losing weight?”

Nico glanced at Percy over his shoulder, and went back to pull something from his cabinet. “I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

“That sweatshirt looked way too big for you.”

Nico quickly turned around. He seemed more awake now than before with his wide eyes staring at Percy. “What?”

That’s when Percy realized what it was that made Nico look different. “Oh! Maybe because you got yourself the wrong size for the sweatshirt. You can still return it if you want to.”

Percy was pretty sure that the sweatshirt was new, as he knew that Nico’s clothing palette was ranged from black to dark grey. So a fluffy sky-blue sweatshirt was definitely something new.

Percy watched in amusement as Nico’s cheeks quickly turned into dark cherry color.

“Hey, relax, dude! It’s okay to try something new. And that color looks good on you!”

Nico mumbled something that Percy didn’t catch, but then he shoved a paper bag to Percy.

“Here. Everything that your mom needs in the bag. Now get out of my apartment.”

***

[3. the dog]

It was a nice afternoon in September. It wasn’t too cold yet, so Annabeth decided to sit in the park with her coffee and her new book. It was one of the rare times when she finished early with her project, so she had a bit of spare time before she had to deal with another client.

She was turning another page of the book when she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, not so fast, girl!”

Annabeth lifted her head up, and turned to where the voice came from. And she saw Nico. It was a pleasant surprise, to see Nico. But to see Nico chasing a dog? That’s also a pleasant surprise, but totally unexpected.

As if on cue, a corgi stopped in front of Annabeth. The dog stared at Annabeth with the cutest expression, Annabeth couldn’t help herself from chuckling and bent down to give the dog a pet. She lifted her head back up when the sound of footsteps coming closer stopped near her.

“Hey, Nico! Nice to see you here.”

“Annabeth. Good to see you too,” Nico returned the greeting along with a small but warm smile.

“I didn’t know that you have a dog,” Annabeth said as Nico lifted the corgi up and pet its head.

“Oh, it’s not mine,” Nico said as he put the dog back. “Buttercup is… my friend’s dog. I’m just helping him while he’s away for a conference.”

Annabeth noticed the way Nico stuttered just a bit when saying my friend.

“Your friend? A friend at work?”

“Uhm. Not really,” Nico said but kept his eyes at the dog that he was petting. He stood up and shrugged his shoulders. “Just…a friend, you know.”

Annabeth was an observer. That’s why she knew from the way Nico avoiding her eyes and the slight hesitation in his voice that he didn’t really want to talk about this friend.

“Well, tell your friend that he got a really adorable dog,” Annabeth said, smiling at him.

Nico returned the smile and Annabeth realized something else. The smile looked…different. Looked more genuine.

The corgi barked, and started walking away from them. Annabeth gestured with her chin. “You better follow her if you don’t want to lose her.”

Nico nodded as he shoved his hands into the pocket of his jacket. “Yeah. So. I’ll see you around, Annabeth.”

Annabeth watched as Nico walked in wide steps, trying not to lose the dog.

It was a cute dog, Annabeth thought as she went back to her book.

***

[4. the toothbrush]

Jason swallowed the aspirin along with one big gulp of water. He sighed, and silently cursed the project that had kept him awake until an ungodly hour last night. He put the aspirin back in the cabinet and closed the door.

That’s when he saw it. There were two toothbrushes in the holder on the sink. He knew that the black one is Nico’s. But the yellow one?

Jason shrugged his shoulders and left the bathroom. He made his way to the living area of the apartment, where Nico was sitting cross-legged on the couch.

“Did you find the aspirin?” Nico asked, not lifting his eyes up from the screen of his laptop.

Jason hummed a confirmation. “I’m gonna get going now. Thanks for letting me crash here last night, Neeks.”

“Anytime, Jase,”

Jason walked to the door while putting on his jacket. He opened the door, but before he stepped out, he turned his head to Nico.

“Hey, Neeks? Did Hazel stay the night here recently?”

This time Nico looked up at Jason. He pushed up the reading glasses that were perched on his nose.

“Uh… Yeah? But it was like… five or six weeks ago? She’s been really busy. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, nothing,” Jason shrugged a shoulder. “Just the toothbrush.”

“Huh?” Nico looked positively confused now. “The toothbrush?”

“I mean, the other toothbrush must be hers, right? Anyway, I’ll see you, Neeks. Bye!”

When Jason walked into his car, he already forgot about the toothbrush.

***

[5. the smile]

“So, how’s life?” Piper asked once they got seated in the café.

In front of her, Nico shrugged his shoulders. He took off his jacket. “Nothing’s new at work. You know, same old. Mr. D is still annoying. And so is Sherman. But at least we know we can always count on Mitchell to keep things running smoothly as the way they should be.”

Piper hummed. They started talking about other stuff, their mutual friends, families and others, the kind of conversation that they usually had whenever they had a chance for their monthly coffee meeting.

“You know…” Piper said as she lifted her cup of latte. “You seemed a bit…different lately.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Different? What do you mean?”

“I mean-“

“No. I am not losing weight.”

Piper’s eyes widened, and the next second, she laughed. “What? No! It wasn’t it. You don’t look like you’re losing weight. Why did you say so?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Percy thought so.”

Piper smiled. “No. I mean, you do look different.”

“What kind of different?”

“A good kind of different.”

“Oh?”

Piper hummed. “You look happier. Your smile is more…genuine.”

Nico blinked. Piper watched in amusement as his cheeks turned a shade darker.

“Isn’t it supposed to be a good thing?” Nico asked.

“It is, Neeks. It is really nice to see you happy.”

Nico shrugged his shoulders. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Any particular reason for that, though?”

Nico looked away from Piper, but the furious dark-cherry color of his cheeks couldn’t be hidden. Piper chuckled. A blushing Nico wasn’t something that people see every day.

“Well, anyway,” Piper said. “Have I told you the latest incident happen to Leo?”

Nico turned his head back to Piper. Piper could see the relief in his eyes.

“No. I’m not actually surprised that he had another incident. But please, do tell me about it.”

Piper started telling the story of how Leo somehow made the smoke alarm in his apartment went off. Again. For the third time in one month. And as they talked about their mutual friends, their families, their work and other stuff, Piper couldn’t help but marvel, at how nice it was to see Nico looked happier, to see how his smile was wider and brighter.

***

[+1. the body wash]

It’s a rare weekend where Hazel had some spare time from her graduate study so she could spend the night at Nico’s apartment. It’s been almost two months since the last time they had a sibling bonding-night. So tonight, while Hazel was taking a shower, Nico prepared the fluffiest blankets and pillows on his couch, ready for a night of watching movies and talking about everything and anything with his sister.

Nico was lounging on the couch, watching the banter between Jake Peralta and his colleagues when Hazel stepped into the room. She sat next to Nico, hair still damped from the shower that she just took. Without saying anything, Hazel placed a bottle of body wash on the coffee table.

“This isn’t yours, isn’t it?”

The tone of her voice made Nico turned his head from the TV screen to the bottle. He gasped a little once his eyes saw the bottle.

“And there’s also the shampoo, that I’m pretty sure is not yours.”

“Well, they’re in my bathroom, right?” Nico asked, voice a pitch higher than usual. Even though he’s facing Hazel, his eyes darted from the bottle to the space next to Hazel.

“Nico, you’re not answering my question.”

Nico made a small strangled sound. “What? I’m not allowed to try new stuff?”

“Again, you’re not exactly answering my question. And you are allowed to try new stuff. But I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Hmph.”

“And there were two toothbrushes on the sink.”

Nico looked away, stubbornly fixed his gaze at the TV screen.

“Okay.  You're right. Those stuff are not mine,” he mumbled, still refusing to look at Hazel.

Hazel smiled. She shifted closer to Nico and put gently put her hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. I mean, you look happier since the last time I saw you. Piper and Annabeth also said the same thing.”

Nico’s head snapped towards her. “They said what, now?”

“They said you look happier. And I agree. I mean, even I can see it through our video calls, Neeks. That you look happier. You smile a lot more and your smile is brighter.”

Nico’s cheeks were tinted in red now that he was blushing. “Is it that obvious?”

Hazel let out a small laugh. “Oh come on. I’ve told you. I, I mean all of us, we’re happy to see you happy.” She paused. Her smile turned into more like a teasing smirk now.

“But my guess is, whoever the owner of that is,” she gestured to the bottle on the coffee table, “Is he the one responsible for those smiles of yours?” She raised her eyebrows knowingly.

Nico huffed and rolled his eyes. But he took his phone from the end table next to the couch. Hazel waited as he scrolled through his phone. Just a few seconds later, Nico handed his phone to Hazel.

Hazel took it and looked at the screen. There was a picture of a guy, smiling brightly while holding a corgi close to him. His blond curly hair was a nice contrast to the sky-blue sweatshirt that he was wearing. Even through the phone screen, Hazel could see that the blue eyes were also smiling.

“His name is Will. Will Solace,” Nico said. “He’s doing his residency now, and he wants to be a pediatrician. Because he loves kids. And dogs. He loves dogs. And he smells like sunshine.”

Hazel smiled as she gave the phone back to Nico.

“He sounds lovely.”

Nico let out a huff as he took the phone. “He’s actually annoying. And he loves Star Wars more than he should.”

Still, Hazel could see the fond expression on his face as he looked at the phone.

“Well, does he make you happy though?”

Nico stayed quiet for a while, as he kept his eyes on his phone. But Hazel could see the soft smile and look of adoration in Nico’s eyes.

Nico slowly lifted his head up, meeting Hazel’s eyes.

His eyes twinkled and there was the softest of a smile painted on his lips as he answered Hazel.

“Yes, he does. He makes me really happy”

***

Author’s Notes:

1. Thank you for reading :D

2. Any notes (likes, reblog, replies or a message to me) are cherished so much

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - the secret it out

I'm not dead! I had a mental breakdown, but I'm not dead! I am not abandoning this story, I promise. Didn't you guys see the part of my A/N where I said that I would never abandon this story, just take a tiny hiatus. And I'm proving that now by uploading this.

Anyway, this chapter is pretty long, so I hope this makes up for not uploading for months. I'm in the middle of doing a bio final, which is my second to last one! I'm so excited to be done with this school year. I've literally been calling my school Hell.

Also, I'm adding disclaimers to each chapter cuz I forgot to do that, so yeah act like you're smart enough to know that I don't own Marvel or PJO. Please stay safe and happy pride month🏳️‍🌈!

- your author

PS if you didn't know, I'm pan so...not just an ally or something.

Ω ♆ Ω

The demigods were silent the entire trip back. The group hadn't wanted to explain why the Avengers were there, so they'd left before the authorities had shown up. The quinjet had survived the storm with the ability to still fly, so they took that back to the tower. Despite the multitude of people with ADHD on the plane, nobody had spoken a word. However, the Seven seemed to be silently communicating to Percy their confusion and anger. As far as they knew, they did not have permission to tell the truth of the gods yet! They trusted Percy, but he had been through a lot recently, and maybe his judgement was a little off.

But they couldn't risk slipping anything to the Avengers, so they settled for just glaring at the son of Poseidon. The boy in question, however, just sat there staring at his lap, where he was playing with Riptide.

He was trying to figure out the best way to break it to the Avengers that their entire world was basically a lie. It was a lot to take in. He could attest to that. He was half-convinced that he was hallucinating when he first got the explanation.

Tony was finding the silence particularly difficult to withstand. First, Percy tells them that he's finally going to tell them the full truth, and then he just walks away and gets on the quinjet without following up on that comment! Anticlimactic much?

"Alright, that's it! Somebody say something!" he yelled. "I can't take this anymore!"

Percy responded without looking up, "Wait until we're at the tower. Then, I'll tell you everything. It's time you guys know." He whispered the next part under his breath, "You're going to need it where we're going."

Unfortunately for Steve, he could still hear that last comment. "That's reassuring," he said.

"Sorry," Percy muttered.

He didn't have time to worry about the Avengers' feelings. He had already figured out how he would tell them the truth. The best way was to be completely open and make sure there weren't any chances for fighting to break out.

Right now, he was worrying about Annabeth. Every second they wasted was one more second the monsters had to hurt her. It was taking everything within him to not make Piper's water bottle explode.

Ω ♆ Ω

Percy was the first one out of the jet when they landed on Avengers Tower. He ran all the way to his room, where he grabbed as many godly artifacts that he could find. He had a feeling that the mortals would want some proof before they started believing anything. He grabbed a couple of drachmas, some ambrosia and nectar, a picture of Coach Hedge, Mellie, and little Chuck, and his trident (yes, he has a trident now). The trident folded into itself until it was the size of a water bottle. If he wanted to use it, he had to say it's name, ακουαρέλα (waterbringer). The greek lettering of its name on the side glows, and it shoots open. It was a gift from his father as an early eighteenth birthday present.

Godly parents are weird that way; giving their kids weapons as presents. But spend enough time in this world and you get used to it.

He rushed back to the living room, where JARVIS had told him everyone was gathered (a tiny voice in his head reminded him that it wasn't everyone. Not yet). They seemed to have resorted back into their first day together: opposite sides of the coffee table, mistrustful glances sent across, and a general awkward aura surrounding the place. If Percy wasn't in such a rush to save Annabeth, he would've laughed at the sight.

Tony was the first to notice him, "Oh, you're here finally! Great! Now can you tell us what the hell is going on?"

Again, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over Percy, but he ignored it.

"Yes. It's important you know the truth before we leave," Percy answered.

He turned to his friends and spoke again. "And before you try protesting, my dad gave me permission."

Jason's open mouth snapped shut.

He dumped his artifacts on the table, motioning for his friends to do the same with anything they had on them. It wasn't a lot; just a couple of drachmas and their weapons. Leo did take off his entire toolbelt, though.

"What's this stuff? Is this supposed to answer all our questions?" Natasha said.

"No, this is just proof. I'll be explaining it all to you." He paused, unsure of how to start.

"Oh for the gods' sake, Percy, just start with the simplest answer!" Piper exclaimed, jumping up, "We're demigods, sons and daughters of the gods."

A beat of silence passed.

Steve broke it, "I didn't know Thor had any children..."

Jason groaned, "How did I know you would say that? Honestly, open your minds a little bit. We're Greek and Roman demigods. Thor isn't even a real god! He's just an alien with superpowers!"

Percy stared, amused, at his cousin. Clearly the son of the lightning god was not happy with Thor running around and calling himself a god (especially when Magnus was proof that he wasn't).

Piper patted him on the back sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, are you saying that there are more gods?" Tony asked, eyes wide in shock.

"Yes," Percy answered simply.

"Oh. Ok. That's fine, I guess. Nothing unbelievable about that," Tony commented sarcastically.

Percy sighed, preparing himself, "I am the son of Poseidon. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena. Piper is the daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason is the son of Jupiter. Hazel is the daughter of Pluto, and Frank is the son of Mars. And Leo is the son of Hephaestus. We aren't lying. We wish we were, but we're not. This is the truth."

Clint said, "I want to see this proof you were talking about."

Percy nodded, reaching down and grabbing a drachma.

"This is a drachma. How do you think we have so many of these? They are the godly currency," he said, tossing the coin over to Clint.

"Okay, I'll admit that it's odd for you to own so many of those things, but I need some proof of magic," Tony said.

Percy gritted his teeth, wondering if it was possible to kill Tony with Riptide. The man had already seen Percy turn a pen into a sword, but of course he had to see something else. There was no way to convince him that magic was real, he would just try and find some scientific answer to anything he showed him. It was an impossible task.

"Fine," he ground out.

Percy grabbed the folded version of his trident and made a show of moving it around so Tony could see that there were no tricks. Then he said the "magic words" and it popped open into a trident. It was still a little odd for Percy to hold it. He wasn't used to the weighting of it yet. Of course, he knew how to use it, but it still seemed weird. It didn't help that the weapon only gave Leo more reason to call him Aquaman, too.

"Is this enough proof for you?" Percy asked.

Tony learned forward in interest, "What did you do to get it to fold into that tight of a space? It must be the same tech as the pen, but I'm still not sure how it gets activated by those words..."

"It's magic, Mr. Stark," Hazel informed him.

"No such thing," Tony muttered offhandedly.

Hazel rolled her eyes, giving up. He would be proven very wrong soon enough. You can't spend much time in their world without starting to believe it.

"So that's how you guys have all your abilities? You are half god?" Bruce asked.

He was always more open to the scientifically-unproven than Tony. He was living proof of what could happen. Some might say the Hulk is magic.

"Yes. We are constantly hunted by monsters who can smell the scent we put off. They wanted to take revenge on Olympus, but it just grew to enjoyment from there. There aren't many safe havens in this world for us. That's why we don't tend to live that long. I am the oldest living Greek demigod alive," Percy said, acting like it was everyday you basically stated that you should be dead.

"That's awful! Why don't your parents do anything about it?!" Steve exclaimed.

"They are forbidden. Plus, godly parents suck. Most don't give a crap about their kids," Piper answered. "We're just the result of their mistakes."

"Well, they should. It's not right to leave kids to die," Bruce said.

Thunder rumbled in the distance; a warning from Drama King himself.

Percy glared up at the sky, "Oh, don't act like they're lying! You know it's wrong! At least have the guts to admit it, Uncle Z!"

The Avengers paled at the thought that the gods were watching them. It was a truly terrifying thought, to learn that you aren't in control of your fate. And the fact that Percy was yelling and accusing the king of the gods was not helping one bit.

The Seven had gotten slightly more used to Percy's reckless ways, but it was still worrying whenever he decided to rebel and yell at the most powerful beings in the universe when they were in the same room.

There wasn't an answer to Percy's rant, but there was a significantly less amount of sulfur in the air, so they took it as a sign that Zeus was letting it slide.

"But why are you telling us this now?" Natasha asked, always the observant spy.

She had remained silent thus far because she wanted to learn more about these mysterious "gods" before she acted. By how serious Valdez was acting, though, she was leaning towards it being the truth (or, at least, what the kids thought was the truth). She would have to report this to Fury as soon as possible.

Percy turned towards her, "Because my dad told me where Annabeth is being held. It's a dangerous place, and you need to be prepared if you're going to come with us. I won't force you to come, though. I would understand if you said no after you hear what it's like."

The Sea of Monsters was not a place for the weak. It would take a lot of willpower to get them all through. He had to make sure that the mortals were completely sure they wanted to come before they took off.

"Where are we going?" Steve asked.

"The Sea of Monsters," Percy answered in a grave voice.

"That's a reassuring name," Tony commented, "This'll be a blast."

"You do not need to come, Tony! None of you should want to after you hear what it's like," Percy said.

Tony stood up in anger, "You know what, kid? I don't need you yelling at me! I am a hero, and just because you tell us you are part god doesn't give you the right to act all high-and-mighty! We can handle it! We're the Avengers!"

Percy glared at the billionaire, "Trust me, you can't. I am trying to get across how dangerous this quest will be. The last time I was there, I almost died many times. It is NOT a good place to be."

"Where is that, exactly? Where are we going?" Clint asked.

The only son of Poseidon sighed, "The Bermuda Triangle."

Tony seemed to be shocked out of his angry mindset, "Wait, that myth's real?"

Leo spoke up, "Let's just assume that all things are real. It's easier that way."

"Is there anything else we should know before we get ready?" Steve asked, deciding that it was best to just cut off that conversation at the head.

"Just one more thing. We can fill in the rest on the way," Percy said, "You need to know that the gang we are fighting is not a normal bad guy. They are mortals Hades-bent on exposing the gods to the rest of the world. Somehow, they partnered with monsters. Annabeth theorized that it was because it would be easier to find demigods if the mortals were already searching for them. Basically, the monsters are using the gang for their own agenda and have the mortals convinced that they are their partners."

"Bad guys double-crossing each other. That, I can understand," Steve said with a relieved smile.

Ω ♆ Ω

The team had dispersed to go get ready, which meant packing a couple things and suiting up for the demigods. Well, they didn't know they had anything to suit-up in, but they were about to.

"Oh, guys! I have some good news!" Piper exclaimed. "The Aphrodite cabin finished our suits!"

Leo's head snapped up. "How do they look? Were my designs okay?"

Piper nodded, "Yep. And we don't even have to wear masks or anything because the Mist will distort our faces for any cameras. The Hecate cabin assured me."

Now Leo was bouncing up and down in excitement. "Can we see them? Can we? I wanna see them!"

Hazel raised an eyebrow at her friend, still never completely used to his antics. Leo Valdez was one of a kind, that's for sure (even if he was physically identical to her old boyfriend).

"Of course. We need to use them for the quest, don't we?" Piper smiled.

"Yay!" Leo exclaimed.

Piper let out a laugh, "Follow me, guys. They're in my room."

Sure enough, when they walked into Piper's room, there was a clothes rack with seven suits on it. Even from a distance, they looked amazing.

When Percy went and picked his suit up, he was in shock. It had a celestial bronze chest and shoulder plate, while the rest was a wetsuit-like material. The shoes were connected to the suit, and they seemed to be designed after water shoes. There were fingerless gloves with it, too. The gloves had air pockets, but Percy wasn't exactly sure what for.

"The gloves create water for you to use at any time." Leo answered his silent question.

"Oh. Awesome!" he said.

Percy didn't really get it, but science and magic weren't really his expertise. As long as they worked, he was okay with not knowing how.

All of the boys' suits seemed to be designed the same, minus the water-gloves. The only difference was the color of the pants. Percy's were sea green (not unlike his eyes), Jason's was electric blue, Frank's was blood red, and Leo's was bright orange.

"These are amazing!" Jason told Piper and Leo.

Piper thanked him and Leo just did an invisible hair flip in response.

The girls' suits were similar to the boys', but also completely different. There was a celestial bronze breastplate and celestial bronze plating going all the way down their sides and to their ankles. There are grey knee and elbow pads, as well. They also had fingerless gloves, but they did not go up to their wrists like the boys' suits did. Half of the glove is their suit's main color, as well as some of their arm and leg material. Piper's coloring was pink, Hazel's was purple, and Annabeth's was red. Every suit had a black Avengers symbol on their shoulders, which must have been a last-minute add-on because for a while the Seven were adamant on not becoming part of the Avengers (they still were, but it was hard to fight it when they were literally about to go into battle together).

Looking at Annabeth's suit made Percy miss her even more, but he didn't let it show. He had to be strong for his friends and teammates. He was the only one who had been through the Sea of Monsters before, so he had to guide them through.

It was going to be a tough task, that's for sure.

Ω ♆ Ω

The Seven separated to change, and once that was done, they met in the corridor of their rooms. Jason had to admit, they looked BADASS. It was clear that they were all a team, but every suit had its own individuality.

"We look awesome!" Leo exclaimed, jumping up and high-fiving Piper.

Percy strapped his sword to the clip on his waist next to his trident. "Yeah. You really did a great job, guys. Thanks. But we have to focus now. We're the only ones that are even partially prepared for what we're about to walk into, so we need to be at 100%. The Avengers may think they know what's coming, but they are clueless."

The Seven steeled their expressions, their teammate's seriousness washing over them like a wave. This was an important mission, not just for them, but for the Avengers, too. They may be rescuing their friend, but they were also stopping terrorists. This was big.

"Your confidence in us is truly heartwarming, Hercules." Tony's voice popped their bubble.

The Seven turned to see that the Avengers were all standing in the hall, suited up and ready (minus Bruce, of course).

"Hercules?" Percy asked, dawning a disgusted expression.

Tony stepped up. "Yeah. You said your greek demigods, and he's the first one that popped up. Plus, you got that whole hero-complex thing going."

Percy scowled, "Hercules is a dick."

"Agreed," Piper said, mirroring his expression.

"I really want to ask, but we've gotta get going," Bruce said, "We need to get there fast."

"Yeah. Where exactly are we going, again?" Tony asked.

"First, Florida. Then, The Bermuda Triangle." Percy answered.

"Why can't we just fly straight to the place?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms.

Percy sighed and then ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "Because we'd just die faster. The only way to even have a chance of making it in and out is to go in by boat. Flying to Florida is the quickest way to get as close as possible. From there, we'll go by boat."

Natasha nodded, accepting the answer. However, she was still nervous about all of the "gods" stuff. Sure, they had met Thor, but he was just a glorified alien. What she had seen in Las Vegas was not like Thor and Loki. That was...a lot.

The group remained silent, unsure of what to say or do next, for another minute. Then, finally, Leo broke the silence. "What are we waiting for?! Let's get going, gang! We've got a world to save! I'm not getting any younger!"

He gave them his signature maniacal grin before leading the way down the hallway. Serious pep talks weren't his thing. He much preferred the sarcastic, self-deprecating kind to anything else.

They went up to the roof, where a repaired quinjet was waiting for them. Percy and Hazel still looked a little queasy about the flying, but chose not to voice it and instead clutched onto their seatbelts for dear life.

Once everyone was situated, Natasha called from the cockpit, "Seatbelts on, kids! We're taking off."

Clint grinned, "Death and doom, here we come."

Ω ♆ Ω

Remember to comment, like, reblog, and follow me! If you wanted to see what the Seven's suits looked like, I posted that on my Tumblr, which can be found on my profile page. Happy pride month 🏳️‍🌈!

- your author

other chapters :)

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 19

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Hazel gives Calypso some advice.

A/N:  Keeping things short and sweet this time. Time to bring Hazel back before we finally get to some important 'talks'! As usual, I hope you guys enjoy and please comment because that's the best motivator I can get!!

Characters in this ch: Calypso, Hazel, Frank (mentioned)

Words: 2300+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

…

“Hey,” Hazel gently grabbed Calypso’s sleeve after an art class when they were about to go home. Calypso had been pretty quiet (quieter than usual) during the class and she had been worried that Hazel would notice that. As she turned to look at the speaker, Calypso felt she should have known she wouldn’t get rid of her that easily.

“I’m going to meet my friend Frank in an hour but I don’t have time to go home before that, so I’m going to kill some time somewhere nearby. Would you like to join me?” Hazel asked.

Calypso admitted to herself that she had been dreaming about locking herself into her room and maybe screaming into her pillow just a bit because she had felt very frustrated ever since the ‘Percy incident’ had happened. In the history classes she and Annabeth no longer talked to each other if they could avoid it. One awkward time their professor had ordered them to do their group work together but instead of actually spending time discussing the topic (or other matters) Annabeth had told Calypso to make some notes at home while she’d make her own and send them to her then for her to combine. Calypso had wanted to protest and say the whole situation was ridiculous but she had already learned to know that Annabeth was very strong willed especially when she wanted to be and arguing about it would most likely have caused more harm than good.

Aside from that they hadn’t interacted much, but from Piper, Calypso had heard that she and Percy were having a bit of a rough phase. Calypso herself wasn’t doing much better with her flatmate who had recently been spending more time with his family and friends or working behind the shut doors. Sooner rather than later she knew she would have to deal with both Leo and Annabeth but it was easier said than done. Especially because in her old home the issues had been just brushed under a rug and never talked about again.

Thinking about all that, Calypso had almost forgotten what Hazel had asked in the first place, but when the younger girl cleared her voice to get her attention, she finally responded: “Oh, sure, why not? I don’t have any place where I should be right now…” She tried to convince herself that maybe this would be a good thing, to get something else to think about. “Where do you want to go?” She asked Hazel “There’s a nice coffee shop nearby!” Hazel replied, casting a slightly worried look at Calypso. She could sense the older girl didn’t have her brain fully present. “And they have student friendly prices. Can you believe I once saw a coffee shop where they sold a regular cup of regular coffee for over four dollars?

“Wow, that really is expensive,” Calypso agreed but had nothing else to contribute to that topic.

“Yeah…” Hazel simply nodded and the girls continued walking for a while in a silence.

“Um, listen…” Hazel eventually spoke. “I can’t help but notice that something’s on your mind… If you don’t want to come with me, that’s OK. I understand.”

Calypso felt embarrassed, not wanting her new friend to think that she didn’t care about her company.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry! I do want to join you. You’re right, though, things have been a bit weird in my life lately but I promise I’ll try to push that into the back of my mind for a bit. I think this will be good for me.”

“Alright,” Hazel accepted. “Just so you know, I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my life… so if you do want to talk about it at any point, feel free.”

“Okay, I will.” Calypso promised.

The coffee shop they went into was small but cozy, lots of students either hanging out with their friends or perhaps doing some homework after classes. Hazel and Calypso did still manage to find free seats from a more quiet corner and once they had made their orders (fruit tea for Calypso, latte for Hazel), they discussed the art classes for a bit. Hazel hoped to get more experience with portraits soon while Calypso admitted that she was more interested in painting landscapes. The younger girl also revealed that she was planning to draw something for Frank’s birthday, which made Calypso wonder again what the relationship between those two really was like.

“You and Frank seem really close based on what you’ve told me,” she commented. “I probably sound too curious, but are you two really just friends?”

Hazel chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to ask me that. And the answer is: sadly, yeah. I mean… I’ve told him I’d be ready for a relationship but… Frank seems to be worried about how it might affect our friendship. We’ve been friends for a long while, after all. And recently his grandma hasn’t been feeling well so that’s taken a lot of his time and attention. Frank doesn’t have other close relatives so he’s the one who’s been taking care of her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Calypso said sympathetically. As weird as it may have sounded, somehow hearing other people’s stories made her feel less alone in her situation. “I hope things will get better for both him and his grandma.”

“I have a feeling they will,” Hazel said mysteriously, not explaining why she felt that way. “And Frank is strong; he just isn’t aware of his strength yet.”

For some reason that comment made Calypso think of Leo, and ironically Hazel’s next question was: “Since I was honest with you, what about you then? Any special someone in your life?” Calypso felt her heated cheeks betray her yet again.

“Um, no, not really…” she replied, pretending to focus on her drink.

“Hey, I can detect a lie pretty easily,” Hazel noted calmly. “You wouldn’t have blushed if there wasn’t someone…”

“Well… it is true that I am not seeing anyone.” Calypso tried to dodge Hazel's comment.

“But…”

“But… the situation is a bit complicated.”

Hazel watched her curiously while tasting her drink. “Oh, how so?”

Suddenly Calypso noticed she was telling her new friend a lot more than she had intended. Something about the girl’s aura just made her feel she could trust her.

“I… There’s this guy called Leo. He’s my flatmate. He can be a bit irritating and immature at times… For example, one time he tried to make me eat a very hot chili pepper even though he knew how hot it was… To be fair, though, I only ate the tip.” Hazel chuckled at that comment. “And he tells a lot of bad jokes and doesn’t seem to have a filter. I think he may be covering some of his insecurities with his jokes. That’s just my guess, though. But either way…”

“You like him,” Hazel finished for her.

“Uh… Like? I don’t know… No? Maybe…” When Hazel raised her eyebrow, Calypso was forced to say: “Okay, there is a small chance that I do like him. Sometimes his jokes are kind of funny. And his stupid grin has grown on me and his fluffy hair makes me want to ruffle it. It’s frustrating! He’s good with his hands - I mean, he can build machines from scratch - and he’s also really smart, like, he can solve problems I couldn’t even imagine trying in a very short time. He loves his dog and his family a lot. He can make pretty great tacos. And he’s trying very hard to get over a fear of his… but…”

“But it’s complicated because he’s your flatmate?” Hazel guessed this time.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Calypso said. “I mean, of course that is something to be considered. If we ever got together and then broke up, it would be really awkward to live in the same flat. But I’m not even sure how he feels about me. There are moments when we have a lot of fun together. But sometimes I feel like we can’t be 100 per cent honest with each other, and recently… he found out that I used to, well, I think ‘date’ is not a correct word to use because we only met once in real life, but I did use to talk a lot with a friend of his online, with a relationship in my mind. It happened over two years ago and we never were serious, but… it seemed to bother Leo and I’m not sure what I should tell him.” In reality, those weren’t the only reasons why Calypso thought the situation was complicated but she had to draw the line somewhere.

“Did you already tell him what you just told me?” Hazel asked while stirring her hot drink.

“I did try to explain it when Percy came to our place to pick his girlfriend… Who is, or was my friend and she’s not talking to me either… but I don’t know. He’s been acting very distant ever since that happened; just talking to me when necessary and even then it isn’t more than a couple of sentences. It’s getting pretty frustrating…”

“I can imagine that,” Hazel nodded. “I’m not a relationship expert by any means but there must be some reason why he reacted like that, right?”

“I guess so.” Calypso shrugged. “But… I don’t know. It could be anything. Maybe he’s worried about his friends.”

“I may be wrong but to me it kind of sounds like he wasn’t happy to hear about you and his friend because he might like you back. If he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t be giving you silent treatment,” Hazel noted.

“You really think so?” Calypso, a tiny hope rising in her even though she knew she shouldn’t wish too much.

“Hey, why wouldn’t he?” Hazel nudged Calypso’s elbow. “Haven’t you noticed that some of the guys in our art class keep whispering about you? One of them actually asked me if I knew if you are dating anyone. They are all over you. Don’t worry, though, I told him that even if I knew it wasn’t my business to tell.” She smiled at her encouragingly.

“Oh… thanks for taking my side there. I had no idea… But why didn’t they ask me directly?” Calypso asked, a bit flustered.

“I have a couple of guesses,” Hazel replied. “Either they consider you a bit intimidating… because you are pretty and smart and what not… or they think that someone like you possibly couldn’t be single and wanted to make sure before asking you.”

“That… feels weird,” Calypso said quietly. “I am not used to being a center of attention. Or in general being noticed by people who don’t have something to do with my family.”

“But how?” Hazel asked. “You’re exactly the kind of person who the others will notice.”

“It’s a long story… one I don’t like sharing… but the short version is that when I was a teenager I didn’t get to leave my house unless it was something really urgent or necessary. I was basically a…” Calypso couldn’t finish the sentence, the reality of that situation hitting her still very hard whenever she thought about it.

“A hostage,” Hazel said, looking shocked. Calypso nodded as a response. “That’s… that’s awful.”

“It… yeah,” Calypso said sadly. “We had a big house so I did have room to do a lot of things there but… my communication with people other than those who worked or visited there was cut to minimum. But… my father had reasons for doing so… I can only blame myself.”

“What do you mean?” Hazel asked with confusion.

“I did something…” Calypso hesitated. “I’m so sorry, I’m getting tired of saying this but… I can’t tell you. I haven’t told anyone…”

“I see.” Hazel nodded. “I’ve had some difficult experiences as well so I know where the limits go… Don’t worry, I won’t ask more. But if you do ever want to talk, you can trust me.”

“Thank you,” Calypso said, giving Hazel a small smile.

“No problem. Hey,” Hazel decided to change the topic, “you gotta introduce me to this Leo of yours at some point. He sounds like an interesting guy.”

Even though Calypso knew Hazel was just teasing her in a friendly matter, she couldn’t help but say: “He’s not ‘my Leo’! He’s just a flatmate. And sometimes he can be quite a pain in my butt.”

“But you already confessed that you may or may not like him,” Hazel said, sipping her coffee calmly, smiling into her cup.

“Whatever,” Calypso mumbled, without realizing it sounding a whole lot like the young man she was thinking of. “Well, what about this Frank? When will I get to meet him?”

“He will be here soon so if you want to, you can tag along with us for a bit.” Hazel looked at her watch.

“Do you think that’s OK with him? I don’t want to be the third wheel or anything.” Calypso asked.

“No worries, I’m sure Frank will be happy to meet you too.”

“Oh… OK. If you guys don’t mind, then I might come with you. I am not feeling like going home quite yet.” Calypso sighed, thinking about the sulking boy back in her flat.

“Alright! And hey, Frank is a nice guy, I think you guys will get along.”

“OK, I believe you,” Calypso nodded.

The girls continued talking about other things after that until Frank called Hazel that he had gotten out of the work and was waiting for her nearby. He said he was cool with Calypso tagging along and soon she learned that Hazel’s description of a teddy bear in a real bear’s body was quite accurate. He and Calypso had a shared love for animals so they talked a good while about Frank’s internship and other things related to the topic. Hanging out with Hazel and Frank, Calypso thought that it felt good for her to notice that there were people who did seem to like her company despite her background; maybe there was hope that Leo and Annabeth would come around eventually too.

[yiwns]

ANNABETH'S SURPRISE

Fandom: Percy Jackson / PJO

Pairing: Percy Jackson x Annabeth Chase // PERCABETH

Word Count: 2.1k

Genre: Fluff

You can send requests here!

-

"So, what's the surprise, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked Percy as they strolled along the beach. It was Annabeth's birthday and Percy wanted to surprise her by taking her to her Poseidon's castle. "Oh you'll see," Percy smirked. "Seaweed Brain, you know I don't like surprises right? And besides, I'll probably even guess what it is," Annabeth said.

Percy groaned like a child. "See this is why I can never surprise you!" He waved he's arms dramatically in the air. Annabeth giggled at her boyfriend's childishness. "Okay okay, I'll try not to guess it okay?" Annabeth promised. "Pinky promise?" Percy held out his pinky like a five year old. "Yes, pinky promise," Annabeth giggled and link their pinkies together.

Percy took her hand and they stroll along Camp Half Blood's beautiful beach. The sun was starting to rise. The sunlight shone on the ocean, the ocean twinkled and dolphins even jumped out and did a few flips in front of the couple. The sky turned a soft lilac and blue colour. Even Annabeth couldn't help but stare in awe.

"This way, my princess," Percy led towards the ocean. "So I did some calculations-"

"Wait? Since when do you do calculations?" Annabeth cut him off. "Anyways," Percy rolled his eyes. "I did some calculations," he emphasised the word 'calculations'. "And that I can make you breath underwater," He grinned. "Well, surprise me," Annabeth crossed her arms and waited. Percy grinned and leaned in. Their lips touch and the dolphins were clapping in the background.

They parted for breath. "That was sweet and all but what was that for?" Annabeth placed her arms around his shoulders. "You'll see," he wiggled his arm around her waist. They were now standing about the sea, thanks to Percy. He slowly lowered them down into the ocean. Annabeth looked around her, she was surrounded in water and she was breathing.

"Wow," She breathed out. Percy was grinning like an idiot. "Cmon," He took her by the hand. As they swam, many sea creatures passed by them. And of course they were whispering to Percy. "That's his majesty's son."

"Lord Percy!"

"Who's the girl beside him?"

"She looks beautiful."

Soon, they were floating at the edge of a underwater gap. Percy whistled and soon two hippocampus swam towards him. They were beautiful. Their skin shone like the galaxy underwater. If you don't know what they are, from the waist up they have a horse as a head and horse hooves, from the waist down, they have a fish tail and flippers.

Both of them each rode one hippocampus. Soon they were in front a huge arch. Inside, they're were sea and ocean nymphs everywhere. Even mermaids and mermen. Annabeth couldn't decide if she was amazed by the creatures or the architecture of the kingdom.

"Hey Dad!" Percy greeted his father, Poseidon who was siting on his throne of seashells and coral. "Percy my son!" Poseidon bellowed as he gave Percy a very big hug. "And Annabeth, good to see again," He smiled at Annabeth. "Good to see you too, my lord," Annabeth, being the mature one bowed.

"Percy told me his plans on everything, and happy birthday Annabeth, this is gift to you, just don't let your mother find out," Poseidon said. Poseidon snapped his finger and a nereid came holding a tray. On top the tray was two glass bottle filled with sparkling blue and green liquid. "A... potion?" Annabeth picked one of the bottle up.

"One for you and one for my son," Poseidon said. "Cool, what does it do?" Percy asks inspecting the bottle. "Why don't you drink and find out?" Poseidon grinned. Percy and Annabeth hesitated but drank it, what could go wrong right?

Percy and Annabeth gulped down the liquid. They started to glow, like really bright, almost as bright as Apollo but I'm not allowed to say that. The glowing died down. "I don't feel any different," Annabeth mumbled. Poseidon snapped his fingers and two mermen came with a body size mirror.

"WOAH!" Percy grinned. They couldn't believe what they saw in their reflection. "W-We're mermaids!" Annabeth said. "Merman!" Percy corrected her. Percy was shirtless but from the waist down, he had ocean green fish tail that sparkles in the light. Annabeth hair was in a half braid which was decorated with pearls and seashells, she had a white crop top that was decorated with pearls. From waist down, she had a coral pink fish tail.

"Oh my gods, this is awesome!" Annabeth swam in circles. Their weapons hung on a belt made of seaweed around their waist. "Thank you, Lord Poseidon," Annabeth bowed. Percy was still busy doing flips and giggling like a kid. Poseidon chuckled at them.

"Go and have fun, explore!" Poseidon sent them. For the entire day, the happy couple swam around, amazed by the underwater life. They returned back to the palace when the ocean turned dark, meaning it was night time. Poseidon was busy signing papers, obviously papers sent from Zeus.

"Ah, welcome back!" Poseidon greeted them back. "Had fun?" He asked. "A lot," Annabeth answered. Percy was still acting like a child. "So, how do we turn back into human?" Percy asked. "Why that's simple, I just... um... I... um," Poseidon stopped and thought for awhile. "I actually, don't know." He admitted. "What!?" Annabeth asked in shock. "I never turned anyone into mermaids before," he added. "T-Then, how?" Percy stutter.

"Well I thought it was a good idea," Poseidon stopped when a ocean nymph came and whispered something into his ear. Both of them had a brief discussion. "Great news! Kyla here," Poseidon gestured towards the ocean nymph, "knows how to turn you back into human!"

"How?" Annabeth raised a brow. "Well, there's this ancient cave near shore, there this magical wishing pearl. People say if you touch it and say you're wish it would come true," Kyla explained. "Then lets goooo," Percy started to swim but Annabeth caught him by the fin. "Hold up, Seaweed Brain." She said. "What's the catch?" Annabeth raised a brow.

"Well, it is near shore but it's deep down, like under shore. Around the midnight zone," Kyla said nervously. "Can we go now?" Percy asked getting impatient. "Percy, the midnight zone is very dangerous," Annabeth told him. "Have you seen me with danger? Demigods are a magnet for danger!" He waved his arms around. "True, but the midnight zone has less oxygen and the pressure is really high. It could burst out lungs, even if we're mermaids, because we're not real mermaids, we're still half mortal," Annabeth explained. "But I can breath underwater," Percy stated. "And I can't," Annabeth pointed out.

"And that is where I come in," Poseidon said. He gave them both a seashell necklace with four stripes on it. "When you are about to enter the midnight zone, put these on. It would let you stay there long enough for you to get to the pearl. But once you turn back to human, you need to get out of there as fast as you can. In mermaid form, you can last longer than human and might only used one bar and that means you have three bars left when you are in human form before your lungs burn," Poseidon explained. "Now be safe, and don't get killed on the way down," Poseidon patted Percy's head. Percy gave Poseidon a hug and said their goodbyes. Percy took Annabeth's hand started to swim back to shore.

When they were almost near shore, they stopped and look down. "Ready, Wise Girl?" Percy asks. "Ready," Annabeth answered. Both of them put on the necklace and the four stripes started to glow as they descended into the midnight zone. Many giant creatures such as squid and sharks passed by them. They didn't want to mess with them, I mean who would want too? He's the son of Poseidon, their king. But they did had to kill a few squids who were rebellious against Poseidon.

They soon found a cave. It was attached to the shore line, the entrance was covered with seaweed, but there was faint glow coming from the inside. They swam towards it. But Annabeth pulled Percy towards a rock and hid behind it. "What is it-" Annabeth cut Percy off by putting her index finger to her lips. "Listen," she whispered. Percy ears perked up as he heard movement and low growling near the cave. Both of them peeked up from the rock. Huge tentacles surrounded the cave. "It's a kraken!" Percy exclaimed. "Shhh!" Annabeth shushed him. The kraken red eyes glowed in the dark, its tentacles making a swishing sound as it moved. "What are we gonna do?" Percy asked. Annabeth thought for awhile. "We need to distract it," Annabeth said. "How?" Percy asked. "We need to get passed this tentacles," Annabeth said. "They are huge! It's like fighting an underwater Hydra just that the tentacle doesn't grow back but it's bigger and longer," Percy groaned.

Annabeth thought for awhile. "I got it!" A tiny lightbulb sparked from her head. "We can swim fast, even though the tentacles is huge it can't move that fast cause of its weight. If we swim fast enough and different direction, we could confused it and the tentacles would very tangled," Annabeth said. Percy nodded.

"1,2,3 go!" Annabeth said. Percy and Annabeth charged at the kraken. Swimming fast and around it. It was annoyed by them but also confused. "HEY SQUID FACE!" Percy called him multiple names. Soon, the tentacles were all tangled and the kraken was struggling to get it out. "Now!" Percy said. They swam inside the cave, brushing past the seaweed entrance.

"Woah," Percy looked around the cave. "This Place looked like someone lived here," He said. "Percy! In here!" Annabeth called him. Percy Swann towards Annabeth. A huge pearl sat on table of coral, it was glowing a coral pink light. "Ready?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend, he nodded. Both of them put their hands on the pearl and closed their eyes. "I wish to be human again," They both said in unison. Both of them started to glow for a moment. The glowing died down and they opened their eyes. "We're human again!" Annabeth gasped. They were back in their camp attire.

Just in time, they heard a beeping sound. A bar from the seashell was gone, three more left. "Cmon, we have to-"

"Wise Girl look out!"

"Huh- AAAAH! PERCY!" Annabeth screamed. A tentacle had sneaked in and wrapped itself around Annabeth's waist and pulled her out. "AAAAAHHHH!" She yelled. "WISE GIRL!" Percy swam after her. The kraken had untangled itself. It roared at Percy. Annabeth was hanging off the tentacle, squirming to get out but the grip only got tighter. Annabeth grunted in pain.

Percy whipped out Riptide. "LET HER GO YOU SQUID FACE!" He yelled at it. The kraken roared at him and charged it tentacles at it. Percy dodge most of it. He sliced of one. The kraken roared in pain. Usually, squid can regenerate their tentacles but it takes time, and this kraken doesn't have time before Percy turns it into calamari. Percy stabbed at the kraken as it charged at Percy. "HANG ON WISE GIRL!" Percy said. He charged towards the tentacle holding Annabeth and sliced it off. Annabeth untangled herself, Percy swam towards her and wrapped his arms around her.

Annabeth felt dizzy, she realised her seashell had only one and a half bar left. Before she could say anything, she passed out in Percy arms due to the lac of oxygen. Percy panicked for awhile then realised why she had passed out. The kraken had swam back into its hiding place to regenerate its tentacles. Percy swam upwards to the light.

"Hah!" Percy's head popped up from the water. He dragged Annabeth towards the sand, Percy kissed her a few times which he considers CPR. A few minutes later, Annabeth started to cough out water. "Hey there Wise Girl," Percy grinned at her. "Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth kissed Percy. Right now, it was night time. The stars were shining brightly.

"So how did you like your birthday present?" Percy asked his girlfriend. They were lying on the sand, not caring if they had sand on their backs or hair. "It was, unexpected I have to admit. I did expect you taking me to Poseidon's castle but not the mermaid part," Annabeth admitted. "So, did I surprise you?" Percy asked. Annabeth laughed. "Yes, yes you did," She kissed him one more. She snuggled up to him as both of them admired the beautiful night sky above.

This was truly an amazing birthday experience that Annabeth will never forget.

[phykios]

people on ao3 were thirsty for this fic so... here you go, tumblr ❤ 

put on the red light M, sex work au, modern royalty au, no powers au  [read on ao3]

🌊🌊🌊

Sometimes, she really regrets being best friends with Piper.

Said best friend still gapes at her from across the table, jaw practically on the floor. “Never?”

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “Never.”

“Not even, like, at school?”

“When I would have had the time?” she asks. “I was attempting a five-year program in four years, and then… well, you know.” And she does know, all about the very exciting drama that went down in Annabeth’s senior year.

Piper is still flabbergasted. “Not even high school?”

Annabeth takes a sip of her drink. “I wasn’t exactly a hot commodity in high school.” She’d been passively pretty all her life, but she hadn’t exactly been what some might call Girlfriend material, capital G. She’d stuck to her fifteen year plan to the letter, eschewing most social contact, working herself into the ground to overcome ADHD by sheer force of will and get into Harvard, a plan which allowed approximately zero time for a boyfriend. Not that there were even boys that she had really liked at the time.

The only boy she had ever considered liking in that way, well. She had lost contact with him a while ago.

“I can’t believe this.”

“Believe it or not, Ripley, it’s true. I’ve never had sex. You happy?”

“I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, are you ace?” Piper asks. “Because that’s totally cool, of course.”

She shakes her head. “Definitely not ace.” She has a minor collection of personal massagers and insertable devices should she ever need to take care of an urge, and plenty of fantasies she can call on whenever the need arises--a system which has worked just fine for years.

“I just…” Piper stares, unconvincingly. “How?”

Shrugging, she takes another sip of coffee. “Just never got around to it, I guess.”

It’s not something she’s proud of, but by the same token, it’s not something that brings her shame, either. It is what it is; Annabeth, a notable workaholic, has never had sex with another person in her life. In some ways, it sucks, sure, but in other ways, it’s been a blessing in disguise. After all, no previous partners means that there’s no one to spread any dirt on the newly minted Princess Anja Elisabet of Sweden.

But Piper isn’t having it.

“Do you… want to have sex?” she asks. “Like, ever?”

As the daughter of one of the biggest movie stars in the world, she knows that Piper has had her fair share of high profile relationships, something that earned her a little bit of a nasty (and, quite frankly, racist) reputation among the paparazzi, which is ridiculous, since Piper is one of the most effortlessly gracious and classy people Annabeth knows. Piper does not go slinging herself and her partners around in the media like some of her contemporaries; instead, she likes to keep her personal details a bit closer to the chest, sharing them only with trusted confidants, like Annabeth, who knows full well how much Piper enjoys the act of sex. Sex for Piper isn’t dirty or taboo, it’s fun and it’s being close with other people, it’s liberating and exciting and intimate, and she extols its virtues whenever asked to give her opinion.

She makes sex sound really good, but never in a way that makes Annabeth feel ashamed for never having done it. Until now, of course. “Well… yeah,” says Annabeth. “I’d like to. I mean, I think it’d be kind of nice, you know, to do it at least once.”

“But then you’d have to start dating,” Piper surmises.

“Yeah,” says Annabeth, glumly.

Dating is a notorious problem for people in her line of work. Royalty, not architects, that is. Dating for architects is easy; just find someone who doesn’t mind the type A personalities and the obsession with work. Dating for royals is… significantly harder, and not really something she wants to engage with right now. She’s only been a royal for a few years, after all—she still feels like it’s a big cosmic joke, that someone is going to unearth some old documents or reveal a couple of forgeries that will bring the whole thing crashing down, and she doesn’t want to bring an outsider into all that drama, let alone deal with it herself.

Piper takes a sip of her drink, thoughtful, then lays out her next question carefully. “Have you ever considered a one-night stand?”

Annabeth stares. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m not! People do it.”

“Yeah,” she scoffs, “people. Not me.”

“It’s really not hard,” Piper says, “I’ve done it plenty of times.”

“What, you want me to make a tinder?”

She laughs. “God, wouldn’t that be a riot. But no, I mean, there have to be other single royals or celebs around. Why not one of them?”

“Because they’re all insufferable social-climbing jackasses that make me want to rip my skull out of my face every time I’m forced to listen to them at a state dinner.”

“Okay, then.” Never one to be deterred, Piper pulls out her phone, then waits until Annabeth has taken a sip of her drink, presumably to keep her from immediately disagreeing, before dropping the bomb to end all bombs. “Let’s get you an escort.”

Annabeth snorts iced coffee directly out of her nose.

“Shit! Sorry!” Piper shoves a handful of napkins at her. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, do you need water?”

Wheezing, Annabeth shakes her head. “Give me a sec,” she coughs, fingers covering her mouth.

Thank God she’s got her trusty, anti-pap hat on. If anyone took a picture of her like this, her uncle would probably disown her.

“What the hell, Piper?” she rasps when she can finally breathe again.

“I’m so sorry, I should have timed that better.”

“No, I mean—”  she coughs again. “The other thing.”

She raises an eyebrow. “The escort?”

“Keep your voice down!” On instinct, she glances around the London cafe, looking for any stray microphones. Satisfied that no one is listening for the moment, she turns back to her insane best friend. “Yes, the… that thing.”

“It’s not that crazy,” says Piper, turning back to her phone. “We’ll find you a really nice one, someone super high class and discreet, draw up an NDA, and then you can cross it off your bucket list. Man or woman?”

“Man, but—" she sputters. “I—I can’t see a prostitute! Can you imagine the scandal if it got out?”

Forget the iced coffee thing. The princess of Sweden, caught with a hooker… Annabeth is nauseous just thinking about the media circus.

“Not a prostitute,” Piper corrects. “An escort.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Same umbrella, but no.” She types away, faster than Annabeth can keep track of. “Pimping is illegal here, but escorts usually have managers.”

“Be that as it may,” because Piper seems to have forgotten the key part of this conversation, “I can’t have sex with an escort.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” The million and a half legitimate reasons not to go through with it all fly through her mind, getting lost somewhere on the way to her mouth. “Because!”

Piper just smiles at her. “I’ll get you a really nice one, promise. Think of it as a late birthday present.”

“It’s September.”

“Early Christmas, then.” And she grins, full of teeth. “Just trust me, okay? Let me take care of it.”

Famous last words, she thinks, popping a bit of scone in her mouth.

***

7PM, the Dorchester Hotel. Dinner first, then… whatever, later.

Annabeth can’t help but arrive early. She’d never been a punctual person before, but apparently now it’s been beaten into her with all the rest of her princess training.

Five-star hotels are still something of a novelty for her, even though she’s stayed in quite a few by now. Thankfully she’s never stayed here before; she’d be too worried someone on staff would recognize her.

She had thought that she’d show up early, psych herself up a little, get emotionally prepared, or at least have a little time to calm her racing heart before her… date… showed up.

Unfortunately, as punctual as she is, apparently, he’s beaten her to the punch.

He’s exactly where he said he’d be, wearing exactly what he said he’d be wearing; black suit, blue tie, gold watch. Her heart is beating so loudly, she’s sure he can hear it from across the room. “Um, excuse me,” she asks, a little more timid than she’d like, sidling up to the man. “Paris?”

At his name--well, she assumes it’s his name, but it’s probably a pseudonym now that she thinks about it--he lifts his head up, his lips already quirking up in a smile that she can only describe as troublemaking. “Bethany?”

Right. She used a pseudonym as well. A second pseudonym—one other than Anja. “Yeah,” she smiles in return, her shakiness easing.

“Hey!” He stands up from his seat in the lounge, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek. “It’s so nice to meet you!”

“You too.” She realizes with a pang; he is so tall. He’s tall, with broad shoulders and a trim waist, startlingly green eyes and thick, curly black hair. And… “You’re American?”

“I am,” he says, unashamed. “The accent gave me away, huh? Hope you weren’t looking for something else.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she assures him. “I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s fine!"

He grins, crookedly, and she feels her heart skip a beat. “I’ll take it. Shall we head to dinner, then?”

***

Dinner was amazing, of course. The food, the atmosphere, and the company, she fully admits—all exceptional. Paris is an amazing conversationalist, she discovers, smart and funny and attentive, even gently teasing her a little. “You’re American, too, you know,” he’d said, sipping on his glass of wine, “so you can’t give me any grief over my lack of an accent.”

“I don’t live here,” she’d retorted, pointing her fork at him, “unlike some people I could mention.”

“Where do you live?”

“Ah, well—” Covering up her hesitation by taking a bite of chicken, she’d thought quickly. “Grew up in the States, but recently I moved to, um, Sweden, to be closer to my family.”

He’d nodded. “Expat, huh?”

“Something like that.”

He’d listened to her, really listened, chimed in at appropriate moments, made surprisingly insightful comments about her job and her life, and, well, he’s kind of perfect. If he weren’t an escort, he’d make an amazing boyfriend. She tells him as much, in the elevator on the way up to his room.

“Aw, thank you!” He smiles at her, a single dimple popping out under his strong cheekbones. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

“Why do you do this, anyway?” she asks. “I mean,” oh God, that question is some kind of faux pas isn’t it, Christ what the hell happened to all her etiquette training, “you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to—”

“No, it’s okay,” he says as the elevator door opens. They’re up on a high floor, where the higher high rollers like to stay, and she follows him as he walks confidently down the hallway. “It’s not an offensive question.”

Still, she feels pretty shitty for asking. “I’m sure you get asked that all the time.”

“Most clients honestly aren’t all that interested,” he admits, shrugging a shoulder. “They need something, I can provide it. It can be a little transactional at times, but I’ve met a lot of really cool people, so it all balances out in the end.” Arriving at their door, Paris swipes his keycard, holding it open for her like some kind of butler. “After you.”

The room is enormous, even for a five-star hotel. It is a full-on suite, with a seating area and separate bedroom, a large wooden desk off to one wall, a gorgeous, floor-to-ceiling window that looks onto Hyde Park, full of lights dotted about like mini constellations. “Wow,” she breathes, “look at that view.”

“I never get tired of it,” Paris says, coming up behind her. “No matter how many times I come here.”

“You come here a lot?” she asks. She almost follows it up with a question on how he can afford it, but she ruthlessly quashes that down.

“My clients like it,” is all he says.

“I’m not surprised, all that 1930s deco in the lobby. The façade is a little plain, though, in my opinion.”

“Oh yeah? How would you do it better, Miss Architect?” She gets the sense that he’s teasing her. It feels oddly intimate for the situation—he’s not a friend, or a boyfriend, or even a date. He’s an escort. Providing a service, as he put it. He shouldn’t be so friendly with her.

And yet. “Well, I love Neoclassical, but honestly, I’m not super into hotels.”

“What are you into, then?” Casually, he undoes his tie, sliding it off his neck. She swallows.

“Um.” Focus, girl. “Office buildings, monuments. I dunno. I just want to… I just want to build something good, you know? Something permanent. Proof that I was here, you know?”

“Something permanent, huh?” He speaks softly, a respectable distance away, but she’s drawn in anyway, by his open shirt collar and his easy demeanor and his stupid sea green eyes that remind her so much of— “That sounds really nice.”

Then he steps up to her. His hand, warm and big, draws up her arm, fingers tracing lightly over her skin, and she shivers. He cups her neck, fingering the hair at the base of her scalp, and leans in, his lips parted. He smells like salt, like the perfume of the wine they shared, like the sea on a sunny morning.

“Wait,” she murmurs against his lips.

Immediately, he pulls back. “Is something wrong?” he asks, concerned.

“No, no, it’s fine, I just—” She swallows, her heart racing. “I just need a minute.”

“Of course.” He takes a step back, and she has to stop herself from pulling him in further. “Do you need anything? Water, champagne? They always stock the minifridge.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m fine. It’s just, I’ve never… done this before.”

“What, hire an escort?” He grins, rakish. “I can tell.”

“Not that—I mean, yes, that too, but I mean—I’ve never—” She huffs, annoyed she has to have this conversation twice in one week. “I’ve never had sex before, okay?”

That shocks him a little. His eyes widen, taken aback. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Chuckling weakly, she rubs a hand on her arm, looking out the window. “So… yeah.”

“So, don’t take this the wrong way,” says Paris, “but, there are easier ways to get laid than by using a professional. I mean, I’m grateful for the business and all, but, well, look at you.” He looks her up and down, somehow simultaneously respectful and entirely indecent. “I don’t think you’d have a problem getting a date.”

“It’s… complicated.” Understatement of the fucking millennium. “My friend thought this would be the easiest way to… go about it.”

Paris laughs. “You don’t agree.”

“I don’t… not agree,” she says. “I’m just. A little nervous.”

He nods. “I’d bet.” Chewing his lip, he looks towards the bedroom suite, and Annabeth tries not to think about how those teeth would feel on her mouth instead. “How about this; why don’t you take a shower? It might help calm you down a bit.”

“Won’t you be lonely?” she quips, a moment of reckless bravery.

“I have a few calls I can make,” says Paris, eyes dancing. “Go on. Make yourself comfortable.”

***

She has to hand it to the five-star hotels; the shower is always outstanding. Amazing pressure, amazing heat, it definitely rivals the plumbing in some of the castles she’s stayed at. And the robes, always so soft and warm, though a little on the small side. This one just barely covers her ass, which she figures isn’t a huge problem for tonight, but still.

When she steps out of the bathroom, she can hear Paris talking. “Uh huh,” he says. “Yeah. No, it’s going great. Professor Kleio said she’d write me a recommendation. She was really impressed with the last build. Yeah.” She runs her fingers through her wet hair, pushing it back from her face. “No, the conference is next month. Probably. Pretty sure I can get Tyson to help, but I don’t think it’ll get that far before the end of the week. Uh huh.”

Paris had taken off his suit jacket at some point; she can see it hung up in the closet on a hanger, perfectly pressed. He’s still in his shirt, but he’s unbuttoned it, the sleeves rolled up around his forearms. It is effortlessly attractive, even from the back. She coughs lightly, unwilling to startle him, and he turns, giving her another up-and-down, this one decidedly less respectful than the first.

“Hey, I gotta go, I’ll call you tomorrow. Say hi to Estelle for me. Love you.” And he hangs up.

“Your girlfriend?” she asks.

He smiles, all soft. “My mom.”

Something in her melts at his tone. “Aw,” she coos. “Is she back in America?”

“Yeah. I don’t get to see her all that often, so I try to call her every day.”

It is so unfathomably sweet, sweet and… humanizing, as weird as that sounds. He’s not just an unbelievably handsome man with a jaw cut like a diamond and a five-star rating, according to Piper, he’s a person with a whole other life that she knows nothing about. It’s liberating, in its own way. She can make mistakes with him, and he’ll understand. He won’t judge her, not against his other clients, or even his other partners.

Swallowing, she slides the robe off her shoulders, slowly, achingly. Maybe he turned the heat up while she wasn’t looking, because all of a sudden, she feels hot all over, from her cheeks to her chest and down, and down. Maybe it’s all coming from him, from the heat of his gaze on her, his pink tongue coming out to wet his lips. She wants it, wants them, wants him, on her and in her and all over her.

But he stays on his side of the room, waiting for her to take the plunge.

She steps up to him, close but not touching, breathing in the heady, strong scent of him, raking her eyes up his body for a change. Even through his shirt, she can tell he’s fit, the exposed skin of his arms tanned a deep brown, thick, coarse, dark hair running up to his wrists. On his right arm, there is a black trident long and straight, crossed by an old, white scar. “What happened here?” she asks, lifting her hand to trace it, leaving visible goosebumps in its wake.

“Sailing accident,” he whispers. “Long time ago.”

There’d been a kid at her summer camp for troubled teens who’d gotten thrown off his boat and hurt like that, once. She remembered so vividly, because she’d been on infirmary duty that day, and all she could think about while wrapping up his arm was how fucking stupid he'd been, how he could have gotten himself really hurt, how badly she’d wanted to kiss him.

She'd moved across the country before she'd gotten the chance, though, and no one else had ever made her feel like that since. Until now. “Got any other ink to show me?”

But instead of answering, he leans down, and he kisses her.

She’s been kissed before. She’s never had sex, but she’s done some kissing in her life. It’s usually pretty awkward, in her experience, too much of one thing and never enough of another.

Nope, not Paris. Of course, he’s also a phenomenal kisser. Why she expected anything else, she’s not sure.

His hands come up to circle her neck again, his thumbs running against her cheekbones. He kisses her, pouring passion and intent into her, his mouth soft and sweet against hers. And then he slips her some tongue, and it’s a whole different ballgame.

“Take off your shirt,” she whispers into his mouth.

He does, effortlessly, without detaching himself from her. It’s a smooth, easy motion, and she is delighted to discover that he is as firm as she suspected he was, the muscles jumping under her touch.

Almost without her realizing it, he backs her up towards the bed, her knees hitting the edge of the mattress. He lays her out against the sheets, his bare chest hot against hers. “Before we go any further,” he says, and she can feel the vibrations of his voice all throughout her body, “tell me—have you ever made yourself come?”

She flushes at his words, the dirty talk which should sound stupid but instead comes out all sultry and sexy. “Yes,” she says, breath hitching as he nips at her neck. “Yes, I have.”

“Good.” He smiles into the skin of her collarbone, traveling down, and down, and down. “I want you to show me how.”

“Isn’t that,” she pants, “your job?”

“Hmm, you’re right.” He pushes her thighs apart with his shoulders, bright eyes staring up at her as he licks his lips. “Let me get to work, then.”

Breathing heavily, she curls her fingers into the ten thousand count sheets, eyes fixed on the ceiling pattern. She can’t look at the dark head between her legs, can only breathe in through her nose as he kisses up the skin of her thigh, higher and higher and higher until…

Jesus fucking lord almighty.

***

“I found the perfect guy for you.”

“Piper, come on.” Theses brunch dates of theirs were starting to get a little repetitive. “I let you set me up with a professional, but I draw the line at a blind date.”

“Have I steered you wrong yet, your highness?” Piper asks, knowing grin firmly on her face.

Annabeth blushes. So what if that night with Paris was the most incredible experience she’d ever had? Doesn’t mean she’s ready for a full-on relationship, yet. “No,” she says, rubbing her temples.

“Great!” Then she does something that Annabeth doesn’t expect—she starts packing up. “So he’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” she smiles, so bright it borders on painful, her nose scrunching up. “I invited him to brunch. But he’s really, really nice, I promise.”

“Does he know about—”

“No, he doesn’t, but if you wanted to spill, he’s a fantastic secret keeper.”

“How do you even know—”

Piper glances over Annabeth’s shoulder, eyes lighting up, waving a hand. “Friend of a friend of Jason, he’s a grad student at Cambridge, he’s doing his dissertation on naval history, so you know the king will love him.”

“Piper!” Annabeth half-calls, half-hisses at her friend as she stands up “Piper, you can’t just—”

“Hey,” says a voice behind her. A very familiar voice. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was joining us.” She turns around. Slowly. “Nice to meet you, I’m… Percy…” he trails off, sea green eyes widening behind a pair of thick, black glasses, beneath dark, curly hair. On his arm, a black trident stood out against his skin, straight and proud.

“Percy, meet Annabeth,” Piper says. “Annabeth, meet Percy. Okay, have fun you two!”

And she waltzes out of there, completely unaware of the absolute shitstorm she left in her wake.

[supercasey]

Keep Your Promise

Description: Nodad/Twins AU. The story of how the Mystery Lady escaped her abuser, and eventually kept her promise to Skout.

A/N: Based heavily on bl00w1tch’s Nodad AU, my Twin AU, and signomad’s fanart of the Twin AU! Check us all out on Tumblr! If anyone can come up with a better description, please let me know because this description fucking sucks. Thanks for reading!

A lone woman hurries quietly through the shrouded desert, sweat dripping down the back of her neck and dampening her nightshirt. She has to keep going. Behind her, she can hear the quiet chitter of little creatures on her heels, following her, keeping her running until she’s out of breath. They think that this is just another night, but she’ll prove them wrong. She’s not going back, not ever again. She can’t. Wrapped up in a ragged, dusty green blanket, a little girl lies dormant in the runaway’s arms, her soft snores enough to encourage the woman to keep moving forward.

Pausing on top of a sand dune to catch her breath- a dangerous move, she knows, but these Critters aren’t made to capture. They’re made to track- the runaway gives her child a tentative rock, trying to sooth the toddler into an even deeper sleep. “Easy, my little Skout,” The woman whispers, pressing a tentative kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “It’ll be okay… we’re going to make it this time. I promise.” Last time… well, the woman would rather not think about it too much. She still bears the bruises on her left shoulder.

Behind her, one of the Critters- a tumbleweed, it’s body bristly and cracking- gives the young mother a curious look, as if expecting her to finally give up on this game of cat and mouse. The woman gives the Critter a harsh glare, attempting to hide her anxiety with aggression. “Go on,” She murmurs, daring the little thing to do something. Anything. “Go ahead and get your master… see if it stops me from runnin’ away. You and I both know that I’ll git outta here eventually.”

The tumbleweed visibly saddens, and it fills the woman with guilt. At one time, she called these helpless little Critters her ‘friends’- some days, they were all that got her through the day. But after she started trying to run away with the kids… the runaway shudders, biting her bottom lip to muffle a sob at the silent mention of her young son. She couldn’t risk it though, not again. That alone is the reason she knows she will succeed this time- magic attracts magic, and the Nomad had simply followed the energy of his son to catch her last time. So she left him- she took her only magic-less child and ran, abandoning little Hunter in his crib to cry in silence for his mother and sister.

A new determination filling her heart, the runaway straightens, giving the tumbleweed Critter an sympathetic glance. “I know that this ain’t yer fault, darlin’… but please, go home,” She begs, her voice a quiet whisper- though it sounds deafening to her this late at night, when there’s no one around. No one but her and the Critters. “I ain’t goin’ back this time… I’m sorry, friend.”

The Critter stares at the woman- unblinking, unfeeling, as if it doesn’t even hold artificial life in its body- before it finally turns away, sharing the woman’s will to escape. Slowly, it rolls away, and with it’s departure the woman breathes a sigh of relief. Okay, that makes things easier… without a tracker, she can get farther. But she still has a long way to go. Hiking up her backpack, the woman presses a reassuring kiss to her daughter’s cheek and continues on, leaving no sign of her presence in her wake. The Nomad can scour the whole desert, but she won’t let him catch her. Not ever again.

“Annabeth… Driller?”

The runaway- Annabeth- glances up from where she’s been cuddling her baby, taking a moment to give the conductor a weary smile. “Yes, that’d be me,” She says, trying and failing to hide the fatigue from her voice. She hasn’t slept all night. “Somethin’ the matter?”

“We’re boarding soon,” The conductor explains, before pausing, giving the woman and her baby a curious onceover. “Don’t got many folk with last names ‘round here- you local?”

“Not anymore.” Anna states, standing to her full- though rather unimpressive- height, her backpack hanging from only one shoulder while she focuses on keeping her grip on Skout.

“Oof, sounds bad,” The conductor admits, giving Anna a tentative smile- he’s trying to be sympathetic. Anna wouldn’t be surprised if he’s seen more than a few runaway mothers in his time as a train conductor. “He a real jerk?”

“The absolute worst,” Anna confirms, hurrying past the man to board her train. “You take care now, sir.”

“You too, miss. And goodbye to you too, little one!” The conductor says, taking a moment to grin at Skout. It’s hard for strangers not to coo over the sleeping toddler- it’s all of that long, red hair, just like her mother’s.

The train takes off not long after, and Anna treats herself to a seat at the back of the train, away from everyone’s prying eyes. There, she lays Skout down on the seat next to her, keeping a tender hand on her daughter’s head. Skout’s about four and a half now, yet the girl keeps quiet for the most part. Anna sees it as a mixed blessing usually, but right now it’s 100% a blessing- she doesn’t need her sweet little girl to be attracting too much attention right now. Besides, Skout’s used to this. Sure, Anna’s never gotten this far with her before, but she doubts that her baby understands that. She probably thinks her Daddy’s gonna bust in at any moment and take her and Mama home.

Anna sighs longingly at the thought, though she tries to keep her conflicting emotions at bay. Try as she might, Anna can’t help but think back on her golden days with Benjamin. They had once been much happier- at least, Ben made her believe they were. Benjamin had found her in a nearby town to his secluded forest, and he had frequented her family’s oil mill for resources on a daily basis. Ma and Pa had hated him, warning their daughter that magic would only bring trouble, but Annabeth… she had been blown away by the stranger. He had been exotic to her and the townsfolk- tall, strong, wise in ways that none of the coal miners or oil drillers ever could be, all dressed up in hooded and concealing clothing that had only continued to interest the young lady.

Benjamin- he had preferred Benny or Ben back then- had obviously been aware of her schoolyard crush, and he had toyed endlessly with her as a result, making time for her during his visits to town to tell her all sorts of stories, filled to the brim with his exploits as a wizard on the run. His magic had only further cemented Anna’s affections, his tricks playful yet intriguing. On Anna’s 18th birthday, Ben had made all the tools on her family’s farm dance for her. Pa had been furious, but a young Annabeth had been swept off her feet, and Ben damn well knew it. Soon after that, he had offered to marry her, promising Anna a life far superior to mining oil and coal for the rest of her days. Of course she said yes.

Annabeth had ran away with him, escaping her constricting family to live a happy and free life in the wilderness with her true love… but fate had other plans. He got her pregnant within a few weeks of their ‘marriage’, and while Anna had been over the moon, Benjamin had been… brooding. He had been clinical with his movements and mannerisms, running his hands over her slowly bulging belly at every opportunity, his hands glowing at times. This had frightened Anna to some extent, but when she had questioned him about it, Ben had waved it off as him putting protection spells on the baby… or babies, as they found out months later. With no access to a doctor, Anna had been forced to give birth in the cabin, her only assistance being Benjamin’s Critters petting her hair and stomach through the ordeal, with Benjamin at the foot of the bed, caring for the babies as they arrived.

She gave birth to twins- one boy and one girl. The girl had been first, and an hour later her brother had joined her in this brave new world. It had been Anna’s idea to name them Skout and Hunter, something Benjamin had simply shrugged at. “Whatever ya come up with I'll love, honey,” He had said, when Anna asked why he didn’t want to help name them. “Anythin’ fer my sweetheart.” Back then, that had comforted her, but now...

The sound of Skout’s whimpering is what breaks Annabeth out of her reminiscing, reminding her of why she’s here and not there, trapped in that claustrophobic little cabin. Slowly, Skout sits up, and greets her mother with a sleepy smile. “Mama!” The little girl coos, eyes glistening in the early morning sunlight.

“Good morning, dear,” Anna says, reaching out and placing Skout on her lap. Absentmindedly, she runs her fingers through Skout’s hair, attempting to rid the girl of any tangles. “How’d you sleep, baby?”

Skout grimaces, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “Not good,” She admits, pulling back to give Anna a frightened look. “Where’s Daddy?”

Anna sighs, readying herself for what’s about to come. “”Daddy’s… not here right now. He’s on vacation with Hunter,” She lies, figuring that this is better than telling her daughter the truth- Skout doesn’t need to know who her Daddy really is this young. Nearby, an older woman gives Anna and Skout a sympathetic smile, the lady attempting to give the mother moral support. “And we’re going on our own vacation, too. Somewhere far away.” Anna adds, hoping this will be enough to comfort her daughter.

It doesn’t work at all. “But why? Where’s Daddy? Where’s buba?”

Anna tries to will away the urge to cry, but tears are running down her cheeks before she can stop them. “Because we need a break, baby girl. I know that this is confusing and scary, but you gotta be strong. Be strong for Mama.”

Skout just sobs bitterly, the other train passengers looking away out of embarrassment, not wanting to stare at the clearly upset toddler. “I wan’ Daddy!” She wails, collapsing against her mother’s chest.

Annabeth just holds her close, allowing herself to cry with her daughter. She wants to give Skout what she wants- what she needs- but it’s too dangerous… Benjamin is too dangerous. This is her only chance of survival… Anna just prays that someday, somehow, Skout will understand. For now, she’ll settle for Skout hating her.

It takes some time, but eventually, Annabeth feels like she’s successfully escaped.

Skout’s just turned five years old now- she’s always running, always exploring the area. She’s not yet used to the lack of vegetation, but Anna knows that those memories will slip away eventually, and with their passing will come security in her new home. She still asks about Daddy sometimes, but mostly she just seems to miss Hunter. Everytime it comes up, it absolutely devastates the young mother, but she knows that it can’t be helped. Even if Benjamin somehow couldn’t put a tracking spell on Hunter, the boy would still be a target- his magic is potent, and without a teacher, he could very easily lose control and accidentally hurt someone.

As much as it pains Anna, she knows that this was the right path to take, and despite all her worries… this place is good. She now lives in a small oil drilling town- one that’s very similar to her childhood home. It’s cozy here, and the townsfolk don’t ask too many questions. Even when they do, Anna always gives them the same response: “We’re on vacation.” It’s vague enough to not reveal many details, but it’s enough to clue everyone into the idea that they really shouldn’t ask anymore questions. Besides, Skout likes it here, and that alone is enough to make Anna feel like she’s finally free of her old life.

Of course, it’s around this time that Benjamin decides to show up.

He arrives in the late afternoon, the low crowing of birds acting as an ensemble for the dangerous nomad. Anna’s sitting on the porch when she catches sight of him, the man’s tall, wiry frame barely able to be seen in the horizon, but Anna knows right away that it’s him- the energy surrounding him is too volatile to ignore. Slowly, Anna stands from her rocking chair, trying to hide her frantic movements as she scans the area for Skout. She finds her a few feet away, playing with one of the stray dogs in the area. Anna whistles, and immediately Skout comes running, her grin contrasting with the tense atmosphere.

“Skout, sweet baby, please head inside,” Annabeth requests, already maneuvering her toddler into the house. “Go hide under Mama’s bed, ya hear?”

Skout gives her mother a confused look, but otherwise doesn’t argue, dashing into the house to follow her mother’s instructions. With her daughter safe for the moment, Anna glares at the incoming wizard, refusing to break eye contact as the man draws closer. Soon enough, he’s upon her, the man dressed in his usual garb of a large, shrouded hat, a dark blue serape, long brown jeans, and a baby blue, long sleeved shirt. The Nomad stares Anna down, his mouth downturned in the corner to show how upset he is. Slowly, he reveals Hunter in his arms, the little boy wrapped up in the same baby blue blanket Anna knitted for him when he was born.

“Annabeth,” Benjamin says, his voice a deep drawl that sends shivers down Anna’s spine. At one time, she found his voice comforting- now it just fills her bones with an instinctual desire to run. “Wandered rather far from home, didn’t ya?” He doesn’t really sound mad, but he’s always been good at lying.

“This is my home now, Benny. You best git ‘fore I get the sheriff,” Anna threatens, attempting to hold her ground. “I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t comin’ back… obviously ya didn’t listen.”

“Didn’t listen?” Benjamin repeats, thoroughly unimpressed with the short woman’s tough girl routine. “Baby, yer the one who ain’t ever listened. Didn’t I tells ya that nobody outruns the Nomad of Nowhere?”

Anna swallows, shifting her weight somewhat. She honestly didn’t expect Ben to follow her out this far, not when he’s been so careful to keep a low profile these last few decades. “I… I ain’t scared ‘a ya.” She finally manages to say, tears building up in her eyes. She tries to will them away, but it’s no use.

Benjamin’s stance softens, his frown turning sympathetic. It’s enough to make Anna wonder- at least for a moment- if he really loves her. However, it doesn’t last, and without invitation, Ben climbs onto the porch, unwrapping Hunter and settling the toddler on his hip. “I don’t want you ta be scared ‘a me, baby,” Ben whispers, voice low and gentle. He’s trying to win her back. “It ain’t gonna be like last time, I promise. Lookit ‘lil Hunter ‘ere-” He holds out the boy to Anna, evidence of crying on the child’s face. “-He’s been crying fer days, wonderin’ where his mama and sissy went! Ya can’t leave us!” Okay, that last bit has to at least partially be a lie- Hunter’s never spoken a word and Benjamin damn well knows it.

Right now, Anna’s thankful for the fact that her house is farther away from anyone else’s- the last thing she needs is a crowd to watch the ‘domestic dispute’. “I’ve said it ‘fore and I’ll say it ‘gain- I ain’t goin’ back, Benny. I ain’t lettin’ you hurt me or my baby ever again.”

Benjamin stiffens, before sending a deathly glare Anna’s way, causing the redhead to shiver. “I ain’t ever laid no hands on my babies, you got dat?” He untenses somewhat, though his stance still appears hostile. “What, you gonna abandon yer son now? You gonna leave us ta fend fer ourselves?”

“Yes,” It comes out as a bit of a sob. Anna trembles, unable to keep the defiance in her eyes for much longer. “I ain’t goin’ back… I can’t.”

There’s a lengthy pause, before Benjamin steps forward, trying to hug Annabeth in an attempt to win her over, but Anna backs away, not allowing the nomad to win. “Git the Hell outta here, Benny,” She orders, voice hoarse and angry, her glance refusing to meet the milky white irises of either her son or ex-husband’s eyes. “Go on… I SAID GIT!” She shouts, taking a nearby broom and holding it as a weapon, her glare unforgiving.

Slowly, Benjamin backs off, climbing off of the porch. As one last attempt at winning her back, Ben maneuvers Hunter to look over his left shoulder, the tiny toddler staring sadly at his mother, an arm held out to her, his fist opening and closing expectantly. It’s enough to make the tears finally fall, but Annabeth holds her ground, refusing to yield. With no other way to court her back- and with magic being too dangerous to use when there are witnesses nearby- Benjamin finally decides to go, Hunter refusing to break eye contact with his mother as the duo leave. It’s only after they’re gone that Anna begins to sob, letting her fingers untense around the handle of the broom, until she finally lets go. It hits the porch with a clatter, but it’s not loud enough to wake Anna from her worst nightmare.

It’s only after she’s regained her composure that Anna dares to go back inside. She finds Skout under her bed, the girl looking as though she's been crying. “... That was Daddy, wasn’t it?” Skout asks, after giving her mother a long, heartbreaking stare.

Annabeth slowly nods, willing herself to not start crying all over again. “It was, sweetie.” She whispers, too afraid to speak any louder.

Skout breaks, sobbing as she launches herself out of her hiding place and into her mother’s arms, the girl’s thin frame shaking with every sob. Anna waits out the storm, scooping Skout up and laying down with her on the bed, humming under her breath between small kisses to her daughter’s forehead and cheeks. It takes awhile, but soon enough Skout settles down, her sobs decreasing to pitiful sniffles, though her grip on Anna doesn’t cease, not that Anna really wants it to. Carefully, Anna sits up, her back resting against the headboard of her bed as she readies herself for The Conversation. The one she’s been dreading for weeks.

“... Why’d you yell at Daddy?” Skout asks, once she’s sure that it’s safe. It breaks Anna’s heart that Skout might be afraid of her.

“‘Cus Daddy’s… Daddy’s not very nice.” Anna says, trying to find a way to explain this to Skout without traumatizing her in the process.

“So? Not everybody’s nice, Mama. Mister Donley next door’s a right piece a work, ain’t he? You says so!” Skout points out, and if it weren’t for the somber mood, Anna would laugh. It seems like Skout’s been listening better than Anna’s given her credit for.

Anna sighs, shaking her head. “It ain’t the same, baby girl,” She explains. She swallows, knowing now that there’s no way out of this conversation without telling Skout the truth. “Baby, Daddy ain’t safe. He… he hits, and you know how hittin’ ain’t allowed, right?” She waits until Skout nods in confirmation to continue. “Well, he does it a lot, and that’s really bad. He’s really bad. So we can’t go back.”

Skout still looks upset, but it’s only after she’s sure that Anna won’t go into more detail on her own that she speaks up. “But… what ‘bout buba? Why’s he stayin’ with Daddy?”

Anna bites back a sob at the reminder, trying to convince herself over and over again in her head that she was right to leave him behind… but with every passing day, it’s a less convincing argument. “‘Cus Hunter can’t come.” She states, hoping that will be enough.

She should know better than to expect Skout to take that answer at face value. “Why not?” Skout prods, not understanding her mother’s reasoning.

It takes everything in Anna not to snap at Skout- after all, this isn’t her daughter’s fault. “‘Cus Daddy won’t let him come,” She says, trying a somewhat different approach. “I’m sorry, baby, but there ain’t nothin’ we can do about it… but someday, somehow, you’ll be with Hunter again. You’ll find your buba.”

Skout sniffs, trying to will away her tears. “... You promise?” She asks, an agony in her voice that makes Anna’s heart ache with guilt.

Anna nods, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “I promise, my little Skout. I promise.”

Skout grows up. She grows up so goddamn fast, Anna wonders sometimes where the time went. After turning Benjamin away, the nomad obeyed her orders and left her alone, and for that Annabeth has always been grateful. Yes, some days she wishes to wake up in bed beside Benjamin and pretend that nothing bad ever happened, but with each passing year she’s more comforted by his absence. Never again will she be forced to watch him kill an innocent passerby for having stumbled into the briar, or endure anymore psychological manipulation at his hands. Finally… finally, she feels like she’s moved on.

Like she’s mentioned, Skout has grown up rather fast, the energetic redhead becoming her own woman as time passes her by. She stopped asking about Dad and Hunter after awhile, and nowadays… well, nowadays she’s been studying. The oil town doesn’t have a school, but Anna’s been sure to buy the girl as many books as she can afford. Skout’s already proven herself to be resourceful, if nothing else, learning how to read faster than any of the other kids in town. She reads obsessively, taking the time to piece together stories and ideas in her head, and has also proven herself to be the best repairman in town. Anna’s never been more proud.

It’s on a gloomy, almost somber day that Skout comes running through the door- her hair a mess, her shirt’s top button undone- startling Annabeth out of her daydreaming. “Ma! Ma, there’re soldiers in town!” Skout shouts excitedly- her wordplay makes it sound like there’s danger, but her eyes give away the teenager’s eagerness.

Anna blinks, taking a moment to dry her hands off with a dish towel- she had been doing laundry when her daughter came in. Slowly, she stands from her formerly crouched position, giving her child a worried glance. “Soldiers? What you mean, darlin’?”

Skout closes the door behind her, grinning from ear to ear at her mother. “They’re called ‘Dandy Lions’!” She explains, handing a flyer to her mother. On it, there’s an advertisement to join a far away town named Oasis’ royal guard. “And they’re in town lookin’ fer bright eyed pupils and soldiers! Mama, I could finally go to school somewhere! They’ve got opportunities for people like me! Sure, I’ll start out as a spittoon girl, but I can work my way up! Oh, Ma, I’m so excited!”

Anna’s hardly listening, as her eyes have found themselves glued to the flyer. Oasis… on the tiny map painted into the flyer’s corner, Anna can see that the town isn’t far from the Briar, and if that’s the case… It’s far too dangerous. Yes, she’s recently promised Skout that she can go away for schooling if the opportunity arises, but this… this can’t be the one. “I’m sorry, baby, but no. You can’t go. It’s… it’s too close to Daddy.”

She hasn’t brought up Dad in a long time, and the look on Skout’s face shows that the teenager is upset at his mention. “So? Ma, I can handle myself just fine! ‘Sides, who’s ta say that old bastard’ll recognize me?”

Because he can sense your energy. Because he'll kill you if he finds out that I'm not there to protect you. Anna holds back from saying that, aware of what it will imply- Skout doesn’t remember that her Dad was a magic user… and she certainly doesn’t need to remember it anytime soon, not when the townsfolk have made it clear to her daughter that magic is nothing but trouble. “He just would, darlin’... again, I’m sorry, but you ain’t goin’ and that’s that.” Anna’s voice is stern and low, trying to remind Skout of who’s in charge.

Skout huffs, glaring daggers at her mother. “But, Ma… there’s this girl… she’s leadin’ ‘em, and she said that she’ll get me outta ‘ere… I could be more than an oil driller.”

And there it is. Annabeth, all too suddenly, realizes how her mother must’ve felt when she ran away. The look in her daughter’s eyes- love at first sight, adoration for a cause she barely understands- is something Anna recalls feeling almost two decades ago… she had been in love with Ben, and right now, her daughter’s in love with a woman who’s promised her the same things Benjamin did. That thought alone makes Annabeth terrified, scared that someone is going to kidnap her daughter. It doesn’t matter if Skout thinks she’s in love- Anna isn’t about to let her daughter go through everything her mother’s been running from.

“My word is final, Skout Driller. You are to stay here, with me, until I say otherwise. It’s far too dangerous, and this mystery woman could very well be just as bad as your Daddy.” Anna explains, leaving no room for arguing.

Tears build up in Skout’s eyes, but they’re rubbed away before they can fall. “Dammit, Ma…” Skout growls, frustrated beyond belief… but it’s better than dead. Better than kidnapped. “You just don’t get it! You don’t get what it’s like ta be trapped in some nowhere town, wishin’ you could be somebody! Don’t ya understand? I can’t get nothin’ done in my life in dis place! … I don't wanna grow old and die here. I gotta find out if I can be somethin’.”

Anna sighs. Hard. She really doesn’t want to get into this with her daughter, but… fuck it, there’s obviously no way around it. She has to tell her. “... I ever tell you how I met yer Daddy?” She asks, hoping that the pause has given Skout time to calm down.

Skout visibly falters, shocked by the question. It’s enough to break her tough girl act, at least for a little while. “No, you… you never really brought Dad up much when I was a kid.”

Anna walks over to the couch and takes a seat, motioning for Skout to sit next to her. She doesn’t continue her story until Skout sits. “When I was yer age- so ‘bout seventeen- there was this handsome stranger… he’d come to my family’s oil mill once a month to buy oil and food, so we got ta know each other pretty damn well. He was… God, Skout, when I first met him, he was the kindest gentleman I ever did meet. He’d tell me all sorts of stories, about how he’d grown up in a place where the trees had leaves, and everything was green and alive. He told me he loved me. He told me he could get me outta there… that he could help me be somebody. ‘Course I said yes when he proposed.

“After that, he and I ran away from there- I never even told my folks goodbye. They’d never liked yer Daddy, but I thought they was being harsh with him… shoulda known they was onto somethin’. Anyways, he and I moved way out south, and, well… we had you. And your brother, of course,” Anna pauses, noticing how Skout tears up at the mention of Hunter. Quietly, Anna reaches out and rubs Skout’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “Few years later, things got… worse. Daddy would get paranoid, start hurtin’ anybody who wandered near da house, and while he never hurt you or yer buba, he’d take to bruisin’ me a bit. Nothin’ major, but that among other things convinced me that I had ta get away. And yer Daddy, he knew I was runnin’... he hid Hunter, so that I couldn’t bring ‘im, but I still ran. I still got us outta there.

“So what I’m tryin’ ta say is… people can shower ya in love, can make all sorts ‘a promises, but dat don’t mean they’re good people. And people… they can tell how smart you are, baby girl. They can tell you’re one in a million. And they’re gonna try and convince ya that they’ve got everythin’ figured out, and that they’ll take care of ya, but they’re likely lyin’. Skout, baby, promise me you’ll be cautious, and that you won’t trust strangers. Promise me that you’ll stay here.” Anna takes hold of her daughters hands, trying to plead with her eyes. “Don’t leave me here,” She wants to beg. “Don’t leave me like Daddy did.”

“Mama…” The look on Skout’s face says it all- a stranger’s stolen her heart, and she doesn’t even want it back. She wants to be loved by somebody other than her mother, and in some way, Anna understands that. It doesn’t mean she thinks it’s smart, though. “Toth ain’t like Dad, not one bit- she and the Dandy Lions’ll keep me safe! I know you don’t believe me none, but… trust me, Ma. I can handle myself. ‘Sides, if’n I do run inta Dad, Imma give dat bastard whatfore!” Her grin is warm and loving, and goddammit… Anna’s never been good at saying no to that face. And she does have a point- she'll be surrounded by soldiers, meaning it'll be too dangerous for Benjamin to come near her.

Annabeth sighs, leaning forward and hugging her daughter. “... Okay,” She whispers, voice croaking with unshed tears. “But you promise me you’ll be safe, baby. And don’t go trustin’ nobody who says they be havin’ magic! And remember to write home! And-”

“Ma-” Skout gives her mother a somewhat frustrated look, but at least she isn’t angry anymore. She appears calmer now, glad that she’s finally been understood. “-’A course I’ll be writin’ to ya! And I know better than to trust magic. What am I to ya, a little one?”

“Sometimes you are, in my eyes. You’ll always be my darlin’ baby,” Anna admits, helping Skout to her feet as they both stand. “Now come along… let’s git you packed. Oasis looks to be a long ways from home.”

It’s a few years before Annabeth sees Skout again, not that she entirely expected to. Around here, if somebody’s kid manages to find a way out, they never come back. And just as well- Anna honestly hates it here some days, hates how no one here can stand change, but it’s home nonetheless. Besides, she wants to stay here in-case Skout ever comes home… which she does. It’s late at night when she comes home, a swift knock at the door waking Anna from her nap. She sits up, rubbing her lower back- she’s getting too old to pass out in her chair, but sometimes she just dozes without realizing it. She blames it on a life filled with stress and worry.

Slowly, she stands, soon quickening her pace when a second knock raps the door. Opening it, Anna is greeted by, first and foremost, the sight of her beloved daughter. “Skout!” She shouts, embracing her child in a tight hug. She doesn't give two shits if she wakes the neighbors. “Oh, honey! What’re you doin’ out here?” She pulls back, examining Skout’s face.

Skout looks absolutely exhausted, her hair somehow more wild than usual- when in God’s name was the last time she cut it?- with dark bags underneath her eyes. But her daughter ignores the questions, her movements making her appear erratic and scared. “Mama, you think I can come in now? I, uh…” Skout looks around, constantly checking over her shoulder. “I really wanna git inside.”

Something’s clearly wrong. Anna nods, stepping aside to usher her daughter in. It’s only then that she realizes that Skout’s brought company. The stranger is short- they’re a tad taller than Skout, but that’s not much of an accomplishment- their body covered in a large, dirty quilt. The newcomer wears a big, wide brimmed hat on their head, and their glove covered hand is joined with Skout’s bare one, the redhead leading the stranger inside- the blanket covers everything but the hat, making the stranger temporarily blind. This can’t be good; this stranger is clearly on the run. What the fuck has Skout been getting into!? Wordlessly, the duo enters, Anna locking the door behind them once they’re inside.

“I guess I best get us some tea… how you like your’s, stranger?” Anna asks, trying to coax the stranger into talking.

“He’ll have it like I do, Ma. He seems like the honey lovin’ type,” Skout answers for him, maneuvering the man to stand in the center of the living room. “Sorry, he ain’t much fer talkin’.”

“That’s fine, sugar. Not everybody likes ta chatter.” Anna says, leaving the room to get the kettle started.

After firing up the kettle, Anna takes to watching in secret from the doorway as Skout pulls the blanket off of the stranger, and… oh no. No, it can’t be. That can’t possibly be… that’s not Benjamin. Anna breathes a sigh of relief as she realizes that it really can’t be Benjamin- the stance is wrong, this man is too short, his body slimmer, somehow. When the stranger turns around to meet Anna’s stare- he must’ve felt her eyes on him- his eyes are the same milky cream color as Ben’s were, but somehow he’s… different. The hat fell off when Skout pulled off the blanket, and now Anna’s being treated to the sight of short, scruffy black hair on the man’s equally black head, the hair soft and curly. But if this isn’t Benjamin, then it has to be-

”Hunter isn’t talkin’.”

Benjamin glances up from his book, raising a nonexistent eyebrow at his wife. “What you mean, baby?” He drawls, setting his book aside.

“I mean he ain’t sayin’ nothin’! He won’t make a peep! Hell, even Skout is babblin’, but Hunter won’t make a sound. He just sits there, starin’ at me… it a species thing, hun?” Anna can’t hide the distress from her voice- she’s not familiar with how Benjamin’s race works, and she’s scared that this isn’t something that can be fixed.

Benjamin’s response does nothing to soothe her worries. “Bring ‘im ta me.” He orders, sitting up, settling his hands on his knees. He looks older than he should be… then again, he’s always said that he’s been alive for centuries.

Annabeth wastes no time, hurrying outside to get her son. He’s with Skout, the two ten month olds crawling around in the grass, a few rock Critters playing with the twins. “Hey!” Anna calls, earning her the attention of both babies. She walks over in strides, scooping up Hunter with ease. “You critters watch Skout for me, alright? Daddy needs his baby.”

One of the Critters- the largest rock, she notes- salutes. Anna would chuckle if she weren’t so worried. Carefully, she carries Hunter inside, the toddler grabbing a fistful of his mother’s shirt for leverage. Once she’s back inside, she hands Hunter to Benjamin, who sits the toddler down on his lap. With a clinical gaze and glowing hands, Benjamin inspects the toddler. “Say ‘Ah’.” He orders, and obediently, the toddler opens his void-like mouth, though no sound escapes. Gently, as to not harm the child, Ben sticks a glowing, gloved finger into Hunter’s mouth. The boy grimaces, unhappy with the taste, but otherwise doesn’t fuss. After a time, Benjamin reclaims his finger and cusses under his breath.

“Well? What’s wrong with ‘em, sweetheart?” Anna asks, giving her baby boy a longing look- she wants to hold him close, to will a voice out of him.

“He’s mute,” Benjamin keeps it simple, but it’s clear even he’s frustrated. “Fuckin’ hell… he ain’t ever gonna be able to use vocal spells… such a pity.”

“Vo- honey, our baby’s a mute, and yer worried ‘bout spells!?” Anna can’t believe her ears- how can Benjamin think about magic at a time like this?

Benjamin stands, giving Anna a harsh glare. “You thinkin’ I don’t care? ‘Course I do, he’s my son! But he’s got the Gift, baby, and he ain’t ever gonna be without it. He’s magic, jus’ like me! He’s gonna have to learn spells eventually, ‘n you damn well know it! You really gonna bitch at me fer worryin’? Fer wonderin’ how I’ll protect ‘im?”

Anna swallows, before ducking her head, defeated. “... No, dearest. I just… he ain’t ever gonna call me Mama, or you Daddy… aren’t ya a little sad ‘bout dat?”

Benjamin softens, reaching forward and hugging Anna with one arm, sandwiching Hunter between them. The baby blinks, before going back to clinging to his mother, unwilling to let go. “Oh, baby, don’t cry,” Benjamin murmurs, kissing Anna’s cheek- his lips are ice cold. “It’s gonna be okay. Skout can talk, can’t she? Our baby girl’ll more than make up fer Hunter’s silence. We’ve got eternity to figure it out.”

Anna nods hopelessly against her husband’s chest, burying her face in his shoulder to hide her tears. 'We’ve got eternity’... It feels more like a threat than a promise.

Finally managing to escape the memory, Annabeth wastes no time in closing the distance, hugging her long lost son close to herself. Skout looks more confused than a reindeer in summer, but Anna will explain later- she just needs to hold him close again, to rejuvenate that lost contact. Slowly, Hunter hugs her back, appearing grateful for the surprise hug. Has he been this touch starved? Benjamin was never really affectionate unless he needed something from her, so it should come as no surprise to Anna that her son would be deprived of such a thing… still, she forces the thought away and hugs him tighter, likely hurting Hunter’s ribs, but she can’t bring herself to care. He’s home. He’s finally home.

“Uh… Ma?” Skout raises an eyebrow at her mother, thoroughly confused. “Why you hugging the Nomad ‘a Nowhere?”

Anna ignores her for the most part, keeping her grip on Hunter. It’s not until her son starts squirming that she lets go, stepping back to look her son over. His face from the eyes down is covered in a red bandana, but otherwise his clothes perfectly match those of his father’s… maybe that means that Benjamin’s dead? Anna knows she should be happy at the thought of it, but she can’t keep herself from internally mourning for him. He’d been nice, when they first met… it’s hard to forget that short-lived kindness, even after all the abuse. Anna finally just grins at her son, before focusing her gaze on Skout.

“Skout, baby… I wish you’d told me you was bringin’ yer brother home… I woulda made you both dinner.” Anna can’t hide the sobbing note in her voice, tears dripping down her face.

Skout’s eyes widen, though Anna can tell she isn’t convinced. “It’s gonna be a long story ta tell, hun,” Anna explains, figuring that now isn’t the time. “Fer now, I think you two need some rest. Y’all must be exhausted,” She turns her attention back to Hunter, who looks even more shellshocked than Skout. She rests a hand on his cheek, savoring the contact. “Don’t you worry, sweetie, it’ll all make sense in good time.”

“Yeah, I uh… think restin’ sounds good right ‘bout now…” Skout murmurs. Suddenly, however, a harsh knock hits the door. The redhead visibly pales, giving her mother an incredibly apologetic look. Her voice drops to a whisper. “Ma… look, there’s a lot we gots ta explain too, but… Mama, jus’ play dumb, I beg of you! Tell ‘em we ain't here! Please!”

Anna nods, understanding completely. Back with Benjamin, she’d been made to play this role before… she’s more than willing to do this again for her daughter. “Go on then… yer bedroom’s still there, hide in there with yer brother!”

“Ma, I really don’t think he’s my-” Another knock shakes the door, interrupting Skout. “Fine fine,” She says, grabbing Hunter by the hand and leading him away. “Come on, you! We gotta hide!”

Hunter waves to Anna as he and Skout disappear down the hallway, causing Anna to chuckle. However, she schools her expression as she approaches the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. A tall, muscular man is there to greet her, wearing barely any armor, a large scar running diagonally across his right cheek. The stranger gives Anna an unimpressed once-over. “So sorry to bother you at this hour, miss,” The man says, keeping his voice friendly, though it’s clear he’s willing to use violence to get his way. “However, it’s come to my attention that a dangerous criminal and his accomplice have wandered into town… was wonderin’ if you’ve seen anyone suspicious.”

Anna puts on a sweet smile, trying to play up the innocent housewife routine. “Oh, I ain’t seen nobody new ‘round here! Nobody but my kids! They’ve been visitin’ me all week long, ain’t dat nice? Don’t often get ta see my kids!”

The man raises an eyebrow, but otherwise doesn’t give away his suspicion. “Funny, ‘cus I coulda sworn I saw that Nomad and his accomplice head in this direction…”

Anna continues to smile, waving the man off. “Nope! Nobody here but my kids and I!”

The stranger shifts his weight, allowing Anna to see Toro’s emblem on his shoulder armor. “You wouldn’t find if I… talked to them, would you, miss?”

Anna doesn’t even blink. “Sorry, they’re both asleep! They’ve been helping me with the pumps all day, and they’re absolutely exhausted. Maybe ask one of the neighbors? Martha next door’s a real chatterbox ‘bout gossip!”

It’s clear that the champion isn’t fully buying it, but there’s just enough truth in Anna’s explanation to warrant her innocence. “Well, if you say so… you make sure to come find me if anything changes. I’ll be in town.” With that vague threat, he walks away, leaving Anna in peace.

Anna shuts the door and groans, breathing a sigh of relief once the champion is gone. It’s been a long time since she’s had to do that- not since she was with Benjamin. Slowly, Anna makes her way into Skout’s bedroom. The redhead is hidden under the covers of her bed, and upon closer inspection, Anna finds Hunter hidden under the very bed itself, his terrified shivering causing the bed frame to shake. “All clear, kids,” Anna calls, pulling the blanket off of Skout and giving her daughter a tired smile. “You can come out now… I think he’s gone.”

“Oh thank the stars,” Skout says, before giving Anna a sorry look. “Sorry ‘bout puttin’ you on the spot like that, Mama… there’s a lot we gotta talk about.”

“Yes there is… but I wasn’t kiddin’ when I says you gotta rest up first- you look like you ain’t slept in days,” Anna chides. When Hunter peeks out from underneath the bed, Anna crouches down and tousles his hair, letting out a soft chuckle. “That goes fer you too, son.”

“Yeah, about that-” Skout begins to say.

“Rest. Now. Ya look damn ready ta faint,” Not to mention, I need time to figure out how I’m gonna explain this to you two, Anna thinks, but pushes those thoughts aside in favor of focusing on her kids. “Think ya can share yer room with yer brother?”

Skout blinks, looking ready to continue asking about this, but she eventually seems to give into her own desire to sleep. “Yeah yeah, he can sleep with me… but I ain’t sharing a blanket with ‘im! He can sleep on the bed, but no cuddlin’!” She points her orders at Hunter, who looks away in embarrassment.

Anna laughs at this, thoroughly amused by her children’s antics. “That’s fair… now get some sleep. We can discuss all of this in the mornin’,” She promises, helping Hunter to his feet. Once he’s up, he gives the bed a worried look. “It’s alright… here, I’ll git you another blanket.” Anna offers, trying to quell the nervous tension in the room.

Once Anna gets back with a large, blue quilt, she drapes it over Hunter’s shoulders. Her son visibly relaxes, clearly glad to have a blanket to sleep with tonight. Has he been sleeping enough? It’s hard to tell if he’s sleep deprived or not, but his sluggish movements are enough for Anna to go off of. With the promise of a bed to sleep in tonight, Hunter now gladly hops into bed beside his sister, wrapping himself in the blanket like a burrito. He lies down silently beside Skout, who already appears to be dozing off. With a whispered goodnight, Anna leaves her two children in peace, allowing them to finally sleep… and for her to finally figure out how in the hell she’s going to explain all of this in the morning. But it’s worth it… or at least, it will be.

Her kids will likely have to leave tomorrow- if Anna had to guess, she’d say it’s Benjamin’s old bounty that now rests on her beloved son’s head, and Skout’s just along for the ride- but she can at least guarantee them a big breakfast and an explanation. And if she’s lucky? Well… maybe she can finally keep her promise to Skout.

A/N: And here it is! My first contribution to this fandom (other than theory/shit posts)! I hope y’all like this fic; feel free to ask me any questions you have for the AU! I plan on doing another fic soon- one from Nodad’s (Benjamin, the original Nomad’s) perspective, so look out for that one! I just got inspired to do this one first because of signomad’s heartbreaking comic for my twins theory! Also, another shout out to bl00dw1tch’s Nodad Theory- I bring it up every time I post something for the Twins AU, but it’s still honest to God the reason this AU (theory??? If I’m right then hOLY FUCK) exists at all. So go check those folks out! See you next time!

~Supercasey

[underworldystuff]

Happy New Year, @deathbydiangelo! I hope you like your @pjolgbtnet secret santa gift (although it’s a bit late for a secret santa)

Have some fluffy Pipabeth:

AO3 Link

I See Rainbows - by @underworldystuff (leakyfountainpen)

Words: 1087

12

“You know Annabeth, these fireworks are almost as beautiful as you, except their beauty only lasts a few seconds, but yours will last forever. It was a great idea to come out here tonight.”

“Shut up, Piper.”

“No really, you’re amazing and I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you so much.”

“Aw thank you Pipes. I love you so much too.”

11

“Piper, this is my friend Annabeth. We went to school together.”

“Damn.”

“Oh wow. I never thought I’d see the day when Piper McLean was rendered speechless.”

“‘M not speechless, she’s just really pretty.”

“Well, I think you’re really pretty too, Piper McLean. Can I buy you a drink?”

“She’s mine now, Percy.”

~~~

"So..."

"What do you want, Percy?"

"You and Annabeth..."

"We just had a drink and chatted. I didn't even get her number."

"I can fix that."

"I know what you're trying to do Percy..."

"Hey, you're like my little sister, I want you to be happy. Besides, look me in the eye and tell me she's not your type."

"Fine, you got me."

~~~

"Annabeth. Break her heart and I'll break your legs."

"Don't worry, she hasn't even asked me out yet."

10

“So, Annabeth, can I take you out for dinner sometime?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind a repeat of this morning’s breakfast.”

“Great. I love breakfast, especially when it’s with you.”

“Well, I did live off eggs and bacon when I lived with Percy.”

"Is he still into Star Wars?"

"Ask the giant Han Solo cutout in his living room"

"Oh wow, that sounds terrifying."

"At least he's not keeping it in his closet anymore; I once went to borrow a shirt and lost about seven years of my life."

"Enough about Percy now, tell me about you..."

9

“Annabeth? It’s 3 am. What do you want?”

“I’m craving a milkshake from Olympus and you have a car.”

“But Olympus is all the way across town!”

“Please, Piper, please!”

“Okay, you monster. But I'm just doing it because I like you. Too much, maybe."

"You won't regret it!"

8

"What's this?"

"It's a key to my apartment. Percy told me your lease was finishing soon."

"So you want me to move in?"

"Well duh, I gave you the key and half of your stuff is already there. Besides, Daedalus likes you more than me."

"Your deciding factor was that your cat likes me better? God I love you."

"I love you too."

7

"Remind me again why I wanted to go to that party? I've got everything I need right here. Netflix, cookies, fuzzy blankets..."

"And?"

"The most wonderful girlfriend ever, who convinced me to stay in and binge watch Netflix with her."

"Damn straight."

"Or not."

"Damn right."

"Seriously though, these cookies may have replaced you on my list of favourite things."

"I might have to stop making them, then..."

"No! You're the best and I love you to the end of the Earth and back!"

"Shut up and watch, Piper... I love you too, though."

6

"Happy birthday, Annabeth!"

"Piper, you didn't have to!"

"But I wanted to. Now, open your present.”

“Piper!”

“Annabeth!”

“Is this a joke?”

“Nope.”

“You shouldn’t have.”

“Come on, you know you want it…”

“Thank you, Pipes.”

“Happy birthday, Annabeth.”

5

“So. You caught the bouquet.”

“Yup. Never thought I’d see those two tie the knot.”

“But what about the bouquet?”

“What’s so special about a bouquet?”

“Really Annabeth, do you not know what the bouquet toss is?”

“Nope.”

4

"Gotcha McLean. 3-2 to me."

"I can't complain though. I've got my extremely hot girlfriend on top of me."

"You're incorrigible."

"I'm yours."

"I wouldn't want you any other way."

"I love you Annabeth."

"I love you too Piper."

"Get a room, you two!"

"Shut up Leo, it's our yard!"

"I have to agree with him; let's continue this inside, Annabeth..."

3

"You wear a lot of bronze jewelry, Annabeth."

"Yeah, my mom wears it a lot, and she gave me some of her stuff a while ago."

"What are the patterns?"

"They're Ancient Greek; it's a family tradition. My pendant says 'Wit beyond mesure'; even my mom is a huge closet nerd."

"Cool."

2

"Your hands are freezing, Annabeth!"

"To be fair, it is really freaking cold out there."

"Have you never heard of gloves?"

"Of course I have, mother, I just forgot them at work."

"Well, come in, idiot. I've got hot cocoa ready."

"Thanks Piper."

"You know the only reason I'm doing this is because you look like some sort of angel when you're covered in snow."

"Yeah, right. You always think I look like an angel."

"You're not wrong there."

"Well, you look like a wood nymph then."

"Girls, girls, you both look pretty, now shut up and kiss, you're standing under mistletoe."

1

"Why is everyone always so excited for a New Year?"

"Because it's a new start, I guess."

"You're probably right. In that case, Annabeth Chase, marry me."

"Marry you?"

"Yeah. I had a whole speech about sharing a life together and stuff, but really, I just love you so much I see rainbows just looking at you and I want that to last forever."

"Well, it would be an honour, Piper McLean."

"Happy New Year, Annabeth."

"Happy New Year, Piper."

And then, they kissed.

0“Do you, Annabeth Chase, take Piper McLean to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, and trust her in sickness and in health, in adversity and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to her so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Piper McLean, take Annabeth Chase to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, and trust her in sickness and in health, in adversity and prosperity, and to be true and loyal to her so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“You may now kiss.”

“My baby is married! My beautiful, *sniff* wonderful daughter Piper!”

“What do you say we head straight to the hotel to avoid everyone, including but not limited to my mother?”

“You know we can’t do that Piper. Besides, I thought you couldn’t wait to see what Rachel got us?”

“But my mother!”

“But cake!”

“Alright, but only because I kind of have a crush on you.”

“I think it’s a bit more than a crush.”

“You sure about that?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good, because I’m sure that you’ve got more that a crush on me too.”

“Well, you’re right.”