#not even Luke’s team knew this was his plan how would Silena have

[amesliu]

Love how the response to the chapter about LUKE being a manipulator somehow garnered a lot of “how dare you Silena” comments when her main fault is falling for the same blond man nonsense Annabeth did. We really live in a society (society)

[my-random-ocs]

Rise Up Chapter 2: We Fight Demon Scorpions

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x OC (eventually)

Warnings: Angst, weapons, betrayal

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The next morning, the buzz at breakfast faded into the background as I attempted to wake up. I never really managed to fall back asleep after my nightmare.

A nudge against my shoulder made me jump, and I turned to see Silena sending me a worried look. “You okay?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. I zoned back into the breakfast announcements. Apparently at around three this morning, an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders at camp. I was so distracted by my nightmare and tossing and turning that I hadn’t even noticed. The magical boundaries kept the monster out, but it stalked along the border, looking for weak spots in our defenses. It didn’t go away until Lee Fletcher, the Apollo cabin’s head counselor, led his siblings in pursuit. After shooting a few dozen arrows into its armor, it finally got the message and left.

���It’s still out there,” Lee was warning us. “Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. Its eyes-” He cut himself off, shuddering.

“You did well Lee,” Chiron said, patting him on the shoulder. “Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before.”

“Aye,” Quintus said from his seat at the head table. “And it will happen again. More and more frequently.”

Wow, how helpful.

The campers murmured amongst themselves.

Everyone knew that Luke was planning an invasion into camp. Most of us expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. Our attendance was down, and that definitely didn’t help. When I started about four years ago, there had been over one hundred. Now there were only a little over eighty. Some had died. Some had joined Luke. Some had straight up disappeared.

“This is a good reason for new war games,” Quintus said. I didn’t love the glint in his eyes. “We’ll see how you all do with that tonight.”

“Yes…” Chiron said. “Well, enough announcements. “Let us bless this meal and eat.” He raised his goblet. “To the gods!”

We all raised our glasses and repeated the blessing.

I grabbed my plate, stood, and led my siblings to the brazier. “Aphrodite,” I whispered, tossing a hash brown into the fire. Mitchell showed Lacy what to do as I prayed to my mother. “Help me with Luke, and Grover, and protecting Amara…”

There was so much to list that I could have gone on all morning, but I headed back to my seat.

After a few minutes, I noticed that Grover was eating with Percy. Suddenly, my fork was halfway to my mouth when I felt somebody lift me by my shirt and take me to the Poseidon table. She plopped me down next to Grover and I swallowed my breakfast while Annabeth slid into the bench next to Percy.

“I’ll tell you what it’s about,” Annabeth said. “The Labyrinth.”

“Oh, okay, so we’re talking about this now,” I realized.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Percy told Annabeth. Campers weren’t allowed to switch tables. I wasn’t sure what the punishment was for switching, because it’s never happened. If Mr. D had been here, Annabeth and I would have been in big trouble, but he wasn’t here. Chiron apparently had already left. Quintus was still sitting at the head table, but didn’t say anything.

“We need to talk,” Annabeth insisted.

“But the rules-”

“Look, Grover is in trouble,” Annabeth interrupted. “There’s only way we can figure to help him. It’s the Labyrinth. That’s what Clarisse, Zia, and I have been investigating.”

“The Labyrinth isn’t in Crete anymore,” I continued. “Like a lot of ancient Greece myth stuff, it’s moved to America. Or, in this case, under America.”

“So… is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?” Percy asked.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down into the Underworld,” Annabeth corrected. “I’m not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It’s been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere through the Labyrinth.”

“If you don’t get lost,” Grover grumbled helpfully. “And die a horrible death.”

“There has to be a way,” I told him. Again. We’ve had this conversation more than a few times over the past few months. “Clarisse made it out.”

“Barely!” He countered. “And the other guy-”

“He was driven insane,” Annabeth interrupted. “He didn’t die.”

“Oh, joy,” Grover said sarcastically. “That makes me feel much better.”

“Whoa,” Percy said. “Back up. What’s this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?”

I glanced over at the Ares table. Clarisse eyed us like she knew what we were talking about, but as soon as we made eye contact, she quickly focused on her plate.

I lowered my voice as I turned back to Percy. “Last winter,” I started, “Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron.”

“I remember,” he said. “It was secret.”

I nodded. “It was a secret because she found Chris Rodriguez.”

“The guy from the Hermes cabin?”

Chris was a son of Hermes who had come to camp before I had. He was about a year older than I was, and used to be friends with Nisha and I, until he left camp soon after Luke did. Last summer, Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and I had found him on Luke’s war/cruise ship, the Princess Andromeda.

“Yeah,” Annabeth confirmed. “Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse’s mom’s house.”

“What do you mean he just appeared?” Percy asked.

“A few weeks after we got back from our quest,” I said, “Chris was found wandering around in the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, ranting about string.”

“String,” Percy said.

“He’d been driven completely insane,” Annabeth said. “Clarisse brought him back to her mom’s house so the mortals wouldn’t institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health.”

“Chiron even came out and questioned him,” I added. “But it didn’t do much good. The only thing we were able to figure out is that Luke’s men have been exploring the Labyrinth.”

“Okay,” Percy said, trying to take all of this in. “Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?”

“We weren’t sure,” I said. “That’s why Clarisse went scouting. Chiron kept things quiet because he didn’t want to start a panic. The only reason he involved me was because… well, it’s Luke.”

“And he involved me because the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects,” Annabeth said. “The architecture involved…” Her expression turned a little dreamy. “The builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed.”

“Except it’s a maze, right?” Percy asked.

“Full of horrible traps,” Grover added. “Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters.”

“But not if you had Ariadne’s string,” Annabeth countered. “In the old days, Ariadne’s string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string.”

“So Luke is trying to find Ariadne’s string,” Percy said. “Why? What’s he planning?”

“I wish I knew,” I answered. “At first, we thought he wanted to use the maze to invade camp, but that wouldn’t make sense. The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, so Luke wouldn’t be anywhere near our borders, let alone be able to get past them. Clarisse explored a little ways into the Labyrinth, but it was really dangerous. She had some close calls. Annabeth and I researched everything we could about Daedalus, but it didn’t help much. We can’t figure out what Luke is planning, but we know that the Labyrinth might be the solution to Grover’s problem.”

Percy blinked in confusion. “You think Pan is underground?”

“It would explain why he’s been impossible to find,” Annabeth said.

Grover shuddered. “Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!”

“But,” Annabeth said, “the Labyrinth can lead you anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, to trick you and kill you-”

“- But if you can make the Labyrinth work for you-” I continued.

“It could lead you to the Wild god,” Percy finished.

“I can’t do it,” Grover insisted, clutching his stomach. “Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware.”

“Grover, it may be your last chance,” Annabeth said. “The council is serious. One week or you learn to tap dance!”

A throat clearing gained our attention, and my head swiveled to the head table, where Quintus was staring pointedly at us. I had a feeling he didn’t want to make a scene, but Annabeth and I were pushing it by staying at the Poseidon table for this long.

“We’ll talk later,” Annabeth said. She squeezed Percy’s arm. “Convince him, will you?”

Annabeth got up and went back to her table.

“It’s going to be okay, Grover,” I tried to reassure him. “We’ll figure it out.”

He just stared dejectedly at the table. I stood up and returned to my breakfast with Cabin Ten.

____________

That night after dinner, Quintus had us put on armor like we were going to play capture the flag, but the camp’s mood seemed more serious than that. At some point today, the crates from the arena had disappeared, and I had a bad feeling that whatever was in them was now running around in the woods.

Quintus stood up at the head table. “Right,” he said. “Gather ‘round.”

I found Ethan in the crowd and went to stand between him and Silena.

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. Mrs. O’Leary bounced around him happily, looking for food scraps to eat, then came right up to me.

I grinned, scratching behind her ears.

“You will be in teams of two,” Quintus announced. Immediately, everyone started moving around to get to their friends, he shouted, “Which have already been chosen.”

Everyone groaned.

“Your goal is simple,” Quintus continued. “Collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course… you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive.”

The crowd muttered excitedly.

“Lot more exciting than capture the flag,” Ethan grinned.

“Tell me about it,” I agreed. The goal seemed simple. Most of us had killed monsters before- that’s what we trained for.

“I will now announce your partners,” Quintus said. “There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining.”

“Arooof!” Mrs. O’Leary howled. She moved from my side to bury her face in a plate of leftover pizza.

Quintus took out a scroll and started reading off names.

Silena was paired up with Beckendorf, and she couldn’t hide her smile. I nudged her shoulder with mine, smirking. She shoved me playfully, both of us grinning. See, Silena had a crush on Beckendorf that neither of them would do anything about, and hoped they would soon, because it was super annoying how they wouldn’t tell each other how they felt.

Travis and Connor Stoll were paired up, which wasn’t a surprise. They did everything together. Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher. Percy and Annabeth were together. Grover and Tyson were paired together, which neither looked very happy about.

Then my name was called. “Ghaziyah Banerjee and Ethan Nakamura!” Ethan and I grinned at each other, and high fived.

“They don’t want to give anyone a fighting chance?” Ethan joked. Both of us were great sword fighters, and always rocked capture the flag when Aphrodite and Hermes were allied. I couldn’t wait to see how this would turn out.

____________

The actual game itself wasn’t important. Ethan and I almost beat Clarisse and Travis, but Grover and Tyson had a little issue. In order to make sure they didn’t accidentally kill each other, we missed the box with the laurel that would have made us win.

Luckily, Ethan wasn’t mad.

As I started taking off my armor, Ethan shuffled around nervously. “You okay?” I asked, undoing the straps of my breastplate.

“Yeah, I just-” He stopped. “I need to talk to you.”

I furrowed my brows. “About what?”

Ethan took a deep breath, then said all at once, “I wanted to leave camp.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “You-”

“I wanted to leave,” Ethan continued, “and join Luke’s army. But I don’t anymore.”

My mind was reeling. “You wanted to leave?” I asked, unable to keep the hurt and confusion out of my voice.

Ethan nodded, looking ashamed. “I did. I have a lot of anger toward the gods- you know that. And when I met Luke, so did he. The gods don’t pay enough attention to their kids, and he was really the only one doing something about it. But I realize… that he isn’t going about it the right way. I’ve decided to stay.”

“You have?” I asked, my hopes raising slightly.

“Yeah. I just- you’re my best friend in the world,” he said. “You’re the only one who actually accepts that my mother is Nemesis. You’re basically my little sister. The last thing I want is to mess that up.”

I processed everything Ethan just said, finally whispering, “So… you’re staying?”

Ethan nodded, beginning to smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m staying.”

I grinned, squealing happily, and gave my best friend a bear hug, causing him to laugh.

“Hate to break up the fun,” a voice called, causing me to pull back. I turned to see Clarisse. “But we have a problem.”

I tensed, placing my hand on my sword. “What’s wrong?”

“Percy and Annabeth are missing.”

I would love to say I didn’t freak out.

Truthfully, I just about had a heart attack.

The whole camp, including Chiron, searched the entire woods.

After about an hour, I was on the verge of a panic attack when we heard shouts that they had been found.

Ethan and I followed the voices to Zeus’ Fist.

“Thank the gods!” I exclaimed, launching myself into Annabeth’s arms, causing her to stumble back from the force. Before she could react, I pulled away and hugged Percy tight. “Where were you two?”

“We’ve been looking forever,” Clarisse added as I pulled away, examining my friends for injuries.

“But we were only gone a few minutes,” Percy protested, confused at my outburst.

“Only a few minutes?” I repeated. “What, did you time travel?”

Chiron trotted up, followed by Grover and Tyson.

“Percy!” Tyson cried. “You are okay?”

“We’re fine,” Percy said. “We fell in a hole.”

We stared at him, confused, then looked at Annabeth.

“Honest!” Percy insisted. “There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute.”

“You’ve been missing for almost an hour,” Chiron said. “The game is over.”

“Yeah,” Grover mumbled. “We would’ve won, but a Cyclops sat on me.”

“Was an accident!” Tyson protested, then sneezed.

I would have laughed if I wasn’t so confused.

“A hole?” Clarisse asked suspiciously.

Annabeth turned to our mentor. “Chiron, maybe we should talk about this at the Big House.”

Suddenly, it clicked, and I looked at Clarisse, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion. “Oh, my gods,” I said in amazement, my eyes widening. “You found it, didn’t you?”

Annabeth bit her lip. “I- Yeah. Yeah, we did.”

About fifty campers started asking questions at once, but Chiron raised his hand, quieting everyone. “Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place.” He eyes the boulders like he just noticed something wrong with them. “All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!”

There was a lot of complaining, but the campers made their way back to the cabins.

“This explains a lot,” Clarisse said. “It explains what Luke is after.”

“Wait a second,” Percy said. “What do you mean? What did we find?”

Annabeth turned to Percy, worry clear on her face. “An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of camp.”

After that, Clarisse, Percy, and Clarisse headed back to their cabins, and I followed. It was difficult wrangling a bunch of eleven- to sixteen-year-olds together for bedtime. And I thought living with a one-year-old was difficult.

I turned toward the cabins, and I noticed Ethan was still there, a little ways away. He looked like he heard everything, but I wasn’t too worried. I smiled, pretending nothing was wrong.

“Come on, let’s head back,” I said happily.

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t read his expression, and it made me nervous.

We stopped as we reached our cabins. “Good night, Ethan,” I said quietly.

“‘Night, Zia,” he responded, and we went our separate ways.

[ashis2gay4u]

Heroes Of Olympus Heathers! AU

Here's the character list, in case people get confused:

Veronica: Percy Jackson

JD: Nico di Angelo

Martha D: Annabeth Chase

Heather C: Nancy Bobofit

Heather M: Silena Beauregard

Heather D: Drew Tanaka

Ram S: Luke Castellan

Kurt K: Octavian Augur

Big Bud Dean: Hades di Angelo

Veronica's Mom: Sally Jackson

Veronica's Dad: Poseidon Jackson

Kurt and Ram's Dad's: Hermes Castellan / Jeremy Augur

Ms. Fleming: Hecate Hearths

Principal Gowan: Zeus Skyson

'[text]' signifies what Percy is writing in his journal.

Now, on to the story!!

~

Percy Jackson stepped into the high-school, taking a deep breath as he tightened his grip on his open journal and pen. Another first day at Hell.

A boy bumped into him, one of the jocks.

Percy froze, and glared at him, "Hey, don't be a dick-"

The jock laughed, "What did you just say to me, bitch?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Percy replied, inching away, realizing who he was.

"That's what I thought, wimp," he said, smirking. His best friend walked up to them, and pushed Percy into a locker.

'Introducing Octavian Augur, the lead quarterback of the football team, and his best friend Luke Castellan, the captain.'

'Octavian allows his dick to lead him everywhere, and has a sense of cruelty regarding everybody. He's also the smartest guy on the football team, which is like being the tallest dwarf. Luke is charming, but is obsessed with being known. He did everything and anything to make sure people knew where he stood, and who he was.'

"What you got there, sissy? A diary?" Luke laughed, pointing at it.

"What a fag," Octavian added, knocking it out of his hands.

Percy watched in distaste as the two high-fived, and went to pick up his journal, only to find his best friend Annabeth Chase standing there, holding it out to him.

"Here you go, Seaweed Brain," she said, smiling.

Percy smiled back, taking the journal from her and cradling it against his chest, "Thanks, Wise Girl."

"No problem, Perce."

"Another year of Hell, and then University or College. Did you get your applications replied to yet?" Percy asked, opening his journal to continue his entry.

"Yep, all of them."

"You sent out ten, how in-"

"You must forget why you call me 'Wise Girl', Seaweed Brain," she teased, laughing as he blushed. "What about you?"

"Nothing. I sent out five, and no reply from anywhere. I'm doomed if I can't get into New Rome University, it's where Uncle Neptune and Dad went and they're both top-notch marine biologists."

Annabeth hummed, staring off into the distance. He followed her gaze, and found them both staring at Luke's ass.

"Annabeth-"

"I know, I know... But he has to still love me, I know he does..."

Percy was about to speak up, when people started clearing out the hallway. He quickly pulled Annabeth aside, and watched as the "Heathers" walked by.

They aren't all named Heather, but they definitely fit the trope in their own way; gorgeous, dumb, and cruel.

The first Heather stepped out, brushing her long, claw shaped, hot pink nails through her hair. She wore her usual emerald green outfit as she strutted down the hall, winking at the popular boys and sneering at the geeks and rebels.

'Introducing Drew Tanaka, the "Beauty Queen".  Bulimic, narcissistic, and obsessed with sex. Has a mean streak a mile wide.'

Percy didn't like her at all.

The second Heather stepped out, giggling as she stared at her phone, probably texting her boyfriend. She wore her usual yellow attire, which she somehow managed to pull off despite her black hair and crystal blue eyes.

'Silena Beauregard, the "dumb" one. She was sweet and kinder than the other two, but she got picked on for it often by her two best friends.'

Percy liked Silena, they used to be friends when they were younger, but then high school came and they stopped talking. He's sure she doesn't even know his name anymore.

The final Heather stepped out, donning her blood red clothes and scrunchie. She walked to the front of the group, seeming unimpressed with her friends.

'And last but not least, Nancy Bobofit, the queen fuckin' bee...'

Percy paused in his writings, before smirking.

'She is a mythic bitch.'

People started whispering about them, saying how they'd wish they were nicer, how pretty they were, how sitting at their table even once grants immunity, etc.

One guy made a creepy comment about a basement, nudity, a camera, and rats, but he chose to ignore it for his own sanity.

He watched as they went into one of the few non-gendered washrooms, fitted with three toilets, three stalled urinals, and three sinks each.

He suddenly felt the urge to pee, and after giving Annabeth a look of "wish me luck" he followed them in, heading into the first stall he saw.

Toilet, dammit all.

He could hear Drew puking in the stall next to his, and he cringed inwardly as Nancy said, "Pull it together, Drew. Bulimia is so last year."

"Yeah, Drew, maybe you should see a doctor," Silena added helpfully in a softer tone.

"Maybe you're right, Silena, I should."

The door opened, and the voice of Hecate Hearths, the student counselor, rang out into the room.

"Ah, Nancy, Silena..." She paused as she heard Drew puking again, "...And of course, Drew. Didn't you hear the bell? You're all late for class."

Percy quickly set to work in his journal, a plan forming in his head.

"Drew isn't feeling well, we're helping her," Nancy said sweetly. Her voice made Percy's blood boil, but he knew he couldn't back out now that the note was finished.

"Actually, Miss Hearths, I have the hall pass right here!" Percy said, flushing and stepping out of the stall.

Drew was now standing next to her friends, and the three of them stared at Percy in shock and awe.

Miss Hearth checked the note, and nodded. "Alright, but get back to class soon!"

As soon as she was gone, Percy found himself cornered by the three girls.

"Who are you?" Nancy demanded, glaring at him.

"P-Percy Jackson."

"Why would you do that?" Drew questioned next, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I want immunity," he blurted, "If you let me sit at your table just once, no talking necessary, people will think you at least tolerate me and leave me alone."

Nancy laughed, "Seriously?"

"I also do report cards and late slips!" he added.

"What about prescriptions?" Drew asked curiously.

"Drew!"

"Sorry, Nancy."

Nancy grabbed his chin, squishing his cheeks, and moved his face side to side, "For a greasy little nobody, you do have good bone structure..."

"And a symmetrical face!" Silena said excitedly, "If I took a meat cleaver down the center of your skull, I'd have two matching halves. Very important!"

"Of course, you could stand to lose a few pounds," Drew said, smirking at him.

"You know, this could be beautiful... Some eyeliner, maybe some light eye-shadow and mascara, and we're on our way. Silena, get this boy some blush, and Drew I need your brush. Let's make him beautiful~"

"Let's make him beautiful!" the other two repeated, doing as they were told.

"Okay?" Nancy asked sweetly as she sat him on the counter of the sink.

"Okay!" Percy said excitedly.

~

Percy was nervous as they all stepped out of the bathroom during second period, his face all made up with a blue-green eye shadow, black eyeliner, red blush, and mascara. His hair was somehow tamed due to Nancy's harsh brushing.

People turned to look at the four of them, and once again, the halls erupted into whispers.

"Who's that guy?"

"Who's the sexy dude?"

"Who is he?"

Nancy smirked and pushed him to the forefront, and Percy gasped as he turned to see Annabeth staring at him, "Percy...?"

"Percy."

"Percy?"

"Percy!"

Everybody started fawning over him, and his face lit up like a lighthouse on the shore at night, "Fuck yes!"

Nancy smirked, turning to the other girls. She nodded her chin at Annabeth, who was staring at Percy with a look of shock.

"Let's see how much of a man he really is," she whispered.

Drew and Silena nodded, giggling.

~

"No, no way!" Percy said, "It'll crush her!"

Nancy's smile faded to a snarl, "Are we gonna have a problem here?" she snapped, glaring him down.

He gulped, backing away.

"You've got a bone to pick?" she advanced, backing him up against the lockers. Drew and Silena moved to block his only two exits.

"You've come so far, why now are you pulling on my dick? I'd normally slap your face off, and everybody here could watch~" she purred, smirking.

Percy suddenly became aware of everybody watching the scene in silence, and he felt his body begin to tremble in fear.

Drew snatched the note from his hand and headed towards Luke.

He barely managed to get it back from her, but he gripped it like a lifeline as Nancy snapped her head in his direction.

"Well, I'm feeling nice, so here's some advice, listen up, bitch."

Silena, in all her pure glory, began to speak, Drew following her lead.

"I like!" They managed to say it in sync, which scared Percy half to death.

"Lookin' hot, buying stuff they cannot~" Nancy sang, her voice much more attractive than her face.

"I like!"

"Drinking hard, maxing dad's credit card~"

"I like!"

"Skippin' gym, scaring her-" she turned and smirked towards Annabeth, causing Percy's blood to run like ice through his veins, "-screwing him~" she then pointed at Octavian, who waved.

"I like!"

"Killer clothes, kicking nerds in the nose!"

He scrambled back as her leg swung up inches away from his face.

It's official, he's died and gone to Hell.

"If you lack the balls, you can go play dolls, let your mommy fix you a snack!" Nancy snapped, advancing again, "Or you could come smoke, pound some rum and coke, in my Porsche with the quarterback!"

"Honey what you waiting for?" Silena asked, managing to slip the note from his grip.

He reached out for it, only to have Drew block his way, "Step into my candy store!"

"You just gotta prove you ain't a pussy, anymore!" Nancy said, motioning to Silena, who had already delivered the note.

"And step into our candy store~" the three said, smirking.

"Percy, Percy look! Luke just invited me to his homecoming party! This proves he's been thinking about me!" Annabeth said, rushing over, the note in hand.

"Color me stoked," Percy said nervously, feeling extremely guilty at the excited look on her face.

"I'm so happy!" she said, seeming on the verge of tears.

"Yeah..." he said, forcing a smile.

~

"McDonald's has always been my place to go, always. No matter where we move, it's always right there!" Nico di Angelo said with a small smile.

Percy laughed, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he payed for the coffees, "Yeah, but it'll make you fat."

"Not if you work out daily, it doesn't," Nico insisted, "Come on, do I look fat to you?"

Percy, in all his idiocy, made the mistake of eyeing him up and down, hoping Nico didn't notice how his eyes lingered on his lips.

Blushing, he said, "No, you don't."

"Exactly."

"PERCY! WHERE IS MY COFFEE?"

"C-coming!"

"You have some... Interesting choice in friends."

"Yeah, I hate them, but I need them."

"Why?"

Percy said nothing, merely walked out.

~

That question is what was brought to the forefront of his mind as Nancy stood before him, hands on her hips.

"Nobody will talk to you, touch you, or even look at you! You don't get to be a nobody, you get to be dead to everybody!" she screeched, causing his ears to hurt.

Silena giggled, "I know who I'm sitting with at lunch on Monday."

Drew smirked, "Do you, big boy~?"

Percy turned to look at the others at the party, but everybody was turned away.

"I-"

"Come Monday morning... Percy stew will be on the menu~" Nancy purred with a smirk akin to that of a wolves before it tore out the jugular of it's prey.

He fled the party, tears in his eyes.

~

"P-Percy, what are you doing in my room?"

Percy took a deep breath as he stared at the other boy, before smirking, all of his uneasiness fading away as he stepped away from the window.

"I'm sorry, but I really had to wake you."

"W-why?"

Percy's smirk evolved into a huge grin, his cheeks flushing a dark red, "You see... I decided I must ride you 'til I break you~"

"W-what-"

"Nancy says I got to go, you're my last meal on Death Row," he purred, moving to straddle the younger boy, "So shut your stupid mouth, and lose those boxers~"

Nico's face went bright red, and he pulled Percy down for a kiss.

The rest of the night went even better then Percy had hoped it would.

~

"She's dead! Fuck! I just killed my best friend-"

"Percy, calm down, love," Nico cooed, cupping the older boy's face.

"W-we need to call 911-"

"-and get ourselves arrested for murder?" Nico questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Percy shouted, on the verge of a panic attack.

"Suicide note," Nico said, standing up and grabbing a pen and paper. "Write."

~

"Hey, Dad!" Hades di Angelo said, smiling at his son.

Nico rolled his eyes, his grip around Percy's shoulder getting tighter, "Hey, son."

"How was work?" Hades asked, before changing his voice, "Oh! It was crazy! They wouldn't let me blow it up, but I did it anyways!"

"That's great, son."

"Thanks, Dad," Hades finally noticed Percy, who smiled weakly and waved shyly, "Hey, Dad, meet my new girlfriend!" he added in a poor imitation of Nico's voice.

"Dad, this is Percy. Percy, this is.. My dad."

"Hello, Percy."

"Hi, Hades..."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Hades asked.

"Oh, no... My mom is making my favorite for dinner, fried salmon. With lots of ah... Salt."

"Oh, that's funny, isn't it dad? The last time I saw mom, she was waving out of a building you blew up seconds later."

"Yes, son," Hades said darkly, "Yes, it was."

"Uhm... I'm gonna go..."

~

"Drew! Silena! Open the door!"

"On no, oh no!" Drew laughed, locking the doors.

Silena gave him an apologetic glance, "No, no... No."

"You make our balls so blue~" Luke sang drunkenly.

"They're hanging sadly~" Octavian added.

Percy ran off, tears in his eyes and a burning rage in the pit of his stomach..

~

"Sword fight, eh?" Drew purred, the red scrunchie in her hair standing out against the green outfit she wore.

"What?" Percy questioned, staring at her deadpan.

"The sword fight in your mouth, idiot," Drew snarled.

"What? When-"

"Last night, yeah! Turns out the pretty girl was Percy Jackson dressed in drag!" a kid said from a few meters away.

'What?'

"Oh, everybody is talking about last night, Percy~"

"You bitch-"

"Apparently not like you, mutt. Go slobber on some more cock, eh?"

~

"Sword fight, eh?"

"Nico, I-"

"I know, Sea Prince, I know. Come on, we'll make 'em pay~"

~

Nico smirked as he loaded up his gun, "Not real, just tranquilizers. My grandpa Kronos brought them back from World War two."

"Well... Okay. What do we do though?"

"Plant a note saying they killed themselves for being gay for each other."

"Hah! Brilliant!"

"Mmhmm, they made you cry, so now they'll pay. They'll wake up as laughingstocks."

"I love you," Percy said, kissing Nico.

He hummed against Percy's lips, "Our love is God, baby."

~

"We love our dead gay sons, whether they were pansies or not!" Hermes Castellan and Jeremy Augur said at the funeral, just before Luke's poor mother broke down in tears.

"My son!" she wailed, "My beautiful, beautiful son!"

~

"You're a fucking psychopath! Get the hint, Nico!"

"But, Babe, our love is God~"

"Then God is dead!" Percy screamed, glaring daggers at the other.

He stormed off, ignoring Nico's call of, "You'll be back, sure as day turns into night! Nothing can break our bond!"

~

Silena clung to him, gripping his t-shirt so tightly he was scared her nails would cut into his skin through the fabric.

"I stand in a boat... On a raging black ocean, low in the water, and nowhere to go... The loneliest lifeboat, filled with people I know..."

"I know, Silena, but don't worry, we'll make it to shore someday..."

~

"Percy, please, talk to us son!" Poseidon Jackson cried, waving the book Moby Dick around.

"Your problems seem like life and death," Sally Jackson added, staring at her son with tears in her eyes, "But believe me, they aren't!"

"You don't know what my life is like!" Percy screamed back.

"Yo, boy, keep it together~" Nancy purred in his ear.

"You've burned that red scrunchie, come join us in Hell!" Octavian and Luke said in unison.

"Somebody's here for you~" Nancy said, smirking.

Percy's eyes widened, and he rushed upstairs.

~

"Don't make me come in there, Percy."

"Go away! I'll scream, and Mom'll call the cops!"

"Don't you want to make s'mores with me? We can smile and cuddle while their screams burn out! Ha! Get it, burn out?"

Percy knew he had only minutes to figure out how to get away, when he spotted the bed sheets.

'He wants suicide so badly? I'll give him one he didn't plan...'

"Percy, open the door! Open the door right now!" Nico snapped, brandishing his gun.

Silence.

"Don't make me come in there!"

Silence.

"On the count of three!"

Silence.

"One!"

Silence.

"Two- Fuck it!"

He kicked in the door, and froze at what he saw.

"No... Percy, why...?" Nico whispered brokenly, dropping to his knees. "You were all I could trust... Please don't leave me alone..."

The hanging body said nothing, merely swung back and forth.

"I can't do this alone," Nico sobbed, yanking at his hair. He suddenly got a crazy look on his face, onyx eyes wide and crazed, his grin so wide it could split his face in half, "Still, I will if I must!

He climbed back out the window, laughing.

"Percy?" Sally questioned, "I brought you a snack, blue cookies-"

She saw him there, hanging in the closet, and screamed.

His eyes opened.

~

"Drop the bomb."

Nico chuckled, "Oh, this little thing? I'd barely call this a bomb..." Percy gaped as the smile on Nico's face stretched, a crazed look in his eyes. “This is merely to trigger the packs of thermals upstairs in the gym, now those are bombs!”

Percy knew he didn’t stand much of a chance against Nico, but he also knew he had to try.

Nobody was going to hurt his friends anymore.

"I'm a fucking dead boy walking, and you're going down with me!" Percy shouted, tackling Nico to the floor.

Nico laughed, "I knew that noose was too loose!"

The gun went skidding far off, and as Percy was just about to reach it, Nico pinned him to the ground, smiling at him crazily. "I don't think so~!"

Just as his hands clasped around Percy's neck, a gunshot rang off.

Percy gave a sob as Nico spat up some blood, his beautiful onyx eyes wide in shock.

And then the unexpected happened.

Nico kissed him, sweet and gentle, before standing up and grabbing the bomb.

~

"I.. Am damaged. Far too damaged," Nico said softly.

Percy merely stared at him, not knowing where this was going.

"But you... You are not beyond repair," he added, looking up at him with a sad smile. He pressed the button on the bomb, the one to set it off.

"Wait-"

"Stick around a little longer, make things better, it's too late for me."

"Please, no!"

"You beat me fair and square..."

"Nico-"

"Please, stand back now, I'm not quite sure what this thing will do... I don't want my Sea Prince getting hurt," the younger replied, motioning with his hand for Percy to back up.

Percy took ten steps back, eyes wide in horror as the timer clicked down.

10.

"A little further..."

Percy took a dozen more steps back, full-on sobbing by this point.

5.

"Our love is God, baby," Nico said with certainty.

3.

"...Say hi to God."

~

"You look like Hell," Drew said with a sneer.

"I just got back," Percy replied, walking up to her.

"Hey-! What're you-"

In one swift motion, he kissed her cheek, yanking the red scrunchie from her hair.

"No more. War is over. We're all damaged, we're all broken up and hurt, but that's okay! We'll heal, all of us! If nobody loves us now, someday, somebody will."

Drew put a hand to her cheek, blushing as she glared, "You stupid-"

"Shut up, Drew," Silena said, "Percy's right."

Percy smiled at her, and she smiled back at him softly.

He turned to Annabeth, who was sat in her wheelchair, "Annabeth, are you free tonight...? I was thinking, maybe, we could hang out..? Rent a movie, something with a happy ending..?"

"Are there any happy endings...?" Annabeth asked softly.

"Maybe not now, but someday there will be," he said confidently.

She smiled, throwing her arms open.

He eagerly obliged, hugging her tightly.

"For now, let's party!" A kid yelled.

For the first time since he first became a "Heather", Percy felt happy, and free.

{La Fin}

~Ashton Bende

[annabethwisegirl-chase]

250 Headcanons (Part 3)

Headcanons #101-150. These cover from the events of Battle of the Labyrinth through the entirety of the Heroes of Olympus series, into the beginnings of the Trials of Apollo and the Magnus Chase series, and even a little beyond.

101.  The night before Percy and Annabeth’s not-date (which was a date in her mind, let’s be real) she felt ridiculous, asking Silena for advice.  After all, they were just going to go see the Avengers and then goof off afterwards.  Yet, the older Aphrodite camper spent at least two hours restyling Annabeth’s hair in a way that she claimed looked the most flattering.  She even gave the younger Athena camper make up tips and little ways to flirt.  Which, Annabeth found completely ridiculous and not totally believable because it took Silena way too long to start officially dating Beckendorf.  So really, how good were these tips?  Silena had insisted that Annabeth find her the next day for help getting ready, but she felt too ridiculous.  So, she ended up convincing Peleus to give her a leg up into Thalia’s tree and hanging out there until Argus took her into the city.

102.  Speaking of the Avengers, Annabeth’s absolute favorite superhero in the world is Captain America.  Some people think he’s lame because he doesn’t have “real” powers or anything, but that’s part of the reason Annabeth loves him.  She grew up in a camp where she was surrounded by people with crazy abilities, and it was something she never had.  There were definitely times when she was jealous about the whole getting jipped on powers thing, but if Steve Rogers could become Captain America, then Annabeth could be a super awesome demigod.  Her dad also has a crazy insane Captain America comic book collection with several collector’s items that he swears is because of the “historical value” of the comics.  But Annabeth knows that her dad definitely loves the stories as well.  On the same note, she absolutely despises Spider-Man.  Anyone who insists on dressing up like a spider and uses webs to entrap people is seriously disturbed in the head.

103.  Annabeth’s dislike of Rachel stems from a deeper issue than the fact she believes Rachel likes Percy.  Rachel is mortal.  Even though she’s eccentric, she’s completely normal and not connected to their demigod world (at least, in BotL she’s not).  By the time the fourth book rolls around, Percy is clearly 500% done with the gods and is starting to get tired of this whole prophecy thing.  And Rachel provides him with a way to escape from the world of gods and monsters.  The world that Annabeth has always belonged to.  Because, honestly, even though she tries, Annabeth in the mortal world doesn’t really work.  Sure, she’s gotten better at playing the part, but she’s still drawn back to the world of fighting and quests because that’s how she grew up.  And she craves the adventure that comes with that world.  She always will.  With Rachel now in the picture, she gives Percy the opportunity to leave the world that’s constantly putting him in danger, and in the same length, to leave Annabeth.  By this point, Annabeth has already been left by her family, Luke, Thalia (twice), various campers, Grover, and is not about to add Percy to that list.  Which is why, during her quest and their time at camp, Annabeth pulled away from him.  It was just easier for her to put up her walls again so that when he did leave (because people always leave) it wouldn’t hurt so much.  Also, there’s the fact that both Percy and Annabeth are certain Percy’s not going to be alive come next year, and so it just gives her another reason to distance herself.

104.  When Annabeth goes back to Hephaestus’s workshop, she’s all alone.  When she starts looking for a way to get back to camp through the labyrinth, she constantly hits dead ends.  In some sick way, she figured that the maze was playing with her.  Her quest was a dead end, saving Luke was a dead end, and all her friends that came with her were dead.  At one point, she ends up hitting the wall and breaks her hand from it.  One ambrosia square and delta square later, she does manage to get out and make her way back to camp.

105.  Somehow, it always seems to fall to Annabeth to break bad news to Sally.  After Annabeth got back to camp, one of the first things Chiron had her do was to call the Jackson household and relate the tale of Percy’s explosion.  He claimed that it was because Annabeth was the only one who would be able to answer all of Sally’s questions.  She honestly believes it’s just because Chiron didn’t want to break any bad news to the actual angel that is Sally Jackson.  

106.  Growing up in the south, it’s a common practice for people to be “Mr.” and “Ms.” all the time.  It took Annabeth three months when she first came to camp to stop calling Chiron “Mr. Chiron.”  And, although Sally’s told her dozens of times to refer to her by her first name, Annabeth can’t break the habit of “Ms. Jackson.”  It’s a respect thing and the amount of respect Annabeth has for that woman literally cannot be measured.  

107.  Annabeth’s pretty sure the smartest thing she’s ever seen Percy do was pull a finger gun on Briares during their game of rock, paper, scissors.  Even she wouldn’t have thought of that.

108.  After the Battle of the Labyrinth, Annabeth spends most of the rest of the summer staying in her cabin, studying the laptop Daedalus gave her.  Her and Malcolm work on devising various potential battle strategies, and Chiron has her working with him and Clarisse to develop mini missions to send people on in an attempt to weaken the Titan army.  She also finds herself spending a lot of time with Silena, listening to her drone on and on about Beckendorf.  It kind of makes the fact she’s avoiding Percy and that Luke’s no longer Luke a little harder to deal with.  But, it also somehow helps to hear about a relationship that isn’t completely falling to pieces.  The only time she truly makes it an effort to hang out with her best friend is for the Fourth of July fireworks.  After all, she’d already asked him, and it’d be kind of rude not to show.  The night’s still awkward and they don’t have quite as easy of a banter as they had years prior.

109.  Since she doesn’t go home for school that year, Annabeth spends the school term still working on mini missions.  She gets sent off on a couple of her own, usually teamed up with Clarisse, Connor Stoll, or one of her siblings.  It’s during these that she finds that Connor actually isn’t just another annoying Hermes camper, and they both find some strange common ground in missing the old Luke.  Often, to pass the time while they’re traveling, Annabeth tells old stories about her and Luke’s days on the run, while Connor tells her about plots and pranks Luke was the mastermind behind.  Each mission, it seemed strange that Silena would hug them a little tighter and a little longer.  But no one really asked her why.  They just figured it was some sort of emotional Aphrodite thing.

110.  For each of her missions, Chiron was extremely careful to make sure he sent Annabeth places where he knew Luke was not.  So, while she took out various parts of the army, or helped with gathering intel, she never saw Luke.  But she didn’t know about Chiron’s careful planning and educated guessing as to where Kronos currently was.  Every mission, she still looked for him, hoping that she might be able to bring him back.

111.  Also, since she doesn’t go home, Annabeth takes Sally up on her invitation to attend the Jackson-Blofis wedding.  She spends a solid week debating on whether or not to cancel and just send a nice card instead.  But, the day of, Annabeth just kind of goes for it and has Argus take her into the city.  She has her invisibility cap on her, and does her best to hide from the guests as often as possible.   Well, specifically, two of the guests that are her age, a girl with curly red hair and a boy who’s been stuffed into a suit because only it’s his mom’s wedding day.  She hugs Sally after the ceremony, and it’s the first time she meets Paul.  He makes some lame Shakespeare reference, and Annabeth decides then and there to adopt him as her newest father figure.

112.   Chiron does have Annabeth go home after Christmas break, insisting that she see her family.  She hugs her brothers a little too tightly before she leaves and kisses her dad on the cheek--something she hasn’t done since she was little--because she knows there’s a very real possibility it might be the last time she sees them.  Matthew and Bobby complain that she’s strangling them, and Frederick seems a little weary that something’s going on.  He knows that there is something stirring in the demigod world, but Annabeth’s been careful to try and keep all of them out of the dark as much as she can.  Otherwise, she’s afraid they might keep her from fighting.  And nothing would keep Annabeth from seeing this through until the end.  

113.   It’s Beckendorf’s death that makes Annabeth reconsider how she’s been treating Percy, so she does make an effort for them to fall back into their old routines.  They start working on chores together again, but her words still end up being completely measured and thought out.  The first time he brings up Rachel though, who she still views as his out, she decides that it’s too much.  She doesn’t speak to him again until right before the battle, when he calls her.  It actually ends with her moping most of the time, because she just knows that he’s not going to be around in a few days and they’re spending the rest of the time ignoring each other.  

114.  She doesn’t officially know about the mark of Achilles on Percy, but there’s already a sneaky suspicion because he’s been way too good in the battle.  Even by Percy level standards.  Right before Ethan goes to stab him, there’s almost a cold chill that hits her in her own lower back.  It’s a strange warning, but it’s enough to get her to throw her in the way of the knife’s path, intercepting it with her own shoulder instead.  It’s still the most noticeable scar that she has, and she’s glad that it’s in a place that’s easy to cover it up.

115.  It’s almost creepy how much information she’s absorbed from listening to her dad through the years.  But, none of it really seems to matter until she’s in a helicopter, trying to keep it from crash landing.  She swears she hears her dad’s voice in her ears, coaching her through all the steps and she really regrets not taking him up on more rides in his Sopwith Camel.  Heck, she thinks she might even try for a pilot’s license after the experience since it did come so naturally.

116.  She hears Luke’s voice in her head whenever she fights, telling her to make sure that her footing’s correct, or walking her step by step through various maneuvers he taught her during their years together.  It definitely made for a chilling experience when she was fighting Kronos, and hearing a different voice coming out of Luke’s mouth, while the one in her head was his true one.

117.  Annabeth honestly is not sure whether or not she lied to Luke when she told him that she didn’t love him.  Some days, she feels like it’s a lie and it makes her feel extremely guilty, while other days, she’s sure she spoke the truth.  And it makes her feel better knowing that one of the last things Luke heard wasn’t another lie.  Because he had been told so many up to that point, and the last thing she’d want to do was add on to them.  She thinks it might be a lie, because even the Oracle spoke of losing a love to worse than death.  And it was a line that clearly pertained to Luke.  If the mummy even knew about her affection for him, then clearly there was something there.  And she was so certain to stick up for him every chance she got, certain that no one else would ever make her feel the way he did.  And really, no one has.  On the flip side, she thinks it was the truth because she’s not so sure it wasn’t just some sort of hero worship and infatuation.  By the time Luke asked her if she loved him, she had already fallen in love with someone else and knew what it truly meant to be in a much healthier and loving relationship (even if they weren’t together yet).  And what she felt for Percy was nothing like what she felt for Luke.  It honestly really frustrates her that she doesn’t even have a solid answer, and she spends way more time debating it than she probably should.

118.  Percy and Annabeth’s first date started out as awkward as it could get.  It was about a week after Percy’s birthday and they had both already started back to school.  They had agreed to just spend the day exploring the city, but they were both trying way too hard with one another, watching what they said and how they acted.  There were a lot of awkward silences, sweaty hand holding, and asking questions that they both already knew the answer to.  Eventually a monster showed up and the two fell into a regular routine to kill it.  Then, covered in monster guts, they decided to just go back to the Jackson-Blofis apartment and watch a movie.  Annabeth doesn’t remember what movie it was, just that they spent the whole time making fun of the ridiculous plot line going on, and substituting their own dialogue instead.

119.  The green dress that she wore on her one night trip to Paris still hangs in the back of her closet at her dad’s house.  She doesn’t ever think she’ll wear it again, because she doesn’t want anything to happen to it.

120.  During her sophomore year, there were several weekends where Annabeth would go on little expeditions with her roommate around the city.  They would venture to various landmarks in New York, as well as to various museums.  It was a way for them to feel “cultured,” and it was the perfect way for Annabeth to draw inspiration for her designs for Olympus.

121.  When Percy went missing, it once again fell to Annabeth to break the bad news to Sally.  This time, she chose to do it in person instead of over the phone.  Paul came back to find Annabeth, with her arms around Sally, whispering promises that they would find him.  That they were looking everywhere they could and she wasn’t going to stop until he was home.  For the next several weeks, she’d spend at least two nights a week at their apartment, going over any and all of the information they’d collected on Percy’s whereabouts--even if they did end up just being dead ends.  Sally would always have a fresh plate of blue cookies waiting for when Annabeth came over, and the two would sit at the counter, talking.  After the quick debriefing, Sally would relate stories about her youth and about Percy growing up.  Annabeth would talk about her family in California and how she kind of missed her brothers and her dad.  Paul would come home, and he and Annabeth would discuss various plays and historical events while Sally cooked dinner.  By the time all three felt that the evening was truly done, Sally would insist it was too late for Annabeth to venture back alone.  So, she’d end up crashing in Percy’s room.  It was comforting somehow, to be there, but it was also creepy.  Everything was just waiting for him to come back, and she was careful not to move anything around too much.  She wanted it to be just the same way for him as it was when he left.

122.  During the short amount of time that Jason, Piper and Leo are in camp, Annabeth really only hits it off with Jason.  Sure, she likes Piper, and thinks they’d make great siblings, but there’s not a lot of back and forth there.  Instead, once they make the connection that Jason and Thalia are connected, Annabeth spends almost an entire day relating stories about Thalia.  Some of them are hard, since so many involve Luke, but she manages to avoid bringing him into them too much.  It’s just easier to pretend he wasn’t really there and that Thalia was the hero Annabeth had growing up.

123.  During the time spent building the Argo II, Annabeth does use that time to bond with both Piper and Leo.  She spends hours with Leo in Bunker 9, looking over blueprints and helping him as much as she can with the actual construction of the ship.  She’s really the only one who half understands what it is that he’s talking about, and there are many late nights spent there.  In fact, both of them end up losing count of the number of times they have to wake the other one up in the morning, grease smeared on their faces, in order to make it to breakfast on time.  The running gag with Piper about the breakfast thing started out as a complete accident.  Still exhausted from working with Leo the night before, Annabeth was sitting with Piper and discussing the progress they were making.  However, because she was still half asleep, she ended up eating half of Piper’s food.  The next day, Piper returned the favor, and it just kept going.

124.  Arguing with Athena was one of the most frustrating experiences of Annabeth’s life.  Her mom wasn’t all there, which only made it harder to appeal to one of her logical senses.  And, whenever she’d switch into her Roman counterpart, it was harder, since the goddess wouldn’t even recognize Annabeth as her daughter.  When Athena stripped Annabeth’s cap of its powers, she didn’t know immediately.  Instead, she was in the middle of a fight with a monster on the way to visit Sally right before they left, and she had on her invisibility cap to try and surprise it.  But it swung right at her as though it could see her.  Instead of watching where the strike went, Annabeth looked down and realized she could see herself.  She ended up with a badly bruised arm and several cuts on her face and legs, and fled from the scene instead of fighting the monster.

125.  Annabeth first learned about hot chocolate being a universal drink from her father.  During one of her times living at home, there were many nights where she’d have trouble falling asleep.  She’d often end up downstairs in her dad’s living room, flipping through whatever was on television until she’d pass out on the sofa.  Once, her dad came down and saw her there and made her hot chocolate.  He explained all about the history of the drink, just trying to find something interesting to discuss with his daughter.  It was one of the first times they stayed up late, just talking, and it seemed like one of the first real truces between them.  The fact she was walking around New Rome, drinking it again with Reyna seemed almost symbolic.

126.  It was weird being that close to her home and not going to see her dad and brothers.  What was even weirder was the fact that she lived that close to Camp Jupiter for so long and never had an inkling that it existed.  Once, she saw a couple kids in purple t-shirts with swords while she was on a school field trip.  But, she just figured it was some weird group of re-enactors that accidentally ended up with actual swords.

127.  One of the worst parts of being on the Argo II was when the eidolons were on the ship, possessing Jason and Percy.  Seeing the boy she spent so long looking for, with golden eyes where sea green had once been, only reminded her of another young man she’d lost.  Another boy whose eyes she’d been forced to watch change from blue to gold, and his soul disappear with it.

128.  Growing up, Annabeth never felt like she was quite good enough.  After all, you grow up with Aphrodite kids, you watch the boys you like fawn over other girls, you really have issues with self image.  Meeting Aphrodite only made her insecurities about a hundred times worse.  She was literally everything Annabeth wished that she could be, and took bits and pieces from every other girl Annabeth had ever felt jealous of.  She had Rachel’s curls, Silena’s hair color, Scarlett Johansson’s body, and Emma Watson’s face structure.  It definitely left her feeling inadequate for the rest of the day.

129.  The first time Annabeth tells Percy that she loves him is a complete accident.  Granted, she’s known it for years, but always felt a little odd at the idea of saying it.  After all, it’s really one of the first times she’s ever actually vocalized the sentiment to anyway.  She doesn’t remember saying it to her father, or any of her friends, and Annabeth has it in her head that it’s supposed to be some big deal.  When he ends up drenching Octavian, it just sort of slips out and she’s not even sure that she’s said it until later.  She then spends the next day on deck debating with herself whether or not Percy heard her and that’s why he didn’t say it back.  She blames her recent encounter with Aphrodite for making her fret over something so stupid when she should be focused on getting the Athena Parthenos back.

130.  One of the things that she hated most about her solo quest (though there were so many) was that she wasn’t where the main fight was.  She’d always felt a responsibility to Nico di Angelo after he lost Bianca.  Not having any family was something she felt like she could definitely relate to.  So, the fact that she wasn’t there to help rescue him and assure him that everything was going to be okay--the way she was sure Bianca would have--almost seemed unfair.  And then, obviously, there’s the fact that she hated being alone, breaking her foot, fighting the mother of all spiders... The list went on, really.

131.  For years, Annabeth suspected that Nico had a crush on her.  It’s only when she sees the look in his eyes as he promises Percy to lead the others to the other side that she figures out what’s really going on.  She doesn’t say anything.  After all, it wasn’t her secret to tell.

132.  After her quest, Annabeth really, really hated owls.  There was also a time when she really wanted to go to Greece to see the Parthenon.  Not anymore.  She never wants to go back to Greece ever again.

133.  For Annabeth, the worst part about Tartarus are the arai.  She knew, of course, that no monster really likes to be torn down by a demigod.  But, they would always be reborn.  The fact that so many of them use their dying thoughts and wishes to curse her haunt her.  And it almost makes her feel guilty about all the pain she’s caused.  There are multiple knife wounds inflicted to her stomach, the blindness, and the feeling that she’s all alone again.  That’s the worst.  She already blames herself for dragging Percy down there with her, and feeling like he abandoned her (like everyone else in her life had) almost seems like poetic justice.  It’s why she doesn’t call for his return.  It’s why she calls for an answer to why he left.  She wants to know that it’s not resentment he feels towards her.

134.  There’s exactly one time in her life that Annabeth has ever been scared of Percy.  After all, he’s a Seaweed brain who would have been dead long ago if it weren’t for her.  And yet, the power he unleashes on Akhlys is enough to stop her dead in her tracks.  She’s always known that he’s a powerful demigod.  It was arguably the second thing she learned about him (after the fact he drooled and talked in his sleep).  But seeing him snap like that was enough to strike genuine fear in her heart.  And it scares her to think he was pushed that far in an attempt to protect her.  It’s enough to make her feel like she’s toxic for him, and has even led to her contemplating their break up more than once, if only to get him away from her for his own good.

135.  When they get back from the depths of hell, Annabeth spends the next several days feeling completely useless.  All she wants to do is sleep and catch up on the hours she was deprived while they were fighting for their lives.  Yet, every time she closes her eyes for too long, the terrible visions come back.  She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, sleeps with the lights on, and has bags under her eyes that almost seem as if they threaten to swallow her entire face.  It makes her feel useless until the final battle with Gaea.  And even that’s just a brief moment of her former glory.  Her days at camp cause the nightmares to return and she pushes away anyone that tries to help her deal with what she experienced.  It’s too terrible to talk about, and it’ll take her well over a year before she ever does speak of it.

136.  She ends up striking a strange friendship with Nico during this time.  They had previously started to become friendly when Annabeth was working on designing the new cabins for camp and repeatedly went to him for input on the Hades cabin.  But now, they found ways to sit comfortably in silence, in a way that would often freak out the other campers.  After all, she still felt protective over him and had a strange sense of respect of all he had been able to handle.  They found the number of similarities between them shocking and eventually struck up almost a new brother and sister type of relationship.  He makes sure she doesn’t disappear for weeks at a time into her work and into her head and she makes sure that he always has something to eat and a warm sweater on when he goes shadow travelling or visits the Underworld.  Most of the other campers don’t really understand their friendship, but to them, it makes all the sense in the world.

137.  One of the hardest things about returning to camp life is the sword fighting.  Once, it was an activity that she was good at.  After all, she’d been training to fight with a knife since she was seven years old.  For ten years, it had been a way to blow off steam and a great way to focus her attention.  But after her time in Tartarus, sword fighting becomes almost impossible.  The sounds of metal clanging and people trying to fight her is enough to send her right back down to that awful place.  Even though the logical part of her knows that it’s all controlled, her instincts take over, and she’s ended up with one too many close calls with her opponent screaming for help.  Annabeth just kind of blacks out and lets her body take over until the poor sap she’s sparring with is on the floor, broken and bloody, with her knife at their throat, ready to slice.  Then, when she doesn’t go full on warrior princess mode, she ends up collapsing into a puddle in the corner, crying and screaming for all the pain and terror to stop.  Her hands go straight to her ears and her eyes shut tight.  It usually takes Piper and her charmspeak to be able to pull her out of it, and Chiron basically sets up a new, “special” time for her defense training.  A time when she’s all alone in the arena and only has the practice dummies as targets.  It keeps everyone safer that way.

138.  Annabeth legitimately does not understand Carter Kane.  Like she thinks Sadie is awesome and is always trying to text her to get insight on some new idea.  Likewise, Sadie often is the one texting her.  Boy, if Annabeth thought she had boy drama, it is nothing compared to the things Sadie has to deal with what with one of her crushes hosting one of her other crushes.  But Carter?  He seems to have some weird sort of pissing contest continuously going one with Percy, which she doesn’t get at all.  Personally, she thinks both boys are being incredibly stupid--but that’s par for the course with Percy.  She almost expects more out of Carter, despite how little she knows him, and is almost disappointed in the fact he doesn’t put an end to the ridiculousness.  Also, as soon as she finds out the Egyptian gods are a thing, she ends up creating a really big bulletin board in her room at school, connecting all the gods together based on their area of power.  It makes her wonder exactly how it works having more than one pantheon, but thinking about it too much makes her brain hurt.  Which is a feat that is hard to achieve. 

139.  Finding out that Sally’s pregnant definitely comes with a weird mixture of feelings.  Granted, Annabeth knows that these people aren’t technically her family, but she’s definitely come to love them like they are.  Percy’s eyes sparkle when his mom tells her the news, and Paul seems extremely proud of the fact that his own child is on the way.  Sally looks tired, but Annabeth can’t deny there is some sort of glow around her.  It’s strange, really.  This is the first pregnancy that anyone has ever been excited to tell Annabeth about--well, she really only has one other to compare it to--and it makes her feel like they’re making some mistake in wanting to include her on this secret.  She’s always believed that she’s bad with babies and small children and chalks this up to the fact she won’t be invited around to the Jackson-Blofis household as much anymore.

140.  She spends the rest of year in New York, but opts to go home right before school starts back for her senior year.  It’s the first time she’s seen her dad, her step mom, or her brothers since falling into that horrible pit of despair.  Annabeth never called to talk to her dad about it, but he seems to know as she shows up at the airport.  He just puts his arm around her shoulder, takes her bags from her, and drives her home in silence.  When she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, her dad’s always there to assure her that she’s okay, and they watch old movies on the couch until she falls asleep again.  Everything but Roman Holiday, she makes sure of that.  Emily tries to keep Matthew and Bobby away from Annabeth again, fearing what she might do after all she’s been through.  But, the boys are old enough now to ignore their mother’s wishes and they end up trying to stick with her closer than ever before.  It’s the first time they really learn about and understand the terrible things Annabeth has faced as a demigod and there’s almost a newfound respect earned from them.  Despite all the other turmoil going on in her life, it’s probably the nicest visit she has at her home, and she’s almost sad to return to New York.

141.  She ends up calling it the Chase curse.  After all, that’s exactly what it feels like.  When she sees her cousin basically emerge from the grave at his own funeral, it only seems to add another level of weirdness to her already strange life.  But, of course, another Chase sibling attracted the attention of a god.  Because not even the mortal side of her family could be completely normal.  Learning about Hotel Valhalla and the valkyries almost makes Annabeth feel as though she got the short end of the stick ending up as part of the Greek god world.  After all, being able to add the ability to fly to her power of invisibility seemed like a pretty sweet deal.  Though, the idea of having to find people about to die did seem a little graphic.  She starts researching the Norse gods as soon as she gets home and adds them to the bulletin board she made after meeting the Kanes.

142.  Getting to see Magnus is hands down one of the best parts of Annabeth’s senior year.  For once, she gets to act as a sort of guide to another demigod.  This time though, it’s from a distance and she doesn’t necessarily have to get directly involved unless she wants to.  And, while she hates that Magnus does have to deal with it, he at least has some pretty awesome friends, as well as some sweet powers to deal with it.  But, even with his new abilities, she’s just glad to have her little cousin back in her life.  Growing up, he was more of a brother to her than Matthew and Bobby were and seeing him again brings back all sorts of fond memories.  In fact, most of the only fond memories of her childhood involve him in one shape or form.  She just hates that she didn’t know about his living situation earlier.  The idea of him living on the streets when she knew about half a dozen other people who would be willing to take him in does not sit well with her.  And it only makes her certain that the gods, no matter what pantheon they belong to, don’t really care about what happens to their demigod children.

143.  She’s working on Olympus when she gets a flustered call from Percy, telling her that his baby sister is on the way right now.  Her mother stood over her as she took it, and told her to go on, but Annabeth refused.  No matter how many times all three of them insisted that she was, in fact, a part of their family, it just seemed weird.  So instead, she waited until the next day to go to the hospital.  There, she saw the tiniest human she’d ever seen before.  Even when Matthew and Bobby were born, she didn’t them ever being that little.  They let Annabeth hold her, and it was the first time she ever actually got to hold a baby.  Her father barely let her hold her brothers when they were born, hovering near her the entire time.  But this time, the baby was placed in Annabeth’s arms and she absolutely melted as she swore that the little girl smiled up at her.  A nurse told her it was just gas, but Annabeth knew better.  Almost immediately, she fell in love with the baby and added her to her list of favorite people.

144.  It’s just a common understanding that whenever there’s a school thing or the Jackson-Blofis family has to go somewhere, that Annabeth is going to babysit the youngest member of that family.  They’ve given up inviting her to come along, because she insists that she would rather babysit.  So many afternoons she’ll end up with the baby crawling all over her, with Annabeth trying to tell her stories about American history or Grecian or Roman history.  After all, she is determined to make this baby a genius and feels that no age is too young to start.  She’s even gotten her those huge baby blocks in an attempt to cultivate an appreciation of architecture in her as well.

145.  Annabeth’s always loved the idea of prom.  When she was young and first experienced the excitement of people during the first camp prom, she wanted to go.  However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, Annabeth never got to make it to her junior prom.  Then, when her senior prom came around, it seemed like a great opportunity.  She was still going to school in New York, and there hadn’t been a severe crisis to take her away from the semi-normal life she was leading.  Even though she went to a private, all girls boarding school, there were still guys at their “sibling school” that they would be having a joint prom with.  A handful of them even asked her as their date, and she honestly wanted to say yes.  But, despite the fact that she could have gone, Annabeth ended up watching movies on the couch of the Blofis apartment.  She never even bothered asking Percy to go to prom with her, because she knew of his distaste for anything related to dancing.  And it wasn’t worth it for her to have a good time if he couldn’t enjoy it too.

146.  Annabeth’s senior year goes by in a dizzying whirlwind.  Between still working on and overseeing designs on Olympus, helping Magnus out with his demigodish-ness, babysitting baby Blofis, prepping to go to college, and volleyball and soccer games, it’s almost impossible to believe that she’s graduating until the cap and gown are officially on.  Everyone she knows that can come, does.  Her dad, step mom, Matthew, Bobby, Paul, Sally, Percy, and even Chiron make it out for that day.  Her dad’s gift to her is a new car, and it’s that car her and Percy end up packing to drive out cross country to their new home.

147.  Since using cell phones sends up a signal to monsters of their whereabouts, Percy and Annabeth end up having to rely on old school maps--that neither of them are very good at reading--and mapquest directions.  They end up getting lost at least twice a day, which leads to several arguments about them asking for directions.  Once, Annabeth even threatens to turn the car around right then and there.  But, they’re already over halfway across the country, so it wouldn’t make any sense for her to do that.  The car’s cramped with both of their belongings shoved everywhere there’s an ounce of free space and it doesn’t do anything to help the mood.  Both of them quip at least once during their trip that maybe, if they can’t survive a car ride together in such close quarters, they’ll never be able to survive living together.  When Annabeth says it, Percy knows it’s meant to just be something hurtful to say and that she doesn’t really mean it.  Still, he shuts her out and puts in his headphones for a solid half hour before emerging again to talk to her.  When Percy says it, Annabeth finds the nearest fast food restaurant and pulls off the road there.  She mutters things about how maybe he’s right and that no one else has been able to live with her for extended periods of time before.  He has to promise her that he didn’t mean it, buy her a vanilla milkshake, and that it’s just a side effect of being stuck in a car for way longer than anyone with ADHD should have to sit through a car ride.  It’s only when they finally get to New Rome and begin to unpack their car that they feel like they aren’t completely claustrophobic and closed in.  And it feels like they definitely made the right decision after all.

148.  The apartment they get in New Rome is honestly a piece of crap.  It was one of the first ones built in the city and Annabeth figured that it would be good for the historical aspect of it.  And online, it looked like it was pretty nice.  But it’s honestly the worst.  The door to the bedroom is too low, with Annabeth’s head just barely clearing it, and Percy having to duck every time he has to go under it.  There’s a patch of the ceiling that leaks when it rains, the water in the faucet has to run for five seconds until it turns clear, the dryer never works, and the back burner on the stove catches on fire if you try to use it.  They didn’t have room for a whole bed frame when they moved, so they sleep on a blow up air mattress in the floor and their furniture is just stuff they’ve bought at consignment shops, so it doesn’t match.  But, despite the fact that it’s the worst first place ever, it’s their first place, so it makes it pretty special.  They go all out decorating it at Halloween and Christmas, and it’s almost like it becomes a little less crappy after it’s all done up.  The longer they stay there, the more furniture they do accumulate until it does have a vague color scheme, more or less and they have an actual bed to sleep in.  The bare walls eventually become covered in pictures of their friends and a few paintings that Rachel sends them to “liven the place up.”  She’s almost sad when they move out of it.  Almost.

149.  Annabeth only makes it about three weeks before she has her first breakdown in college.  Sure, she’d done well in high school, but that took intense concentration, and most of the people she was around, she didn’t really like.  Readings could usually be ignored entirely, or she could find some sort of audiobook to listen to.  But college is a different beast altogether.  Suddenly, she’s staying up until four in the morning at least three days a week in order to get all her work done and stay on top of it.  That’s not including keeping an apartment clean, and helping Reyna and Frank out in Camp Jupiter.  It’s like her time isn’t her own anymore and she just starts to slowly lose it.  Since she is so sleep deprived, at one point, she ends up just crying midway through a paper, muttering how stupid she is, how she definitely made a mistake coming out to California, and how she just wants to go home.

150.  Their first Christmas in New Rome is actually the first time that Annabeth brings Percy to her dad’s house as her “boyfriend.”  Matthew and Bobby legitimately lose it, because they remember thinking Percy was super cool the few minutes they met him years prior and spend forever trying to get him to teach them how to sword fight.  They IM Paul, Sally, and baby Blofis and Percy’s little sister gets so excited to show them everything Santa brought, that one of the toys accidentally flies out of her hands and breaks the connection.  Annabeth and her dad get to continue their late night hot chocolate tradition.  He tells embarrassing stories about Annabeth when she was super small that she would have no hope of ever remembering during one of their late night drink sessions that Percy joins them for.  And she blushes and acts like she hates it, but it’s the first time she’s ever felt like her father was actually her dad.  And she chalks it up to the Christmas spirit thing.  Growing up, Matthew and Bobby would always get matching pajamas on Christmas Eve that they’d have to wear and take pictures in for the next year’s Christmas card.  When Annabeth moved in with her dad during her sophomore year of high school, she started having to do the matching thing.  That Christmas, Percy was added in to the matching pajama thing.  It felt all levels of ridiculous and dorky, and Annabeth promised that she’d tell them not to do it again next year.