#ALSO the way that annabeth took those pictures with her dad and then decided to carefully pick out her favorites and EMAIL them to percy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chasingpj · 3 years

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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

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phykios · 3 years

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honesty and promise me part 6 [co-written with @darkmagyk] [read on ao3]

Ah, the age old question: what to get for the guy who has everything and also when you’re trying make up for the fact that you actually missed his birthday entirely while spending as little money as possible?

“Where the hell are you taking me?” Percy asks as they wait their turn to disembark. “I haven’t been to Staten Island in ages.”

Annabeth has never been at all. She knows there’s a handful of Greek revival buildings in the Historic District, but she’s never had a car to get there, or the stomach to get on the ferry. Percy had practically climbed onto the bow, his own personal reenactment of Titanic, arms thrown out to the wind, while Annabeth attempted to keep her breakfast down.

Having spectacularly flamed out last week in Philadelphia, she can’t let Percy’s birthday go without some sort of commemoration. The Staten Island Ferry is just part one. “All in due time,” she says, checking her phone for directions. They still have a bus they need to board, and Annabeth is getting sweaty in her leather jacket. Thank God Percy volunteered to carry the backpack with all their gear; otherwise, when this jacket comes off, it’s going to smell worse than his tights at the end of a long day.

Like a magnet, his gaze is glued to the strips of the bay he can spot through the bus windows, his head resting on his chin, a soft, serene smile lifting his lips. All the tightness, all the stress he’s held in his shoulders the last few times she’s seen him, it melts away at the sharp, salty tang of rust and sea air which suffuses every corner. She doesn’t even mind that he isn’t looking at her.

Hand in hand, finally, they get off the bus, and walk to the overlook. Slinging the backpack off his shoulder, he sets it down at his feet, eyes fixed on the strip of shoreline which can be seen, even all the way over here. “What is that?” he breathes, shielding his eyes against the glint of the sun on the water.

“That,” says Annabeth, “is the Staten Island ship graveyard.”

Still stewing in her guilt over how she missed his birthday--despite the fact that he didn’t even tell her--Annabeth decided to swallow her pride and ask for help. It took an inordinate number of coffee orders and one instance of her actually getting down on her knees and begging, pleading to their long friendship together and swearing that Annabeth would never use this information for evil, but she had finally wheedled the secret out of Thalia: Percy’s greatest love, after the ballet, was sailing. Ship construction, naval battles, maritime history, they were, according to Thalia, the only things which could entice Percy to actually set down the tights and “get some frickin’ sunshine for once in his life.” Annabeth hadn’t believed her, until Thalia had dug up an old photo which had never been posted to his socials--and Annabeth had certainly scoured them for long enough, she would have recognized it had she seen it before--of Percy, on a glittering, jewel-like sea, a rope wrapped around his fist as he leaned over the side of a sailboat, eyes squeezed shut, mouth wide in a graceless, unrestrained joy.

“Back in the eighties, there used to be over four hundred ships down there,” Annabeth says, coming up beside him. “A lot of it’s been scrapped or sold, but there are still maybe a hundred or so boats, including the USS PC-1264, one of the--”

“One of the two predominantly African American crewed Navy ships from World War II,” he interrupts, eyes light. “No way!”

“Yes way,” Annabeth grins, unzipping her jacket. The midday sun beats down on them, the air sticky and heavy, and she needs this thing off, pronto. “And, there’s a ship that was supposedly the command post for the General Slocum disaster.” Not that she really knows what that is.

He whirls around. “The Abram S. Hewitt is there? Holy sh--”

His jaw drops. His eyes bug out.

Part two of his present was the ship graveyard. Part three is the outfit.

Annabeth, one hand on her hip, slings her jacket over her shoulder with the other, the leather hot against her bare skin. She has chosen to forgo a shirt entirely, wearing nothing but her nicest pair of black jeans with the thick suspenders and a shiny, red bra. And yes, she had Thalia touch up her hair, five inches of curls lopped off on one side, undercut sharp and severe.

“I thought we could have a picnic here,” she says, a smile curling her lips without her permission. “Then, if you want, we could do some light trespassing? See the ships up close?”

Percy swallows. He breathes in through his nose, shuddering. “Sure,” he whispers, hoarse. “Sounds good.”

Dropping to the ground like a rock, studiously not checking her out, Percy unpacks their picnic, laying out the blanket, something blue, old, but soft Annabeth had knitted in a fit of pre-finals’ anxiety in college. Annabeth had hinted the night before that he should make them some food, as no one could make a grilled cheese like Percy, and she sure as shit wasn’t going to buy them some prepackaged, tasteless garbage.

Percy’s sandwiches, just like the man himself, are stacked: thick, sourdough slices (which she suspects he made himself), bacon, turkey, apple, tomato, lettuce, avocado, mayo for her but none for him. She’d always been under the impression that dancers needed to watch what they ate, endlessly in pursuit of some unattainable ideal of beauty. Nope. Percy eats everything and anything he can get his hands on, high carb and high protein and high everything else. It makes sense, she guesses, for someone who basically has to bench their own body weight daily. Every inch of him is tailored for power and velocity, to propel him out of the grasp of gravity--rabbit food just isn’t going to cut it here.

Munching down, he maneuvers himself into a number of splits and stretches, unable to give up his routine for a single day. “When I was probably thirteen or fourteen,” he says, halfway through a tirade of reminiscence, “my dad took me and Triton and Kym to Cyprus, for some family bonding time.” He rolls his eyes. “You can probably imagine how well that went. Most of that trip was… well, Cyprus was definitely the best part. We went to Kyrenia Castle, which has this amazing museum that holds one of the oldest known ships in the world. Like, this thing was operational during the lifetime of Alexander the Great, and it sank about a mile away from the harbor.” He takes a heroic bite, chewing with his lips firmly shut.

“Cool.”

He swallows. “Very cool. I love really old ships, but you can imagine how few of those are still left, and not just because we haven’t found them.”

Annabeth feels her neck heating up, despite the shade they sit in. “Well, I hope these ones are old enough for you.”

“Oh, these are incredible--don’t get me wrong! I had no idea there was anything like this so close to home. Who needs Cyprus when you have Staten Island?” He grins, placing his sandwich down, throwing his arms in a stretch.

“I know it isn’t Tokyo or Moscow or anything…” she trails off, self-conscious even as she doesn’t actually ask the question that’s on her mind.

Shamefully, she has found that she still thinks about what Will had said at his apartment over a month ago at this point: Percy Jackson, boy toy of the rich and famous. But if she actually asks, it will make her look like some totally jealous girlfriend or something, like she honestly cares about Percy’s past sexual conquests.

She doesn’t care. She doesn’t.

He’s just led a really interesting life, and she wishes she could relate. That’s all.

“It’s not,” he agrees, bending his back with an audible pop. “It’s better.”

“Really? A little ship graveyard is better than the sites of Tokyo?”

“I didn’t see any sites in Tokyo,” he said. “Mostly just Mittie’s hotel room.”

“Mittie?”

Percy looks at his sandwich, suddenly very interested in the crust.

“She’s someone important, then?”

Silence.

Annabeth laughs to break the tension. “Okay, I'll bite--who’s Mittie? Another model?”

Taking a small bite of sandwich, he chews, methodical and deliberate. He swallows, clearing his throat. “Margherita Savoy.”

The name doesn’t ring a bell. “Who?”

“Princess Margherita Elisabetta of Sardinia.”

Her mouth drops open a little. “A princess?”

Percy shrugs. “Technically. The throne of Sardinia doesn’t exist anymore, obviously, but she’s big into the money and the titles and stuff.”

A princess. A fucking princess. “But she lets you call her Mittie.”

He looks a little constipated. “She didn’t… until she took me to Tokyo.”

“Oh,” she says. Because what else is there to say? She’s certainly no princess.

“She was nice,” Percy says, softly. “You know, eventually. Once we got to know each other.”

Her phone is hot in her pocket, like it’s preemptively searching Google for pictures of Margherita Elisabetta of Sardinia, downloading them all so Annabeth can scribble all over her face like a bad high school movie. “A pretender?” She scoffs, exaggeratedly, her fists tight against the grass. “Talk to me when you get a real princess.”

His ears go red. “Um…”

No way. “No fucking way.”

“Look, Eugenie was just kinda pissed when Triton broke up with her, and so she just thought that we’d have some fun.”

“Oh my god.” She says, looking at him in something like horror. And telling herself at least it wasn’t her distant cousin Madeleine.

“It was only for like a week or two,” Percy protests. “We went to a club in Berlin she knew Triton liked to go to so he would see us and get annoyed.”

“A princess dated you because she was pissed at your brother?”

“Only twice,” he says, casual, like any of this is normal and not absolutely insane. “Eleonore is one of Kym’s friends. And she’s technically, like, an archduchess, not a princess. But I don’t know. A couple of his other girlfriends wanted to get back at him, and I was in Europe and available, so we just…” He trails off. She can hear the ellipsis, hanging hot and heavy over them, each dot dropping like a stone. What is this, fucking Mamma Mia?

“When was the last time this happened?” she asks, not really wanting to hear the answer.

He rubs a hand over his mouth, gaze unfocused as he thinks. “Um… not since the week after Frank left, I think. Mittie wanted to go to Bora Bora but she didn’t want to go alone, you know?”

“No, I meant,” she pushes through as her stomach flutters, tight and uncomfortable, “girls using you to get back at your brother.”

His face falls, just a bit. “Oh. Last year, I guess.”

“Who was she?” And where is she so Annabeth can punt her off a building?

“Calypso Atlas.” He sighs, wistful, with more reverence than he had given any of the princesses, and Annabeth’s stomach flops, different from the flutter. Painful this time. “She actually liked me.”

“Everyone likes you,” she says, faintly. Maybe wearing the leather jacket is giving her heatstroke.

“You know, they really don’t. Not how it counts, anyway.” He picks at a blade of grass, rubbing it between his fingers. “Most of the girls who wanted to use me to get back at Triton only did it because they knew how much he liked to bitch about me--the ‘half-breed bastard.’” He rolls his eyes, huffs a laugh. “And even Kym’s friends didn’t actually like me. Like, yeah, they’d fly me all over with them, but they didn’t want to be seen with me. Mittie and I were on and off for years, and she gets photographed constantly. I’m not in any of them.”

Annabeth thinks she might actually be sick.

But he doesn’t stop. “It wasn’t so bad when they went around saying that I was a dancer with the Paris Opera, because I was, and I was proud of it. But it wasn’t… I don’t know. It wasn’t like with Frank, whose family does have a ton of money, but who only ever dated me because he liked me.” He picks another blade of grass, tearing it between his fingers. “Calypso, though. She was different.” And he smiles, a little.

“How?”

That smile grows wider. “She just called me one day, out of the blue, and very publicly asked me to be her date to Milan Fashion Week after she and Triton broke up and he immediately turned around and got engaged. She was super up front about it, didn’t try to sleep with me or anything, even though I know she was friends with some people and probably heard about my various talents.”

She knows exactly which talents he means. He winks at Annabeth, ironic and self-conscious, and she forces out a little laugh, as though the idea of him going down on someone else is charming.

“But then we actually had a good time together, and a few weeks later, she called me up again, and again, and again, until eventually she introduced me to her father--which was a hell of an experience, let me tell you. The Atlas family puts the Olympianides family to shame as far as dysfunction goes. But it was nice, in its own way; if I’d ever asked Mittie to introduce me to her dad, she’d have laughed in my face.”

“Sounds like you were pretty serious,” Annabeth manages.

“That was the problem.” He looks away, towards the sea. Always towards the sea. “She wanted to leave Paris, travel the world. And she wanted me to go with her.”

“To leave the Paris Opera?”

“To leave ballet entirely. I just…” He holds the silence for a moment, lost in the fog of reminiscence, the mist of possible futures long since dissipated. Sighing, he shakes his head. “I couldn’t do it. So, in March, she went to Dubai, and I started making calls back to New York.”

“You broke up with her this year?”

“She broke up with me,” he clarifies, turning back to her. “It was all very romantic. I always left my comp at the box office for her. She didn’t come to my show, but she showed up at the stage door the day before she was set to leave, telling me that she had an extra ticket with my name on it. I turned her down.” And then he looks her in the eye as he says, “I don’t regret it at all.”

She swallows, her face flushing, tongue numb as she searches desperately for something to say to that. “Atlas, you said her family was? It sounds familiar.”

“Oh, you’re probably thinking of Zoe Atlas,” Percy says, easing off for the moment. “You probably know about her because she and Thalia were archenemies in boarding school. Or maybe girlfriends? I have yet to get a straight answer.” Annabeth’s eyes nearly bug out of her head. Thalia, in boarding school? What? “But I like Zoe. She’s an activist, and absolutely hates her father. Like I said, there’s a lot of dysfunction. And she came to my first show way back when, and she wasn’t even weird when I dated her sister when we ran into each other in Paris. So that was nice.”

“She went to your first show?” What in God’s name is up with these one-percenter families? It’s like they all overlap in one big incestuous slurry. And as the daughter of the Chases and the Pallases, she tries not to think where she might fit into that.

“Thalia brought her. Her first not-date. It was Thalia’s first ballet ever, too. It… it meant a lot.”

“What show was it?”

He smiles, wistful. “The Nutcracker. I was one of the kids at Clara’s party. Most scared I’ve ever been. When I got out backstage after intermission, Thalia was waiting for me with my mom. She punched my shoulder, called me ‘Kelp Head,’ and told me I did great. Then I hugged her,” he says, snickering. “She punched me again.”

Annabeth laughs, huffing through her nose. “Good to see some things never change.”

“That’s our Thalia for you--looking out for everyone, even when it kills her inside.” He glances at her pointedly.

It’s her turn to share.

Annabeth’s mouth is dry, like sandpaper.

She grabs her backpack, pulling out a sketchbook and a pencil. Beside her, Percy sighs, deflating a little.

Annabeth flips open a new page, and starts drawing.

Each sketch delivers a challenge: bringing order to the whole through design, composition, tension, balance, light and harmony. Sometimes, buildings spring to life on the page, fully formed. Sometimes the page stays blank, an empty pencil.

Pencil to paper. Letting whatever wants to come out, come out. “My mom invited me to lunch one day,” she says. Her eyes follow the line of her pencil, ninety degree angles and symmetrical shapes. “I had moved to New York like six months before. Single girl, in the big city, to follow her dreams.” She’d gone to boarding school in New York before that, but it wasn’t the same as picking out her apartment and taking the train to the Manhattan skyscraper her office was held in. Sometimes she’d walk down the street, feeling like she was smack dab in the middle of Sex and the City, which she and Piper use to watch in secret, huddled under the covers in the dorms at Miss Minerva’s. “Unfortunately, my mom didn’t love my dreams.”

“She didn’t approve of anarchist architecture?”

Annabeth’s laugh is hollow. “She thought I should have been charting some new path in business for a woman. But not in a feminist way. In, like, a capitalist way. But architecture was not really negotiable for me. And once that became clear, she had her own expectations about that, too.”

Annabeth has always been a prideful know-it-all. If all her mother had wanted from her was ambition, they probably could have made it work. Annabeth wanted to reshape the skyline, she wanted her name on buildings that would last and impress.

But even Annabeth couldn’t do that in six months.

“She wanted the best schools, the best companies, the best projects.” She sighs. “I was lucky to find a job in New York that wasn’t just carrying coffee.” She had gotten a bigger offer from a more well-known firm where she had interned one summer, but it had been for an assistantship, heavy on the assistant. Her eventual Junior Architect label hadn’t been great, but it had been something, being a rising star at a smaller firm. It seemed like a good fit. “I did not make my mother proud. I… she lived in New York, and I lived with my dad all over.”

Percy frowns. “Your mom didn’t have custody of you?”

“My mom didn’t want custody of me,” she laughs, bitter. God, it feels weird to tell someone else this. Piper and Leo and Luke knew, obviously, but they had witnessed it all firsthand. Telling someone else, out of the blue… Well, Percy had divulged his tragic backstory without complaint. It’s only fair that she does as well. “I mean, my dad didn’t either. But when it became clear my mom wasn’t an option, well, there we were. He stepped up as best he could. That wasn’t always a lot, but when compared to my mother, he seems like a perfectly involved parent.”

“Are you trying to make my parental situation seem more reasonable?”

“Is it working?”

“If you ever meet my dad, we can compare notes.” He shudders at the thought, playfully. “So, what happened with your mom?”

“She made her displeasure known.” Annabeth sighs again, shading a corner. “I mean, she’s always made her displeasure known. I wasn’t getting good enough grades, I wasn’t in the right activities, I wasn’t going to get into the right school, yadda yadda yadda. But for a long time… I don’t know, it at least seemed like she was worried about me.” She thinks of the Eta party, of the man in the brown suit, tutting about Athena Pallas’s druggie daughter, and scowls. “My mother has always had an all or nothing outlook. If I wasn’t the best, I might as well be nothing. But the thing was, this time I thought I was making real progress. And when she invited me to lunch after six months in the same city, I thought she would see that.”

She had not. Because to Athena Pallas, having a daughter who was an architect instead of an executive Vice-President on her way to CEO, having a daughter at a small but growing architecture firm instead of the best one in the country, was like having a daughter who was drunk in a gutter somewhere.

And Annabeth had realized as much that lunch.

All her work was never going to earn her mother’s love.

And suddenly, she wasn’t sure what work had been her’s and what had been her mother’s ambitions.

She’d started crying. In the cafe and right now, on Staten Island, with Percy. “I’m sorry,” she sniffs, wiping her nose on her arm. “Wow, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He reaches over and wraps an arm around her, gently, rubbing her shoulder, and she more or less crumples into his side. “It’s fine. Take your time.”

Her arm, still free, keeps moving. The drawing takes a shape that she can’t quite name yet. A tree, maybe, in a box. A window to another world, possibly. She spills tears on the paper.

“She disowned me.” Her thin line trembles, before righting itself. “I ran out of there. I stumbled into the first tattoo parlor that didn’t smell like piss, and got my owl done.” She brandishes her left arm, the grey shape blurry and faded against her elbow. She had had a stuffed owl as a little girl, her protector against the spiders in the closet. “I cut off my hair, got my eyebrow pierced, found a club, and just… had a rough couple of days. Got really really drunk that night.” Like, too drunk. Crying on the floor of a filthy bathroom drunk. “Thalia found me under the bathroom sink, took me back to her place, helped me kick the hangover the next day, and that was that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” Annabeth says. And most of the time, she isn’t. She wipes her eyes, smudged makeup getting smudger.

“Your mom sounds like she sucks.”

“She does.”

“What about your dad?”

She sniffs. “What about him?”

“You just haven’t really mentioned him. What’s he like?”

Shrugging, she wipes a tear from her cheek. “He’s a history professor.”

“And?”

“That’s about it.”

“I mean, do you like him?”

She shrugs again. “Sure.” There was a lot to like about Frederick Chase. “I haven’t really spoken to him in a while.”

Mouth in a sympathetic twist, he brushes the curls from her eyes, a gesture so sweet it makes her heart pound. “You should call him,” he says. “I’m sure he misses you.”

Her phone burns in her pocket, heavy with the weight of unread texts. “Maybe.”

“Do you want to change the subject?” he asks.

“Please,” she blurts out, digging the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. “God, please. Let’s go back to your cute backstory. Tell me more about your first ballet. I want to hear all about the time you were in the Nutcracker.”

Percy fishes out a napkin from somewhere, handing it to her. Grateful, she blows her nose into it, wet and disgusting. “I hate to tell you this,” he says, “But I have been in the Nutcracker, like, fifteen times.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he nods, “It's the big moneymaker. Have you ever seen it?”

“It's a holiday classic,” she scoffs, a little wetly. “Of course I’ve seen it.”

He snorts. “Like, for real, or the recorded one they play on Netflix with Macaulay Culkin?”

“I've seen it live! My dad lived in San Francisco when I was in high school. They have a fancy ballet there.” She’d seen it as a little kid in NYC, she thought, too. Maybe when her parents were still married, or her mother was still willing to take her for Christmas.

“Would you be willing to see it again?”

“Like, for real,” she parrots back at him, “or the recorded one they play on Netflix?”

“Ha ha. I mean for real.”

“I mean… maybe if they switched things up a bit.”

“It's a classic!” He protests. “I mean, it isn’t like we do the Balanchine everywhere, every time. But… it's a classic.”

“I’m sure the dancing is fine.” Annabeth says. She remembers going with Luke in Boston and thinking it was nice, but also hoping Luke would kiss her at the end of the night, so she hadn’t really paid attention. “But they get to design a land of magic and sweets and fairies, and every time the costumes and the sets are just, like, pink glitter and white gauze mixed with weird racial stereotypes. There’s no imagination.”

“Well, okay then.” There’s something in his smile, in the turn of his head that she can’t quite identify. “What would you do?” he challenges.

She holds his gaze for a moment, looking into those eyes that almost reflect the color of the sea around them. Her eyes feel a little puffy still, but he doesn’t look away. Then, without breaking away, she flips open a new page in her sketchbook.

“Space,” she says. “It needs space.”

“Outer?”

“Negative. Lots of space for dancers to move around.” Her pencil scratches over the paper, familiar blocky shapes springing to life. Doric fluted columns split the wings, because of course. “It’s Christmas, so we want color: no sterile, snowy landscape. We know it’s all frozen over--we don’t need to see it again. Obligatory Christmas tree here,” she sketches a crude triangle off to one side, approximately along the golden ratio, “and a big fireplace in the center, preferably a functional one.”

“You know there was this dancer in the nineteenth century that died because her costume caught fire, yeah?”

Annabeth tilts her head, capitulating. “Fair point. We’ll raise it up on a pedestal, keep it out of the way.” She draws a little platform beneath it. “But color is key.” Up above, she draws a pediment crowning the proscenium. She scribbles in the empty space, a placeholder. “Everyone knows the story, so you lay it out up here, episodes merging into each other from start to finish.”

Percy peers down at her page, his chin perilously close to resting on her shoulder. She can’t draw like that. “Kind of reminds me of the Parthenon.”

“You’ve been?”

He nods, his hair tickling the side of her face. “Couple of times. I thought you said you wanted color, though. The Parthenon’s all white, isn’t it?”

“Not originally,” she says. “Do they not explain that on the tours?”

“Um…” Sheepish, he looks away. “I, uh, I’m not always great at listening.”

God. It’s so endearing. What the hell. She kisses him on the cheek, enjoying the way he flushes lightly. “Me either.” He is so fucking handsome. “But no, the original Parthenon, all those white statues, they were painted. Ergo, color.”

He blinks, momentarily stunned. “Wouldn’t--uh, wouldn’t that distract from the dancers? People would just be staring at the ceiling.”

“Then… it’s only lit up before and after the show. During the show, you turn the lights down, bring the focus back down onto the stage.” She considered it. Something she’d worked on for a production once, a fashion show Piper had done at Pratt. “Or, you set it up so the colors are mostly lights. Lights that shine through during the snowflake dance and when Clara rides off with the prince. But then you also get the white for the frosted look. But, they’re still too pink, so I don’t think some color variety is bad.”

“So, not to kill your vibe,” Percy says, pulling back a bit, “but I gotta say, I don’t see how this is that different from the billion other Nutcrackers out there.”

She glares, lips pursed. He’s trying so hard not to laugh. Dick. “The set is only half the problem,” she says. “You'd need to redesign the costumes, too.”

“Tell you what. Why don’t you come see my show in December, and then you can tell me all about how you’d fix it.”

“Me and every tourist in New York at Christmas time?”

He nods, like he was expecting it. “Then come to my current one. September isn’t Christmas, so it’ll be a lot less crowded.”

“I don’t know,” she grimaces, sketching a star in the corner of the page. “I don’t really think I’d fit--'' Fit in with those people like the ones from the Eta awards, who thought not being her mother’s lackey was the same as being in rehab.

“Annabeth.” Percy takes her drawing hand, lifting it off the page entirely. The pencil is caught between them, an ineffectual barrier to the sweet, rubbing thumb on the mound of her palm. “I want you to come to my show. I’ll leave you a ticket. No one will care what you look like, I promise.” He stares at her, baby seal eyes in full effect.

Fuck.

“As long as you leave me a ticket,” she says, weakly. “I mean, I wouldn’t be able to afford a good seat.” The lie slips out, easy as anything. She can’t help it.

He smiles, soft and warm and way too inviting. “And in the meantime,” he says, softly, you can come with me tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“I’m going to my parents’ for dinner. It’ll be just my mom, Paul, and my sister. They’d love to meet you.”

“I can’t,” she replies, immediately, almost without thinking. “I’ve got--I’ve got work to do.”

She doesn’t. But boys don’t bring girls like Annabeth home anymore. She isn’t meant to settle down. She’s meant for grimy bars and ship yards. She'll leave it to the princesses to be brought home.

He deflates, just the slightest bit. If she hadn’t had so much up and personal time with his naked chest and the movement of his shoulders, she probably would have missed it. “Maybe next time, then?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, not entirely certain if she means to follow through. “Maybe next time.”

#ballet au #percabeth #pjo #the rivalry ends here #darkmagyk #perseannabeth #byima #uhhh whoever else #my fic #pjo fic #look at them having a real conversation and then immediately blowing it

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greekgeek21 · 3 years

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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 :)

#pansexual #lgbtq+#fanfiction #fanfic #ao3 #wattpad #inkitt #webnovel #pjo #marvel #the avengers #heroes of olympus #superhero #crossover #fic #sorry for disappearing

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jflashandclash · 6 years

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Traitors of Olympus: Fall of the Sun

Eight: Ajax

How to Quiet a child of Poseidon in Two Seconds Flat

Pax was impressed: no one punched anyone during his recap of their early adventures, from kidnapping Rachel Elizabeth Dare, to stealing the coals of Kronos’ sword and stealing the Golden Net from Bunker Nine, to the trials of Psyche, to tricking Leo into reforging Backbiter, and to Santiago’s Mayan temple, where their father killed Joey, and Euna killed their father.

Axel, Calex, or Kally chimed in to explain parts where Pax wasn’t there or where he exaggerated how important the weasels, Hunnie and Baller, were to the mission—always vitally important, even when unconscious. Pax was sad Axel didn’t give the full rendition of how he fought off Aphrodite’s giant doves with a frying pan[1] and how Euna got temporary god pills out of it, but Pax figured they could save the long version for Axel and Reyna’s children to assure the kids that their father was versatile with all weapons and cookery.

They got through the misunderstandings of what led up to their fight against the heroes of Olympus and why Jack had murdered his half-brother, Will. Well, that last part was less a misunderstanding and more a psychotic break, but Pax hoped they got the picture.

When Pax mentioned the Princess Andromeda, that’s when things went down a tiny, Everest-sized hill.

“The Princess Andromeda?” Travis interrupted before Pax could explain in full. “I thought that sunk after Beckendorf…”

Yep, that was the weird part, Pax thought. That and not that the passage of stairs in the middle of their cabins that led down to an ocean. Or it used to. Pax had to wonder if magical passages like that got bored and moved places. He would if he were a magical passage.[2]

Alabaster set his glass of strawberry flavored water down.

Pax was pleased that Merry had commanded the satyrs bring everyone drinks, especially since—with his hand condition—the satyrs had taped three straws together so Pax could sip from his without leaning forward or using his hands.

While blowing bubbles into his drink, which took awhile and required three straws-worth of backwash, Pax glanced over to Alabaster’s side of the table.

The child of Hecate’s knuckles were white as he clutched one of the ingredient satchels that dangled from his neck. His other hand casually clinked the ice in his glass. “Beckendorf?” he repeated. “Was that the name of your suicide bomber?”

Clarisse choked in rage.

Most of the other counselors went still.

“Charles Beckendorf was a hero,” Percy said, scowling.

“As were the kamikaze pilots in Japan and the jihadists for ISIS,” Alabaster said, his eyes boring into Percy with a scary intensity. If Pax had some, he was pretty sure he could roast marshmallows between the two of them.

Percy’s face went red. He shot to his feet, had a foot on the table, and Riptide in hand before Jason and Hazel grabbed him.

A baby cried.[3]

All eyes turned towards the mirror at Percy’s side.

Throughout the explanation, Hiro had finished several puzzles and eaten a full pizza. When Percy stood, Hiro snatched Percy’s little sister from the crib-cage, where he’d put her down for a nap.

With his other hand, Hiro snapped out a switchblade the size of her arm.

He pinched her hand and dabbed one of her fingers.

For the first time since Hiro had gotten his hands on the baby, she squealed and squirmed.

The color drained from Percy’s face as he scrambled back into his throne of Saturnalia. Baby Cry Shock Collars—highly effective against children of Poseidon.

“I’m sorry—I—I didn’t mean—” Percy stammered.

Hiro pointed the knife at Axel. Then he carefully set the whining baby back into her crib and folded the knife up beside her—the proper way to store weapons around tiny children. Pax swallowed as Hiro made a motion, like he was holding a zucchini in one hand and his other hand were a butcher knife chopping it. To finish the comment, he held one hand out, grabbed his index finger, and shook it.

Although Pax doubted anyone needed translation, Axel puffed up and popped his cheeks. “He says he’ll start cutting fingers off if you stand up again.”

“I won’t,” Percy said through gritted teeth. “Just don’t hurt my little sister.”

After reading both of their lips, Hiro nodded cheerfully. He turned back to the baby, made a goofy face at her, and wrapped her up in his arms, careful to dodge around the darts lining his suspenders. Hiro gave her finger an apologetic kiss and rocked her to some unknown tune.

“Man, maybe we really shouldn’t have left Hiro with Dad for those years,” Pax muttered. He waved a hand at Hiro and made sure his lips were fully visible as he said, “Hiro, do you want someone to take you to the park to play ball? Or get you ice cream or a puppy? That you won’t kill—okay, maybe not a puppy—I guess I’m trying to say that Axel and I will give you attention without you committing several felonies and doing the whole, ‘creepy villain…’”

Pax trailed off when he saw the look in Hiro’s eyes.

Pax liked to remember Hiro as the tiny, happy child that would crawl onto Pax’s shoulders to pretend Pax was a horse and followed Pax around Frasco’s circus to learn everything Pax knew.

But now, Hiro’s eyes weren’t alight with admiration. They were narrowed with malice. The look told Pax that no number of hugs, or hand knit sweaters, or crazy moon bounce parties would let Hiro forgive each night that Axel and Pax hadn’t come to save he and Lapis from their father.

“--ait until I can get out of this chair—”

Pax felt numb as he tuned back into Percy’s threat.

Alabaster cut him off with a shrug. “We never bombed any of your living quarters, neither cabin nor barracks. We didn’t want to support that kind of blind murder.”

Clarisse snorted. “You probably couldn’t think of a lot of different tactics.”

Something, Pax thought, one really ought to be proud of, Oh damn, I’m so uncreative in my terrorism.

“No, we did,” Axel said, as calm as Alabaster. “Luke didn’t want to fight that kind of war.”

“I find that queer, coming from the Cloven Terror and Leonis Caput,” Reyna said. She appeared to regret throwing her knife at Pax, as she now resorted to twirling a ring on her finger. As a show of good faith towards a future sister-in-law, Pax almost considered tossing it back to her, but—judging by the tense environment—that might not be the best way to express his positive emotions.

Axel didn’t buckle under her scrutiny. “You pick your battles. We would carefully chose and eliminate a few selective leaders to immobilize an army and minimize overall killing instead of attacking a majority, especially not an area with noncombat units.”

Alabaster sighed and Pax found himself wishing he had his headphones so he didn’t need to hear this argument again. “Grassroots versus trickle down approach. Axel strongly believed in trickle down.” Alabaster rolled his eyes.

“Hey!” Kally’s shout made Pax jump in surprise. “This isn’t helping the camp full of kids that are going to be obliterated at sundown. Plenty of which know nothing of the Titan war.”

The table quieted. Everyone but Axel and Alabaster looked off to the side and grumbled.

“Sorry,” Kally said as an afterthought, exhaling.

As best Pax could, he rested his hand atop hers under the table.

Merry gave Kally an encouraging nod from across.

Although Pax didn’t want to talk after seeing Hiro’s expression, he managed, “If I were an evil goddess with an amazing fashion sense and great monologue skills, this is exactly the kind of internal fighting I would want to cause to waste time and distract everyone.”

“The daughter of Apollo and counselor of Eris are right,” Reyna said. “We can discuss ethics and wartime philosophy later.” Her gaze lingered on Axel.

Axel raised an exhausted eyebrow at her.

Pax wondered if Axel could find a way to make a discussion on ethics and wartime philosophy into some weird flirting. Twenty Reese’s said he could, and could make it end with some weirder make out/wrestling session.

Moving on from his brother’s creative Top Ten Questions to Ask a Girl on the First Date, and the debate of who murdered whom more ethically, Merry directed them back onto the subject at hand.

Pax finished off his story and Percy filled in the gaps from his party.

Hazel chimed in on Will’s behalf—since he still couldn’t speak for himself—narrating Will and Joey’s adventures through the Underworld before Joey became real competition for Medusa’s Best Statue of the Year award and about how the dead told Will that something had upset Nyx.

Merry’s jaw jutted to one side as she watched Hiro tuck the now-sleeping baby back into her crib-cage. “Gothic architecture… Everyone else heard some lovely chimes this morning, right? Just after sunrise?”

Percy groaned and glared sideways at the mirror. “Yea, they were right in my ear.”

Annabeth’s eyes went wide. “Chiming as in bells? Like church bells?” She turned to Percy, looking more awake than she had the whole meeting. “Did Eris say anything else? Anything when she was threatening your sister?”

Pax was glad Athena had decided to click on some lights above Merry and Annabeth’s heads, because his mind was still skipping in the dark as were the minds of the other fifteen or so cabins present.

“I didn’t exactly take notes,” Percy said.

“Anything could be important, Water Muffin,” Merry said.

Percy’s brow furrowed, though Pax wasn’t sure if it was from Merry’s nickname or from thought. “No warriors can be sent after her or he’ll drop her three hundred feet onto concrete…”

Annabeth and Merry made eye contact. Merry grinned. “Annabeth, what Gothic churches are three hundred feet tall or above in the USA?”

“Not many.” Annabeth pushed some of the curls out of her face. “The Washington Cathedral, the Riverside Church…”

Percy’s face brightened, in direct contrast to his words. “She also said something about falling to concrete to put more weight onto Atlas’s shoulders. Last I checked, Atlas is stuck on Mount Tams. Any of those churches in California?”

Annabeth frowned. “No—”

Merry snapped her fingers. “Our little Hiro and bae are right next door.”

Annabeth blinked for a second before saying, “Of course! Saint Patrick’s Cathedral by the Rockefeller Center.”

“The weight of the world is on the Rockefeller Center?” Travis whispered loudly to Connor.

“Talk about performance pressure,” he responded in kind.

Merry chuckled. “Only when they’re putting up their Christmas tree. No. There’s a pretty statue of Atlas between it and the cathedral.”

A slow, methodical clap chilled their celebration at the discovery and reminded everyone that they had forgotten to cover their mouths when facing the mirror. Hiro gave them a half-grin, one a little too close to Pax’s devilish smiles.

“So we know where she is,” Clarisse said. “But what good does that do us? No one can go there.”

“I can go.”

Everyone glanced over to where Merry had leaned forward, stretching her hands out in front of her in a way that—Pax suspected—she did to distract Calex with how much it pinched her chest between her arms.

Merry relaxed, so she could put an elbow on the table and lean her head against that hand. “Eris specified big bad warriors, right? I’m not a big bad warrior. I’m a demigod contradiction: a pacifist. I will only lift a finger for dancing, partying, and sacrificing good grades to Annabeth’s mom—not to violence.”

Her gaze switched from the counselors over to the mirror. “And, I’ll bet Hiro and Lapis saw that when they were creeping on our group. What do you think Hiro? I won’t bring any weapons. Can Aunti Merry drop by for a hug without you having a baby shower?”

Pax wanted to hug Merry for the ill-timed pun, but he sensed a flaw in her plan, one that Axel stated perfectly for the group. “That will probably just give Hiro two hostages.”

Calex swallowed. “No offense, Merry... but Axel is right.”

She winked. “Trust me. I got this. How’s about it, Hiro?”

Hiro considered, bobbing his head from side-to-side and making his long, black hair flutter. Then, Hiro rapidly signed something that Pax didn’t catch.

“Hiro!” Axel snarled disapprovingly in a way that made Pax want to say, Oh yea, NOW is when you want to chastise him for being rude.

Hiro signed slower.

Pax frowned, wishing his brother was a bit more like a cute panda. “So you won’t defend yourself if attacked?” he translated in place of Axel.

Merry’s honey skin paled a shade, but her relaxed smile stayed strong. “Won’t lift a finger,” she repeated.

Hiro clapped giddily and jumped in place. Pax imagined—if Hiro were an animated character—that his hair would take more time to draw then the background.

“Augh, what a creep,” Miranda grumbled.

There was a grumble of agreement, especially from the victory twins. Though Pax still didn’t know what people were expecting from someone who had threatened to play Fruit Ninja with a baby’s fingers.

Calex gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles paling. He whispered something into Merry’s ear. She gently touched one of his hands to calm him.

The pit in Pax’s stomach had grown from a baby stream to the size of the Grand Canyon. When Hiro began to sign again, Pax wondered if he could pretend he’d experienced sudden amnesia and could now only sign the words Doritos are awesome. “No weapons. No backup. Only mortal transportation. We can have lunch. Tell Pax and Axel that they are dumb f—hey!” Pax huffed. “My face is adorable!”

Merry folded her hands in front of her, straightened her shoulders, and closed her eyes. “Axel. Pax. You are dumb faces.”

Hiro’s shoulders shuddered with a giggle.

Axel sighed. “Hiro, when this is all over and I get my hands on you, I’m dragging you all the way back to Chiich and making you tell her everything you’ve done.”

Pax’s ear hurt at the thought and he wasn’t even the one who would be in trouble.

Hiro huffed, crossed his arms, and turned his back to the mirror.

With Hiro’s back turned, Merry’s smile weakened. Even from where Pax was sitting, he could tell she needed a huge hoard of weasels to hug her. That always made him feel better.

Percy glanced at the mirror back to the daughter of Dionysus. “Do… do you really think you can help my little sister?” he asked. “Especially with the whole no-kicking-ass thing?”

“Who needs to go fisty-cuffs when you’ve got a noggin?” She tapped her forehead.

Clarisse scoffed, “Hippie.”

Annabeth gave Merry an exhausted smile of appreciation. “I assume you have a plan?”

Merry nodded.

Axel scowled. “Don’t let your guard down just because he’s a child. He can throw darts as quick as Ajax and I don’t know what Santiago has been teaching him… I refuse to let you be the next Joey.”

The cheer in Merry’s face erased at the mention of their ghostly, petrified friend.

Pax could feel Kally trembling violently under his hand. “Merry… are you going to be okay?” she asked. Although everyone else might not notice, Kally had put her other hand on the table in a thumbs down position.

“I’ll be careful, sweeties,” Merry said, looking across the counselor table to make eye contact with Kally, Pax, Axel, and ending on Calex. Subtly, she put a thumbs up on the table in response.

From the looks of it, Calex was two seconds away from exploding into a panicked array of shiny, Eros arrows, hopefully putting on the best fireworks show Pax had ever seen and ending with the least PG twist for any demigod.

Except that ex-Roman son of Jupiter was here.

Pax vetoed the non-PG Eros ending for this counselor meeting.

“I don’t like this, but we don’t have any choice except to trust that Merry knows what she’s doing.” Thalia drummed her fingers along the table. Pax found it weird to look at Thalia’s silvery camo and dark hair in full daylight. When Matthias was feeling better, they would have to make a little moonlight screen to put behind the Lieutenant of Artemis during all meetings, complete with deer-shaped nightlights and cartoon constellations. “We don’t have a ton of time, and I think we need to talk about how a demigod with god-power eye drops and a singing head that can blow a hole in the camp are on their way to Tartarus.”

Axel’s eyes narrowed. “We do. The longer we wait, the more distance Euna puts between here and Tartarus, and the harder it will be for me to catch up with her.”

Pax felt like Phobetor had snuck up on him and used that piccolo-hatchet to hack out his heart. “You’re going back there? To the happy land of fratricide and cheesy, cop out villains?” he said, not realizing until the very end that his squeak had come out in Mayan. “What are you going to do if Mrs. I-want-inside-your-pants and Mr. And-I’ll-cut-off-what’s-in-your-pants show back up?!”

Those dark, Mist-covered eyes sank down to his hands. “I think they got what they wanted. Besides…” Axel cleared his throat and returned his gaze to the table. “I’m not sure if Euna’s stairwell has connected with the labyrinth yet or what is down there, but if I enter the labyrinth via Zeus’s fist, I should be able to navigate it easily and avoid godly confrontations.”

Pax prayed no one would connect that knowledge with the Battle of the Labyrinth.

A few displeased grumbles came from Frank, Hazel, and Reyna.

“Assuming we let you go,” Reyna said, twirling her ring while scrutinizing him, “Someone needs to go with to assure that you’re not convincing Euna to join the gods attacking camp—”

Pax thought nothing could distract Calex from fretting over Merry, but those words made him gawk. “Euna wouldn’t do that. She blames Eris for her sister’s death.”

“And,” Reyna said, her eyes flashing over to Calex to silence him before returning to Axel. “If you were stricken with madness again, you would need someone that can hunt you down in the event that you rampage and attack allies.”

Although Axel maintained eye contact and posture, Pax knew Reyna could hurt Axel less by putting her metal greyhounds into a ballista and firing them at Axel than by saying that. Axel didn’t try to defend himself; his expression broke.

The worst part: Pax couldn’t defend Axel either. She was right.

At least one good thing could come out of this: maybe Axel and Reyna could take a romantic vacation to Tartarus to talk about their feelings, punch daimons, and—

“I can,” Thalia said. “Euna was close to joining the ranks of Artemis. If Artemis isn’t around to do so, it is my responsibility to help a maiden in my goddess’ absence. And,” Thalia raised her fingers, snapping them so a burst of static electricity arched. “I can take Axel.”

Axel, though still looking appropriately sulky, raised an eyebrow again in amusement.

Calex cleared his throat. His wary gaze shifted from Merry, back to Axel in uncertainty. “I can come too. I know Euna, a medic is always useful, and three is a sacred quest number.”

“That would outnumber Thalia two to one if you decide to turn on her,” Frank said.

“Frank!” Piper chastised, touching her nephew’s shoulder to show her disagreement.

“Uh, Calex is pretty cool,” Percy said. “But… going to Tartarus…” He trailed off, looking to Annabeth for help.

She gave an exhausted sigh. “I don’t think Calex would betray us. But, without Chiron’s healing, we need all the medical assistance and fighting power we can have here. You shouldn’t go to Tartarus.”

Those words were like putting a parental lock on Calex’s quest options. Although none of them said it, Pax had the distinct feeling, from the glance Percy, Annabeth, and Axel exchanged, that none of them thought Calex would enjoy the walk through the River Acheron. However, Pax wanted to point out that Calex had probably been an Arsenal hooligan at a West Ham stadium after West Ham lost a match, and which likely had similar conditions.

“I think your skills are better suited here,” Axel agreed.

Calex looked unsettled, but was unwilling to contradict both Annabeth and Axel.

“It’s alright,” Axel said, “We’ll get her home safely.” He scooted his chair back, stood, and rested one hand on Alabaster’s shoulder. “If we have any hope of intercepting Euna, Thalia and I need to pack up now.”

Pax caught Axel’s eye. They both puffed up their cheeks and popped them. Pax wanted to tell Axel not to go, that there were scary bad guys in Tartarus, that Pax had no way of keeping Alabaster from pigballing Percy to make bacon for the group, and that Pax would inevitably stuff his face with tree nuts without Axel around, puff up to the size of a condo, and fly away into the sun. And they all knew how that turned out for Icarus.

But Pax also didn’t want to go anywhere near Axel. He got the distinct feeling this was Axel’s big boy version of needing a stroll to cool off.

Thalia stood up and unslung a silvery backpack from one side of her chair and her unstrung bow from the other. “Done packing,” said the huntress. She rolled her eyes at Axel’s half-smile. “Ugh, boys always take so long to get ready.”

There was a brief vote, something that clearly made Miranda and Butch uncomfortable without Chiron’s approval. The overwhelming majority voted in favor of their departure, with Clovis abstaining due to a nap, and Jason the only one uncomfortable with sending his sister to Hell with a beast.

As his brother walked away with little more than an awkward wave, like Pax’s mother, Hiro, and Lapis had abandoned him previously, Pax realized that he’d need to learn how to take care of himself and he’d have to learn fast.

Thanks for reading! Anyone surprised by the Tartarus promenade pair? Tune in next week for Axel’s chapter: Hot Women Need to Stop Sneaking Up on Me.

Also! Sorry if my edits were sloppy this round. Mel was awesome in giving me a rush delivery on betaedits, and I completely butchered them XD

Footnotes:

[1] Mel Betanote: “I was about to say ‘PAX, THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN’ but then I remembered that it did and now I can’t tell the difference between what actually happened and Pax’s exaggerations because they sound the same!”

Jack’s response: My work here is done.

[2] China Mieville.

[3] So, if I had more sleep, I could more artfully slip this in here…. But sound can come out, it just can’t go in. This footnote is to remind Jack not to be a lazy jerk and clarify this properly in writing! *tsk tsk* to Jack’s lazy footnoting.

#Heroes of Olympus #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #fanfiction #Traitors of Olympus #council of elrond #SOOO many characters!#So little sleep!#Must.... eat..... poptart....

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annabethwisegirl-chase · 7 years

Text

250 Headcanons (Part 1)

Headcanons #1-50. These cover Annabeth’s early life up to her first two years at camp.

1. Frederick Chase was finishing up his doctorate degree at Harvard when a baby appeared on his doorstep. He still had a year and a half to go, and a baby was not going to help him finish his course work and dissertation, so he begged Athena to keep the little girl. But the goddess didn’t budge. For heroes must always be raised by their mortal parents. So, for the first two years of Annabeth’s life, she lived in Boston with her father, her aunt, Natalie her uncle, Randolph, and her cousin, Magnus. Honestly, she doesn’t remember it, but there are pictures of her smearing chocolate cake on Magnus’s face at his first birthday while her aunt looks on in the background. And there are lingering feelings from those days. She remembers how it felt to be held by her father at night before he tucked her into bed and would sing to her. It was always the same Beatles song: “Here Comes the Sun.” She remembers the depression that radiated from her uncle after he lost his wife and two daughters. And she remembers the way she felt when she clung to her little cousin the day Frederick packed up his car to move to Virginia.

2. She was three when she met the woman who would become her step mom. Emily Soo, and she was a senior in one of her father’s history classes. He had gotten a job teaching at the University of Richmond and Emily was taking the class as a way to simply get enough hours to graduate. While there was no official rule against a professor dating one of his students, they were still careful to keep the relationship a secret until after Emily’s graduation. That first meeting, Emily absolutely made over Annabeth, for she did not know yet the story of her parentage. She braided the little girl’s long blonde curls and talked all about the Disney princesses that were on the front of Annabeth’s notebook. They bonded over the fact that Belle was both of their favorites, and her father beamed at how well the two seemed to get along.

3. There wasn’t a long engagement period for Emily and Frederick. Years later, Annabeth would figure out the reason why they were married so hastily was to hide the fact that Emily was already pregnant with Bobby and Matthew. The week before the wedding, Frederick came into her room and sat down on the little bed, explaining that she was going to have a new mom. It was the first time that Annabeth asked about her old mom, and why she wasn’t around anymore. Frederick, never one to conceal the truth from his daughter, explained it the best way that he could and Annabeth merely nodded as though she understood. And, for a four year old, she seemed to take it in stride that her mother was a goddess who simply dropped her off with her dad one day. But it started the snowball effect of what would later become Annabeth’s serious fear of abandonment.

4. The wedding between Frederick and Emily is a quiet affair. They go back to Boston for it, and the couple tie the knot in the ballroom of the Chase mansion. It’s a small, family-only event, and Annabeth spills punch down the front of her dress. It’s only been two hours, and her new step mother has already scolded her for ruining such an expensive outfit. She stays in Boston for a week with Uncle Randolph while her dad and Emily go off on their honeymoon. Her uncle barely looks at her.

5. She overhears her dad and step mom the night he tells her about Annabeth’s mom. It’s met with some exclamations of disbelief, but Frederick eventually manages to convince her that it’s true. To this day, Annabeth’s still not sure how he managed it. But he also warns her that things will not be easy for them with Annabeth being a demigod. That his daughter might put her, and the boys in Emily’s rapidly expanding stomach, in danger. The next morning Annabeth picks up on the fact that her step mother’s avoiding her. When Emily speaks, it’s only in brief, cut off responses and she’s careful not to touch the little girl, as though being a half blood is contagious. It’s the first time Annabeth feels as though she’s not exactly wanted in her own house.

6. Annabeth is overwhelmed when the boys are born. They’re both so tiny and fragile, and her dad speaks in whispers when he holds them. Finally, he turned to her to ask if she wanted to hold her brothers. She nodded, and Frederick gets his eldest situated in a chair before passing her Matthew. His hands are underneath hers to give her extra support, but it’s only for a moment. Matthew immediately started crying, and Emily called for Frederick to bring her her son. Taking the child away from Annabeth, Matthew was given to his mother. She mentioned once that she didn’t think the babies liked her all that much because of that incident, and no one bothered to correct her.

7. When the babies came home, Annabeth was forced to move out of her room and to the smaller one down the hall. Her father explained it was because there were two of them, and only one of her. Her step mother said it was because they needed the babies to be closer to them in case they needed their parents during the night. It didn’t make sense though to her. After all, Matthew and Bobby’s parents were her parents too, and she might need them just as much as the boys did. But, it didn’t matter. All her clothes were packed up and moved to another bed room. And some of the toys her step mother deemed “too babyish” didn’t make the move into the new room. They stayed with Matthew and Bobby.

8. Each Thanksgiving, Frederick and Annabeth would make the trip back up to Boston to visit with the Chase family. It was Annabeth’s favorite time of year because it meant she got to see Magnus. He was the one person who believed her when she said that she felt her brothers were stealing her mom and dad away from her. Everyone else she mentioned it to seemed to think it was only the effects of being a new older sibling and having to share all the attention. But Magnus knew that Annabeth felt it was more than that and he never laughed. Even though he was a year younger, he was her best friend. And the year before she decided to run away, he was the only one she told.

9. When her brothers were a year old, her dad started working later and later at the school. He stopped being around to tuck Annabeth into bed, and her step mother wouldn’t sing to her the way he did. Instead, she’d simply check to make sure that her step daughter was in bed, turn out the light, and close the door. Every time that Annabeth would try to open it back up because it “helped keep the spiders away,” Emily would grow exasperated and close it once more. More than once, she even resorted to locking it in order to keep Annabeth in her room and the door closed. She never believed Annabeth was telling the truth about the whole spider thing.

10. Monster attacks became a common occurrence at the Chase household. There was a snake in her lunchbox, a hellhound that showed up at school, and a girl that walked with a limp and smelled like the petting zoo her dad had once taken her to. With each one, her step mother made sure to keep Matthew and Bobby a little farther away from their sister.

11. She’s been seven for a week the first time her step mom calls her a freak, and that’s when Annabeth decides that she’s going to run away. Her birthday party was scheduled for the next day, but very few kids’ parents had RSVP’ed. Her dad’s at work, and Emily’s talking to some other mom on the phone, saying she suspects that not more are coming because they don’t want their kid to be around a freak. Strangely, Annabeth “comes down with” a stomach flu that weekend and can’t attend her own party. Her dad suggested that they could reschedule it, but he’s crammed with summer schools, planning his syllabus for next semester and soon, there will be committee meetings, so it gets pushed back to the point where she’s sure it’ll never happen.

12. It’s Annabeth’s second grade teacher that suggests they look into getting Annabeth tested for “special services.” After all, the teacher--Mrs. Wheeler--says that she can tell the young girl is very bright, but just needs a little extra boost. She’s officially diagnosed with dyslexia and, again at her teacher’s suggestion, a doctor diagnoses her with ADHD. Immediately, her step mother puts her on medication for it. But, with her father always gone and her step mother busy with the twins, no one’s there to remind Annabeth to take her medication. So, she never does. It’s a fact that frustrates Emily to no end, wondering why they even bother paying for it if Annabeth doesn’t use it.

13. There were two failed attempts at running away, each one was two weeks apart. The first time, Annabeth got turned around and ended up freaking herself out at the lack of control she felt she had over the entire situation. On her back was her Kim Possible backpack, stuffed with clothes, a few snacks, and her favorite teddy bear. She was only gone about two hours before she went back home. No one noticed she was gone.

14. The second time, Annabeth was gone longer before anyone realized it. She had locked the door to her bedroom, grabbed her backpack once more, and waltzed out the front door while her step mother was busy in the kitchen. What she hadn’t anticipated was her father getting home from school early that day because of a bad cold. When they realized that their daughter was nowhere to be found, Frederick called the police. They found Annabeth and took her back to her parents immediately, asking her where they thought she was headed. All she said was “home,” for she knew that home was not where her dad was. Not anymore.

15. It’s Thanksgiving time again when Annabeth runs away (successfully) for the third time. This time, she left the bookbag behind and din’t even bother to change out of her flannel pajamas. Armed with only a hammer she stole from her dad’s toolbox, she moved through the streets of Richmond, careful to not be found. If anyone though anything strange about seeing a little girl walking in flannel pajamas and carrying a hammer, they didn’t stop to say anything. She faced two monsters during her journey alone, and each time barely made it out, knowing that she needed something better than a hammer. But nothing better ever came along. By the time she was found by two other demigods, her flannel pajamas had been ripped countless times, her hair was a rat’s nest, and she didn’t remember the last time she had had enough to eat.

16. By the time he ran away, Luke knew exactly who his father was and already resented him. He resented him for the way his mother was and for abandoning them. Since Hermes is the god of thieves, Luke had made a promise to himself not to steal while he was on the run. For the most part, he had been able to keep that promise. But, when he and Thalia “adopted” Annabeth into their little family and he saw how she looked like she was starving and dirty, he knew he had no choice. He “borrowed” new clothes for the little girl, snacks for all three of them, as well as various toiletry items. The first time he did it, Annabeth could tell that it was something the son of Hermes wasn’t extremely comfortable with. But, as time passed, it seemed to become second nature to him. It didn’t happen often, and only when it seemed Thalia and Annabeth were in dire need of something, because Luke needed to believe that he wasn’t just like his father.

17. While the spiders didn’t attack her as often on the run, the intensity of the nightmares increased. Now, she saw her father and little brothers being devoured by a monstrous spider in rather graphic detail before it would turn on her. She would wake in a cold sweat, crying, and whoever was on guard duty would call her over to them. If it was Thalia, the two girls would sit side by side and talk about the bands Thalia liked, their favorite movies, or what it was like having a little brother. Thalia’s eyes would grow distant whenever she mentioned hers, and explained that he was lost a long time ago. But now, Thalia would always assure Annabeth, she had a little sister, and that was just as cool. Typically, Annabeth wouldn’t go back to sleep, too wrapped up in the conversations they were having.

18. If Luke was on guard duty, he’d pull the little girl into his lap and they’d stare up at the stars. He’d tell her all about the things he and Thalia had experienced up to the point they’d found her, or about the constellations he’d learned about, and they’d spend time making up their own. He’d tell her stories that he remembered from his childhood as she laid against his chest, mesmerized either by him or the vast expanse of the sky above them. Eventually, Luke’s steady breathing, the security of knowing he was looking out for her, and his soothing tone would be enough to lure her back to sleep. She preferred the nights she woke up when Luke was on watch. Although she loved Thalia, there was just something about Luke that made her feel safer.

19. Lunchtime was reserved for dagger practice. After giving Annabeth her knife, Luke would pull her aside for twenty minutes every afternoon to try and help her learn to use it. At first, she was clumsy and he would surely knock it out of her hands every time. But, his encouraging words and patience was something Annabeth had never known and it made her want to work harder. It made her want to be good enough to make him proud of her. Eventually, she got to the point where she was good enough that they would let her take guard duty for a few hours each night, telling her that they trusted her to take care of them should anything go wrong. What she didn’t know was that one of them was usually awake as well. After all, she was only seven.

20. There are three days in Annabeth’s mind that stick out the most from their time on the run. The first one was the day they went to Luke’s childhood home. He had sworn never to return, and dreaded the fact that they had no other choice. All three of them were hurt, out of supplies, and Luke knew that he really had no choice. So, he took him back to where his mom was. He had tried to get Thalia and Annabeth to wait outside, but a complaint about needing to use the bathroom from Annabeth and a glare from Thalia had him agreeing that they could come in. But what a mistake it was. The woman, who Annabeth could tell even then had once been beautiful, now looked slightly unhinged. She talked about Luke like he wasn’t really there, describing old memories of him. Stacks of moldy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were on the counter and May Castellan kept trying to shove burnt cookies into Annabeth’s hands. When she slipped into her “half-way point,” Annabeth had grabbed for Thalia, who immediately picked the younger girl up, pulled Luke away from his argument with Hermes, and the three left.

21. After the incident with his mother, Luke became more aggressive. In their afternoon training sessions, he pushed Annabeth harder than a seven year old should have been pressed, demanding only the best from her. More than one sparring session left her in tears and Thalia would scold Luke for being too rough. But, after she had stopped crying, Annabeth would find herself defending Luke. In her mind, he was just trying to get her to be the best fighter possible and it was her fault for not living up to those expectations. And that tomorrow, she would. Thalia would stare at the little girl, long and hard, before shooting another glare at Luke, but would ultimately decide to drop it.

22. The second day was the day they found Grover. It had been raining for the last three days and all three half bloods were soaked. They had just finished building another one of their safe houses when a little boy in an orange t-shirt and funny, fuzzy pants appeared through the woods. Thalia and Luke were off, checking the perimeter, and grabbing more branches to finish sealing off their hut, leaving Annabeth alone to guard it. As the little boy grew closer, she realized that the pants were actually the boy’s legs and she screamed. After all, up to this point, her only interaction with mythological creatures had been monsters and she was certain that this must be a new one. When she started screaming for Luke and Thalia, the little boy looked absolutely terrified and quickly tried to get her to calm down. Collecting herself, Annabeth drew her dagger about the same time Luke and Thalia showed up. They too, drew their weapons, and the goat boy seemed to visibly shrink. He quickly explained that his name was Grover, that he was sent there from Camp Half-Blood to help get Thalia to camp, and that he wasn’t there to hurt them. Skeptically, the three allowed him to join them for dinner, and Annabeth made fun of him when he ate a tin can. Eventually, Thalia and Luke decided that Grover definitely wasn’t a threat, and he joined in with the party.

23. The first night Grover was there, Annabeth kept him up all night. She asked questions about what exactly he was, what other sort of mythological creatures were out there, why he looked her age when he claimed to be fourteen, and how he had known they were there. But most of all, she asked about Camp Half-blood. He spoke of it like it was the most magical place in the world, and it got Annabeth excited to see her new home.

24. Her final day was the day she had to save Thalia, Grover, and Luke from a Cyclops. Still so small and still so unsure of herself and her dagger, she was the only one who escaped the clutches of that cyclops. She watched as her friends seemed to accept that they were going to die there, and kept trying to motion for Annabeth to run away. That she should make it out, even without them. But she wouldn’t hear of it. After all, this was her family and she wasn’t going to abandon them. She wasn’t going to leave them alone like her family had done to her. So, despite the fact that she was absolutely terrified, she managed to help them escape. It scarred her for life and Annabeth still hates to be around cyclopses. Sometimes, even being around Tyson for too long is pushing it. Especially when he does that creepy thing with his voice to make it sound like someone else.

25. During their time traveling together before Annabeth, Thalia and Luke had developed the ability to communicate without words. It frustrated Annabeth to no end that she wasn’t a part of these conversations.

26. While they were on the run, it was a common thing for Thalia to swear. It was just second nature and she thought nothing of it. The more Annabeth was around it, the more she started to pick up on it and could be heard more than once adding a few “sentence enhancers” to what she was saying. Later, when they were at camp, Luke would be the one to try to convince her to break the habit. He made the argument that there were so many other words that she could say that would be twice as convincing, and she only need to find them. After all, he would tell her that if she used them, it might confuse her enemy so much that it’d give her the upper hand more than a curse word could. Eventually, Annabeth broke the habit and, even now that she’s older, she still refuses to swear. It seems a stupid thing, but it’s a way to keep Luke’s legacy alive in a small way.

27. Being so much smaller and having littler legs, it wasn’t uncommon for Luke to swoop Annabeth up while they were trying to go longer distances, or if they were running from something. This was definitely her favorite way to travel, and she faked fatigue more often than she’d want to admit just to get him to carry her.

28. Tired, beat up, and in no condition to fight, but finally in New York, the satyr and three half bloods were running away from a monster. The attacks were getting closer together the closer they got to camp, but Grover swore that it was only a little further. He claimed to know a shortcut--it didn’t work--but it did land them in some patriotic themed candy shop. Behind the counter was a woman with kind eyes and a concerned expression, who almost seemed to know something was up with this group of travelers. But, she said nothing as she asked them if they want a “free sample,” holding out a piece of blue candy for each of them before telling them to come again.

29. It was a week after the start of the summer session when they finally reached the camp borders. It was a hard fight, and Annabeth can only watch helplessly as Thalia sacrificed herself for the rest of them. Luke holds her in his arms, trying to ignore the pummeling of little fists against his arm, chest, face before he finally just turns her around and holds her against him. He doesn’t want her to see Thalia die, but Annabeth turns around anyway and sees her elder sister being turned into a tree. They’re ushered down to the infirmary almost immediately, but Annabeth won’t answer any of the questions the Apollo children ask of her. Her first week of camp is hell and she resents Grover for lying to her about what a magical place it is. For the first three days, she doesn’t speak to anyone but Luke, and only speaks to him in hushed tones. She cries for Thalia to come back, cries for the family she left back in Virginia, and cries because her nightmares have only gotten worse.

30. Luke gets claimed first, much to his dismay. However, it gets one of the undetermined kids to give up their bunk in the Hermes cabin and he gets to get off the floor. Since Annabeth is still in the cabin as well, it was not uncommon for her to end up sleeping in his bed, down at the foot of it. It made her feel like she was safe, and it definitely proved to be more comfortable than the floor. A few of Luke’s new siblings grumble about it, but a few well placed glares from him and they shut up.

31. Since Annabeth is significantly the youngest camper there, no one really wants to partner up with her during sparring activities. They’re afraid to hurt her and no one really saw her as much of a challenge. So, it always fell to Luke to train with her since he was the newest “official” addition to the cabin. But proper training with a sword proved to be good for him and it quickly became obvious that Luke was a talented swordsman. As his skill improved, more of his siblings wanted to practice sparring with him, which meant someone else would have to spar with Annabeth. Though reluctant, they start out easy on the little girl, but quickly realized that she’s not a terrible fighter herself. After all, you don’t run away at seven and spend weeks with Luke Castellan without picking up a thing or two as far as fighting goes. As her opponent started to increase their level of difficulty on her, Annabeth still managed to disarm them most of the time, finding weaknesses in their techniques and automatically picking up on different strategies to use her opponent’s weaknesses against them. At the end of the session, the other Hermes kid is worn out and looks, astonished, at the little girl. Luke just beams with pride and Annabeth can’t help but feel proud of herself too.

32. To be claimed in the Athena cabin, one has to do something “worthy of Athena.” That first day Annabeth was paired with someone other than Luke was the same day she was claimed. It happened while they were at dinner, Annabeth sitting on Luke’s lap at the chair so she wouldn’t have to stand up, when the image of an owl seemed to swoop in and land on Annabeth’s shoulder. Her new head counselor comes to help her take her dinner to the table at Cabin 6.

33. Even though she’s able to spend the night in her own bunk, have a proper seat at a table, and siblings to look out for her, Annabeth cries that first night in the Athena cabin, desperate to get back to the Hermes cabin. After all, Luke was the last member of her family, and now he’s being taken away from her too. There’s a logical part of her that says these kids are her family, too, but they don’t seem like a family. They’re strangers. But everyone in the Athena cabin proved to be nice and were quick to take her under their wing.

34. Her nightmares come back when she first moves into the Athena cabin. Despite the fact that her siblings assured her that these were normal and that there were precautions in place to protect from spiders, it does little to reassure Annabeth. Many nights found her waiting for the harpies to finish up their patrolling before she’d climb out her window and head back to the Hermes cabin. She’d pull herself back up into the bed with Luke, because that was where she felt safe. She believed he was the only person who could keep the spiders away and that her siblings were lying when they told her she was safe with them, too. Every morning, before the sun would rise and the rest of the campers started to stir, Luke would pick up the still sleeping child and carry her back to her own cabin.

35. Although she was only seven, Annabeth was still expected to participate in all the activities of camp. However, her schedule was a little different than the rest of the campers. She had training with her siblings, but her post-lunch training session with Luke was a tradition neither of them were quite willing to give up. Especially now that they were in separate cabins and had very little time to communicate during the day. Her head counselor spent time right before bed tutoring her in Ancient Greek, which Annabeth was thankful to find she could read easier than English. But, still being in the transitional stages of reading, Chiron knew it was important that Annabeth keep practicing that as well. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other weekend, early in the morning, had Annabeth in the Big House, with lessons from Chiron to try and keep her at the same level of her mortal peers. He helped her learn ways to deal with her dyslexia, promising the child that she was smart and would do great things one day.

36. Her first week in the Athena cabin, Annabeth still felt painfully ignored like she had when she lived with her dad and his family. But no other time was it more obvious than when they were at dinner. Eventually, Annabeth would just take her food under the table and eat it there, thumbing through a book about animals to pass the time. When Luke realized what she was doing, he took his plate and sat under the Athena table with her. He was all long limbs and looked ridiculous trying to keep his feet tucked underneath the table, but he kept sitting with her until she felt comfortable sitting with her siblings again. Years later, she would find out that he traded his shower tokens to get one of her older brothers to talk to her about animals in an attempt to get her to start sitting with them again.

37. When Annabeth was younger, she wanted to be a veterinarian. In Virginia, she had had a dog and it was one of her best friends. So, she wanted to help all animals. It was only after another Athena kid pointed out she might have to work with pet spiders that Annabeth changed her mind. From then on, it was architecture all the way.

38. After confiding in Luke how much she missed Thalia, Luke told her that he still talked to her all the time. That she was still in the tree and would want to hear anything Annabeth had to say. Although she felt silly about it at first, Annabeth started going to Thalia’s tree at least once every day. The visits started out short, but would grow longer and longer. She would tell Thalia everything, from how training was going, to all she was learning about ancient Greece, and even how some of the Aphrodite girls were starting to pay attention to Luke and how that made her feel. Some days, Annabeth would just bring a book from her cabin and lean against Thalia’s tree, content to spend all day there. Other times, when she was really upset or needed to think, Annabeth would climb into the branches of Thalia’s tree and sit up there so people couldn’t find her. Somehow, Luke always knew where she was and was typically the only one who could coax her down.

39. Her first summer ends and Annabeth is given a leather necklace with one bead. The design on it is simple, but she still feels a familiar pain in her gut when she looks at the pine tree. Her head counselor awkwardly explains that it’s a way to keep the daughter of Zeus’s memory alive and that she was really brave for sacrificing herself. Annabeth can barely manage a ‘yeah,’ before having him help her put the necklace on.

40. Her head counselor, a boy named Kevin, is only a summer camper and he promises to be back the next summer to see how much she’s grown. He’s seventeen when he leaves, all blonde hair and brown eyes and big grins. For the most part, Annabeth likes him well enough. After all, it was him who got her to start sitting at the Athena table again, and he really did try to take on the older brother role for her. He doesn’t come back the next summer, and Annabeth sees the first shroud she helped make being burned: gray silk, with an owl embroidered on it.

41. A son of Demeter and a daughter of Ares taught Annabeth to play soccer during that first year and she instantly fell in love with the sport. She spent the entire winter term dribbling a ball wherever she went, endlessly annoying some of her other siblings that stay behind.

42. It’s a son of Apollo that introduces her to musical theatre for the first time that year. Some of it she doesn’t completely understand, but the music’s pretty, and it’s different from the songs her dad used to sing to her. No longer is it just the Beatles, Neil Diamond, and Billy Joel that she’ll walk around whistling while she’s training. Now, there’s typically some West Side Story or Chorus Line thrown in there as well. To some, they seem like odd choices, but Annabeth loves it.

43. It takes a solid year for Annabeth to finally see the magic of camp the way Grover had once described it. No longer is it a place full of strangers that happen to share their heritage in common. During the winter months, she really does feel as though it is a family. While Luke is still her favorite person to tag along with, Annabeth isn’t completely closed off anymore. She has other friends in other cabins, all of them older and all of them looking at her more as a little sister than a companion. She stops trying to fight the head counselor for Hephaestus from firing her weapons for her, and she looses count of the number of times Silena Beauregard from Aphrodite cabin insists on braiding her hair. But, it’s fine. After all, this place is her home and these people are becoming more and more a family. Her family. But oh, how it stings when one of them goes off on a quest, never to return.

44. She’s nine before another kid even remotely close to her age shows up at camp. But, she’s given not one newbie, but two. The first shows up in November. Brown hair, bigger built, and a sneer that could strike fear in the foulest monster, it’s no surprise when Clarisse is claimed by Ares. And, despite the fact that Clarisse is a year older, the two strike up a strange sort of friendship. They’re decent sparring partners, and spend most of their afternoons pushing each other to their limits before breaking off to go get a snack together at the pavilion. It’s easy to become friends with her, as both of them came from not-so-great home lives and she becomes another year round camper as well. They sit together at campfires, swapping jokes and laughing a little too loud and a little too long at whatever the other one said. It feels like Annabeth’s first friend in a long time and it’s great.

45. The second newbie arrives shortly after, during the first week of December. There’s something about the tilt of his nose and his wavy blonde locks that seem familiar. And, after spouting off some detailed facts during their history lesson one afternoon, Malcolm’s claimed as a child of Athena. And soon, the dynamic duo of Clarisse and Annabeth make room for a third member in their little group.

46. It’s that Christmas Annabeth gets a letter from her dad, apologizing for all that had happened between them. She adds the ring to her necklace and decides to take Frederick up on his offer to return home. Hugging Luke, Clarisse, and Malcolm goodbye at the top of the hill, she swore that she would be back that summer to see them again. And that she would miss them every day that she was gone. In the end, she’d only have to miss them for three weeks before Chiron brought her back to camp. And she swore to never return.

47. On Valentine’s day, Annabeth and her two friends end up going on their own little adventure. Luke mentioned in a passing comment that he had a date that night with a girl from the Demeter cabin. Dressed in black from head to toe and with grease smeared on their faces, the trio ended up hiding and spying on Luke’s date, continuously looking for ways to mess it up. The meal ended up with bugs in it, a slicked down surface had the Demeter camper land on her butt more than once, and a bucket of water precariously balanced above the Demeter cabin door tipped over right before Luke could go in for a good night kiss. There were plenty of high fives and a promise to do it again some other time.

48. After Malcolm and Clarisse, there seemed to be a steady stream of campers closer to Annabeth’s age. The Stolls, Katie Gardner, and a handful of others each found their way into camp. Each one was given a tour of their new home by Annabeth, who seemed the most energetic and most willing to show off the one place she had ever called home.

49. With each person that leaves on a quest, Annabeth gets more and more excited, thinking that her day has to be right around the corner. After all, she’s been there for two years and it’s only a matter of time before she’s chosen. But her mother never sends one for her, and no one ever picks her to come along on one of theirs. She wants to prove that the two years she’s been training and Thalia’s sacrifice haven’t been for nothing, but every opportunity seems to pass her by. Luke’s in the same boat, and she figures that’s why he seems so agitated the longer they’re there.

50. Growing up with Luke Castellan meant Annabeth adopted his sense of justice. Which is definitely more than a little skewed. In her mind, everyone needs to follow all the rules set before them. They shouldn’t do something reckless or even think about trying to sneak out of camp or switch up the seating arrangements. However, Annabeth does not believe those same standards apply to her. If it suits her or her needs to bend (or flat out break) those rules, she will not think twice about it. After all, she has a bigger plan in mind and those rules sometimes have a tendency to get in her way.

#likes #annabeth chase

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