Always

He'll always be second best. According to his mother, anyways.

disclaimer: (c) rick riordan


He watches them from afar. Light was radiating from Athena, a goddess of course, who was talking with Annabeth. He closes his eyes, clinging onto the marble pillar, Olympus was fascinating enough as is, even more when Krono's minions had wrecked the safe haven. It was like a large jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put together back to what they were before, but then again, pieces can always be forgotten; lost. He feeds off those thoughts for a while.

Malcolm, he was, glasses; blond hair and grey eyes, standard Athena child at it's simplest. A contrast to Annabeth, who had eyes that portrayed seriousness; her orbs of grey were like a storm at the sea, her values were bravery, ambition, and trust. He had nothing that she had, he had no flair for architecture, nor battle combat, he liked books and the scent of wood, the feel of fresh marble, too. He wasn't interesting, no drama in his years, just partly greying hair and short-attention-spans. He was older, she was wiser, more well-liked, he faded into the background. She'll always be better, and he'll just be second best.

"Don't do it again, okay?" Athena says to Annabeth, who nodded her head, received a hug from her mother.

He hides again, the stone proving to be a worthy hiding place, and he wonders what it feels like to get an embrace, and he comes face-to-face with a grey orb. Annabeth stood there, a smirk on her face, and all he could think about was how red he must be from the thought of how short the distance of which their faces were.

"Eavesdropping, eh?" she says in a playful manner, her voice curling with each consonaunt she dares utter. He puts his fingers to his lips and tries to escape.

He comes face to face with his mother the second his foot twitched.

"Why, what do we have here?" Athena asks, eyes-semi-open, lips curling into half-a-smile. He grimaces and turns away. He knows he'll always be second-best, and strangely, he seems to be open with that idea. Like it'll ever change.


A/N: Reviews are welcomed.