This is a one shot to vent out my need to write ;) I'm blocked on my other fanfictions, but I needed something to work on for a while. So, enjoy! :D
"Seriously?" Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, muttered in disbelief as he stared at the scene in front of him. "This is your definition of a perfect date?"
"I can't believe you've never been here before." Annabeth Chase, Percy's girlfriend, said. Her hair was in a simple ponytail and she wore a plain t-shirt with jeans. Sighing, she walked on, admiring the structures behind the glass panes while recording down all the interesting details she discovered. "The Skyscraper Museum is one of the most famous museums in the world. Look at the architecture! This is my seventh time here."
"Annabeth." Percy groaned. "Really?"
"Shut up and enjoy the displays, Jackson." Annabeth snapped back. "Did you know that this museum used to be located in the World Trade Center? When it was attacked in September 2001, it moved here. Isn't it so magnificent?"
"Yeah. Sure." Percy muttered. Annabeth didn't hear his half-hearted reply as she went back to scribbling in her notebook and gazing lovingly at the designs. They moved on down the corridor, with Annabeth occasionally cooing at the exhibitions or stopping to study a complicated display.
Sometimes, Percy wished he was a building or an architecture. Percy building. He wondered what he would look like as a block of plaster and granite. Would Annabeth like him more?
"This is such a romantic date." Percy mumbled after another agonizing walk of five minutes, caged inside the museum. "I feel the love."
"Be quiet." said Annabeth. "I'm looking at the structure of this building. It was designed by a child of Athena, used for a hiding spot or a base camp when enemies attack. That's so clever. Maybe we could build one. I'll ask the Hephaestus kids if..."
Percy was already drifting off, his ADHD making him fidget and tap his feet on the ground. Ten minutes. That's how long he had been in here. Ten minutes in a museum with Annabeth where she's constantly blabbering on about famous designs. That was a record.
"Annabeth." Percy said when he couldn't take anymore of looking at the 'amazing architecture that changed the world'. "Can I wait for you outside?"
Annabeth glanced up from another close study of a display. "Okay, whatever. Should've known your seaweed brain can't digest these amazing exhibitions." she said, before going back to observing.
"Um." Percy said awkwardly. "OK then. Give me a call when your done, okay?"
He couldn't wait to get out of this place. Percy was pretty sure that this was how Tartarus felt like. He wondered if there were thousands of miniature Annabeths in Tartarus, forcing people to read or study the latest Architecture.
"Sure. Yeah, I'll give you a call." Annabeth said, not taking her eyes off her notebook. Percy nodded and walked demurely to the end of the corridor. Then he turned a corner and looked back, making sure Annabeth was still focused on the displays, before he took off sprinting towards the exit.
Everything was too quiet these days. There was no adventure or thrill. Percy never thought he would say this, but he actually missed the old times when he was fighting for his life on a daily basis. The days when there weren't enough time to visit 'amazing museums' or lounge around with nothing better to do. Those days were exciting.
Walking out of the museum, Percy breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around and took a deep breath of the fresh air, deciding to go for a jog. That would give his ADHD side a boost. Plus, he hadn't been having enough exercise recently.
Plugging his earbuds into his ears, Percy grinned as he felt his foot fall into the familiar pattern of jogging. Circling the museum, he let the beat control his foot-falling pattern and sighed in a split moment of bliss. He was away from the museum, from the boring architecture. Away from Annabeth.
Then he frowned. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Glancing up, Percy noticed the distant dark spot in the sky. As it drew closer, he could make out the big, flapping wings and a large, scaled body.
"Styx." Running back to the museum, Percy headed towards the corridors he last saw Annabeth in. "Hey!" A guard shouted and tried to stop him, but Percy pushed past. He wasn't sure what the flying thing was called exactly, but it was definitely a greek monster.
"Annabeth!" He yelled when he finally found Annabeth, several lanes away. "We-need-to-leave, now!"
Annabeth glanced up, surprised, as she saw Percy running towards her. "Percy?" She asked. "I thought you went outside."
"Greek monster." Percy panted. Annabeth jerked, alerted, and quickly shut her notebook, putting it in her bag.
"What does it look like?" She asked, and Percy shrugged, helping her pack.
"I don't know." He said, waiting till she got her bag on her shoulders before grabbing Annabeth's wrist and running towards the exit point. "It was flying. Couldn't see it clearly."
Annabeth protested as she was dragged along with Percy, and she opened her mouth to speak, before stopping at the sight in front of her. There was a huge, long serpent curled up on the front steps of the building, and when it saw Percy and Annabeth, it stood up and revealed it's huge, eight foot long wings. Percy swallowed.
"Yeah. That's what it looks like." He said. Annabeth's eyes widened.
"It's the Python." She whispered. Percy stared at her, willing her to elaborate, and she did. "It used to be the guard of the oracle, but Apollo killed it ages ago. I thought it was going to stay scattered for life. It's not supposed to be alive right now."
"It seems pretty alive to me." Percy whispered slowly back, reaching in his pocket for Riptide. He was about to draw out his sword when a voice made him pause.
"Hey!" The guard that tried to stop him earlier stepped up to the dragon, jabbing at finger at it's snout. "You don't just park your huge truck in front of our museum. How will our visitors get in?"
Percy glanced at Annabeth, startled. Her grim look confirmed it - The guard couldn't see the dragon. The dragon was a truck to the average mortal's eyes, but to the two demigods they could very well tell that the dragon was, indeed, a dragon.
The guard jabbed at the dragon, and it growled. Percy winced as the dragon raised a leg to crush the man to pieces, but sighed in relief as the dragon decided against it and turned to Percy instead. The dragon roared at the demigods, it's tail flickering, as it took a step forwards.
"How to we kill it?" Percy hissed. Annabeth was observing the dragon's movements, her eyes narrowed.
"Apollo shot it with arrows until it died." she said. Percy's eyes widened, but Annabeth continued before he could speak. "But since you suck at shooting and we don't have any bow or arrows, I suggest beheading it. That usually kills."
Percy gulped as he looked at the dragon's thick hide. "Beheading?" He asked. Annabeth seemed to follow his train of thought.
"Or... finding some other way to kill it. You could... Percy-WATCH OUT!"
Percy whirled around to find the dragon lunging at him. Dodging, he drew Riptide and the dragon growled as it saw the flash of celestial bronze. It snarled and snapped it's teeth at Percy, and he rolled out from underneath the dragon's trunks to come up behind it. Clambering up the dragon's back as fast as he could, Percy got to the top of the dragon's head and in a split moment, jabbed his sword into the dragon's eye.
The dragon screeched and twisted, trying to throw Percy off, but he hung on, his hands gripping at the dragon's scales. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and Percy couldn't remember the last time he felt so exhilarated. It had been a long time since he had his last battle with a challengeable monster, not one of those tiny and almost harmless ones in the camp's forest boundaries.
Annabeth was running in front of the dragon, trying to get it's attention. She gripped her dagger and threw it with all her might at the dragon, and the weapon lodged in the dragon's throat. Blood gushed out of the monster's neck, and it screamed with a high pitched noise.
Percy noticed a small fountain-like puddle of water in front of a grey building. Feeling a tugging in his gut, he beckoned the water to crash on top of the dragon, and the monster shook it's head in confusion. It roared at the water, then shrunk back as the water sloshed all over it.
"Behead the monster!" Annabeth screamed at Percy. Percy nodded, gripping his sword, and in a swift motion, dug it into the dragon's neck. It slit open the dragon's flesh surprisingly easily, and the dragon roared before it was cut off by choked gagging.
The monster vaporized into yellow dust that stuck to Percy's face as he fell onto the ground with a thud. He spat in disgust. Monster remains didn't have a good aftertaste.
Annabeth was breathing hard as she ran up to Percy. "Are you okay?" She asked. Percy nodded, standing up and dusting his pants. He noticed the citizens staring at them and coughed.
"It's going to be on the news." He said. Annabeth nodded.
"Yeah. But knowing mortals, they'll probably just make up some believable story." She shrugged. Percy laughed leaned against a wall, staring at his girlfriend.
Annabeth's ponytail was messy and her cheeks were scraped and covered in dirt. To Percy, she had never looked more beautiful than now as she coughed and looked down awkwardly. Percy's cheeks colored as he realized suddenly that this was actually meant to be a date.
"Um." He said. He and Annabeth stared at each other, stormy grey meeting sea blue. Percy couldn't seem to drag his eyes away from Annabeth, and Annabeth was staring at Percy because it was a challenge not to look somewhere else.
They stood like that for what seemed like a century, although to Percy's watch it was only one minute. Percy's heart was pounding, and he was pretty sure the color of his face was equivalent to that of a tomato. They stood parallel to the building, two bruised and scraped teenagers staring at each other.
"Well," Annabeth said finally, slowly, as if testing out the words. She cleared her throat. "That was an... interesting date. I learnt a lot from the museum. Didn't you? Wasn't the structure of the building just amazing?"
Percy paused, comprehending the words. Then he looked away, the spell that had taken ahold of him broken. Groaning, he ran a hand over his face, feeling himself sag in both relief and slight disappointment. "Yeah, sure, Annabeth. Amazing."
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