Thank you to The-Excess-Dreams for being my first reviewer (technically second, because I published this story under another account here), and I hope, you're going to not hate me too much after this. Thank you so much for your kind words, it means so much to me that you think, this is well written, because it's my first try in writing English, my second language.
To everyone else who might read this, there's going to be a third part which is the fin of this story.
A doorbell ringing. Percy shoot up from the couch and nervously ran a hand through his hair, trying to comb it somehow. He'd decided to not dress up noticeable better, after all this was just a meeting between friends. No date. It'll not become a date, Jackson, he thought to himself. Don't lose your composure, once you see her. Don't lose-
He opened the front door and almost yelped in surprise. A blonde hurricane flew towards the apartment and crashed him through the doorway. Something surrounded his chest, squeezing so tightly he almost couldn't breath. Wild, curly hair slapped into his face as he stood there, completely shocked.
Then Annabeth released him and took a step back. Percy could almost hear his jaw hitting the ground. She looked like . . . the ultra goddess or something. Her slim, long legs were pronounced through a blue, faded skinny jeans. She'd put on a blouse in the same shade as his blue cookies, he once offered her. Her hair lay freshly washed, open and shiny, neatly in curls on top of her gray coat. Her stormy gray eyes shone with relief and joy.
But after that, he noticed it. Her eyes had deep, dark blue bags under them. He could see them, even though she put on some make-up to hide them. Her cheeks were shrunken as if she didn't eat a thing since he left her. He was sure, she could still fight and glare her enemies into the ground, but she seemed pretty weak on her legs. As he removed her coat and hung it over a armchair in the living room, he noticed her figure unhealthy slim.
She watched him staring at her with a knowing, sad smile. "I know. I thought you don't want to talk to me after . . . the war and that took my appetite a little."
"Oh gods, Annabeth," he whispered. His chest tightened and his heart felt heavier than any time before. She was definitely not doing good. This was his responsibility. His blame. His absence didn't do any good to either of them. Not to her and definitely not to him. Could he let this happen? Was this keeping her safe or just putting her in other danger and even more suffering? Could he do this to her?
"I'm so sorry, Wise Girl," he mumbled and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back just as tightly and passionate. Gods, how he loved this girl. Beautiful, all knowing, sweet Annabeth. Could he stand this absence from her life anymore? It felt impossible to leave her again.
"Don't be," she mumbled into his shoulder. "It's not your fault."
"Of course it is," Percy said, wanting to beat himself up for not looking after her. His heart fluttered with hope, with love, with concern, with rage, with disappointment, with so much emotions, he felt like he would explode, if he didn't tell her about everything right now. "I know it. Oh gods, I - Annabeth, I -" He was interrupted by a stomach rumbling loud. Part of him was disappointed, but he was mostly relieved, he didn't tell her. He had to think about this first.
"Look, who does have appetite now," he said playfully, sounding light, but forcing every word out of his mouth. "I'll get something to eat." He wanted to close his mouth, shut up and just think. Think about telling her or not. Obviously, he couldn't protect her from danger through being away, but could he risk protecting her from danger through being with her?
In the kitchen he first grabbed the pancakes his mother made him to lunch. Of course he didn't eat them, because he was to nervous to meet Annabeth again. That turned out to be his luck. He put them in the microwave and searched again for food. They had cookies, cheese, cornflakes, some apples because Paul loved them, a little bit bread, honey and chocolate. Exactly why his mother was out today. She and Paul were buying food and a few outfits for them, because of some party they have to go to with his mother being a author and everything.
"That looks amazing," Annabeth said, watching him coming out of the kitchen with full plates. She smiled so bright, he could even see her teeths.
"What?" Percy teased playfully. "The plates or me?" Annabeths mouth dropped open and Percy immediately stiffened. What was wrong with him?
"Did you just flirt with me, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, eyes shining in a bright silver. She stared at him from down the couch while he put the plates on the table. Idiocy will always have consequences, his brain told him. Sometimes he wished, he didn't has a brain like so many people thought.
"I did not," Percy scoffed, snatching a cookie out of the box. He sat down onto the couch next to Annabeth with a little gap between them.
Annabeths lips twitched into a smile. He couldn't believe it. Her even just believing he flirted with her, made her happy enough to smile truly, and seeing him made her wanting to eat again. How could he ever do something so stupid and harming to her and not showing his true feelings? "I think, you did."
"I did not!" Percy exclaimed. "And now eat or I get it."
Annabeth laughed. She really laughed. Loud. Happy. True. No pretending. Percys heart bubbled with joy. He made her laugh. Like all the times before the war, during their adventures. And that truly was the best thought he had in the last three months. It made him laugh too, even though he risked showing his feelings. Should he show her or not? Could they be friends like before? Was that possible? Obviously, she had to see him, as friend or boyfriend, whatever, but what was better - for both of them?
He watched her eating properly for the first time in probably days or even weeks. Her curls fell down her shoulders longer than he remembered. She grew a little, but he was kind of relieved to still be taller than her. Her skin became a little less tanned, it was almost winter after all, but it still complimented her blond hair and her gray eyes. Even though she was definitely not in the best condition, she became more beautiful than he could imagine.
To distract himself from her heart crunching, adorable eating habits, for example always turning the fork in her mouth - was noticing that creepy? -, he decided to turn on the TV. Not that he could concentrate on the show with Annabeth sitting right next to him. His cheeks were getting red as he remembered the kiss they shared on his birthday.
Annabeth moaned suddenly and Percy looked at her, alarmed. "What? What is it? Is something with the food?"
She snorted and held one hand in front of her mouth, before she said, "Of course you'd first ask if there's something with the food."
"I didn't mean it like that!" He protested. "I thought you had an allergic reaction or something-"
She rolled her eyes and Percys heart skipped a beat at the familiarity of this situation. "First of, I'm not allergic and you know that. That's the opportunity of being a demigod - if I had one, it would have disappeared when I first ate ambrosia." His mouth popped open in a silent oh.
"And then: I know that you've asked me if I had something against the food, you dumbass. You're Percy Jackson, your friends are way more important for you than food - though it's the second most important thing."
He smiled sheepishly and she looked away, abruptly. He frowned and she looked at him again, her face sad and longing. "Don't you get it?" She asked softly. "I tried to make conversation. To distract myself from you being the cutest person in the world."
His breath hitched and he stared at her, not knowing what to say. His heart was a hurricane of emotions, without control and without knowing what he really felt. He swallowed hard and once again asked himself if he could risk it. Tell her the truth or not? "You still . . ."
"I'll never stop and I'm sorry for that Percy," she said, smiling sadly. "I tried, really. I promised you. But you . . . I don't know, raised my expectations and imaginations of a boyfriend into impossibility, even without being mine. Into an area where just you're resting."
Percy felt his throat tightening and couldn't help but take her hand in his. She didn't look up at him, just to the ground. Finally, she inhaled deeply and shook her head. "Sorry," she said and smiled a little bit forced.
"It's . . . It's okay," he croaked. "I understand. I'm your friend, you can talk to me about everything." She nodded dully, staring at his face, not at his eyes, but at his lips. He stared back, feeling a familiar urge to touch her more than just holding her hand. Pushing her golden ringlets back, craning his neck to get into the best position to kiss her, feeling her strawberry lips again.
They were pale and pink now, looking more inviting than ever. He wanted to taste them again, so badly he almost couldn't stop himself. Why holding back? Tell her the truth or not? He couldn't leave her, he knew that - mostly because he wanted to keep her safe, and her current state proofed that being away didn't protect her. But being with her - could that really be the right choice?
"So, umm . . . why did you moan when I turned on the TV, Wise Girl?" He turned his head with every self control he had left to the TV and watched Sheldon sitting in a police station and talking to an officer.
Annabeth shook her head and leaned away, grabbing a cookie and leaning onto the armrest further away from him. His heart didn't feel like a heart anymore - more like a black hole, nothingness, complete misery. But he put himself into that, didn't he?
"Idiot. That's The Big Bang Theory," Annabeth explained, without looking at him. "They're talking about so many senseless things. I mean, physics isn't my specialty, but everybody knows that the episode with the space toilet is totally illogical - how should that work? And the North Pole thing, why are they alone up there? And where are they? Because they're definitely not on the North Pole, there is no mainland. They're possibly in Greenland and that would mean, their data would be wrong."
Percy laughed, forgetting the former subject for a moment and just let his happiness flow out of him. Annabeth smiled truly at him, enjoying his company. "You're watching The Big Bang Theory in the Athena cabin?"
"Of course," Annabeth retorted. "Then we know, how to do it definitely not. And we have something to laugh about."
"Next time you're watching," Percy said grinning. "Tell me and I come."
Her smile faded a little. "I don't know . . . I don't believe, you would want me to do that."
"Why?" Percy frowned, his happy mood turning to thoughtful. He was a lot more happy in this few minutes with her than in three months without her, he noticed.
"My siblings are . . . kind of mad at you," she mumbled, looking sheepish. "The Camp is mostly unsecure about this - some hold up to you, some do not, some said nothing yet. I didn't want that, of course!" She added hurriedly. "They did that without me."
"I understand," Percy said quietly. He felt a little bit betrayed by the Campers, but was also relieved that some didn't go against him. Mostly because Annabeth still sticked to him. "Well," He finally said, standing up and clapping his hands together. "What about a movie? Frozen? Nemo? Or what do you want?"
She watched him and shook her head, smiling. "Always the kid, aren't you?"
"These are classics!" He protested. "And you know me. I love these kids films. They don't have all these serious topics in them."
"Aww, would that be too much for your brain, Seaweed Brain?" She laughed.
"Definitely," he said, grinning down at her. "So, what do you think?"
She stood up too and looked at the films, Percy showed her. "What I think . . ." She said thoughtfully. Annabeth pushed a golden curl behind her ear, then looked at him and even down at his lips again. He blushed and she nibbled at her lip, nervously. "I think, we're avoiding the topic, Percy."
He swallowed and stuttered, "What topic?" His heart beat was so violent, he didn't know how she couldn't hear it.
Slowly the girl lifted her gaze up to his eyes, her expression full of sorrow. "I know everything, Percy," she said softly. "Don't play with me. I know, you like me the same way I do. I know, you're trying to protect me. I know, that's the reason why you don't want to be with me. You do love me, don't you?"
-•-
"What about Iron Man?" Zayne asked. "Or Captain America? They are heroes, aren't they? They saved the world!"
"No," Percy said, feeling hollow at the mention of this word. Hero. He was supposed to be one. To save people. But he didn't do that. You're a hero, you know that? Annabeths voice told him in his mind and his gut clenched, remembering every beautiful feature of her. He thought of her earlier today, looking like death even more than Nico. He hated seeing her like that. He felt like that too, but she shouldn't. She should move on, like somebody else, somebody better than him, somebody who was able to protect her.
"No?" Zayne repeated, disbelief in his voice. "What the hell is a hero, in your mind, then?" Percy walked silently for a few seconds, thinking about the question. What could he let out? What could he tell?
"Sure, they are some kind of American heroes, " he said thoughtfully. "Saving the world shouldn't meet ingratitude. But they aren't true heroes. True heroes fight because they have someone to protect. They suffer because they protect their loved ones. They're holding up their facades, staying behind masks, not doing that for fame or because they're told so, they're doing that, because they're able to. True heroes have a reason why they fight, a reason basing on love, family, friends. Sure, Iron Man does love Pepper Potts and he honored this scientist and everything, but . . . revealing his true identity put Pepper into danger and that isn't what a hero would do."
Zayne smiled and looked at him, impressed. "You're a real poet, Percy Jackson. Are you writing or something?"
Percy shook his head and looked to the ground. "Mom's an author," he mumbled. You're a hero, you know that? Was he? Basing on what he said, he was one. He truly loved Annabeth, but he wasn't with her to her own safety. So, was she right? Was he a true hero?
No, he decided, ignoring the hope flaring in his chest. He would not lose his composure, just because she was at his house today. He would not. Heros are always getting happy ends. That's not me.
"That explains everything," Zayne said dryly. He punched his arm playfully. "But anyway, so you're saying, people like Spider-man are true heroes? Even though he lost Gwen in The Amazing Spider-man 2?"
Percy hesitated. "Kinda. It wasn't smart to be with Gwen, but at least he tried. But that's our . . . umm, his destiny. Longing for something too good. Suffering from that yearning. He lost the fight with himself, put Gwen in danger with loving her openly."
"Like Tony Stark," Zayne pointed out, trying to argue with his opinion.
"Not really. Kinda, but not really," Percy held against him. "Tony Stark had the chance to keep his mask, but he didn't. Peter Parker did. But that was still a risk. Gwens father knew he wouldn't be able to protect his daughter. Of course he would try harder than anything, but it wouldn't help. He would lose Gwen."
"Hm," Zayne said thoughtfully. Then he grinned. "You sound as if you made this experience first hand."
Percy smiled weakly. "I probably do. I mean, I don't have experience in being a hero, but I do know how it is to love somebody, you can't have."
"Hell," his black haired friend said shocked, his steel gray eyes wide. "I didn't know that . . . of all people, you can't have a girl?"
Percys throat tightened, his gut clenched more, his arms became weak and he looked away. All these familiar feelings were coming up again. He couldn't help that. But he also couldn't lose this fight, like Peter Parker. He was rather friends with Annabeth than have her dead like all the others in the years ago. "I-I don't want to talk about that."
"Of course," Zayne said hurriedly. "So, what are you going to write about in the English essay? I can't believe we're going to write letters to our future beings. That's really exciting!"
Percy laughed, ignoring the hollow feeling that appeared in his stomach again. "I don't know yet. I think, I'll write what bothers me right now. Like I could be dead tomorrow. Then I have something to be happy about, when I'm reading this."
"Goddammit, Jackson, you're awfully pessimistic these days," Zayne exclaimed, punching his arm. "That's hang out time now, bro. Stop destroying my good mood."
Percy smiled, shaking his head. "Sorry." But as he looked over the crowds of passengers on the pavements, he could swear, he saw familiar blonde curls appearing in every corner.
-•-
"Ha! I win!" Zayne exclaimed, yanking the joystick around and finishing his last round. Percys airplane steered wearily towards the finish line, but suddenly, a hurricane like wind appeared on the display, sending his airplane through the air and tumbling towards the ground.
"Zeus!" Percy slapped his hand on the game, cursing under his breath. "Why? That's a game!"
Zayne couldn't stop laughing. "How - how the hell did you do that, mate? That's impossible - dammit, that was great!" He broke into another fit of laughter.
"You're a really good friend," Percy said sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest, still glaring at the ceiling out of the corner of his eye. He could swear, there was laughter being heard.
"I know," the other boy said, wiping tears out of his eyes. "It's just hilarious - you winning almost every game in here and now you even did something that bad it's technically impossible."
"I'm known for this kind of things," Percy said grinning, winking expressively at him. Zayne began laughing again. "Let's find something else to do," Percy suggested as they stepped out of the amusement arcade.
"How about the taxi parade downtown?" Zayne asked, putting his jacket back on. Some girls giggled at the sight of them, but Percy quickly looked away as he saw one of them having almost the same blonde hair as Annabeth. Get her out of your mind!
"That would be nice," Percy answered tightly, walking quickly down the pavement. His breath formed white, misty clouds of warm air in the clinking cold oxygen.
Zayne ran after him, barely dodging people to catch up with him. "Hey - sorry, ma'am - what the hell, Percy! What was that supposed to be?"
"Just didn't want to miss the parade, okay?" Percy retorted, walking swiftly onwards. "Do you?"
"The parade's all day, Jackson. Stop lying and talk to me," Zayne demanded, crossing his arms.
"It's nothing, Zayne," Percy sighed.
"It doesn't seem like nothing. What's up with you, Jackson?"
Percy walked silently for a few minutes again, trying to find the right words. He wanted to tell somebody, wanted to be comforted, but could this one be Zayne? He didn't even knew about everything that happened, and Percy couldn't tell him. He couldn't put Zayne into the dangerous life of demigods too.
"I see her," he finally forced out. "Okay? Every blonde girl I see, reminds me of her. Every time I see gray eyes or hear something smart being said, I think of her. I loved her, and I see her everywhere. You don't understand. It's hard, almost impossible."
Zayne was quiet for a long time, walking deep in thought beneath him, his hands deep in his pockets. Far away they already saw the yellow taxi cabs in lines moving down the street, colorful stickers covering every bit of their varnish. "Can you tell me more? Or is it too hard?"
"I . . . I can't," he said exasperated. "Just forget it, okay?"
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
"If that's what you want," Zayne said, looking up and at the cabs. "This is awesome! Look at this! Is that a unicorn sticker?"
Percy couldn't help but laugh loudly at the failed image of a white horse with a golden horn and pink mane and tail. That was totally unrealistic. No unicorn had pink hair. "Yeah, and that's a little bit to colorful," he added, pointing at one car that had the side windows and doors covered with huge rainbow stickers.
"Oh god, my eyes!" Zayne cried dramatically, getting strange looks from the strangers around them, but making Percy laugh openly.
They spent almost one and a half hour just walking around, watching taxis and making jokes about passengers and the stickers. Although Percy missed Annabeth more than anything - how did he survive three months without her? -, he laughed openly like he did with her one week ago. Zayne was a really good boy, and he would be a great man someday. Hopefully, Percy would see him that day. But at the moment it didn't feel like he would.
"You're zoning out again, Jackson," Zayne called and brought him back to the present. Percys head snapped up. "Huh?"
"You were like 'Where am I, who am I, what the hell is this freak talking 'bout again," his black haired friend said.
"Sorry," he said hastily. "Just thinking."
"About what?" Zayne asked. When Percy didn't answer, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Again? Her?"
"No," Percy said.
"Of course," he answered himself, ignoring Percy wisely. "Hell, if you like her that much, why don't you talk with her? It's not like she could resist the famous Percy Jackson charm." He snickered.
"Oh, shut up," Percy growled, thinking not in pain of Annabeth for the first time since his birthday.
"Okay, okay, but I'm serious. Why don't you?" Zayne raised his eyebrows.
"She's my best friend."
The boy looked hurt. "Hey! What 'bout me? How long were you friends?"
"More than four years," Percy answered dryly, but at the same time sadly. Everything was so easy when they were young.
"Oh, okay. Well that's a long time, isn't it," Zayne pointed out.
"It is."
"And why don't you ask her out? I mean, you're not exactly the ugliest guy I've ever met. That competition would totally win Mr Garris."
"Who?" Percy asked confused.
"Our theater teacher, you're not in that group - he always looks like the fish he tries to play all the time. The guy with the huge glasses."
"He tries to play a fish?"
"Or Romeo, I really don't know,"
They grinned at each other. "I think you're avoiding the topic," Zayne then said and wiggled his forefinger in front of Percy. "You'll answer my question. Why don't you ask - I don't even know her name - out?"
"Her name is Annabeth," Percy answered quietly. "And I don't ask her out, because -"
Suddenly, a screech echoed through the streets making Percys ears almost bleed. People looked up, alarmed, before turning back to their business. His eyes widened and he immediately gripped his pen tightly. Zayne stood there, shocked, maybe being with Percy here made him hear the noise for real. The gray clouds separated and Percy could see them for the first time.
They were invisible, sometimes, so seeing them was harder than he originally thought. But sometimes they were boys and horses, eagles and bears. They seemed like wind, clouds, lightning, storm, all mixed together, representing pure energy full of anger. He cursed loudly, earning some weird looks from his sides.
Zayne took two steps back. "Percy?" He asked, hesitantly. "What the hell was that? Did you hear that?" He didn't seem to see the ghosts flying high above them, gathering.
"Not now, Zayne," he said through gritted teeth. He secretly pulled the pen out of his pocket and glanced at the sky. The wind spirits were forming a little hurricane, horrible, smug laughing sounding down to them. No passenger looked up.
Percy had to get away from the main street. Mythological creatures usually didn't care about mortals and whether they hurt them or not. And with the taxi parade and all those bystanders watching, he couldn't fight properly, especially not with ghosts who shot lightnings. The best would be the rooftop of a building, where he could use the water tanks when necessary. Maybe he could use a fire escape . . .
"What the heck?" Zaynes voice reached his ears and hands gripped Percys clothes with surprising force. The son of Poseidon saw something incredible bright flashing and jumped away, pulling his friend with him. Zayne stared at the little, black, burned spot on the pavement with wide eyes. "Percy, you're seeing this too, right? I'm not going nuts, am I? Is it possible, that there is a little bit more wind than normal? Please tell me, that's just some kind of weird storm and there aren't laughing ghosts in the sky who want to shot me with lightnings."
"Zayne," Percy repeated and glared at his friend who seemed frightened to death at this point. He probably spotted specs of the wind ghosts and questioned his sanity now, which Percy would understand if there wasn't immediate danger for the mortals around him coming up. "There are laughing ghosts in the sky, but they want to shot me. I want you to be quiet just for a minute, if you don't want us burned, plus the entire population in the area of 160 feet. I'm trying to come up with a plan."
"A plan? What do you think you want to do against them? Why do they want to shot you? Damn, what's going on here?" Percys friend ranted on and on in his panic, not realizing that his companion wasn't even listening to him anymore. People ignored them mostly and kept walking. Percy knew, that the hurricane was growing and the monsters were going to attack as soon as the wind almost ripped his clothes off of him. Now, people started to look up, confused, and realize the storm forming around them.
"There," Percy muttered, finally spotting an open fire escape not too far away. Zayne looked dully at him, before following his gaze up the metal stairs to a big, open roof where a tank was placed.
"You're kidding me, right?" The black haired boy asked no one in peculiar. "Why on earth would you want to go upstairs when you - hell, that sounds just downright wrong - when you freaking know, there are ghosts who want to kill you with electricity?"
"They're going to hurt people if I don't go," Percy answered absentmindedly, starting to push through the crowds of puzzled mortals, holding his pen higher and ready to transform it into his sword Riptide. "And there are water tanks."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zayne said, angrily. "They're going to hurt you! What kind of advantage yields a water tank to us?"
"Us?" Percy whirled around and stared into his friends' eyes intently. "Nothing. Because you're staying right here. I'm not taking you with me into this fight, you hear me? You're not moving one muscle."
Zayne seemed afraid for a second, not understanding the sudden change in the attitude of his friend, but then he straightened and held his ground. "You can't make me," he told him, firmly. "I'm a free person and using my rights now. I'm not going to let you play the mysterious hero without me, mate."
Percy felt the storm ripping at his hair and he just knew, his eyes were raging like mini oceans right now. The steely gray of Zaynes eyes reminded him of Annabeth and how he made her go in Mount St. Helens. Right before she kissed him . . . he blinked, trying to recover from that memory. Finally he groaned, loudly and frustrated, but a task for his friend was already in his head. "I need you to get everyone away from that street next to the fire escape and into the buildings. The cab drivers too. Hurry and don't take yourself in danger."
Zayne hesitated, eyeing the big crowd of confused people, before nodding determined. "Okay. But what are you going to do? How do you want to stop ghosts?"
"Just hoping they aren't resistent against my ways of fighting," Percy answered wary, already pushing forward to his target again.
His friend followed him. "What ways of fighting? Fist fighting with ghosts?" Percy just uncapped Riptide as an answer and Zayne gasped. "A baseball bat? Where for Christ's sake did you get a baseball bat and how should it affect ghosts?"
Percy sighed angrily and started saying "That's not -", before he remembered what Annabeth told him a few years ago. "Annemoi Thuellai!" He shouted and stared at the growing hurricane above him. Wind started to pull on the cars and some people already hurried to enter the buildings.
"Goddammit, why the fuck are you freaking speaking Greek now, Percy?!" Zayne yelled and lost every patience, his body ever held. He couldn't believe it. Here he was, his afternoon with his best friend officially ruined, and now he discovered that they both were mentally insane or something. And on top of that, his best friend was speaking in riddles now, or even in other languages, and seemingly wanted to sacrifice himself while fighting weird lightning ghosts with a fucking magic baseball bat. Hopefully, he would wake up soon.
"Take the people away!" Percy yelled back and started shooing a group of girls away who disappeared quickly and without any second thought. Zayne gripped the hand of an older woman and pulled her with him towards the entrance of some grocery store.
"Let me go!" The voice of the man made him spin around. A guy in his forties was pulled up into the air by his shoulders, struggling to get back to the ground. A boy around five was watching him with wide, scared eyes, yelling "Daddy" over and over again. "My son!", the man shouted, angry and frightened at the same time.
Zayne watched shocked, how Percy appeared out of nowhere, apparently jumping from somewhere high and hitting the air with his baseball bat. The man gave a struggled gasp and fell a few feet, before something - the air ghosts, probably - grabbed him again. For some reason, Percy remained in the air, grabbing pure nothing with his hands, and Zayne swore he saw something flicker between visible and invisible - a boy with blinding beauty and obvious conceit.
Zayne shook from fear, but the logical part of his brain knew, he couldn't help his friend. If he threw something from the grocery store, it would just hit Percy, because a) Zayne did not have the best aim in history and b) the wind guy would just become, well, air, and it wouldn't help either way. So, the black haired boy decided to make sure the people were safe.
"Go away!" He yelled at a group of business men. They wore black and gray suits with matching ties and neat lacquer shoes, formal briefcases clamped under their arms. One of them held a cellphone in his hand, talking quickly and scared into it, obviously calling the police, some kind of disaster prevention or whatever.
Zayne ran through the crowd and pushed people out of the way, who were - sadly, but understandably - more interested in his flying friend than the teen trying to save them. But then a girl saw him and her gray, stormy eyes widened in shock. Before he could understand the weird mix of fear, hope, admiration, determination and - was it friendship? - in her facial expression as she looked at Percy, she started shouting and waving, startling people, shoving them away in every direction and eyeing the flying boy with concern.
Zayne wanted to question her actions, but he was too relieved that the people around him were finally moving, out of their stupor to say something. Instead he turned back to the business men, from whom just the one with cellphone was still were. Screams started to fill the air and far away, police sirens were heard. The dark haired boy was almost knocked off his feat by a man with a boy in his arms and clear panic on his face - the guy who was captured by the lightning boy just moments ago. Zayne jumped and stared at the fight at least 16 yards above him, ignoring the blonde girl trying to usher him into a building.
The wind guy flew around so fast, you almost couldn't follow him with your eyes. The storm whipped into Zaynes face and he had to narrow his eyes to see anything around him - and not let his eyes parch too much. The girl stood next to him, still holding his arm in an attempt to get him into the restaurant, but her eyes followed the scene as worried as his. Zayne was still impressed how Percy kept the fight going this long, but the concern outweighed.
The pair of fighting bodies (air and body, whatever) turned and right as Percy landed an especially good punch, they crashed into the front of a truck. Zayne winced and almost ran to his friend to get him away, but the girl held him back. He looked at her angrily, but she swallowed, more worry than the boy could imagine in someone's expression was held in her eyes. "Don't," she said over the wind, not taking her eyes from the car for one moment. "You can't help him."
Zayne wanted to snap back, but he knew she was right. Plus, a scream, a horrible, frightening scream, filled the air. The black haired boy was dazzled, seeing a long, white line of energy dissipate the area of his view. His ears were half deaf and he stumbled a bit, eyes shutting ever so slightly. His head hit the pavement but he didn't feel the pain. He saw the almost black clouds part and dissappear, laughing at him and every pathetic, helpless being in the world.
His head rolled to the side without his permission and he could make out the burnt body of a person lying in front of the truck, seemingly lifeless. He heard the girl scream and pray and cry and swear loudly. He saw her kneeling over the body's face, her blond, curly hair covering it and shaking with every scream of hers.
Zayne closed his eyes and his breathing became slower, as the red and blue light of the police cars filled his view
I know, you hate me, but there's gonna be a third part, so please don't leave this story.
