Just so that we're clear. THIS is what I can create when I have enough time to focus. I wrote this in one day. One.
Also, thank you, to the people that subscribed and reviewed since the last chapter came out. I know my AN on the last chapter might've been a little harsh but I mean it's true. It's very frustrating for me to put so much work into this story, and be really proud of my work, and just have to deal with so little recognition. I know everyone's felt like that before and I guess I'm just sorry for being kinda pushy about it.
Also, Merry Christmas all!
When Jason woke slowly and groggily from his drug-induced sleep to find himself tied to a table, he only wished he could say it was a first.
He examined what he could of his situation. He was wearing nothing but his underwear, that much was obvious. But it seemed whatever drug had been uses on his was still somewhat in effect. His whole body felt so stiff it hurt to resist. Looking up, he saw one of those long, thin cylindrical light bulbs. Which meant he wasn't in a residential home. More likely he was in a government building. Waiting to be dissected and experimented on. There was only one light bulb. He was in a very small room, then.
He turned his head to try and get a better understanding. He was right, he was in a very small room without any decoration. Another indication of a government-owned building. He tried to turn his wrists in their bonds. They were so tight they nearly cut off his circulation. They appeared to be chains made of solid gold. Going by the angle, they were attached to the floor.
Gold . . . interesting. And problematic. Gold was an excellent conductor of electricity so he couldn't just electrify his way out of them. It also meant whoever took him had a prestanding understanding of his abilities. Had he been under observation?
Then he noticed something. On one of the walls was a mirror in which Jason had a pretty good view of himself tied to a table In his underwear. But more importantly, in the bottom-left corner there was a familiar logo. A smile.
Jason couldn't help but burst out laughing. He should've guessed.
"Alright, you can come up now." he announced
"I have no idea what you're talking about." a voice responded from behind the mirror "I've been here the whole time."
Jason strained to watch the door open and the near exact image of his girlfriend stepped inside.
"Hello Hylla." Jason said stiffly
"Jason." she replied just as coldly.
She and Jason had never been on good terms. In fact, the only reason they didn't regularly try to kill each other was their mutual care for her younger sister, Reyna.
"Well at least I know you've got good reason for taking me. If you was the one who'd kidnapped me either you've finally decided to do me in, or things are a lot worse then I'd thought. I mean if you were your sister-"
"Yes well let's not get into if I were my sister and you were tied to a table in nothing but your underwear." Hylla snapped before while she undid his chains
"Yeah was there any real gold reason for that?"
"The table, or the underwear do you mean?"
"Both."
"Yes." Hella said simply as she undid the last bond and shoved a change of clothes at him "Naturally, we couldn't let you have any idea where our headquarters are. Thus our rather forceful invitation."
"It was kidnapping. Let's call a spade a spade." Jason chimed
"It's standard procedure to strip any and all prisoners to remove any way they could be hiding weapons. You were only allowed to keep what you did because, frankly, I have no interest in seeing my baby sister's boyfriend nude."
"Not that I don't love our little talks, Hyl," Jason said as he started to dress "But I was kinda doing something important. There are two girls I've got in my custody and-"
"Oh we're perfectly aware of your situation." Hella said crisply "The McLean residence has been under our observation since we took you. Don't worry, Amazons never let their guard down. Unlike a certain Wolf House agent I could name."
Jason felt his face burn in spite of himself. As much as it killed him, Hella was right. He'd been careless last night, and now he was going to have to suffer the consequences.
"Wolf House agents don't usually bother with the mess of kidnapping. We just neutralize the threats."
Hylla sniffed "Well the Amazons are not the Wolf House. We d things rather differently. We are stronger, faster-"
"More arrogant." Jason mumbled
"And I am their Queen." Hylla said sharply "You will treat me with respect."
Jason's blood was really boiling now. Hylla was just one of those people where every word she uttered was an aggravation to him. But he retained himself. The last thing anyone in Wolf House needed was the threat of war from the Amazons.
"Why. Am. I. Here? Your highness." he spat
Hylla gave him an evil look for a moment. If he didn't see that same look from Reyna about once a week, he probably would've been pretty shaken. It really was uncanny, how much the two of them looked a like. Even without the age gap, no one would've suspected Jason and Thalia were related, let alone siblings. But these and Reyna were practically twins, even though there was just as big an age-gap between the two of them as there was between Jason and Thalia. Reyna swore once they'd switched places for a week once without anyone noticing.
"Simple." Hella said finally, handing him a sealed envelope "I need you to deliver a message to my sister."
"Alright, who was the New Jersey Plan was proposed by?"
"Um . . . James Madison?"
"No, William Peterson. James Madison proposed the Virginia Plan. Which called for . . . ?" Annabeth sat quietly waiting for a response
"Uh . . ." A teenage Percy squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate "Three branches of government, Judicial, Executive, and Federal."
"Legislative." Annabeth corrected "But go on."
"Right, Legislative. That's Congress, right?"
"Right."
"And the state plans were about how many votes each state should have in Congress."
"Yes. And why was this important?" Annabeth urged
"Because all the states were really different from each other. And what was good for one state wouldn't be good for another. And the Northern states didn't want the same as the Southern states."
"Well, yes and no." Annabeth said "The Northern and Southern states were extremely different, and had different economies. But the issue wasn't so much about economic dispute, it was about each state having equal say. The Virginia Plan wanted the number of votes a state had in Congress to depend on the state population. This would give more power to the larger states, and Virginia was the largest. The New Jersey plan wanted each state to have the same number of votes regardless. This gave more power to the small states."
"Ugh." Percy slammed his head against his History textbook "How am I supposed to remember all this?" he mumbled helplessly
"Do you want to take a break?" Annabeth was getting pretty sick of studying herself, by this point
"Yes." Percy said weakly "But I can't. I need to get this."
"Why're you taking school so seriously all of a sudden?" Annabeth asked. She'd been wondering this ever since he came and asked for tutoring. She had known Percy from school for a while at this point and she'd never seen him study for anything.
Percy looked at her for a second, like he was contemplating telling her. Then he sighed.
"My Mom." he confessed "Well, not her really. She's got this . . . boyfriend." He said the word like it was some kind of deadly poison
"You don't sound real happy about that." Annabeth noted
"No, it's not that." Percy said "It's just . . . my stepfather was not a good man. Actually he was more like the picture of an absolute dick. But if I get started on a rant about Smelly Gabe I'll never stop."
"Smelly Gabe?" Annabeth couldn't help but crack a smile
Percy smiled too "Yeah, Smelly Gabe. I nick-named him that when I was a kid. I'm sorry but the guy reeked like you would not believe. Actually, I'm not even sorry. Take a shower you filthy pig!"
Annabeth laughed out loud at this. Something in his tone made it hard not to laugh. Percy gave a small smile himself.
When he spoke next, Percy spoke so softly, looking at his fingers, that Annabeth might've missed in in the noise of her own laughter. "He used to hit her."
Annabeth's laugh died instantly "He what?"
"It was when I wasn't around. I was always shipped off to boarding schools so I never saw it much. She made a bunch excuses. Tried to keep me from going ape shit. I guess after that I'm a little protective."
Annabeth didn't say anything. (What could she say? She tried to speak but noises wouldn't come out. Why was he telling her something so personal in the first place?) Finally Percy cleared his throat.
"Anyway, this new guy. He's a teacher and he and Mom have been getting along really well. Like really well. And I can see he really does care about her, and he treats her right. And they seem to be getting serious. I guess I wanted to impress him. Show him I'm not some idiot who can't get higher then a C-."
"Well that's . . . really sweet, actually." Annabeth finally managed
Percy turned his head away, but not before Annabeth saw him blush.
"How do you get this stuff, Annabeth? You've got dyslexia and ADHD too, right? But you always get good grades. That's why I asked you for help. I figured you'd get what it's like."
"I don't know I guess . . . it just always came naturally, I guess." Annabeth confessed "My Dad's a professor on history at a university, so I guess that helps. He would always talk about this stuff. War and strategy, especially. He loved that stuff. I guess I just picked it up orally."
"Lucky." Percy mumbled
"It also helps that I have nothing better to do." Annabeth added, wanting to make Percy feel better "I mean it's that or spend time with my step-brothers."
"Are they older or younger?" Percy asked
"Younger." Annabeth replied "They're barely thirteen."
"Oh you are lucky." Percy said "All I've got for siblings is a two-year old my Mom adopted from the streets, Tyson."
"Oh my God are you kidding? My brothers suck! When they first moved in, after our parents got married, they used to cover me with spiders in my sleep. Not little rubber ones either. I don't even want to know where they got so many life spiders. I had nightmares about it for years. Their mother wouldn't do anything. I still can't stand the little creepy-crawlies!"
"Wait a second, were you the one who..."
"Yeah." Annabeth said, remembering a cruel prank someone had played on her earlier that year.
While taking a shower after gym class, Annabeth had found hundreds of rubber spiders dumped on her head from above. They never found out who was behind it. She'd refused to go to school for a week. She still couldn't shower in the locker room.
"I am so sorry." Percy said. Sounding surprisingly sincere
"Let's just get back to studying." Annabeth said
Three days later Percy's pulled her aside after school and showed her his graded History test.
"B-." he beamed "I've never gotten a B anything in my life! Thank you!"
Then, in one movement it seemed, he kissed her on the cheek, hugged her, and ran off.
It was so fast Annabeth might've missed it if Luke hadn't shown up to pick her up from school just then. As soon she she got in his car, he sang out "Annabeth and Percy sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N- OW!"
Annabeth had hit him with her calculus book "Shut up!" she hissed
Then suddenly Annabeth wasn't in Luke's crappy old car. She was in the reception hall. Water sprayed down from the ceiling, people ran around in a mad panic. Suddenly Annabeth saw Percy in the crowd, she made a mad dash for him, and he made a dash for her. Just as they were about to reach each other, the scene changed again.
Now she and Percy stood in front of an alter, hands joined. On their fingers were their wedding rings. To one side of them was a small crowd of people. To the other, was a priest. Annabeth couldn't help but notice how handsome Percy looked. He gave her a smile and a gentle squeeze of her hand.
"You may now kiss the bride." The priest said, and Percy leaned to kiss her. Their lips were maybe an inch apart when the gunshot rang out and Percy's form collapsed. He fell to the floor, the demented halo of blood already spilling out. Annabeth tried to scream but her voice wouldn't work. She reached out but suddenly she was struck by unbearable pain. She looked down and saw blood spreading across her stomach, staining her white wedding dress.
Annabeth jerked awake in a cold sweat. Safe and alone in her queen bed.
It was a dream? Then why could she still feel the pain?
(DG: Did I have any particular purpose for spending so much of the chapter on a dream sequence? Well, I guess I just felt like Percy is at major risk of fading to the background and I do want to have him become a center character, but one of the things that made me want the write this story was being able to play around with Dark!Annabeth. And I needed him out of the way so I could focus on that, rather then Percabeth fluff. So I'm going to try and keep him around through flashbacks and whatnought. He will wake up eventually, but no time soon.)
She turned over, reaching instinctively for Percy. She would always snuggle with him and rest her head on her chest if she had a bad dream. He was like a fleshy pillow, always warm, and he smelled like saltwater. But she only found her hand fall into empty sheets. Now she was really awake. For a minute she just stared at the empty space next to her. Suddenly the bed felt significantly colder. Finally Annabeth lifted the covers, and saw her clothes were stained with blood.
"Oh, great." she said out loud
She tuned on the light and went to the bathroom. Once she'd gotten herself situated, she began washing the blood out of her underwear. (DG: she got her period. In case that wasn't very clear.) The bathroom counter was unusually cluttered. Since what'd happened with Percy, Annabeth had taken to wearing make-up. Before, she never wore make-up. She hated it, in fact. But now it gave her one extra thing to do in the mornings. One more small distraction from the over-bearing absence in her usual routine. Plus, it made it easier to hide how horrible she really felt inside. She still could look 'good' and sometimes people thought she was doing better. It was like a mask.
When she looked in the mirror now, with nothing on her, all she saw was how tired she looked.
She looked at the empty bed waiting for her, and she knew she couldn't go back to sleep. Holy shit her stomach hurt. She decided to go and find some pain-killers, before she did anything else.
So she wandered the dark hallways of the Princess Armadia alone until she started hearing familiar voices talking up ahead.
"How much are we looking to get?" that sounded like Clarisse
"We'll need at least ten G's and then we need weapons and ammunition." and that was defiantly Luke "And I'll be coming with you to make sure things go alright."
"Please. This is hardly my first job." Clarisse replied smugly
"But it's your first for the Brotherhood." Luke replied coldly "I don't know what slop, small-time business you used to do. But going of how you got arrested, I'm going to say you're not all you like to think you are."
"You little punk!"
"What is going on?" Annabeth interrupted. By now her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see Luke and Clarisse were getting in each Other's faces, also neither of them looked happy she'd overheard them
"Annabeth, it's like three in the morning. What are you doing up?" Luke tried
"I could say the same to you." She snapped
There was a tense moment, then Annaebth said "Clarisse, go to bed. I'll deal with you later."
"You don't tell me what to do." Clarisse protested
"Except I do." Annabeth shot back coldly "Get lost."
Clarisse gave both of them dirty looks before she finally marched off.
"Annabeth, I-" Luke tried
"You're running jobs again, Luke? Did I miss something?" Annabeth cut him off "We promised we wouldn't go back to that. You promised, Luke."
"I know! I just-"
"No! I don't want to hear your excuses!" Annabeth was yelling now "That is not what the Brotherhood is. That's not what we're about. We fight for mutant equality, that's it."
"And how do you propose we 'fight' for that? We both know the humans won't listen to reason." Luke stabbed at her
"Don't try and twist this around on me!"
"Luke offered her a cruel sneer in reply "And here I thought you'd learned something, Wise Girl."
"Jason Michael Grace." Thalia said coldly as Jason tried to sneak in the window.
Crap, it was still early in the morning, so Jason had assumed they'd be asleep. He hadn't been planning on having to explain he'd been kidnapped. Besides, he couldn't, even if he wanted to.
"Where the hell were you?"
"I, uh, went for a run."
'Shit.'
"Yeah I do that sometimes."
Yeah, when people are shooting at me!
"I'm sorry. I should've left a note."
She is not buying it. Abort! Abort!
"Oh my God, you were a better liar when you were seven." Talia said, deadpan
I still don't see that as being a bad thing. Why am I always getting in trouble for it?
"Let me guess." Talia said "Wolf House stuff? Something top-secret?"
"Uh . . . "
"I'll just take that as a yes." Thailia said
Dear God it's like one of those zombie movies where you just can't look away and have to suffer through all the disgusting rotting flesh
Just then Piper appeared in the doorway. "Hey, you guys ready? I pulled a few strings and got us an early flight to New York. It'll be here in about a half-hour."
"Cool." Jason said, eager to change the subject "Wait, it's coming to us?"
"Yeah. My Dad's private helicopter. Don't worry, we've got a pilot." Piper said
"Oh hey, when we get to New York, we should do some shopping." Thalia said as she followed Piper out of the room, leaving Jason alone "I've got four years worth of TV shows to catch up on and I fully intent to take advantage of rich company."
(FLASHBACK)
"I need you to take a message to my sister." Hylla said
A considerable amount of time passed before Jason spoke "You're fucking kidding, right?"
"You know fully well I'm not." Hylla replied "I have come across critical information about the Wolf House that has to get to her immediately."
"See, Hella, this is what most people use E-mail for." Jason said "Or, I don't know, human interaction. Or even the post office for Christ's sake. They don't kidnap people."
"Computers are hacked everyday. Mail intercepted. Conversations overheard or recorded. And you and I both know Reyna and I rarely manage pleasantries. There's just to much history between us. You wouldn't understand."
"Stole all her ninja turtles? Took her cupcake without asking? Wouldn't leave her room?" Jason replied
When Hylla glared at him, he just smiled cheekily to piss her off a little more.
"Do you know how I came across this information, Jason?" Hylla posed
"By sneaking around and doing stuff things?" Jason rolled his eyes
"Well, yes." Hylla admitted "But why do you think I bother to keep an eye on your stupid Wolf House?"
"Because you're not keeping an eye on Wolf House." Jason said "You're keeping an eye on Reyna."
"My first priority is, as always, my little sister's safety and happiness. I know she is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles and taking care of herself. But you never get to outgrow family, and you certainly don't get to outgrow big sister breathing down your neck. You'd do well to keep that in mind, Jason."
Wait, she wasn't hinting at Talia was she? That was impossible. He'd had all record of her erased a long time ago. He'd been meaning to replace all the information, of course, but he hadn't gotten a chance yet. How would she know about her?
"You see for some stupid, irritating, and I suspect blond reason, Reyna sees Wolf House as her home now." Hylla continued "Which means that, by extension, all of Wolf House is under my personal protection. To threaten Wolf House would be to threaten Reyna, and I will not tolerate that. Now it would appear Wolf House is about to collapse in on itself." Hella handed him the envelope "So I advise you get moving."
She stabbed him in the neck with another tranquilizer dart and Jason passed out.
(This scene is an orgy of plot-holes. I apologize in advance)
Leo delt with his problems in the true American fashion: with a giant bag of McDonald's.
Once he had his food he drove out to the middle of no where, parked his car, and sat on the hood eating, staring up at the stars. It was getting cold outside. Leo wondered what month of year it was. He hadn't been in Bedrock that long, but when he tried to estimate how long he'd been there, it felt like something was jamming his brain. He zipped up his army jacket to keep warm.
For a second he thought about doing . . . that. But he quickly pushed it away, he'd promised himself a long time ago he'd never use his powers again. Then again, he'd just learned he wasn't nearly as alone as he'd used to believe. Maybe . . .
No. No way, Valdez.
"Excuse me." said a small voice off to the side. Leo tuned and saw a little girl standing a few feet away from his car.
"Oh hey, kid." Leo said "What's up?"
The kid looked ashamed, but she pointed to his bad of McDonald's and asked "C-Could I have some? Please?"
Leo smiled at the little girl and handed her the bag. "Help yourself."
He hadn't considered that there'd be homeless kids in New Rome. But, then again, they were a city. No reason they'd be to much different. Leo looked at the little girl's face light up. He saw her dark skin and dirty curly hair and he couldn't help remembering times he'd probably looked the same way. Back when he'd rejoice at an adult giving him a bag of McDonald's.
"You cold, kid?" he asked. The girl wasn't dressed nearly warm enough to be out so late at night in such cold weather.
"Y-yes sir." she replied, not looking at him
Leo scooched over to make room for her on the hood "You wanna climb up? I've got the engine running, it's pretty warm."
The little girl hesitated a second, then climbed on.
"What's your name?" Leo asked
"Um . . . Cashew."
Leo laughed "No it's not."
"No it's not." Cashew agreed "You're that guy that walked out on Reyna right? That takes guts. No one ever walks out on her."
"It wasn't that impressive." Leo said
"What happened?"
"She wanted me to make her stuff that would hurt people, and I didn't want to do that." Leo said
"Does that have anything to do with what you're doing way out here all by yourself?" she asked as she started eating a McChicken
"Maybe. I guess I just wanted to be alone for a bit. I'm usually better off alone." Leo said
"I don't believe that." Cashew said "I don't believe anyone's better off alone."
"Well I guess I'm not like most other people." he said
Then suddenly Leo felt something he'd never felt before. He wanted to use his powers. He wanted to show them to this little girl. Something should've stopped him, something should've made his shut his stupid mouth but before he could stop himself he found himself saying "You wanna see something weird?"
Cashew smiled in a little-kid way "Always."
Leo took his hand out of his pocket and stared down at it. He suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about his long, nimble fingers and his chipped, dirty fingernails. He felt an odd tingle run through his flesh, and suddenly his hand erupted into flame. A small ball of dancing, orange tongs, contained in his palm.
"Wow." Cashew said as she leaned in towards his fire "That's amazing."
"Hey careful!" Leo jerked his hand back before she could get to close "Don't you know fire's dangerous? Fire can kill you."
"But it didn't hurt you." Cashew pointed out "Maybe your fire is different."
"Trust me, kid." Leo said "It's not."
"Senator? You've got calls at half-hour intervals all throughout the day. Should I cancel some of them?" Senator Octavian's secretary, Katie, asked. Poking her head into his office
"No, cancel all of them." the Senator replied, he was watching the news from his desk "They're all asking about the same thing. That damn Burnout!" he threw the TV remote in frustration "Now I've got press breathing down my neck, millions of tax-payers dollars down the drain and thousands of escaped freak convicts!"
"What will you do then, sir?" Katie asked
The Senator considered this, he scratched his jaw in contemplation. "Cancel the calls. But announce a press conference for next . . . Sunday. I'll smooth out all the bumps there."
"Very well, sir." Katie said
"We can't let those freaks run lose, that's for sure." Senator Octavian said "Someone's gotta be the voice of God in these times. And if I must be that voice, then I must."
"Yes, sir." Katie said as she left his office and went to announce the press conference
Later, Leo found himself forcing his way into Reyna's office "Alright. I'll do it." he declared
Reyna just smiled, like this didn't surprise her. "I'm glad to hear it."
"But not weapons. Transportation, communication, whatever, just not weapons." Leo added
"Very well, Of course you're pay won't be as high as I planned."
"That's fine."
"May I ask what changed your mind?" Reyna asked
"A little kid." Leo said "I don't know what the future might hold for mutants. But you've got kids in this city. And they deserve their best chance. If there's any way I can make that possible, I'd couldn't live with myself."
Reyna gave him a smile and handed him the binder back to him "Well then, Leonardo Riccardo Valdez, welcome to the Wolf House."
It was dark outside when Thalia Grace plopped next to her younger brother. They were sitting on the stoop of an apartment building in Brooklyn. Annabeth Chase's apartment building, to be exact.
"Empty." She said defeated "I can't believe we came all this way and it's just . . . empty. I called her boss, the landlady, I even tried her Dad. They say this is where she lives. What did she just . . . picked up and leave? That's not like her. I mean there's nothing, no furniture, no sign of struggle, not even a note. Everyone says they saw her within the last week. So what happened?"
Jason looked at her, with a growing pain in his stomach
"I guess it's a little pointless to ask you, huh?" She said with some humor
"You might want to Google 'Red Wedding'." Jason suggested, binding her his phone
A couple minutes passed as Thalia looked up a news article about a hate crime in which a wedding between two mutants was crashed by a small party of monsters. The groom had been shot twice. Once in the head and once in the abdomen. Fortunately, no major organs were punctured, but a wound to his skull left the man in a comatose state. Police did very little investigation on the crime and no arrest was ever made.
"Oh my God." Talia said when she was done "They were going to get married?"
Jason tried for a small smile, which only seemed to have the opposite effect.
"I should've been there." She said
"There was nothing you could've done." Jason said
"You've never seen me in a real fight, little brother." Thalia smiled bitterly
"I've lost four years of my life, or more importantly, four years of everyone else's. I just feel so cheated." she groaned and leaned back across the rising stairs
"I think I know the feeling." Jason said, unintentionally making his sister feel worse.
"I know." Thalia said, sitting up again "I missed a lot of stuff with you growing up. I swear if I'd known what Mom'd done-"
"I know." Jason stopped her. They didn't need to go into all that
"But I am going to make up for it." Thalia promised "I'm looking forward to finding out who that stupid little boy grew up to be."
Jason smiled and kissed her on the forehead
"No seriously. Stop being taller then me." Thalia said
"I don't like this." Annabeth said frankly as she stood in the sporting goods store
"Oh come on. You said so yourself. We need somewhere to hide from the cops." Clarisse shot back. She punched through a glass display case and dished out a javelin. "Oh, Mama likes."
"Exactly, we're supposed to be hiding. Not stealing." Annabeth said flatly
Clarisse groaned "You have got to get off your high horse of yours, Princess. Life as a mutant is very simple. See. Want. Take." she waved her new javelin in Annabeth's face "Why are you still even fighting it? Don't you want to get them back? After what they did to your hubby I'd think you'd be pissed. Maybe you're just pushover after all."
"He wasn't my husband." Annabeth said softly "The monsters shot him before we could even start the ceremony."
Annabeth cranked her head and scanned the dark store. On the wall was a display case, inside of which was a beautiful bronze knife.
"See." she stepped up the display case
"Want." she yanked the display case down, the glass shattering everywhere
"Take." she plucked the knife from the broken bits of glass and examined it like a trophy
"Now you're getting it." Clarisse said with a harsh smile
That was when the cops found them. At least, Annabeth thought it was the cops.
"Shut." Clarisse hissed, she scooped up a register and dashed out the back. Annette was about to follow her when someone called out.
"Annabeth, come out! There's no need to make a show of this." she knew that voice. That was not a cop.
She came out the front and found Jason Grace standing alone, a hologram protector at his feet. The projector made a convincing couple of cop cars from a distance, but up close it easy to see they were fake.
"What's the big show for?" Annabeth asked plainly
"For getting rid of your partner." Jason explained "Don't worry, my sister's going after her now. I was hoping we could have another talk."
"Pass." Annabeth said and made a run for it
Jason was on her in no time, of course. But Annabeth dodged him and kicked him in the chest. He took the kick well, but it gave her enough time to think to use her knife. She made to stab him in the stomach, only to find her move stopped as Jason's strong grip slapped around her wrists, keeping her knife about an inch from his body.
"Do you have any idea how to use that thing?" He sneered
Suddenly, Annabeth found herself pinned. Her own knife held against her throat
"I could've killed you by now." Jason whispered in her ear "I am not the enemy here. I don't want to hurt you, Annabeth."
"Too bad for you." she snarled. She used her free hand to punch him in the balls. It took effect immediately and Annabeth took advantage of his weakness to free herself and wrestle her knife from his grip. Then she made a dash for the nearest alleyway and hid.
Invisibility. That was Annaneth's mutation. And with the dark night working to her advantage, she was as good as gone. Good Riddance.
It didn't take Jason long to catch up to her, but he was greeted by nothing but an empty alleyway. For a minute, he looked confused. Where could she have gone? Then he started to come in closer, he eyes looked calculating and determined. Annabeth started to think he wasn't as fooled as she'd expected. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest.
Then suddenly, an all to familiar voice called out "Jason!"
Annabeth was so surprised she almost became visible again. She watched on, in absolute amazement, as her lost friend Thalia ran, panting, up to Jason Grace.
"Sorry, she got away. I guess I'm a little out of practice."
Jason smiled at her "After all that 'you've never seen me in a real fight, little brother' bull, you let her get away?" he let out a laugh
Little brother? Did she just hear right?
"Hey, no swearing!" Thalia snapped "And I've been asleep for years! Where's your excuse?"
Jason blushed when she asked that "She . . . punched me in the nuts and ran away." he muttered
"Wait what? Am I allowed to laugh at that? Because I'm trying very hard not to laugh at that." and then she did dissolve into laughter.
Yeah. That was defiantly Thalia.
"So it seems Leo is going to stay." Hazel said to Reyna
"Yes, it does." Reyna replied simply "And I'm sure you had absolutely nothing to do with that."
"You'll find if you ask him, I was never there. As for Cashew . . ."
"Cashew? You're kidding right?"
"I panicked, okay?"
Reyna just smiled