Ahem. Is this thing still on?

Chapter Twenty-One: Let's Talk, Shall We?

In times of trouble, Percy was glad he had swimming to keep his mind off things. There was nothing to compare it to – no feeling that he'd ever experienced that compared to how he felt when he was under the water. Some days, he felt like he didn't even need to hold his breath. He was at one with the greatest element of all time.

He timed himself at one minute, thirty when he felt a hand tug at his ankle. The palm was the soft skin he had come to associate with Annabeth's hands, only with the added rough coldness of cheap metal rings.

He resurfaced and shook his head. Wet hair clung to his cheeks and forehead, and suddenly he felt sticky, uncomfortable in the pool. With meanness, he blamed Thalia, as though the act of pulling him up from his position at the bottom of the pool – eyes closed, legs crossed, mind at ease – had completely altered his perception of water.

"Point?" he said.

Thalia grinned. "I was making sure you didn't drown. Annabeth would kill me, and I'm quite happy with my life."

He ignored the last statement in favour of dipping beneath the surface again. Eyes closed, legs still, mind at ease. One second. Two.

With added spectacle that came from the knowledge of being watched, he resurfaced and pushed a hand through his hair. He was aware that he looked ridiculous, but it was only Thalia who had joined him. It was after hours; nobody else he knew used the school pool as often as he did. No one else cared as much.

He was at the side of the pool when he said, "You could've just waited." Thalia had already swam to the edge and, in an act of bizarre kindness, was handed him both his embroidered blue towel (a Christmas gift from Tyson) and a potato chip. "I wouldn't have taken that long."

"Whatever," Thalia said, done with that subject. A large beach towel was wrapped generously around her short hair. Belatedly, Percy noticed that she was wearing a plain vest top and a pair of shorts probably belonging to Jason.

Percy jumped to his feet. Thalia copied. "So you're just here to babysit me?"

"I'm here to collect you, moron. Annabeth's busy, and she told me you'd be here. Funny – I thought you were banned from swimming."

Feeling petty, Percy was offended Thalia would know this, though he knew he wasn't being fair. He had tried to make peace with Thalia on the grounds that she was Annabeth's closest friend – or had been, he reminded himself with spite. But it wasn't working. On days when she was being kind, Thalia still didn't treat him like the rest of his friends.

Percy had his theories for that, but he didn't dwell. His mother's words rang through his brain on a loop, her kind and calming and understanding voice.

Don't interfere with your father's politics. It will only cause a mess in the end.

Yeah, Percy thought. Some of my friends could learn from that.

"What are you collecting me for anyway?" Percy said, ignoring the comment about being banned. If Thalia cared, which she didn't, she would know that Mr. Brunner had uplifted Percy's ban early on the grounds that he needed the space to practice; it wasn't quite summer yet and so too cold to swim in the sea.

"The diner, you know?" Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Surely you remember – your girlfriend planned it. We're meeting to talk about Octavian's tantrum last week. There's something going on…"

Percy minded his own business when it came to Octavian. He wouldn't admit – especially not to Annabeth – that the reason behind this was because he was embarrassed at how little he knew about Octavian and Reyna. Reyna had always been on Jason's side and, even though he seemed awful, Octavian had, too.

But Percy didn't know enough about them to care. He had just wanted to complete high school and get out of there. His mind was too jumpy to care; his dyslexia made it hard for him to concentrate on his lessons. He wasn't known, before… all this. He was still finding it hard to wrap his head around the fact that people now knew him, and only because of his father.

If Octavian was planning something, it would likely be something that Percy wouldn't understand.

His hair was almost dry with how hard he had been rubbing it with his towel. He wrapped the towel around his waist, suddenly self-conscious that Thalia could see his bare chest. He wasn't unfit – not by any standards – but this was Thalia. Even though he felt bad when he thought it, he couldn't help but notice how different she was to the rest of his friends. Like she had visited Hell and lived to tell the story.

He felt the same about Nico, too. There was a subtle, dangerous power to the two of them; and he didn't want to be there when it inevitably erupted.

"Earth to earworm!"

At once, Percy became acutely aware of his surroundings; of his wet feet on the hard mat beside the swimming pool, of the smell of chlorine overpowering the scene of the ninth graders from last period; the obnoxious ticking of the clock on the wall; of Thalia's tanned face in front of him. He became acutely aware of his thoughts, how menacing and loud they were, and how… out of touch they felt with his body.

He looked down at his feet, at the rope bracelet around his ankle which matched with Hazel's, and then back up at Thalia. His head was too loud for this, too overwhelmed in a sea of confusion from the last few months. If he could start again… if he could go back to the time when it was only himself and Grover…

"Hey, what's wrong?" Thalia said. She looked significantly more worried now than she had ten minutes ago. After a few seconds, she added, "We should probably get showered and go. Annabeth wanted to meet us, like, ten minutes into yesterday."

Percy acknowledged this with a nod. The towel was still hanging from his fingers, and he wrapped it around his waist. He nodded again. "Yeah, sorry. I've just been feeling weird lately. We should go."

He felt Thalia watching him as he turned to go to the boys' changing room. Thalia's destination was, bizarrely, on the other end of the pool.

She didn't move until Percy swung the door open. Only then did he hear her – wet footprints sticking to the mats, chain necklaces beating against one another like frantic heartbeats, soft sighs.

…

"In hindsight, it was a bad idea to jump into the pool."

Annabeth smiled at this. Percy watched as she lifted a napkin to wipe at some flour on his cheek. He had been so hungry when he arrived that he had barely acknowledged his friends, and had just swallowed a burger whole. He could feel his cheeks reddening as he turned back to the group, and Thalia was looking at him.

She flicked a straw wrapper in his direction. "I just wanted to scare him."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You couldn't. I knew it was you; you wear too many rings."

Piper and Leo peered around Jason's torso to look at Thalia's hands, which were playing with a different straw wrapper now. She grinned her feline smile. "My bad. You jumped a little."

"Speaking of jumping." Leo scratched his nose. "Not to, like, take over from this wonderful display of newfound friendship – happy for you, happy for you – but can we talk about Octavian today? What a grade-A asshole."

"Leo," Hazel chided.

"Right, right." Leo held up his hands. "I get it. Some of us – naming no names, HazelJasonFrank – were friends with Octavian once upon a time, but–"

"Leo, I know you're trying to be liberal," said Jason, "but I wouldn't exactly call us friends. Not like… not like this anyway."

"Right," Leo said, lengthening the sound of the word to an unnecessary amount. He was fiddling with something now, one of Thalia's discarded straws and an empty drinks cup. Both Percy and Nico watched him as he absentmindedly built something with his long, nimble fingers. There was a drop of engine oil on the corner of his thumb.

"So as I was saying, before the Professor interrupted me, is that Octavian was a douche today. Swearing aside" – he looked at Hazel here, to Frank's obvious discomfort – "sorry Princess. Octavian–"

"With all due respect," Thalia said, leaving Leo open-mouthed and obviously annoyed, "how many times Octavian caught you skipping wood shop is not really what we should be talking about."

"I haven't skipped shop in months!" Leo said. Percy watched as he tapped Nico's knee. "My buddy here makes it impossible – he'll give me that scary glare. En-e-way. Octavian was a little – heh – hands on today. But it's okay! I'm fine! I'm–"

"He hit you?" Piper said. Her voice was lower than usual; concern was a knot in her eyebrows. Percy emphasised. Piper and Leo had developed a friendship akin to Percy and Grover, or at least what they'd had back in the day.

Percy missed him. Grover had found a bunch of new friends in the eco committee group at his school, and though Percy often attended their rallies and shared their posts on Facebook, he didn't really have the same love for the world as they did. He'd apologised to Grover – he kept feeling like he had let his friend down – but Grover, sporting a moss-green beanie and smelling suspiciously of something banned in their school, waved him off.

Still. Percy missed him. As Leo calmed Piper down, Percy made a mental note to call Grover when he got home.

"It's chill," Leo was saying. Percy zoned back and squeezed Annabeth's hand under the table; he was well aware she was paying close attention to him tonight. He didn't want her to worry about him or his thoughts. "It didn't hurt."

"He knocked you into a trashcan!" Nico sounded mortified. There was a cold anger behind his eyes which Percy had noticed many times in the past… though not quite like this. Nico was loving; underneath his upbringing, his dark clothes, his issues with his father… he was loving. In times when Percy judged him, he had to remember that. He had to remember the Nico that he had known all those years ago.

Leo's cheeks were red. "Yeah but, like, it didn't hurt. I just wanted you guys to know. He's targeting us with more than just his words now."

"So he's a bully," Annabeth said coolly. "We knew this. Leo – I'm sorry he hurt you." At Leo's slight protest, Annabeth raised her hands. "Or didn't. My point is: Leo's right. We have to keep an eye out at all times. Octavian wants us gone, for lack of better words."

"Gone?" Hazel cut in. She looked at Frank, then at Nico. "But – what did we do? Is this because of Will?"

"Or our parents," Frank said.

A quiet understanding rippled over the group. This time, it was Annabeth who squeezed Percy's hand under the table. Percy knocked her shoulder with his. His mother's words – kind, calm, understanding, loving – reminded him not to get angry. When he felt anger towards his father, towards his father's politics, he swam. Or he spoke to Annabeth.

When he couldn't do those things, he had to remind himself how to breathe.

"Wow," Leo said after what felt like one hundred years. He took a sip of his cola; ice rattled at the bottom of his glass. "Who could have ever predicted this? A group of kids, all with various amounts of daddy or mommy issues, all suddenly make friends."

Thalia leant back against the diner bench. The squeaky, ripped fabric made a noise as she lifted her legs to her chest; she had swapped Jason's shorts for her staple black jeans.

"With all due respect, guys," Thalia said, for the second time that night. The group looked at her – except Jason. He was staring at his empty plate as though he was willing it to explode using the sheer force of his mind. "I don't think this is about all of us…"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked. This time, Nico was looking down as well.

Thalia looked around the group. "The seven of you… you guys have been name-dropped. Only you know your parents and only you guys – well, most of you – know what Octavian is like. I'm just saying, you have to be careful in the upcoming months."

"You mean with the elections?" Piper asked. "They're… so soon. It feels like time has just flown since then."

"Well, the elections," Thalia agreed. "But not only that. Just be careful."

There was a silence before Leo said, "Well, this is ominous. Are we going to die or something?"

Thalia smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Percy looked at Annabeth, but his girlfriend was fixed solely on Thalia. His eyes panned back to Thalia slowly. She was looking at him.

"Just be aware that you are controlled by something greater than all of you. There are reasons why your parents didn't want you all to meet."

"Oh, Jeez." Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Sounds like one of those novels my mama used to read. I, for one – I don't believe in destiny, or fate. Or Santa Claus."

"I don't know," said Hazel, "it does seem a little…"

"Big fat man in a red suit dropping down your chimney at night? Surely not, Hazel Levesque."

Hazel rolled her eyes as she pulled her feet onto the rubber seats of the diner. "I don't mean Santa, Leo. I'm talking about destiny. We all met this year with no real special circumstances except a pool party gone wrong. And even then, it seemed like we had all made acquaintances before then. For whatever reason, we were all meant to meet. You don't think that means something?"

Percy remembered the first time he had met Annabeth, or so he thought. Lately, as he had less quiet time, he found his mind drifting with distraction. In math class, he'd be thinking about an upcoming date with Annabeth. In government, he'd be thinking about Annabeth's mom, the few times he'd ever glimpsed at her, and the wave of nausea he felt whenever he caught her grey eyes staring through him. In detention, he'd wonder if the blonde girl in his freshmen bio class had been Annabeth, or the taller girl with princess girls he'd seen in Starbucks when he was twelve, or the girl whose father once flew a toy helicopter onto his picnic blanket.

He was starting to doubt his own memory, his own mind. And it wasn't just Annabeth he thought of; he thought of all his new friends. Of the news article he'd read of a woman dying in a garage fire, and the connection to politics that the woman had; of the fact that Leo never spoke about his mom or the circumstances around her death, but how they all knew their parents had attended a politically heavy funeral held in her honour by Leo's dad.

He thought about Jason's quiet obsession with Roman history, and of his own history with Reyna and Octavian. Of Piper and of Hazel. Of Frank's insecurities, and how Percy instinctively wanted to protect him like he was his own brother.

He thought of Nico. He thought of his past.

Percy was suddenly hyperaware of all his surroundings: the slight eggy, burnt smell to the air; the cheap sponge protruding through a rip in the diner booth; the way his tongue felt, wet and heavy in his mouth. He felt bigger than this. He felt, for the first time since meeting his friends, like he didn't belong here. It wasn't like being in the water; the joyful, youthful feeling of new friends had faded, and his gut was engaged in a battle with his heart.

"Well," Leo said. The silence had become so loud, a waitress had walked over to check their table hadn't left without paying the bill. "Call me suitably spooked. So where do we go from here? Guy Fawkes – I mean, Octavian – can't win this game. Right? Right? Tell me I'm not on my own here, guys."

Jason and Annabeth shared an authoritative look.

Annabeth said, "Maybe we could all just – take a break, settle into our lives. It's a tense year for all of us. With our parents looming over us, it might be time for us to take a step back and try and come to terms with everything that's going on."

"Tell me why I feel like I'm in the middle of a break up," Piper said after a beat.

"We're not breaking up," replied Jason. His hand shot up to hold Piper's against the metal table. "Not literally and definitely not as a group. But Annabeth is right. Who knows what we're missing? The elections are almost over, and I have a feeling it'll only go downhill from there. If we all step back a bit–"

"And spy on our parents," Frank said uncomfortably.

Leo raised his hands. "Got none."

"Not spy," Jason said cautiously, "but listen. We could figure out what the hell our role in this mess is. Maybe we could even find out some stuff about Octavian."

Percy raised an eyebrow. He didn't want to go against Annabeth, but… "Sorry, but I'm with Leo here. Are we missing the part where most of us have absent or deceased parents? I could ask my mom, but I really don't think she cares about the local mayoral race or some scarecrow threatening to blow his casket when she can barely afford our house."

"I agree with Percy." Frank ducked his head. "I'm pretty sure my dad doesn't even know I exist. And… I don't have a mom. It's complicated."

"We're not saying that it's going to be easy," Annabeth said gently, "but I think it's for the best."

"Definitely a break up." Leo looked at Piper uneasily.

Percy felt a hand grip his thigh; once, then it let go. He didn't need to look down to see that it was Annabeth. She was asking for his approval. Perhaps, he thought, this was one of the first times she had ever done that. When he looked up, he was surprised to see his friends all looking at him. Some uneasy – Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper – and the others with a steely kind of determination, or at the very least an acknowledgement of the situation.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. I think a break would be for the best."

AN: I'm taking some liberties with the whole mayoral election~ process… thing, if you haven't noticed. A swift Google search tells me that NY mayoral elections are announced early November, a timescale we have clearly passed. In my fictional little half-NY, half-Cali state – didn't you know there was 51 states? – let's imagine that the process runs a little bit longer than that. And vaguer. And, well, more confusing.

Ciao, lovelies. X