Characters belong to Rick Riordan.
18 - Magnus
Magnus was enjoying his second plate of falafel when his cousin finally showed up to their meeting. He glanced up at her as she sat across from him at the table he picked in front of Faladan's, ready to make a snarky remark about her being late only for the words to die before passing his lips. He frowned.
"You look exhausted," he said instead. And it was true. Her normally curly hair was closer to frizzy, she had larger bags under her eyes than normal, and her whole posture screamed I need more sleep! She gave him a half-hearted glare as she dropped her backpack next to her.
"Gee, thanks," she retorted. "I'm so glad I travelled all this way to be judged for my lack of sleep in the middle of a crisis."
Magnus' mood immediately sobered. "So this wasn't just a spur of the moment thing, then. Please tell me whatever it is this time isn't another end of the world super villain?" Annabeth snorted and shook her head.
"It shouldn't be," she muttered darkly. "Just a bit of a civil war." Magus gaped at her as she swiped a piece of falafel from his plate, not meeting his eyes.
"I thought you guys got along with the Romans just fine?" he questioned slowly. She nodded in agreement. "Are you fighting other Greeks then?"
"You could say that," she hedged. Magnus' eyes narrowed and she sighed. "We've had an… argument with Olympus. We're not currently at war but given that they tried to kill Percy and I a couple times before the big fight it's probably only a matter of time before they start targeting our friends to try to find us."
Magnus blinked slowly at her. "You got in a fight with the Olympians? Over what?"
"Long story short? Percy and I kept calling them out on their crap and they didn't like it." She paused as she stole another piece of falafel. "We finally ran out of patience after one of their less than thought out summonings, argued for a bit, they got insulted and had Poseidon and Athena try to beat us into submission, it didn't work, and now we're trying to finalize our plans before they come out of the trance Percy sang them into and start tracking us."
Magnus gaped at her while his brain tried to process everything she had said. Annabeth did look slightly more herself for getting it off her chest, and for that Magnus was grateful, even if she did keep stealing his food. After a couple minutes of mental scrabbling, he thought he understood enough to continue the conversation.
"Okay, so I'm guessing it was more of a continuation from your wedding? The argument, I mean." Annabeth looked at him thoughtfully.
"That was my initial reaction, but I'm not so sure anymore. We've come across enough new information…" she trailed off. "Have you heard anything about a Great Union in your pantheon?"
Magnus blinked at the seeming change in topic. "Uh, not personally, no. Sam may have, or some of my older hallmates. Why, what does that have to do with you fighting your parents?" He winced. "Ex-parents?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Might be nothing, might be everything. Depends on if the Olympians know any more than we do. At the very least, I think they were more nervous about how strong we've gotten than they are angry at who we affiliate with."
Magnus nodded. "That sounds about right. I remember being scared myself last time I got to see what you guys can do." He shuddered over dramatically. Annabeth snorted at him and grinned.
"Oh, we've got plenty of tricks up our sleeves, don't you worry." She grinned sharply.
"That's exactly why I'm worried," Magnus shot back with his own grin. His cousin stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed and responded in kind. Annabeth shook her head fondly.
"Seriously, though, we could use your help," she started. "We've got an idea that we think could help a lot of people, but we can't do it all by ourselves."
"Alright, whatcha got?" Magnus asked.
"So we're thinking of starting our own camp, or town, or something – we're not sure how big it'll end up – for training and protecting demigods. Somewhere a bit safer and out from under any given pantheon." Annabeth started excitedly. "Percy's down talking to Carter about setting up a part for any magicians that want to come, but I don't know what kind of training you guys normally get. Are there any Nordic training spots before you die? Is there a way to create a dedicated entrance to Valhalla? Would that be smart to put an entrance in or near any place of ours? I don't know how often you guys interact with other pantheons but-" Magnus blinked at her slowly as she cut herself off. She looked at him worriedly. "What did I say?"
He shook his head to clear it of the more depressing thoughts. "We don't have any training for alive demigods. Apparently back in the day when our empires fell apart and modernized, it was decided that we would integrate into the modern world as much as possible." He sighed and hung his head. "Sometimes it works great, but most of the time it makes it a whole lot harder for us to survive. Not everyone knows their parentage, so when the monsters come not everyone knows how to defend themselves or even how to recognize what's attacking them. I know I didn't," he muttered darkly.
Annabeth grabbed his hand from across the table. As he looked back up at her, he was struck by how much older than him she looked now. And it's only going to get worse as the years go on, he thought. I can totally understand why they would have turned down immortality when offered. Never aging as everyone you love grows old and dies around you… that isn't enjoyable.
"I'm sorry," Annabeth apologized. "I didn't mean to pull up bad memories."
Magnus forced a grin. "It's fine; it's not like you meant to, so no harm, no foul." His cousin just squeezed his hand one more time before pulling away.
"In that case, I'll start looking into a way to get word out to your kind of demigod about a place to train if nothing else. Once we decide on a location I'll let you know and you can start looking into a way to put a branch into Valhalla there if you think it's a good idea."
"Sounds like a plan," Magnus agreed.
"One last thing," Annabeth continued. "Since we're trying to make this place obscenely protected, is there anyone you know who's good with magic who'd be willing to help ward whatever place we decide on? I think if we mix magics it'll end up a whole lot stronger."
Magnus shrugged. "I can ask Hearth, but one of you should know ASL to be polite. It'll make it easier, too."
Annabeth nodded. "I do, so no issues there. I'll do some more research into how runic magic works to figure out how to blend it with our magic and potentially Egyptian magic."
"Sounds like you have it all figured out then!" Magnus replied. He grinned. "I look forward to seeing how it turns out; you're building projects have always been impressive." Annabeth blushed slightly but smiled back at him. "I'm sure you've got tons of stuff to take care of, so I'll text you as soon as I've gotten a chance to talk with Hearth, okay? You stay as safe as you can."
"I'll do my best," Annabeth promised. "But texting is probably a bad idea at the moment. If monsters can track cell service, so can the gods." She opened her backpack and rifled through it for a moment before pulling out a coin and handing it to him. "Have I explained how IMing works for us?"
Magnus shrugged. "You may have as part of another story, but not specifically."
"Fair enough," Annabeth replied as he inspected the silver coin. "You'll need to make some mist and shine some light through it to make a rainbow, then toss that coin through and say 'Fleecy, do me a solid – show me Annabeth Chase'. It'll form a video call."
"I'd say that's an odd way to communicate, but we use delivery crows so what do I know," Magnus joked. He pocketed the coin. Annabeth stood and came around the table to give him a hug goodbye, then left as quickly as she came. Magnus sighed and cleared his area before heading back to the Chase Space to see if he could track down Hearth, and possibly some more food he didn't need to pay for.
Good luck, cousin, he thought. There's no second chance after death for you if you fail.