chapter ten: everything everything everything

Once they reach the hotel, Percy and Leo are quickly assigned a room with two other guys from their year—Kiran and Nathan. They're all tired, but there's still time to argue over who gets which bed. There's two singles and a bunk bed available. As soon as they step inside the dorm, Leo throws his bag onto the top bunk.

Nathan, a tall kid with hair curlier than Leo's, lets out an irritated huff. "Who said you get the top bunk?"

"I touched it first," Leo explains, like it's obvious. "You and Kiran can have the singles."

"But—" Nathan cuts off, annoyed. "Kiran, are you okay with this guy calling the shots?"

Kiran shrugs and zips open his bag with a yawn. "I'm fine with whatever. How the hell do you guys have the energy to argue? It's two in the morning."

"Agreed," Percy mutters, kicking off his shoes. "I just wanna sleep."

While the others get ready for bed, Percy stops for a moment to glance out their dorm's window. They've got a good view. The hotel isn't high up as Athens is a fairly low-rise city, but the houses in this area are beautiful—with terracotta roofs and sandstone walls, the city looks like a scene from an impressionist painting.

Percy carefully leans out the window. There's a narrow fire escape connecting every window on this floor. The window of the dorm adjacent to theirs is ajar. Knowing Piper and Annabeth's group are staying within it, he softly calls, "Hey!"

After a moment, Piper's dark head pops out. She's wearing a dusky blue pyjama shirt. With a grin, she asks, "Percy? Why aren't you guys asleep?"

"Why aren't you?" he challenges.

She rolls her eyes. The whites of her eyes are stark in the darkness, like pools of milk. "We're just about to turn the lights out, dummy."

"Oh, right. I'll let you get some sleep."

"Night." As she disappears back into her dorm, their window closes.

After a few minutes of talking quietly to Leo through the dark from his bottom bunk, he rolls onto his side. He lets out a sigh of contentment. This pillow is a thousand times softer than his flat, uncomfortable one back home. Pulling the duvet up to his shoulders, he closes his eyes.

In the morning, Percy is shaken awake by Leo. His hair is damp and he's saying something incoherent. Percy squints up. "Huh? What?" he asks, mouth dry from sleep.

"Shower's free. Be quick—breakfast's now."

When Percy stumbles out of the shower, the other guys have already left. He sighs, pulling on some clean clothes before stepping into his shoes. Even though both his jobs require him to wake up early most days, he's still never got used to it.

He only gets lost once on the way down to the hotel's mess hall. Pushing open the heavy, mahogany doors, he heads over to the breakfast bar and pours himself some orange juice and a bowl of Cheerios before turning around and scanning the hall for his friends. His eyes latch onto Piper waving at him from the table beside the window. Leo and Annabeth are there too. "Percy!" she yells. "Over here!"

He walks over with his tray, sliding into the vacant seat beside Leo. "Hey, guys."

"You're lucky I woke you up," Leo tells him. "Breakfast started ages ago."

Rolls his eyes, Percy retorts, "I got here, didn't I?" He shoves a spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth.

"I can't believe we're finally here," Annabeth beams over her mug of coffee. Black coffee, as well. Percy wonders who she thinks she's kidding. "It's gonna be amazing. There's so much to learn here!"

Piper snorts. "Learn? God, you're one of those people who read every single one of those little plaques in museums, aren't you?"

Annabeth blinks. "Doesn't everyone?"

Percy snorts into his orange juice while the others burst out laughing. "Sure, Annabeth," he says. "What are we doing today, anyway? Have they already gone over it?"

"Just looking around some crusty old museums," Leo tells him. "It's gonna be boring."

Annabeth glares at him. "Why did you come, then?"

"Touchy, touchy." He rolls his eyes. "Mostly for the buffet."

Percy hums. "Maybe the museums will be boring, but I'm kinda excited for the ruins. I mean, they're hundreds of years old."

Annabeth grins at him. "Try thousands."

When breakfast is over, they're told to head back to their dorms to pack their rucksacks for the day. Percy fills up his water bottle and zips his wallet securely into the front pocket. Leo slings his rucksack over one arm as he peers out the window into the day. "Do you think I need to bring an umbrella?"

Kiran laughs. "We're in Greece, man. I swear it, like, never rains here."

Everyone on the trip gathers at the teachers' rendezvous point outside the hotel. Now that it's light outside, the beauty of Athens is far more blatant. Sandstone buildings with red-terracotta roof tiles surround the hotel, and it's so hot that the air quality is almost hazy. It's such a far cry from their small, suffocating Virginian town that Percy feels freed.

They take the bus to their first destination: the National Archaeology Museum. Percy sits at the back of the bus with Annabeth. The two of them chat while staring, wide-eyed, out the window as the alien city passes by outside. When they arrive at the museum, Mr Jameson—one of the trip's supervisors—instructs them to get into pairs to complete a worksheet as they tour the museum. A little nervous, Percy asks Annabeth if they can be in a pair.

"Don't be an idiot," she tells him. "Of course you're coming with me."

He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck. "Even though I probably won't understand any of the questions?"

Annabeth rolls her eyes, looping her arm through his. "Do you really think I'd let anyone else write on my sheet?"

He laughs. "Fair enough."

Externally, the museum is awe-inspiring. It looks almost like a temple itself, a Neoclassical work of art. Annabeth pulls out her analog camera to take some photos of the incredible architecture. "If this is what their museums look like, I can't wait to see the real temples," Annabeth murmurs. Percy can only nod in agreement.

They spend several hours inside the museum, exploring all the intriguing exhibits. Percy's favourite is the Sculpture Collection. Though many of the statues have broken-off arms and legs, Percy still expects them to burst out of their smooth, rippling marble skin at any moment. Annabeth alternates between scribbling answers down on their worksheet and snapping photos of the statues from changing angles. "I bet I can put some of these in my portfolio," she says, raising her camera to her eye and snapping another photo.

It's midday by the time they finally finish touring the museum, and Mr Jameson gathers in their worksheets. "Well done, everyone," he tells them with a smile. "You're all probably tired from being on your feet all morning. We'll spend forty-five minutes relaxing and eating lunch before heading to our next stop."

Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Leo all take their lunches onto the lawn outside the museum, making sure to find a spot in the shade; the sun is beating down with ferocity. "God, my feet ache," Piper complains, flopping onto her back beside Percy.

"I know," Annabeth responds. Having taken a bite out of her sandwich, she kicks off her shoes to give her sore feet a brief respite. After a moment of deliberation, Percy takes off his own as well.

"Did you get any good photos?" Piper asks.

Annabeth brightens. "Yeah, I think so. Obviously, it's hard to know for sure until I've developed the film."

"Hey, has anyone got any water?" Leo asks, throwing an arm over his face to block out the sun. "My head's killing."

Percy sits up to pass him his bottle, then lays back down. "So, did you guys finish the questions?" he asks.

Piper makes a face. "Nah. Didn't really pay enough attention this term and we couldn't be arsed to read all the plaques. Why, did you two finish?"

"Annabeth did," Percy replied. "I just looked around at stuff."

"Yeah, you were pretty useless," she says, grinning. Percy rolls his eyes, but his stomach is warm with contentment. Staring up into the cloudless Athenian sky, he allows himself to relax.

After that, they poke around another museum for a few hours. It's not as interesting as the first, but Percy still likes it. As evening descends upon Athens, a tour guide walks them around the city. "These are the Pláka and Anafiotika Neighborhoods," he tells them, voice slightly halting as his accent resists him. "Everyone who lives in Athens will pass through here at some point—the markets are famous throughout the city."

The marketplace is bustling, warm-hued and beautiful. Life emanates from it, a quality that Virginia never had. The scents of rich spices and frying oil prickle Percy's nose, and it's difficult not to salivate. It's late, so none of them have eaten in a while.

"Alright, listen up," Mr Jameson calls loudly, trying to get everyone's attention. "We've got an hour before we need to be back at the hotel, so we've decided to let you all explore for a while." At that, everyone perks up. He raises a stern eyebrow. "You must stay in this square. No wandering off, understand?"

The four of them walk around the stalls for a while, looking around. "I kinda wanna get a souvenir," Piper muses. "Oh, I love those necklaces!" She runs off, dragging an unwilling Leo with her.

Percy takes Annabeth's arm, leading her forward. "Come on. Something smells good over there!" They arrive in front of a pastry stall. Annabeth's face lights up as she admires them. "Can we buy two of those?" she asks the vendor, pointing at the cinnamon swirls. With their pastries in hand, they wander around the stalls together. Everywhere Percy looks, there's something new to look at.

They sit down on a mossy brick wall to finish their pastries. Percy hums, closing his eyes as he eats the last of his. "I think I've got a new favourite food," he tells Annabeth.

"Definitely," she agrees. A harpist across the street starts playing, nimble fingers plucking the strings of their harp. The notes of the strange, Greek song they're playing reverberate across the square, fluctuant and ever-changing. Annabeth sighs. "I love it here. It feels nothing like a school trip."

Percy nods wordlessly. "Kinda wish I could live here."

"Maybe," says Annabeth. "I don't know. I think I'd miss Virginia too much."

With a scoff, Percy kicks at the gravel. "I wouldn't. Not a chance in hell."

Annabeth looks at him, then. "Would you miss me?"

"Obviously," he answers. "That's not even a question."

She smiles. "I'd miss you, too. Never leave me, yeah?"

"I won't."

Annabeth shakes her head. "I'm not sure if I believe that," she says, eyes vacant as she watches the harpist. They've switched to a song that's faintly familiar to Percy, but he can't quite place it.

"Well, you should." She doesn't answer. Percy's not sure what else to say. After a moment of listening to the harpist, he asks, "Hey, what song are they playing?"

As though breaking out of a trance, Annabeth grins. "You're joking," she says. When Percy's still blank, she nudges him. "It's 'My Heart Will Go On.'" She pauses, then, "From Titanic."

"Titanic?"

Annabeth gapes. "Wow, you're more uncultured than I thought."

Without his solicitation, an embarrassed flush rises to his cheeks. "Oh, shut up." Without warning, he playfully shoulders Annabeth.

She yelps, almost falling off the wall. "Hey," she complains. "That was uncalled for."

"Was it, though?"

Pushing him back, she stifles a laugh. "Well, you still need to watch Titanic."

He smiles. "Okay. I will."

"We can watch it together."

"Yeah, sure."

She folds her arms. "You could at least try and sound interested in the idea."

"God, I can't wait to watch a movie about a musty ship that sank, like, a century ago."

She smacks him with her sleeve. "Hey, it's about more than that! It's a classic. Trust me."

The next few days pass in a similar fashion. Percy feels like he's in a fever dream; here, everything is rose-tinted and unspeakably easy. Not having to think about work or school—or his stepfather—is a fucking blessing.

On the last day, they visit the Acropolis. It's what Annabeth's been excited about all week and she won't stop bouncing on the bus drive. "I bet it's beautiful," she tells Piper. "I'm gonna take so many photos."

Piper grins. "You should take one of the four of us."

Annabeth wrinkles her nose, but soon relents. "Fine. There's no way it'll go in my portfolio, though."

Leo rolls his eyes. "You've got more than enough for your damn portfolio. Relax. Take a few photos of Piper's nostril, or something." Piper kicks him, but he just laughs.

Percy hadn't been expecting much, but as he steps off the bus and looks up at the Acropolis, his jaw drops. It had been one thing seeing it from afar, but up close its buildings tower so high above them that Percy almost understands why the Greeks so easily worshipped their gods.

Beside him, Annabeth looks elated. "Wanna know why it's called the Acropolis?"

"Why?" he asks, humouring her.

"It means high city in Greek," she answers, raising her camera to her eye.

"Huh. That's actually pretty cool."

The steps up to the rocky outcrop that the Acropolis is built on are worryingly precarious, and Percy tries desperately not to look down. It's hard to control his breathing as he completes one careful step after another.

The Parthenon is the centrepiece of the ancient city. It seems impossible that it's held up only by crumbling stone pillars, but it remains upright. Percy's enchanted by it. He zones out from the tour guide's loud voice in favour of gazing at the stone inscriptions that have remained intact for millennia.

Every few moments are punctuated by the click of Annabeth taking another photo. His eyes flick over to her concentrated, drawn expression as she fiddles with the settings on her analog camera. Her brows are all bunched up in the middle and she won't stop chewing on her lip. She glances up and Percy stiffens, hoping she didn't catch him looking. "Hey, can you hold this for a sec? I've gotta get something out my bag," she says, holding out her camera. "Oh, and don't you dare drop it."

He takes it. "I'll be careful."

After the Parthenon, they visit the Erechteion. It's less impressive, but Percy finds himself drawn in by its history. "It's dedicated to not one, but two gods," the tour guide explains. "Although Athena was the host of this city, Poseidon also offered. This temple was built in his honour, too."

Percy finds himself listening to the tour guide for another few minutes, even after most of the crowd has dissolved. He's shaken out of his stupor by Piper's hand on his shoulder. "Come on," she's saying. "The others are looking out over the edge."

Leo and Annabeth are standing at the end of the viewpoint, leaning over the railing. As they approach, Percy's jaw drops slightly—the entirety of Athens sprawls out before them, a chaotic thing of beauty. He stands next to Annabeth, leaning against the railing as he looks out. "Wow."

Annabeth, of course, has her camera raised to her face. "Everything's so far away that I can't tell if the film will come out blurry," she mutters.

Percy gently pushes her camera down. "Stop worrying about getting good photos, and just look."

Annabeth shoots him a look of annoyance, but does as he suggests. The sun glances like a blade over her face, lighting up her pale lashes and paler grey eyes. The view seems to arrest her, for a second. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. "It's prettier without the lense in front of it," she admits.

"What did I tell you?"

"Ha, ha." She traces the button on her camera absently, eyes trained on the horizon. "I wonder how high up we are?"

"Four hundred and ninety feet above sea level," Percy recites. At Annabeth's look of confusion, he laughs. "The tour guide said it. Don't worry, I haven't been reading text books in my spare time."

"Maybe you should consider it." Still staring out across the city, she murmurs, "This would be a good take-off point."

"For what?"

"For flying."

Her words take him off guard; it isn't like Annabeth to be so wishful. Percy can't help but imagine it: how it would feel to stretch his wings out, to leap off the edge of this ancient outcrop and sail up, up, up towards the blustering sun. "Yeah," he agrees. "We can't fly, though."

She turns to look at him, a smile tugging at her mouth. "I know that."

He pretends to think. "Wanna test it out?"

Rolling her eyes, she punches him lightly. "Shut up."

They both laugh, and Percy thinks for a quiet, hopeful moment that he'd stay here forever if he could. He closes his eyes, the warm railing beneath his forearms becoming his focal point. When he opens his eyes again, everything is still blessedly the same. "Hey, Annabeth?" he asks suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"I don't wanna go back to Virginia."

She smiles at him. "Me neither."

"No, I mean—we should take off into the city. Run away." At that, Annabeth laughs. It's probably for the best that she doesn't realise it wasn't a joke.

When they get back to the hotel that evening, Leo ropes them all into a plan. "There's some maintenance stairs on our floor. I checked them out this morning, and guess what?"

"What?" Annabeth and Piper chorus. Percy wishes Leo would get to the point.

Leo slowly smiles. "The stairs lead to the roof."

"So what?" Annabeth asks.

Piper and Percy lock eyes and at the same time, they break into a grin. "Sick."

"What?" Annabeth asks, irritated. "I don't get what you guys are saying."

Leo sighs. "I'm saying that we should go up there. It's our last night here, so we need to make it special."

"Oh," she breathes. "But…wait. What if we get caught?"

"We won't," Piper reassures her. "The teachers will be asleep. There's no way they'll notice."

Percy nudges her, giving her a conspiratorial smile. "C'mon. It wouldn't be any fun without you."

He watches Annabeth's resolve crumble. Just like that, she's in. "Alright," she agrees. "I'll bring snacks."

They wait until thirty minutes past midnight to risk sneaking up. Percy pulls on sweatpants and a warm jumper, knowing it'll be cold out. Kiran and Nathan have snuck off to another dorm, so Percy knows they wouldn't be able to rat him and Leo out even if they wanted to. Across the room, Leo's rifling around in his bag. Percy's curiosity spikes. "What're you looking for?" he asks, lacing his shoes up.

Leo turns around, flashing Percy a sharp grin. "This." With a flourish, he withdraws a bottle of Smirnoff from his suitcase.

Percy blanches. "Is that vodka?"

"Yeah. I got it from that marketplace."

"Honestly, I'm a little concerned they sold it to a thirteen-year-old."

Leo tucks the vodka into his jacket. "Hey, maybe I just don't look thirteen."

Percy hums. "You're right. You look ten."

Leo gasps in mock offence. "You wound me, Jackson. You wound me."

The pair of them sneak up to the roof, stifling laughter as adrenaline rushes through them. Percy has to steel himself to remain calm; the maintenance stairs are dark and cramped. Still, they reach the door to the roof faster than he expects. As Leo pushes open the door, the bitter night air washes over them. Above them, the sky is clear and sprayed with an array of bright stars. "This is so cool," Percy breathes. Leo laughs, elated.

The hotel roof is a twenty-by-twenty metre expanse of stone that tapers away into slanting red tiles. The two of them are alone as the girls haven't come up yet. Percy walks to the edge of the roof, fighting off the familiar dredges of anxiety that arise with being so high up. "This is awesome," Leo decides, standing next to Percy. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he lets out a victorious whoop. The sound echoes across Athens, eventually collapsing into the silence.

"Shh," Percy tells him, grabbing his arm. "We need to be quiet."

Leo waves a hand. "No one's gonna hear us," he reassures Percy. "All the teachers are several floors below us. We can be as loud as we want." With that, he whoops again.

The anxiety drains from Percy. He smiles. Tentatively, he cups his hand around his mouth like Leo did and whoops into the endless night. The sound reverberates a thousand times over, multiplying into itself.

It's not long before Annabeth and Piper join them on the roof. Annabeth's curly hair has been wrestled into a messy low bun, and she looks softer than anything in the starlight. The four of them sit down at the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the terracotta tiles. Piper plays music quietly from her phone as they talk and laugh. At one point, Annabeth pulls a pack of playing cards from a pocket inside her fluffy jumper, and they play a few hands of Cheat.

Percy's awful at it, but Annabeth knows the game inside and out—she cheats almost every round and still never gets caught. With his brain fogged up by the few gulps of Leo's vodka he had, it's hard to think straight. When Annabeth wins for the sixth time, Piper groans and flops backwards. "That's it. I give up." Leo pats her shoulder consolingly.

Annabeth smirks, gathering the cards up. "So soon?"

Percy shoots her a blazing look. "How do you win every time? You're a mastermind."

"You probably should've realised that already," she tells him, putting the cards away.

Percy reaches for Leo's dwindling bottle of vodka and picks it up by its cold glass neck, taking a swig. He's never drank before, but he likes how it so easily detaches him from the present with only his consciousness as an anchor.

When Leo offered it to him earlier, an internal, bloody war was waged in his head. He knew all too well that alcohol never did anything except drum spite into Gabe's veins; it took holding the image of Annabeth's parents messily drunk-dancing on Christmas Eve—without consequence—to force himself to take that first sip. Vodka has never been Gabe's drink of choice, at any rate.

Soon enough, the world becomes a far-off, pleasant blur. The four of them lie down on the concrete in a circle, heads close together. "And that's Orion," Piper tells them, pointing up at a cluster of stars. "You can tell 'cause of those three bright stars in a line—they make up his belt. See?"

"Oh, yeah," Annabeth murmurs.

"Isn't there a bear one?" Is that Leo talking?

An empty moment later, Piper answers, "Yeah, there is." Her voice is drowsy, her words slurred. "The Ursa Major."

Percy lifts a hand up to trace the stars. He can't see any shapes, just golden raindrops on a black screen. "I wonder what's up there," he muses.

Leo hums. "Aliens, most likely."

Annabeth scoffs. "Do you realise how unlikely it is that aliens exist? Read up on some biochemistry—the conditions for life are ridiculously improbable. The chance of anywhere else like Earth existing is basically negligible."

"But the universe is infinite," Leo argues. "Doesn't that mean aliens have to exist?"

"No, 'cause it takes, like, a million steps for sentient, complex life to exist. There'll be bacteria, but I doubt there's anything else like us."

Her words make Percy feel no more important, no less like a drifting molecule of water in an ocean. "You might be right," he says quietly. Subconsciously. Then, "Do you guys ever think about the future?"

"God, you're gonna make me have a crisis," Leo mutters.

"Well, I think about the future," says Piper. "I'm gonna be…a solo singer. Or have a band. Or have my own record label."

"I can picture you on stage, dressed in a metallic dress," Annabeth says. "Screaming like crazy into a microphone."

Piper gasps with revelation. "Hey, I could pay you to take my concert photos!"

Annabeth scoffs. "Dream on, McLean. I'd rather work for Vogue."

"I'm just gonna roll with life as it comes," Leo decides. "No plans. No restrictions. Who knows where I'll end up?"

"In a gutter?" Piper suggests. When Leo kicks her in the side, she screeches with laughter. "Calm down! I'm joking. It's not like I've got much of a plan, either."

The two of them keep bantering back and forth, and Percy tunes them out. He turns his head to look at Annabeth. Her eyes are dull and glazed over as she watches the stars, and her mouth is folded in a blissful smile. Before Percy has the chance to quickly look away, she turns her own head and locks eyes with him. "You always do that," she says.

He fights the urge to swallow down his nerves. "Do what?"

She just laughs at that, like an inside joke with herself. Shaking her head, she grins. "I guess it doesn't matter." With that, she stands up and dusts off her clothes. She extends a hand down to Percy. Instinctively, he knows he's supposed to take it.

Annabeth hauls him to his feet, but misjudges the force needed and almost pulls him over—the alcohol in his system has destroyed both of their balance points. Percy laughs, steadying them both before they both topple backwards. "Why are we standing up?"

A shrug. "Felt like it." As the song playing on Piper's phone switches to something by Frank Ocean, the pair of them start swaying in time with the music. Annabeth loosely takes Percy's hand and spins him around, giggling.

"Shouldn't the guy spin the girl?" Percy protests.

"Oh, sorry," she answers, rolling her eyes. "I didn't mean to step on your ego."

"You know that's not what I meant!"

Behind them, Percy registers Piper and Leo standing up. He turns around in time to see Leo stagger, clutching his head. "Christ," he mutters. Piper shrieks with laughter.

Annabeth leans into Percy. "He's such a lightweight."

Percy grins. Tone dripping with sarcasm, he replies, "Nah, of course not." He pokes Annabeth in the side. "You, on the other hand…"

She pushes him, fighting off a smile. "Shut it, Jackson."

He pushes her back without much force. Still, one of her sneakers slip on the damp tarmac and she lands heavily on her back. "Ow," she groans. "I didn't actually push you over."

"Sorry, love," he drawls, leaning into his natural Southern accent. "You're drunker than I thought." He extends a hand in an attempt at being a gentleman, meaning to pull Annabeth to her feet.

With a wicked grin, she seizes his hand and yanks him brutally down onto the concrete next to her. He lands with a thud on his left arm. It twinges. "Hey! You could've hurt me."

"Sorry, love," she mimics. "Guess you must be drunker than I—" Startled, she cuts herself off with a shout when Percy lunges for her. She rolls away, laughing. "Okay, okay! Truce?"

"Fine." Percy stands up with Annabeth, rolling his sore shoulder. Head is spinning with elation, he nudges her. "Annabeth," he says.

"What?"

He smiles, helplessly. "I'm sort of really happy right now."

"'Cause you're drunk," she laughs, linking arms with him in that way she always does. "But for the record…" She trails off, then smiles. "I am, too."

It starts to rain—softly, at first, with an air of reluctance. Percy didn't even notice the clouds pass over. Before they know it, the rain's built up with a new, beautiful impetus and lashes the city around them.

The four of them scream, already soaked through. With the slow arrogance only drunk people can master, they stumble towards the door and fall through it as a singular entity. Annabeth is still holding onto Percy, a lifeline. Her hair's an utter mess, and her cheeks are flushed crimson from the cold.

She's everything, everything, everything.

the four of them in athens is now literally all I know or care about lmao. thanks for reading! FFN is bugging so I'm not sure if this chapter will successfully upload or not, but hopefully it does! let me know what you thought :D