Chapter 14: Fleeting Moments of Peace

Annabeth

Fuh-Fuhh— Fuh-Fuhh— Tap-tap-tap-tap…

Watching me with her head hung in resignation, she sighed, "You know that's not going to make time speed up, right?"

I groaned.

Sarcastic and somewhat exasperated, that remark came from the girl with bright auburn hair tied into a messy braided bun, her sparkling green eyes dulled with constant hopelessness as she stared at me. We were standing a comfortable distance away, both of us at the front entrance of my mansion as I paced back and forth, feet and hands trembling steadily.

"Calm down, will you? Just watching you pace around is making me exhausted. Plus, I thought you said you were able to contact them last night?"

"I know that, Rachel. It's just…" I bit my lips, "They are…"

I stopped there. Predictably, it was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, now also the new oracle reincarnated, who saw through my perturbation. I let out a really long grumble.

"Anyway, didn't Katie ask you to help with something?"

"She said I can take a break. Besides, I want to be here when they come back too."

"Is that right?" Unamused, I glared back.

Rachel smiled blithely and shrugged. I narrowed my eyes more when I saw how nonchalant she was being even though Thalia was my best friend and Percy was my boyfriend. That little subtle smirk at the end seemed specifical to annoy me.

"Good morning, princess."

I turned away from Rachel and face Owlfred who suddenly popped up, "Good morning, Owlfred. Is it them?"

"Yes, my proximity trigger told me they are coming in through the forest gate now."

I let out a really long exhale and hoped either of them noticed.

"Good, go take care of Connor and Reyna in the annex for now and make sure Drew isn't pulling any tricks. I'll make sure Thalia and Percy are okay."

"As you wish. But just in case, I told a few maids to stand by the door if anything happens, so…"

"Don't worry, Owlfred. I got this. I didn't forget about yesterday, okay?"

Owlfred hummed, then turned around to face the other girl beside me.

"Mind keeping an eye on her for me? I fear the princess might do something irrevocable if I leave her alone for too long."

"Hey!"

Owlfred took a jab at me for no reason whatsoever. I was met with laughers and giggles from Rachel whose sly smile could fill the entire ocean with my embarrassment.

"Keep your mouth shut and go already, Owlfred!"

I tried to grab the blue orb flowing in the air only to remember his immaterial form when I was ready to crush him like a paper ball. I froze mid-act, and with a face like an ugly gorilla caught in the act, I'd inadvertently embarrassed myself even more. The ensuing laughs and giggles from the red-haired girl blew up another notch. I now wanted to tie her up and shove her into the trunk of my supercar.

Owlfred slipped away from my crushing palm and casually blink away, "See you later, princess."

I stomped my foot on the limestone steps, "Ugh!"

"Hehehe… If you start grunting too, I am going to mistake you for a real gorilla, Annabeth."

"Ahhh! Why is everyone so terrible to me all the time?!" I grabbed Rachel by her arms and shook her back and forth. She started to rock like a see-saw while holding a big smile. I was shaking her like a piggy bank, but instead of getting it empty, I wanted to destroy it with a hammer.

"Ahh-ahhh-ahhh…" Rachel moaned softly as I violently toss her, "H-Hey… I- I think-kk t-that's th-them, r-right-tt?"

I stopped shaking right away and snapped my eyes toward the entrance. Of course, Rachel lied like a sly fox and slipped away from my grasp when my attention drifted. In a real life or death scenario, I would have been killed already.

I guess I need more training to focus my mind...

"You are lucky I am feeling merciful." I stepped away.

Rachel grinned, "Sure-sure… I guess I should thank Percy for being such a heart-throb that just mentioning his name instantly get your attention."

"Huuahh?"

"You heard me," Rachel's grin grew twice its size as I craned my neck and stare shotgun at her, "Hehe… and I can just about tell you are jealous, aren't you?"

Rachel made a very obnoxious lean over to stare at my face. Her witty smiles filled with such preposterous suggestions it was already sending cold shivers down my spine. My soul fought back desperately like a fiery lava pit ready to explode.

Rachel tilted back satisfied and hummed happily, "You are! Mmm, I see… So even Thalia could make you jealous, huh?"

Back into a corner, I decided the best course of action was to ignore her completely.

"Aww… I haven't seen your jealous side yet, Annabeth, that's a very cute face you are making right now." Her pearly whites were showing along with that big smile on her face.

I barely ignored her through clenched fists. She was laughing now, "Hehe… Do you think they might have spent the night on the same bed together?"

My cheeks had morphed into a radiator at full power, "Don't think I won't lock you up just because you are now the oracle incarnate, Rachel."

"Aww- you are no fun..." She pouted and let me off with a wink, "Well, I guess that's enough from me. Oh! Here they are,"

Just as I managed to suppress my urge to strangle this girl, the sound of gravel crushing beneath a black SUV while it drove down the pavements took all my attention. The driver then slowly came to a stop at the parking garage.

"Hmm… Is that Percy driv— Whoa! Hey!"

I sprinted passed Rachel and almost knocked her off her feet. I guess I'll apologize later, but that's even if she deserved one after all that teasing she gave me. I huffed instead and ran like a speeding laser toward the driver seat of the SUV.

Of course, they noticed me right away when I was storming like a tornado at them.

Then I heard a definitive… Click.

Oh that's so not fair!

"Open this door right now, seaweed brain!"

Through the tinted windows, I saw my boyfriend; thankfully alive and not hanging by a thread, pulling with all his might to keep the doors shut. His muffled voice came through as he stared at me with an overwrought expression, "I am not going to unlock the door until you've calmed down, wise girl!"

I tugged at the handle repeatedly like an angry and jealous… Well actually, I was angry and jealous, except for the ex-girlfriend part, "Don't make me do something you'll regret!"

"Hey! You are going to break the door! Stop pulling!"

So much of my energy was spent trying to wedge the door open that I almost missed a shadow sneaking away from my left side. I snapped my head like a demonic creature straight from hell, catching the petite figure of my best friend who tried to scurry away. We caught each other's gaze. She froze up immediately with an awkward smile.

"Ahh? Hi, A-Annabeth… Good morning?" She waved, "I hope everyone is o-okay-yy? Eh?"

I rushed her like a speed demon.

"Huh? Hey-yy! W-Wait just a minute… Annabet— Ahh!"

I didn't wait for her to explain herself. She started to jump backward, but I tackled her first with the force of a train ramming into a tractor-trailer at a rail crossing. The end result was an explosive mess that would take weeks, if not months of repair to fix everything.

"Eh?" Thalia recoiled back, "Uhh A-Annabeth?"

My voice broke once I was sure Thalia was real and I wasn't just dreaming, "I was scared, Thals! I thought you two were gone when we couldn't contact you! Don't ever do that to me ever again!"

I hated that I was crying like a cry-baby, but tears found their way to overflow my eyes regardless of how much I was trying to hold it back. I was a bawling mess in my best friend's arms which was so not princess-like and completely contradictory to the strong-willed character / temporary leader I was supposed to be in Thalia's absence.

"There-there…" She patted me on the back, "I mean, we are both okay, so it's fine now, right?"

I nodded into her chest and hummed. Gradually, I began to hug her more and more and more and...

"Uhhh… y-you are hugging me really tightly now." Thalia tried to wiggle out of my grasp, "A-Annabeth? I am… please let me go…?"

But I had no intention of letting her go as I tilted to meet her eyes.

"By the way, you didn't do anything to Percy, did you?"

Half frozen, her blue eyes widen as she was taken back by both my question and my death grip.

"Whoa! Where did those bloodlust eyes come from? Hey! You are scaring me now!" Thalia struggled to pull away from my gorilla-like grip, not that I would let her escape anyway.

"You didn't answer me, Thals?"

The guilty look on her face didn't do much to reassure me as she averted her eyes, "Nothing… Why would you think I did something? If anything, it's all Percy's fault!"

"Heheh… Heh…" More than a few sadistic laughs left me, a smirk of pure evil slowly crept over my pink lips, then with the reflex of a tiger pouncing on her prey, I reached behind me and grabbed him by his shirt collar, pulling him back, "Seaweed brain? Mind explaining yourself?"

"Ugh!" His attempt failed miserably, "Ah-hahaha… Hey wise girl,"

Trying to sneak away from behind me as if I didn't already notice him getting out of the car, it was a failed attempt before it began because he had such a well-built and noticeable figure, and yet, he was silly enough to try and disappear like a ghost.

I passed a friendly smile at the ghost who did his best to slip by my attention.

Holding him tightly so he couldn't escape, I got them both by their collar and was ready to dangle them up in the air until I could get to the bottom of their sudden escapade. At the very least, there was no way I'll let him off that easily.

"Percy? What did you do to my best friend?"

"Ah! Come on, princess… We didn't do anything… ugh!" Percy struggled to speak when I had him at the end of a rope, "H-Hey! C-Can't breathe, wise girl…"

"Is that right?" I clutched him harder than before, "You really want to play that game?"

"Nooo…" He averted his eyes too, "Really, wise girl! We didn't do anything like that, okay? You are being unreasonable!"

Something ticked…

I let go of Thalia and firmly turned to my boyfriend who was struggling more and more while I hung him on tiptoe.

"Unreasonable?" I grabbed his collar with both hands now, "You are the unreasonable one here, dummy! I… I was…"

So scared that you were gone!

But like a mouse hiding from the cat, those words got stuck in my throat and I couldn't get them out no matter how much I wanted to; at least, the two other girls here stopped me from doing so. I wanted so much to cry and wept and seek his reassurance like a child to her mother.

"Ugh! I Hate You So Much!"

At long last, the rope keeping my sanity snapped in halves and I could feel myself turn into a proper yandere. If only I had a kitchen knife around me, then…

"Ahh-ahhh-ah—" Percy moaned back and forth while I shook him violently.

"I am saying it now, seaweed brain! You are not allowed to leave my sight for the rest of today and tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"I am serious! I won't let you out of my sight, not even if you have to use the bathroom!"

"Huh?!"

"And you are going to tell me everything about last night even if I had to interrogate you, torture you, or do something even worse!"

"This is getting out of hand, wise girl!"

"I don't care! Think of this as your punishment for sleeping with my best friend!"

"And like I keep telling you, we didn't do anything like that!" Percy complained, "W-Wait… Hey? Wh-Where are you dragging me off to? Hey? Hey!? Whoa!"

I almost kicked the doors open and scared the maids waiting for us.

"Wise girl?! Where are we— Oww… Ow…."

I dragged him by his right ear along with one of the maids who hurried behind me, her hopeless smile on full display as she caught up to avoid my wrath, "Time for your first punishment, seaweed brain!"

-Line Break-

It's been a few minutes since he was dragging into the wolves' den.

Glad to be left alone by those garnishing teeth and bloodlust red eyes, two girls exhaled deep sighs as they walked side by side. All they could really think about was how thankful it wasn't them who was taken and dragged into the pits themselves.

"Well, that was something else…" The oracle had spoken.

No kidding. Thalia shivered as the frightening image of Percy being dragged to the depth of hell etched inside her mind like a nightmare on replay.

Is Percy going to be fine?

Thalia worried only for a second and promptly withdrew.

Eh, I am sure he is fine…

"That aside…" She twirled her right index finger up instead, "I am sorry we weren't able to save your stuff before your room blew up."

Rachel tilted her head and met her gaze, "It's okay, Thalia. Annabeth offered me plenty of spares— actually, now that I think about it, how can she have so many clothes in the first place?"

"Uhh… you don't want to know." Thalia resolved to leave that question for another day and sighed in mocking despair.

"But anyway, I saved my mom, that's really all that matter."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah, it was my only picture of her when she was alive. I don't really care about anything else."

"Not even your paintings?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't really care about them. People always like to compare them to real treasures, but I could always create more if I had the time, so that's why most of them don't even see the light of day."

"Hmm."

Rachel was considered a prodigy. Even Thalia recognized her talent by the glances she took at her painting, but sometimes it was the best of us that are the most vulnerable, and unfortunately, she wasn't spared from her own worst enemy.

"By the way…" Rachel suddenly bumped her shoulders and giggled playfully as if to tease, "Did you really sleep together with Percy?"

"Huh? Of course not! And besides, what's with that face you are making?"

"Ehh? But you were blushing like crazy when Annabeth asked you earlier, and you are blushing now, so something must have happened, right? Right?" She nudged again with an all-too-playful smile.

Thalia turned away, "Ahh! Not you too! We just slept on the same bed, that's all! And not in the way you are thinking about, you weirdo."

"Ehh? You really did sleep on the same bed with Percy?"

Her sudden recoil shocked Thalia to the bones.

"Hey! Why are you acting all surprised about that now?" Thalia was burning up as she recalled what she made Percy do, their warm bodies sharing cuddles for that few short hours was enough to warrant a real death threat from Annabeth, and that's just the initial reaction. Hell surely awaits her if Annabeth learned more about last night.

"Wow… I am actually surprised you are bold enough to do that, Thalia." Rachel passed her a knowing grin that was quite lethal at that range.

"Ahh… I am not going to say another word about this anymore."

Thalia huffed and walked ahead to their destination alone. According to Rachel, Piper and Jason were resting in the infirmary since last night, and from what she learned, those two were doing a lot better since the maids took care of their wounds. But for Thalia, she only wanted to see those two alive and well enough that the boulder on her chest would finally ease.

It was with this urgency to see them alright that Thalia flung open the door to the infirmary-yyy…

"Ah!" A girly scream echoed loud and vibrant through the cold morning air. It was followed by a soft thud and a painful groan, "Owww…"

… open the door to the infirmary-yy without a second thought and—

"P…Piper?"

There was something wrong about this scene Thalia had stumbled upon. Specifically, why was the daughter of Aphrodite half-naked? Why was she on top of her twin brother equally as naked and her long lustrous brown hair tousled? Why was—

"Ever heard of knocking, Thals?!" The wide-eyed girl wasted no time berating her. After falling off the bed and landing on her butt, she took the sheet with her and clutched them close to her chest.

"…."

Thalia got an unintentional good look at her best friend, then at her twin brother who was still half-naked, blonde hair in a mess, and his pants almost… She quickly moved her eyes up and met his blank stare; seventy percent of it was pure confusion, twenty percent was half-realization, five percent went to his quivering lips, and the rest of it was filling his expression with utter disbelief.

"Ahhhh!" The door slammed shut as an impact comparable to a sudden meteor crashing to earth shook the mansion in its place, "What the absolute fuck are you two doing!?"

"Wait, Thals! I can explain…" Jason's muffled voice rang out behind the door. A second later, an equally forceful pull worked against her desperate attempt to keep the door shut.

"Hey! Don't run off like that, I… Wait, what are you doing?" Rachel finally caught up to her with heavy breaths and stood close by watching the events unfold.

Thalia ignored her and focused on pulling with all her might.

"I am telling you, that's not what…"

"Ahh! Shut up shut up! I don't want to hear what you and Piper were doing before…"

Jason let out the most irritated gruff behind the struggling door frame as they decide whether it should stay open or close, "Fine, whatever. Can you stop pulling on the door? You are going to break it."

The force pulling against her eased off and Thalia sighed a breath of relief but also went numbed on the spot. It was mortifying, the images of what they were doing before she interrupted them…

"Anyway, just listen, okay?"

"No! Absolutely not! Don't tell me anything about what you and Piper were doing before …"

"Eeehh? What?! What did they do?" Rachel squealed so loud that an audible sigh of resignation was heard behind the door.

"Mind your own business! We didn't do anything, Rachel!" Another muffled voice screamed from inside.

"That didn't look like nothing to me, Pipes!" I screamed back.

"I… I wasn't… Ugh! Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv! I bet you were smoothing up with Percy last night too behind Annabeth's back!"

..!

Her mouth hung wide open and feeling dumbfounded were the least of her issues now, "Ahh! What the heck are you talking about?!"

"Ha I knew it! You took advantage and smooth up with Percy last night! You flirt…"

"I did not!"

"You know you can't lie with me, Thals!"

"I am not lying! Tsk… Anyway, just admit you were trying to screw my brother because your voice sounds like a rubber chicken right now!"

"~Gasp!~~ Oh yeah? Well, you sound like a chipmunk right now too! What? Did you really go all the way with Percy last night?"

"~Gasp!~~ You are out of your mind, rubber chicken Pipes!"

"And you are the one who lost their mind, Thalia the chipmunk!"

Grrrr….

Grrrr….

Heh-hehehe….

S-sign…

Hurling insults one after another, there was no stopping the amounts of screams, giggles, and hopeless sighs surrounding them. It would have kept going too, but just before Thalia could whipped up a cheeky quip back, the door flung open.

"Eeekk!"

Behind it was Jason's lean and strong figure, still shirtless by the way but he was otherwise in tip-top good shape. All the wounds he suffered last night were magically healed with nectar and careful patching by the maids. The same could be said for Piper who had gotten dressed halfway through, her slim waist exposed for a brief few seconds.

Meanwhile, it might just be a figment of her imagination, but Thalia was pretty sure Rachel drool a bit looking at Jason in his half-naked yet nonchalant attitude.

"At least put your shirt back on!"

Jason ignored her and grabbed her by the hand.

"…! What are you…?"

"We need to talk, Thals."

"Ahh!" She pulled away and covered her face, "No we don't! I am not going to have that talk with you!"

"I am not talking about that, sis!" Jason's exasperation could even be felt now, "I am talking about the meeting later today." His muffled voice came a bit softer once he said what needed to be said, still calmed but slightly annoyed.

Thalia blinked and tilted in confusion, "Meeting?"

Her twin brother nodded with an abrupt serious look on his face, "Chiron is calling for the Consul of Twelve."

AN: Sorry for the one-month-long hiatus, been dealing with a lot. Anyways, thanks for reading and all the favs, follows, and reviews. Till next time :)