(Percy Jackson isn't mine, sucks doesn't it?)
Fairy Lights
PoV: Reyna
The air smelled of ripe, sweet, red strawberries. The game Never Have I Ever ended up being a long one. For almost three hours had the teens played it. Reyna had enjoyed it, too. Piper was good at putting forward game suggestions, Reyna would give her that, all right. At least her present to Annabeth was appreciated. Or so she hoped. Reyna had given her an imperial gold coin, with on each side a single word. One side: courage, the other side: faith. At the time it had seemed like a good idea. She meant the words to be some sort of focus or goal. They were the two words Reyna herself valued very much.
As the sun started to slip slowly behind the horizon, and the summer breeze picked up some of the empty chip bags and chocolate wrappers, the teens started to clean up. When at last everything was packed away, the conch horn sounded in the distance, signaling dinner. Once again everyone headed for the dining pavilion.
Leo Valdez was the first to enter the dining pavilion. Followed by Piper and Jason. Reyna still sometimes confused herself with thinking he was still Praetor and then finding Frank instead. Although she sometimes missed Jason she had to admit Frank Zhang was a good praetor. He was fair and a good leader.
Reyna plopped herself down next to Hazel. At the edge of the bench. She often sat at the outskirts of the group, but she hardly minded. She had highly appreciated the groups invitations and offers of joining for varies meals and parties she still found it nice to sit at the edge of the group and just to listen and witness what was happening.
As she did now.
Annabeth sat in the precise middle of the table, next to Percy (as always) and Will Solace, across from Jason. Chiron trotted to the front of everyone and announced that dinner may be started, the goblets filled with drinks, plates gained food, and chatter and laughter filed in. Signaling: dinner had really started.
Percy drank his strange blue cherry coke. Reyna would never fully understand it. Part of the table broke into laughter about something Leo had apparently said or done, whatever it was Reyna had missed it.
"Honestly, today has been really fun." Annabeth said.
"I feel honored that you have enjoyed yourself today, so far." Piper said with a mischievous grin on her face.
"There's more? Seriously Piper, you could have stopped at the strawberry fields, that was really fun."
"Nope, my last birthday was one of the best one's so far, my plan is to have yours be amazing too, so nothing is gonna stop my girl from having an amazing birthday." Piper said as she took a bite from her taco.
Annabeth smiled at everyone in turn, when she finished locking her eyes with everyone at the table, she said, "Thank you."
PoV: Percy
Annabeth hadn't seen the best thing yet. With a lot of pleading and pushing Piper had managed to persuade Chiron into dismissing curfew for the night so the teens could throw a party. There was going to be a party. Zeus's fist had been decorated with yet more floral garlands and fairy lights. Dozens and dozens of fairy lights. It was a magnificent sight. The circle of trees around Zeus's fist was decorated with little specks of yellow light. They complimented the stars. No, scrap that. It was as if the stars had been plucked from the sky and had been placed in each tree.
The sight made Percy think of Bob (Iapetus the friendly titan) and Zoe Nightshade. This made the corners of Percy's mouth turn down. No he couldn't start thinking about everyone he lost, there would be too many names.
22:58, read Percy's watch. Any minute now.
Everyone was hidden behind bushes, rocks and trees. At 23:00 Annabeth was supposed to walk into the clearing and everyone was supposed to jump out and shout "Surprise!" Easy right? Not so much. Percy had wedged himself between two of the rocks stacked to form Zeus's fist. He had to be able to maneuver quickly once Annabeth was here so that he could jump with everybody else at the same time.
In the light of both the moon and the dozens of fairy lights Percy read the his watch again: 22:59.
His heartbeat seemed to pound in his chest. It ricocheted off of the narrow rocks he sat wedged between.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
23:00 pm.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Percy heard the leaves rustling as a breeze combed through them. The garlands bristled too. Then finally came the sound of someone – a person – walk into the clearing. Annabeth appeared. Her stormy eyes filled with wonder as she saw the lights, then her eyes moved undoubtedly towards the stars. Percy could he see her pull herself together. She too thought of their lost friends. He just knew it. He wondered if others could it too.
Percy thought it a good moment to jump out and call the "Surprise!" so he started to move out from in between the rocks. Apparently the others had heard or seen Percy move too because just as he was about to jump out he was joined by everyone else too.
"Surprise!" They all chorused.
Annabeth's wondrous grey eyes once again moved through all the lights and back up to the sky, she sought Percy out, when she did they locked eyes. He could drown in her eyes. Assuredly he nodded. "It's…brilliant." She finally said. It was.
"Okay, well who's ready to party?" Leo asked joyously.
The party had been going on for a quiet a while. The music softly swishing between all the people present. Including the Stoll brothers, the Aphrodite and the Athena cabin. Some of the Hephaestus cabin and Clarisse la Rue the only one from the Ares cabin with Chris Rodriguez, her boyfriend.
Percy had been dancing and goofing around on the makeshift dance floor, when he dwindled to the side to catch his breath. He was joined by the one and only birthday girl.
"How's your birthday going?" Percy asked her.
"I'm loving it. Only a few minutes left though."
"What do you mean?"
"It's 11:53 meaning there's only 7 minutes left of this wonderful day, seaweed brain." She explained, "I was wondering if you were gonna give me my other half of the so-sacred present?" She asked.
He was. What was the point of giving a birthday present when it was no longer someone's birthday?
"Let's go somewhere quiet." Percy said, taking Annabeth's hand and leading her into the forest.
"My other half of the 'so-sacred present' is right here." Percy said pulling a small box from his jeans pocket. Truth was that box had been in there all day, he had just been too embarrassed to give it to her in front of everyone so he had vowed to give it to her later. It was considerably later. "I just thought that- I don't remember what I thought. Just open it." Percy said, pushing the box into Annabeth's hand. "Happy birthday, wise girl." He concluded.
Annabeth opened the box and inside lay a small, thin, silver circle. The circle was a pendant. On the circle were the words Wise Girl imprinted. Annabeth's eyes filled with adoration as she tenderly touched the pendant.
"Thank you." She simply said. It was enough. Annabeth flung her arms around Percy's neck and kissed him. No matter how many times she did it, it always stayed just as amazing. The droning of the music became distant. It was only them and the stars and the rhythmic beating of Percy's heart thumping in his ears.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
They broke apart.
"It's not my birthday anymore." She said.
It was 00:01.
Αυτή είναι η διαφυγή μου. αναγνώστες αντίο
(For those of you who wonder, it's Greek.)