ANNABETH WAS TRYING…greatest Seaweed Brain moments
"They were good." Hazel grinned. Percy pouted at Annabeth who winked at him.
"You need to share this compilation with me." Triton smirked at her and she gave him a thumbs up with a grin.
"You're screwed." Grover laughed as he said to Percy who nodded with faux misery.
When Frank stumbled down…looking exhausted.
"I know you just got out of a life threatening situation but the mental image of you and Coach just lying down on the deck and you being so done with life is hilarious to me." Thalia snickered to Percy who snorted in amusement.
"You should drop by my house sometime. Half the time, I'm like that. It'll be like your own comedy show then." He told her.
"Done and I'm gonna bring a camera." Thalia grinned.
"Are you on quests so frequently?" Amphitrite frowned at Percy who shrugged and nodded.
"At one point I had a feeling that if I had to get a McDonalds burger, I'd have to do a quest because my debt got so huge that even burgers had a price more than a few dollars now." He said with a light chuckle. A couple of the gods' expressions turned guilty at the confession.
"Even general quests were that bad, huh?" Triton grimaced.
"Not the quests exactly but the number, yeah. I mean you kinda get used to your life being in danger anyways so that's not surprising. I mean we just got out of a war and I had to do quests again." Percy shrugged casually. "It was like I'm on a life support machine and the quest-givers keep unplugging it to charge their phone." He laughed lightly. Most of the gods looked horrified at that analogy while the demigods and Apollo were laughing their heads off and even Hades looked amused.
"That's not funny." Poseidon all but squeaked.
"You're right. Its hilarious." Nico snickered. Hades couldn't help but chuckle at that.
Hedge was missing…jumped through a window.
Poseidon winced as he was suddenly covered in nicks and scratches as well.
"Pretty sure I have." Percy nodded.
"Nobody doubted that for a second." Apollo joked.
"Good." Percy grinned. "I would hate it if everybody underestimating my ability to do crazy things." He said and everybody chuckled.
He didn't say anything…fit around his thick neck
Annabeth gave Frank a sheepish look as he raised his eyebrows at her.
"I think you could easily kill me if you wanted to." He told her. "But you see, you'd have to think of another way than to strangle me, seeing as you wouldn't be able to reach till my neck." He smirked at her then. Annabeth stared at him and then burst out laughing.
"That was a good one." She wheezed out and Frank beamed as he looked proud of himself.
"He's finally learning." Clarisse said happily and high fived Ares and then Frank.
"That makes absolutely…herself to stay calm
"Just a wild guess here but I think he was asking about what information you found there." Travis said with a raised eyebrow.
"Ha-ha." Frank said.
"How about you start…figure out how. I wish…"
Everybody looked at Percy, expecting him to finish that thought and the son of Poseidon sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I wished that I could have asked for help from dad or somebody because it wasn't going to be easy for me to get the creatures out alone or even with help from another demigod or so. I mean, Grover, Nico and I were able to get only the telkhines out even later." He explained. The sea gang gave him small smiles.
"Well, this time, we're gonna deal with this aquarium together." Amphitrite assured him and Percy smiled.
He shook his head…down on a price list?"
"I don't think that's how it works. You have a bounty on your head, you're not being auctioned." Ares said to Leo with a raised eyebrow and the son of Hephaestus gave him a sheepish grin.
"My bad. Got a little confused there." He said.
"But I think you got the ancient Greek version of 'WANTED' posters." Ares grinned and Leo whooped.
"Something interesting that came out of it. It'd be boring if we didn't get posters." He said. Everybody face palmed.
Hazel wrinkled her nose…or three Franks?"
"Hey, that was harsh." Beckendorf frowned at Leo and the latter nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Frank." He said to the son of Ares who waved it off.
"All's good, man."
"Hey!" Frank complained…remember to brush her hair.
"Oh dear. That is one of those things that really tell you about the severity of the situation." Aphrodite shook her head with sympathy for Annabeth.
"Yeah, the primordial of the earth coming to them in visions is casual, no?" Demeter raised an eyebrow.
"I'm talking about what the demigods had to go through." Aphrodite clarified.
"A map," Piper said…something about a statue.
Apollo ground his teeth. He really did not want his suspicions to be true about the monster that his friends were going to have to face to get that statue. They couldn't be. He understood that the statue was important but the fact that so many young children had died and them having to do the quest alone was something he couldn't find justifiable.
"Um…" Frank rolled his…can I just say…not cool?"
"Yeah, our ancestors could be really…concerning." Dakota told Hazel with an apologetic smile.
"Well, not your fault, is it?" she said with a light chuckle. "If we started bearing responsibility for what some of our ancestors did, we'd all be screwed." She said.
Jason put his hands in…he was apologizing.
"He better." Hades huffed and gave a last glare to Jason who winced.
"I really am sorry." He said.
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it." Nico told him.
Jason elbowed Leo…"Uh, how do you—?"
"How had you never seen them before?" Connor asked Frank, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I didn't know such weird stuff existed." The son of Ares replied.
"Weird?" Connor asked with a mock expression of horrification. "It is brilliant!" he said, dramatically flourishing a hand to his chest. All the pranksters in the room nodded in agreement.
Leo chuckled…They turn into iguanas."
Everybody roared with laughter. Chiron gave Leo an amused look with raised eyebrows and the son of Hephaestus grinned sheepishly.
"In all fairness, Chiron, I can totally imagine you saying that." Apollo chuckled at the centaur who hid a smile, knowing that Apollo was right.
"Well, that wounds me." The centaur sighed dramatically.
"You have got to stop hanging around Percy and Annabeth." Grover told him with a grin.
"Hey!" his two best friends protested and Grover smirked at Percy and Annabeth while Chiron chuckled.
"I still cannot believe that you turned into an iguana to get out of Chinese handcuffs." Clarisse teased Frank who rolled his eyes playfully.
"Think outside the box." He said with a finger up as if giving some wisdom.
Everybody busted out laughing…it spoke to her."
Reyna grimaced and exchanged a look with Apollo who gave her a small, reassuring smile. Hephaestus raised an eyebrow at what Jason was saying in the book.
"I'm ready to bet that it isn't a ghost." He said and gave a pointed glance to Aphrodite who kept a poker face and shrugged.
Everyone waited…Reyna could do, she could do.
Silena and Aphrodite chuckled lightly and Piper covered her face with her hands.
"Why are you so observant?" she complained to Annabeth.
"Hey, you're the one who just admitted that I was right. Till then it was only my speculations." Annabeth pointed out and Piper swore as she realized that Annabeth was right.
Annabeth realized that if six…"Are you sure they're Roman?"
"What else could they be?" Zeus blinked at Piper whose expression turned sheepish.
"Just checking." She said finally.
Leo rolled his eyes…Then he dies"
"Woohoo! Joy!" Nico whooped and punched the air with his fist, making the demigods snort with laughter. Hades and Persephone looked at him with wide eyes and an expression which was a mixture of concern and bewilderment.
"You are way too much like me. Normally I'm very proud of that but this one time, I understand why some people are brought to the brink of strokes with my humor and this time, I'm some people." Hades huffed to Nico who smirked.
"A bit too late for that." He said and Hades groaned.
"I know! But it might…secret crush on the engine
"That's because he did! It was an adorable love story." Leo defended.
He was a three-legged…"Those were my only extra pants!"
"How did you take only 2 sets of pants on a quest that long?" Chris asked Frank in astonishment
"I had no idea that CJ was going to turn into a battlefield. Figured that I'd have more time to pack which I now realize, a demigod should be able to do in seconds." Frank said sheepishly.
Leo shrugged…fifty years ahead of its time.
"Obviously. Its Daedalus!" Leo said excitedly.
"You still have it, right?" Beckendorf nodded at Annabeth.
"Yep. Got it back." She grinned.
It could expand into a…from Mount Olympus
"So that means you could see the broadcasts about demigods as well?" Travis said, a smirk forming on his face and Annabeth nodded.
"Say, Annabeth, what do you think about-" Connor started, rubbing his hands with mischief but Annabeth shook her head.
"No way that I'm giving you the laptop." She said. Travis and Connor pouted at her.
"After all this time." Travis sighed dramatically.
"No but if you can get the broadcasts, does that mean you have access to all the gossip that happens?" Hermes asked Annabeth with a grin who smirked evilly.
"I have to say that I laughed for 10 minutes straight when I found about the whole…how do I put it? Thievery incident." She said and Hermes paled.
"I'll bribe you to not tell that to anybody." He said. All the gods and demigods looked at Hermes with open mouths, grins and mischievous smirks. Oh, they had to find out about this.
"Bribe me with what?" Annabeth asked.
"Any special edition books you want. I'll pay and free delivery." Hermes offered.
"Sold." Annabeth grinned and Hermes exhaled in relief.
"I'll bribe you to tell me." Apollo countered.
"Sorry, already have a deal." Annabeth apologized.
"Aw man." Apollo groaned and Hermes smirked at him.
And ran custom made…the words still stung
The mood suddenly turned somber and Annabeth hoped that the whole conversation wouldn't play out but knowing how the books were, she highly doubted that it wouldn't. Apollo's eyes darkened as he heard what was being read.
Annabeth had been riding…Percy would be fine.
Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand reassuringly and he and Poseidon glared at Hera for making Annabeth and Sally go through that pain and making Percy go through all that hardship.
The spring had been especially…all with no luck
"I cannot believe that you all did this much for me. You guys have no idea how much it means to me." Percy said with a wide and genuine smile.
"Of course we did all that, Perce. You're the one who made everybody new and old feel at home after everything that happened and you're literally the one who got us through it." Pollux smiled at Percy who give him an even wider smile.
"Yeah, seaweed brain, without you it was as if we lost our anchor." Annabeth told him and Percy's jaw hit the ground.
"Did you just make a sea pun?" he asked and Annabeth grinned.
"I love you." Percy said and hugged Annabeth.
"I'm pretty sure that she was going to end up resorting to either voodoo or marching straight up to Mount Olympus and go all Annabeth on anybody and everybody." Rachel chuckled once the couple pulled apart. Everybody laughed lightly.
"Wouldn't want to see that." Apollo grinned.
"Yeah especially since I would release all the gossip and dirt that I saw on the broadcast." Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly. Many of the gods gasped dramatically.
"You are cruel." Hermes pouted at her.
"I like you." Amphitrite high fived Annabeth and both of them grinned.
"Yeah, we're screwed." Poseidon muttered to Percy who nodded in agreement.
That particular afternoon…her feel more permanent
Everybody was quiet for a while.
"Wow." Katie said finally and Annabeth shrugged.
"That's depressing." Aphrodite agreed.
"That's how it is." Annabeth shrugged again.
She had just passed Sweet…Odysseus were here.
Poseidon scowled at the mention of that demigod.
He would understand…"You're…you're Minerva?"
All the gods winced at that, knowing that Annabeth might just end up getting even more hurt than they all anticipated. Athena had always resented the way the Romans represented her and in that form, even more so and that didn't turn out pleasant especially if she wanted to send out another demigod in search of the Mark.
"Don't call me that…destroy the usurpers.
All the demigods gritted their teeth and Athena felt Annabeth's panic and horrification inside of her and she did not like it.
"You wanted us to destroy each other? because that's what would have happened." Chris asked in a whisper, his eyes wide and his gaze, horrified.
"The Greeks wouldn't have gotten destroyed." Athena told him.
"We would have. Internally or externally. We would have. None of us like going to war continuously and definitely not with other demigods." Katie said. "War is Rome's thing. No offense." She said to the Romans who shook their heads to let her know that none was taken. "We can fight like hell but it doesn't mean that we like to." She said.
"War isn't always necessary." Ares assured Katie who looked worried and horrified. "Sometimes peace is good." He said.
Athena scowled at him and Katie but she said nothing, knowing that the Romans and Greeks together had saved the world.
Annabeth's heartbeat thumped…"Avenge me."
"You didn't send her out with the intention of getting the statue because it would save the world. You sent her out with the intention of getting revenge?" Ares asked quietly, keeping a hand on Apollo's shoulder to stop his brother from losing his temper.
"Either ways, it leads to the same thing. My revenge would lead to the thing that would save the world." Athena said. Ares clenched his fist and squeezed Apollo's shoulder so hard that Apollo was briefly distracted from his anger due to the pain in his shoulder.
"And if something happens to Annabeth, then it might have been the end of the world." Poseidon countered. Athena scowled as she realized that Poseidon was right and nobody said anything after that.
Annabeth had looked at the…You have already failed me."
Everybody gaped at Athena who grimaced ever so slightly and Annabeth closed her eyes and Percy pulled her into a side hug, all the while glaring at her mother. He knew that Annabeth had been hurt by her interaction with her mother but she had never told even him what had been said and now, he understood why.
"She fought a war for us. She lost people she cared about for us. She held the weight of the sky for that war. She redesigned Olympus so beautifully that people can't imagine it. She's one of the smartest people I personally know. And she was on the way to fight another war. And you told her that she failed you?" Apollo hissed.
"That was Minerva. I would never say anything like that." Athena defended.
"That doesn't justify that much. It might have been Minerva but it was still you. You were still the goddess of wisdom and that hadn't changed. You were out for revenge for something that these demigods weren't even responsible for. You have no idea what it feels like to your best and to do everything you can to make your parents proud and at the end of it have them or their Roman form tell them that they're a failure. You have no idea." Apollo said, his voice turning into a slight growl at the end and some bitterness leaked in as well. Zeus stared at his son, knowing that he was now talking about him and he grimaced. He remembered how cheery Apollo used to be, always jumping around with joy around him but all that made him remember was the hurt that both of them faced.
Athena grimaced slightly and looked at Annabeth.
"You've never failed me, Annabeth. I think that's something that I should make very clear. I am proud of you." She said and Annabeth sighed as her shoulders relaxed and she nodded with a small smile.
Mother!"…Kill him.
Triton looked like he was going to say something but Poseidon beat him to it.
"If that would've happened, you would have invited war." He said casually and everybody gulped at that because while they were expecting Poseidon to get angry, they did not expect him to sit back calmly, put his hands behind his head and deliver a very threatening threat.
Kill all the Romans…"No!"
The Romans smiled gratefully at Annabeth. Dionysus gave her small, sad smile with some bitterness lurking behind his as well.
"You did well. I know its hard but…" he sighed "You did well." He said. Annabeth swallowed and gave him a small smile.
"Then you are nothing…You are no child of mine."
Everybody was quiet for a while. Apollo made to get up but Artemis and Hermes were quite literally pulling him back. Hermes was pulled down from his sitting position in order to try and restrain his brother so Ares joined him in helping.
"Are you not going to say anything to her?" Apollo asked his father, anger seeping into his voice as he stopped struggling against his siblings' force.
"Of course, he isn't. Not in front of everybody anyways. She's the favorite, isn't she?" Ares said bitterly. Zeus looked taken aback by that. While he'd sensed by Apollo and Dionysus' tone that he would have to talk to them, he did not expect it to actually be said aloud. He sat up straight and ran a hand through his hair. A lot of the other gods sighed, already knowing how the younger ones felt sometimes.
"I was going to." He assured Ares. "It was unacceptable that you said what you did, daughter." He started to Athena and Ares scoffed in the background. He'd never been called 'my son' when he was getting busted. "And this whole Mark thing that's going on. We're going to talk about in detail as soon as we see just what it actually entailed." He said. Athena started saying something but Zeus cut her off. "This matter is non-negotiable." He said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
"Y'know, I can't believe that you said that to her." Percy said, his voice dangerously low. "I can't believe that you would say that to your own kid. And I can't believe that I told Naomi that her mother would respect and honor her sacrifice." He said quietly.
"Naomi?" Demeter asked.
"She was this 7 year old kid who fought in the first war. She got impaled and then attacked by a hellhound. I held her as she died. It wasn't mentioned in the book but yeah, it happened. Her last words were 'I did this for mom'." Percy said, trying to keep his voice from breaking. Athena took in a deep breath as she heard this. "We told her dad and he asked if he could have the body and Nico and I…we had to tell him that there wasn't one left to see and we saw him and Naomi's step mom and her step-siblings burst into tears." Percy said, his voice angry and yet breaking with emotion.
"She was 7?" Artemis asked, her voice laced with pain.
"Yeah. Just turned." Nico sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Maybe you'll remember her now." Percy said to Athena, making direct eye contact and then wiping his eyes. Poseidon slung an arm around his shoulders but even his stomach turned, thinking about a seven year old girl fighting a war that shouldn't have had to be fought by kids in the first place. All the demigods closed their eyes and the ones who remembered Naomi, rested their heads against the back of sofas or walls in pain.
Annabeth's eyes stung…She had turned and fled.
"You basically just saved your life. If you would have said something, you'd have been ash." Artemis said grimly to Annabeth who swallowed thickly.
She'd tried to throw away…present a girl could hope for.
"Yeah, that was really cool." Thalia agreed.
"He was insaneee." Percy nodded at Annabeth.
Hanging from a hook on…razzing him pretty hard
Leo flinched at that. "I made one joke. Do you really think I wanted to belittle a guy I barely knew?" he said hurtfully and Annabeth grimaced. She started to say something and Leo shook his head.
"Let it be." He said.
Nobody liked being a…so that Frank could see.
A few people chuckled lightly.
"Was that really necessary?" Piper asked amusedly and Annabeth grinned sheepishly.
"Not really. But its more fun." She said and Piper chuckled lightly.
"How did you do that…loosens the braid."
"Wow. That's kinda like life huh. Don't struggle. Just go with the flow." Percy mused. Everybody stared at him, taken aback by him suddenly spouting wisdom. Nico scrunched his eyebrows and looked at his cousin in amusement.
"Yo, Socrates, it's a godsdamned prank." Nico said and Percy snorted with laughter as did a few others.
"Ah, that's how the true philosophers are born." Percy said, throwing in a sagely tone, making everybody laugh harder.
"Oh." Frank tried it…he uses humor as a defense."
Leo flinched again. "Seriously?" he said.
"Leo-" Annabeth started.
"No, I've had enough." Leo said, humorlessly chuckling and holding his palms in front of him. "I made one joke and its like I committed some crime and its not like it was serious but you saying that I've got a big mouth and talking about me behind my back and trying to comfort somebody that I made a harmless joke about, is fine. I understood that the whole bounty thing about being worth more was wrong but the whole iguana thing? That was fun. And nobody likes being a laughingstock, right? Then how come I was one? How come nobody on that ship was ever there for me? Ever there to comfort me and tell me that all the things that were messed up weren't my fault? But you were there to comfort somebody who had only a small joke made about him? You weren't there for somebody who you knew felt like his entire life was a joke. Percy, Hazel and Frank, I understand. They'd just gotten onto the ship. But you three?" Leo said, his voice filled with pain as he looked at Jason, Piper and Annabeth.
"You three knew me! You knew who I was and that I would never do anything that would intentionally screw up the mission. If I had wanted to, I would've messed with the ship but I didn't do that! I built the whole thing! And yet you treated me like this 5 year old kid who had no bloody idea what he was doing and a small kid who needed babysitters. You trusted people you barely know in seconds over somebody whom you'd known for months. You told that guy that I had a big mouth and that I was uncomfortable around people when that was something that you should have kept to yourself. You could have left it that my intention wasn't to be mean but no, you just had to elaborate it just to make somebody feel better over a small joke and make a joke out of me on the way. Do you know how Frank and my relationship was after that? No, of course not." Leo said, his voice increasing towards the end.
Travis, Connor and the Hephaestus gang looked proud that Leo had finally stood up for himself while Jason, Piper and Annabeth looked hurt and ashamed. Frank, on the other hand, looked taken aback.
"I am so so sorry, Leo. I don't know what else I can say to make it right. I messed up and I really am sorry." Annabeth said to him.
"We're sorry too, man. We should have looked out for you. You're like a brother but we didn't treat you like one." Jason said, regret and guilt in his voice.
"Yeah, you should be." Leo said finally. "You guys messed up." He said.
"I really didn't know that's how you felt, Leo. I'm sorry." Frank said, trying to squeeze Leo's shoulder reassuringly but Leo shifted.
"And you should have. If you don't like being made a laughingstock then maybe you should think that others don't either." He said. Frank grimaced and nodded. Hephaestus put his hand on Leo's shoulder and then gave him a side hug.
"Its all right, son. You did well." He reassured him quietly and Leo nodded and sniffled. Aphrodite watched the scene and seeing Hephaestus being so caring towards Leo made her heart ache for something that she could have had and she still could.
Frank frowned…I would follow him anywhere.
"Yeah, he has that effect." Silena said with a light chuckle and the Greek demigods nodded in agreement as did the Romans and Percy blushed to the roots of his hair, making everybody laugh.
Thought you should know…Even Leo.
"Well, thanks for that part." Leo said to Annabeth who smiled at him.
"I was just stating facts. Just to clear the air, Leo, I never believed that you blew up Rome. I just wanted to see if you could remember even a little about what happened. But yes, I really am sorry about the rest of it. I shouldn't have said what I did to Frank. You were my friend and I should have respected that and remembered it." She said.
"Thanks, Annabeth. That means a lot." Leo said with a smile.
"So, we're good?" Annabeth asked.
"Definitely." Leo said with a small grin.
We're all a team…Keep it simple.
"Thanks for the advice." Annabeth said to Frank who smiled.
"Anytime."
"Chapter's done." Artemis said
"I'll read." Hermes said