Annabeth — Faith
Annabeth (7) - Travis (7) - Connor (6)
It's incredible what comes out of eavesdropping, intentional or not.
And even though she'll never do it if she has a choice, Annabeth has to admit that it probably saved her relationship with one, snappy, little brother.
The first time is an accident even though they might say otherwise. She was only playing Hide-and-Seek with the Dionysus twins. And the point of Hide-and-Seek if you're a hider is to hide and be unseen.
She wasn't trying to spy on them or listen in to what they were saying or anything like that. She didn't even hear them bound up their creaky porch that apparently gone magically silent. If she had, she would have definitely gotten up from that loose floorboard in the middle of their cabin and said something. But she didn't hear and by the time she processed she wasn't alone, they just started talking.
"So what do you think now?"
"I still think there's a catch. Nothing in life is free."
Someone is pacing a bit away, the boards whining.
"Come on, Connor. It's been almost a month. If there's a catch, then shouldn't they tell us by now?"
"The more you trust someone, the easier it is to make them do stuff for you."
"I think you're being too paranoid."
A bed creaks. Someone yawns.
"Someone has to be."
And the board she's hiding under creaks, dust falling down. To her horror, she could feel a tickle in her nose.
Oh no.
She clenches her nose with both hands.
Oh no.
Her eyes burn with tears.
Oh no.
It's coming. She can't stop it.
And she sneezes, loud and unrestrained, as the board is rip off a millisecond later.
For that second, she could just see Connor's face. Eyes narrowed, brows bunched, a cold calculating countenance opposite to Tra — then another face, the same face pops up beside Connor's but that face is relaxed, easy going, even sporting a teasing grin.
Travis nudges Connor with his elbow and she thought he mouths something to his brother, but she didn't catch it in time. Travis turns back to her and snickers. "I thought you hate spiders, Anniebeth. Isn't there a lot of spiders there?"
Annabeth scrambles to her feet, watching Connor laid the board back down where it was and him rising with a scowl on his face. She could see his mouth opening, could literally hear his accusations, and she beat him to it before anything came out.
"It's Annabeth. I wasn't spying. I was playing hide and seek with Castor and —"
Travis yawns and walks away to fall flat onto their shared bed. "Yeah, we believe you. Don't be so scared."
"Is that what your gut is telling you?" Connor says, still glaring at her. Travis hums and Connor's shoulders relaxed but his eyes still follow her with distrust, caution, trepidation. Seriously, they have one little fight and he's acting like they're long-lived enemies.
"I wasn't scared," Annabeth argues.
"Yeah, you were," Travis says, getting up and grinning at her with crossed legs.
"I wasn't." And because she's nosy, she asks, "What were you talking about?"
"It's none of your—"
Travis claps his hands, drawing both of their attention. For a moment, his face darts around in panic but it settles on her shoulders and his eyes glint with malice, a little tick Annabeth knows as his 'I'm lying to mess with you.'
"There's a spider on your shoulder."
She knows he's lying but she still falls for it, yelping and slapping her shoulders, as Travis runs past her, towing his reluctant brother along by the hand.
Before they even left the cabin, she hears Travis sighs, "If you want friends, you need to be nicer."
And it was like Annabeth could hear the scowl in Connor's voice. "And you trust too easily. It's gonna get us killed one day."
She would have frown in thought as she processed what was said if she didn't hear Connor, Travis, doesn't matter who, say very loudly, very joyfully, "Castor, Pollux! Hi. Annabeth is in our cabin. We have a secret board on the floor too in case she's there."
And Annabeth scrambles for a new hiding spot, cursing beneath her breath as she dives for a bed.
Damn them. Damn them. Damn them.
The second time was also an accident.
It was the middle of the night in her cabin. She woke up because she heard a sound, like hooves scraping dirt, claws on wood, heavy feet on gravel, and those fears from all those months ago comes back. It's the monsters. They're back. They're here. Where's her hammer? Did she leave it? Forget it somewhere? Where's—
Then she finds the dagger Luke gave her tuck in her drawer and she slips off her bed, padding swiftly, lightly to the door. She stops to peek outside the window first but nothing moved. All is quiet. Camp is supposed to be safe. No monsters can cross the barrier. But nothing is certain and she'll be a fool to think that.
She opens her door and listens. Nothing. Then she peeks her head out and looks. Nothing. Was it really her imagination? She closes the door and trudges her way back to bed, places the dagger on the nightstand, and throws the cover over her head.
And as she was on the brink of sleep, she heard it again.
Okay, that's it. She's done sleeping by herself alone in her cabin. Time for a sleepover at Hermes.
She slid off her bed and gathers her blankets and pillow. Then after making sure the coast is clear, she made a beeline for the familiar cabin.
Her foot was almost on the porch when she heard it once more. This time though, it sounds a lot clearer and Annabeth can recognize it for what it was. Sniffling. Hard sniffling. Is someone crying?
It's coming from behind the cabin. Annabeth lowers her bedding to rest on the porch's stairs and walks towards the sound, a hand on the wall to guide her and slippers silent on the dirt.
The closer she got, the more certain she is that it's crying. Should she get Luke? It could be Chris. She heard about his sister Mary and their strained relationship. Luke would know what to do. But before she could turn around, a hushed voice rings out in the dark.
"Connor, it's okay. It was just a dream."
Travis? Connor? Annabeth walks closer.
"It was just a dream. I'm right here."
That's definitely his voice.
"I'll never leave you."
What happened?
"Don't be scared."
And Annabeth accidentally kicks a rock, the pebble deafening loud as it lands.
The response is instantaneous. She could hear Travis yelps, a body hitting a wall, and a crackle of electricity, before Connor's in front of her with a taser in his hand. She looks at it for a long second, distinctly remembering Chiron confiscating that taser.
He stole it back .
"Oh." Annabeth looks back up to see Connor scowling and rubbing an arm over his face. "It's just you."
She blinks, staring at the tear tracks and red-rimmed eyes. "What's wrong?"
Connor turns around and marches to the back. She follows after him, but just as she turns the corner, the window clicks shut. And she's by herself in the cold, wondering if this is actually a dream. She walks back to the porch and opens the door, glancing pass Luke and Chris and two more demigods to the bed the brothers share. The mound-shaped shadow is unmoving, covers up to their chins and backs to her.
Annabeth takes her usual bed in the cabin whenever she slept over and slinks into dreamland.
The morning after felt like any other and Annabeth could almost believe it was all just a weird dream if she didn't find shoe prints on the wall leading up to the back window.
The third time was on purpose.
Sometimes the brothers sneak out of their cabin at 1 in the morning.
She knows this because she woke up once from a nightmare (Thalia— cyclops— cave— tree— no— no, Thalia. No, don't— ) and saw them leaving through the window and headed towards the forest.
She would have followed that first time, but it was late at night, everything feels so surreal and she fell back asleep. When she woke up, she completely forgotten about it.
Well, she's not falling asleep this time.
That day, she waited by the window after curfew. When she saw cabin 11's window rattles, she narrows her eyes. They slink from the window to the ground, eyes looking both ways as they wiggle the window close and run away. Annabeth slips on her boots and follows after them.
Even though they have a headstart and even though it's a new moon and even though Annabeth can't even see where she's stepping and has step on six branches that cracked very, very loudly, she was still able to keep up with the brothers and remain unnoticed.
Probably because of how loud they are.
"I hate the forest. I hate the forest. I hate the forest. I want to go back to the city."
"You just hate it because of all the mosquitos."
"Yeah, because they all bite me. Why don't they bite you?"
"It just means your blood is delicious. It's a compliment!"
They stop at Zeus's fist, leaning on the boulder's foundation. Annabeth ducks behind a rock a few feet away.
"I am going to drown the cabin in pesticide."
"I think you're overreacting."
"I'm not. I'm being serious. I'm gonna take the car and go to the city for pesticide."
"Just ask Chiron to do something."
"I don't like Chiron."
Annabeth bristles at those words. Don't like Chiron? How? Why? She curls her hands along the rock. She hears shoes scrap against rock and a quick peep over the top of the boulder shows the brothers climbing Zeus's fist. She watches Connor stiffens and snaps his head to where she hid. She hoped she duck fast enough.
She didn't hear him call her out. Maybe she did.
When they clear the top, Annabeth left her hiding spot and walks over to the base of Zeus's Fist. She places her fingertips on the rock, wincing at the biting cold. But her face hardens with determination and she scales the rocks, going slowly and ensuring each grip before progressing. She is careful to be silent. Not that it did much for her. When she nears the top and peeks with her head barely above the top, she finds herself staring eye to eye with Trav — no, wait, Connor. An angry Connor.
"Hey," she greets with her best nonchalant tone.
Connor scowls. "Why are you following us?"
Travis offers a hand and Annabeth accepts it, pulling herself to the summit with the help. Once she's sure-footed and stable, she crosses her arms and raises her chin. "Why are you sneaking around? We have a curfew, you know."
Connor opens his mouth, but Travis swings his arm over his brother and shakes him lightly. "Connor," Travis says with a cautionary tone.
Connor rolls his eyes. "We want to look at the stars. We never saw stars in the city."
Annabeth looks over their shoulder to see blankets laid out and bags of chips spread all over. "You guys seem to do this a lot."
"And you seem to stalk us a—" Travis elbows him in the arm. Connor gives his brother a dirty look and, without a word, turns around to head for the blankets.
Travis offers an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. He's really nice when you get to know him."
Annabeth follows Travis to the other end of the top, blinking in surprise when a fleece blanket is thrown over her shoulders.
Travis smiles at her. "I'll share with Connor. You take this one."
"Thanks, Travis."
The gratitude is short lived though as Travis sits down beside Connor and unnecessarily takes up more room than needed. The only spot left is by Connor's other side and when she sits down, she didn't miss the way Connor scoots an inch away.
Whatever. She came here to look at the sky and she did, in complete and utter silence that is definitely not uncomfortable in any way. It only lasted a minute before Travis coughs. "So, Annabeth, how much do you know about constellations?"
She lights up. She knows a lot about constellations! The library in her cabin has dozens of books about stars and she rattles off everything she learned from those books: pointing out the Big Dipper, Orion, Orion's belt, the histories behind each constellation, where her zodiac sign is, where their zodiac sign is.
She didn't even notice Travis falling asleep nor did she notice Connor staring at her with his knees drawn close his body and chin tucked in his arms. She thinks she would have gone on and on if Connor hadn't interrupted her.
"You're boring."
She stops and looks over, finally seeing Travis slump over asleep on Connor's shoulder. Connor scrapes the rock with his shoes, not looking at her. But the way his shoulders are tense and the way he positions his arms, she wonders…
"Do you have your taser on you?" Connor stiffens. Bingo. "Can I see it?" she asks.
Connor narrows his eyes and Annabeth is quick to say, "I won't use it on you guys. I just want to see it."
Connor still isn't budging. Okay, well. She holds up a pinkie. "I pinkie promise you on my mother's name."
The wind picks up as if her mother is there with them and acknowledging her promise. Connor still doesn't seem convinced, but he unhooks his arms and reveals the taser. He locks his pinkie with hers and shakes it once.
"You lie to me and I'll plant more tarantulas in your bed," he warns.
Annabeth crinkles her nose. Noted.
She accepts the taser and turns it over in her hands. It's heavier than she expected. And it's more polished than one you can buy from a store. She turns it over some more, squinting when she sees a name scribbled in Sharpie.
L.A. Police Force Officer Shirren.
Connor starts bouncing his heel and Annabeth hands the taser back to him.
"Do they work against monsters?" she asks innocently.
"No, not really."
"Then why do you have it?"
"Just in case."
She didn't push the issue. Instead she stretches and leans back on the rock. "All I had was a hammer."
Connor didn't say anything back to her and Annabeth went back to staring at the sky. She went over all the constellations she knew: Cassiopeia, Hercules, Orion, Cygnus, Gemini, Aquarius, Leo, the Big Dipper, and more. Over and over and over. It got boring quick. She wonders when they're going back.
She rolls to her side but almost jolts in surprise to see Connor staring at her with Travis still asleep. They stare at each other for a few seconds, like a contest to see who caves first.
She did by looking back to the sky and asking, "What made you cry the other night?"
Connor's voice is guarded. "Nothing. Mind your own business"
"Nothing gets better if you don't try to change."
Connor draws his knees closer to himself. "Things change without me doing anything. It'll fix itself like it always does."
"It won't get better," Annabeth says. Home didn't get better. The problems didn't get better. Everything just got worse. "If you don't try to do something, it'll just get worse. Trust me. I've been where you—"
Connor scoffs. "How long did you live on the streets?"
"A couple months before Luke."
And Connor picks up a pebble and hurls it out to darkness. His voice is bitter, angry and when Annabeth glance over, his eyes shine with resentment. "Then you know. Anything can be a monster, so you can't trust anybody . Even normal people or people like me and you. Believing in anybody is stupid. It gets you killed. Travis would have been eaten by a cyclops that first night we were out, killed by that serial killer the second night, and pecked to death by that stupid bird the third if I wasn't with him. You can't tell me to believe in someone when it'll just end up stabbing us in the back."
"But," and she angles her face to the side so she could better see Connor, "Travis can feel lies, right? He would have felt something by now if we're all lying."
"There's ways to get around it," he says, wincing a second later as Annabeth's eyes widen.
"How?" she asks, cogs turning. Does it work by feeling for body changes? Or mental discrepancies? Or is it something Travis needs to activate?
As expected, Connor didn't elaborate further and Annabeth went on, tucking that little tidbit in the back of her mind. She'll figure it out later. She'll have lots of time later to figure it out.
"Well, you can trust me. I won't do anything to hurt you guys. "
"Sure. I'll believe you." Connor rolls his eyes and his voice says he's being sarcastic. But underneath she could hear a little bit of uncertainty, a little bit ambivalence and she guesses that's the best she could hope for.
And because she's tired and sleepy and cold, she asks, "When are we going back?"
"Go back by yourself," Connor grumbles and Annabeth blows a raspberry at him. She stands up and wraps the blanket tighter around her. But before she could even take a step, Connor reaches up and snags the drooping corners of the blanket.
He doesn't look at her, but at his shoes. "You said you'll be Travis' friend."
"I said I'll be both of your friends."
"For forever, right? Even if I make you super, duper mad?"
So he was listening. "Forever means forever."
Connor thought about it, staring at the star-twinkling night. Then he looks up at her and smiled with his crooked grin. "Your scream was super funny when you saw that tarantula. I wished I recorded it."
Annabeth's jaws clench and she tosses the blanket aside, cracking her knuckles. "I'm going to destroy you, Connor. You shouldn't have reminded me."
But Connor only laughs and shakes Travis' shoulders shallowly. "See? You're already breaking your promise. You suck."
Travis raises his head, blinking blearily around him and stifling a yawn. "Wha? What promise? Connor?"
Annabeth takes several steps back to the edge with a teasing grin that's born partly out of exhaustion and of pride. "I'm not breaking my promise to you. I'm just gonna tell Chiron that you two been sneaking out at night. He's gonna punish you. Not me." Then she turns around and scales down the boulder.
"Hey, that's still your fault! You're still breaking your promise. Hey, Anniebeth! Travis, get up. We're stopping Anniebeth before she rat us out."
"It's Annabeth. Anna-beth," she yells before devoting all her concentration to moving faster.
She plops on the ground with a small oof, smiling triumphantly when she sees they just start climbing down. "Hah! I'm on the ground. Good luck catching up to me," she shouts, no intention of ratting them out.
And Connor, thank gods, seem to understand this because he turns his head to blow a raspberry. But then his eyes lock above her head and he pales.
And before she could turn around to see what he's staring at, she hears the rustle of feathers and it's like a dart to the board when she recalls.
Camp has harpies.
Camp has harpies. They work as the night patrol. And she heard so, so, so many stories about their extremely good ears and even better eyes and even more better snitching.
When Annabeth turns around — inching her head up, up, and up — annoyed, brown eyes stare back. Oh cru—
"Annabeth." Chiron's face is stern. "Travis. Connor. Would you three mind telling me why you're breaking curfew?"