Here is another short chapter for you guys. Got the Juniper clusterfuck and the Piper move coming up, and looking forward to writing it.
Annabeth Chase
The journey passed relatively quickly. On the third day, she had grown tired of Circe staring at them like a very pissed-off and kicked-kicked puppy. It was also around the time she grew tired of Circe's wardrobe malfunction. Especially because it visibly made Percy uncomfortable. From somewhere they had discovered another camp half-blood shirt of hers, so Annabeth had led Circe into the bathroom, had the goddess strip out of her torn clothes, and take a shower to wash off the grim. Percy had been sitting in the galley in case Circe tried anything, but the goddess had simply wordlessly taken the shower and completely ignored her. Despite really not liking Circe, even Annabeth had to admit that she had a pretty decent body with firm breasts and a slender build.
After drying off, Annabeth gave her one of her own camp shirts and a pair of yoga pants, after which she and Percy had led her back to the brig where they had chained her up again.
Without monster attacks and now working off something of a shift system, the return trip went faster than the earlier one. When they passed Scylla again, the monster had taken one look at them before retreating back into her cave.
Finally, the distant towers of the Empire State Building came into view and they pulled into the river and finally moored up to the assigned dock in a Manhattan marina where to his great surprise, they were awaited by Thalia and four female NYPD officers on the pier. None of the cop girls looked any older than he was, but that meant nothing.
At his questioning look, Thalia explained that certain members of the Hunt were permanently assigned to the NYPD for obvious reasons.
"So, you two are fornicating again?" Thalia finally asked them doubtfully.
Annabeth blushed, and Percy too felt his cheeks warming up at the accusation. "No matter," Thalia said and he could tell she was fighting back a smile. "Where is the bitch?"
"Locked up under deck," she explained.
"Annabeth, would you take my sisters, Officers Shanso, Miller, Gonzales, and Nemai underdeck to secure Circe for a prisoner transport to Olympus? I would like a world with the esteemed Lord Perseus."
Annabeth shrugged. "Sure. Ladies, follow me."
"For the record, the two of you are back together again, right? That's the rumor..." Thalia pressed the moment the other women were out of earshot.
"Yes," Percy confirmed.
"Finally," Thalia said, her grin spreading. "Things finally falling back into place. So, Kelp Head? How was the trip? What happened to Annie's hair?"
Percy shrugged. "Leo's upgrades worked, things got dicey there with Circe. The hair? A few of Circe's aides got hold of Annabeth for a few seconds so they cut her hair playground bully style."
Thalia scowled. "That's uncalled for...though this McLean style looks good on her, but still..."
"Well, girls are mean," Percy reasoned.
"Yes, we are," Thalia agreed with a smile.
"So, why do you have NYPD officers in the hunt?" he asked curiously.
"Oh!" Thalia explained. "It's with Artemis's Juvenile Rehabilitation program where young female offenders get the option to join the hunt as part of their probation program. How do you think we build up our numbers so fast before the Battle for Manhattan?"
Finally, Annabeth came back with the huntresses who were dragging Circe along.
"We got her my Lady, she seems in good condition. Gagged though when we found her," one huntress announced, and handed Thalia a few golden coins.
"You are traitors to all of womankind. The legendary hunt of Artemis, conspiring with men to bring the downfall of another woman!" Circe sneered.
"Oh, shut up!" Thalia announced mildly. "I heard you were a talker... just put her in a cruiser and keep her guarded. Collar or not, this sorry excuse for a goddess is a piece of work."
As the four huntresses/officers led Circe off up the peer, Annabeth raised an eyebrow.
"What was the bet on?" Percy asked curiously.
"Oh, the hunt and Circe have never gotten along. She's a complete sellout to the entire Maiden team/no dicks. Circe jumped in bed with the first guy who beat her and Violetta bet she'd be doing the same to you," Thalia explained brightly.
"How do you know I didn't?" Percy challenged with a grin.
"Well, for one Annabeth is with you...though that could go either way," she said and glanced at Annabeth who gave Thalia the finger. "And for another, I wager she wouldn't be chained up and gagged if favors had been granted. I had an unfair advantage though...I know how territorial you are. Truth be told, I am surprised how cool you and Silena are."
Annabeth scowled. "You just had to bring that up," she exclaimed.
Thalia smiled sweetly. "I love you too, Anni-"
"It's Annabeth," Annabeth corrected.
"I know," Thalia explained, and patiently patted Annabeth's shoulder before turning around and leading them back to the police cruisers parked upstairs.
After deciding to re-gag Circe, they began the last leg of their trip. With lights and sirens, the drive through the city went surprisingly quickly, and Percy definitely appreciated the escort to the throne room. Turns out, the hunt knew a few secret passages that might very well have come in handy during the battle for Olympus that Thalia announced they would be taking.
Percy did not like Zeus, the god was a sexist ass whose tempers had cost the lives of a long list of demigods while his lecherous lack of impulse control had ruined the lives of countless innocent young women who had truly tried their best to mind their own business.
Still, the thought of dropping Circe at his feet and seeing her squirm had been somewhat appealing.
So it had come as a surprise when one of the cop huntresses had whispered something in Thalia's ears who had then only sighed. "Okay, looks like Lord Zeus is indisposed. We are to secure her in your place and Zeus will pop by at his leisure to have words with Circe," Thalia announced.
"Oh," Percy exclaimed, surprised.
They had called Silena two days ago to announce their rough arrival time, so he knew she'd be ready.
"Fine," Percy decided, and they took one of the hidden passages and appeared in a tower near to his residence.
"So Circe, you're about to see your new home. I am sure you and Elsa will get by just fine," Thalia announced brightly.
Silena Beauregard
As expected, the doorbell rang just shy of noon and Piper opened the door to the Percabeth, Thalia, and four huntresses who were dragging along a very attractive woman with long dark hair and a camp half-blood shirt. What immediately struck her were the fading bruises on Annabeth and what looked a lot like an involuntary haircut. Once certain Annabeth was alright, her attention quickly shifted to Circe.
She had somehow imagined the goddess to be a lot more sinister but for all tense and purpose Circe very much just seemed like any other woman, goddess or not, being dragged off to imprisonment and enslavement would.
Whether they held their heads high and tried to salvage their pride, or just embraced it as she had, they were all scared. Even she, who considered her owner a good friend, had been nervous.
With some effort, she had finally convinced Khione that Percy wasn't playing some elaborate prank on her and wouldn't end up taking advantage of her. Sometimes it disturbed her that how everyone assumed that was how it would end. First with her, then with Khione...
Circe's eyes darted around and Silena could only imagine the things going through her head as she drank her surroundings in, or when she laid eyes on Silena.
Following with a few steps behind, she followed the group down towards the basement, where they opened their jail and entered the room. Circe still sat in her cell, watching them with wordless curiosity.
As they entered, Thalia and the huntress stopped for a moment to stare at Khione before fighting back grins of glee and dragging Circe into what was going to be her home for a long time.
Just like with Khione, she had taken the time to make the bare prison as comfortable as possible, adding a few blankets with Khione's chilling presence in mind.
When Circe's cuffs were opened, the goddess of magic began to squirm and fight the huntress's holding her, groaning loudly through her gag.
Then Circe's wrists were chained to the wall with much thicker celestial bronze manacles.
"So ladies, I hope you enjoy your stay. With any luck, we won't be seeing any of you ever again," Thalia declared and looked back and forth between the prisoners. To her relief though, Khione hadn't risen to the bait and stayed silent, not even sparing the huntress another glance.
"Anything to add, Kelp Head?" she then asked.
"Ahm no," Percy said awfully, and they locked Circe in her cell and then closed the thick vault door, sealing their two roommates inside.
"Now," Thalia announced, "I would love to stay and chatter, but I actually have things to do and places to be."
"Fair enough. Come back any time, Thalia!" Percy announced brightly and Silena bit back a groan. Thalia did come by whenever she pleased, and these visits tended to make her life more complicated. Khione caused less trouble than the infamous daughter of Zeus, and she was a prisoner.
With the hunt departed, they were finally afforded some privacy and Silena lost time in embracing her two friends. "There you love birds are. Gods Annabeth, you look like shit. What happened to your hair?" Silena asked.
Annabeth grinned but Silena could see the hidden anguish over the loss. Annabeth quickly recounted the trip's events and Silena demonstratively rested her hands on her hips. "You two always seem to get into trouble, don't you?" she chided.
"Is there anything you can do about this?" Annabeth finally asked, clearly putting an effort into sounding as casual as possible.
Silena looked Annabeth over and her he turn around once before crossing her arms. "It's a really unlucky cut, but I will see what I can do."
"Percy, I have a snack ready for you in the kitchen if you are hungry. Unless you need anything else, I will immediately address this crisis," she announced, gesturing at Annabeth's hair.
"Ahm sure," Percy agreed. "I was planning on checking on mom and the baby, anyway."
"I am sure she will love that," Silena agreed with a smile.
Once Percy had been dealt with she almost dragged Annabeth to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom and had Annabeth sit down on a chair and sighed.
"What is the verdict, doc?" Annabeth asked.
"This will take a while and I will have to cut away more to make it look orderly again," Silena admitted.
Throughout their childhood, Silena had pretty much-claimed responsibility for cutting Annabeth's hair, and so a sense of casual familiarity overcame her as she pushed back and forth strands of Annabeth's ravished strands, examining the damage.
"It looks so horrible. Every time Percy looks at me, I think he is about to start laughing," Annabeth complained.
Silena bit back a smile. Daughter of Athena or not, Annabeth cared about her hair, which in her opinion was rather cute.
So, after gathering together a spray bottle full of water, and a small assortment of scissors and combs she slowly went to work.
Carefully, Silena proceeded to slowly cut Annabeth's hair away to bring things into shape. "So, anything else I should know about?" Silena asked, cautiously snipping away at Annabeth's hair.
"Well, in the whole drama of the last few months I forgot to take the pill," Annabeth began and Silena froze and met Annabeth's gaze.
"You had unprotected sex?" Silena asked.
"Yes, a lot. For like an entire week," Annabeth confirmed, and the daughter of Aphrodite groaned in exasperation.
"Woman, what were you thinking?" Silena groaned. "Are you pregnant?" she asked before Annabeth could answer.
Annabeth only shrugged. "We didn't have any tests on hand or other means of protection, so we pretty much stopped having sex when we realized what was going on."
"What is up with you Children of Athena?" Silena asked in exasperation and gently slapped the back of Annabeth's head.
Any other person, Silena mused to herself, would receive a very painful response from Annabeth, but with her, Annabeth only hung her head in shame.
"It wasn't on purpose, we were just back together and we weren't thinking!" Annabeth defended herself.
"That is what I am talking about!" Silena groaned. "It is really not that hard, hell I just returned from the dead and even I remembered started taking measures when Percy finally turned up."
"Percy forgot too!" Annabeth argued.
"Be it as it may, you are the one who's gonna have to carry around your mistake for nine months, and then the following two decades. Again, this is really easy. Unless you are planning to have babies and you aren't on the pill or something comparable, then tell the dude to put on a condom! Otherwise don't have sex!"
Annabeth rubbed her face. "Would you go down to the city with me later and get a test?"
"Of course, I will dummy," Silena assured her and Annabeth sighed in relief.
After a long moment of silence, Annabeth looked up again. "Is it really bad if some part of me is hoping that I am actually pregnant?"
As Silena continued working on Annabeth found herself prying for details of what had transpired during her and Percy's little love trip. Both for greater details in how they had overcome the challenges that had faced them, and also the more dirty parts, and soon it felt like they were still children back at camp, confessing their dirty little secrets. At the time those secrets had been a lot less dark and depressing.
For her, it had been the newest updates on her latest flirt. For Annabeth, it had one time been the update that when she was thirteen she had spied on Percy from his fire escape and seen more than she had bargained for and that Percy ran around with a picture of her. Things like that.
Perhaps sharing in this moment of kinship, Annabeth spoke surprisingly openly about all aspects of their trip, and she had to admit that what she heard had evened her feeling uncomfortably wett. Was that a sad admission? Perhaps, but since the recent loss of her virginity, her body yearned for more and it didn't help that she had first-hand experience when it came to being the center of Percy's attention. So, as sad as it was, these blow-by-blow accounts were probably the best she was going to get for a long time.
Finally, Silena set down her comb and scissors and ruffled Annabeth's hair. They were now barely longer than a pixy cut, reaching only to the middle of her neck. Though thanks to her natural curls, they maintained decent volume and somehow Annabeth still pulled off the princess look. Or, to be honest, the angry lesbian look. The closest thing she could compare it to was one of those older-fashioned hairstyles from the twenties.
"So, this is it for now," Silena announced. "Far from perfect, but workable again. I will have to re-trim them in two months or so, then you can let them grow out again.
Annabeth studied herself in the mirror for a few long moments and shrugged. "Oh well, looks good, I guess. Definitely not going to ask Aphrodite to regrow it so it can't be helped."
"With or without hair, I am sure Percy will love you regardless," Silena agreed and smiled.
Annabeth sighed again, deeply, clearly resigning herself to the temporary fate as a short-haired girl.
"Thanks, you are a lifesaver," Annabeth finally said and smiled at her.
"I do what I can," Silena agreed modestly and mock bowed.
"So, how about we buy those tests and I'll take you to Starbucks?"
"Honestly, I am surprised you didn't ask Sally," Silena admitted.
Annabeth froze as if caught. "If I asked her, I would never hear the end of it. You know, Sally gave me the talk..."
"I gave you the talk too,..." Silena argued indignantly.
"You had no more experience than I did, at least I knew what a guy was supposed to look like without clothes," Annabeth countered.
"Because you played the Peeping Tom on Percy," Silena chided Annabeth. "That does not count!"
"I wasn't playing Peeping Tom, I was looking for a chance to talk to him, as you well know," Annabeth grunted, trying to sound casual, but her burning cheeks betrayed her. "As I said, I do not need Sally lecturing me."
"Honestly, it looks like you do," Silena teased.
All teasing aside, Silena did her best to be supportive when they traveled down to the city and picked out three pregnancy tests. "How about you stop looking at my friend like that, forty-year-olds still working at the cash register get to keep their options to themselves," Silena had fired at the saleswoman in the store when she had given Annabeth that judgmental look as she paid for the pregnancy tests.
"I wasn't-" the cashier complained, but Annabeth was already dragging Silena out of the store.
"Since when do you pick fights?" Annabeth asked.
"Us girls got to stick together," Silena assured her. "Not her job to give you stupid looks."
"No arguments there," Annabeth finally decided, and they quickly made their way back to Olympus where Annabeth disappeared into a bathroom and returned a few minutes later and returned two of the tests in hand, her expression strangely blank.
"And?" Silena asked briskly. "Will you join Clementine and further increase the Athena cabin's lead in the teenage pregnancy domain?"
Annabeth wordlessly shook her head and held the tests up for Silena to read.
Silena smiled and then gave the daughter of Athena a tight hug.
"Is everything alright?" Silena inquired.
"Is it bad if some part of me is disappointed?" Annabeth asked with a small voice.
"It is definitely stupid," Silena confirmed. "But understandable. Feelings don't have to make sense, that is kind of the point."
Silena grabbed Annabeth's face with both hands and forced her to look down at her. "Annabeth, it's fine." Then she pulled Annabeth down to her level and into a firm embrace. "Sweety, you are so damaged. But you'll figure it out."
Annabeth wrapped her arms around Silena and returned the embrace. "I know."
Enjoy, my friends, and leave your reviews, I really like having those in my life.
Henry Locker over and out.