𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐚; percy jackson

𝟏𝟑 | she met a pinecone's fate

i felt the urge to explain why i didn't choose my friends, luke, aire or isla, to go on the quest with me instead.

luckily, none of them were mad at me.

the four of us were told that we need to be at the hill in an hour tops, so after i did the explaining and said my goodbyes, i rushed to my cabin to pack some last minute stuff.

it all feels so rushed, they really need us to go on that quest.

while i'm stuffing my vintage-looking, olive green canvas bag with a long shoulder strap and two large buckles on the front with things that i considered would be needed on the quest, luke comes through the front door.

"hey M, packing already?" he makes sure that i know about his presence.

"chiron told us that we need to be at the hill in an hour from our last talk, so i have about 20 minutes left" i answer while keeping my hands busy with packing.

"oh i see, well, good luck on the quest" he nods.

"what did you need? i came to say goodbye earlier today so this must be something more than a wish for good luck" i lift my eyes to look at him.

"uh, i gave percy these shoes, just make sure that you don't wear them" he sounds natural.

"shoes?" i search in my mind "like, the 'maia' ones?" i ask.

"yeah, don't wear them" he repeats.

"why? they're cool" i furrow my brows.

"they... i feel like zeus wouldn't like you wearing them since they give you the ability to fly, when you can develop the ability yourself" he explains.

"oh okay," i nod "thanks for looking out for me" i smile at him before closing my bag and leaving to the hill.

we're standing by thalia's tree with annabeth, waiting for percy and grover while she tells me even more facts about my half-sister.

she isn't acting as distant as before, but i'm guessing that it's mainly because the topic is thalia.

then, minutes later, we see percy and grover standing about ten meters away from us while talking, so we come closer.

they're holding a box with the shoes inside of it.

"the most powerful being in the universe's best idea to save his daughter's life... was turning her into a tree?" percy squints his eyes.

hm.

"i wouldn't want that one to be my father" he adds when he sees us.

i fidget with my fingers to calm myself down.

"i'm not in a mood for messing around today, knock it off" i shake my head.

"she was the bravest demigod i ever knew, she fought valiantly and she met a hero's fate" annabeth defends thalia.

i give her a warm look while her eyes soften a bit before looking back at the two boys.

"she met a pinecone's fate" percy says sassily, while leaving his eyes on me.

i stop fidgeting with my fingers.

"what fate did your mother meet?" i lower my voice.

i shock myself with my own words right after closing my mouth and my eyes widen slightly, which is unusual thanks to my ability to hide emotions.

i shoot a look at grover and he notices right away.

"oookay! we should get going!" he interrupts, and saves me out of the situation.