Percy Jackson and the Child of Victory (Annabeth Chase x Reader)

To Hubbard Glacier!

~~~Y/N~~~

WE WALKED OVERLAND FOR ABOUT an hour, keeping the train tracks in sight but staying in the cover of the trees as much as possible. Once they heard a helicopter flying in the direction of the train wreck. Twice they heard the screech of gryphons, but they sounded a long way off.

As much as I could figure, it was about midnight when the sun finally set. It got cold in the woods. The stars were so thick I was tempted to stop and gawk at them. then I caught glimpse of my constellation. that kinda killed the mood. then the northern lights cranked up.

'That's amazing,' Frank said.

'Bears,' Hazel pointed. Sure enough, a couple of brown bears were lumbering in the meadow a few hundred feet away, their coats gleaming in the starlight. 'They won't bother us,' Hazel promised. 'Just give them a wide berth.'

non of us argued.

As they trudged on, I thought about all the crazy places me and Percy had seen. None of them had left me as speechless as Alaska. I could see why it was a land beyond the gods. Everything here was rough and untamed. There were no rules, no prophecies, no destinies – just the harsh wilderness and a bunch of animals and monsters. Mortals and demigods came here at their own risk.

I wondered if this was what Gaia wanted – for the whole world to be like this. would that really be all that bad? no prophecies, no destinies. I put the thought aside. Gaia wasn't a gentle goddess. I knew what she wanted of me. She wanted to use my body to host Zagreus to help destroy the mortal and godly world. She wasn't like the Mother Earth you might read about in a children's fairy tale. She was vengeful and violent. If she ever woke up fully, she'd destroy human civilization.

After another couple of hours, we stumbled across a tiny village between the railroad tracks and a two-lane road. The city limit sign said: MOOSE PASS. Standing next to the sign was an actual moose. For a second, I thought it might be some sort of statue for advertising. Then the animal bounded into the woods.

we passed a couple of houses, a post office and some trailers. Everything was dark and closed up. On the other end of town was a store with a picnic table and an old rusted petrol pump in front.

The store had a hand-painted sign that read: MOOSE PASS GAS.

'That's just wrong,' Frank said.

By silent agreement we collapsed around the picnic table. My wings and feet felt like blocks of ice – very sore blocks of ice. Hazel put her head in her hands and passed out, snoring. Frank took out his last sodas and some granola bars from the train ride and shared them with me and Percy.

~~~Percy~~~

After a few minutes, Y/N slumped down on to my shoulder, fast asleep. Percy was still kinda shell shocked from Y/N being alive. But Percy wasn't complaining. they ate in silence, watching the stars, until Frank said, 'Did you mean what you said earlier?'

Percy looked across the table. 'About what?' In the starlight, Frank's face might have been alabaster, like an old Roman statue. 'About ... being proud that we're related.'

Percy tapped his granola bar on the table. 'Well, let's see. You single-handedly took out three basilisks while I was sipping green tea and wheat germ. You held off an army of Laistrygonians so that our plane could take off in Vancouver. And you gave up the last charge on your magic spear to help some defenseless mortals. You are, hands down, the nicest child of the war god I've ever met... maybe the only nice one. So what do you think?'

Frank stared up at the northern lights, still cooking across the stars on low heat. 'It's just ... I was supposed to be in charge of this quest, the centurion, and all. I feel like you guys have had to carry me.'