Side by Side: PJO: AU

Girl Talk Ch. 6

Annabeth's POV

I decided to split up with Percy to find Alatar quicker, but was it really me that said that?I had a feeling-ugh no nevermind. The important thing was to find Alatar before the sun sets. I headed the opposite way Percy was going. As soon as we split though I felt alone. I guess I was used to having Percy by my side. Exploring the woods was extremely eerie. I had my dagger drawn and I jumped at every little noise. I hoped Percy was doing okay.

I slowly advanced into the forest. Until a loud yell cut through the silence.

"Who's there?"I stifled a scream.

I looked around at my surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary, a couple of trees, moss, and a pink glow coming from behind a clumpy part of the woods. Wait- a pink glow coming from behind a clumpy part of the woods? I started creeping towards the glow, dagger in hand.

"Your here!" chirped a strange woman.

"Ah!" startled I stumbled back, "Gods who are you?!"

"Gods yes! Don't you recognize me darling?" she said.

I studies her more closely. Perfect hair, clothes, lips, nose, eyes. Fashionably dressed. Perfect...

"Aphrodite," I muttered.

"Yes, Aphrodite. Me. You're probably wondering why I have graced you with my presence," she spoke.

I nodded, "Uh huh,"

"Well, I'm here for the tea! Sit with me," she coaxed as a set of chairs and a small round table appeared. "The scenery is so drab huh?"

"What's your motive behind this?" I said flatly.

"Motive?" she smiled innocently.

"You gods never come unless you want something. What is it?" I snorted.

"Do you really think so lowly of me?" she said acting offended.

I just started at her.

"Not true. I'm here for girl talk!" she said as she spread her arms out.

"Girl talk?" I asked.

"About boys honey. Now, do you want green tea or black?" she said sweetly.

"Wha- what do you mean?" I stuttered.

"I know both Athena and Poseidon have been pestering you recently, and I've come to help you!" Aphrodite said.

"Stay out of it!"I quickly stated.

"Oh, but I can't it's literally my job to know about these things. Besides I've come to help you!" she said.

"I don't need-" I started to say.

"Whether you realize it or not you are confused. Your heart tells you one thing but your head disagrees. I'm gonna tell you to trust what your heart says!" she chirped excitedly.

I stood up from the chair she shoved me in.

"No," I protested," I'm going to follow my heart, but I'm still going to use my head,"

"That's what I thought you'd say," she said sadly, "but you really do like Percy don't you dear?"she questioned.

My face flushed," What. NO I- I.. don't. Know anymore," I replied slowly.

"Poseidon strongly opposes, and your mom disagrees completely. It's about the first time they've ever worked together on something. But they just do it for themselves, they don't care about your opinion hon," Aphrodite said sweetly.

"And you do?" I argued.

"Yes, cause after all. It's my job to help those find love. Just consider what I said okay?" Then, she vanished along with the table and chairs. Leaving me alone once again.

Alatar's POV

Did I murder him?! No way. I inspected Percy's condition. It's not bad, I mean I just hit him in the head with a stone. No biggie. But then again he's lying unconscious in front of me so I guess it is a biggie.

I slapped him across the face once.

"C'mon wakey wakey. I didn't even hit you that hard," I whispered.

Ugh, he won't wake up. I headed over to the lake and splashed some water on his face. That seemed to help. Since he was a Poseidon spawn and all.

After a couple of more splashes he groaned. " Ah, Annabeth? Where am I?"

"Hey buddy! Sorry Annabeth's not here, so your stuck with me for now!" I said.

"Argh, you. You weren't at the dining pavilion what were you doing in here?" he scolded.

"Yeesh, I was just having some fun. Don't get your toga in a twist ya know?" I laughed.

"We have to get back to camp with Annabeth," he said.

"Aww, you sent I search party after me?" I joked.

"Shut up," Percy said.

I helped him get back on his feet and said, " By the way. Name's Alatar. Nice to meet you Percy,"

"Ah, yeah kay," he responded.

After he cleaned up a bit we headed to search for Annabeth.

" You don't have to come you know? You should go back to camp and report to Chiron on what you've done," he said rashly.

Gee someone wants to get rid of me. I thought.

"Nah, I wanna help look for Annabeth! Besides who says I won't just run away again?" I said.

"Ugh, yeah your right. The more the merrier then right?" he said dully.

"Uh huh," I said dryly as we continued on our way.

Author's Note:

Heyo'! Fresh from my grave! In case something seems wonky with the story layout, it's because the keyboard to my computer is missing the "open captions key". Which is like, the first quotation mark when you write dialogue. I dunno if it's really a problem, but it looks kinda weird to me.

As usual, I'm just lazy by this point and I don't want to get my butt up to write something that not many people will even read, so it helps to know that there are more greek geeks out there in the world!

XOX from the deepest pits of hell