𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 || PJO Fanfic

THIRTEEN [Annabeth][Nico][Thalia]

Annabeth POV

The three brothers were... exceptionally bad at fighting. I thought at least Zayden and Dylan would be good, since the two were always wrestling each other when they fought. Plus, they looked pretty strong and muscular.

As a daughter of Athena, I could see that all three of them were holding back. They kept stumbling and tripping over imaginary stones, but if you looked closely, you would notice that it was intentional. I raised my eyebrows as I inspected them. They were training at a corner of the gym. Jab. Slash. Twirl. Duck. Dang, except for the times they "stumble" or "trip", they were okay, I guess. In reality, they were probably about average level, so why did they intentionally make it seem like they were so bad at fighting?

Asher, the oldest amongst them, as I'd heard, saw me staring at them. He pulled the brothers together and whispered something to them. When they got back to practising, they were stumbling and tripping even more, almost half the time now. I gave Asher a pointed look. He just smiled at me. Zayden and Dylan looked bored and annoyed. I sighed, and resisted the urge to roll my eyes, what the hell was wrong with them?

Clarisse announced a competition between the five teams: the teams would send out one member at a time, to compete against other teams' members, to cross an obstacle course, that of course ends with a fight. Most wins from that team wins. It's fun, and a good idea, because apparently us five instructors can participate too. I'm so looking forward to some real excitement from all these school days away from Camp Half Blood.

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Nico POV

It's Christmas next week, and we're taking the two weeks off from school. I've been planning to go back to Camp for the holiday, and tomorrow was the last day of school. This morning, I noticed a box outside my door. I bent down and picked it up. It was black, with a red ribbon. I stuffed it in my pocket, I'll open it later, when I get to Annabeth's. We just so happened to have arranged a meeting there after school. Well, that was what Annabeth told us, anyway, apparently it was a meeting of great importance.

Percy has it too. So does Thalia. The box, I mean. Percy's is sea green with a navy blue ribbon, while Thalia's is sky blue with a grey ribbon. When I open mine, there's a skull ring. I look at my finger, where my ring once sat. I'd lost it a while ago, and had never bothered to tell him. It was a birthday present from him, and the only present he'd only given me. The skull ring is less rough then my old one. Everything is carved with detail. The ring is dotted with onyx, the skull pearl white. Somehow, it doesn't look as creepy as the last one. I slip it on.

"Merry early-Christmas, Nico" a note on the bottom says. It's Hades' handwriting, bold and neat. I'd seen it enough times to recognise it. Not much, the message wasn't much, but this was the first time Hades had ever said Merry Christmas to me in so many years.

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Thalia POV

I didn't know why Dad suddenly cared. The moment I saw the box, I knew it's from Zeus. I wanted to kick it off and onto the road. Let a car run over it or something. I wanted to scream at the sky. I didn't want anything to do with my father. Instead, I opened it calmly in my room.

Inside, was a necklace. Long, thin, silver chains connected to a charm. The charm is designed in the shape of a lightning bolt, formed by tiny crystals. As much as I didn't want to, I admitted to myself that it's beautiful. It was simple, made with silver, my favourite colour. I don't know why he suddenly cared, I don't know how he knew I liked silver. I slipped it around my neck and tightened the clasp, I hid it under my shirt. I didn't want Zeus to know that I actually liked it.

"Merry early-Christmas, Thalia." A note on the bottom says. A warm feeling tugged at my stomach. I guess it felt good to for once have a father who cared.