[2] 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 ― l.valdez ✓

020.

「020. drowning in hopelessness 」

BARBIE DID sort of feel bad that her and percy were interrupted a moment between piper and jason. they were a cute couple- and as much as she gave shit to jason, they were good for each other. jason was the kind of guy who looked a bit  boring (but once you got to know him was literally the opposite of that) and was sort of the one to calm piper down. where as piper was like this.. fire. constantly irrational and impulsive. the two balanced each other out, and faired to be a good couple. a match barbie's mom would probably be proud of.

"so annabeth was kidnapped on a motor scooter," piper summarized, a brow raised, "byt gregory peck and audrey hepburn?"

"not kidnapped," barbie said, "not exactly."

"but i have a bad feeling," added percy, "both of us do." he ran a hand through his hair, "i knew the both of us shouldn't have left her-"

"you had to," piper spoke, "you knew- the both of you knew- that she had to go alone. besides, annabeth is tough and extremely smart. she'll be fine."

percy sighed and barbie gave him a small reassuring smile. she knew piper was right- worrying about annabeth wouldn't help them. if anything, it might get them killed because all they'd be doing would be worrying and they wouldn't have time to realise they might get hurt too.

"you're right," sighed barbie, "but- the river guy-"

"gregory," added percy.

she shot a look at him, "tiberinus. he said we had less time to rescue nico than we thought." she looked around, a frown on her face, "cherry, hazel and the guys aren't back yet?"

piper looked, checking the helm control before she too started to frown, "it's two in the afternoon. we said three o'clock for rendezvous."

"at the lates," jason said.

percy pointed at piper's dagger, "tiberinus said you could find nico's location, you know, with that."

"i've tried," piper said, "but the dagger doesn't always show what i want to see. in fact, it hardly ever does."

"try again then," percy said, "please."

"percy stop giving her the seal puppy eyes," sighed barbie, looking at piper, "... but can you?"

"fine," she sighed, and drew her dagger.

"while you're at it," said coach hedge, "see if you can get the latest baseball scores. italians don't cover baseball worth beans."

"shh." piper studied the bronze blade.

the light shimmered. she saw a loft apartment filled with roman demigods. a dozen of them stood around a dining table as octavian talked and pointed to a big map. reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at central park.

"that's not good," jason muttered. "they've already set up a forward base in manhattan."

"and that map shows long island," percy said.

barbie huffed, "they're scouting the territory."

"discussing invasion routes." added jason.

light rippled across the blade. she saw ruins—a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines—all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.