𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐀'𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐗! heroes of olympus²

i. in her dreams

    If someone uttered a word to Claire Moore right now, she wanted to say she would grab them by the arm and twist it painfully behind their back before throwing them overboard, but she knew the truth was ... if someone even breathed a word close to her, Claire might just break down into tears. 

    She was so close to seeing him again. So, so close. He was down there, right below her. She'd stare outwards, but she'd never once glance down▬she was too scared to. What if he doesn't remember her? What if he found someone else? What if she runs into his arms, and he looks at her and asks: Do I know you? She could not deal with that possibility. It has been too long. She missed him. She wanted him back. She wanted to have his arms pull her in close. She wanted him to say something stupid. She missed him. And yet, there was that annoying Devil on her left shoulder whispering in her ear: but what if?

    But what if he's not there?

    But what if he doesn't remember her?

    But what if he doesn't love her anymore?

    (Not that he loves her ... they never got the chance to say the 'L' word before Hera decided to drag him off to nowhere and wipe his memories). 

    Claire wondered whether she had been petrified▬frozen to where she stood at the Argo II's edge. Absolutely petrified of who she will meet down below. Would she even know him anymore? Would she run to him, look up at him and ask: Do I still know you?

    She could hear Annabeth pacing the deck behind her, checking and double-checking▬triple-checking, even▬everything. Claire trusted she would make sure everything was ready when she was too distracted to even think about any of that. She was grateful that she was making sure everything was right purely to try and keep Claire calm▬but also herself. Percy wasn't Annabeth's boyfriend, but he was one of her closest friends. He was family. She had lost her brother for six months, and now, she had to make sure everything will work in order to get him back. She had checked the ballistas were locked down. She confirmed that the white peace flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew▬and the backup plan; and the backup plan for the backup plan. She even made sure that their most violent crew member had taken the morning off in his cabin to watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing any of them needed was Coach Hedge running out as they flew their Greek trireme into hostile territory, waving his baseball bat and yelling, "DIE▬!"

    The daughter of Apollo grasped her bead necklace, her thumb brushing along the shell Percy gave her over six months ago now. She leaned down and pressed her lips against it, closing her eyes and breathing in the smell of the ocean▬of him. 

    Claire's eyes opened; her shoulders went stiff as she felt an unwelcome chill crawl down her spine. Her breath hitched and she spun around, wondering who was there. She found no-one, but her heart skipped a beat with terror ... she recognised that chilling feeling. It brought her back to a time in her life she'd rather forget. All alone in a dark, mysterious horror where no one was alive, and no one was dead. 

    She knew she must be imagining it. Her nerves and thoughts making all of her fears plague at her. She took a deep breath and stood straighter, fixing her hair out of her face. The warship descended through the clouds, but Claire couldn't stop thinking of everything that could go wrong. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans were waiting to shoot them out of the sky? What if Percy wasn't even there to meet her? What if he didn't achieve his end of the exchange? What if▬?

    The Argo II was not a friendly-looking vessel. It was two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete ... Claire wouldn't blame them if they tried to shoot them out of the sky.