𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 (Annabeth X Malereader)

[9] Great, it's the wine dude...

One Beer - MF DOOM
0:37 ━❍━━━━━ 3:01
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PERCY INSTANTLY REGRETTED FLYING.

Flying a Pegasus during winter was his first experience, and if it was cold on the ground, it was seriously cold in the air. Percy was shaking violently, and almost wished he packed more than just Riptide and the cap Y/N gave him. He lost the van twice, but had a pretty good sense that they would go into Manhattan first, so it wasn't too difficult to pick up their trail again.

Traffic was bad with the holidays. It was mid morning before they got into the city. Percy landed Blackjack near the top of the Chrysler Building and watched the white camp van, thinking it would pull into the bus station, but it just kept driving.

"Where's Argus taking them?" Percy muttered.

Oh, Argus ain't driving, boss, Blackjack said. That girl is.

"Which girl?"

The Hunter girl. With the silver crown thing in her hair.

"Zoe?"

That's the one. Hey, look! There's a donut shop. Can we get something to go?

The van kept snaking its way toward the Lincoln Tunnel. It had never even occurred to Percy that Zoe could drive. She didn't look sixteen. Then again, she was immortal.

"Well," Percy said. "Lets get after them."

They were about to leap off the Chrysler Building when Blackjack whinnied in alarm and almost bucked Percy off. Something was curling around his leg like a snake. Percy reached for riptide, but when he looked down, there was no snake. Grape vines had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building. They were wrapping around Blackjack's legs, lashing down Percy's ankles so they couldn't move.

"Going somewhere?" Mr. D asked.

He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skinwarm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.

God alert! Blackjack yelled. It's the wine dude!

Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Mr. D." Percy tried his absolute hardest to keep calm. "What do you want?"

"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?"

"Well... maybe."

"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."

Percy balled his fists in anger. "Why do you hate me so much?" He hissed. "What did I ever do to you?"

Purple flames flickered in Mr. D's eyes. "You're a hero, boy. I need no other reason."

"I have to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. That's something you wouldn't understand!"

Um, boss, Blackjack said nervously. Seeing as how we're wrapped in vines nine hundred feet in the air, you might want to talk nice.

The grape vines coiled tighter around Percy. Below them, the white van was getting farther and farther away. Soon it would be out of sight.

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" Mr. D raised an eyebrow. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"