FLOWER GIRL // Percy Jackson

008

He saw her face he could tell what she was thinking. "You think it's going to fail." He asked in a questioning tone. Azalea rolled her eyes "I didn't say anything."

"But I could tell." He smiled at her.

"You want me to be honest." Percy nodded at her question. "It's definitely going to be a challenge, but we'll be fine in the end." He was thankful she didn't truly doubt that the quest would fail. "Now, can you let me in." Azalea questioned tilling her head at the boy in front of her, Who nodded his head and opened the door for her to walk in following her action a second later.

—— "HEY YOU ASLEEP." Percy asked in the early morning the sun not even peaking over the horizon. Azalea was fast asleep next to him in the tiny train compartment, she laid on her side facing him. Her blonde hair sprouled all over the pillow and in her face and Percy swore that ever since she fell asleep a lavender sent had filled the air.

"Yes." Annabeth responded after a minute.

"You and Thalia were really close, right?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"What was she like."

"Why." The girl on the bottom bunk wondered what he was getting on about. "She was the last forbidden kid before me, right. She must've dealt with the same kind of stuff."

"She was tough. I mean she knew she was a forbidden kid, she just didn't care. When Luke and Thalia found me, Luke cared for me right away. But Thalia... she made me earn it." Annabeth spoke staring at the bunk above.

"Is that why you give me a hard time? I gotta earn it with you too."

"Yeah maybe."

"I gotta say that doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"What doesn't make sense to you?" She raised her brows.

"The way you guys all talk. The way the gods want us to think. Gotta burn an offering to get a parents attention, Gotta beat up on Clarisse just to get my father to admit he is my father. It isn't supposed to work that way. People who are close to you aren't supposed to treat you that way." Percy explained further.

"You wanna know how I ended up alone on the road in the first place? I started out as a gift to my father, That's how it works with Athena. We're born from a thought in her mind and then given to a partner she feels connected to And for a while I was treated like a gift. My father cared for me, he loved me I knew it. Then he met a woman they had their own kids." Percy stayed silent and listened to Annabeth's story.

"And to her, I... I wasn't a gift I was a problem. So I left I was seven." She paused for a moment. "It isn't the gods who think that way, it's everybody. But at least with the gods you know the rules. Show them respect and they'll be in your corner, no matter what." She finished.

The sound of Azalea shuffling in her sleep next to him made Percy look at her. "What about Azalea." His eyes traced all of her features, even in her sleep she was still as enchanting.

"We kind of have the same story. But Azalea was a gift from Hades to his wife, she was born from a flower and left on her father's doorstep. She would always tell me that he treated her like a princess until her stepmom showed up and at first it was fine until her stepmom started screaming at her for the littlest things. And eventually she became abusive behind her father's back." Percy expression saddened at this, he extended his arm towards the sleeping girl and pushed some hair out of her face.

"And then one day her stepmom drove her far away and dropped her off in the middle of nowhere with no explanation. That's why she reacts to something the way she does because of the way her stepmom treated her." Annabeth finish retelling the story. "Just don't say anything she doesn't like people bringing up her past."

"Yeah, of course." He said still looking at the blonde girl fast asleep next to him. Shuffling was heard from the top bunk, Grove was waking up. "You awake?"

"Well I am now. Thanks." Grover's grouchy voice was heard.

"Are you ok."

"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep." Annabeth clarified.

"He's super grouchy when he didn't gets enough... Nah!" Grover quoted the brown haired girl.

"Wow." Percy exclaimed.

"You're never been on the road with him before, a little different than a froofy boarding school." Azalea shifted in her sleep the talking started to wake her up.

"Who's froofy? You're froofy. What's froofy?" The boy on the top bunk replied back. "I think I need to eat."

Still half asleep Azalea turned around and pulled the pillow over her face hoping to block out the noise. Percy sat up in his spot "Azalea." He called to the sleeping girl. She didn't respond so he took the pillow from her head making her just pull there big shared blanket over her face, since there was only one blanket left in the train cabin they both ended up having to share.

"Azalea we're going to get breakfast." Annabeth attempted to help while getting out of her bed.

"I'm up."

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Short chapter today

love Estella