𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟎𝟏.𝟒

"Just the two of you."

"Mom!"

She held up her hands in surrender, but Percy could tell she was trying hard not to smile. "You'd better get inside, dear. I'll see you tonight."

Percy was about to get out of the car when he looked over the steps of the school. Paul Blofis was greeting a girl with frizzy red hair. She wore a maroon T- shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings. When she turned, he caught a glimpse of her face, and the hairs on his arms stood straight up.

"Percy?" his mom asked. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Percy stammered. "Does the school have a side entrance?"

"Down the block on the right. Why?"

"I'll see you later."

His mom started to say something, but Percy got out of the car and ran, hoping the redheaded girl wouldn't see him.

What was she doing here? Not even his luck could be this bad. Yeah, right. He was about to find out his luck could get a lot worse.

After fleeing his school like a mass murderer for killing empousai, Percy ran down the alley and burst out into East 81st and ran straight into Annabeth.

"Hey, you're out early!" she laughed, grabbing his shoulders to keep him from tumbling into the street. "Watch where you're going, Seaweed Brain."

"Beth? Where's Juliet?" Wasn't Juliet supposed to come for the movie thing today? He distinctly remembered Annabeth backing away from the plan.

"Oh she-" But Annabeth never finished that sentence because Rachel Elizabeth Dare, still covered in monster dust, came charging out of the alley, yelling, "Percy, wait up!"

Annabeth's smile melted. She stared between Rachel and Percy as if trying to figure something out before realisation dawned on her face and she gave Percy a 'you're in deep shit' look, then she looked at the school. For the first time, she seemed to notice the black smoke and ringing fire alarms.

She frowned at him . "What did you do this time? And who is this? Does Juliet know about this?"

She made it sound he had something going on with Rachel, Percy wanted to clear that up that he had met Rachel only two times as of now but he saved that up for later.

"Oh, Rachel—Annabeth. Annabeth—Rachel. Um, she's a friend, I guess."

"Does Juliet know about this friend?"

"It's not like that."

"Hi," Rachel said. Then she turned to him. "You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"

Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive.

"Percy," Annabeth said amusement flickering in her face with a mix of confusion. "We should go."

"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She grabbed his arm (Percy didn't miss Annabeth's raised eyebrows), whipped out a permanent marker, and wrote a phone number on his hand. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going."

"But—"

"I'll make up some story," Rachel said. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"

She ran back toward the school, leaving Annabeth and him in the street.

"Hey!" Percy jogged after her. "There were these two empousai," he tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and—"

"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?"

"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."

"So you told her the truth?"

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so—"

"You've met her before?"

"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her. Why didn't Jules come again?"

Annabeth's face took on a mischievous smirk then, she looked once at Percy before saying, "The was busy...dealing with a boy."

Percy nearly stopped walking. A boy? Juliet was busy with a boy? What did that mean? Did she have a boyfriend now? Was she seeing someone?

"What boy?"

"2 months ago Juliet dragged in her classmate, Augustus remember?" How could her forget? He had nightmares sometime that Juliet was out there making out with said guy in her rich boarding school, "Well Augustus is a demigod, son of Hermes to put it mildly."

"What's the unmiled version?" He asked cautiously, trailing behind her on York Avenue.

Annabeth stopped then and faced him, the hints of humour she had no gone, giving him a sympathetic look, "Juliet, thinks...he's Achilles."

Time supposedly stopped from him then. He was frozen on the spot, nothing came out of his mouth because quite literally his head was empty. She found Achilles, she didn't need him anymore. She wasn't his person anymore.

My Juliet

His hand came to clutch onto his heart, why the fuck was it hurting so much?

Not his Juliet anymore.

"It adds up," Annabeth added her own tone getting softer watching his reaction, "It's as if he was tailor made for her, Achilles and Patroclus were best friends, Augustus is from the lineage of Hephaestion, Alexander's best friend and Apollo and Hermes are best friends too. He plays the lyre Percy, he...he killed the Chimera with a Pelian spear, a weapon of choice that Achilles used. It adds up."

Percy's mind was a whirlwind of emotions. He felt....betrayed, and a deep sense of loss. He was feeling betrayed, this was a betrayal. Juliet had found someone who seemed to fit her so perfectly, someone who mirrored the ancient hero she had been seeking. And now what? Now he didn't matter, because he wasn't Achilles.

Whatever they had shared the past years all gone.

"It adds up," Annabeth repeated gently, her voice filled with understanding. "It doesn't diminish what you and Juliet shared."

He had always been a temporary companion to Juliet, someone she would eventually outgrow. And she had, she had guessing she now had Achilles.

"You're right," he told Annabeth, his heart sinking, he tried not to think too much and just held on to Annabeth's words of comfort. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."