Falling for You

Annabeth: VII

Annabeth: VII

The walk back through Olympus was unnerving.

She wasn't sure how they knew- though by the volume Percy had been shouting at, she wouldn't be surprised if they'd actually heard him- but the residents of Olympus avoided them like the plague as they walked down the road. The street market had closed, eyes peeking through the metal shutters at them. The park was abandoned. The fountain was empty and quiet.

It was like walking through a ghost town.

She was just glad that when she had begun renovations, she'd made sure the road tiles were smooth. Her bare feet appreciated it. Her heels were nice, but she didn't have much practise in actually walking in them, and let them hang off two of her fingers at her side. She glanced at Percy.

He held her hand tightly. Stare fixed on the ground, his black eyebrows were knotted together, though not as fiercely as they had been several minutes ago.

He… he'd really just yelled at the Olympians. Of all his most dangerous, most idiotic, and completely thoughtless stunts… this one had to be the most reckless. He had shouted. At the Gods. He'd sworn to their faces and if she was entirely honest, she knew she saw him about to spit on the floor before they'd tried to pull him back. And yet... he'd been right. Every word he'd said had been true. The act may have been thoughtless, but the words?

Maybe they'd all been thinking them. For a while.

She caught Jason's eye over her shoulder and Jason pulled a 'what-was-that?' face before opening his mouth.

"Percy-" he began, "I'm not saying you were wrong, but- Gods, where did that come from?"

Their pace slowed. Percy breathed out heavily through his nose.

"I... don't actually know," he said in his hoarse voice, "I- that wasn't really- I didn't mean to do that. It just all- came out. I can't really even remember what I said. Was it- I know it was bad, but- was it- really bad?"

"Uh, kinda?" replied Jason, scratching the side of his head.

"Dude, you basically just kicked them all in the balls and told them 'cry about it'." Leo said. "It was kinda bad, but kinda awesome."

Above them, the idyllic sky, full of soft white clouds, ranging from baby pink to light blue, flashed momentarily black, an intense thunder rolling across Olympus, loud enough to make them rub their ears at the volume.

"Drama queen," Percy muttered, and another clap of thunder cracked a few windows down the street. He frowned at them. "Did I break anything?" he asked.

Annabeth thought of his clenched fists, the exploded waterworks, and the cracks crawling up the pillars, the shattered floor tiles. The inch of water across the floor. The sparks in Zeus' eyes.

"A little." she told him.

He knew her; he winced.

"Guys, I'm sorry if I just got us all blacklisted from Olympus," he said.

"Ah, once you've seen it once, you've seen it all." Frank shrugged casually at Percy.

They passed a bakery, and Annabeth could smell a mix every food she'd ever liked: pretzels, baked cheesecake, mangos, Sally Jackson's blue choc-chip cookies and a dozen other things she couldn't pinpoint. When they had passed the low terracotta building earlier, it had been bustling with life, Gods leaning over the counter to wave pointing fingers at mouth-watering cakes. Now, it was silent. She caught a glimpse of a wobbling shadow and suspected the owner was hiding under the counter.