𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗗 • 𝘗𝘑𝘖

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡

"𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗚𝗢 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗," Jackie told Silena, staying seated as the rest of the council started to file out of the room. "I want to talk to Percy."

"Oh, do you?" Silena asked slyly, patting her shoulder. Jackie stared at her, deadpan, until she chuckled and turned away. "I'll meet you back at our cabin."

By the time the room had emptied, Percy had disappeared into the door leading further into the Big House, following Marielle. The thought made Jackie tired–were they just going to resume the same pointless argument from earlier? It didn't matter. She still had to talk to Percy.

Besides, there was something about the two of them that made Jackie curious. They argued constantly, never seeing eye-to-eye. Something had happened between the two of them. Resentment like that–Marielle had seemed elated when Percy had been excluded from the quest–wasn't born overnight.

Marielle said she'd known Percy for three years, so there was three years of bad history that Jackie didn't understand yet.
Jackie slipped out of the back door of the rec room, entering a hallway. She could hear voices from a room a little further down, so she kept walking. It was easy to creep quietly, even after all this time. When she came up on the door that she recognized to open into the den, she stopped. It was slightly cracked, and Jackie could see not much more than Percy's face.

"I wanted to thank you for un-capsizing my boat," Marielle said, just about as insincere as you could get. Her body language seemed grateful enough, but her words were stiff. "And for . . . getting my stuff off the bottom of the ocean."

Jackie couldn't see her expression, but Percy looked hopelessly confused. She figured Marielle didn't thank him for much, ever. "Yeah, no problem."

It was quiet for a moment.

"Don't come after us," Marielle said suddenly. "Not again. You know damn well that if a quest says seven people, we take seven people."

"Two are going to die!" Percy whisper-yelled. "You'll need everybody available, and I'm available! I have to go after Annabeth."

"Why can't you just let me be the hero for once?" Marielle demanded. She got right up in his face, and Jackie could see the tension in her shoulders. "You took over when me and Clarisse got the quest, and you're going to take over this one—"

"Clarisse and I," Percy corrected. Jackie didn't take him for a grammar guy, but his face was stony and unreadable. His entire body was tense and resigned, like he'd expected this conversation since the moment Marielle approached him.

Marielle huffed a breath. "She's my best friend, too. I can save her."

Percy remained silent.

"I can't believe you," Marielle scoffed. "I can't believe this. You think, just because your dad is Poseidon, that you can just do whatever you want—"