The Final War

Chapter 1

M

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"Magnus, we talked about this!" Annabeth said.

Magnus whined. "I don't need to wear something nice," he said, waving his hands around. "As I suggested, we should have pranked him! I could have dressed like a zombie, and you could have been like, 'Eyo! Percy! Ma dude! Dis ma super swaggy cousin Magnus! By the way, he's kind of dead!' and I could have been like 'Uuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhh,'" he groaned, imitating a zombie by thrusting his hands out in front of him, tilting his head sideways and sticking his tongue out. Magnus smiled to increase his chance of victory.

"Magnus, no." Annabeth sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Magnus, yes." He responded.

"First of all, be quiet." They were sitting in a cafe (Annabeth had ordered tea, and Magnus a triple shot espresso, which, at first, Annabeth had disagreed on but Magnus offered to pay, so she shut up). Groups of friends were sitting at the other tables, and some in the lounge, each area buzzing with chitchat and gossip. "Second, we're not doing that." Magnus sighed. He was about to open his mouth to plead, 'But Annabeth' when she said, as if reading his mind, "Don't 'but Annabeth' me, Mister." Magnus blinked at her, keeping a straight face.

"You know what? You're mean. Now, I must avenge myself. I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but..." He sighed. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, confused. "Bippity boppity boo,"--he wiggled a finger at her-- "you are now breathing manually," he said overdramatically.

"Now that's just evil," Annabeth said sarcastically, unimpressed by Magnus' epic spell.

"You could say I'm..." Magnus paused for effect. "Magnical." He spread his arms as if he were presenting something to her, and winked.

"You're way too cool for me to hang out with you," Annabeth stated, before adding ,"Considering you were a homeless teenager for quite some time."

Magnus looked offended. "Are you saying that hobos aren't cool?"

"How does Alex put up with you?" Annabeth muttered, hiding her face behind one of her hands as she put it to her forehead.

"Cause I'm cool," he responded. "Unlike you."

Just then, they heard a ding as the door to the cafe opened, and a boy came in. Annabeth waved at him. He had messy black hair, tanned, olive skin, and sea-green eyes. He wore a beach shirt, with a collar, and black sports shorts. The boy was tall and muscular, but he had kind eyes and a cute smile.

"Percy, over here!" Annabeth called. Her face beamed with joy (which was very unlikely for Annabeth, if you asked Magnus), as he walked over to their table. He sat down next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hi," Annabeth responded. The two lovebirds looked at each other for a brief moment, until Magnus couldn't take the awkwardness anymore and cleared his throat to get attention. "Oh, right," Annabeth said, snapping out of the moment. "Um," she looked embarrassed. "Magnus,"--she gestured to Percy-- "this is my boyfriend Percy. Percy," --she gestured to Magnus-- "this is my cousin, Magnus."

"I've heard all about you, Percy. Nice to finally meet you." Magnus said, holding out his hand. Percy blushed and chuckled nervously.

"Nice to meet you too, Magnus." He took Magnus' hand and shook it.