Chapter 14
I woke the next day with the sun shining brightly on my face. I blinked and sat up, starting Xander who flew up and belched a small could of flames.
I rubbed my eyes and looked around. “Good morning Xander.”
He floated down and bumped his scaly green head against my side. He whimpered and his stomach grumbled. He flew over to his bowl and looked at it expectantly.
I laughed and slid off the bed and walked over to my dragon. I grabbed the food bowl and snapped my fingers. The bowl filled with chunks of raw meat and chicken.
He snorted in delight and wagged his tail. He padded over to the bowl, stuck his face in and started eating.
I chuckled again and pulled on some clothes. I teleported over to the diner Silena took me to and asked for Athea. A short time later, Athea came bustling out of the kitchen, smiling.
“Percy! What a lovely surprise. How have you been?”
“Good, thanks Athea. Can I get some takeout?”
She nodded and handed me a menu. “Order whatever you want. Once I told the chef who you were, he told me that everything was on the house for you.”
“Well that’s nice of him.” I scanned the menu and ordered two parfaits and some oatmeal.
Athea came back with a plastic bag tied up and handed it to me. “Here you go Percy.”
“Thanks Athea. You’re the best.”
“You’re welcome.” She kissed my cheek and smiled. “Have a good day.”
“You too.” I teleported to outside the Hospital Wing and stepped inside. “Good morning Annabeth.” I sang and skipped over to her bedside.
She groaned and sat up. Her eyes were still grey, but tinged around the iris with a light green,
“Holy cow Annabeth! What the heck happened with your eyes?”
“What do you mean?”
I clapped my hands and summoned a mirror. I handed it to her and waited.
She gasped. “Why are my eyes rimmed with green?”
“I don’t know. Chrissy!” I called.
Chrissy hurried out of the side office and stood by my side. “What’s wrong Mr. Percy?”
“Uh, why is her eyes rimmed with green?”
She leaned forward and peered into my girlfriends’ eyes. “Hmm, I’ll be right back.” She disappeared and came back with a small flashlight. She opened Annabeth’s lids and shone the light into it, instructing her to move her eye different ways. Finally, she released the lid and stepped back. “Just as I suspected.”
“What?”
“Side effect of the drakon poison. Sometimes, the iris turns green around the edges. I should be nothing serious or permanent but I’ll keep an eye on it.” She took a bottle of pills from her pocket and poured a couple of them into her palm. Taking a glass from the bedside table, she handed it to me and instructed me to fill it with water. She took the glass back from me and handed the pills and the glass of water to Annabeth. “Swallow please.”
Annabeth took the medicine, looked around and sniffed. “Do I smell food?”
“Oh, right.” I took the bag from the chair and opened it. “Can she have something to eat Chrissy?”
She nodded. “Is that a parfait? That’s better than what I was going to give her.”
I popped open the top to the parfait and handed it over to Annabeth. “It’s the best thing in the world.”
She grabbed a spoon and took a bite, her expression melting into one of pure bliss. “This is really good Percy. You have good taste.”
I rubbed the back of my next. “Well, Silena actually showed the diner to me. You should really thank her.”
“Speaking of Silena, how did she get here?”
“Well actually it’s Silena and Beckendorf, and it’s a long story.”
She pointed to the chair. “I have time and it’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
I moved the bag with the takeout off the chair and sat. “Well, the way Silena told it was…”
~~~~
“… and that’s what happened.” I concluded.
“Interesting. Can you tell Silena to visit me? I need some girl company here. You’re great and all, but I would love to just have some girl talk once in a while.”
I slammed my head down on the bed. “Didn’t need to know, but okay. I’ll track her down and tell her. Also, I’ll talk to Chaos and see about getting you recruited. He’s already got Zoe.”
She looked at me with a questioning look. “Zoe? Zoe who?”
“Zoe Nightshade. You know that huntress that came on the quest to save Artemis? The one who got put into the stars after she was killed by her dad, Atlas.”
“Oh, that’s nice. How is she?”
“Pretty good, though she doesn’t get along well with Sam. Even after 300 years, they still bicker and fight.”
“Who’s Sam?”
“Oh, my first friend I made here. She’s a daughter of Theia.” I pulled up a photo of her on my phone and showed it to her.
She took the phone from me, squinted her eyes and stared at the photo. “Oh, she’s pretty.”
I shrugged and took the phone back. “I never thought of it that way. You’re prettier.” I leaned forward and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss.
About three minutes later, we broke apart, panting for air.
She smiled, but her smile disappeared and a look of pain replaced it. She grunted and held her side. “Owww.”
“What’s wrong Annabeth? What hurts?”
She looked at me like the answer was obvious. “My side, obviously.”
“Chrissy!” I yelled.
She poked her head out of the office. “Yes?” she noticed Annabeth hunched over in pain and ran over. She took her pulse and checked her blood pressure and a bunch of other things with fancy devices.
“So what’s wrong with her?”
“Side effect of the pills. I forgot to account for the fact that she’s a daughter of Athena?”
“What does being a daughter of Athena have to do with anything?”
“Well, her genetics are a little funky even for a demigod or demititan. I think it’s from, you know.” She pointed at her head. “Being conceived from thought and then born from the head.”
“Okay, so what do we do?”
She held a finger. “Give me just one moment.” She walked back in to the office and came back with a clipboard and a box of differently colored pill bottles. She then looked at Annabeth’s vitals and marked them down on the clipboard. “Hmmm, I think I have something that should help.” She pulled out a small bottle from her collection and poured out a couple into her palm and extended them out to Annabeth. “Here, take these. Tell me how you feel in a couple hours.”
She dropped them into Annabeth’s outstretched hand and walked away with a wave.
Annabeth popped them into her mouth and grimaced at the taste. She swallowed and made another face. “Oh, yuck. Tastes worse than minotaur dung.”
“And you would know this how?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.
She shoved me playfully. “Oh, shut up. You know what I mean.”
I stuck out my tounge and laughed. “Well, you’re supposed to be the smart one in this relationship. Anyways, eat up. I’ve already finished my food.” I showed her my empty parfait cup. “You’re never going to get better unless you eat up.”
She sighed and stuck her spoon in the yogurt and took a small bite.
I smiled. “That’s better. I’ll stay here until you finish, and judging by your current progress, that could take a while.” I snapped my fingers and summoned my ipad and opened up my paused game of Balloon Tower Defense 5 and pressed play. The balloons started to move and I bit my lip as they got close to the end of the track. Thankfully, my wizard monkeys pushed them back to the start and they were popped. I sighed in relief.
Annabeth looked up from her food. “What game are you playing?”
I showed her my screen. “Balloon Tower Defense 5. I’m on level 50.” I said, smiling proudly.
“Nice Seaweed Brain. I think I made it to level 1000 once.”
“Well that s just because you’re mom is Athena.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Wow, déjà vu.”
“Well, Athena is the goddess of strategy right? You obviously looked at the track and decided the best place to put towers.”
“Hmm, it’s like you know me Perce.” She took another bite of the parfait. “Also, you would benefit if you placed a super monkey here…” she pointed to a place on the map, “And upgrade it to a ‘Temple of the Monkey God’, you would be much more efficient.”
I shrugged and did as she said. Starting another level, I noticed that a lot more balloons were being popped than before. “Nice Annabeth. You were right, as always.”
I continued to play my game while Annabeth ate her food. A couple minutes later, Annabeth bugged me for a newspaper. I clapped my hands and one appeared on her lap. She kissed me and picked it up, turning to the local news and started to read. At least I can count on one thing; Annabeth’s love of reading and knowledge.
“I finished Percy.”
I looked up. “With the food or the paper?”
She folded up the paper and set it beside her. “Both. What do you have planned for today?”
I paused my game and put it on top of her newspaper. “Well, its late morning, so I might go to Chaos and ask for you to join the army, or I might decide to referee a fight between a Sam and Zoe. After 300 years living together, they still are at each other’s throats.” I shook my head, chuckling.
“Well, have a good day honey.” She lay back and coughed. “Wow, I think a blueberry went down the wrong way.”
I rubbed her back. “There we go.” She stopped coughing and I kissed her forehead. “I’ll try and visit with dinner. Maybe even lunch.” I grinned, and exited the Hospital Wing.
I took the long way up, using the elevator to get to Chaos’ office. I stepped into the elevator when it opened and pondered how I was lucky enough to have a girl like her. I decided right then and there that I absolutely couldn’t live without her. I ran out of the elevator, down the hall and burst into the office. Here we go… I thought.