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o1 ♆ video
[A messy-haired teenage boy is eyeing the computer with an expression somewhere between dubious, irritated, and relieved] One minute I’m falling to Tartarus, the next I’m stuck on a giant turtle and surrounded by water. I’m pretty sure that no one can blame me for thinking that sounds too good to be true.
We are on a giant turtle, right? Like, I didn’t hit my head and hallucinate that or anything, there’s definitely a turtle with a whole city happening on its back and everything? Has anyone tried talking to it yet? Because I could really use an answer that isn’t ‘ask the Emperor’ right now.
[He glances down at his hands and falls silent for a moment. One of them shows signs of the skin being ripped and torn, but it’s the other one he seems to be focussing on. He clenches his hand fruitlessly for a second, before glancing back up at the camera] Uh. I’m Percy, by the way. I’m looking for a girl called Annabeth Chase. She’s tall, has curly blonde hair, and a bad attitude. If you tell her I’m looking for her, she’ll probably start badmouthing me. Or – Frank, Hazel, Nico, Leo, Piper. Jason, even. If you’re here, get in touch.
We are on a giant turtle, right? Like, I didn’t hit my head and hallucinate that or anything, there’s definitely a turtle with a whole city happening on its back and everything? Has anyone tried talking to it yet? Because I could really use an answer that isn’t ‘ask the Emperor’ right now.
[He glances down at his hands and falls silent for a moment. One of them shows signs of the skin being ripped and torn, but it’s the other one he seems to be focussing on. He clenches his hand fruitlessly for a second, before glancing back up at the camera] Uh. I’m Percy, by the way. I’m looking for a girl called Annabeth Chase. She’s tall, has curly blonde hair, and a bad attitude. If you tell her I’m looking for her, she’ll probably start badmouthing me. Or – Frank, Hazel, Nico, Leo, Piper. Jason, even. If you’re here, get in touch.
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[There's some small part of him that wishes she hadn't found it, if only because of what happened after. If he could have saved her from that, he would have] Athena Parthenos. Of course you did. By yourself with a broken ankle, too. I didn't really get the full story, but I know you were amazing. It's on the Argo II now.
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[His admittance takes a huge weight off. She found it. She did it. She'd done what no other child of Athena could. She takes both his hands in hers, holding them tightly and pressing her forehead to his, closing her eyes. Even if she doesn't know how, she did it. It's such an overwhelming relief.]
[She opens one eye.] A broken ankle, huh?
[She totally does not sound a little impressed by herself, what are you talking about.]
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He sees her open her eye and laughs, both at that and the way she sounds totally impressed with herself.] You made a cast out of bubble wrap. [He'd had maybe half a minute to be impressed with that himself before--
He clears his throat] Anyway, I'm way ahead of myself here. You made it to Camp Jupiter. Things were sort of tense at first, but it seems like it was going to be okay until Leo kind of fired on the Romans.
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[Except then.]
He what?
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[Gods, she really did miss a lot. She hates not knowing, feeling behind both Percy and Leo. She appreciates the catch up, but it still bugs her.]
By 'not well,' I'm assuming you mean 'disastrous?'
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And yeah, it was pretty bad. The Romans took being fired on by Greeks about as well as we would've taken them attacking us. It wasn't all bad, though. They...operate a lot differently from us. A lot of members of the Legion aren't even demigods, just relations. They have a whole town where people can live with their families. [That wistful tone is back in his voice, and his thumb absently starts sliding back and forth over Annabeth's hand again.]
But anyway, I got there, and that's when I met Frank and Hazel. Kind of like how Piper and Leo ran into Jason, I guess. [And then he launches into Son of Neptune: Abridged, finishing up with a--] And then they kind of made me praetor.
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[She picks up on the wistful tone again, for the second time, even if she's 99% sure he's not aware of it himself. But she doesn't want to interrupt - the sooner they get through the important bits, the better.]
[When he concludes with the declaration of being named Praetor, Annabeth can't help but grin. Somehow, somehow, she is not surprised in the slightest.] Praetor Percy Jackson. Hope you're not getting too Roman on me.
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[There's still the tattoo on his arm. She noticed it earlier, but she'd been a little too distracted to say much. So it's only now that she slides one of her hands for it, runs her fingers along the lines. As permanent as Jason's, no doubt. She wants to ask about it, but instead:] Hopefully it's not too late for that.
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Her fingers tracing the tattoo feel nice, a combination of the new and the familiar] They also take their camp attendance a lot more seriously than we do. And I don't think it is too late. The Athena Parthenos was supposed to help with that. Jason and Hazel and Frank are all Roman, and Reyna - that's the other praetor - she at least recognises that the world's going to end if we can't even pretend to get along.
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Yeah. [She considers what he's said, all of it, and nods.] It has to work. All of it. The Romans must be logical enough to realize cooperation is more important against Gaea than fighting each other.
[The Athena Parthenos remark gets am unconscious hand squeeze though.] So what happened? I assume we got away?
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[He notices the hand squeeze, and after a moment's thought, lifts her fingers and brushes his lips absently across the back of them.] Yeah, we got away. The ship took a lot of damage, though. We didn't end up figuring out what made Leo fire on the camp until... [And here is a summation of Mark of Athena up until Piper charmspeaking the eidolons away. ] Can I just say, avoid getting kicked in the head by a pegasus, if it's at all possible? Because that's not an experience I'd ever care to repeat.
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[She pauses to give Percy a half mocking pat at the mention of the pillow pet's death. His face is ridiculous, and she loves it.]
[And okay, she can't help but be a little amused by the last addendum.] Blackjack knows what's up.
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He sticks his tongue out at her] Hey, that panda came a long way with me, and he didn't even ask!
[His free hand rubs the place he got kicked] Well, it was either that or me and Jason killing each other - and I totally could have taken him, by the way. If it came to that.
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[She shakes her head, but tries to... offer some kind of girlfriend sympathy.] See, definitely deserving of a punch.
And killing each other is definitely something I could do without. Remind me to give Blackjack my thanks. [She pauses, unable to avoid a slight smirk at his bravado.] Even without the ocean at your back?
[She's teasing, she's actually on your side forever ok.]
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[He scowls, and it only remains at the ocean comment. He knows she's teasing, but come on!!] Remember that time I blew the top off a volcano with no ocean in sight? Yeah, that's what I thought.
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[And then she frowns a little.] Yeah, and then you went missing for two weeks, after nearly dying.
[Even if two weeks is better than six months oops, and that really was kind of an impressive maneuver if she looks at it without all the other emotional baggage.]
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[....Oh yeah. Like she does sometimes, the though of Calypso drifts into his mind. But with Annabeth right here in front of him, it just sort of drifts out again. Calypso will always hold a special place in his heart, but this aggravating, amazing girl before him holds the whole thing.] I'm better at it now. [CLEARLY THE POINT]
Want me to keep going?
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I'd have hoped so. [She fiddles with his hand again, nods.] Yeah, keep going.
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[He draws in a breath] Okay. [And so Percy fills her in on the rest of the events that happened over the past few days. He kind of skims over their night together, not because he's embarrassed or anything, but because it's weird to tell her about something intimate happening between the two of them and have her not know. As he gets deeper into the story, he starts tripping on his words a little more, hesitating. He stops completely before telling her about their separation, how she had gone off on her own quest]
...I really didn't want to let you go. [His voice is soft as he looks down at their hands]
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[She falls back into careful audience, filing away the information as appropriate. When he stops, looks down at their hands, she squeezes them.]
I know. [Because even if she hasn't experienced that yet, she does. She does know. She'd been preparing herself to take this quest alone since first getting it, but that didn't make it any less daunting. And if she could have had anyone at her side, it would be him. She kisses him, soft and brief.] It's okay.
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I should finish up.
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[And her tone is full of implications that she absolutely knows he would have come with her above anything else, if it was possible.]
[Then a nod, to continue, whenever he's ready.]
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The tone to her voice helps a little, though. It's with some reluctance that he shifts away from her again in order to keep talking] There's not much left. [It's just...the worst part. He fills her in on everything that happened after they went their separate ways, tries not to linger too much on what the sensation of almost drowning had felt like.
And then he finally reaches the part he's been dreading, telling her about the Argo II busting through a car lot to come get her after she'd outsmarted Arachne. It's almost like he's reliving it again, the relief and pride that had so quickly turned to horror as Arachne dragged her down to Tartarus.
He looks away from her] I tried to pull you back up. I tried. I wasn't strong enough.
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