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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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[She's been told it by Leo and by Percy a little before, but actually hearing the whole thing in stronger detail - she can't help a shudder.]
[Annabeth stares down at his hand, hearing the crack in his voice. He didn't let go. He didn't let go of her, and he willingly went down with her. That's what's waiting for her back home. The deepest pits of the Underworld, unimaginable horrors and danger, the highest chance of death they'd ever faced. And highest was putting it mildly.]
[And when he couldn't pull her up, Percy went with her. She can feel her eyes watering again, over everything.]
[Annabeth just leans forward to curl into him, letting go of his hands to wrap her arms around his body instead, clinging like he's life support. She doesn't have anything. She can't think of a single thing to say, beyond ardent love and suffocating fear.]
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For a moment he can't say or do anything except for that. Maybe things are weird and messed up in this place, but at least he can do this. It's almost a relief to be here, because he doesn't know when he'll get the chance to do this again back home. If.]
We'll make it through. [He can't say how long it is until he speaks again, voice low and a little intense. And, in that way that only Percy Jackson can manage, totally certain] We'll make it through, and we'll shut the Doors, and we'll get out. Together. I promise, Annabeth.
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[When she hears him speak, with that familiar tone, she pulls her head back just enough to look into his eyes. It gives her confidence.]
Together. [She repeats it, a little shaky from highflying emotions but just as steady as him. Together. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be? How they did things? Not even Hera could keep them apart forever. Then she laughs, a little hoarse and a little bitter.] What's saving the world one more time, huh? The Doors don't stand a chance.
[She has to believe in him. In them. In their ability to succeed.]
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Against the two of us? Definitely not. [He presses a soft kiss to her forehead] I vote we retire after this one, though. Before all our hair turns grey.
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[She laughs again, this time a little less jaded, and closes her eyes for the moment his lips touch her skin.] It would be nice to actually finish a school year for once. Percy and Annabeth in retirement. You know, I'm not sure either camp will know how to handle that.
[Really Annabeth school's your priority AT LEAST IT'S HALF JESTING.]
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[Percy knows they're both all too aware of their chances of surviving Tartarus, but he has to ignore the odds. They'll never get through it, otherwise.]
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[She grins at his China suggestion, even if her eyes are still a little puffy and waterlogged.] Only if we can go to the Great Wall.
[They've always been good at defying the odds, anyway.]
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[He made her smile. Some tightness in his shoulders unknots a little as he returns the expression.] Are you kidding? Of course we have to go to the Great Wall! You can build a better one if you don't see it in person. And I can't, I don't know, knock it down without being there either. [They each have their talents]
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[She laughs, closer to genuine. She'd go anywhere with Percy, though she wants to think about the better options right now. She hugs him a little tighter at the Of course we can go.] You're not allowed to knock over my duplicate either. Or else.
[that is not a joke B(]
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[He looks down at her, carefully brushing a curl back out of her face and tucking it behind her ear] It's a good thing you're here. I'd probably be doing something stupid trying to find you, otherwise.
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[She's suddenly acutely aware of his fingers against her face, in her hair.] And then end up in the Emperor's jail, I'm sure.
[Well she's not going to argue him making stupid decisions. That's a given.] You wouldn't last long without me anywhere, Seaweed Brain.
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...Yeah. I can't argue with that one. I don't even want to.
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[She brings her own face even closer, forehead against his and barely an inch from his lips.] You'd lose if you tried.
[Then she leans in the rest of the way to kiss him, hands fisting into his shirt with gusto, a culmination of everything. Desperate, happy, worried, grateful, and anything else in between.]
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His hands are shaking, some distant part of him realises. He's so terrified of losing her, and so relieved he at least has her back for now, that his body cant contain it]
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[Percy, Percy, Percy, that's all she can think about right now as she continues kissing him. Her other hand slides into his hair, in a way that's sure to mess it up as she tangles her fingers through it.]
[She can taste the ocean, and she's missed it so much.]
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They'll just have to make new memories.]
So. [It's some time later when he says it, panting slightly. He's still holding her close, but a little more relaxed. A little more certain that he's not going to lose her right away] Nice to see you, too.
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That's the part that usually comes first, dummy. [She reaches to take one of his hands again.] But nice is an understatement.
[She's still in half a happy daze at the moment, just give her a second.]
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He threads their fingers together when her hand slips into his. He gets that feeling that this is going to be happening a lot over the next couple of days, and he is totally okay with that] An understatement, huh? Wow, Annabeth, it's almost like you like me.
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[She gives off a mock groan and rolls her eyes.] Oh, great. That's the opposite impression I've been trying to give.
[Then she pauses for a moment.] We should talk about this place. Is there something glaring you want to know?
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Percy clutches at his heart with his free hand in mock horror, but then the conversation moves on, and he actually does have a question for her, so he lets the hand drop again]
Yeah, uh - can I actually go back into the water again? It's not like the Styx or the Lethe or anything, right, nothing terrible's gonna happen if I get my feet wet.
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You should be fine. I know people dove into the ocean when some kedan extremists tried to blow off the turtle's flipper. And then when the turtle went under, capable 'foreigners' went to check out the ocean floor.
If you're planning on going for a swim - [Which she totally knows he is] - you need to watch out for the barrier though. It stops people from going to far out to sea.
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[He'll get back to the whole going for a swim thing, but right now he really wants to know who's trying to beat up his turtle]
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Anti-us isn't that hard to figure out. We're using valuable resources that could be going towards the kedan, and the other gangs largely feel the same. As for why they wanted to damage the turtle, I'm not positive.
[Percy your concern is adorable, and she can't help thinking it even as she describes all this.]
[But she does have ideas now. If the turtle is a power source like she thinks it is.]
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[He raises his eyebrow at her] Not positive means that you have a theory. [He speaks Annabeth okay]
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[She rolls her eyes. But A++ nice fluency in the language, Percy.] No, the turtle's not the Emperor. I think the turtle is a power source. Specifically, the Emperor's power source. As well as everyone else's.
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