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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 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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[Hey you can't roll your eyes, he's rolling his eyes!] Stranger things have happened! [But he can be serious when he needs to] How'd you come up with that theory? I mean - it's big, but it's still a turtle. And what do you mean when you say everyone?
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[Excuse u did you just roll your eyes at her. She gives him a look for that.] About three months ago, Tu Vishan made contact with a continent. The further inland people got, the more their powers and technology weakened. At first everyone thought it was the mainland draining it, but - well, I think it was the reverse. For a variety of reasons.
And by everyone, I mean people with magic or supernatural abilities - and probably your control over water. Or you know, advanced tech would slowly stop working. It didn't have an effect on normal people though. Thus: battery turtle, more or less.
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She gets another Percy-grin back for her troubles. It fades a little as she keeps talking, through]
Hold on, hold on. My power doesn't come from a - source, or anything. I mean, I kind of slammed that point home with the volcano explosion. [and the cleaning up horse shit] How could that be coming from the turtle? [He squints down at the floor] No offence, man.
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[She fights back a grin of her own at his, shaking her head.]
I know. I don't really understand it yet, and who knows? Maybe it'd be different for you or Leo. But the further inland I got, the less well my hat worked. Otherwise, not much else happened to me. But I can't do anything like you guys.
[She pauses.] It started working again, my hat, once I got here. [She draws in a breath.] I think the turtle has a kind of energy, a fuel. Maybe once we're pulled here, we get tied to it for as long as we're stuck.
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[He sees the grin she bites back, and a certain warmth grows in his chest. She's cute when she doesn't want to think he's funny.
What she's saying doesn't sit well with him, though] I really don't like that. I mean - it's good that your hat's working, but the only people that should have any kind of power over what we can do is our parents.
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[The more she explains, the more she frowns.] I don't like it either. But as far as I've been able to tell, it happened unexpectantly to everyone that it could have affected. It's not really something we can test right now, being away from the mainland, and there's no way you're swimming out till you get knocked out by the barrier. [B( not on her watch pal]
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