tushanshu | o4 ♆ video

[Percy is in his own suite for once, mostly so that any backlash from this won’t be directed at Annabeth. This attempt is marred a little by the fact that he has her shield on the desk in front of him, but oh well. Unlike his usually cheery face, his expression now is a little drawn, frowning]

Okay, I’m not really sure how to bring this up, so I’m just going to say it. It’s really important – as in, related to all of us being here – so you probably all want to hear this. But it might be upsetting, too? I don’t know how everyone’s going to feel about this, which is why it’s taken a while to come up. But with the palace starting to kidnap people involved off the streets, I think that people should know.

A couple of weeks ago, the underwater barrier went down. I don’t know how or why, but a couple of people were able to get past it and under the turtle itself. There was some kind of facility there that the kedan were taking supplies to, and when we went to have a closer look…

[He pauses for a second, before ultimately deciding to just forge ahead] It was a cloning facility. There were clones there of us – for some reason they were in giant light bulb tanks? I don’t even know. I don’t know if that means that we’re clones, or that they’ve just been making copies or something, but that’s what we found. We would’ve looked for more information, but the kedan decided to blow the whole place up, I guess. [He’s going to neglect to mention Kara’s helping hand with that] Ever since that happened, the new people arriving haven’t been pulled out of the ocean.

[He leans back, hand absently tapping on the edge of Annabeth’s shield] That’s all I know. And now Nita’s been basically kidnapped by the palace. You know, considering that swimming places isn’t exactly a capital offence. [The scowl is more of a glare now, and it kind of becomes apparent that Percy is actually really freaking angry]

So if anyone else wants to find out what the hell is going on – well, you probably shouldn’t talk to me about it, I kind of just painted a giant target on my forehead. But you guys have the information now, so do what you can with it.

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[She smiles at his smile, then rolls her eyes, giving him a glare of slight warning.] Dunk me in a canal, and you'll regret it forever.

[Percy raises his eyebrows] You've never minded taking a trip into the canals before. [Smirking, this guy? Nawww]

[She smacks his shoulder, without even thinking about it.] That's completely different.

[He laughs, because even though she just hit him, somehow this means he won?? Somehow] Whatever you say.

[He falls silent, absently tapping her shield. There's something bugging him, but considering what happened the last time they discussed it, he's not sure if he wants to bring itt up. This is Percy, though, so it's pretty obvious that something's eating at him]

[She's half glaring, half grinning at his laugh, but it shifts into a frown when his thought process runs off. She can tell immediately there's something on his mind as it does.]

Percy? [Her tone suggests it's probably better to just fess up right away.]

[He notes the tone, but still hesitates a moment before he speaks. When it does it's almost like he's continuing a thought or conversation] Just - is it really the best idea to go to the Emperor about getting your memories back when all of this is going on?

[Instant frown!! Not necessarily at him, but maybe a little that he brought it up at all. It's crossed her mind, too, of course, but she was hesitant to mention it because - well, she still knows she needs this. She didn't want him to try talking her out of it.]

I still have to do it. What if I don't get another chance after the next audience?

[He has a sneaking suspicion this is not a thing he's going to change her mind about, but his mouth opens anyway] What if she kidnaps and brainwashes you during this audience? If she can put memories in, she can take them out.

[Her brow furrows, and she crosses her arms.]

She's a pragmatist. And - power hungry. If I can offer her something to fill that - and besides, you'll be nearby.

[Those two sentences are not directly related, Annabeth.]

[She might not have meant to relate them, but Percy does. He opens his mouth and the words fall out before he can stop them]

I can still trade something instead. [He winces right away] I just don't want you to get hurt. Or worse.

No. I have no powers she can take away. [Unlike a certain son of the sea god, and she'd rather you hold on to those.]

I was thinking - [A beat] - something from my laptop, if juulan doesn't work. [She's not really expecting money to be an acceptable price, but it doesn't mean she won't try. Then she kind of grumbles the next bit.] There's not a lot that's worse than what's already waiting.

That's kind of what I'm worried about.

[His expression becomes - not stricken, but clearly unhappy when she brings that up.] Hey. No matter what's coming up next, we'll get through. Together. Okay? We always do.

What? That she can't take anything away from me?

[Annabeth frowns, her own face falling to match his, because she hadn't meant to do that. She pinches the bridge of her nose and draws in a sharp breath, before pulling her hand away to gently reach for his.] I know. I know we will.

That she can't take powers from you, so she'll take something else. [He has more powers than he can count Annabeth, okay, he doesn't mind giving one of them up for you.

He watches her with blatant concern, and when he hand reaches for his, he takes instantly] You know when you say you know things, they're always right. [So they will defintiely make it, okay]

That's why I'll offer her information. Something she can use, that doesn't relate to either of us - I think she'd take that. [Above anything else she could give.]

[She wriggles her fingers through his, gives his hand a squeeze. And then there's a flicker of a smile on her face when he says what he does.] Then we'll definitely have to. Can't ruin my record.

[He nods, but he still looks worried. HAVING NO MEMORIES SUCKS, OKAY ANNABETH] I guess we'll find out. [Because he knows she's not going to back down s i g h.

He squeezes her hand back, half giving comfort and half taking it.] No choice about it now. [If he sounds a little distant it's because he's remembering the first time he held her hand and spoke about getting through Tartarus. His thoughts run off with him and it takes him a bit to shake out of it] --Sorry. I'll stop dwelling on it one day, promise. [Nope]

[Annabeth can see the worry in his face, but she's glad he stopped trying to get her to stop again, for now.] We will. And maybe I can sneak you in invisibly. [She kind of likes the 'we' part tbh.]

No you won't. [Because she knows him, and she squeezes his hand again, before leaning over to wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind in a hug.] But it's okay. [She can't really blame him. It's not like she will either.]

Okay, that I can get behind. And...I'll be there right outside even if we can't. Just yell, I don't know, 'Minotaur' if you need help. Or if the Minotaur shows up.

[His expression twists a little, involuntarily. He tries to turn his face so she won't see, before she hugs him. it feels good, comforting. He wishes he could believe it's going to be okay] Whatever you say, Wise Girl.

[She sort of half laughs.] 'Minotaur' it is. As long as you're nearby. [- she can handle it, is the rest of the sentence.]

[Whatever you say, Wise Girl, and she can pick up on tones and feelings and everything else he's not actually saying. Annabeth rests the side of her head against his, arms still around him, and for a moment, she's surprised at how little she's slumping over in the gesture.] Let's just - focus on this right now, okay?

[Because it'll never really go away, but they still have other things to do. Like discussions about cloning facilities, apparently.]

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