Curiouser and Curiouser {Annabeth}

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

Another summer back at Camp Half-Blood and already Rachel felt out of place. A mortal didn't really belong here. Then again, Rachel wasn't quite mortal, or normal. Not like she had ever been normal. Point was even as the Oracle she felt a little weary about camp. Sure she had been here for a couple years but it was hard to get used to. It was as thought Rachel didn't freakish enough to be welcomed here. Maybe the use of the word freak was a little harsh, but she didn't mean it. There was just little for Rachel to really do around camp. She was a weak little Oracle that was good for nothing but prattling off a prophecy.

At the idea of prophecies Rachel recalled the one she couldn't actually recall. The one she knew she had given over the final weeks of school. She would need to tell Annabeth and Percy, though she wasn't sure what to tell them. Rachel ran her hand through her hair, her fingers snagged a few knots on the way through. Her face scrunched up in a sore expression for a second before she was able to free her fingers. The damned wind here was murder on her hair.

Rachel strode past the armory smiling at a few of the campers who passed her by. She hesitated and a silly thought entered her mind. With a slight mischievous smile she walked into the armory. It was filled with the usual demi-god weapons. Rachel had seen the campers around here use these things many times in training and during their fun capture the flag events. Rachel walked over to a wall that held rows of celestial bronze swords. She ran her finger tips over the hilts. It was curious how these things didn't affect mortals. Rachel recalled the time when Percy first tried to kill her. There first meeting. Rachel smirked at the memory.

After a minute she stopped and glanced around making sure no one was around to watch. She turned back to the wall and took up one of the swords. She wondered if she would be able to handle one of these. Maybe she would be able to participate in the next Capture the Flag event. Oh the look on Percy's face when she charged him with a sword. The idea was priceless.

The sword was heavy in her hand as she wasn't used to the weight. Rachel simply held it for a moment getting used to the feel of it. Slowly she swung it through the air pretending she was fighting in slow motion. Her pace began to quicken and Rachel went to fending off monsters that weren't really there. She let out a battle cry as she plunged her sword into the chest of some invisible creature.

"Take that!" Rachel practically shouted. She spun on the ball of her feet to attack an imaginary figure behind her almost losing her balance in the process.

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth was on her way back to the cabins from the stables. Being in the stables constantly was all well and good for Percy (who hadn’t been there, much to her dismay), but for Annabeth… it just meant needing to take a shower all the sooner. Especially when the reason for being there was mucking duty with the rest of her cabin. Unpleasant didn’t even begin to cover it. Though thank the gods there hadn’t been any incident like what the poor Aphrodite cabin had to put up with last week when the Hermes cabin - the Stoll brothers to be specific - thought it might be funny to give the pegasi tacos. Pegasus poop is bad enough. Pegasus diarrhea… oh gods. Kiss your sense of smell and desire to eat anything whatsoever for the next month goodbye.

As the small troop of Athena campers made their way back, one boy stopped dead, throwing his arms over his eyes and wincing. “What in Olympus?” The culprit was found when the others noticed a reflected spot of light trailing slowly down his arm from where it had apparently attempted to blind him. After a minute, a younger girl glanced up the hill through the wide open doors of the armory. “Um…”

Ah, the joys of being the cabin leader. A shower would have been really nice, but no. Annabeth walked over so she could see. There was a familiar red-head in the armory very, very slowly. Annabeth let out a sigh. “You all hit the showers.” Without another word, she set off for the armory.

Honestly, did Rachel have no regard for that little thing called Common Sense that said ‘Hey, this might be dangerous’? Or did she just enjoy defying it. Then again, ever since that helicopter incident two years ago, Annabeth had to wonder if she even had any common sense. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Rachel. Well, now, that is. She used to loathe every fiber in her eccentric, elf-like little body. But since the whole Oracle thing and the can’t-steal-Percy-anymore thing, she found Rachel really wasn’t that bad a person. Most of the time.

She stopped at the door and watched with a slight smile, leaning against the door frame. Okay, so she probably should stop her from potentially hurting herself, but she did seem to be acting careful with it. Despite the obvious lack of knowledge, she might actually pass for something in one of those cheap low-budget combat movies… well, if you hit fast forward a bit. That is, until she nearly fell on her butt. Annabeth took a step forward, though was still too far to help if Rachel did start to fall so it was pretty lucky the girl kept her balance.

Then an idea came to her. She glanced around and found a thin branch just outside the doorway. She knelt and picked it up, moving along the wall until she was close enough to Rachel… A smirk on her face, she moved out in one fluid movement from behind her to tap her at the base of the neck with the stick. “You leave yourself awfully open, Miss Dare.”

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

Rachel jumped at the sound of someone else’s voice let a lone the touch to her neck. She let out a shriek and spun around in a circle swiping the sword at the person who approached her. Rachel stumbled forward knocked into a rack of armor. The sword fell from her hand and she steadied herself. Breathing deep she looked up at her ‘attacker’. It was Annabeth. Her heart was racing a mile a minute.

“You can’t just sneak up on a person with a sword Annabeth. You should know that.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “Especially a person who has never handled a sword before. I could have killed you!”

Her heart rate slowed back to its normal pace and she let out a sigh. Percy would have been real pissed at her had she taken Annabeth’s head off. Her lips formed a smile and she straightened her back. It was good to see Annabeth again. But the smile was short lived. It was almost a fated that Annabeth should show up here now. It gave Rachel the perfect opportunity to tell her about the prophecy she spoke at school. Though she didn’t know what good it would do if she couldn’t remember it.

“Sorry if I’m breaking rules and such being in here.” She said. “I was just curious about the swords I guess. Well, more bored than anything. Not much for an oracle to do around here you know?”

Rachel smiled at Annabeth glancing over her shoulder expecting to see Percy trailing after her. But there was no sign of the hero. Her mouth twitched a little. “Where’s Wonder Boy? Aren’t you two like attached at the hip now?” She joked with a chuckle. Her smile faded again, “I kind of need to tell you guys something.”

[Annabeth Chase]

It doesn’t matter just how trained one is or how many years one has been fighting sometimes. There are just certain situations when one must bow to the fact that if one doesn’t get the heck out of the way, considerable pain will be in the very near future. And having someone less than three feet from you suddenly swing a sword at you was one of those situations.

Seeing as her dagger was, inconveniently enough, too far from her hand and certainly too far from blocking the sword, Annabeth dropped to the ground instead. Well, that idea worked well enough, but it also meant that nothing stopped the other girl’s momentum… which wasn’t pretty. Straightening up, she was more than a little worried for Rachel (falling into a stack of metal wasn’t comfortable; she knew that one from experience). That is, until the other girl opened her mouth. Annabeth fought to keep from smiling. “Sorry, Rachel. Couldn’t resist. You okay?”

She listened patiently as Rachel broke into one of her usual babblings. She seemed to have a habit of that. Well, better random babbling than a doomsday prophecy like her first day here. Thank goodness it had been two years with no sign of anything along the lines of that Great Prophecy she’d told. Maybe for once the world wasn’t going to end for a while. Yeah, that’d be a nice touch.

When Rachel finally took a breath, Annabeth took the chance to jump in. “It’s okay. Calm down. I’m not going to turn you in or something. I bet it does get really boring. I mean, pinochle does get old after a while.” She paused a moment. “Actually… between you and me… I can teach you how to fight with that if you want,” she said, nodding to the sword on the ground. Sure, Mr. D might be furious, but as far as Annabeth knew, there was no rule against it. Then again, the oracle had always been some creepy dead person in the attic of the Big House that had, from what Annabeth had heard (figures Atlas had to have gotten in the way of her seeing that trick!), only walked around once since the last Woodstock. But it only made sense that Rachel should know some self defense, right? “As long as you don’t let Mr. D know.”

And then Rachel mentioned Percy. As well as something she wanted to tell them to boot. Annabeth’s smile dropped. “Actually, I don’t know where he is. He can be really hard to find sometimes. He’s been acting really… odd lately. It’s kind of worrying me to be honest. But anyway, what’s up? Is everything okay? What’s on your mind? Or did you want to wait until Percy’s here too?” She really didn’t like the look on Rachel’s face. Whenever she got like that it generally wasn’t good. Her mind went back to when Rachel had brought a helicopter into a battlefield New York City… carrying a message that, as Annabeth had learned later, had foretold Luke’s death…

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

“Oh I’m fine.” She replied rubbing her elbow. There would most certainly be a brush there in the morning if not right now. She would survive though, nothing she wasn’t able to handle. It would actually give her skin some color. Something she wasn’t used to. Tanning didn’t come easily for Rachel. Burning, on the other hand, did. Her wandering mind came back after it’s short vacation and focused back on Annabeth who now offered to actually teach Rachel how to use the sword properly.

Rachel bent down and picked up the sword holding it like it was a deadly snake. She carefully placed the sword back where she got it. Backing away she turned around to Annabeth and gave her a hesitant smile. She chuckled nervously. “I’m not sure if giving me a sharp object is a good idea. Thanks though all the same. I think I’ll just stick with the foretelling of the future.”

At this Rachel made a motion with her hands waving them in front of her. She stopped realizing how ridiculous she probably looked. She cleared her throat and ran her hands through her long tangled hair. She folded her hands together and rested them politely in front of her listening to Annabeth. Seeing the smile fall from Annabeth’s face was worrisome. Then again she was about to open a can of worms. Not to mention hearing Percy was acting odd (well stranger than normal) made Rachel sit a little on edge. She shifted her weight and leaned back on one hip. Heaving a sigh Rachel shook her head slightly.

“No. He doesn’t have to be here. I was just wondering. It’s not a big deal anyway. I just might have rattled off a prophecy during math class.” She winced. “And naturally I don’t remember what it was.”

Rachel chewed her bottom lip. Maybe this wasn’t a big deal after all. She could have been making a mountain out of a molehill. No problem. She waited for Annabeth slap her on the shoulder and laugh about the whole thing. Rachel even recalled being worried about giving a prophecy during Algebra two years ago when she first got this gig.

A sudden wave pressure flooded her temples. The entire armory began to spin and the sounds around her turned mute.

You seek to find the half of a whole
You must find the light and gain control
Brave the waters of Superior blue and clear
One will be forced to face their fear
You will find him there when darkness take
Bone, spirit, and faith will break.

Rachel blinked and looked around the armory. She saw Annabeth still standing in front of her. That was right, she was speaking with Annabeth. She must have blanked for a second. It didn’t come to her until a few moments later that she had done it again. Rachel’s shoulders sagged, “What did I say?”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth had to laugh at Rachel’s reasoning not to want to learn to fight, complete as it was with dramatic motions. To say that Rachel was eccentric would be doing her a grave injustice. “Point proven.” It would be nice if they could just joke around and hang out, but, naturally, that didn’t often last. When things were starting to get weird and your friend randomly told eerie prophecies to top it off, a normal time was generally out of the question. Luckily the prophecies part wasn’t all that frequent. Though as soon as Rachel opened her mouth, Annabeth regretted that thought. So much for wishful thinking.

“Oh. Wow, bet that was a bit embarrassing.” She tried a smile, though had a feeling she failed miserably at that. It would be really nice to know what Rachel had said in that prophecy. Figured, though, that it was just part of the gig that she never knew. She’d really like a word with whoever came up with that stupid idea. Unless it was Apollo. Because he’d likely make some really bad poem about the whole history of the matter and, quite frankly, Annabeth wasn’t that desperate to know why the rule was made.

As if on cue, Annabeth’s thoughts were broken by… a prophecy. Well, two shots in the this-rarely-happens idea; that thought was pretty much dead as a doornail. Annabeth wasn’t thinking about that anymore though. Rachel’s words seemed to swarm in her ears, hanging on long after they’d been spoken. Prophecies were always creepy it seemed; it must be like a law or something that if they didn’t make your stomach drop or your heart rate pick up a few notches than they just weren’t prophecies at all. And this one certainly didn’t fail that description.

It was a moment before she registered that Rachel had actually come back to normal (or, rather, to Rachel, as Rachel was about as far from normal as possible to be) and had actually asked her a question. And she also realized that she was standing there stupidly looking rather shocked with her mouth hanging open. She quickly fixed that part. “Oh, you know, the usual foreboding foresight of peril and doom. Nothing out of the ordinary.” Taking a deep breath, she looked over the weaponry behind Rachel without actually seeing any of it. Finally she spoke again, reciting the prophecy word for word for Rachel. “You seek to find the half of a whole. You must find the light and gain control. Brave the waters of Superior blue and clear. One will be forced to face their fear. You will find him there when darkness take. Bone, spirit, and faith will break.”

It was one of those handy little side-effects of being a child of Athena’s, or perhaps it was just her, she’d never seen any reason to sort that out, that she could remember things she heard fairly well. That, and prophecies, especially dark foreboding ones spoken directly to you, were hard to get off your mind anyway.

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

Rachel snorted. “Yeah. Just a bit. The entire class was staring at me like I was some kind of super weirdo. Then again being an Oracle isn’t exactly normal but you know what I mean.” Rachel was never treated like everyone else at the Academy to begin with and that stupid little accident was sure to change everything next school year. Hopefully they would forget by the end of the summer.

Rachel rubbed the side of her head as Annabeth repeated the prophecy she had spoken. Having no idea if that was exactly what she said or not Rachel didn’t have much input on the matter. None what so ever except, “Well. That doesn’t sound too good.” She sighed and folded her arms across her chest. Seeing the expression on Annabeth’s face made her feel guilty.

“Sorry about that. The whole prophecy thing. Can’t really control it.” She apologized. “I know that you have to go away now which kind of blows if you don’t mind me saying. I can only guess you’ll take Percy with you and then there goes the two people I like and really know here.”

Rachel sulked and kicked the ground stubbing her toe in the process. She winced and hopped on one foot trying to shake off the pain. She knew this was how the whole prophecy thing worked. The one who the prophecy was told to would get to go off and have all the adventures, with a few friends of course. And naturally Annabeth would choose Percy. It be a sunny day in Hades the moment she didn’t. Rachel took a strand of her hair and began to twist it in her fingers.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be so bitter about the whole thing. So I guess you don’t have to worry about that silly old prophecy I can’t remember right?”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth had to give Rachel a lot of credit really. Being the oracle and still going to a normal school and trying to have a normal life had to be rough. But she did it anyway. She really was something else. Well, she knew about that since the time she first met her (though then her view on the girl was much more unpleasant). “Yeah, I can imagine…” She fell silent, listening to Rachel’s reaction to what she herself had said. Yeah, ‘doesn’t sound to good’ seemed a nice description.

When she continued, however, felt her stomach twist with guilt. She had already been thinking about going to Percy right away. Well, after Chiron. And it was true that Rachel didn’t seem to talk to anyone else here but her and Percy. It made her feel really guilty that she was planning on taking Percy away for Olympus only knew how long, leaving Rachel here alone. So to speak. She watched the dirt. “I’m sorry… I guess… I mean, well, I’m sure plenty of people would want to be your friend too, you know. You’re really a great person to be around, honest.” Okay, so she was making things worse. “I’ll shut up now, shall I?”

Annabeth looked back up when Rachel spoke again and shrugged slightly. “It’s alright. I don’t blame you. And as for that other prophecy… well, there’s really nothing we can do anyway if we don’t know what it was about, right?” She was playing it off like it was nothing, though she knew she’d be worrying about it whenever she wasn’t worrying about this quest…


((OOC: Now that is short. *wince* Sorry about that...))

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

For the hundredth time Rachel pushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears. She raised an eyebrow at Annabeth as she rambled on about Rachel being a great person. It was a change from the Annabeth she knew two years ago. There was a moment where Rachel disliked Annabeth, if only for the reason that Annabeth was jealous of her. Not that she needed to be jealous of Rachel. Sure she had her eye on Percy for a little bit, and if Annabeth wasn’t going to do anything about her and Percy’s relationship Rachel was willing to swoop in and take over.

No swooping necessary now though. The two densest people on the planet were now together and Rachel got landed with the powers of the Oracle. True, she chose this fate. And because she did have the belief that guys were a waste of time to begin with, not being able to date or marry didn’t faze Rachel. At least, she lied to herself and others that it didn’t bother her. It would be nice to go out on a date and get all dressed up. Wait. What was she thinking? Rachel blocked those thoughts. She convinced herself it was only because of Annabeth and Percy that she wanted to be a part of a couple. It wouldn’t happen though. It wouldn’t be able to happen.

“It’s fine.” Rachel said. “Thanks though. You’re not bad yourself. When you keep your lips off of Percy anyway.” She was telling the truth and there was a hint of seriousness to her voice but her natural sarcasm would over come that. Then again she did have a tendency to be blunt and honest and Annabeth would have known that by now. Rachel stopped over thinking the conversation and placed herself back in the present.

She blinked, taken aback by Annabeth’s calmness in the situation. It wasn’t like Annabeth. That was something Rachel knew by now. She wasn’t one to simply glance over something. Rachel’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Her lips puckered a little and she made a face that said ‘I know you’re lying.’

“I know you’re lying.” Rachel folded her arms and kept the same stare on her face. “I know that you know that I know you won’t just let this pass by like it’s nothing. I told a prophecy to my entire Algebra class and most of the girls I go to school and have tea with.” She shuddered at the idea of having tea. “That prophecy could have been anything.” She was in Annabeth’s face now speaking in an overly dramatic voice. “What if it was important? What if it was a matter of life and death!?”

Rachel shrugged much like Annabeth had and she took a few steps back. “But what do I know? I’m just an Oracle who tells dangerous and often foreboding prophecies. You’re probably right though. It was nothing, not important. You have the most recent one to think about anyway. You may want to leave soon, cause who knows when I might prattle off another.”

She paused for a second and chewed her lip. Rachel looked troubled. She folded her arms again. “Two prophecies have never come so close together before. I mean, I gave off one last summer and two the summer before. Those two were like two months apart. I’ve given a grand total of four prophecies prior to my Professor Treelawny impression back at Hogwarts School for the Clinically Delusional. Drinking tea and perfect posture is not how society works now a days by the way, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Is that, normal? I mean giving two prophecies so close together?”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth’s eyes narrowed dangerously Rachel’s returned ‘compliment.’ More like a stab than an attempt at a compliment. So that was how it was, was it, the jealous little jerk. Some things, she supposed, didn’t change. “Oh really?” She pursed her lips so tightly they were hardly more than a thin line. “Last time I checked, that’s none of your business, Dare.” Her words were about as soft and pleasant as the filed edge of her dagger. Already she was watching the other girl a little too carefully, as though sizing her up and searching for her weak points, her grey eyes boring into Rachel’s in a way eerily reminiscent of her mother’s.

Her expression softened ever so slightly, though it did not reach her eyes for a little longer. Rachel seemed to be in a particularly annoying mood today: insulting her for going out with Percy, taking a stab at her intelligence. Teach her for trying to be friendly and reassuring. She stood her ground, straightening up as tall as she could as Rachel continued talking right in her face.

“You don’t listen much, do you?” she said a little more harshly then she meant to (or maybe she did meant to… she was a bit mad and didn’t really know or care anymore). “I never said it wasn’t important. I just said there’s not horribly much we can do about it. What do you want me to do, interview everyone in your class? Yeah, that won’t draw any suspicions. I know low-profile isn’t easy, okay? You try spending spring break just a few miles from Mount Tamalpais and see how that goes.” She held up her hands in a shrug. “Oh no, no one thinks I’m weird either. I just have a hobby of swinging my dagger at what everyone else thinks is the neighbor’s dog!” Okay, so she was really mad.

She stopped short when she noticed how stressed Rachel looked though. Rachel was a friend, an annoying friend that often overstepped boundaries, but still a friend. “Alright, you want my honest opinion? There’s something going on. Something bad. I don’t know for sure what and I’ve been doing my best to find out, but it doesn’t seem anyone knows. And those that know anything aren’t talking. There you go. So yeah, that prophecy in your math class is probably life or death. But what, do you want to be stuck here forever so people can write down everything you say? Or carry a voice recorder with you all the time. Stuff like that’s gonna happen. And it sucks, I know. We just have to try and figure out what’s going on without it. Oh, and no, that’s not normal. Another reason to believe something bad’s going on. So there, that the happy little ball of sunshine you were wanting?”

[Rachel Elizabeth Dare]

Rachel held her hands up in defense to Annabeth. There was no doubt in Rachel’s mind that Annabeth could seriously kick her ass. She also wasn’t surprised that Annabeth took what she said in the wrong way. Of course Annabeth would think that Rachel was jealous of the relationship between her and Percy. Well, Rachel was jealous but for different and basic reasons Annabeth didn’t grasp. To Annabeth, Rachel was still after Percy in some way. Sure she had thought about the kid that way one time. He is, was, cute and the whole naïve when it comes to girls was adorable. Truth was, those feelings turned out to mean nothing at all.

So why wasn’t Rachel explaining all of this to Annabeth? Simple, it was because Annabeth probably wouldn’t listen even if Rachel tried. Paranoia surrounded Annabeth when it came to Percy. Anyone who so much as looked at him in a funny way was either, flirting, or wanting him dead. Then again this whole psychoanalyses of Annabeth was probably wrong and all made up in Rachel’s mind. That was another reason Rachel didn’t try to explain herself. It would have just opened a can of worms.

Rachel shrugged at Annabeth and her temper. She wasn’t surprised by it nor was she offended by the tone in her demi-god friend’s voice. She listened without blinking as Annabeth continued on with her rant. As soon as she stopped Rachel lifted a brow. “Feel better?”

She didn’t have much to say to follow up with. Rachel knew how Annabeth felt and she had just semi-ranted to her a minute or so ago. It was what friends did, complained to the other about their problems. Even if they knew the other one couldn’t solve those problems, it was good to confide those feelings to someone. Otherwise, those words would eat you whole.

She sighed, still concerned about her personal problems with the whole prophecies deal. With this job came major frustrations. But she tried to take it in stride. And up until now she had been doing well with it. This missed prophecy though worried her. Something inside was telling Rachel not to over look this matter. The same feeling was telling her there was something dangerous coming. When Annabeth let it out that she was worried about something going on Rachel felt strangely more confident in the matter. Well, not the matter itself but she felt that she would be able to rely the emotion without feeling paranoid.

The rest of what Annabeth said did hit a sour note for Rachel. She felt a twinge of annoyance and she probably slipped up and let it show in her expression. Just as Annabeth finished speaking, Rachel drew in a breath and let it out. She didn’t’ speak for a minute and took to staring at the ground. She looked up and hesitated before speaking, trying to think out what she was going to say before she said it. When she did speak her voice was calm and even.

“You may be a demi-god Annabeth, and the world may rest on your shoulders at times, and hey, I understand that. I get that. But it doesn’t mean you can go around like you are high and mighty. Don’t try to tell me that you don’t think you are. It’s like an inherited trait with you guys. I’ve been around camp just long enough to notice it. Sure it may come off that I complain, but I wasn’t asking for a personal assistant. Nor was I trying to get you to feel sorry for me. That’s the last thing I want or need. I don’t think anyone should be sorry for, and I’m not sure why anyone would. I chose this as my destiny. Well, it sort of chose me but I gave it the final say. Point is, I think something bad is about to go down too. I have this feeling in my gut that is telling me to be careful. I also have this, I don’t know, knowledge that whatever I did say in class was key. Now that I am done with my monologue, I think we should just agree to get over ourselves and go see Percy about this matter. What do you say Chase?’

Rachel extended her hand out to Annabeth. There was a slight friendly grin playing on her lips. She really did want to be friends with Annabeth. She counted Annabeth as a friend already. Rachel knew there would be tension between the two of them for a while to come, but they didn’t need to be at each other’s throats.

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth took a step back, her expression much akin to that of someone who’d just been slapped across the face really, really hard. The rant from Rachel had struck home unexpectedly hard. ‘…doesn’t mean you have to go around like you’re all high and mighty.’ A scene swam before her eyes, as it had years ago, a scene fueled by her own fatal flaw, by her own pride: a glorious city, New York but a hundred times better. And a warm, welcoming picnic… her mom, dad, Luke, and Percy too this time. Everyone happy and cheerful, beckoning to her to join them. And the knowledge that she had made this happen. She had enabled it to be. There was Luke’s voice, echoing through the years, ‘Join me. We can start the world anew. We could use your intelligence, Annabeth.’ Another memory, Percy's voice this time… ‘If I was going to pick one person in the world… I’d pick you.’

The flight of memories was broken with one last memory: a body laying broken in a pool of blood on a tile floor. The voice seemed so much louder, cutting so deep. ‘DON’T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN.’

Annabeth winced, not even realizing she’d been staring off at nothing. Luke had meant something entirely different, but it felt like he was speaking directly to her now, warning her not to fall into the same trap he had, not to let pride get the better of her. She nodded solemnly and opened her eyes. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t mean to snap. Or sound boastful. Really.” She took a deep breath. Gods, it was not easy apologizing after being chewed out. Definitely not a natural feeling. “We’ll do what we can to figure out what you said in class, okay? And I’ll try not to be such a smart-aleck all the time.” She smiled slightly, still feeling like a jerk, and took Rachel’s hand. “Sounds like a plan, Rachel.”