Jekyll And Hyde [Azrael]

[Annabeth Chase]

Distractions. That was the key to the game now it seemed. And if anything was distracting, it was trying to read old English books in English, at least if you were an ADHD dyslexic demigod. Which, lucky for Annabeth, she was. The choice of distraction since returning from her quest was a rather worn-out copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, published 1886. And it was a challenge indeed. Honestly, who talked like this anymore? All in all, the whole two chapters and some odd number of pages she’d gotten through so far were interesting. At least, what made sense from them. She licked her thumb slightly and turned the page.

The councilor for Athena cabin had to look rather foolish to any passerby, sitting the way she was with her back against one bench and knees hooked up over the one in front of it so she could, at least to some degree, recline. Luckily the rows of benches in the amphitheater were tiered, so it wasn’t an entirely impossible position. It was actually rather comfortable. And it was, in its own way, better than her cabin sometimes. Some of her half-siblings seemed to have mixed reactions to what was going on. She wished things could be like old times all the more, when they were, at least in that aspect, straightforward. And when her and Percy weren’t fighting.

Percy. She sighed, completely distracted from the book now unfortunately. What had gotten into him? Just because Luke came back, he started thinking everything was what it wasn’t. Or… well, the point was, she’d picked him! It didn’t matter if she’d liked Luke once. And maybe still do a little, a voice in the back of her head said. No. She focused on the book. She couldn’t go thinking like that. Percy was wrong. She wanted to be with him. If only he’d go back to wanting to be with her…

Word Count: 342

[Azrael Everett]

A shot of Vodka sounded like a good idea at the moment. Beer, Jack, cough syrup anything with alcohol in it would have satisfied Azrael at this point. He was coming close to hitting up that Dionysus kid for something. He had to have some kind of water to wine trick. It had been a rough week to say the least. Azrael found out her had a brother, almost killed a girl, and was having nightmares about Katrina all over again. Not to mention that firecracker Sam was stuck in his head. She had so many problems it made Azrael’s life look like a cakewalk.

Walking back from actually attempting to join in a lesson of archery, Azrael passed by the amphitheater. He hesitated remembering the not so pleasant talk he had with Aphrodite the Goddess of make-up hormones and over all hotness. It was the first time he had yelled at a god face to face. He had screamed and cursed the Gods plenty of times from a distance but he didn’t bad mouth their morals and parenting skills mere feet from their physical form. Azrael probably wouldn’t do it again or advise anyone else to do it. He had been so angry though with Aphrodite he just exploded and took out all his built up resentment on her. Azrael was glad it had been Aphrodite rather than Ares, Zeus or any other God for that matter. He was certain that his ass would be reduced to fine pile of ash had he said that to Zeus. Ares would have eaten him for dinner, deep fried son of Thanatos with a side of coleslaw.

Azrael almost continued on toward the forest but caught site of a girl sitting by herself. Normally he would have just ignored her or anyone. He wasn’t really in the mood for company but this girl looked familiar. He walked closer to try and place a name to the face. Azrael tilted his head as he approached her, the streak of gray gave her away. He had heard stories of two people at camp with a streak of gray in their hair. Both of them had received it from literally carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. One was Percy Jackson, and the other Annabeth Chase. He had heard a lot about Annabeth. Today there were some rumors flying around about the daughter of Athena and the son of Poseidon getting into a little tiff.

Her face looked tired and he could see a familiar pain in her eyes. Azrael had seen that pain in the mirror many times before. It was the pain that love brought to someone. He cleared his throat to announce his presence. Waving a little he forced a smile and nodded to her book. “Whatcha reading?” He sat down uninvited and scanned the page. Azrael was only able to make out a handful of words, his dyslexia jumbled the rest of it. He looked away before a headache could follow. “That must be murder on your eyes. How can you stay focused on that for so long?” He paused, “Or are you just pretending to read, in order to act like you’re not thinking of something else?” He asked with a smirk folding his hands together. The black biking gloves made his hands sweat but he wasn’t going to take chances anymore, not after last time.

OUTFIT:H E R E
WORD COUNT:568

[Annabeth Chase]

This was a weird, book to say the least. From the usual stuff she’d heard about it, he’d expected it to be a lot more dramatic, like some crazy guy in a laboratory drinking stuff he shouldn’t and transforming into some murderous crazy lunatic right off the bat. But not so much. It was focusing on some random lawyer friend even, rather than the infamous Jekyll. And Hyde was just strange, not really crazy at all. Where had the old stereotypical Jekyll and Hyde come from? Maybe she hadn’t read enough into it yet. Of course, that could take her another year. And Annabeth doubted she’d have that much free reading time. Maybe she’d just pick up the film someday so she could know at least what happened.

She was so busy trying to sort out another ridiculously and needlessly long and complicated word that she didn’t notice someone entering the amphitheater. She did, though, when he cleared his throat. Looking up, she was met by an unfamiliar face and an awkward wave. That was about when she realized she was sitting about as strangely as was possible without contorting her body at some unnatural angle; she quickly sat up normally. “Hi. Oh, um, it’s Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” she said, then paused when he sat down next to her out of the blue. He seemed to take about half a minute to decide the book was not something he wanted to look at. She chuckled slightly and pushed the bookmark in, closing it and laying it down on her lap. “Oh, it is a bit painful to read. English, for one, and old English on top of that. Eighteen sixties, I believe. Always wanted to read it though.”

When he continued, though, her smile dropped immediately. Her initial reaction was to get defensive about it. Especially given that little smirk on his face. “I was reading it, thank you very much. Presently the lawyer Mr. Utterson is investigating the most recent news of a Mr. Hyde nearly killing a young girl while out on a walk by simply trampling her over. He is now going to check on his friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll. See? I know what I’m reading.” She looked back down at the book with pursed lips, not really wanting to deal with this right now. Didn’t she have enough to deal with, trying to sort out why Percy was being such a jerk all a sudden, and Luke’s return, and Riley’s death, and the still-haunting images from that horrible scene Phobos had shown her. She did not want to talk to some random, nosy stranger about her problems.

But something made her continue. “I guess it is a good distraction, though. Or attempted one.” She looked back up to the young man seated next to her. “It’s taking me ages to read, not just because it’s hard but because there’s a lot to think about. Outside of the story, I mean…” She let out a sigh and idly tapped the spine of the book against her knee.

Word Count: 545

[Azrael Everett]

Azrael nodded. He had heard of the book of course but never read it himself. With his dyslexia Azrael never really read too many books unless they were in ancient Greek, and how many of those did you find in the world outside of Camp Half-Blood? The answer was very very few. He sniffed, “Old English. All of that weird type speaking stuff right? Thou and art, crap like that? Or am I completely off and is that Shakespeare?” His shoulder shrugged. “Never really followed many books myself, gets too hard on the eyes. Need to keep them sharp and focused.”

When Annabeth got defensive Azrael sat back a little raising his hands in surrender. When she finished he arched his brow slightly. “I didn’t ask for a book report, wise girl. I’ll take your word for it just don’t bite my head off.” He snorted and watched her for a moment. The defensive tone she had taken with him answered his question more than the rant. It was a little of both. He could tell something was picking at this daughter of Athena. His theory was confirmed as she continued on. Azrael chewed on his lip and eyed her suspiciously. “Right...”

He knew she was, but Azrael realized that Annabeth probably had no clue who the hell she was talking with. Clearing his throat Azrael extended his hand to her. It was safe for him to make physical contact with the gloves. It was rare that he shook anyone’s hands and the gesture felt foreign and somewhat awkward. Still his hand hovered in mid air, “Probably should have introduced myself before I attacked you. Azrael Everett, son of Thanatos. And you are Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena and the target of affection for son of Poseidon.” He grinned and glanced to the book on Annabeth’s lap.

“I know it’s not exactly my place to say anything since I don’t know you except for the stories I’ve heard. But uhh, since I’m older though probably not wiser than you, I would like to help.” He sighed licking his lips and thought of a way to rephrase what he had just said. “What I mean is, I’ve seen a lot of crap in my time. I’ve grown up by myself and managed to survive. I don’t know how any of this is relevant to you but uh...” Azrael had no idea what he was getting at. In reality he wanted to help his pal Luke who was now back alive and kicking. Wasn’t that a strange turn of events? Being around these demi-gods was making Azrael soft.

To make up for the incident at the volleyball courts Azrael had decided to do community service. That wasn’t exactly the perfect term to describe what he was doing. He just wanted to help someone again, without causing trouble or having it end badly. The least lethal thing Azrael could come up with was giving advice or listening to someone’s problems. Then again with his luck he’d give advice that would result in the person’s demise. Azrael leaned back and focused his gaze toward the clouds above.

“Look I’m not good at this heart to heart bull crap. And in all honesty I am the last person to try and give advice when it comes to love or relationships. But uhh, I can tell there is something major on your mind and I am the first person to know that keeping it inside won’t do anyone any good. I’m not saying you have to tell me cause I mean we met like five minutes ago, but you should tell someone.” Azrael swallowed. “I’m sorry this is awkward. I’m not really used to interaction with the living.”

OUTFIT:H E R E
WORD COUNT:621

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth almost laughed. Like, a real laugh. Almost. Something like that didn’t happen all that often since the end of the quest though. “Yeah, ‘crap like that’. It’s not Shakespeare. And, really, it’s an interesting break from the small amount of books offered in ancient Greek.” But naturally he thought she wasn’t reading it, and without meaning to, she snapped. Well, he’d caught her in a bad mood. Plain and simple. She rolled her eyes at his book report comment, not really caring; she’d gotten similar responses plenty of times. But when he called her ‘wise girl’… it was like he knew just where to stick the knife. She glared hard at him. Sure, Percy wasn’t the only who called her that. But he was the only who mattered who called her that. And just hearing it reminded her of him. Which, right now, was not very good.

She was starting to regret telling this guy anything at all, and planning not to tell him anything else, since her poor mood was already leading her to jump to labeling him as an insensitive jerk. She glanced sideways at him when he introduced himself and let her know, in case she forgot, what her own identity was. Naturally, he just had to link that to Percy too. “Depends how you define ‘affection’,” she muttered more to herself before truly facing him. “Pleasure, Azrael.” She paused. It was weird not introducing herself; that just seemed the natural flow. But it wasn’t really necessary here. Not natural at all. “Thanatos? I don’t think I’ve met any of his children before. That’s interesting.” God of death? Sure, why not. There were all sorts around this camp these days anyway. She tried to ignore the grin on his face and not answer it with a scowl.

When he continued - less on the idiot side of the spectrum too - she stopped wanting to wipe that stupid insensitive Cheshire Cat grin off his face for a change and listened. His little speech was… different. She found that by the end of it, one of her eyebrows was significantly higher than the other. But he sounded like he was being honest. And seriously, how many guys admitted they were bad at anything? Azrael certainly was an unusual one. So, what else to do - she talked to him. “It’s Percy. Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon you mentioned,” she added, so he knew who she was talking about, then realized that if he’d heard of her chances were pretty much completely certain he’d heard of Percy. “He’s suddenly started acting… well, like a jerk. Ever since Luke came back, he’s been either acting like I’m not there or telling me off. I swear I didn’t do anything. And neither did Luke, but Percy even punched him! I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Like he’s jealous or something. I don’t know. I’ve tried to reason with him, but he doesn’t listen to me anymore. Like he’s a totally different person.”

He was right, really. It did feel good to talk about it. It didn’t help the matter much, but it was making it seem a little less like it was a totally personal burden when someone else listened to her long spiel about it. His last words were unexpected though and she raised an eyebrow at him, again. “Not used to interaction with the living? Sounds sort of depressing.” She’d seen the Underworld and its inhabitants before, and been around Nico, and knew well enough that that did not sound like particularly great company to keep all the time. Well, there was the time she’d spoken to Luke in her dream when he was still… a ghost. That certainly hadn’t been bad. It was better talking to him alive though.

Word Count:683

[Azrael Everett]

Azrael caught the glare that was shot his way. His brow furrowed for a second and gave Annabeth a look that read what did I say. He didn’t know what he had done to earn the glare, all he did was call her Wise Girl. Unless that wasn’t, ironically, a wise decision. He didn’t press the matter but made a mental note not to call her that again. He didn’t find the nickname that offensive. Azrael forced a smile but it faded soon after. He heard he mutter something that he figured he wasn’t exactly supposed to hear. He nodded to her as she went on, “I’m not sure there are many of us and those who are probably like to live in solitude like myself. Its safer for everyone that way. Being at Camp would be too dangerous.”

He stopped talking not wanting to ramble on further. Azrael scratched the back of his neck. Human interaction was still a new thing to him. He never received much of it while he was out on his own. He didn’t want it and the demigods he helped were not because he wanted a friend, he just wanted to help them. As Annabeth brought up Percy again Azrael did his best to focus and listen to her. His mind instantly wandered to Katrina and listening became a hard task.

“Good guy, that Luke Castellan. Not a complete douche like so many may think.” He interrupted upon the mentioning of Luke. Azrael nodded awkwardly and let Annabeth continue. Azrael was starting to believe he got himself in a little over his head. This girl was actually pouring her secrets out to him, how the hell was he supposed to handle this? In theory it was easy and seemed like a good idea but when it came to the actual practice Azrael might as well have been standing in quick sand. He was sinking and fast.

“Whoa wait, he punched Luke?” Azrael snorted and imagined Percy punching Luke. The two were completely different in every sense of the word. Luke was older, taller and built more muscular than the rather scrawny son of Poseidon. Sure being invincible helped the kid a little but it was still something Azrael would have liked to see. He cleared his throat and nodded again for her to proceed.

When Annabeth finished Azrael thought on the subjects presented for a minute. He tried to devise the best advice he could give without telling her she was better off talking to an Aphrodite kid. Katrina entered his thoughts again. Azrael’s expression and body language changed. He leaned forward on his knees and his face grew solemn. “Yeah, it is.” he replied. “I’ve been on my own since before puberty, heh.”

Azrael took his eyes away from Annabeth and there was a far off look in his eyes as if he was remembering something or someone. He licked his lips, “I should let you know, I have this gift—actually its more of a curse. If I’m not careful I could kill you, or anybody with just one touch of my finger.” He lifted his hand and looked at it. “I’ve learned to hold back to the point where I’ll knock you out or into a coma, still not the best of my inherited gifts from father dearest.”

He sighed and the sad nostalgic look returned, “When I was 18 I ran into this demigod. Her mother Aphrodite asked me to get her safely to Camp. Her name was Katrina Puckett, and she was the most spoiled, self-centered, vain brat I had ever met. I wanted to just lay a finger on her, just once and be done with her. I didn’t.” He scoffed and slowly tears started to glaze his eyes.

“Anyway, we were still a few days from camp. She hated shadow travel so we had to do things the hard way. A group of Empousa found us, and they took Katrina. We escaped but uh, one of them survived and came after us. Sh—“ Azrael had to pause, he hadn’t relived this story a loud to anyone. He sniffed and tried to keep the tears from dropping down on his cheeks. “She stabbed Katrina from behind. I don’t know what love is supposed to feel like, but I know Katrina made me feel something I haven’t felt since.” He stopped and turned his head away to wipe his eyes dry. Azrael took several deep breaths and looked back to Annabeth. “I’ve never forgiven myself for that. I just figured since we were sharing things.” He cleared his throat and tried ot bring the manliness back to his voice.

“So uhh, this whole thing with Percy. He sounds like a complete ass, I mean the way he is acting right now. I don’t know too much about you and Luke but if there was a history of any kind there, perhaps you should find a way to make Percy see that he’s the only one.” Azrael coughed and sniffed again, his eyes were slightly red from the momentary tears. “If you don’t say something to him now, or reassure him how you feel you may end up regretting it. I’m not exactly a love guru as you could tell from my disastrous short love spurt, but it sounds like if he is jealous of Luke.”

Azrael sighed and sat back for a second staring at Annabeth. He glanced around and leaned in, “If you could do me a favor and not tell anyone about this conversation that’d be just peachy.” Azrael kind of regretted telling Annabeth anything about Katrina, but for some reason Azrael felt like he could talk to her and she would keep it to herself. Azrael wasn’t sure if his pathetic story and sissy vague advice was what Annabeth was hoping or looking for. He did warn her that he wasn’t exactly an expert in the area of relationships. Talking about Katrina even for a minute felt like a small weight was lifted from his chest. The guilt was still there but it wasn’t as heavy as before.

OUTFIT:H E R E
WORD COUNT:1021

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth really did smile when Azrael mentioned Luke. She was never a fan of interrupting, but for a change, she didn’t mind this time. “Of course he’s a good guy. He’s great.” It was a relief to find someone else who didn’t think of Luke as ex-Kronos and like the Anakin of Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately, it also prompted her to ramble a bit. “You know, he practically raised me. Found me on the streets when I was seven and I protected me up until… he left Camp,” she finished a little more quietly before clearing her throat and continuing. “In the end, he even held back Kronos and kept him from killing me.” She smiled slightly. “Yeah, he’s a really great friend.” Though she felt a pang at calling him ‘friend’, after so many years of having the biggest crush on him, followed by lying to him in the end. She hoped the second of awkwardness didn’t show on her face - though with her luck recently, it probably would.

And then Azrael made the same mistake Rachel had at the mention of Percy punching Luke, only he didn’t hold back the laugh and nor did he apologize for laughing. If looks could kill, her glare just then would be roughly as potent as a full-on stranglehold from Azrael. Her tone was icy and threatened of certain doom should the wrong answer be given, her eyes seemed even more stormy than normal. It was one of those moments when it was all too clear who her mother was and that she had, in fact, inherited the same means of handling being challenged. “And that’s funny how?”

Only when Azrael started talking, Annabeth’s mood softened. He looked in his early to mid twenties… and he’d been alone that long? She listened silently. She’d heard of some pretty hard-to-live-with inherited abilities from godly parents, but that one took the cake. The touch of death. It was like Midas, only a lot more depressing. Wow, she couldn’t even imagine trying to get on with that. “That must be really rough. I can see why you don’t hang around people very much. Is it just your fingers? There’s nothing you can do about it? Like, nothing that can make it any less potent besides having to concentrate on it all the time?” She paused. “Sorry for all the questions…”

Falling silent again, she listened closely to his story. When he started crying, she wanted to just put her arm around him and try to be there for him. But he had mentioned his touch of death thing. That, and it seemed guys generally weren’t into that sort of thing. So she had to settle with just sitting there. She couldn’t hold back the gasp when Azrael mentioned Katrina being stabbed though. She imagined how she would feel if that happened to Percy, or to Luke. That would be horrible. And judging by how he was acting now, he had indeed loved her. Suddenly her problems seemed like nothing. “Oh, Azrael, I’m so sorry. Gods, that’s horrible.” She wanted to say something about it being alright, but that seemed just the stock thing to say. “I’m sure she doesn’t blame you, wherever she is now. If I were her, I wouldn’t. It sounds like you did everything you could. And you really cared about her. It’s not your fault.” She sort of knew how he felt, though. She still blamed herself that Luke had died in the first place. She could have agreed to gone with him when he asked, but instead she left him to be possessed and have to kill himself. Azrael had at least done everything he could. But she knew from experience it was not easy to forgive oneself. She just hoped Azrael could manage to. Poor guy.

When he continued, though, she was reminded of the Percy problem. She started digging at a spot in the dirt with her heel. A history with Luke? Yeah, one could say that. Well, depended on what sort of history he was talking about. Her chasing him around like a puppy wanting to get noticed as maybe more than a sister while they were both at Camp? Yeah, about right. Anything more than that? No, not so much. And then the thought of losing Percy too? She sighed and nodded solemnly to the ground. “Yeah, you’re right. Assuming he listens. And that’s also assuming I can find him. He’s been really aloof. You’re right though. I need to talk to him.” She smiled slightly. “Worst comes to worst, maybe I can bribe his sister into cornering him for me so I can actually talk with him. That’s a last resort for sure though.”

At his last request she looked up at him and smiled with a nod. “Of course. You have my word not a soul will know about this conversation.” She seemed to be making new acquaintances constantly now that Camp was filling up with all the newly claimed demigods all the time. But Azrael was different. He wasn’t one of the regular young kids just escaping monsters long enough to cross the line into Camp and trying to accept a weird world of mythology. He knew what demigod life was like at its worst. And there was still something so reachable about him. Heck, she’d just met him and she’d already told him more than she’d told just about anyone here, and judging by his request, he’d spilled more than he normally did too. “I know you said you’re not very good at the ‘heart to heart bull crap’, but, you know, if you ever want to talk, I’m here. Of just hang out, really. You seem like a really cool person. Don’t worry, I don’t hold the curse bit against you at all. So anyway, you said you don’t like to be around Camp much. So what brings you here now?”

Word Count: 1071