Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝕆lympus

Nicki's ringtone cut through the music that was pounding in the courtyard as she sparred with Ethan.

Nicki ducked under Ethan's sword. She shimmied toward the bench that her phone rested on, still on her hunkers. Ethan watched with a bemused smile.

He paused the song that was playing, You're Not Sorry by Taylor Swift—something he claimed was totally fitting for sword fighting. Against her better judgement, Nicki agreed with him.

She tended to do better at sparring when she was angry screaming the lyrics to sad Taylor songs.

She was still getting used to the dead weight of her left arm, so she had roped Ethan into practising with her. She hadn't told him the full extent of why she was so focused on improving her sword skills. Part of her was worried that she would panic him, the other part of her didn't want to admit that her magic was making her ill because was beginning to feed off of borrowed time and magic.

Nicki answered the phone hurriedly. "Sally? Are you okay? You don't normally call today."

"Nicki! Thank gods you answered."

The girl's jaw hung open. She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. Hesitantly, she returned her phone to the side of her head.

"Uhh, you're not Sally." Ethan's interest peaked at that comment. Nicki mouthed the word Percy at Ethan. He hurried closer to Nicki trying to hear through the phone.

"I thought we were upset with Percy," Ethan whispered, covering the microphone with his hand.

Nicki shrugged, straining to hear what Percy was saying. "Priorities?" she whispered back.

"What no? Gods, Nicki, I can't believe I listened to Nico. This is all so messed up."

"What? Did you follow through with his plan? You're not really making any sense."

Nicki put the phone on speaker. Ethan looked a little unnerved as she began tugging her full armour on.

"Yeah, sort of... It's complicated. But we're here and so is your mother, apparently. She's uh, attacking Olympus but it's not doing very much."

"Oh shit. Okay, okay... I'm coming."

Ethan rolled his eyes dramatically, but still slipped his armour on. "I'll get you permission from Luke, I'll say you've gone to help Hecate or something. Just leave once you're ready, don't wait for me."

Percy's voice seemed tight through the phone. "Is that Ethan?"

"Huh? Yeah." She muttered distractedly. She tried to untangle her sling from her chest plate. "Stupid arm."

Ethan pulled Nicki tightly against his chest. "I'll see you there. Be careful."

The girl laughed weakly. She clung to Ethan, too afraid to let go.

Ethan pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. For a split second, Nicki believed everything would be okay.

She pulled back from Ethan with a sad smile. "See you out there, I love you."

"Love you too, Nic. Don't do anything I would do, okay?" Ethan squeezed her hand one last time before running out of the courtyard.

Nicki stared after him. A bubble of anxiety popped in her stomach. "Hey Percy?"

"Yeah?"

Nicki took a shaky breath. Some part of her knew what was coming. "Where on Olympus are you?"

"Uhhh, we just got off of the elevator. We're waiting on the second group to reach us then we'll be heading into the Throne Room."

Swallowing hard, Nicki gathered her equipment into her arms. Her thumb hovered over the end call button. "See you in a minute."