𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐀, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

eighteen

YOU/EMBER ✦

i observed the scene: many, many policemen and ambulances— helicopters, it was a mess. the arch was smoking— nearly destroyed. there's no way percy survived that, right? grover and i stood outside near an ambulance as grover worried. 

"they're looking at us." he states but my gaze focuses and 3 old women knitting, "yeah," i say not really paying attention to what he's talking about, not taking my eyes off of the old ladies. those are the fates. i watched as they cut a piece of string from a yarn ball,

well that's not fucking good.

"don't you think we should get out of here, they're looking right at us." i snap out of it and turn my attention towards him. "what?" grover gestures to the officers ahead. "well what do we do?" he asks.

"we should look for percy," 

"ember—" he starts. "i know, i know. we just— have to make sure." i tell him, "come on." i start walking and grover follows. we walk towards the water yelling out for him— it feels useless. as we turn the corner a wet percy arises from behind the railing and i stop in my tracks. i feel my heart stop for a moment and goosebumps fill my arms. 

percy stands there, wet, as he waves at us, "hi." he says. i start walking towards him as he rambles but all i can think about is how glad i am that he's okay. 

"look- i'm sorry about shoving you in the stairwell. even— hearing myself say that sounds really bad but— i just— i knew you'd never agree and there wasn't enough time—" he stops as i finally reach him, wrapping my arms around his neck embracing him in to a hug. my hand reaches his wet curls at the back of his neck and i cling onto him even tighter. this is the safest i've ever felt, and it was a nice feeling. "i thought i'd never see you again." i whisper to him and he holds me tighter.

his wet body not even bothering me like it usually would. it feels as if we were the only two people to exist for this moment in time. "so, you're not as dead as we thought you'd be." grover says as i slowly released from percy's grasp. "surprise." he exclaims, his voice cracks as he makes eye contact with me. i've never really realized how much taller he was than me, it was like the perfect height difference.

"you fucking scared us". i tell him shoving him lightly, "i know, im sorry." he apologizes. "i guess you really are a seaweed brain." he laughs and i smile up at him.

"what happened?" grover asks. "short version, we need to go to santa monica." he reveals, "what like now?"

"my father's gonna meet me there" percy nods, "he's gonna help us." grover looks at me confused, "okay one problem with that plan... the police think we crashed an amtrak train and then did that." grover points to the smoking arch.

"the— the cops are after us?" percy stuttered, "yeah."

"isn't that going to make it hard for us to get on a train? or a bus? or really anything that you need a ticket for?" he questions with concern. all three of us exchange glances.

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the three of us walk down an empty road. nothing in sight for miles. "hey guys," percy starts talking, "i think this quest might be harder than we thought. i've been thinking: i didn't steal the master bolt, you guys didn't steal the master bolt, we're pretty sure hades has the master bolt but— he couldn't have stolen it himself. i mean, we don't even know who actually stole the thing— or why. or how deep this goes." he finishes. grover looks at him and purses his lips. 

"i'm the last person to realize this aren't i?" he asks grover. i purse my lips and rub his arm in a way to tell him yeah, the touch feels different this time. but i dont understand how or why, "okay so— maybe when we started my head wasn't fully in this but, since the river... it all feels different somehow." i look at him as he looks ahead, observing him, "he saved me, my dad. i guess i just thought that's something that he would never do for me. so maybe i gotta take things more seriously now." 

grover turns back causing percy to turn back too, "what is it?" i ask, "car." he states. "i dont think thats a car... its a bike. just let it pass." i tell them. "over here—" i take percy's hand and we sit behind the stone walls on the side of the road. 

"i'm saying we're not just trying to retrieve a thing, i think we might need to be detectives here too." percy finishes his thought. "yeah.." i trail off, my thoughts racing. "why are you being weird with me again? i thought we weren't doing that anymore." he states. "i'm not being weird." i tell him sharply. but i guess i was, i feel bad about not telling the whole truth to percy about what the oracle had told me, what annabeth told me. my prophecy— and on top of that the whole me seeing the fates thing, isn't such a good thing either.

"yes you are, you've been weird since we got back from the arch and i don't—" i cut him off. "i saw the fates. back at the arch, i saw the three fates." i turn my head to look at the two boys, "i saw atropos cut a piece of thread."

"and thats bad or..." he trailed off. "yes it's fucking bad, seaweed brain—" i say.

"fates weave the life strand of every living thing." grover adds, "it means one of us is going to die." i finish.

a/n EP 5 IS MY ALLTIME FAVORITE EVERRR. im so so so excited ive been waiting to write this for so long. <333 hope u enjoy the next few chapters! thank u for reading!