Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Nineteen

back to Caleb's pov <3
Caleb Pierson's POV:

I jumped back as the door handle began to turn.  Annabeth's voice rang clearly through the door; the only part of that conversation I was able to catch because of the loud people in the hallway.

"What kind of daughter of Athena would I be if I kissed a boy at school?"

I shuffled my feet a bit as I sped down the hallway, trying my best not to draw attention to myself. I side-stepped as Andrew walked toward me. He waved at me, and I felt kind of bad as I noticed his hurt expression as I ducked away from him. I'd explain later, it'd be fine. We've been friends forever at this point; we can't get in that big of a fight from me ignoring him just once.

I shoved my palms against the door of the bathroom, slipping in and going into one of the stalls. I slid the lock shut, and stood silently for a bit, listening for any movement. I bent my head down subtly, checking if anyone else was in here. Empty; perfect.

I leaned back against the frame off the stall, tilting my head back slightly.  My thoughts were racing faster than I just was down that hallway.

"What kind of daughter of Athena would I be if I kissed a boy at school?"

What does that mean?  I stared at the tile floor of the bathroom.  They were decent sized tiles, maybe a foot in width and length.  Their white color had faded to a dull grey years ago.

"What kind of daughter of Athena would I be if I kissed a boy at school?"

Ignoring the first, very confusing part of that sentence; that really doesn't sound like the end of a breakup. I really wish the hallway wasn't so loud, because then I would've actually been able to hear something!

And, of course, instead of being there for Annabeth when she needed me, I ran into the bathroom.  Like an idiot.  What is wrong with me?

I groaned into my hands.  None of this makes sense!  Daughter of Athena?  What is that?

Okay, okay, calm down.  I'm smart; the smartest in my class!  Well, I was, before Annabeth came along, but that's besides the point!  I can make sense of this, I know I can...

Alright, daughter of Athena.  Athena's a girls' name; but Mrs. Chase's name isn't Athena, so that can't be it.  Athena's a Greek goddess, isn't she?  Annabeth is half-Greek, so maybe her real mom's name is Athena?  Annabeth speaks Greek, she's practically fluent.  Percy's fluent too...maybe he's also Greek?  Is that how he ties into all of this?

But that still doesn't explain how all of this comes together!  I decide to consult the only source I have at my disposal currently; I pull out my phone and unlock it, opening up Google and searching "Daughter of Athena."

Tons of stuff comes up, obviously.  A lot of information about old Greek myths, demigods, etc.  There was a few articles about Erichthonius, who was apparently the only child of Athena, but he wasn't even really born to her.  Nothing about a daughter.

Scrolling through the pages of Google calmed me down a little bit; I could just read each article boredly without having to think about all the crazy stuff that's been going on.

One article in particular, on one of the far pages of Google, intrigues me.  I open it up, and I'm brought to this weird Wikipedia page about an ancient Greek Order.  I scroll through the poorly-organized website, finding strange information about the Order.  There's stuff about worshipping the Greek gods, who, mind you, haven't been worshipped since ancient times (or so I thought, until now.)

They talk about this weird initiation process of accepting one of the gods as your "parent."  These people then offer gifts and sacrifices to their parent god, sometimes even physical sacrifices of parts of themselves.

I feel myself sliding down the wall, eventually landing in a seated position with my knees bent up toward my chest.  I power my phone off, putting it back in my pocket.  I'm too weirded out by the stuff I just read to even pay attention to the fact that I'm sitting on a bathroom floor.

Shaking my head to myself, I go over some of the weirdest facts in my head.  All of that was concerning, but it wasn't exactly crazy back in those times.  The worst part was that this Order still existed today.

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Percy was into this insane junk; it would explain his scars and his tattoo."  I muttered to myself in joking disbelief.

Although, this Order still initiates members every day.  If Annabeth really is this blindly in love with Percy, is it possible that he dragged her into this nonsense?  The godly parent, her constant bruises...it would all add up.

I stop myself in my tracks, shaking my head repeatedly.  That's literally impossible; I hate the guy but there's no way he's literally in a cult, and there's no way Annabeth would be dumb enough to follow him.

Yeah, I'm officially losing my mind.

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at least Caleb is becoming self-aware about how ridiculous his theories are...well, kind of aware...

5/21/20

quick edit: totally forgot to say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 30K READS!!!!!!!!!