𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XXIII; ignorance is bliss

━━━ignorance is bliss

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Cal wasn't ignoring Percy. She swore she wasn't. It was just...Her mom told her something that made her heart disappear every time she thought about it. Ignoring him was the only way to deal with it, or at least it was to her.

    She could feel him staring at her as she walked ahead, and she knew that the little crease between his brows was there, as it always was when he was confused. She knew that his lips were parted and pulled down at the corners, like they were when he was upset, and she knew that his eyes were stormy and dark, like they always were when he was angry. His anger was justified, but she liked to think that she was justified too. I mean, how exactly are you supposed to tell your boyfriend that apparently he's gonna what? Kill you? Gods, Cal's head felt like it was gonna explode.

    The taxi to Anchorage was awkward as Hades, sitting next to Hazel and leaning against the cold glass window. Her mind was a storm, unable to concentrate on a single thought with her mom's voice, Tyche's voice, whispering in her ear every time she looked Percy's way and gods, she felt like a fake.

    According to Hazel, so much, too much, had changed since the last time she was here. But, she pointed out features of the landscape: the vast forests ringing the city, the cold, gray waters of Cook Inlet tracing the north edge of town, and the Chugach Mountains rising grayish-blue in the distance, capped with snow even in June. The air was so clean it stung her nose. The town itself had a weather-beaten look to it, with closed stores, rusted-out cars, and worn apartment complexes lining the road, but it was still beautiful. Lakes and huge stretches of woods cut through the middle. The arctic sky was an amazing combination of turquoise and gold.

Then there were the giants. Dozens of bright-blue men, each thirty feet tall with gray frosty hair, were wading through the forests, fishing in the bay, and striding across the mountains. The mortals didn't seem to notice them. The taxi passed within a few yards of one who was sitting at the edge of a lake washing his feet, but the driver didn't panic.

"Um..." Frank pointed at the blue guy.

"Hyperboreans," Percy said. He was amazed he remembered that name. "Northern frost giants."

Cal nodded to the glass.

"We fought some when Kronos invaded Manhattan."

"Wait," Frank said. "When who did what?"

"Long story. But these guys look...I don't know, peaceful." Percy replied.

"They usually are," Hazel agreed. "I remember them. They're everywhere in Alaska, like bears."

"Bears?" Frank said nervously.

"The giants are invisible to mortals," Hazel said. "They never bothered me, though one almost stepped on me by accident once."

That sounded fairly bothersome to Cal, but the taxi kept driving. None of the giants paid them any attention. One stood right at the intersection of Northern Lights Road, straddling the highway, and they drove between his legs. The Hyperborean was cradling a Native American totem pole wrapped in furs, humming to it like a baby. If the guy hadn't been the size of a building, he would've been almost cute. The taxi drove through downtown, past a bunch of tourists' shops' advertising furs, Native American art, and gold.

Callahan ignored the clenching of her heart when Percy glanced at her, reaching across Hazel to touch her hand. She tried to ignore the gesture. Percy's eyes flashed.