𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XXXIII; my first kiss

━━━my first kiss

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

If anyone told Callahan that she'd been on a chariot pulled by the fastest horse alive not even two hours after dying and coming back, Cal probably would've believed them. Being a demigod is fucking weird, man. But if that person followed that sentence with 'hey, you also got your brain wiped, but guess what? Here's everything you missed.' then she would've called that person crazy. That's just too much at once, but apparently, nothing is too much for a demigod. Again, being a demigod fucking sucks, man.

    She remembered everything, the Titan War and Camp Half-Blood, her room in her dad's apartment, her favorite jeans (that she wasn't wearing), the first time she ever kissed a girl, and the first time she ever kissed Annie.

It had been in the middle of the broken down, busted-up throne room of the Olympians while the Olympians themselves filed in. Annie had been covered in blood, and grime, and sweat, and still she looked like a goddess, Hades, she even looked better than Aphrodite. The blonde had stormed up to her, anger in her eyes, and Cal thought she was gonna punch her. Instead, Annie grabbed the front of Cal's destroyed shirt and kissed her hard. On the mouth.

    In that moment, Cal's heart stopped. She grinned against Annie's lips and she wrapped her arm around her waist. Annie gasped against her mouth. When they pulled away from each other, Aphrodite was grinning at them from across the room.

    "Took you long enough," Callahan whispered against Annie's lips. Annie's eyes were wide and blown, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, her lips swollen. She rolled her eyes.

    "Shut up, Charms."

    "Make me, Owl Brains."

    Annie kissed her again.

It took Zeus himself to clear his throat for them to leave their own little world.

    But now they were entering San Francisco Bay, and Cal's heart sped up. They tore through Berkeley and into the Oakland Hills. When they reached the hilltop above the Caldecott Tunnel, Arion shuddered like a broken car and came to a stop, his chest heaving.

    "This is the end, guys," Callahan muttered, and Percy pinched her shoulder.

    "Shut it, wise guy."

    When she got off the chariot, her legs felt like jell-O and her knees ached. Percy stood behind her stretching, and Frank didn't look much better. The big lug lumbered to the top of the hill, and his face went down four colors.

    "Guys....you gotta see this."

    Cal's heart nearly thundered out of her chest at the sight in front of them.  The battle had begun, and it wasn't going well. The Twelfth Legion was arrayed on the Field of Mars, trying to protect the city. Scorpions fired into the ranks of the Earthborn. Hannibal the elephant plowed down monsters right and left, but the defenders were badly outnumbered.

On her pegasus Scipio, Reyna flew around the giant Polybotes, trying to keep him occupied. The Lares had formed shimmering purple lines against a mob of black, vaporous shades in ancient armor. Veteran demigods from the city had joined the battle and were pushing their shield wall against an onslaught of wild centaurs. Giant eagles circled the battlefield, doing aerial combat with two snake-haired ladies in green Bargain Mart vests—Stheno and Euryale. The legion itself was taking the brunt of the attack, but their formation was breaking. Each cohort was an island in a sea of enemies. The Cyclopes' siege tower shot glowing green cannonballs into the city, blasting craters in the forum, reducing houses to ruins. As the four watched, a cannonball hit the Senate House, and the dome partially collapsed.