𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

vi.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

annabeth's visit to the oracle took longer than anybody had expected.

so much so, that they had all begun to do there own thing, supposedly what they did to pass unwanted time. percy had taken to pacing around the arena. tyson and the stoll brothers were racing miniature chariots. chiron, argus and quintus were in deep conversation. maddie sat on one of the steps, making a ball of water hover between her fingertips, while silena plaited her hair.

percy suddenly stopped, tunred around and began walking out of the arena. he looked back at maddie and gestured for her to follow him. the girl furrowed her eyebrows and got up, the ball of water splashing to the ground.

she ignored the small shriek from silena and followed percy out of the arena. she had to jog to catch up to him, not even needing to ask him where he was going once she reached him. she too was growing more and more impatient and wanted to go find annabeth, and percy leaving gave her the perfect excuse to go as well.

neither twin said anything as they headed towards the big house. the window to the attic in the big house was dark and still, as if nobody was in there at all. maddie squinted, but no flash of blonde appeared in the windows.

"guys," a voice behind them whispered, causing them to jump. they turned to see juniper standing by the bush, blending in so naturally that there was no wonder as to how they didn't see her before.

she gestured to them urgently; maddie furrowed her eyebrows and walked over. "you need to know," juniper told the twins. "luke wasn't the only one i saw around that cave."

"what do you mean?" percy asked.

she glanced back at the arena nervously. "i was trying to say something, but he was right there."

"who?"

"the sword master. he was poking around the rocks."

"the quintus guy? when?" maddie asked.

"i don't know, i don't pay attention to time. maybe a week ago? back when he first showed up," juniper responded.

"what was he doing? did he go in?" 

"i'm not sure. he's creepy. i didn't even see him coming into the glade, he was just suddenly there. you have to tell grover it's too dangerous—"

"juniper?" grover called from inside the arena. "where'd you go?"

the nymph sighed. "i'd better go back. just remember what i said. don't trust that guy!"

maddie nodded at her and watched her go back into the arena. when juniper was out of sight, she let out a long breath. "well, that was . . ."

"yeah," percy agreed. he looked back at the big house, biting his lip nervously. "we should talk to annabeth. she'd know what to do about this whole thing."

"something in me tells me juniper's not wrong," maddie said quietly. "i mean, this guy appears out of nowhere and starts poking around zeus' fist, even before we knew it was an entrance to the labyrinth? that can't be a coincidence."

percy looked back at her. "y'think? i gotta say, it doesn't really add up, but then again, chiron trusts him."

"chiron's been wrong before," maddie said darkly, her mind thinking back to luke.

percy grit his teeth. "that's it. we gotta see what annabeth's doing."

maddie thought about it. it would be wrong, completely against the rules . . . but thinking about annabeth up there, all alone . . .