princess // percy jackson

i. twenty four - golden boy percy jackson

words : 3362

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alliah tried to think 'wwacd' - what would annabeth chase do? - as she raced to the side of the golden seat where a now-frozen percy jackson sat.

she stared at the complicated sets of gears and wheels sprawled all over the side, clueless.

annabeth would try to unchurn the gears, to reverse its mechanism. she would logically try to undo the chair's-

oh, to hell with 'wwacd'.

alliah scrambled for percy's pen by the foot of the stairs. she uncapped the weapon and watched as the blade unsheathed in her hands.

she began to smash the sword against the gears, hoping breaking the chair would break its effects - all to no avail as the gears stayed in tact and percy remained frozen.

"go on a quest! it'll be fun, they said!" she yelled to herself as she brought the sword down on the frozen gears with all her force. "you'll get glory! it'll be fun, they said! stinking, stupid glory - fuck! this! shit!"

frustrated by her actions going bare, she tossed the sword to the side and buried her face in her hands, letting out a muffled scream. she sat down, sulking as she began to tussle with the gears with her own hands - like she'd thought, it wouldn't budge.

the sound of a door opening stole her attention away from the chair as she peered up at a ledge she hadn't seen before. an unfamiliar man stood by a now-open doorway staring back at her.

the man looked old with grey hair and a grey beard, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose that made his eyes look bug-like. he held a cane by his hand as he peered down at her intimidatingly.

"what is all this racket for?" he asked, pointing his cane at her accussingly.

"who the hell are you?" she shot back. "if you're not here to help me, go away!"

"this is my park, i'd say i have the right to be here." the man replied calmly.

alliah's voice died in her throat.

"you're hephaestus?"

the man nodded, his eyes suddenly narrowing at her. "does my appearance lack any good for you, daughter of aphrodite?"

alliah shook her head. "no, i- you actually kinda look like someone's sweet grandpa or something..."

hephaestus blinked, surprised.

"oh. why, thank you."

"will you tell me how to unscramble this thing so i can get my friend out of your chair now?" alliah rose to her feet, crossing her arms.

"yeah that isn't really how it works." hephaestus stated. "it's kind of a one way sort of thing. it can't be undone."

"well you're the one who built it." alliah retorted impatiently. "what kind of inventor builds something without a reverse switch or something?"

hephaestus shook his head. "i don't think i will."

alliah shot him a dirty look. "y'know what? i take it back - you are ugly."

she sat back down and began to stab at the gears with her own arrow. hephaestus watched her, both offended yet intrigued.

"you are the daughter of aphrodite, are you not?"

"yeah," she sneered. "and y'know what? i don't blame her for cheating on you multiple times - that's right, multiple times! it wasn't just your manwhore of a brother!"