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𝗔𝗧𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗦

𝖑𝖊 𝖈𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗:
when belle meets athena !

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OUT OF ALL the places Belle Adair could've ended up, she definitely did not expect to be standing outside of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Chiron had sent her and Percy Jackson to retrieve a Demigod from the school and bring them back to Camp. Apparently there had been a lot of unexplained events that had happened at the school. Belle knew better. This Demigod probably didn't even know they were a Demigod and was causing some mischief with monsters. Typical for newbies. But it was strange — the Gods should've claimed them already. And yet, as Belle had come to realize, the Gods were extremely unreliable and forgetful. She hadn't even talked to her own mother, Demeter, since that day at the Acropolis. That day hadn't ended well for anyone.

Belle shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and stared up at the school. Gods, Salt Lake City was cold, even in the month of April. Percy seemed to be doing the same. Both of their cheeks were flushed red from the bitter air (which Belle had to admit made Percy look adorable.) Belle kind of just wanted to get inside, but the two of them had to figure out a plan first.

"I don't like it, but we should probably split up," Percy began. "We'd cover ground faster that way." He looked down at his watch. "School's almost over, so we have to be fast. Just look for someone who seems to be out of place or something."

"We should've brought Grover," Belle responded. "He'd find them faster than we could."

"Yeah, but he's still in California and Chiron wanted the two of us on this mission, so I guess it's up to us." Percy shook his head. "Man, I knew going back to Camp for the spring break would've ended with something like this."

"At least you slept on the train." Belle looked over at her boyfriend. "Apparently this is the high school where another Disney movie was filmed. I think Annabeth told me High School Musical or something?"

"Yeah, she made me watch it one time. Something about a guy named Troy dancing with a basketball. I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention."

Belle sighed. "All right. I'll go left, you go right. Try and blend in."

Percy scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause that's easy for us." He leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss onto Belle's lips. "Good luck, Beauty."

The two of them walked into the high school without any problems (literally, they just walked right in) before splitting ways. Belle wandered off down a hallway, looking at all of the decorations on the wall. Students were milling around the hallways, conversing with their friends at the lockers. None of them seemed to notice her which was a good thing.

Belle looked around at all of them. Nobody really stood out to her like, hey, I'm a Demigod!, so she just continued on. She then stopped at the end of the hallway to find herself at a crossroads. Now she wished she had Hazel Levesque with her to help her decide. She could either go left or right. Belle looked in both directions and tried to make her choice, but she ended up just standing there for a couple moments.

"Sorry, do you need help on which way to go?" a voice suddenly asked.

Belle turned. Standing there was a pretty girl around the age of sixteen with black wavy hair, clad in an oversized East High sweatshirt and some jeans. Her brown eyes were bright and she had an inviting smile on her face. Hanging around her neck was a necklace with three charms — an owl, a letter R, and a small planet Saturn. Something about this girl was definitely different to Belle, but she didn't seem to be a Demigod.

"Oh, um, no, I'm okay, thank you," Belle replied. "I'm just . . . wandering."

The girl laughed. "I've been there, too. Well, if you do need a guide, you can always come find me." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Athena."

Belle froze a little, but she shook her hand nonetheless. "Athena? Like the Greek Goddess?"

"I mean, I guess," Athena answered. "My boyfriend Ricky actually got me this owl charm because it's her symbol. He also got me the R because I always thought it was cute how Troy gave Gabriella a T necklace in High School Musical 2." Her eyes then widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm rambling. What's your name?"

"Belle. And, yes, like the Disney princess."

Athena chuckled slightly. "I guess you get that a lot?"

"You have no idea."

"That's actually so crazy how I'm meeting a girl with the same name as the character I'm playing," Athena admitted. She then noticed Belle's confused expression. "Oh, I got cast as Belle in Beauty and the Beast here. Got any tips to do justice to the name?"

Belle shrugged. "I've spent my whole life trying to make people see I'm more than just my princess name. It certainly didn't help that I love to read. But, as I got older, I started to notice that Belle herself is strong. So, I guess . . . just make her seem more than a princess in distress."

"That's really good advice. Thank you, Belle." She then focused down on Belle's own necklace. "This is so cute. What do the beads and the seashell mean?"

Belle looked down at her necklace for a second. "I go to this, um, summer camp. Every summer we get a new bead. And the seashell is from my boyfriend Percy. He has a rose on his."

"So you met at this summer camp?" Athena questioned. Belle nodded, and Athena's smile grew. "That's adorable."

"He should be around here somewhere," Belle responded, glancing around the hallway. "We split off when we came."

Athena tilted her head. "You know, your accent doesn't sound like from around here. Are you and your boyfriend visiting?"

"Uh, yeah, we actually live in New York City." Belle tried to smile convincingly. "We came here for, you know . . . the famous school and all."

"Ah, you wanted to see where High School Musical was filmed," Athena noted. Belle inwardly took a deep breath of relief while nodding her head. "Yeah, we get a lot of those. You probably want to see the gym, cafeteria, and Sharpay's pink locker, then. I know my way around, so I can give you a tour—"

"Attie!" a new voice called.

The girl in question turned and Belle looked to see a boy walking towards them. Athena's face broke out into a wider grin and her cheeks flushed red. Belle guessed that this boy was her boyfriend by the way she was acting so giddily. As the boy got closer, Belle was able to see more of his features. He was a couple inches taller than Athena and had curly hair, one curl specifically falling onto his forehead. On his wrist was a leather cord bracelet with a metal bar that had an engraving Belle couldn't quite read along with a crescent moon charm hanging next to it. He was staring down at Athena so lovingly that Belle's heart warmed. They reminded her of her and Percy.

"Hey," the boy greeted, leaning down and kissing Athena's cheek as he laced their fingers together. He then noticed Belle standing there. "Who's this?"

"Ricky, this is Belle," Athena introduced, Belle offering Ricky a small smile and him doing the same. "Belle, this is my boyfriend, Ricky. And, Ric, before you ask, yes, like the princess. Her and her boyfriend are visiting from New York City to see the school."

"Nice to meet you," Belle told him.

"You too," Ricky replied. "Big High School Musical fan?"

"You could say that," Belle answered, even though she had never seen the movie ever in her life.

"I hate to steal Athena away from you, but Attie, we do have to get to practice." Ricky tugged on Athena's hand that he was holding. "Miss Jenn's gonna kill us if we're late. Today she said we have to start practicing the Be Our Guest scene."

Athena's eyes widened. "That's today? Oh God, I wonder if Violetta knows. I should probably warn her." She looked back to Belle and grinned at her. "It was very nice to meet you, Belle. I'm sorry I won't be able to show you around but this scene is really huge. I'm sure you'll be able to find all of the High School Musical stuff if you look hard enough, though."

Belle waved her off. "It's fine. I'll try and find my boyfriend and we'll go . . . see the gym. Yes, the gym. Good luck at practice."

Athena waved at her before heading off in the other direction with Ricky. Belle stared after the couple for a moment, watching as they swung their interlocked hands together and shared laughs while walking down the hallway. Belle smiled gently at them. Now, she was no daughter of Aphrodite, but she could tell when two people were in love. Athena and Ricky definitely were.

She then let out a deep breath. Hopefully Percy was having more luck at finding this Demigod than she was. And with a glance in the opposite direction that Ricky and Athena went, she headed off to search again.

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OUT OF ALL of the events that could've happened to Athena Blake that day, she definitely did not expect to be stuck in the middle of a battle with an actual monster with a girl who had the same name as a Disney princess.

Belle was nice enough. She had given Athena advice on playing the character and was just visiting the school where High School Musical was filmed. However, there was just something . . . off about her. Not enough to make Athena unsettled, but enough to make her curious.

She sat in the bomb shelter on the risers next to Ricky, watching as Carlos and Gina gave instructions to the rest of the dancers. The two of them were amazing as co-choreographers, although sometimes they managed to butt heads. With a routine as huge as this, it was only natural that some bickering would occur between them.

Currently, they were arguing about the placement of the forks and spoons. Violetta Chase, who was being a fork in this particular dance, looked to her best friend with wide eyes. Athena laughed a little and crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly, her gaze focused on the door. Belle, the same girl from earlier stopped in the middle of the hallway outside of the door. Athena's eyebrows knit in concern.

Belle seemed to be panicked. She grabbed something off of the belt loops of her jeans before looking into the bomb shelter. Her and Athena locked eyes. However, a couple of seconds later, Belle ran off down the hallway. Athena blinked in surprise, but her eyes widened in horror once she noticed what was following her. Some creature that had hair made of fire, fangs, long nails, and mismatched legs of an animal and mechanical was stumbling down the hallway after Belle. Athena frantically glanced around the bomb shelter. Nobody seemed to notice anything but her.

"Athena?" Ricky questioned, placing a hand on her arm. Athena jumped in surprise, making him raise his hand in surrender. "Hey, it's just me. What's wrong?"

"It's — it's Belle," she stammered.

"Yes, honey, that's the character you're playing," Miss Jenn stated.

Athena shook her head. "No, I mean the person, Belle."

Ricky raised an eyebrow. "You mean the girl we met earlier?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I just saw her run down the hallway. I — I think she might be in trouble." She decided not to mention the creature just in case she was crazy, but she stood up nonetheless. "Miss Jenn, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. Promise."

Athena didn't really give her teacher a chance to respond. She stood up from the risers and rushed out of the bomb shelter. Sure, this move was incredibly dumb, running after this thing to save a girl she barely even knew, but if Athena was able to help in some way, she wouldn't just sit there.

She entered the hallway. Faintly, she heard normal footsteps and another set of scrap, clump going farther away from her. Athena — as quietly as she could — headed off in that direction. She got to the end of the hallway she was in and pressed her back onto the wall. Quickly, she turned her head to peek around the corner, which was the hallway that the cafeteria was in.

Belle was nowhere to be found. That creature, however, stopped in its tracks. It turned to face where Athena was, making her whirl her head back around to face forwards. How on Earth was she supposed to, one, fight this creature, and two, find Belle?

"What are you doing?" Belle's voice suddenly asked in a rushed whisper.

Athena jumped and turned to see her standing next to her with an incredulous expression. "What am I doing? What are you doing? And what is that thing?"

Belle apparently tried to play it off. "What thing?"

"The creature in the hallway!" Athena exclaimed. She then noticed the item in Belle's hand. Clutched in her hand was none other than a sword that glowed bronze and had a green handle. "Why do you have a sword?"

Belle's eyes widened. "Wait, you can see the Empousa and my sword?"

"Who couldn't see them? It's a freaking girl with hair made of fire and a sword!" Her eyes then looked down to Belle's orange Camp t-shirt. "Camp Half-Blood? What does that even mean?"

Belle closed her eyes like she was concentrating really hard on something, which made Athena look at weirdly, before snapping her fingers. "You don't see anything. This sword is a sunflower keychain and the Empousa is a wild animal that entered the school."

"And now you're snapping in my face," Athena said. "Belle, I can still see your sword. As for that — what did you call it? Empousa?" She looked back around the corner and froze a little. "Uh, it's gone."

Belle quickly walked around Athena to stare out into the hallway. Sure enough, the creature wasn't there. She let out a frustrated sigh and turned back to Athena before grabbing her hand.

"Come on," Belle urged, pulling her out into the hallway in the direction of the cafeteria.

"The cafeteria?" Athena inquired while being dragged. "No offense, Belle, but I think getting snacks are the least of our worries right now."

"I don't care about the snacks. Right now, we need a place for you to hide while I'm also staying out in the open. That Empousa is going to smell me sooner or later, or worse, smell Percy when he's caught off guard."

"Smell you?" Athena repeated as they ran down the steps. "Belle, what do you mean?"

"I'll explain everything later," Belle promised as they stopped at the bottom level of the cafeteria, pausing by a table. Athena saw her grip the handle of her sword a little tighter. "Empousai are hard to deal with."

As if on cue, the two of them heard hissing. Athena and Belle slowly turned to see the creature standing a little ways ahead of them. Belle raised her sword a little higher, but Athena's bones constricted with fear. She didn't have a sword. All she had was witty remarks. Those probably wouldn't help in defeating a real-life monster.

So, monsters were real. All of the stories her parents read her when she was little about a hero defeating a monster . . . that was Belle? An actual hero with a sword? God, she couldn't believe it.

"Athena, get under the table!" Belle shouted, snapping the girl out of her trance.

She did as she was told. Athena squeezed in between two of the seats and ducked under the lunch table. As she stayed there on her knees, her shaking hand absentmindedly reached up to clutch the three charms that hung from the chain around her neck. She could really use a hug from Ricky right now.

Athena looked at the scene from under the table. Belle and the monster were circling each other, as if they were waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Percy!" Belle suddenly screamed as loud as she could.

Nothing happened. Athena vaguely remembered that Percy was the name of her boyfriend, but she didn't know how he was going to help. Maybe he had a sword too?

The creature apparently had enough. It's fangs and nails grew longer while it's hair exploded in more fire. Athena gasped as the creature swiped at Belle with its long nails. Belle, easily as ever, ducked under it and slashed her sword. The tip scraped against the creature's arm, making it hail in pain. Before Belle could do anything else, the creature lifted up its mechanical leg and kicked Belle in the stomach. The girl went flying against the cafeteria and slammed against a wall.

"Belle!" Athena yelled before she could stop herself.

The creature then turned in her direction. Athena's eyes widened and she scrambled backwards as the monster stumbled towards her on its mismatched legs. Her back hit the seat of the lunch table. Was this the end? Getting killed by a mysterious monster she knew nothing about?

Apparently not, because more footsteps came. Athena looked out from under the table to see a boy, around the age of seventeen, running down the steps. She was able to see more of his features once he got closer. He had messy black hair and sea-green eyes. In his hand was a bronze sword that looked almost identical to Belle's. The boy was wearing a bead necklace that had a small rose charm on it. That was the telling sign of who it was. Athena assumed this was Percy, Belle's boyfriend.

He wasted no time. The creature hissed and swiped at him, but Percy lunged forward and stabbed it in the stomach. It screeched terribly, and after Percy removed his sword, the creature dissolved into yellow vapor. Athena let out a breath of relief, but she was still hopelessly confused. What had just happened?

She got out from underneath the table. Percy was running over to Belle, who was still conscious but seemed a little daze. Athena looked around the cafeteria. Yellow dust was settling onto the ground and other tables. Another girl, maybe a freshman, was standing on the stairs, looking just as shocked as Athena felt.

"Come on, Beauty," Percy encouraged, helping Belle stand up and placing an arm around her waist. He gently led her over to the girl on the stairs. "I found the Demigod. This is Jade. She told me how these weird things were coming after but she always managed to escape."

"Demigod?" Athena echoed. "What is going on?"

Percy's head snapped over to her. "Who are you?"

"Athena," she answered. "And you're Percy, I'm guessing?"

He looked down to Belle. "She saw everything?"

Belle raised her hands helplessly. "Apparently she can see through the Mist."

"What is the Mist?" Athena asked in exasperation. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her hands onto her temples for a second before letting out a deep breath. "Okay. Can somebody just explain to me what just happened?"

Belle sighed and removed herself from Percy's side, walking slowly over to Athena. "You might want to sit down for this." The two of them sat down at the lunch table, Percy and Jade joining their sides. "The Mist is a sort of veil that separates the mortal world that you live in and the magic world that I live in. However, some mortals are able to see past it and look at everything I see, like you. That's why you saw my sword and that Empousa."

"Magic world?" Athena inquired. "Like that word Percy said earlier. Demigod? What does that mean?"

"I'm half-mortal, half-God, along with Percy and Jade. We're the children of the old Greek Gods."

Athena blinked. "So, like, the Goddess I'm named after . . . she's real?"

Belle smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm the daughter of Demeter, Goddess of the harvest. Percy is the son of Poseidon, God of the sea. And Jade over here isn't claimed yet, but she will be. We'll be taking her back to Camp Half-Blood."

"Your summer camp," Athena remembered.

Belle nodded. "It's actually a camp for Demigods. We train to fight monsters."

"You can't tell anyone about this," Percy instructed, his brooding expression kind of making Athena feel uneasy. "Maybe just forget you ever saw this?"

"Forget this?" Athena asked. "I think that's pretty impossible. But I don't think anybody would believe me if I told them. So your secret's safe with me. Promise."

"Swear it on the River Styx," Percy voiced.

Belle narrowed her eyes at him. "Percy."

Athena shrugged. "Okay. I swear it on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed in the distance. Athena jumped in surprise and turned to look outside. Well, she certainly wasn't expecting that.

"We actually have to get going," Belle admitted, Athena looking back over at her. "It's a long train ride back to Long Island."

Athena stood up from the table. "I'll show you three out."

She bounded up the steps, the three others following her. Athena brought them over to the entrance of the school before turning to look at all of them. Her and Belle locked eyes, and after laughing slightly, they gave each other a tight hug.

"Good luck getting back to Long Island," Athena told her before pulling away. "I hope you don't have another run-in with another creature."

"Knowing our luck, we probably will," Belle responded. "And you, good luck on the play. You're already a great Belle." She reached over and took Percy's hand. "Come on. We can Iris-message Chiron on the way."

Athena waved at the three of them before they left the school. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched them walk down the sidewalk to the road.

A lot of information was just dumped on her at once. Demigods, Greek Gods being real, her being able to see through the Mist . . . and yet somehow, Athena managed to feel relieved. Maybe it was because that creature was dead, but she had a feeling that it was because all of those unexplained things at school were suddenly clear to her now.

"Attie!" Ricky's voice called. She turned to see him jogging towards her down the hallway. "You've been gone for, like, twenty minutes. We heard some screaming and stuff. Miss Jenn sent me to come find you. Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Athena responded, walking up to join his side and uncrossing her arms so she could hold his hand. "Just helping out a friend."

"What a Goddess you are," Ricky commented, lifting up their interlocked hands and pressing a kiss to the back of hers.

Athena laughed nervously as they began to walk back towards the bomb shelter for practice. Ricky didn't seem to notice it and just seemed relaxed that he was able to find her again.

And quietly, to herself underneath her breath, Athena said, "Oh, Ricky, you have no idea."

— [  ✧ ]  —

hey y'all I did a thing :)

this is a little au of my characters in pjo and hsmtmts, in which athena is a mortal who can see through the mist like rachel elizabeth dare and belle is just a girl who has the same name as athena's character in beauty and the beast !!!

when I posted at the end of the latest chapter of belle how I got my two books confused bc of athena's name being a goddess and her playing the character who has the same name as belle, some of y'all requested I write a crossover, so here it is!!! hope I could do it justice <333