[ it seems to work well enough. at least well enough that the attention turns to mari, the students turning to a very easy place of reverence and excitement. the crowd shifts then, too, asking mari questions, wanting to know how they could help. with the shift in tide, annabeth lets herself feel good about how that went down - about the avoided altercation.

she steps around the group so as not to bring any of their eyes back to her, moving to meet piper just a bit outside of their now growing crowd. mari, for her part, seems to be answering the questions where she can. feeding into the excitement of building.

annabeth speaks quietly in return, her eyes still on the students, making sure none of them are listening. ] Unless you can find a way to get down into the sewer to get the one they already dropped. [ she sighs, running a hand through her hair - messing the curls a bit, but the action is so second nature, annabeth doesn't really care. ] I tried to find a way when I was looking over that one? But it might involve something more involved. I couldn't do it with everyone watching.

[ but hey, she tried. ]