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Percy was experiencing such a whirlwind of emotions that it was a miracle he hadn’t started a mini hurricane spinning around himself. He was sure no one would have been happy about that, though it wasn’t like anyone’s mood was particularly great in the first place (for the moment, at least).
First, Annabeth. The moment they had kissed in front of the gaping Romans and blushing Greeks, everything had felt right. It was like the world had been off axis and spinning at a different angle when suddenly, it had righted itself. Gaea could have struck him dead, and in that moment, he wouldn’t have cared, because she was in his arms.
For that one moment, everything was normal. His life and the fate of the world was being threatened once again, but with Annabeth at his side, he knew he could deal. Just like he always had.
He’d wanted to show Annabeth around New Rome, but Reyna had nixed that idea pretty quickly and taken her herself. Then the Argo II had fired upon the city, the legion had fired back, and suddenly they were on the run from yet another place that Percy had started to consider as ‘home’ (not home home, but, like, perhaps a vacation home, depending on the future).
Percy had almost strangled Leo, because what the fuck, man? The last thing they needed was the insanely well-organized war machine nicknamed the Twelfth Legion chasing after them. He knew Octavian would be stirring up a frenzy, and honestly, they had every right to. After Percy had promised peace, they had been attacked. And then their new praetor and old-vanished-and-hadn’t-been-seen-for-months praetor had run away, together, on a flying Greek trireme.
Although, really, Jason was carried away since he was unconscious due to a well-aimed brick. Percy had tried to help Piper dribble nectar into his mouth, angling the bottle to hit the back of his throat. He wasn’t much of a healer, though, so eventually he’d had to grab Annabeth for help.
Once Jason was more settled, he and Annabeth sat in the mess hall, waiting to land in the Great Salt Lake. Frank drifted in, took one look at the two of them sitting next to each other and very pointedly sat at the opposite end of the table. He even tried to avoid looking at them, and Percy appreciated that he was trying to give them privacy, even with how miserable he looked. The poor guy was probably freaking out and he was still trying to give Percy privacy.
Percy could barely focus on Frank, though, with Annabeth next to him and Camp Half-Blood on the walls. He wasn’t sure how, but there seemed to be a live video feed showing different areas around camp. Currently, they had a view of the cabins – he could even spot his own, just at the corner, barely visible. Homesickness struck him so hard and fast, he almost keeled over. He pretended he was blinking rapidly to adjust to the lighting rather than growing emotional over some videos on the wall.
Annabeth was staring at the walls, too, but her eyes had that distant, glazed over look that Percy was very familiar with. When your best friend and girlfriend happened to be a bit of a genius, you get used to it. Back at camp, he usually just let her be for a few hours so he wouldn’t get yelled at or stabbed, but they didn’t exactly have that luxury anymore. Besides, he hadn’t seen her in months, so Percy figured he was safe to disturb her now.
“Hey.” He kept his voice low to make it easier for Frank to try and ignore them. He reached for her hand with his right one and gave it a small squeeze. It was enough to get her attention. Her gray eyes slid to his face, and she smiled, a small, little smile, but still a smile, nonetheless. Annabeth laced their fingers together and returned his squeeze with one of her own.
“Hey.”
“So…that was a pretty epic entrance on your part.”
She laughed. “I’m sure a Greek trireme hovering in the sky wasn’t quite what you were anticipating.”
“Not really, no. Especially with the dragon figurehead, that’s a nice touch. But I was talking about how you rushed up to me.”
Annabeth blushed, but her grip on his hand tightened. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose her for months, only to find her across the entire country. Losing Annabeth when he was fourteen had been difficult enough, and she’d only been gone for about five days.
“Oh, come on,” she complained. “You ran to me, too.”
“I never said I didn’t.”
She flicked his shoulder, and they both laughed. It was so natural, so easy between them despite the months they had been separated, that it was easy for them to ignore Frank as he shuffled uncomfortably at the other end of the table. “Don’t forget, I flipped you once. I can flip you again.”
“I will be sending my chiropractor bill to you when I’m old with a barely functioning back, just so you know.”
They laughed again, and Percy couldn’t help it, even with Frank present – he ducked his head down and kissed her. He pulled back far too soon, but anything further would have to wait. As per usual, they had to go save the world, and the world wasn’t going to wait for them to make out first. Plus, he really didn’t want to scandalize Frank (no, his willpower regarding that was not slowly fading the longer they sat there, why do you ask?).
“Are you okay?” Percy asked. His eyes locked on her gray ones, so he saw in perfect clarity when they widened in incredulity.
She leaned forward, her hair brushing against his arm. “Percy, you were missing for months. You just got back from a quest from Alaska, the land beyond the gods. And you’re asking me if I’m okay?”
“Yes.”
She blew out a breath, shaking her head. “Okay, just checking. Um…I don’t know. Today has been a lot. There has been a lot of preparation for today, and it feels like…like none if it went to plan.”
Percy was pretty sure that the plan hadn’t been to fire on New Rome, so that made sense. “I know you love plans, but…when do our plans ever work out how we wanted?”
Annabeth let out a dry laugh and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. “Unfortunately, very rarely. Gods, how sad is it to say that?”
“Pretty sad.” Percy chuckled and gazed back at the footage flickering on the walls. It looked so close, like he could just get up, walk through and be home, sleep safe in his cabin, wake up to the scent of strawberries baking in the air. Sparring with Clarisse sounded far better than fighting giants on the other side of the world. “But you know what?”
“What?” She looked at him, her lips pressed together in determination, and a warm feeling spread across Percy’s chest as he looked at her. Gods, she was beautiful. She was beautiful, and she was here, and they were together. Just how they were supposed to be.
“There’s no one else that I’d rather go save the world again with, Wise Girl.”
Her answering smile was beautiful, eased of everything but gentleness. “Right back at you, Seaweed Brain.”
Without saying another word, they both turned to face the video feed of Camp Half-Blood on the walls once more, hands still tightly clasped, a vow made of intertwined fingers. Percy knew in his gut that things would get worse before they got better. He knew that he was about to go down one of the hardest paths his life would hopefully ever take. Honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure any of them would survive, but that didn’t matter, because he would do everything in his power to make sure they all came home. And he knew that Annabeth would be right there at his side until the very end.
The Argo II began to sink, starting a slow descent towards the Great Salt Lake. Percy could feel the salt water beneath them growing closer and closer with every passing second, and with it, his sense of determination grew.
The world was basically on fire, and he was on another impossible mission. But Percy knew that as long as he and Annabeth were together, they would be alright.