Annabeth

Annabeth sighed and leaned against Percy. They were sitting on the deck of the Argo II, watching the sunset. Tartarus haunted her. Every night she resisted the call of sleep in fear of the nightmares that awaited her. Percy seemed to be in no better condition, and the constant guilt gnawed at her. Why? Why did he fall too? She silently screamed at the sky.

"Strawberries…" Percy murmured next to her, only half asleep. Annabeth chuckled quietly to herself.

"Seaweed Brain." She sighed. Leo poked his head into Annabeth's bunker.

"Dinner. We have tacos." Leo dashed back up to the mess hall. Annabeth quickly shook Percy awake, knowing that if they left the other five alone, there would be no tacos left.

"Race you." Percy said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You're so on." And with that, the two raced up the stairs as fast as possible. Annabeth reached the table first.

" I win." She smiled at him, still gasping.

"Gods, again? Percy, you really need to step up your game. Annabeth's kicking your butt." Piper said, looking amused.

Still out of breath, the two took their seats at the table. Dinner was rather uneventful, apart from Leo bursting into flames from laughing too hard at Frank for accidentally sticking his hand in the salsa. And then turning into an armadillo.

" I'm sorry to wreck the mood, but that really doesn't look good." Jason said with a worried look in his eyes. Annabeth followed his gaze to the horizon. The water was stirring up and tossing pieces of wood from beneath.

"Styx. Cetus." She cursed under her breath.

"What?" Hazel asked, a look of confusion spreading on her face. Something that seemed to vaguely resemble a head poked out of the water, and was gone. The entire crew seemed to freeze. An eerie silence descended over the ship.

"Wise girl? What is that?" Percy questioned.

"Um, we're in for some trouble, so I suggest you grab your weapons." She replied, not answering his question.

"You didn't answer my question. What IS that?" He persisted.

"That is Cetus. Approach him, and you will die." After seeing Frank's hopeful expression, she added "Arrows are not thick enough to pierce through its skin." He looked a little downcast, but they had no time to be upset. She continued. "Cetus was a sea monster originally created by Poseidon to kill Princess Andromeda. The original Perseus killed him."

"No pressure Percy." Leo said with a slight grin on his face.

"Thanks a lot."

A sudden impact rocked the ship. Annabeth grabbed the dagger given to her by Damasen. Damasen. And Bob. A sudden bout of memories came on and caught Annabeth unprepared. She quickly shook them off, but not without feeling a twinge of guilt.

She caught Coach Hedge's eyes on the Ballistae. As much as she hated doing it, she would have to give him control of them.

Another jolt rocked the ship, but this time, a stronger one. Annabeth yelped as the ship suddenly tilted backward and she was flung against the wall. The chairs came next. She could vaguely hear Buford yelling, " PUT SOME PANTS ON!" through the madness.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled her name.

"I'm okay!" She responded, cursing and pushing chairs away. Percy was maneuvering the water to create some kind of a shield around the deck. Piper and Jason both had their weapons out and were fighting side by side. Leo was on fire (literally) and annoyed the monster by throwing flames in its eyes. Hazel held a spear in her hands and was positioned to throw, but Frank was nowhere to be seen. Groaning, she got out from under the pile of lumber, yanked out her dagger, and charged the monster from the side. Annabeth was smart enough not to go directly for the monster, as it had powerful tentacles and more than two eyes.