Disclaimer: PJO isn't mine. Rivers and Roads lyrics by The Head and the Heart (which is an excellent song, by the way).
Over Rivers and Roads
Been talking bout the way things change
And my family lives in a different state
Annabeth is running around making last minute checks before take-off.
They are completely behind schedule, and the smallest things that could go wrong have. She is adjusting plans and backup plans as they go, and she has too much to worry about, even after months of logistical planning and strategy sessions.
There is the impending and possibly catastrophic meeting with the Romans, of course. As soon as Jason confirmed it, Annabeth began researching: battle tactics, fort layouts, Senatorial debates, everything and anything that seemed remotely pertinent. For months she's poured over the works of Livy, Tacitus, and Caesar. She has prepared the appropriate hypothetical speeches for the hypothetical scenarios. She has briefed everyone on expected Roman customs and formalities.
She is as ready as she is ever going to be to meet the Romans.
But first a ship full of several half-bloods has to cross the country, determine the exact location of the Roman camp based on her siblings' best calculations, and land.
That doesn't even cover the potential problems the camps will have to contend with while attempting to collaborate, or the likely monster attacks throughout the journey, and those problems are relatively small in comparison to what is to come.
The prophecy is a major headache in and of itself, and one that will surely get messy fast, and definitely something Annabeth will dwell on later.
Now she needs to focus on getting back on schedule.
Annabeth is decidedly not thinking about how they have to defeat several giants while the gods are being completely uncooperative, or the awful visit from her mother, or –
Or Percy.
She tucks her hair behind her ear and stares blankly at her checklist for a moment. She has been trying not to think about him; it is easier to push away the worry and anxiety that has built up over the last six months. She misses him more than she can say, but there is nothing she can do for him right now, and that is the worst part of it.
But she can get this ship up in the air.
The sooner they leave, the closer she'll be to seeing him again.
"C'mon guys. We've got Romans to meet!"
Rivers and roads
Rivers 'til I reach you
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