annabeth chase
The Argo II has set sail, and Annabeth can't help but worry. How is Percy? Does he even remember her? Is he a twisted, demented version of him?
No, she tells herself. He is alright, and you are alright...maybe after we defeat Gaea.
She is not reassuring herself. Annabeth scowls, then sighs. It's late. She should probably return to her quarters.
But there's something that draws her eyes upward. The stars look beautiful tonight, and the night sky is shining.
Annabeth's observant eyes quickly zero in on one constellation — The Huntress. It's Zoё. She doesn't know her very well, but Artemis's former lieutenant had been killed on her rescue mission.
The constellation is beautiful, breathtaking: there's just something in the air, something unnamed. The woman with her bow out is focused on something in the distance, but there is a smile on her face that seems to say I know something you don't.
What? Annabeth wants to ask. What can you tell me? Can you tell me I can make it out of this alive?
The constellation does not say anything, as expected, but the figure of the former Hesperide seems to pulse, as if answering. Yes.
…Will Percy? Annabeth thinks.
She thinks she can see Zoё wink at her.
That's not the question you should be asking, she appears to say.
Then, thinks Annabeth, what do you know that I don't?
Zoё gives her a mischievous look, shrewd. You'll find out soon enough.
Annabeth does not have all the answers, not today. But she is reassured for now. Sated, because she will get the answers, and no matter what, she will pull through. Because that, at its core, is Annabeth: the kind of girl who pulls through no matter what.