Summary: Annabeth's point of view during scenes in The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. This chapter happens during page 166, in which Percy and Annabeth are lost on the Sea of Monsters, directly after escaping the Scylla.
Disclaimer: Percy and the Olympians belongs to Rick Riordan, Copyright 2006. Some phrases are reiterated from the original novel.
Dedication: All readers that have this story on Story Alert. You guys made me feel guilty enough to complete the unfinished story a mite bit more.
Squinting on the Sea of Monsters
Percy and I sailed for hours, alternatively talking and staring at the waves. We both took small naps, my first sleep since the incident with Clarisse's ship.
Our surroundings were very bad for the eyes, I decided. There really was nowhere I could look without squinting. The sun was bright in the sky, but not overly hot, and the blue of the sky was the optimistic blue of a child's drawing. The sea was a brilliant green, just the color of Percy's eyes, in fact, which was such a gorgeous-
Never mind.
I tried to keep from asking Percy nautical questions too often, but I hated not knowing things. The rate that I'd limited myself to was about a question per hour. And that hour was up.
"Where are we?" I asked him when a lull fell in our conversation.
"One hundred and seventy-six nautical miles west by northwest from the island," Percy responded immediately. I smiled, as if at a joke.
"What?" he asked with a hint of grumpiness.
I didn't want to tell Percy that he adopted a funny-looking face whenever he did that – a surprised look, wide eyes and all – so I just shook my head. He frowned, but let the subject drop.
Judging by our current speed of travel in the little rowboat, it would take another couple hours to find our island. Which was fine with me, I suppose.
"How'd you do it?" Percy asked. I didn't know what he meant, and my clueless state must've shown on my face, because he pointed at my improvised sail. I gave him a shrug. "Athena made the loom."
"Oh. Right." Percy was embarrassed at his ignorance for a moment before grinning. "So, you can sew and weave and all that? I never figured you were that domestic." I exhaled a long-suffering sigh.
"Seaweed Brain, if it weren't for my domesticity, you'd be rowing," I pointed out, and he dropped that subject, too. In fact, he winced at the thought.
We sat in silence for quite awhile, staring off into the sky, sea, or in random places around the boat.
Percy stared at me.
It made me very uncomfortable, almost like the time we'd hidden in the old hideout of Luke's, Thalia's, and mine. Thinking of the hideout only made me more uncomfortable, but I kept my exterior still. I was calm that way.
I drew my knees up and wrapped my arms around them.
"Annabeth," Percy hesitated, and then said in a rush, "what were you doing, outside my window?"
I turned to look at him (okay, over his shoulder) with wide eyes and felt rather like an owl. Was that what he'd been thinking about while he stared? I felt the blood rise to my cheeks.
"It was nothing," I lied, shifting a little.
"Come on, Wise Girl."
"Do you really want to know?"
"It can't be that bad." The statement was entirely true, from his point of view. To me, however, it was very bad. Thinking about it brought about a stain of embarrassment. The memory also accompanied a certain amount of unease and indecision.
"I'd traveled cross-country to bring you back to camp and figured I'd catch you right when you were waking up, since that's when I arrived. But your mom interrupted," I said.
"That's it?" he asked, a flicker of something on his face. It was quickly gone, however, and he continued with the questions. "How did you get up there?"
"The fire escape made a far easier climb than the camp's volcano." I sounded like I was commenting on the weather.
"I-I'm glad you came," he said.
"Why? You said the monsters weren't attacking you heavily, with… Well, you said you were pretty safe."
"Well, I mean, it was good to see you again. Though I missed Grover, too, of course."
I studied my hands and fervently ignored the warm feeling in my stomach. My mind recalled the reason Grover wasn't here. Looking up, I found that Percy had remembered, too.
"He's hanging on," I said, resting a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Yeah, but will he still be hanging on in a few hours? A day?" He shook his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't ask that. He's your friend, too, it's just… The empathy link, you know? I can feel his fear. And I wonder how much of it is mine, instead of his. If I stop feeling his fear, it means…" Percy wasn't crying and he was still facing me head-on, but his expression was empty enough to speak volumes.
"He was my first real friend in the mortal world, and in the world of the Gods. Plus, he's looked out for me since before I knew about all of this," he explained dejectedly.
"We're working on it," I said firmly.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, we are. Thanks." He attempted a smile, and I attempted one in return. I knew what he meant.
With a squeeze, I let my hand fall off of his shoulder and to my side.
I was the first person to break eye contact.
We squinted at the ocean once more.
854 words…
I started this chapter trying to write out their conversation about the Prophecy. Whoops. Next time, I guess. If you guys see any typos, please PM me!
