Annabeth woke drenched in sweat, with her heart slamming against her ribcage.

She sat up, breathing heavily. As far as she could remember, she hadn't had any dreams, but the way her body was reacting was telling a different story. Annabeth sat on the bed, trying to steady her heart rate and her breathing, straining to remember what she had dreamed about.

It was no use. Whatever it was was gone, taking whatever information it could have given Annabeth with it. She sighed heavily to herself, rubbing her face with her hands.

It was still well before sunrise— she could see only darkness through the little port window, which meant that she had only slept a few hours. That was a good thing in her mind; she hadn't even wanted to sleep in the first place. Thankfully her clothes were no longer sopping wet, rather somewhere closer to damp.

She felt a little disgusting, what with her hair sticky and stiff from seawater and her skin itching with salt, but she pulled the clothes on anyway. They were still clean, despite having taken a dunk in the ocean. Apparently Venus's magic was not so easily budged.

Still, what she wouldn't give for a bath right now.

The deck was mostly calm and quiet, the only real shock being that the ship had stopped moving forward, and was now just rocking gently in place. Fai, Perseus and Jason were all sitting on barrels and boxes stacked by the stairwell.

"Why'd we stop?" Annabeth asked, before she was even completely up the stairs.

"We're almost there," Fai answered, pointing out into the distance. Annabeth looked out, squinting. It was hard to see in the dark, but there was the tiniest line on the horizon, a little sliver of light that promised land.

"We figured we should stop a bit out, wait for everyone to wake up. Maybe come up with a plan before we sail right into whatever trap is waiting for us," Perseus said. He was cutting up an apple with a paring knife, and handed her a slice without her even asking. She took it, sitting down next to him.

"Makes sense," she said, biting into the apple she'd been handed. It was cool, somehow still crisp, despite being just on the edge of starting to go bad. It tasted like honey, but was just a little tart.

"Recovered from your swim?" Jason asked. His voice was light, a little teasing, but Annabeth could tell he was still at least a little worried.

"Slept it right off," Annabeth said, which was true. She felt completely fine now, aside from her throat being a little sore.

"Told you so," Perseus said smugly, handing her another apple slice. She stuck her tongue out at him, but took the apple anyway.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"A few hours, maybe?" Jason guessed, glancing up at the sky and rubbing the back of his head, "It's harder to tell at night."

"Not long," Perseus promised.

They still had at least an hour or two before the others woke, though. There was a brief discussion where it was half-heartedly suggested that they wake them early, but in the end they all agreed it was better to let them rest. They were cutting it close, time-wise, but letting everyone get one last bit of sleep was a logical allocation of the few extra hours they had left.

That left some empty time to fill. Annabeth already had the bare bones of a plan formulating in the back of her mind, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the on deck entertainment— watching Fai practice his new powers.

Watching him transform was utterly fascinating. It happened just a bit too fast for Annabeth to tell exactly how it was happening beyond a vague growing or shrinking, but that didn't stop her from looking out for any possible detail that could explain it. He turned into a giant eagle, extending his long wingspan and flapping gently— then his wings extended into legs as he morphed into a dog, large black and shaggy, then shrunk straight into a little white cat.

"I wish I could do that," Jason said enviously, as Fai finally shifted back into his human body.

"You can control lightning. And fly," Annabeth reminded him.

"You can fly?" Fai asked curiously.

"I can control the winds. Sometimes they support me," Jason said, waving his hand dismissively.

"I've seen you fly," Perseus said, halfway to laughing, "You can call it whatever you want, but it's flying."

"Okay, fine, I can fly, but so can Fai," Jason said, unable to keep from grinning, "And he can turn into a leopard, so I think he wins."

Annabeth leaned forward in interest.

"You can turn into a leopard?"

She knew in theory that he could do any animal he pleased, but she hadn't seen him do anything larger than the dog.

Fai blushed, then a second later an enormous cat was standing on the deck, covered in large black spots. Annabeth's eyes widened, she swallowed heavily. She knew it was just Fai, but her heart still picked up pace automatically, all her instincts begging her to run.

"Holy Styx," she said, as Fai shifted back into himself.

"Still think my powers are better?" Jason asked, nudging her shoulder playfully.

"Not even a little bit," Annabeth said, shaking her head. They all laughed, even Fai. He still looked slightly bashful, but was growing in confidence with each successful transformation.

"So when you shift, everything attached to you will shift too?" Annabeth asked. She knew it was magic, and thinking too hard about how it worked would just leave her unsatisfied and confused, but this seemed like a little piece of information they could figure out, one that might be useful later.

"As far as I can figure," Fai said, looking down over his clothes.

"What if you're holding something?"

Fai frowned, twisting his fingers together nervously.

"I'm not sure, actually"

"Let's test it," Perseus said, tossing Fai a new, uncut apple. Fai looked a little surprised, but managed to catch it anyway.

He shrunk into some sort of small nondescript bird, then grew back into himself, apple still in his hand.

"Well, that answers that," Perseus said.

Fai stopped shifting after that, opting to sit down and eat the apple instead. Apparently using his powers made him tired— not debilitatingly so, and apparently not so much when he changed into smaller, less powerful animals (which Annabeth took note of) but enough that he didn't want to overdo it before they even got to the city.

The others started to discuss the logistics of what was coming next, but Annabeth let her mind wander instead. Now that she was without distractions, it became easier to begin to piece together a fully fledged plan. There were still several things they didn't quite know, still a lot of empty variables.

Their biggest problem wasn't even the voice— it was that once they got to the city, they had no idea where to actually look for the stolen god. Annabeth's plan hinged on the assumption that the voice had been the one to kidnap them in the first place, which felt obvious, even if they'd never figured it out outright.

She also knew that the voice still wanted her and Perseus alive, which she could use to their advantage. It might be difficult to explain to the others why the voice cared about her so much, but she could feign ignorance on that front.

Maybe if they had more time she could have fully explained. A part of her almost wanted to, but she knew in her heart now would be one of the worst times to do it. They couldn't afford to have any conflict in the group, not when they were right on the brink of the climax of their quest. At best it would cause needless tension, at worst the group could turn on itself completely.

The rest of her plan was dependent on a combination of Hazel's magic, Fai's newfound ability, and the element of surprise. All in all, it was probably not her best work, but given the circumstances, it wasn't terrible either.

"Calculating again?" Perseus asked quietly, drawing her out of her thoughts. Jason and Fai were still talking, though Annabeth was too far removed from the original context of the conversation to understand exactly what about.

"Just coming up with a plan," she said, speaking in the same quiet tone. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile.

"I would expect nothing less," he said, handing her another slice of apple.

"You might not be so enthused when you hear what it entails," Annabeth warned. She took a small bite off the end of the apple, savoring the tartness of it.

He grimaced, but didn't have time to respond before Hazel emerged from below deck, still yawning. Piper followed soon after, already talking and laughing with Leo.

Soon they were all gathered on the deck together, a strange combination of sitting and standing in a loose semi-circle. It was only the third time they had all been awake and together at the same time; the first being their group meeting a few days ago, the second being the conflict with the pirates. Annabeth almost didn't count that second instance, given that it was unintentional.

The lighthearted conversation died as everyone else seemed to realize this fact. Or maybe it was Athens; glittering in the distance and becoming more and more visible with each passing minute as the sun started to peer above the horizon.

It was Piper who broke the tense silence that had fallen over the group.

"We made it," she said. Her choppy brown hair was flowing loose today, tostled by a gentle breeze. Annabeth was pretty sure the same breeze was currently tangling her hair even more than it already was.

"And somehow that was the easy part," Hazel said, lips pursed.

Her arms were lightly crossed in front of her. It was a casual gesture, but one hand was resting on a very familiar leather pouch, one that she had seen Fai touch countless times. Annabeth had to keep her smile to herself, since she was fairly sure nobody else had noticed.

"So what do we do now?" Leo asked.

His question was met with silence. Annabeth could feel Perseus's eyes on her, waiting. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"I've got a plan," Annabeth announced.

Nobody liked Annabeth's plan.

If she was honest, Annabeth didn't much like her plan either, but even after almost a half hour of debate, nobody could come up with a better one.

"How do you even know they'll leave you alive?" Piper asked, crossing her arms over her chest. It was not the first time some iteration of this question had popped up, but considering Annabeth was dodging the bulk of it, she couldn't exactly blame them for asking it over and over again.

"Chrysaor said the voice wanted me and Perseus alive. He didn't say why."

Truth, technically, even if it wasn't very believable. Annabeth had said that there just hadn't really been a chance to share that little detail from their encounter until now, which wasn't exactly a lie. And Chrysaor really hadn't said why. The fact that Annabeth and Perseus had some idea was irrelevant.

"And why are you only just telling us that now?"

"What, you think I'm lying about it?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. Piper sighed in frustration.

"No, I just— I don't understand why you wouldn't tell us before."

Perseus answered before Annabeth could.

"We were all shaken after that attack. It slipped our minds."

"It slipped your minds," Jason repeated, sounding unconvinced.

"I— I didn't want to think about it," Annabeth said, already feeling a guilty twist in her gut, "It scared me, and that's why I didn't tell you, but I swear it's what we heard."

Half lies again, these ones a bit more believable. Believable enough to smooth over the moment, to keep anyone from questioning further, anyway.

"It's too risky," Jason said, rubbing his temple anxiously, "He could have easily been lying."

"I don't think he was," Perseus said. He, of course, also knew that the dream Annabeth had confirmed Chrysaor was telling the truth. But since they'd already omitted that detail when they'd told the others about it, it wasn't something they could bring up as proof now.

"This is our best bet— our only bet. If they see any of the rest of you, they'll kill you right away. At least this way we stand a chance," Annabeth insisted.

"What about me?" Hazel piped up, "The voice wanted me on its side. It's just as likely to leave me alive as the two of you."

Annabeth was already shaking her head.

"The plan only works if you stay behind to disguise the ship, and then everyone else. It has to be me and Perseus."

"I could go, use my charmspeak," Piper suggested, "I can get them to tell us where we need to go."

Jason cut her off before Annabeth had the chance.

"Absolutely not. Octavian knows about your magic, and he's working with the voice. They had wax in their ears last time, and if you can't charm them they'll just kill you."

"So you want Annabeth to go instead, on the off chance that they want her alive?" Piper asked incredulously.

"It's not an off-chance," Annabeth insisted, "I know what I heard."

Piper opened her mouth to speak again, but a so-far quiet voice cut her off before she could.

"Not to be a complete killjoy," Leo started. Everyone turned to look at him, but he just grimaced and pressed on, "But the longer we stand here arguing about this, the less time we actually have to find what we're looking for."

Annabeth glanced over to the horizon. The sun had just barely risen, but was crawling into the sky at an alarming pace. They had until sundown, which meant twelve more hours, generously. Considering they had the entire city to search, that was not an abundance of time.

"It's not a bad plan," Leo continued, "I mean, it's a little insane and it probably won't work, but at the very least it'll keep the most people alive the longest."

"Thank you, Leo," Annabeth said. Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but she would take whatever meager support she could get.

"You just like it because you get to stay behind and guard the ship," Piper said, only a little accusatory. He just shrugged.

"Look, if we fail at this, apparently it's going to trigger the apocalypse or something. I would probably be better off dying with the rest of you than living through whatever's coming next."

Nobody spoke after that. The weight of their task seemed to crash over all of them, putting the argument into perspective.

"Leo's right," Annabeth said, unable to stand the silence any longer, "We don't have time to be fighting about this. I know the risk, and so does Perseus."

She glanced over to him, still sitting on her right. He just nodded, a clear sign of assent, even if his expression was unreadable.

"And if anyone else has a right to complain about this, it's Fai," Annabeth said, turning towards him. Fai bit his bottom lip, a blush creeping up his neck.

"I can do it," he said, though admittedly he did not sound particularly enthused.

Annabeth noticed Hazel grimace slightly, but she said nothing. Annabeth could tell that Hazel would much rather be going than Annabeth, but she also recognized that the plan hinged on her staying behind.

"Then everyone involved is agreed. We'll follow my plan, unless someone else has a better idea."

Piper shifted uncomfortably, her arms still crossed over her chest. Jason's shoulders were stiff, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The others looked equally uncomfortable. Even Perseus beside her felt tense. But nobody said anything.

"It's settled, then," Annabeth said, after a few seconds of silence, "Let's go."

It didn't take long to prepare for Annabeth's plan. This did nothing but make her nervous, since she had nothing to do but pace the deck, thinking and rethinking every element of it. So much of their success hinged on chance and luck, but she couldn't see another way around it. There was just too much she didn't know, too many variables at play.

She tried not to let her nervousness show. She still wasn't entirely convinced that Piper was completely on board, despite the fact that she had not raised any objections since the meeting had semi-adjourned. Annabeth also didn't want to give Fai the impression that she wasn't confident in her plan, though, in fairness, his involvement was the least risky out of the main three of them.

Hiding her anxiety from Perseus was a different matter altogether; the endeavor failed before it even began. He was busy at first, helping Leo and Jason pull up the anchor and getting the ship ready to sail, but as soon as they were on the move, she felt his gaze zero in on her.

Annabeth's pacing had ceased at the side railing of the ship, close enough to still hear the other's scattered conversations if she strained. She saw him approach her, casually, except that she could read the worry on his face a mile away. Every line on his face felt familiar to her, but the ones of worry that always appeared between his brows especially so.

He joined her at the railing, leaning against it in an ostensibly relaxed gesture. They both stared out at the deck in front of them instead of each other. It felt wrong, unfamiliar.

"You hate my plan," Annabeth said. It was not a question, but rather a statement of fact. She knew he hated the plan, probably more than the rest of them combined, though he wisely hadn't let it show to the others.

"It's a good plan," he said, noncommittally.

"You still hate it," Annabeth repeated.

"I hate it," he confirmed, his shoulders sagging, as if his hatred of it all was a physical load he had to carry.

"I told you you would."

"I know," he sighed, "And I know it's the best idea we've got. But I still hate it."

"I hate it too," Annabeth admitted.

They were quiet for a minute, just listening to the waves break against the side of the ship, and snippets of restless chatter flying about the ship.

"You didn't tell the others about Luke," Perseus noted.

"It would have taken too long," Annabeth said. That was the truth. She wasn't trying to hide Luke, not the way she was trying to hide other things. It was just messy, inconvenient, too difficult to explain in too short a time. Not relevant enough to allot precious time to.

"We still have time before we reach the shore," Perseus said, mildly.

She glanced over at him, unsurprised to see him looking blankly out into the distance.

"Piper and Jason already know snippets," she said.

"Do they know he'll be there?"

"Even we don't know that for sure."

At that, he just gave her a look. Annabeth bit her bottom lip, staring very deliberately ahead.

"We don't. Besides, if the plan works, it won't even matter."

That was a bold-faced lie, but he didn't call her out on it.

"Will you tell them?" she asked, glancing over to him. He shook his head.

"It won't matter to them who he is," Annabeth said, looking away again, "It'll only matter to me."

They lapsed into silence again. The distance between them felt paradoxical. It was miserable to feel so close to him and so far apart, all at once. She wanted to just pretend there was nothing keeping them apart, to just fall back into that easy intimacy the way they had even just a few hours ago. But the obstacles between them were not so easily ignored, not when they were physically moving closer to them with every passing second.

"If Luke is there, he'll want to talk to me," Annabeth said, finally. Perseus sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I figured."

"You have to let him," Annabeth said. He knew that already, but Annabeth felt the need to say it anyways. Perseus folded his arms over his chest

"I doubt we'll have much of a choice one way or another."

"But if we do," Annabeth pressed, "I can draw it out, make it last as long as possible."

"That's not why you want to talk to him," Perseus said, his head shaking a nearly imperceptible amount, so slight that Annabeth knew he wasn't even doing it consciously.

"What does it matter what I want?" frustration and exhaustion leaked into her voice in equal amounts, "It's the same either way"

"That's not true, and you know it," he said, voice infuriatingly even.

"Fine, I want to speak to him again," Annabeth relented, "Is that really such a bad thing?"

"That depends on why they want us alive," Perseus said. He wasn't looking at her.

"You say that like you know."

He sighed, letting his eyes close for just a second.

"I don't. But there aren't exactly a lot of options, are there?"

There weren't, Annabeth knew there weren't. If they were lucky, the voice just wanted the two of them on his side, the same as he wanted Hazel. Annabeth had a feeling they were not lucky. Mercury had said that Annabeth would die if she went with Luke before. There was no reason to believe the same wouldn't be true now.

Just because the voice wanted them to get to Athens alive, that didn't mean it intended to keep them that way once they got there.

"No," Annabeth breathed.

A cold sensation of dread and fear trickled down her spine, causing her to shiver ever-so-lightly. He noticed, because he always noticed those things. He slipped his hand into hers, giving it a light squeeze.

They would survive. They would be okay. They had to be. It would be far too cruel for fate to drop him in her life, just to tear him away so soon.

But fate had never much cared about being kind to Annabeth before. There was no reason it should start now.