Chapter 5 - I Hate Dresses but At Least Jason's Old

Percy and I talked a lot that afternoon. By dinner time we went up to the mess hall. When everyone was served and had eaten a good bit I decided it was time for the war-planning part of our meal.

"Ok. So we know we need to get to Olympus, but, well, I think we need more of a plan. Piper, have you seen anything in the dagger that could help us?"

Piper placed Katoptris on the table. "I've seen a lot of things, most of them aren't good. I've been seeing a hill. On the top are some ruins -"

"So it could be literally anywhere in Greece." Leo commented helpfully.

Piper glared at him. "I'm pretty sure it's Ithaca. Like, Odysseus's home. The ruins are filled with guys that look like ghosts."

Hazel shuddered. "I've been feeling this tingle… like there are a lot of returned spirits nearby. The biggest gathering of evil spirits outside of the Underworld."

Everyone was silent at that.

"Yeah, ok, that's never good. Any idea why these spirits are there?" I asked the group.

Piper and Hazel both shook their heads.

"Anything else you've seen in the knife Piper?"

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, uh, it's you and me with an old guy sneaking in some bushes above the ruins. I think Hazel is supposed to disguise one of the guys as a ghost so we can sneak in. Then we can spy on them."

I nodded. "Ok. So Piper, me, and one of the guys gets disguised and we go to spy on these ghosts. We try to find out what they are doing there, and if possible, find out about any traps Gaea is setting for us. We get the intel, then we get out. Any objections?"

The room was silent. I turned to Piper. "Any idea which guy?"

She took a breath. "I think… I think it's Jason. I saw these other images, that well, don't make any sense. But I saw Jason talking to one of the ghosts - a woman. I think he needs to come."

Jason looked troubled. It's never fun when Piper's knife singles you out. Silence once again filled the room. I looked at Percy and raised one eyebrow. He gave me a small smile and a nod. He was ok with us leaving him behind, though I knew he felt like I did - neither of us wanted to be even a little bit apart right now.

"Ok. So Jason, Piper and I need to do this. Leo, when can we be to Ithaca?"

"Tomorrow morning, I think. Maybe mid-morning."

I nodded. "Anything else?" I asked the group. No one seemed inclined to speak. I think they were all still a little shocked to have Percy and I back. I sighed. "Ok. So then let's get some rest. Who's on guard detail first?"

We all finished eating and went our separate ways. I went to restock my supply bag so I had everything needed for a possible mythological apocalypse. Then, I went to find the others. I found them crammed into Frank's room. Piper beckoned me in and I sat between Percy and Hazel on the bed.

"What's going on?"

"Game night!" Hazel explained excitedly. "Festus is on watch for now."

Piper happily dealt out Uno cards to everyone as I looked at Percy.

"This feels so….." Weird? Good? Crazy? Dream-like? Unreal? Pointless? Amazing? All of those and more?

"I know." He agreed. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and prepared to try to beat me in Uno.

That night, nightmares found me again. This time, I was twelve. Percy and I were back on the Waterland Tunnel of Love ride. But this time, Percy was freaking out just as much as I was. Neither of us had a plan. We were doomed as the spiders got closer.

"Annabeth!" He screamed at me. "Do something! What's the plan? You always have a plan!"

I did always have a plan. That was what everyone was counting on. Always. But what if I didn't? What if my plans didn't work anymore? I hadn't had enough of a plan for my quest under Rome. I hadn't had a plan for Tartarus. If I had….. Could I have saved them? Bob and Small Bob, Damasen? The spiders swarmed over Percy and I, eating us alive, one tiny bite at a time.

I woke with a jolt. Where was I? I looked around, frantic.

"Uh…." Said someone next to me. I glanced down. When I woke up, I accidentally planted a hand directly on Percy's face.

"Sorry." I muttered, pulling away. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back down so our noses were just touching.

"Bad nightmare?"

I nodded. "Percy….. Everyone assumes I've got a plan, but what if….. What if my plans don't work anymore? What if Athena took that from me too? And what if that's what gets us all killed, not the gods, not Gaea, but me not being good enough?"

He gently stroked my hair. "I find that hard to believe. But, Annabeth, you aren't carrying this quest by yourself. This isn't Rome. There are seven of us for a reason. We each bring our strengths and our weaknesses. And we'll work together to come up with a plan, ok?"

I nodded, a tear tracing my cheek. "What if it's not enough?"

He kissed me. "I don't know." He admitted.

"Sorry I woke you."

He shrugged. "You didn't. I couldn't sleep."

I pulled him tight against me. I could tell we were both falling asleep already. "I love you." I told him.

"Love you too."

The next morning, I joined the others in the mess hall for breakfast where we reviewed the plan again. I found out that Piper had managed to fend off an attack of an entire flock of evil harpies last night and I was so proud of my friend. She looked a little harried, but proud of herself. She had a bright blue feather braided into her hair this morning - a souvenir of last night's attacks. She was so different from the scared, insecure girl I had brought to Camp Half-Blood from the Grand Canyon. This Piper was sure of herself and what she wanted in the world. Her confidence shown from her, almost giving her a glow.

After breakfast, Hazel handed Piper and I magic amphora - Greek wine jars - that she had created out of the Mist. I still didn't understand all of Hazel's new powers, but she assured us it should be safe to put our swords in those so we could hide them but keep them close at hand. I still couldn't get over Hazel's new magic. It was insanely powerful. I didn't know if she realized just how powerful she was. After breakfast Hazel took Piper and I to the girl's bathroom for a make-over - Ancient Greek ghost style.

Hazel poured Mist over both of us and when my vision cleared, Piper and I were decked out in white sleeveless dresses. Hazel had magically changed my tennis shoes into Greek sandals. Silver bracelets appeared on my arms, making them look delicate and not at all like I was a warrior. The dress was so revealing. I did not like the look at all. I felt so exposed - and definitely not ready for a fight. I pulled my hair into a bun, trying to look like a proper Greek serving maiden.

Piper put her hair back as well, but chose to include the blue harpy feather from last night's fight. I thought it was a nice touch, even if it didn't fit the Greek maiden image. I looked in the mirror. I was still gaunt and had clearly lost weight from my time in Tartarus. But I figured I'd look ok - at least, ok enough by desperate dead-guy ghost standards.

I stepped out of the bathroom, Piper right behind me now that Hazel had completed the transformation.

The boys were waiting for us in the hall.

"Woah." It was Leo. "You two look like actual girls for once -"

Jason had punched him in the shoulder, which I approved of.

Frank was blushing but said, "Yeah. You both look great. Very Greek."

Coming from him, the Roman praetor, I wasn't sure it was a compliment.

Jason grinned at Piper. "You look gorgeous, Pipes. Aphrodite would be jealous." She kissed him and I turned to Percy, whose mouth was open a little, like a fish.

"Well?" I demanded.

He grinned at me. "It's beautiful. But it's not your style. Personally, I prefer you in armor."

I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a kiss. Sometimes he didn't say stupid things.

Hazel grinned at us and turned to Jason. "Ok, your turn."

Before Jason could protest, Mist gathered around Jason's feet and crept up his body until he was entirely enveloped, like a mummy. When it dissipated, Jason wasn't there anymore. An old man had taken his place. His hands were gnarled, his sword had changed to a walking stick. His body looked so frail I couldn't imagine him making the climb. Before I could react, Leo had burst into laughter.

"Jason! Man! You look -" Whatever he was about to say was inaudible through his laughing.

I had to grin. Seeing Jason look like he needed to be in a nursing home made me feel a lot better about my own disguise. We left the boat, Jason stumbling on the way out, and stepped onto Ithaca.

We made our way to the hill Piper had seen in her knife. We knew that most of the suitors had returned, taking over Odysseus's palace. This time, though, they weren't waiting to see if Penelope would marry them. They were there to be ready for combat when Gaea wanted them. We weren't very far up the hill but Jason was struggling - his legs were shaking and his breathing made him sound like Hazel may have also given him pneumonia when she gave him the old man smell.

"Almost there. You're doing great!" Piper told him, encouragingly.

"Worst… idea… ever…" He muttered. Since our previous ideas had included me going off on a solo quest against my mom's worst enemy, Percy and I plunging into the literal depths of Tartarus, and Leo's decision to put a tiny Coach Hedge hologram onto Buford the Wonder Table, well, I thought it was a bit of an exaggeration.

Jason leaned against a nearby tree and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Hazel's magic is too good. If I have to fight, I'll be useless." I had been having the same idea about me in a sleeveless dress and delicate sandals. We could only hope there wasn't a fight.

"It won't come to that." I assured him. I realized I was hunching my shoulders, trying to keep the dress from slipping further down my body. Couldn't Hazel have given me a magic dress with sleeves?

"We'll infiltrate the palace. We'll get the information we need, and get out."

Piper let her amphora slide to the ground. "Can we rest for a second? Catch your breath, Jason."

I was wary of waiting too long. I didn't want to be caught out here, in the open. The idea was to get in and get out, fast. I scanned the hillside around us, ready for monsters, ghosts, or anything else that might want to kill us. The island was beautiful - rolling hills dotted with flowers, beautiful cliffs, an ocean so blue it looked like Sally Jackson had dyed it just for Percy. That made me smile. It was extremely hot. That's something they don't mention a lot in the Greek myths - how much everyone must've been sweating. I could feel sweat coming from my forehead and saw it on Piper's and Jason's foreheads as well. I wished that Hazel could make us air-conditioned disguises. Maybe I'd ask her about it later.

"Stupid Ithaca." Jason muttered, but his breathing sounded better. "Are you sure this is the right hill? It seems kinda… I don't know… quiet."

I felt bad for Jason - he was probably imagining that we'd get to the top of this hill only to find out it was really a different hill we needed to be on - and that hill was across the island.

Piper looked at the hill and murmured, "The ruins are up there. I saw them in Katoptris's blade. And you heard what Hazel said. The biggest -"

"'The biggest gathering of evil spirits I've ever seen.' Yeah. Sounds awesome."

I could tell Jason was in a bad mood but I didn't figure there was much we could do to help that, so it was time to head on.

I fiddled with the gold belt on my waist. I still wasn't sure about these magic disguises. "I hope our disguises hold up." I muttered. "The Suitors were nasty customers when they were alive. If they find out we're demigods -"

"Hazel's magic will work." Piper assured me. It hurt, a bit, that she and Hazel had gotten so close while I was in Tartarus. I hoped they wouldn't cut me out. I shook my head. Problem for another time, Annabeth. Focus. Lots of evil spirits wanting to kill you if you don't focus.

I'll admit it, I was kind of excited to be here. I hadn't actually gotten to see any cool monuments on the trip. In Rome, I was kinda focussed on my solo quest. Everyone else got to see the Colosseum. Sure, they had been made to fight to the death in it, but still. Frank, Hazel and Leo had gotten to see the Pantheon in Rome. Jason and Nico had gotten to see Diocletian's palace, though they didn't talk about it much. While I felt a little silly about being jealous, it just didn't feel fair that I had barely gotten to see any cool stuff this trip. Odysseus was an amazing mortal, one of the wisest, most clever… well, you get the idea. Athena kids basically worshipped the guy. So, yeah. I was excited to be here, ghosts or no.

"Well…" I turned to listen to Jason. "If I look as old as I feel, my disguise must be perfect. Let's get going."

We continued up the hill. I thought about Nico and Reyna, trying to get that stupid statue all the way back to Half-Blood Hill just because I asked them to. Because I thought it was our best chance for peace.

"Almost there." I assured Jason. The poor guy looked like he was ready to lay down and give up, right there.

BOOM!

An explosion shook the hilltop. In general, I don't like explosions. As a demigod, typically the explosions are aimed at me. A crowd roared in approval. Uh-oh. As a demigod, crowds are also bad. Crowds typically mean you get to fight to the death for amusement. It's happened enough by now that I knew the signs. I felt a chill go up my spine, and suddenly, I wished Percy was there. After facing down Tartarus with him, I figured we could handle just about anything if we were together.

"What was that explosion?" Jason asked. Maybe he was asking it rhetorically. Maybe he thought Piper and I had information we weren't sharing. I wasn't sure.

"Don't know. But it sounds like they're having fun. Let's go make some dead friends." Piper decided.