Of course, when she finally found him, it was an epic disaster. Because that was their life. Annabeth didn't leave the Argo II's helm until San Francisco and the bay had disappeared behind the hills. Only then did she feel like she could take a deep breath, confident they were out of the range of any immediate attack. She punched in the sequence Leo had taught her to activate the auto-pilot functions, with no specific destination set other than "East." Then she surveyed the scene on deck.

The damage to the ship was extensive. Little fires bubbled around, a sail had been torn nearly in two, several of their weapons had been destroyed, and the whole ship was listing badly, the deck slanting. That could all be dealt with, though. At the moment, the people were her first priority (and possibly the fires).

Frank had already changed back into a human and was currently covering Leo with an arrow nocked in his bow. Percy had helped Piper cart an unconscious Jason down the stairs, and none of them had come back up yet. Coach Hedge had come storming up from below and was currently ranting about his TV signal being knocked out, which, to Annabeth, seemed like the absolute least of their problems.

"Coach," she said now, coming down from the helm and trying to keep her balance on the tilting deck, "can you work on putting out those fires before something important gets blown up?"

"The satellite TV and internet have already been knocked out! What could be more important than that?"

Annabeth bit back several biting suggestions. "Just do it, please."

The coach grumbled, but he went to work with a fire extinguisher with quite a bit of enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Annabeth focused her attention on the boys.

Leo was shaking his head like a dog trying to get water out of its fur. He still looked a little woozy from hitting his head when Percy tackled him. Annabeth studied his face closely as she approached, but she didn't see any sign of the cold, evil expression she'd caught in the forum, or even the dazed look he'd had loading the ballistae. He just looked like Leo, albeit nervous and confused.

"You can put the bow down, Frank," she said, though her hand automatically clenched at the spot where her dagger usually was; she hadn't had a chance to retrieve it again since Terminus made them leave their weapons on the ship. She needed to fix that soon, but first things first. "Leo, do you know where you are?"

He blinked up at her and the fog seemed to clear. "Still on my ship, I think. The Argo II."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"A little bit, but it feels foggy." Leo quickly relayed what had happened: he'd brought Octavian up to the ship and given him the quick tour. "And then…and then, I'm not sure. I—I started loading the ballistae. But I have no idea why."

"Just like that?" Annabeth asked. "Did Octavian say something or do something that made you mad? Did he threaten you?"

"No, nothing like that. At least, I don't think so." Leo looked around, his gaze traveling over the ship, taking in the damage. "It's…I have no idea why this happened."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't adding up. She genuinely never would have thought Leo would do something like this, and she'd seen his dazed expression when she'd climbed onboard. But obviously something had occurred. Their weapons had been fired. She'd seen him loading the ballistae herself. "Leo, I'm sorry, but we need to get to the bottom of this. So, one more time. Exactly what happened?"

Leo's shoulders slumped. He pressed his hand against his forehead, then swallowed hard. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."

You've said that already, Annabeth thought, but she kept her mouth shut, crossing her arms. Instead, she asked, "You mean you don't remember?"

"I…" Leo's voice drifted off and he swallowed again. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

Annabeth frowned, thinking. Leo seemed sincere, but how was that possible? Other than what had happened to Luke with Kronos, she didn't know much about possession in Greek mythology. Unless he'd been under some kind of spell? Did Octavian have that kind of power? Her attention came back to the conversation as Coach Hedge was again complaining about losing his satellite connection.

"Coach," Annabeth said, trying to stay calm, but fighting not to grit her teeth, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"

Hedge looked put out. "But I already did that."

"Do it again." Luckily, the satyr didn't fight her further on it, just walked away muttering under his breath, and Annabeth was left once again wondering why Chiron had assigned him as a chaperone. When she'd asked the centaur about it before they left, he'd just given her a small smile and assured that although the coach was a bit eccentric, he was a fine protector. That may have been true, but right now he was a fine pain in the—focus, she told herself. More important issues right now. She knelt down next to Leo, which seemed a little friendlier than standing over him. "Leo, did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"

Leo shook his head. "No. The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."

Damn, Annabeth thought, as Frank asked, "On purpose?"

"No!" Leo said vehemently, then closed his eyes. "Well, yes…I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"

A prickle ran down Annabeth's spine at these words, and she imagined she could hear the psychotic snowman chuckling. "A cold feeling."

"Yeah." Leo looked at her, brows drawing together. "Why?"

Dread pooled in Annabeth's stomach. Before she could answer, though, Percy called from belowdecks, "Annabeth, we need you!"

Annabeth's heart did a weird skip-drop when she heard that—on the one hand, after months without him, it was great to hear Percy's voice saying he needed her. On the other hand, she was afraid it was because Jason was worse off than she'd thought. She also wanted to continue interrogating Leo about this cold feeling he'd experienced. Even as she thought it, she again imagined she could hear the faint laugh of her psychotic snowman. But she gave herself a mental shake. Prioritize. Strategize. The health and safety of her friends was always first.

All this flashed through her mind in seconds. During this time, Leo's expression changed, guilt and worry for his best friend making him look younger. He definitely didn't look threatening, and the Leo Annabeth had come to know was the last guy she would ever expect to attack innocent people. A cold feeling. She didn't know what exactly was going on here, but she didn't believe Leo had intentionally hurt anyone. She tried to soften her tone and expression when she said, "He'll be fine." She glanced at Frank, who was nervously studying Leo. She didn't know the guy well, but Percy obviously trusted him. That was a good enough recommendation for her. "Frank, I'll be back. Just…watch Leo. Please."

Frank nodded. Leo's face fell. Annabeth felt bad, but they couldn't risk leaving Leo alone until they figured out why he'd done what he'd done. A cold feeling. She shivered.

Percy was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps, and even with everything going on, she still felt a leap of surprise and relief to see him there. She thought she caught a similar flicker in his eyes, though his expression was serious.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Head wound, so it's bleeding a lot," Percy said. "Piper's holding a towel on it right now, but we need some nectar or ambrosia. Is there any on board?"

"Of course. Down in the infirmary." She led the way to the lowest level of the ship. Luckily the infirmary was the first room at the bottom of the stairs. Annabeth handed Percy a square of ambrosia and a flask of nectar, then grabbed some gauze and a few other first-aid supplies as well. On the way back up the stairs, she mentally ran through some of the first-aid classes she'd taken at camp and at school. By the time they got to Jason's room, it was to find that the bleeding had slowed down. Annabeth helped Piper apply nectar, which began working right away, then bandaged the cut. Percy brought a bag of ice down from the galley, and Annabeth left the ambrosia square on the nightstand, just in case.

"Are you okay?" she asked Piper, who looked tired and overwhelmed.

"Yeah, I think we're good now," Piper said. She reached out to take Jason's hand. "I'm just going to sit here for a bit and keep an eye on him."

"Sure." Annabeth patted her friend's back, then followed Percy out into the hallway. A pounding headache was starting behind her eyes. It had already been a long day and they weren't anywhere near done. "What a mess."

"Yeah, this day has pretty much been a disaster," Percy agreed. He glanced at her. "Well, except for one thing." He reached out to take her hand, stopping her at the base of the steps that led back up to the main deck. Then he pulled her in for a hug.

Annabeth wanted to cry as she wrapped her arms around him. Percy's embrace was so warm and comforting and she had missed him so much. Her voice was muffled against his t-shirt when she said, "I can't believe you're really here."

"I know. Same. I mean, I feel the same. About you. Being here. Uh, you know what I mean."

In spite of everything, a laugh bubbled up Annabeth's throat. "Yeah, I know, Seaweed Brain."

Percy pressed a kiss to the top of her head and Annabeth melted. She would have been happy to just stay there for a long time, but they still had problems to solve. The ship was in shambles, the Romans would soon be after them, and they had no idea what their next step needed to be. So Annabeth let herself be held for one…two…three more beats, breathing in the fresh ocean scent that clung to Percy's skin. Then she stepped back, gently disentangling herself. "Problems to solve."

Percy groaned. "Why are there always problems?"

Annabeth didn't have an answer to that question, so instead she told him what Leo had said, about the cold feeling he'd experienced and how he said he hadn't really wanted to fire the bolts, it was like someone made him.

Percy frowned, thinking. "Do you believe him?"

"I do. Leo's not a bad guy and this was completely out of character." She glanced up the stairs. "Why don't we go up and you can ask him yourself? Frank's covering him right now."

Percy gestured to the stairs. "After you."

And as bad as things were at the moment, Annabeth couldn't help thinking that they could have been a lot worse. She had Percy back. Everything else could be figured out. She drew in a deep breath as they emerged back on deck, ready to deal with whatever came next.

They were underway to the Great Salt Lake. Leo was steering the ship, Coach Hedge was checking that the fires were out and supplies were secure downstairs, Piper was sitting with Jason, waiting for him to wake up, and Frank had just turned into a bird and flown down to tell Hazel where to meet them. Which left Annabeth and Percy alone in the crew lounge.

Alone with Percy was exactly what Annabeth had wanted. Except it wasn't totally private because she knew the other crew members would probably be coming in soon. Still, it was nice to have a couple quiet minutes together, and it gave him the chance to ask her about his family and how his mom and Paul were doing.

"They're good," she said. "Well, I mean, they've been crazy worried about you, but otherwise, they're doing good." She shot him a smirk. "I'm pretty sure you're going to be grounded until Christmas though."

"Yeah." Percy chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "I did try and call though."

"Oh, I know. Your mom played me the message." She nudged his chest playfully. "So did you only have enough change for one call, or…"

"Oh, uh," Percy ran a hand nervously through his hair again. "Well, we were on our way to Seward and the train was about to pull out so…I did try to I-M you. A couple times. It just never went through."

"Percy, I was kidding." Annabeth managed a half-smile, even though her heart twisted at the thought of him trying to send her an Iris-message that never connected. She'd had the same experience over the last few months. "I think it's sweet you called your mom. She was so relieved."

"Yeah? Gods, I miss her. And Paul." His eyes traveled around the walls, enchanted with images of Camp Half-Blood. "And camp. And…" His voice trailed off as their eyes met. He took her hand and squeezed it. "How have you been?"

Annabeth shrugged and tried to say, "Fine," but the word stuck in her throat. To her embarrassment, tears pricked her eyes.

"Aw, Annabeth." Percy put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close in a one-armed hug. She buried her face against his shoulder, breathing in his ocean air scent. He let go of her hand to wrap his other arm around her. She grasped fistfuls of his t-shirt, like that would keep him from being taken away from her again. He felt so solid and present, but she almost couldn't believe he was here. She'd missed him for so long.

There was a small cough at the door. Annabeth turned her head to see Frank standing there, his face red. "Um, sorry to interrupt. I mean, I can come back later—"

"It's fine," Annabeth said, taking a step back and disentangling herself from Percy's arms, even though that was pretty much the last thing she wanted to do right now. She was pleased, though, when Percy reached down to take her hand. "What's happening on deck?"

"I told Hazel to head for the Great Salt Lake and we'd pick her up there. That Leo guy said it'd be about an hour until we get there, and he said there was a lounge so I figured…" Frank's voice trailed off, and he looked about ready to walk back out the door.

"Come on in," Percy said. He led the way over to the table, still holding Annabeth's hand, so she followed and sat next to him. "These chairs are pretty sweet."

Frank sat down gingerly in the leather chair, looking around at the images of Camp Half-Blood on the walls. "So this is where you're originally from?"

"Yep," Percy said. "Camp Half-Blood. Possibly my favorite place in the world. Except for maybe that incredible pizza place we found in Brooklyn, remember?" He grinned at Annabeth.

She nodded and squeezed his hand. "I'm glad you remember, too."

His smile faded a bit. "Some things took a while to come back, but I think I've mostly got it." He laced his fingers through hers. "Some things never went away."

Annabeth had to work hard to resist the urge to kiss him again. She settled for lightly running her thumb over his. Before she could say anything, though, Frank asked about the layout of the cabins, which led to Percy and Annabeth giving him a virtual tour of Camp Half-Blood, based on the video images. It was nice to have the chance to talk about their home, especially since she didn't think they were headed back anytime soon. She also couldn't stop glancing at Percy, marveling in the fact that he was actually here.

"It seems like a nice place," Frank said finally, after Percy finished explaining the finer points of the lava-spewing climbing wall.

"It is," Percy agreed. He glanced at Annabeth. "Although Camp Jupiter and New Rome are pretty great too."

Annabeth didn't draw her hand away, but her shoulders stiffened. She didn't want to say anything negative about the other camp in front of Frank, though. And it had been beautiful as she'd walked through it earlier with Reyna. It just wasn't home.

Luckily, before she could respond, Frank asked, "So is there a plan when we get to the Great Salt Lake?"

"I think it just depends on what we need for repairs." Annabeth seized on the new topic with relief. "Leo will have a better idea when we land."

Percy frowned. "And you really trust this Leo guy?"

"Yes, I do." Annabeth had been thinking it over as they sat there, and what happened just didn't make any sense. "I spent months working with Leo, helping to construct this ship. He's a good guy. He would never just attack innocent people like that. And there's more." She moistened her lips, then caught the nervous, slightly edgy look on Percy's face and rolled her eyes. "Nothing like that, Seaweed Brain. It's just—Leo described a cold feeling while he was loading the ballistae and I—I felt it, too. Before the ship landed."

Frank leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"It was like a cold presence on the back of my neck. It felt sinister," she admitted. "I don't know if a brand-new warship can be haunted, but I think there's a strong possibility something else made Leo attack New Rome. He never would have done that on his own, especially unprovoked."

Percy frowned thoughtfully, then nodded. "Okay. Still not totally sure I trust the guy, but I believe you." He tapped the fingers of his free hand on the table. "Should we be worried that you felt this cold feeling too, though? Any homicidal urges?"

"No more than usual." She grinned when he snorted a laugh.

It faded, though, when Frank said, "I still think Octavian could have had something to do with it. He's a problem."

Percy nodded. "He is. And this seems sneaky, which feels like his style."

Annabeth sighed. "Leo says it wasn't, but I almost hope it's somehow Octavian. Because if it's not…we have a bigger problem."

They lapsed into a discouraged silence that was broken by Leo's voice announcing, "Strap yourselves in. We're coming in for a hard landing."

Leo hadn't been lying about the landing, as Percy quickly realized. They hit the lake hard. Luckily it was salt water, which was kind of Percy's thing. When the ship listed hard to starboard, he closed his eyes and focused, using the water to help right the ship. Once the ship settled and seemed seaworthy (or at least lakeworthy) he got up and sent a quick IM to Tyson, suggesting he should take Ella to Camp Half-Blood, where they'd both be safe.

"They'll be fine," Annabeth said when he sat back down.

He shot her a tight smile. "Yeah. I just don't want them to run into the Romans and get into trouble."

"Don't worry," Frank said. "We'll be their main target."

"Thanks, Frank," Percy muttered. "Very encouraging."

Before they could continue on that happy topic, Hazel and Leo walked in and the conversation shifted. Percy wasn't thrilled about anything going on right now, but he meant what he said: as long as he and Annabeth got to stay together, he was good.

Having to climb onto the back of Frank the magic shape-shifting dragon was a little strange though. "You sure you're good with this, man?" Percy asked. Frank grunted and snorted steam. Percy took that as a yes and climbed onto Frank's broad, scaly back, using his friend's foreleg as a stepladder. Annabeth gave the whole operation a quizzical look, but she accepted Percy's hand up. When she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder, Percy couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He lightly squeezed her arm, then tapped Frank on the shoulder. "Alright, big guy. Let's go."

The Great Salt Lake sparkled in the late afternoon light. With Frank's massive wingspan, it didn't take long to reach the shore. They scanned the stores from overhead until Annabeth pointed and said, "There!"

It was one of the massive chain hardware stores. Percy leaned forward and tapped Frank's shoulder to get his attention. "Hardware store over to the left at nine o'clock!"

Frank snorted, then banked to the left. Annabeth's arms tightened around Percy's waist. He didn't mind.

Once they landed (at the edge of the parking lot, behind a semi-truck so that they were somewhat obstructed from any mortals as Frank transformed back into a human), the three of them headed into the enormous store.

"So do you know what kind of roofing tar we need?" Percy asked Annabeth, scanning the signs at the ends of the aisles, trying to figure out where to go.

"I think so." Annabeth bit her lip, which Percy honestly found a little distracting. "Can you tell which way to go?"

"I could turn into a bird and fly around," Frank offered glumly.

"Nah, we'll figure it out." Percy craned his neck, trying to get a feel for where stuff was. Maybe they should head toward outdoor supplies? Or was it in home improvement?

"Did you say you were looking for tar?" a voice asked at his shoulder and Percy jumped. Standing next to him was a short, plump man with dark, oily hair. He was wearing an employee polo shirt and his nametag read, "Stan."

"Uh, yeah," Percy said, once his nerves settled. "Roofing tar. Can you just show us which direction—"

"Oh, I'd be happy to show you!" the man said in a thick, bubbly voice. "Right this way. Just follow me!"

Percy looked at Annabeth and Frank. This guy was totally pinging his monster radar, but they needed the tar and they didn't really have time to go wandering around the store. When he met their eyes, Frank nodded, jaw set, and Annabeth kept her eyes on his as her hand drifted casually over the hilt of her dagger. Percy's heart leapt at the familiarity of the gesture. Gods, he'd missed her. Focus, he told himself. This smiling guy next to you is probably a monster. It was depressing how paranoid he'd become over the last few years. Of course, that instinct had also kept him alive.

But nothing happened at first. The man simply led them across the store, babbling about roofing supplies and different uses for tar. "Sometimes they use tar in roadwork to patch things up. It's very versatile." He beamed at Percy. "What do you need tar for?"

"Uh…" The truth was, Percy had absolutely no idea why Leo needed the tar. And he definitely wasn't going to tell this guy, mortal or monster, Oh, we need to repair our magical warship. "You know, the usual. Patching things up."

"Wonderful," the guy said, clapping his hands with a sharp slap. They seemed to stick together for a second before he pulled them apart. "Tar is great for that."

"Good to hear," Percy said. He glanced at Annabeth and Frank again. Frank shrugged and grimaced. Annabeth slipped her hand into his, and Percy's heart leapt again. Suddenly, he felt less worried about the most-likely-a-monster leading them towards the back of the store.

"Christy!" Stan called out as they approached a pale woman with long, dark, incredibly shiny hair. Unnaturally shiny? Percy wondered. But maybe he was just being paranoid again.

Christy turned to them with wide eyes, staring maybe a little too hard. "Hi, Stan. Do you need help with the customers?"

"They're here for tar," Stan said brightly.

"Oh wonderful," Christy replied. She pressed her palms together. Maybe they were sweaty because Percy thought he heard a squelching sound. "We have plenty. Right this way."

Annabeth glanced at Percy, then asked Christy, "Roofing tar?"

"Of course!" Christy burbled, her bright voice at odds with her wide-eyed stare. "We have all kinds of tar."

"Right this way," Stan said, gesturing to a pair of swinging doors very clearly labeled "Employees Only."

"It doesn't look like we're supposed to go back there," Frank pointed out.

"Don't be silly." Stan beamed. "That's just to keep the less serious customers out. We don't have tar on the floor—it's all back here. After you, sirs. Miss." He nodded at them. If he was a monster, he was the most polite one ever, Percy decided. His eyes darted towards his friends again. Annabeth's lips were pressed into a thin line, but she squeezed his hand. Frank looked resigned, but nodded. Percy drew in a deep breath, took some comfort in Riptide in his pocket, Annabeth's hand in his, and Frank at his back, then he pushed open the door.

He knew it was a mistake the moment he stepped through the doorway. It was pitch black in the next room. The air was thick and humid, like a tropical jungle. And the smell—hot and industrial, and just a little bit weirdly sweet.

"Just wait until you see it," Christy's voice chirped behind them. There was a small click, like a switch being flipped. Light flooded the room, illuminating a massive warehouse space, with random home improvement supplies scattered on shelves and around the walls. That was relatively normal. But in the middle of the room, taking up about a quarter of the warehouse floor…

"Uh, what the heck is that?" Percy asked, then coughed as the fumes went up his nose, making his eyes water.

"That," Stan said happily, clapping his hands together again, "is a tar pit."

"No shit," Frank muttered under his breath.

It was, in fact, a tar pit. As in, somehow, the floor had been turned into a pit full of bubbling, sticky tar. The smell was like motor oil mixed with barbeque sauce—sickly sweet. Around the edges of the pit, tropical plants were growing in random clumps. A big sign to the left said, "Forget the Great Salt Lake—come visit Utah's own tar pit! You'll never want to leave!"

"So, um, do we just get a bucket and dip some out?" Annabeth asked.

Christy looked horrified, her wide eyes growing even rounder. "Of course not! You can't take our tar away."

"The tar doesn't come out, silly demigods," Stan said, and all of Percy's monster alarm bells started ringing at full blast. "You go in."

The memory of suffocating in the muskeg came back to Percy and his chest clenched. "Yeah, that's not happening."

"But it'll be lovely," Christy said, clasping her hands pleadingly. "We'll be able to turn our pit into a full exhibit. Maybe even a museum! Like the famous La Brea Tar Pits."

"Except ours will be even better because we'll have demigods," Stan added enthusiastically.

"No. You won't." Percy uncapped Riptide and the pen extended into a sword. Annabeth drew her knife and Frank nocked an arrow on his bowstring. Percy flexed his fingers on his sword's grip. "Sorry to cut the tour short. But we're leaving."

Stan looked glumly at Christy. "I guess now we have to kill them."

"We can still preserve their bodies," she pointed out.

"True!" Stan's expression lightened. And then, very quickly, it darkened. In fact, his entire body, clothes and everything, was darkening and melting. Christy followed suit. Within seconds, before the demigods even had a chance to move, the two employees had transformed into two eight-foot-tall humanoids composed entirely of tar.

Percy glanced sideways at Annabeth. "Those are from mythology?"

"Apparently," she grumbled.

They didn't have any additional time to talk because the tar monsters surged forward and the three demigods charged to meet the monsters standing between them and the door.

Percy thought they had a good start. Unfortunately, weapons didn't work well on the tar monsters; they just sank into their goopy sides. The monsters roared in pain, but otherwise didn't seem deterred. Even better, the monsters themselves had long talons of hardened tar growing out of the ends of their slimy hands. These hurt, which Percy discovered when one raked his arm, leaving a long shallow cut.

It quickly became clear that the monsters were focused on crowding the demigods back towards the tar pit. Every time one of them tried to dart around the monsters, the mountain of tar lumbered and rolled that direction, blocking the way. Percy, Annabeth, and Frank were crowded into a smaller and smaller area, until there were only a few feet of clear floor around them. Annabeth was targeting the monsters' claws, and she'd managed to slice off a few, while Frank was aiming his arrows at their eyes. He'd been successful on one hit; Percy couldn't tell if it was Stan or Christy, but one of the monsters appeared to be sporting a feathered eyebrow piercing.

Percy was mostly swinging his sword in a wide arc, trying to keep the space around them cleared while trying to think of a way out, or giving his friends' time to come up with a strategic solution. One of the monsters swung a clawed hand in Annabeth's direction and Percy yelled, "Duck!"

She did immediately and his sword sliced the air a foot above her head, giving the monster a very severe manicure. The tar monster hissed and recoiled, its eyes burning red like hot coals. They were definitely a lot less friendly-looking in this form.

"Thanks," Annabeth said as she straightened back up and scanned the room.

"No problem," Percy replied. "Any ideas on how the heck to get out of here?"

She shook her head. "Nothing yet, but I'm working on it." Her eyes suddenly widened and she shoved him out of the way of the tar monster's claws that had been about to shred his back. Annabeth's knife flashed and three claws hit the concrete floor with a faint clatter.

"NO!" one of the tar monsters roared, its voice thick and guttural. "You must get in the tar."

"You're our special exhibit," the other one agreed. "It's so much more interesting with bones."

The monsters sloshed against each other, their tar bodies mingling, creating an impenetrable, sticky wall and crowding the demigods back against the pit. Percy was out of ideas and his heart was leaping frantically against his ribcage, his lungs already tightening up at the thought of going under in that gunk. Beside him, Annabeth's breathing was turning shallow, and when he glanced at her, her eyes were darting around, searching for an idea. On his other side, though, Frank said, "Percy, there's a sprinkler system."

Relief cut through Percy's panic as he glanced up at the ceiling, then shot Frank a grin. "Just like Grandma's house?"

Frank smiled back. "Exactly."

"We can't leave without tar," Annabeth said.

"There are buckets on that shelf over there," Frank said, pointing with his chin while keeping his eyes on the monsters pressing closer. "If Percy and I keep them occupied, can you get to one?"

Annabeth nodded. Percy closed his eyes, feeling the pressure of the water in the pipes over his head. He pulled as much water as he could from the rest of the store, letting the pressure build. And then, as the tar monsters loomed over the three of them like a tidal wave, he blew up the sprinklers.

Water rained down in torrents. The monsters wailed, withdrawing immediately. Annabeth seized the opportunity, sprinting over to a nearby shelf holding five gallon buckets. Percy and Frank brandished their weapons, and Percy made the water dance off his sword and Frank's arrows like sparks, making them look even more threatening.

"You can't do this to our tar!" The monsters shook themselves frantically, like wet dogs, spraying tar everywhere and splattering the demigods. "If it gets wet, it will never dry properly. We'll be slippery!"

"Tough luck," Percy growled. "No more demigods in your tar pits. Or I'm going to come back and wash this whole place out."

The monsters wailed some more, but they'd stopped putting up a fight. Instead, they rushed to their tar pit, trying to use their own voluminous bodies to shield it from the water still pouring down. Annabeth ran back over to Frank and Percy, lugging a five gallon bucket filled to the brim with tar. "Let's go," she panted.

"Yep. Here, let me get this." Percy took the bucket from her, and she smiled gratefully at him. He sent a last burst of water tumbling down from the sprinklers, eliciting additional wails from the monsters, then the three of them sprinted out the door, back into the mortal part of the hardware store.

People stared at them strangely as they made their way out of the store, half-soaked and covered in tar. They stopped near the end of one aisle to pick up some drop cloths to use as towels, which Annabeth paid for while the boys hurried outside with the bucket of tar before anyone could ask them too many questions about it.

They ducked behind the semi-truck at the edge of the parking lot, then used the drop clothes to clean off as much of the tar as they could. The majority of it came off, except for a particularly stubborn patch on Percy's shirt and some in Annabeth's hair, which she was not happy about.

"Ugh, this is going to take forever to wash out," she said, wrinkling her nose as she tried and failed to rake the tar out with her fingers.

"But at least we got what we came for," Percy said, holding up the bucket.

"Yippee," Frank said as he scraped the last of the tar off his jeans. "Let's get back to the ship before those nut jobs try to preserve us again."

Between having to fight off some angry naiad fan-girls when he got back to the ship, and the weird tension between him and Jason, among the other awkward getting-to-know-everyone-ness of dinner, the evening went by fast. Eventually, Coach Hedge announced it was almost time for curfew.

"Is he serious?" Frank asked Percy as they headed down the stairs from the deck.

"I think so," Percy said. "Night, Frank."

"Night, Percy."

He found Annabeth in her room, sitting at her desk with Daedalus's laptop open. She looked up and smiled when he knocked lightly on her doorframe. "What's up, Seaweed Brain?"

"It's curfew apparently." He leaned in the doorway, trying not to look pleased, but, gods, he'd missed hearing her use that ridiculous nickname. "So I just wanted to say good night."

"Oh cool." She stood up and came over, resting her hands lightly on his chest. "Good night."

"See you in the morning." He kissed her, his hands sliding from her waist to her back, pulling her closer. When he'd lost his memory, one of the only things that had remained was how it felt to kiss Annabeth. The reality was so much better than the memory.

When she eventually pulled away, Annabeth tapped her fingers against his chest and said, "You'd better be here in the morning." He thought maybe she meant it to come off as joking, but there was a shakiness to her voice that didn't escape his notice.

Percy tightened his arms around her. "I will be."

"Good." She grasped a fistful of his t-shirt, then smoothed it back out. "Because if I have to go searching across the country for you again, I'm so going to kill you."

He smirked, glad to see her smile back, then said, "I'm not going anywhere." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. When he pulled back and met her eyes, he suspected there was more they both wanted to say, but just then, someone loudly cleared their throat.

Coach Hedge was standing in the hall, baseball bat on his shoulder. "Alright, cupcakes, break it up. Time to go to bed in your own rooms." He emphasized the words by tapping his bat against his shoulder and giving them the goat version of the evil eye.

There was no room for debate, unless Percy felt like getting cracked across the skull by a half-crazy satyr, which he didn't. Annabeth gave him a last quick kiss, then Percy headed to his own room, shutting his door on the satyr, who had followed him down the hall saying, "Keep walking, buddy, keep walking." In spite of Coach Hedge then proceeding to march up and down the hall yelling for everybody to go to sleep, Percy managed. It had been a long day. He was out within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

*Hope you enjoyed this somewhat monstrously long chapter! I did a search on tar monsters from Greek mythology, but didn't really come up with anything, so I went pretty literal with them. When describing them, I was actually thinking of the gloopy chocolate guy in the game Candyland—no joke. And I liked the idea of them being cheerful, friendly monsters, kind of like the blemmyae or the geyser gods in the Trials of Apollo series. Just for something different. I also wanted to take it back to the idea of monsters working in retail, which is such a runner through the original series (like Crusty's Water Bed Palace and Medusa's roadside statue shop, or Monster Donuts).

And always poor Frank walking in on them lol Also, since he says in HoH that his father's two personalities have been screaming in his head since the war started, I tried to make him a little grumpier and less focused than normal. In reality, I absolutely adore Frank and actually really enjoyed his arc over both the HoO and ToA series as he became a strong leader.

Anyway, hope you liked it! Next chapter will be up next week.*