Chapter 49 - This is the Last TimeI Leave My Journal in an Unlocked Drawer -

Ok, Annabeth's still asleep. So it's Percy here again.

I must've looked pretty worried when Reyna and Annabeth left because the first thing Frank asked was, "Is everything ok?"

I watched the two figures walking away from me and murmured, "I hope so. Annabeth and I kinda…. Met Reyna. A long time ago. Before she got to Camp Jupiter. And we weren't exactly friends that time."

Hazel looked troubled. "You think that's what Reyna wanted to talk about?"

"I don't know. It…. makes me worried though. Partly what Reyna might say to her. Partly what Annabeth might say to Reyna. Mostly though….." I sighed, a little sheepish, "Mostly I just don't want Annabeth out of my sight. It's been so long -" My voice cracked.

Frank threw his arm around me. "Hey, it'll be ok. They'll be back in a few minutes. Then you can go show Annabeth around."

"Yeah." Hazel agreed. "You said you wanted to show her the city, right? Focus on that. Is there anything in particular, or -?"

I smiled at them both. They were such good friends. "The architecture, to start. Annabeth's the official architect of Olympus." Both of them gawked at me and I couldn't help but smile with pride in my girlfriend. "She'd love to see the buildings and stuff."

"The official… Olympus? Really?" Frank asked, looking stunned.

"Yeah. After the Titan War, she and I got a few rewards for our part in it. She got to redesign Olympus. I was offered immortality, but turned it down and asked for the gods to recognize theirs kids better. Claim them, give even the minors gods cabins at Camp Half-Blood, that sort of thing."

"Y-you gave up immortality?" Frank stammered, looking shocked. Hazel looked just as amazed.

I shrugged. "It was the right thing to do. Besides -" I looked where the two girls had gone, but I couldn't see them anymore. "I couldn't leave her."

I didn't realize that I was nervously tapping my hand on my arm until Hazel took it. "Hey, everything will be ok, right?"

I looked them both over. "I mean, we're about to embark on a quest to Rome, then Greece. Reyna says it's a new level of danger all together. So "ok" is sorta relative, right?"

Frank grinned at me. "Fair enough. What about the others, do you know them?"

I shook my head. "Like they said, I went missing before Piper and Leo got to Camp. And I never met Jason. Hazel, you had though, right?"

She smiled at me. "He's a good guy. I think you two will get along really well. He's always been a leader, just really natural at it. But -" Her voice caught. "I don't like that he came with a new girl. He and Reyna… well, they were great together. Really solid partners."

I thought about that. What would've happened if I had found someone else, while my memories were wiped and I fell in love and… woah. I realized instantly that was one of the things Annabeth must've worried about for months. For months she watched Jason and Piper get closer and worried that I was doing the same thing. Now, I was near about desperate to find her again, assure her that I was here for her, that I'd never leave her.

"So…. how'd you two meet?" Frank asked. I realized I'd been silent and staring at the last spot I'd seen Annabeth in desperation.

"We were twelve. I'd just gotten to Camp Half-Blood and Annabeth was one of the only campers there. She was a year-rounder, most campers just stay during the summer, but Annabeth -" I realized that I probably shouldn't spill all of her painful past to these two, no matter how much I liked them. That was part of her story to tell, not mine. But I told them my part of the story - the minotaur, losing my mom, and Annabeth's first romantic comment to me - "You drool when you sleep."

I was just finishing explaining our encounter with Medusa the sculptor when Frank broke in. "And she's really the daughter of Minerva?"

"Uh, yeah, why? Is that weird or something?"

Hazel's soft voice explained slowly, "Percy, Minerva is a maiden goddess. She's a virgin, right? So how would she -"

"Oh. Uh…. yeah. That's a little weird, I guess. Annabeth wasn't born the normal way. She said she just appeared on her mortal father's doorstep in a cradle as a baby. She picked that day as her birthday, but we aren't really sure."

"Oh." Was Hazel's only remark.

After a tense moment of silence she asked "Are there other Athena kids?" at the same time Frank asked, "Does she have a belly button?"

I grinned. "Yeah, she does, uh, not sure how and I typically don't ask questions about how my girlfriend was born. And yeah, the Athena cabin's fairly large - there are like a dozen Athena kids in the summer but they tend to go home during the year."

Frank looked confused, "So if these kids just appear on the doorstep like Harry Potter or something, I mean, what happens if their parents don't want them?"

A lump formed in my throat and I looked back to where I'd last seen Annabeth. I knew what happened then. I remembered my vision of the tiny seven year old Annabeth, hungry, beaten and scared, hiding from monsters after she ran away from home. I was about to try to answer Frank when a fiery missile launched from the Argo II.

"Uh is that supposed to happen?" Frank asked as we watched it sail down from the ship.

The missile landed across the forum as our friends ran, trying not to trip over their togas as they fled. Frank, Hazel and I helped them escape as fast as we could.

"What's going on, Percy?" Hazel screamed to me as she helped a blonde demigod reach a clear street.

"No idea!" I yelled back. It was about that time that someone in the crowd, one of Octavian's right-hand guys, turned on us, yelling that the Greeks were traitors and that Frank, Hazel and I were to be arrested.

"No!" Frank yelled.

"Frank! Hazel! The fountain!" I pointed to a large decorative fountain of water. I knew we couldn't defeat all of them, and I didn't want to - these Romans were my friends! But I also knew I couldn't let them take Frank and Hazel. We managed to make our way to the fountain, ducking and dodging and trying not to hit anyone. We didn't want to give anyone cause for our arrest. Behind me, I heard a loud bang and turned to find the Senate house now on fire, a second missile finding its target there.

"Why are they attacking?" Frank gasped at me.

"No idea!" I called to him over the roar of the crowd. "We need to find Annabeth, Jason and Piper and get to the ship!"

I tried to control the water in the fountain to spray at the other Romans, keeping them away from us. Frank and Hazel were struggling to keep their balance as the water surged in the fountain. Explosions continued to blast through the forum and the surrounding city. Romans threw knives and forks at me, ripping into my toga but thankfully the water seemed to keep them from reaching my skin. Finally, after what felt like ages, I saw Annabeth, running towards me and dodging sandwich platters, fists, fauns, and every other object coming her way. When she was close enough I could call to her I yelled,

"Annabeth! What -"

"I don't know!" She screamed back.

"I'll tell you what!" Octavian yelled from somewhere above us. He was dangling on the end of the rope ladder and looked covered in soot. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy, Leo, has trained his weapons on Rome!"

"You're lying!" Annabeth yelled at him, fire in her eyes. "Leo would never -"

"I was just there!" Octavian screamed at her. He looked triumphant. This was all he needed to get the Legion to follow him and not Reyna. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

Catapults tried to fire on the Argo II. The Argo II returned fire, blasting a catapult to smithereens.

"You see!" Octavian looked completely pleased with this. That sickened me. People were getting hurt, my friends were hurting each other, and he was loving this. "Romans! Kill the invaders!"

"We have to leave!" Annabeth yelled to me, the wind whipping her hair. "Now!"

"Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?" I asked them.

Hazel put on her calvary helmet, a determined glint in her eyes. "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy some time."

"How?" Annabeth asked, getting closer.

Hazel whistled and Arion appeared, majestic and cussing as usual. Hazel mounted up as the Romans scattered. She drew her blade and called to me, "Send me an Iris message when you're away safely. We'll rendezvous. Arion - ride!" Then she took off, her magic horse quickly causing confusion as it spend through the crowd.

I heard someone shouting, "Romans! Please!" And turned to find Jason Grace, halfway across the forum, trying to shield Piper. His forehead was bleeding. As I watched, a brick caught him in the head, and he crumbled to the ground. Piper tried to catch him while yelling, "Get back!" I wasn't sure what kind of magic powers this girl had but everyone hesitated at her order. Still, I knew she and Jason were in deep trouble. There was too much space and too many demigods between us for Annabeth and I to get there. I could tell she was trying to come up with a plan.

"Frank!" I called to him. "It's up to you! Can you help them?"

Annabeth turned to me in confusion as Frank replied, "Oh gods. Ok. Sure. Just, get up the ropes. Now."

Annabeth and I lunged for the ropes at the same time. I yanked Octavian off the bottom rung and threw him into the mob. It wasn't really necessary, but it was fun. Explosions rocked the air, making it hard to climb the rope ladder. I glanced down to see Frank, in full dragon form, scatter those in the forum, march across the space, grab Piper and Jason, and launch into the air. I grinned. I'm still super jealous of that ability.

"Is that -" Annabeth asked, sounding awed from a few feet below me.

"Frank." I assured her. "He has a few special talents." I continued to climb.

"Understatement. Keep climbing." Annabeth muttered. I grinned. As crazy and awful as everything was, I couldn't help it. I was still back with Annabeth. And that made everything a lot more ok.

I managed to get onto the ship. We'd climbed past some broken oars and I noticed the sail was ripped down the middle. The ship was tilted dangerously in the air. I saw that guy, Leo, calmly walking around the deck, firing each weapon onto the innocent people down below. I didn't know what to do.

"Leo! What are you doing?" Annabeth screamed in panic behind me.

"Destroy them." He said, sounding like he was in a daze. His eyes looked glassy and his movements were jerky. I wondered if the guy had taken some kind of drug. "Destroy them all."

That was enough for me. I ran forward to tackle the guy. His head smacked onto the deck of the ship with a sickening thud. I hoped I hadn't killed him. "Go! Get us out of here!" I screamed to Annabeth. For a heartbeat she looked too stunned to do anything, then ran to the controls. I'm not sure what she did, since I was checking Leo's pulse, but suddenly the ship shot into the air. Mooring lines snapped around us, whipping in all directions. The ship's tilt was so strong I had to grab onto the railing to keep Leo and I from sliding across the deck.

Frank landed on the deck, carrying Piper and an unconscious Jason Grace. He set them down, then turned into a human again.

"Annabeth!" Piper called. "Jason's hurt!"

"Percy, help me." She called to me as she ran to their side. Frank and I lifted Jason like she told us to and carried him down to the infirmary, with Piper left to watch the unconscious Leo and make sure he didn't wake up to try killing people again. A satyr came out of one of the cabins as we passed.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

"Hey Coach." Annabeth said as she walked down the hall towards another set of stairs. "Go upstairs and keep an eye on Leo. Send Piper to the infirmary."

He hesitated but Annabeth gave him a quick, harsh glance and he ran to do as she ordered. We got Jason to what must've been the infirmary. Annabeth directed us to set him on a cot. Quickly, she looked him over, moving with skill and practice as she checked his head and opened each eyelid.

"Where did you learn this?" I marvelled. Don't get me wrong, Annabeth has always been good at first aid, but now she was looking like a skilled nurse or doctor. She grabbed a stethoscope from a peg board on the wall and gave me a tight smile.

"Will Solace and Chiron have been teaching me more advanced stuff since we don't exactly have a healer on board."

I whistled, impressed. I was about to make a joke about dating a doctor when Piper showed up. "Is he -"

"Alive." Annabeth assured her. "Unconscious, but alive. Frank, Percy, go back above deck. Piper and I will work on Jason for a minute and meet you up there."

I wanted to stay and watch her, because she was seriously blowing my mind with this calm confidence during the healing, but, well, I knew the ship might be getting attacked or Leo might be blowing up other stuff. Frank and I turned and headed back above deck.

"So, the other Athena campers, do they know how to heal and take care of people like that?" Frank asked me.

I shook my head. "Annabeth knows a fair amount of first aid but Will Solace, that guy she mentioned, he's an Apollo kid." I grinned and shook my head. "Annabeth learns all kinds of skills she thinks she might need for a quest. She can use just about every weapon, Morse code, she's like a living encyclopedia of myths."

Frank looked impressed. "I'll be sure to stay on her good side."

"She can be intimidating when she's in battle," I explained, "but really, she's super nice. She's someone you can trust with anything."

After a while, Annabeth showed back up. I went to give her a quick kiss, which she returned, but I could tell her mind was elsewhere. She looked at Leo, who was slowly gaining consciousness. "Ok." She said, looking quite scary. "Time to figure out what that was all about."