Percy POV

Someone stole my book. As soon as I came back from the pool room, I realized that my Animals of the Sea Encyclopedia was missing. It wasn't under my pillow where I left it.

My mother gave me the encyclopedia when I was younger. I always loved reading about the ocean, so I've had that book since I was ten years old. Now, it was gone.

"Bro, is everything all right?" Jason asked after noticing my expression.

"No, nothing's freaking fine. Someone stole my encyclopedia," I growled. I punched my pillow before looking around the room.

However, o one else was in the bedroom. I had no clue who could've taken my book. The only person that was in the clear was Jason, and that's because he was with me for the past three hours that we were hanging out in the pool area.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked. We both searched the contents of my bed and bag, but the search was fruitless. I left it under my pillow, and the book was now gone.

"What the hell? Who would steal your book?" Jason asked in frustration.

I sighed as I sat down on Jason's bed. My hands rubbed my face as I frowned in annoyance. This was so dumb. Why did anyone even want my marine biology encyclopedia? UGH.

Jason sat next to me while rubbing my shoulder. "Don't worry, man, we'll find it. Whoever took your book will be caught. Do you have any ideas?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

I could think of one person easily: Luke. However, it didn't make sense that Luke would want my book. While he was suspicious, he didn't care about our stuff. Luke greatly followed the philosophy of working by himself without meddling with others.

Then, Annabeth came to mind. As far as I could remember, she was the only person that was in the bedroom when I hid my encyclopedia under my pillow.

I had a very strong feeling that she stole my important possession.

Jason sighed before going to the bathroom. As I mentioned before, the bathroom belonged to the guys in the evening. I let him pass so that I could think clearly.

Gods, I was sick of this.

Annabeth wouldn't talk to me, but I didn't want to go to her. I've already tried enough to get her to open up, and it was useless. And yet, I was the only person that knew Annabeth's secret. I didn't feel like she trusted me, yet Annabeth interacted with me alone. She didn't even express her personal side around the others. I wanted to believe that this meant something.

I sighed again before leaving the bedroom. Yup, I was weak around Annabeth. I only lasted two days before needing to talk to her again.

Surprisingly, I couldn't find Annabeth anywhere. She wasn't in the bedroom, cafeteria, pool room, or gym. However, that left one final room, and I hated that room.

I hesitated in front of the blue room. Honestly, I didn't want to go in there. My life changed forever, I lost my beautiful mother, and I almost died within the confines of the blue-lighted walls. My right hand shook as I grasped the doorknob.

I opened the door and entered the room. The door closed behind me as I analyzed Annabeth, who was sitting on the floor. Her diary and my encyclopedia were open.

My hands rested on my hips as I stared her down. She quickly tried to hide the books but failed miserably.

"I caught you red-handed," I exclaimed. "Don't even try."

Blue light illuminated her features. Her hair was light blue while her gray eyes tinted into a dark color. The light made everything but our dark clothes blue. Normally, I would love a room like this. After all, blue was my favorite color. However, I hated this room so much.

It made sense that Annabeth decided to sit here. No one comes into the blue room. She could do whatever she was doing in private.

"Percy, I was going to ask for your permission, but I didn't know how long you'd be. I was going to put it back after I was done."

"I thought you'd be done with the lies by now," I snapped.

It was harsh (maybe, too harsh). However, I was sick of all the lying. I wanted to know exactly who she was. I wanted to know everything that she knew about Elysium.

Annabeth sighed as she looked at the books again. She had a pen that she used to write something in her diary.

"I'm not lying. I was going to give it back," she said firmly.

I stepped closer to see what she was doing. I noticed some bold letters on the margins of my encyclopedia. The page referred to the blue whale. I went forward and picked up my book.

The ink was clear on the pages; it spelled out 'ear'.

"Wait, did you do that?" I asked angrily.

"No, I didn't do it. The person that helped us with the blue room before did it. They're leaving us a message. The lettering is only visible under blue light," Annabeth explained.

I paused as I stared at the word, ear. I had no clue what it meant, but I assumed that Annabeth was trying to figure it out.

"Percy, come closer and sit down," Annabeth said. While I didn't want to listen to her completely, I followed her instructions.

I sat next to her and looked at her diary. Her handwriting was super neat compared to mine, and she had words written down: Ted, Some, ear.

"Reyna wrote in my diary to bring Triton to the blue room. The author of your encyclopedia is Triton, so I stole your book," Annabeth whispered. I could barely hear her. She was talking that quietly as a protective measure.

"You could've asked me, Wise Girl."

"You didn't tell anyone that I designed the cafeteria phase," she said quietly. Her eyes looked into mine as she paused searching for clues in my encyclopedia.

"I meant it when I said that I trust you. I may be stupid to trust you and care for you, but I do. I wasn't going to tell everyone because they would hate you too," I said firmly.

"I deserve your hate, Seaweed Brain," she sighed. "I'm not good with trusting people even those who I want to trust (like you)."

"But, I do trust you now," Annabeth continued.

I waited for her to continue. Her words proclaiming trust weren't very useful for me. I needed to know everything.

"I work for the CIA, Percy. I was recruited out of high school when they needed a young operative. My mother used to be a special agent," Annabeth started. I sucked in a breath as I leaned closer. I wanted to clearly hear the quiet explanation

"Last year, I was assigned to go undercover with Elysium. My spy name was Bella Pace. We had several undercover agents (including Reyna). As an undercover agent, I had to do as they instructed to fit in. As such, I helped them design phase 6. That's how I knew about the cafeteria room."

She paused to take a breath. A dark shadow fell upon her frowning face.

"Elysium started catching and killing the spies, though. I lost my mentor because of this. When they found me, they didn't kill me. They-"

"-put you in here to play this wretched game," I finished.

Annabeth nodded quietly. Her eyes found mine again as she took my hand. The action was unexpected, but I didn't mind her (bandaged) hand in mine. We were sitting in the corner of the blue room just gazing at each other. Her eyes sparkled as she leaned closer to me.

"Thank you for not telling everyone. I was scared. I didn't want you all to hate me. I already hate myself enough."

I didn't know what to say. However, her explanation made total sense. Reyna and Annabeth were both spies at Elysium. Annabeth was caught and placed into the game while Reyna was still safe.

"Wise Girl, I-"

"You could've told us, Annabeth. Your job forced you to do bad things, but you were trying to save the world from Elysium. Also, I don't hate you."

Annabeth smiled as her head leaned against my shoulder. Her eyes closed as we rested in silence for a few moments.

Honestly, my feelings for her were quite complicated. I cared for her, I liked being around her, and I couldn't stay away from her. Yet, I couldn't get close to her because of her high mental and emotional walls.

However, now, those walls were crumbling. At that moment, I felt connected to her. The truth connected us. It bonded us.

The others couldn't find out the truth because some of them wouldn't understand.

But, I did. I understood Annabeth, and I did trust her.

I guess that I was so messed up and angry in the head for the past two days because of my feelings for her. She was close to me, and it hurt that she didn't tell me the truth (when I asked her so many times).

"I should've told you sooner, especially since you were nothing but supportive. I'm sorry about that," Annabeth whispered.

"Not gonna lie, I was mad because you didn't tell me. However, I understand, Wise Girl, and I'm with you now," I responded.

My fingers moved between hers, and I grasped her hand. It wasn't necessarily a platonic way to hold her hand. It was way deeper.

But, I didn't mind. Holding her hand felt so good and so right.

"Anyway, what are you doing right now?" I asked. "We have to get back to the group soon, so we should crack the code quickly."

Annabeth perked up, but her hand didn't leave mine. I watched as Annabeth pulled her diary onto her thigh. Three words: Ted, Some, ear.

"Reyna said there are six codes in Triton. As such, we still need to find two more pages with invisible ink," Annabeth explained as I flipped through the pages.

I had spent so many hours scrolling through this book. A nostalgic feeling entered my bones as I searched for clues. it took a lot of time to find the last three codes. They were in stickier pages, and it smaller margins of the text.

Six words total: Ted, Some, ear, B, nose, dye.

I didn't understand what to do with the codes, but Annabeth did. She started rearranging the codes into different orders. One particular order made sense though.

We were working quietly, and we were using our arms to block the diary and encyclopedia from camera visuals (at least, to the best of our abilities).

Ted-dye B-ear, Some-nose

"It's Teddy Bear, Somnus," Annabeth whispered firmly. "Somnus is a paralytic sleep-toxin. Honestly, the CIA says that Somnus can even be used to mimic death if taken in low doses. Too much Somnus leads to respiratory arrest."

I was impressed that Annabeth knew information about Somnus. However, since she worked for the CIA, she probably did know about drugs and more common poisons.

"I don't understand the relevance, though," I expressed earnestly.

"Nico's item from Elysium was a teddy bear. I'm confident that there's have a supply of Somnus in that teddy bear," she said quietly.

"Yeah, but what do we do with it?" I asked.

Annabeth frowned as she looked at me. She didn't have an answer for me. She finally removed her hand from mine, and I immediately felt the loss of warmth and comfort.

We quickly closed our books and left the blue room.

"Either way, we have to get the Somnus. I'm not sure what it's for, but Reyna clearly had an idea in her mind. We just need to figure it out for ourselves," Annabeth said firmly.

I nodded before pausing outside of the bedroom.

"Wise Girl, I know that you like working without trust. Your job requires discretion. However, I can't do that. I follow my instincts in terms of trusting people," I explained.

"Your instincts trusted me?" she asked. "Despite all the suspicious and frustrating things that I was doing and saying."

I smiled as I nodded.

"While at Elysium, you were the first person that I trusted and cared for. You were a light in all this darkness."

Wow, I couldn't believe that I said something like that. Her eyes shone with passion. Annabeth reached forward and touched my hand.

I cleared my throat quickly.

"Anyway, I use my instincts. As such, if I think that Nico is trustworthy, we're going to work with him. I'm not gonna go steal a teddy bear from someone," I expressed.

Annabeth reached forward and touched my hand.

"I told you my truth, Seaweed Brain. That means that I trust you." Annabeth smiled before squeezing my hand.

I breathed out in relief.

I was glad that our conflict was resolved. We were on the same page, and we were bonded together. I was grateful for having Annabeth back on my side.

Now, the goal was to work together and figure out an escape plan that involved Nico and the Somnus paralytic drug.

...