Their stop in Charleston the next day quickly turned into a disaster. Although Percy was pretty impressed by Annabeth's quick thinking with the knife. He'd been chatting with a couple of dolphins in the harbor—they mostly wanted to talk about some delicious squid they'd eaten yesterday. Percy wasn't a particular fan of calamari, but he was listening politely, until his underwater senses picked up a splash and a familiar shape descending through the water. Percy quickly excused himself, then shot across the harbor, grabbing the knife just before it reached the bottom. He shot to the surface, poked his head out just enough to see what was happening on the dock…and the rest was easy.

So was controlling the ship, especially with Annabeth at the helm doing the things he couldn't. Creating the storm with Jason was less so. True, they were working well together, but trying to keep the ship in place as the wind and waves kicked up was challenging. However, Annabeth was still inside Fort Sumter. There was absolutely no chance he was leaving without her.

The second she was on board, though, he summoned a massive wave just as Jason called a gust, pushing the ship away from the island and sending them careening out to sea. A thrill went through Percy as he felt the surge of the ocean around him, giving him energy. Suddenly, maintaining the storm seemed a lot easier.

He got tired eventually, though. By the time they were far enough away from the shore to let the storm subside, Percy's arms and legs were trembling. He sank down against the mast, his head drooping, feeling completely drained. He did reach back to give Jason a quick fist-bump, though. "Nice job, man," Percy said wearily.

"You too." Jason's voice sounded just as wrung out.

Percy caught a whiff of lemon shampoo as Annabeth knelt next to him. "Here," she said, holding out a cup of water. "Take a drink."

"Thanks, babe." The word slipped out of his tired mouth before he could think about it. Annabeth looked surprised, but pleased. And she didn't smack him, so Percy figured she was okay with it. He managed a few sips, which helped a little. Still, he had to focus hard to follow the conversation about the coordinates they were headed to. He did remember to share what the Nereid had told him about Keto and her sea monsters. Hopefully with all the tech on the ship, they could have at least a little warning before a monster found them.

He thought maybe he was feeling better, until very suddenly he wasn't. His head spun and the horizon tilted sharply. He groaned and doubled over, holding his head. "Did the world just turn upside down?"

A few minutes later, he was leaning heavily on Annabeth as she helped him through his door and over to his bed. He sank down with a groan, the room still spinning, even as he laid back on his pillow.

"Your water is here," she said, setting it on the nightstand. "Do you need anything else?"

He shook his head, closing his eyes and willing the room to stay still. He opened them though when he felt Annabeth lean down and kiss his forehead. Her face was pale and she looked shaken up. Whatever happened on Fort Sumter had taken a toll. As she turned to walk away, he reached for her hand and croaked, "Stay."

She hesitated, studying him. "You need to rest."

"I can rest with you here." He knew he probably looked and sounded a little pathetic; hopefully that would help his case. It was just a gut feeling from knowing her, but he didn't think Annabeth really wanted to be alone right now.

His instincts were proven right when, after another moment of hesitation, she nodded and moved to sit on the edge of his bed. "The coach is going to have another fit."

"He'll get over it," Percy said. "Besides, isn't he manning the helm right now? Or goating the helm? Whichever."

The ghost of a smile crossed Annabeth's lips. "Good point."

"Hey, that's two in two days."

"A new record."

"Haha." He studied her face for a moment. "Do you want to talk about what happened at Fort Sumter?"

She shook her head. To his surprise, she laid down on the bed with her back to him, then reached for his arm, pulling it over her. Percy's head started spinning for an entirely different reason as he shifted to lay on his side, pulling himself closer to her. Annabeth laced her fingers through his, then drew his hand up until it was tucked under her chin. Which meant his arm was now laying in a very interesting place that he was trying hard not to think too much about. Because she was obviously shaken up by whatever had happened at the fort.

Percy propped himself up on his elbow, trying to see her face. "Annabeth, hey. Whatever happened, it's going to be okay."

She didn't say anything, but after a moment he heard a small sniff. Percy's chest ached. He hated that he couldn't help her with this quest. But it was clear this was something she had to face on her own, as much as that hurt. He could do this, though. He could hold her for as long as she needed.

After a few minutes, Annabeth turned over and buried her face in his chest. Percy was good with that. It made it easier to wrap his arms around her. She wasn't crying, so that was something. He kissed the top of her head, then left his face there, partly because he was exhausted, partly because he just wanted to. "Great trick with the knife, by the way," he told her.

"Thanks for finding me." Her voice was slightly muffled against his shirt.

"Of course." He tightened his arms around her. "That's what we do, right?"

"Good point," she said again, and he could hear the hint of a smile in her voice.

"Dang, now I'm up to three."

"You're having quite a week."

"That's the truth," Percy muttered, and he felt Annabeth laugh.

She snuggled against him. "So you ran into a Nereid in the harbor…"

"Yeah. I think they all think of themselves as my aunts. It's a little weird. But she was helpful. I ran into some dolphins, too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. They were telling me about some apparently delicious squid they had last night."

He kept talking, about the dolphins, about the killer whale he'd met on the way to Alaska, about the Hyperborean giants he'd seen up there, peaceful and calm in the wild, until he felt some of the tension melt out of his girlfriend's shoulders. And sometime after that, exhaustion rolled over him like a wave and he fell asleep.

He woke up when the ship tilted violently and he and Annabeth tumbled off his bed onto the floor.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his head where it hit the side of the nightstand.

Annabeth was already on her feet. "That's not good."

"Probably not." He accepted her hand to help pull him up, then kissed her quickly. "For luck."

They met Jason, Piper, and Frank in the hall, equally confused, then headed for the stairs. Percy led the way up—he was the ocean guy, after all—but what he saw when he reached the deck didn't immediately compute. "What's going—Gah! Shrimpzilla!"

The monster was massive, and kind of disgusting. It reminded him vaguely of a catfish he'd seen once at the bottom of the Mississippi River, but about a thousand times bigger. The rest of it just looked like a massive, mutant shrimp.

The monster rammed the boat and the group on the stairs tumbled over. Percy's head hit the stairway wall, hard. Annabeth, Jason, and Piper went rolling across the deck, into the starboard railing. Percy used his power over the water to tilt the ship back, keeping them from rolling overboard. But this thing was a problem.

"How did it get so close?" Annabeth called. That was a great question, Percy thought. Weren't they supposed to have sensors on board just to prevent this kind of crap?

While the others were yelling, Percy focused on trying to keep the ship upright, even as the monster was tilting it sideways, as if trying to see just how far the ship would tip before it toppled over. He tuned back in when Annabeth said, "Percy! Can you talk to that thing? Do you know what it is?"

He shook his head, which was still ringing from getting smacked twice in the last few minutes. "Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—"

He didn't even get to finish the thought. Tendrils shot out of the monster's face. One slammed him in the chest, and Percy went tumbling down the stairs. His head hit the ground again, and he might have blacked out briefly. Once his vision cleared and his ears stopped ringing, he groaned. "I hate my life."

The ship was still shaking, though, and there were yells and possibly the sound of explosions from the deck. His friends needed him. Percy dragged himself to his feet, then hauled his aching body up the stairs.

The monster appeared to be retreating. Also, it's head was possibly on fire. Perfect, Percy thought. One problem solved. A flash of blonde hair caught his eye, and he saw that Annabeth was safe, standing near the railing, looking over the side. However, when she turned, her face was stricken. The moment she saw him, she said, "Percy! Overboard! Frank, Hazel, Leo!"

Adrenaline surged through him, shoving away the exhaustion. He swore, but didn't hesitate. Sprinting to the side, he dove overboard, heart pounding. All he could think of, stupidly, was standing on that stone in the middle of a field, fending off a grain attack with Hazel and Frank by his side.

He expected to find all three of them near the surface of the water. In his head, he was already going over what he knew about CPR.

But there was no one in the water. He dived deeper.

Still nothing.

Panic made it hard to think. Percy kept going deeper, in ever widening circles around the Argo II, but he found nothing. Finally, he headed back to the ship to check in and make sure he was even searching in the right place.

Annabeth was leaning over the side of the ship when he surfaced. "Did you find them?"

He shook his head. "Are you sure they went over? They didn't—" He didn't even want to say it, but he made himself. "The monster didn't get them?"

"No, they definitely hit the water," Annabeth insisted. "Frank was near the bow. Hazel and Leo fell from where the monster was holding them up and immediately started to sink. And then you came up. I thought—I thought you'd see them right away."

"Nothing." He treaded water, letting it bob him up, trying to think, but all he was coming up with were disastrous scenarios. As calmly as he could, he said, "I'll try searching the bottom." His eyes met Annabeth's and he saw that she heard what he didn't want to say. She gave him a slight nod before he disappeared under the waves again.

But there was nothing on the seafloor. There was nothing anywhere. No sign of his friends. Percy spent hours scouring the ocean, but he came up empty. He checked in with the ship a couple of times. They'd managed to stop the residual fires and fix the most crucial damage. But mostly, they were all just waiting for news.

Eventually, Percy had to take a break. He didn't want to, but his entire body was shaking, muscles spasming from exhaustion. He could barely haul himself up onto the deck of the Argo II. He guessed it was after midnight, judging by the moon high above. He supposed the stars were pretty, this far out on the open ocean. But all he could think about was Frank and Hazel, and how badly he'd failed them. He leaned back against the railing and closed his eyes.

Someone put a hand on his shoulder. Percy cracked an eye open to see Annabeth kneeling next to him, holding out a sandwich. "Here. You need this. Trust me."

"Thanks." He took the sandwich, but he didn't feel hungry. His mind was buzzing, insisting he throw himself back into the water and not stop until he found his friends. His body, however, was in a full mutiny. It was done. He knew he should eat the sandwich, but he just couldn't manage it. Instead, his throat tight, he said, "They saved me. So many times. On the way to Alaska and—and once we got there." He couldn't bring himself to talk about the muskeg, about the horrible feeling of drowning, and how Hazel jumped in after him and Frank pulled them out. If he talked about that now, he'd fall apart completely. Instead, he turned the sandwich loosely in his hands and said, "I can't let them down."

"You won't. We'll find them." Annabeth kissed his cheek, her lips warm in the cool night air. "But you need to rest. And that's not even a magical plate sandwich. I made it. So eat it."

The corner of Percy's lip turned up just a fraction, and he made himself take a bite. "Good sandwich."

"You're welcome. Eat some more." After he took a few more bites, she held out a glass. "It's a Coke. And it's blue."

Percy had to quickly swallow back the lump in his throat. Gods, he was tired and strung out. But he managed to give his girlfriend a grateful smile. "You're the best."

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder, then kissed the top of his head as she pushed herself to her feet. "Rest up. Then you can go back out there and find the others."

When Hazel, Frank, and Leo finally resurfaced, accompanied by a basket of brownies, Percy managed to contain himself only slightly more than Piper. He didn't leap into the water, but the second Frank and Hazel climbed aboard, dripping wet but otherwise perfectly fine, he grabbed them in a huge hug. "Gods I'm glad you guys are okay. What the hell happened? Where were you?"

"Long, weird story," Hazel said.

"Isn't it always?" Frank grumbled.

Hazel cracked a smile at that. "Give us a minute to get changed. Then we'll tell you guys all about it."

Once they explained what had happened, Percy was a little bit offended (okay, maybe hurt) that the ichthyocentaurs hadn't wanted to meet him. However, he tried to focus again as the conversation moved to the Mark of Athena, even if Annabeth didn't seem excited to talk about it. This was the most he'd gotten out of her about the quest, though, which was helpful.

Surprisingly, so was Jason. He jumped in talking about the missing statue, he and Annabeth finishing different parts of the story to create a complete narrative. Percy was shocked. Jason had seemed kind of reserved and stoic, definitely not forthcoming about some things. So to hear him talk now seemed like a major step forward. However, when the conversation turned to the potential for spiders to be involved, Percy's stomach dropped. The only times he'd ever really seen his girlfriend lose it were when spiders were involved (his mind flashed back briefly to a defunct waterpark in Denver). The way the color drained out of Annabeth's face now confirmed that she knew more about what she might be facing than she was letting on. He appreciated what Piper said, though, especially since it seemed to make Annabeth feel better. So he squeezed his girlfriend's hand and added, "I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth." Her grateful smile made him hopeful that she was feeling confident about what she had to do.

Later, though, after he'd finished his superfun chore (not) of working on patching the outside and underside of the ship (as the only resident demigod who could breathe underwater), he met her in the hallway outside her room. She seemed closed off, though, thinking. When he asked how working in the engine room with Leo had gone, she said, "Fine. I need to look at Daedalus's laptop again. I know there's got to be useful stuff there." She gave him a somewhat absent-minded kiss. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay," Percy responded, standing alone in the darkening hallway.