In which we get adorable moments between our girls.
Replies:
Undeath9087: It got stabbed during her first quest with Piper, which was why Crusty managed to get her into one of the beds. And maybe, maybe not.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: I mean, you shall have to wait and see :)
12problems89: Thank you that means so much to me.
ant-death: I mean, it's not impossible, you'll have to wait and see what I have planned now won't you :) Don't worry it'll be interesting I know that.

In the end Piper had to half carry Percy below deck. The daughter of Poseidon was not in good condition- what with the bite wound that was making her shoulder throb with pain, and the pain from where her head had hit the bench. Still, Piper managed to get her into the cabin- and Percy saw Annabeth- she was stood at the controls, gripping the wheel tightly- possibly too tightly.

She turned her head when she heard them coming below- and she looked almost frozen. As if she was afraid that moving her hands would send them careening back into the pull of Charybdis- though she did let go of the wheel the second she spotted Percy, a terrified look flashing across her face.

"Oh gods!"

"Scylla managed to take a bite before Percy blew that head up."

"Half of the blood on me is Scylla's." Percy groaned as she was lowered onto a seat.

"And she caught her head on one of the benches." Piper added, leaning over Percy, clearly peering at the back of her head. "Annabeth-"

"Jaz's potions." Annabeth was already moving- and she and Piper really were in sync because Piper didn't even need to glance backwards as her hand shot out and she caught the small glass bottle Annabeth had just pulled out from one of the little cabinets.

"Drink." Piper's words were an order, and Percy took the little bottle, tipping it past her lips and swallowing it down in one. She instantly felt a soothing warmth rising through her, even as Annabeth was suddenly there too- and she had a little pot in her hands, which she was opening quickly.

"Piper, can you helped me get to the wound on her shoulder?"

"Of course." Piper tore the neck of Percy's top, pushing it down out of the way of her shoulder- and Percy pouted.

"I liked that top." she whined the words before hissing in pain when Annabeth carefully started scooping the paste out of the jar, covering Percy's wound with it.

The paste, Percy knew from experience, would work wonders, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling- a slight burning tingling sensation- but within half an hour the wounds would be gone, there would be bruises in their place.

"It was very cute." Piper's voice drew Percy's focus again, "But I think I speak for Annabeth and myself when we say that we'd rather have you in one piece than worry about a stupid top." as she spoke she was scooping some of the paste and pressing it into the wound on Percy's head.

"Hmph." Percy grumbled. "You're both traitors-"

"If you say so." Annabeth finished pressing the paste in and leaned back slightly, "Now let me see if I remember- your mom said that you have to let the paste dry in and then wash it off right?"

"Yep." Percy nodded, and it said a lot that she was already starting to feel better than she had. Her head was starting to clear and the pain was fading. "Should take about half an hour- once it's dried in I'll go in and have a quick shower."

"After that we should eat." Percy glanced towards the windows, "Maybe go up on deck, everything's still in one piece-"

"Which is pretty impressive." Annabeth pointed out. "We just got past Charybdis and Scylla."

"We did." Piper smiled, "It was terrifying though- any chance we can go out the back exit next time?"

And Percy laughed at that. "I will admit that I think that the Sympleglades would be much easier- I'd use my powers, speed us through. We'd make it easy."

"Of course we would." Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly, "Still, we made it. That's the really important thing. You were amazing you two. I mean- obviously I couldn't see you but I could hear most of it, and I could feel Scylla ramming your shields before they broke."

"Yeah, they did not last as long as I'd have liked." Percy gave a wry smile and a small shrug, wincing at the pain that shot through her shoulder- after all it wasn't fully healed yet, a fact which was very annoying.

"Careful." Annabeth chided, clearly noticing the wince, "You don't want to get hurt any worse than you already are."

"I am just fine." Percy reassured, "It's just taking a bit of time to heal." she shifted slightly, "And can I just say by the way, that you were pretty awesome too-"

"I don't know about that-" Annabeth flushed, "I don't- I mean, all I did was steer us away-"

"I dunno." Piper leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on the table as she folded her hands together and rested her chin on them, "It got really, really rough there. The pull must have been pretty strong."

"I could feel it." Percy added, "The fact that you managed to steer us away from it was impressive. Never be down about yourself Annabeth. You did amazing."

"I was terrified." Annabeth admitted, "With you guys stuck up there- I was so afraid that something would happen to you guys. I felt like a traitor- hiding down here." she shook her head.

"Oh Annabeth-" Piper was shaking her head, "No, no it was stupid. It makes sense- but we are so lucky that you were down here."

"We'd have been toast if not." Percy remarked, "Piper and I could have never gotten down here to get to the controls with the way the boat was rocking- I was too injured. And I couldn't control Charybdis' whirlpool, even if I hadn't been dazed from basing my head I wouldn't have been able to."

"If we hadn't been working together- all three of us, we'd have failed." Piper spoke up. "We make a pretty good team don't we?"

"Yeah, yeah we do." Annabeth let out a soft slightly shaky laugh. "You know, not counting my failed attempt at a quest... this is my first real quest- not including the ridiculous adventures you guys keep dragging me on. My first time doing something that really, really matters."

"And you're planning on giving credit to Chiron." Piper remarked, "That's pretty selfless of you Annabeth. Seriously. We both know how much proving yourself matters to you-"

"It always will." Annabeth shrugged, "I just- have different people who's opinions I care about now." the daughter of Athena's eyes were almost dancing with amusement. "And I happen to know that their opinion of me seems to be very high."

"Why my dear Siren I think she's talking about us." Percy grinned widely as Piper started to giggle.

"Why Sea Star I think you're right."

"Shut up!" Annabeth tossed her head back, laughing as she lightly punched Piper- and since she had to lean across the table to do that Percy spotted something that made her tense.

Annabeth's tee hitched up slightly, pulling as she leaned over. And the pale skin of her stomach and side was red- and Percy could see the way that it was starting to form nasty purpling bruising already.

"Annabeth!" She yelped, "Your side-"

"Oh!" Annabeth pulled back instantly, yanking her tee down, her face flushing. "It's nothing. I'm fine."

"What is it?" Piper looked automatically suspicious. "Annabeth-"

"I- when the boat was tossing with the pull of Charybdis I lost my balance and fell into one of the control panels, I bashed my side a little. It was nothing serious- nothing so bad as what the two of you had to deal with."

"Annabeth." Percy shook her head, grabbing at the other girls top and pulling it up despite her grumbled protests. "You need to tell us." It wasn't nice looking, Percy could see that immediately- though it could certainly be worse. The redness was on her left side, based on where it was Percy was pretty sure that there wouldn't be any broken ribs or serious injuries related but still.

"Percy's right." Piper nodded, "If you're hurt you might go all stiff and that would effect how well you can fight- we need to know so that we'll be prepared. Do you want one of Jaz's potions?"

"I-" Annabeth glanced between them before she faltered, giving a small nod. "Okay, okay if it will stop you two from worrying about me."

"You know for a genius you can be real stupid sometimes." Piper deadpanned as she quickly fetched one of Jaz's potions for Annabeth.

And less than an hour later they were all nicely healed up- and Percy was also freshly showered and changed, the paste had worked wonders as usual.

Both her head- which had been cracked open, and the wounds from Scylla's teeth were either completely gone- her head, or just bruises now, which looked a week old rather than a couple of hours maximum.

And the potion had done it's work well for Annabeth too- the bruise was still there but it was very faint now, and when Piper had carefully prodded it to see if it was still painful Annabeth had reported that she felt fine.

And Percy was fairly sure she hadn't been faking, there hadn't been any of the usual subtle tells.

In any case, they made their way back up on deck after they were all fixed up, and they sat on the benches, Percy pulling on a pair of sunglasses- since the sun was insanely bright and seemed to be shining directly into her eyes no matter which way she was looking.

And it was strange. Now that they were in the Sea of Monsters Percy noticed that the water was glittering a more brilliant green- almost acidic maybe. And whilst the wind smelled fresh and salty- a familiar scent that was always a balm for Percy's soul, it also carried a strange metallic scent that didn't feel quite right.

Still, Percy could feel the water all around and below them, and she could still control it.

Of course. They did still have one major issue now that they'd finished the first leg of their journey.

The big question was how to find the Golden Fleece. They had no way of knowing where it would be, which island it would be on- Percy hadn't even seen any islands yet. And if they had the time Percy wouldn't be too worried, she'd say they could take their time exploring every inch of the Sea of Monsters.

Unfortunately they were working to a time limit. Thalia's tree was dying,and once it was gone the camp Annabeth loved so much would be toast. And that was putting it nicely.

Still, it wasn't like there was much they could do- they were speeding along at a good pace.

And Percy sighed to herself, leaning over the rails of the boat to look down into the water below, a weak smile flitting across her lips as she saw fish flitting about around them. they weren't paying too much attention- but Percy paused.

Because- she could speak to fish couldn't she? She already knew that- she'd had several fun conversations whenever she visited aquariums.

She leaned farther over the railing before she turned her head, "Pipes, Annabeth. I'm just going to try something."

"Try wha-" Percy didn't give Annabeth the chance to finish her question before she was flinging herself over the rails and diving into the water, several of the fish scattered at the disturbance- but a few just backed away- clearly Sea of Monsters fish were braver than most, and they were incredibly surprised when Percy spoke.

"Uh, hey fishes- I was wondering if you could maybe help me out a little. I just have a few questions for you guys. About where things are around here."