Chapter Fourteen: Quod gradus proximum

Disclaimer: I am pretty darn sure Rick Riordan makes good life decisions like sleeping on time and not staying up till 6:00 am because he found another amazing fanfic like a certain someone I know (points to self)

Author's Note – Okay, so I while I am in love with Percabeth and literally can't stop writing or reading about them (or thinking or dreaming), for the sake of the plot and the story, I am writing a meaningful chapter this time.

Also, I owe ALL of you a HUGE apology. I know the last chapter was crappy and short and non-descriptive, and I am sorry for that. I also know I haven't updated in quite a while. Yet, a lot of you left positive reviews and cheered me up. Let me just say all of you deserve to be granted immortality coz you're honestly the nicest people ever!

Callum Runchman – I know it was short, but the part about her memories is gonna be unclear for a while.

Captain McShizzl – Uhhhhh…..I hope you haven't stabbed someone yet :D

Merendinoemiliano – I'll try to improve dude. And thanks! I'm glad you found the story interesting.

GodZeus – You're just saying that coz you're my friend. Thanks anyway! :)

CalRedEss – You are literally one of my favourite reviewers and you're so nice! Thanks a lot.

1234Booklover – The torture continues. Dun Dun Dunnnnnnn

P34n6T – Thanks!

P.S – Take care and stay safe!

P.P.S – Read, review, enjoy and promote!

"Plans are nothing; planning is everything."

Percy's POV:

"Well that went well" I thought to myself as we sped away from Atlanta. We had almost gotten killed, no, captured by Kate and Porky, a homicidal goddess and a wannabe god of the "Terrors of the deep" and all we had to show for it was a pair of Not-So-Chinese handcuffs, some stupid T-shirts, Esther's peach preserves and directions to Charleston.

Honestly if the freakin' Earth wasn't enough, we now also had a bounty on our heads. Not only that, in Charleston, we were supposed to find some sort of map that was related to Annabeth's quest, correction, her solo quest.

I was jolted out of my reverie by Jason's voice –

"I can think of two places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley—that's one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside."

Frank and Leo volunteered to go along with Jason while I was thinking about the captured nereids, the squid, the whales, and yes, even the telkhines. They deserved better than to rot inside a cage and fight each other just because Porky said so.

Suddenly Frank asked, "Umm guys, how do you get out of these?"

Apparently, while he was fiddling with the handcuffs, he had somehow managed to bind his hands and had trouble getting them out now.

Leo chuckled. "Man, you've never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out."

Frank tugged again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh.

Frank grimaced with concentration. Suddenly, he disappeared. On the deck where he'd been standing, a green iguana crouched next to an empty set of Chinese handcuffs.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron the centaur. "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas."

Everybody busted out laughing. Frank turned back to human, picked up the handcuffs, and shoved them in his backpack. He managed an embarrassed smile.

Finally, after everyone had calmed down, it was decided that Jason, Frank and Leo would go to the Hunley while Piper, Hazel and Annabeth would go to The Battery.

I was less than eager to let Annabeth out of my sight again since our luck hadn't been too great until now, but I knew that line of thinking was a non sequitur. Annabeth would probably kill me herself if I suggested that she needed me to protect her. Besides, I needed to go into the ocean to clear my head and talk to the water spirits, maybe get word to Poseidon about Phorcys and Keto.

So, when Annabeth lifted her eyes onto mine, asking if I was okay, I gave her a small smile and a nod. I loved her all the more in that moment. Because even though she did not have all of her memories, she knew how much those trapped, defenseless creatures meant to me.

Everyone dispersed from the Mess hall and went back to their bunks, trying to sleep and get ready for Charleston.

~ time skip: 1 hour later~

Annabeth's POV:

Frank had just gone back to his room after learning how to escape from Chinese handcuffs and I couldn't help but smile. I was touched that he trusted me enough to think that I wouldn't mock him. Besides, as a daughter of Athena, I encouraged anyone who was seeking wisdom, even if it was about something as trivial as handcuffs.

I understood now what Percy meant when he said Frank was like a teddy bear. He was like a human version of a West Highland Terrier – cute, cuddly and lovable.

He seemed to really like Percy, which was strange since they had barely met a few weeks ago. Both Hazel and Frank had struck up a friendship, a bond with him that had taken me a lot longer to form. Percy just had this easy charm about him, an affable personality that seemed to say "let's be friends, you can trust me." And while normally I would be wary of anyone who was this charismatic and seemingly good, I knew in my bones that if I couldn't trust him, then I couldn't trust anybody.

Just then, I heard a knock at my door.

"What now?" I thought to myself. I sighed and said "Come in," and who do I see but Jason Grace?

After Frank, Jason is the only person I'd least expect to come into my room at this hour, but tonight was apparently all about surprises.

"Hey Annabeth, sorry if I disturbed you,"

"It's fine, is something bothering you?" I asked.

"Uhmmm, what does Piper think about me?" he asked abruptly.

I was a little surprised. I thought he would've been too dense to pick up on the hints. I blinked for a few seconds, thinking about how best to phrase my reply.

"She thinks you're her friend. She's…..fond of you." I say slowly, wincing at my reply. Daughter of Athena and all I could come up with was she's "fond of you." What are we, twelve?

He seemed happy to hear that, so I let it go. I narrowed my eyes. He wasn't asking me anything else, he wasn't leaving, and he looked very uncomfortable. He wasn't really here about Piper then.

"Something bothering you?" I asked.

"What makes you say that? No no, I'm good,"

"Buddy that lie wouldn't even have fooled Dionysus and that guy is drunk half the time."

He sighs once and runs his hands through his hair.

"It's just…do you have any idea about what the Mark of Athena is? I….may have a clue." He stammers out.

My breath hitches. Dam. Of course he would know, he was a praetor of New Rome for Hades' sake.

"I have an idea on what it is and….let's just say that I hope I'm wrong."

"Of course" he says, a little relieved at having talked to me about it.

"Now about Piper…"

He grins sheepishly.

Just then, Percy barges into my room without warning. He stops as he sees the two of us and I realize how we must be looking – with Jason in my cabin wearing his pajamas grinning like a fool because I mentioned Piper.

Percy's expression morphs from shock to confusion. His eyes shutter and his expression smoothens – like the sea, raging and turbulent one moment, and calm and placid the next.

"I see I disturbed something" he says coolly. Then, he turns and walks out of the cabin, without looking back.

"I should be going" Jason mumbles awkwardly.

I nod.

"What am I going to do now?" I think to myself. It's not like we were doing anything wrong.

I decide that the wisest course of action would be to sleep and get what little rest I can before Leo comes to my room looking for a spare pencil or before we get to Charleston.

Whatever it is, I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

"I wish I would have known that wasn't me
'Cause even after all this time I still wonder
Why I can't move on
Just the way you did so easily"

Author's Note: Don't kill me! I do not ship Jasabeth. I despise it. But I had the worst day in the history of bad days and needed to write some drama and tension and other people's lives' sucking. Also, I have a tendency to put Percy on a pedestal and think he can do nothing wrong. So, just to challenge myself, this chapter's ending and the next chapter's beginning will feature Percy being a liiiiiitttttllllleeee insecure and as a result jerk-ish.

Also, next chapter is gonna be awesome! Coz guess what! THE FIGHT BETWEEN ROMANS AND THE 7! AND ANNABETH MEETING APHRODITE! (This is related to her memory too)

But I'll write chapter 9 of L'amour Vrai first. I'm sorry in advance!

Thanks a lot! Read, review and enjoy!