Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Sixteen

Some Unexpected Visitors

I never got to go swimming.

Apparently, this key, or whatever it was would be at Apollo's shrine in Delphi, where the Oracle had been originally located. Andee couldn't believe it, saying it was 'so obvious that she should've thought to look there in the first place'.

So we were to all pack our bags to leave first thing in the morning. We would have to travel to Athens by boat which would take us about six hours – assuming we didn't get attacked, which was a very likely delay. Annabeth insisted we go visit the Temple of Athena while we were in Athena's, and Grover suggested that we go to my dad's temple as well. Andee agreed, saying that there should be enough time for both. From there we'd bus from Athens to Delphi, which would take another three hours.

It was decided that once we were in Athens we would stay there for the day – do some touring, see some of the temples and museums, and then stay the night. The next day we'd hop on the bus to Delphi where we'd hopefully find the key the Prophecy talked about.

"It'll be there, trust me," Andee told Annabeth as we ate breakfast the next morning, my arm around her tiny waist.

"It was a vision of a bunch of random objects, how can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.

"It's not a bunch of random objects!" Andee defended. "I just…you don't get visions, Annie, but I do and I just know." Annabeth sighed, apparently giving in. "We just need to be prepared because up until now, we really haven't had to go up against anything too bad – we need to expect the worst."

"You just cursed it, I hope you realize that," Grover said and Andee shrugged.

"Nothing we can't handle, right?" Andee asked.

Oh, how I wish she knew how wrong she was.

Andee's grandparents gave us all a ride down to the port where a small ferry was waiting for everyone. They hugged Andee tightly and made her promise to visit more often before leaving. We bought tickets and got on, waiting for the boat to take off.

Once the boat started on its journey to Athens, it was just a matter of finding something relatively interesting to do. Annabeth, Grover and I definitely weren't used to this much downtime during a quest. Annabeth was reading one of the many Ancient Greek books she borrowed from Andee's grandparent's house, Grover was subtly collecting some cans to munch on, and Andee just finished talking on her phone in a different language. I guess she was making up to her dad something. She slipped her phone into her pocket and began to pace at the bow of the boat, a nervous look on her face.

"What the matter, Sunny?" I asked, hugging her from behind. I loved how she fit so perfectly in my arms, like she was meant to be there all along.

"Just…nervous, I guess," she said, putting her hands on top of mine, tangling her fingers with my own.

"Nervous about what?" I asked, pecking her cheek.

"I just really want this quest to go well," she said quietly, looking off into the distance. "So much rides on us finding this key. The consequences of not finding it could be really horrible."

"The Prophecy said that too," I said and she grimaced. "Do you know what's going to happen exactly? Did you see anything about it?"

She shook her head. "My visions don't work that way. I don't know for sure what's going to happen – my imagination is just running wild, I guess."

"Tell me what you're thinking."

She turned to me so that she was leaning against the railing and looking right at me. I put my hands on her hips, sliding them under her shirt so I could rub circles on her bare skin with my thumbs. "The world as we know it will be over, Percy."

"But there will still be demigods –"

"We'll all be hunted down and killed off one by one," Andee interrupted. "The Titan Lord will take over everything. The gods will disappear and those of us that survive the war will be left to try to take back the world guerilla-style, but it will be impossible." I hadn't really thought about this like that. We really were doomed if we didn't succeed on this quest.

"Dee, we can do this," I told her, sounding a lot more confident than I now felt.

"I don't know, Percy, I really don't know if we can," she said, looking down at her feet. I lifted her face with a few fingers so she would look me in the eyes.

"Don't think like that, Sunshine, okay?" I asked. "We will do this, and we'll keep looking until we find it, even if that means doing it while the lord of the Titans is ruling. Trust me, 'kay?"

"I do," she said softly, her thoughts obviously elsewhere. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt because I couldn't find it."

"No one will get hurt, I promise," I said, hugging her against me.

"You can't promise that, but thank you for meaning it," she said against me. I was about to separate when she wrapped her own arms around me tighter. "Don't let go, just hold me, okay?" she mumbled and I smiled as I held her tightly. She seemed so much bigger in real life, when you saw her singing, or fighting, or talking. But right now, in my arms, she felt so small. I felt like I could protect her from anything and everything, and that's what I wanted to do. It's what I would do. "I like you so much."

I pressed my lips to her and she eagerly responded, her lips incredibly soft and warm against mine. I held her by her hips, bringing her close and no able to help the smile continually growing on my face as I kissed her.

"Stop it!" Annabeth shrieked, coming in between us and pushing us apart. I laughed a little. "I told you – no PDA. Go somewhere else!"

"Sure thing, Bethie," Andee grinned wickedly, taking my hand and leading me down a hallway, looking at all the doors before finding the one with BAINSC written on it. I'm assuming that was cabins without the dyslexia, because Andee swung the door open and led me down the corridor. "Because it's just operating as a ferry today, no one will be down here."

She spun around so she facing me and smiled brightly before leading me into one of the cabins. "How are you always so happy and positive?" she asked. "Like, you can have the whole world falling apart at your feet, and you're like 'Well, it can't get any worse!' and it does and you're still ready to pick up the pieces and keep going."

"Maybe I'm not – maybe I'm only happy and positive when I'm with you," I countered.

"That's so bull. I've watched you and I've heard about you," she said. "You never give up hope. And you're always smiling, even when I'm not around, if you're going to try to play the cute card, and still try to say it's with me."

"I'm not happy all the time, Andee, no one is," I told her honestly. "I just have a lot to be happy about." She smiled and pulled on my shirt, bringing me close to her before gently placing her lips on top of mine. I started maneuvering with her through the cabin, stroking, touching, and exploring her with gentle hands. I eased her down on the bed, feeling the weight shift as she clung to me.

My hands were as restless as hers, and I had no idea how long we were lying there like that, on the bed, our hands searching each other with a frenzied passion. I felt like I couldn't get close enough to her, as though these were the only moments we would ever have together and we needed to take advantage of this precious time. For all we knew, this could be the last moments we had together. We were half-bloods, after all.

But our kisses became something infinitely deeper. They took on an unhurried quality as we began to learn the taste and feel of each other. I loved the way we fit together, like two halves of a whole. For a moment, our lips parted and I looked down at her. Andee's lips curled in a bashful smile. I craved the feeling of her swollen lips against mine, and my desire flared hotly. As closed the distance between us, she turned her head and looked at the wall. I kissed her neck, trailing kisses all along her neck and jawline. She moaned a little as she shifted as she shifted underneath me. "Percy –"

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" I asked in a panic.

She shook her head with a smile and made a shushing sound, pointing at the wall. She squirmed out from underneath me and pressed her ear to the wall. I mimicked her actions and heard voices on the other side of the wall.

"Do you have them?" a deep voice asked. The voice sounded distant, like it was coming from another place.

"Not yet, massster, but sssoon," a woman's voice said, dragging out the 's' sound, making her sound a bit like a deflating balloon.

"Hurry! The half-bloods are essential to this! You need to get them to the maze, or the plan won't work! Get them now!" the person yelled. Their voice sounded familiar but I couldn't put a face to it.

"Scythian Dracaena," I whispered and Andee nodded. "We need to get off this boat. Now."

Andee's eyes became cloudy and unfocused for just a moment. "Annabeth and Grover are getting a lifeboat ready for us to escape in," Andee said, flipping her bag around and pulling out her dagger and archery stuff, doing her usual battle prep.

"Wait – how do you know that?" I asked.

"Annabeth and I have a special connection," Andee said. "There's no times for details right now."

"I'll take your word for it, then," I said as Andee opened the door a crack. She was immediately thrown back. I whipped out Riptide and got ready to fight when I saw a group of five or six Scythian Dracaenas.

Andee was sprawled on the ground, shocked from the attack, but she looked madder than anything else. And I've learned that when Andee's mad, you should stay out of her way.

"Well, excuse me!" Andee said, shooting her hands out in front of her, sending flames at a couple of Scythian Dracaenas but the fire soon dissolved, as if she had done nothing at all. "Seems I'm going to have to show you dragon ladies my electrifying personality."

She grabbed her dagger out of her garter and nodded at me before going to fight them. I followed her lead, going right at them. They were able to defend themselves a lot better than the other times I had had to fight other dracaenae, and it took us longer than it should have for us to defeat them.

"Let's go," Andee said, barely glancing at the piles of gold dust that were now sitting in front of us. We ran back up the stairs and on the deck where we got a few looks from people, now that I had fresh wounds and Andee had a bit of dried blood on her pale skin. We ran for it, jumping into the lifeboat that Annabeth and Grover had waiting for us. I sliced the ropes on the way down, sending the lifeboat crashing into the Aegean Sea, almost throwing us all out if we hadn't all grabbed the edge like we did.

Andee slipped and fell in my lap, so I tentatively wrapped my arm around her waist, looking at her as if to ask if that was okay. She gave a slight nod of the head and I relaxed a bit as she wiggled around, getting comfortable.

"That was close," Grover said, as we watched a few re=formed Scythian Dracaena at the edge of the boat, cursing at us in Ancient Greek.

"What exactly happened?" Annabeth asked.

I filled Annabeth and Grover in on what happened, and added, "And then Andee made the worst pun I've ever heard in my entire life."

"Shut up," Andee said, playfully smacking my arm.

"I honestly should break up with you," I said and she glared at me.

"What did she say?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, her fire didn't affect them so she said, 'Seems I'm going to have to show you dragon ladies my electrifying personality'," I repeated.

"Oh no, why would you do that?" Grover asked, shaking his head in dismay and laughing.

Annabeth cackled in glee. "That is so corny! Oh my gods, it's so bad! It sounds like something out of a badly written superhero movie!"

"I just want you all to know how much I hate you, and that I'm going to leave you for dead at the first opportunity," Andee said, standing up and turning to look at me. "Especially you, traitor."

She made like she was going to try to sit away from me, so I subtly rocked the boat so she fell back in my lap. "You like it."

"You all suck."

I gave pecked her cheek and she tried to keep up her angry face but she cracked a small smile.

Unfortunately now we still had a four and a half hour boat ride left to Athens, and at a much slower pace and with less amenities, so I focused on the waves carrying us there as fast as possible because this was going to be a boring trip…hopefully.