Hey guys, I know I took waaay too long for an update. Exams and stuff but I shouldn't have an excuse. Sorry : (

Percy's POV

The rest of the trip was quite boring. Sure, there were a few monsters but nothing the big three couldn't handle. I sighed as the boat continued its way along the water, towards Mount Elbert.

I thought about Annabeth. The way her blonde curls fell over her shoulders, the way her grey eyes would sparkle when she talked about architecture and the way she would slap me upside the head when I said something stupid. It would be followed by a kiss of course.

Maybe I could IM her. I dug my pockets for a drachma. When I found one, I threw it out the boat and it fell neatly into the sea spray.I thought for a minute, then threw two more. We always had pretty lengthy conversations. I chanted the familiar statement and Annabeth's head popped up.I almost smiled but then I noticed she was screaming. And she was standing on her bed.

"STOLLS!" she screamed.

Her siblings were following her example, standing on everything that took them further away from the ground and muttering obscenities along with a lot of waving hands and screaming. I immediately realized the problem.I looked around the room until I spotted it. The spider, or tarantula, to be more specific was laying limp in the centre of the room.

"Is it even alive?" I asked. Twelve heads turned towards me. I realized they didn't even know I was there

Malcolm threw a skittle at it. It moved. Cue the screaming and hand waving.

"A skittle won't kill it you know."

"Enlighten us, oh dear greatness, what would kill it?" Annabeth snapped at me. "I don't know, a book or something?" Five books flew at it. Not one hit it. I chuckled. "You do know the book is supposed to hit the spider, right?"

All of them glared at me. Have you ever seen twelve Athena kids glare at you? It' s not a very nice feeling."Oh look it's moving" I said. More stuff flew at it while the screaming restarted. I sighed

"Percy?" I heard Thalia yell. " Who's screaming?"

"Come and see for yourself." I yelled back. Thalia entered, followed by Nico. They saw the IM and burst into laughter. Cue the glares. That sobered them up pretty quickly.

Then I heard a door bang open "For goodness sake!" The voice of a familiar Oracle of Delphi exclaimed. Rachel came in, walked to the library, grabbed a large book and dropped it on the spider while muttering stuff under her breath. She saw us and waved then stalked out.

A collective sigh rose from the cabin while they got of the bed and continued their work like nothing happened. I chuckled . "Hey guys." Annabeth said as she walked towards the IM.

"That was….interesting." Thalia stated from beside me. Annabeth glared at her and Thalia raised her arms in surrender, snickering.

"Stolls, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah." She grumbled. "Just watch what we'll do to them."

I talked like we were right next to each other and it felt like I never left. Suddenly, I realized Thalia and Nico had become very quiet. I looked around, only to find out the had left.

"You're just realizing?"

"Um, yeah." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She laughed and I smiled at her.

"Oh Seaweed Brain" She said smiling at me. She then sighed and sadness engulfed her features. "What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"I miss you." She said.

"I miss you too Annabeth, but we'll get through this. I mean, we've been away from each other longer, right?"

"Yeah, but….atleast you were safe. Now you're on a quest and…."

"Nothing's going to happen, Wise Girl. I'll always come back to you." She then smiled so warmly at me I thought I was going to melt. I smiled back at her as well and all I wished for at that moment was to be next to her. I heard a cough from behind her and saw Malcolm there. "Sword practice." He stated.

I thought back to the last time this happened, before Annabeth and I were dating. We were in her cabin and I was hugging her before we left for the labyrinth. Gosh, that was such a long time ago. I smiled at the memory.

She nodded. "Give me a minute, I'll be right there." She looked back at me. "What are you smiling about?"

"Remember when this happened? Before the labyrinth?" She smirked. "Yeah, it was archery practice at the time though. You were also cuter."

"Hey! Are you saying I'm not cute now?"

"Yes Percy, that's exactly what I'm implying." I grumbled.

"I should…." She trailed off.

"Yeah." I said. She got up and turned around.

"Wise Girl?"

She looked back at me "Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too Seaweed Brain." She blew a kiss at me, then turned and walked away. I ran my hand through the IM.

I sighed and looked forward. I loved spending time with my cousins but I couldn't wait to be back with were now approaching the land and we would reach in exactly ten minutes. I could tell. "Hey Guys!" I called out "We're here!" We weren't at the mountain, but we would be taking a day long train ride to its foot. We would have to hike from there. Thalia and Nico came out bickering and I smiled. "Come on guys." I said stepping onto the dock. "Let's get Hestia's weapon back to her."

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-iloverickriordan.