*ANNABETH*

Annabeth opened her eyes, the sun was high in the sky and shone down on her, warming her from her head to the tips of her toes. She tipped back her head and soaked in the light, relishing the vitamin D with her eyes lightly shut. She saw with her ears as she listened to her surroundings and tried to guess where she was. The first thing she noticed was the babble of voices in the background, there were different pitches and tones to each voices, so much so that they blended into a complicated symphony. Yet there was a slight accent to the voices that struck a cord in her memory, it was far from the harsh New Yorker accents she had grown up with as a child but just as familiar. She also heard the grate of metal against stone, and felt the hard pattern of wrote-iron through her shirt as she leaned against her chair. So a metal chair and table in an outdoor area surrounded by people, she thought to herself. As her senses became more attuned to her surroundings she froze, her arms and the back of her neck pickled with the knowledge that someone was near her. In fact, she guessed that they were sitting across from her. Annabeth opened her eyes and looked around, she was in New Rome, the accents she heard were of the California natives, like her father. The marble of the temples and store fronts gleamed white in the sun's rays, as Annabeth shielded her eyed from the glare her gaze settled on a figure in front of her, who gazed intently into her eyes.

"Percy." She breathed. The figure smiled and leaned forward, out of the shadow cast by the terrace above them.

"Its about time you wake up wise-girl." He said with a gleam in his eye. "What- wait where are we?" Annabeth asked worriedly as she glanced around. Percy looked at her, a question written upon his brow, "Uh, New Rome." He said.

"No- I mean I knew that" Annabeth said impatiently, "I meant how did we get here?" Percy's brow furrowed even further, "Well, you flew here on a giant trireme, ninja-kicked me to the ground and then walked with me over to this cafe for the best hot chocolate in the world." He said this with a straight face until the 'worlds best hot chocolate' part and then a smile split across his lips. Memories of the trireme and ninja-kick fill her mind, but after that she had memories of the incident with Leo and their quick departure from New Rome instead.

"Percy, are you sure about that, cause I'm pretty sure we blew away any chance of a friendship with Rome... literally." Percy looked at her like she had Hydra heads and the horns of the Minotaur. "Annabeth- no, the Romans wrote up an official peace treaty and Octavian deemed our arrival a 'good omen' with another Pillow Pet not ten minutes ago!" Percy grasped her hand in his, it felt real and not at all like a dream hand would, and though Annabeth knew that the time line of her life didn't sync up, she relished in the contact and decided to just 'go with the flow'. Percy's chair screeched as he scooted away from the table and stood, Annabeth joined him and they began to walk down the cobblestone walkway. The sun was deliciously warm across Annabeth's back, maybe even a bit too hot for her liking. After a few minutes of quiet, thoughtful walking, Percy spoke;

"I missed you Annabeth." He ducked his head down to look her straight in the eyes as he said this, "Don't you leave me agai-" But Annabeth had reached up on her tip-toes and silenced him with her lips. Percy rocked back, surprised but soon returned the kiss, as soft as a falling feather. Annabeth sighed and twined her fingers into his black hair, and soon, his were knotted in her's. (Annabeth grumbled internally, she loved hot weather but hot weather plus hot boy was downright sweltering.) Their kiss was gaining strength now, as Percy held her waist and they pressed together, oblivious to the outside world. Percy held her cheek with his palm and whispered against her mouth;

"I love yo-" The heat around her was unbearable and her eyes flew open, only to see darkness.

*PERCY*

Percy woke up immediately when he heard Annabeth's terrified yelp, he needed to stop moving, except there was nothing to stop, he wasn't the one moving. Percy was laid out on his stomach over something prickly and uncomfortable and Annabeth was clearly tied up next to him, as Percy tried to move he realized he too had constraints lashed over him. He wriggled his head to turned and look at Annabeth,

"You alright?" She looked at him wide-eyed, lips parting in an unsaid question, "Uh ya, just wondering where we're headed, what we're riding on, and for the millionth time; why didn't I bring a flashlight." Percy could hear the smile creeping across her face, "I was just asking myself the same thing, except for the flashlight; I've got Riptide." Percy's smile faded as he squirmed around, trying to feel his pockets, "Correction: I had Riptide." Annabeth chuckled, "So Any clue where we are?" She asked curiously. He imagined all of the possibilities and grimaced, he felt pretty empty; like all of the terror that should have been making his stomach a whirlpool had been drained out of him. Percy sighed, "10 bucks if its one of Gaea's minions, 15 if its Arachne again." Annabeth laughed, it sounded like she was pretty empty too. Percy decided then that it didn't matter what they faced, as long as they were together when they did. The mass under him shifted, and he sneezed as the stiff hairs poked his face.

"Try not to spew your disgusting bodily fluids on me you spawn of Poseidon"

Percy scowled into the darkness, recognizing the voice at once as it struck a cord of deep hatred in his memory of the past few days. He took a deep breath, "I win 15 dollars."