***Okay, so I was going to wait until next week to post this second chapter, but I got impatient, so here it is! Chapter Three will be up next week, by Wed. 3/19, and will feature Piper's POV. And, as always, all the good stuff belongs to Rick Riordan.***

II. PERCY

Percy's dream started off pretty good. He was back in New Rome, as the crew members of the Argo II approached Reyna. He had stepped out to get a better look and then froze when he saw her. With the sunlight in her blonde hair, Annabeth looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her eyes met his and he grinned. Then, like he was being drawn by an irresistible force, he was moving toward her, she was in his arms, he kissed her, and nothing else in the world mattered.

Then, she judo-flipped him.

The stupid thing was that even as his back slammed against the ground and all the air whooshed out of his lungs, all Percy could think, giddily, was, That's my girl. Frankly, he would have been more surprised if she hadn't tried to cause him bodily harm. When she pressed her arm against his throat and threatened him, he couldn't help but laugh because it was so awesomely familiar. He watched the anger, worry, and annoyance drain out of her eyes as he said, "I missed you, too," and when she helped him back to his feet, he knew life was good. They were together.

The dream shifted and once again Percy was falling through the darkness, falling and falling, wondering if they would ever hit the bottom, if there was even a bottom to hit, and what would happen then. His science class at Goode High School had done an egg-drop last fall (before Hera kidnapped him). They'd made cages out of straws and masking tape, the goal being to make a contraption that would keep the egg from breaking. Then, they'd dropped them from a third story window. Nate Jones had been the only kid who'd managed to make something that kept his egg from breaking. Everyone else's eggs, including Percy's, had splattered on impact, yolk and shells covering the sidewalk. Tumbling through the darkness, Percy wished he'd paid more attention to what Nate Jones had done to keep his egg from exploding on the pavement; he could have used a few tips right now.

He pulled Annabeth closer because if he was going to break like an egg, well, he'd rather die holding her. In his dream, just like in real life, she pressed her lips against his ear and whispered, "I love you." A shiver went down his spine as he felt her breath brush his skin. He wanted to answer her, but he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he might do something really embarrassing, like scream. Then another voice broke into his dream.

"How sweet."

The dream shifted again and suddenly Percy was alone. He blinked, his eyes trying to adjust to the bright daylight after the darkness of the pit. After a moment, his vision cleared and he realized he was standing on another cliff, looking out over a city, the wind whipping around him. He turned and his stomach dropped. He recognized this place. Annabeth had shown him pictures of it a thousand times. The Parthenon. He was in Athens.

There was a soft laugh beside him and Percy jumped. He reached for Riptide, but the pen wasn't in his pocket. Panic swelled up in his throat and he stumbled back as Gaea loomed above him, as large as Tartarus had been when he'd assumed a human form. Dirt crumbled in landslides off her sides and he had to dodge falling rocks as she stepped forward, earthen skirts swirling around her.

"Welcome, Percy Jackson," she murmured. Her eyes were still closed, but that didn't seem to matter. He could feel the power and menace rolling off her in dusty waves. "How do you like the place I have designated for my scene of triumph? There are ancient stones in plenty. All I need is the blood of Olympus to spill upon them. Blood you are so kindly delivering straight to me."

Percy felt naked without his sword in his hand, but he managed to find his voice. "I'm not delivering anything to you. We're coming to stop you."

Gaea laughed, a slow, deep roll, like the heartbeat of the earth. "You cannot stop me, my sweet pawn. You, better than anyone, should know this. After all, you met my husband, Tartarus, did you not? You could not stop him, and you will not stop me."

Percy's legs were shaking, but he forced himself to look straight up into Gaea's half-asleep face. "You're wrong. We'll find a way."

Gaea gave another sleepy laugh. "Such bravado. But you're a fool, Percy Jackson. Your quest has been doomed from the beginning. The son of Hephaestus is fated to die in Preveza, while your other friends, the son of Mars and the daughter of Pluto, will meet their fate in Pylos. There is a chance you, too, might meet your end there. Which would leave Jason Grace and Piper McLean to be my sacrifices. I could do worse. And then there's Annabeth Chase. I have a special punishment in mind for her."

"No one is going to die, no one is going to be your sacrifice, and no one is going to be punished," Percy spat, his hands clenched into fists. "I won't let you hurt my friends."

"Are you going to protect them, Percy Jackson?" Gaea murmured. "As you protected my failure of a son, Damasen, and his Titan friend Iapetus? Bob, I believe you called him."

It was as if an iron fist had slammed into his chest. Suddenly, Percy couldn't breathe. For an instant, he was back at the Doors of Death, watching Damasen and his drakon leading Tartarus away while Bob and Small Bob, the saber-tooth kitten, prepared to fend off a horde of monsters so that Percy and Annabeth could escape back to the mortal world. He couldn't speak.

Gaea laughed again. "You will fail to save those you love, Percy Jackson. Just as you did before." A wave of dirt rushed over him, choking him, drowning him in the earth, and Percy woke up, gasping for air.

For a few moments, he was completely disoriented, breathing heavily like he'd just run a marathon. When he saw the Minotaur horn hanging on the wall above his desk, for just a moment he thought he was back in his cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Then he looked around again and realized he was in his bed on the Argo II. The Minotaur horn was on his wall because Annabeth had hung it up before the ship left for Camp Jupiter, to make his cabin feel more homey, she said. Nice to have a considerate girlfriend. But thinking of Annabeth reminded Percy of his dream, and Gaea saying she had a special punishment for her, which wasn't good news.

Percy didn't enjoy feeling like a failure. He hated that he hadn't been able to save Bob, Damasen, and Small Bob in Tartarus. This afternoon, he'd almost passed out when Leo asked him to speed up the ship, something he shouldn't have had a problem with. Reminding himself that he had managed to keep the sea serpent from sinking the ship by controlling the waves didn't make him feel that much better. The experience had left him so drained, Annabeth and Jason had to half-carry him back to his cabin so he could take a nap. He didn't want to only succeed sometimes; he wanted to be able to help his friends every time.

"Stupid fatal flaw," he muttered to the ceiling of his cabin. Fortunately, the ceiling didn't respond. Someone else did, though.

"First sign of insanity, talking to yourself," Jason's voice said from the doorway.

Percy sat up on his bed and looked at his friend. "I've heard you're only in trouble if you answer," Percy said.

"That's comforting," Jason replied. "We're almost to Preveza. Everybody's meeting on deck in ten minutes to figure out what the plan is."

"Okay, cool." Percy swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up.

Jason hesitated, then added, "Annabeth's door is shut, I thought maybe you'd rather—."

"On it." Percy moved to head into the hallway, but Jason stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"And don't beat yourself up, man," he said. "You can't be the hero every time. That's why we're a team."

"Yeah, I guess," Percy said. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, looking at Jason. "But it still sucks, feeling like you can't cut it. I hate other people having to take risks."

"Dude, I just spent a fight with Khione as a freeze-dried throw rug while Leo got blasted into the sky and Piper had to fight the Boreads alone," Jason said. "Believe me, I know the feeling. But it worked out. Piper was the hero on that one. We can't all do everything all the time. We're only human." Percy raised his eyebrows and Jason quickly corrected himself. "Okay, I guess we're not, technically, but you know what I mean."

Percy grinned. "Yeah, I see your point. We're a team. We get to take turns pulling each other's podex out of the fire."

Jason laughed. "Something like that." He clapped Percy on the shoulder, then turned to walk down the hallway. "See you on deck in ten."

Percy crossed the hall to Annabeth's door, the only one that was shut. Judging from the sounds, everyone else was either on deck or in the mess hall. He knocked, but there was no response. Maybe she was asleep? He tried the doorknob: it was unlocked. Hoping he wasn't about to be attacked, Percy opened the door.

Annabeth was sitting on her bed staring morosely at the wall above her desk, apparently lost in thought.

"Knock, knock?" he said as he stepped inside.

She jumped and turned to look at him. "Oh, it's you."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Good to see you, too."

Annabeth shook her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that. I just wasn't expecting you, or anybody." She shook her head again, like she was trying to shake her thoughts out, then focused on him. "What's up?"

"Meeting on deck in ten minutes so we can figure out a Prevailing plan."

"Preveza," Annabeth corrected with a small smile.

"Yeah, that." Percy moved farther into the room. The smile had already faded from Annabeth's face. "You okay?"

She looked at the wall above her desk again, but as far as Percy could tell, there was nothing there. "Actually, I was just trying to decide exactly how much of an ungrateful brat I am."

Whatever he had expected her to say, it wasn't that. "Um, I think I'm going to need some more information," he said, sitting down on the bed next to her.

"This is going to sound horrible," Annabeth said, still looking at the wall. "I know I should just be grateful that we're alive, especially after everything that happened at the Doors, with B-Bob and Damasen. And I am. What they did, it's too—I mean, gods, in comparison, this is so stupid, but—."

"What?" Percy asked.

"I miss Daedalus's laptop. And my knife," Annabeth said miserably. She finally looked away from the wall and met his eyes. "There. Now tell me how much of an ungrateful brat I am."

Percy didn't answer for a moment. Annabeth looked like she expected him to get angry, but Percy didn't blame her. He remembered the feeling from his dream, when he'd reached for Riptide and the sword wasn't there. True, it didn't compare to his actual friends, but still, the sword had been with him through a lot and he'd miss it. "Maybe about one percent."

Annabeth looked shocked, then she gave a shaky laugh. "I was thinking one hundred percent."

Percy shrugged. "The laptop was pretty sweet. And you had that knife since you were seven. I'd be upset if I lost Riptide. Besides," he added, "I know how you felt about Bob and Damasen."

Annabeth smiled. "You always manage to surprise me, Seaweed Brain."

Percy tried to smile back, but his stomach twisted at her words. Not always in a good way, he thought. He took a deep breath. "That reminds me. I think I owe you an apology."

"For what?"

"For, you know, what happened with, um, Akhyls." Percy felt Annabeth stiffen beside him and he kept his eyes on the blanket. "I lost control. And after everything we'd been through, it felt, well, good to punish someone. I'm not proud of that," he added hastily, "but it won't happen again. When I realized you were afraid of me—," he stopped to take a breath. "I never want to give you a reason to look at me like that again."

For a second, there was silence. Then, he felt Annabeth's fingers brush his cheek. Percy forced himself to look at her. Her expression wasn't afraid or judgmental, just thoughtful. Her hand was still resting against his cheek.

"You know," she said, dropping her hand from his cheek to his neck and sending butterflies shooting into his stomach, "I'm so used to you being your normal sweet, funny, loyal, occasionally annoying, self that I forget sometimes that you're dangerous."

"What? I'm not—," Percy started to say, but Annabeth raised her eyebrows and he stopped. She had a point. He remembered when he and Thalia had their fight next to the creek at Camp Half-Blood, after losing Capture-the-Flag a couple years ago. Chiron, their teacher, had pleaded with them both to stop, but it was only now, looking back on it, that Percy realized how afraid the centaur must have been, knowing that if they didn't listen, there wasn't much he could do to stop them.

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," Annabeth said. Percy was slightly distracted by her thumb tracing slow circles on his skin, but he wasn't complaining. "Everyone on this ship is dangerous. Jason can summon lightning. Frank can turn into deadly animals. Leo's fire skills, Hazel's ability to control precious metals and the Mist, Piper's charmspeak. They could cause a lot of havoc. But they don't. You don't," Annabeth said. "Because you're all decent human beings. What happened with Akhyls scared me because that's not you, Percy. You don't hurt people just because you can."

"But I wanted to hurt her," Percy admitted. "It was like something broke inside me."

Annabeth looked concerned. She was so close he could smell the lemon scent of her shampoo. "Tartarus brings out the worst in everyone," she said, "if they let it. But you didn't. You did the right thing in the end. You let Akhyls go."

"Yeah," Percy said, feeling a little better. "I guess so."

Annabeth's fingers brushed the back of his neck, sending jolts like electricity down his spine. "So, are we good?" she asked him.

"Definitely," he said.

Annabeth smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him and Percy forgot about Akhyls and Tartarus and possibly his own name.

Too soon, Annabeth pulled away. "Aren't we supposed to be up on deck or something?"

"Oh, yeah," Percy said, his brain still a little fuzzy. "Yeah, I think there's a meeting."

"What took you two so long?" Leo asked as Percy and Annabeth joined the rest of the crew at the helm. "Wait, on second thought, I don't want to know."

"Oh shut up," Annabeth said and Leo grinned. "Now, what are we trying to decide?"

"Basically, who's going ashore in Preveza," Piper said.

"Easy decision," Leo said, holding up four fingers. "Hazel to find Celestial bronze, Jason to fly our supplies back, Piper to convince someone to give us a deal," Piper started to protest, but Leo held up his hands, "only if it's necessary, yeah, I know. And me, because I'm the only one who knows what we need from the hardware store."

Percy's stomach dropped as he remembered his dream of Gaea, saying Leo would die in Preveza. "Um, actually, guys, maybe Preveza isn't the best place to stop."

His friends looked confused until he quickly explained his dream, then their expressions changed to a mixture of worry and anger.

"So I guess this would be a bad time to mention that while we were in the House of Hades, one of my ancestors told me to go to Pylos," Frank said.

"Considering Gaea wants to kill you, Hazel, and me there, it might not be the best side trip," Percy pointed out.

"But the fact that she told you going there is a bad idea means we almost have to go," Hazel said.

"Come again?" Leo said.

"If Gaea is trying to scare us away from a place, it means there's something there that might help us," Hazel said. "It might be worth the risk."

"I agree," Annabeth said. She didn't look shaken by Gaea's threat of a "special punishment" for her. Instead, her face was set in an expression of grim determination that Percy knew well. "But it can't hurt to take precautions. For instance, Leo should probably stay on the ship until we leave Preveza."

Leo shook his head. "No way." There was a steely note in his voice that Percy hadn't heard from Leo before. "I won't hide from Queen Dirt Face while someone else goes and gets killed in my place."

"Leo, it's not like—," Jason started to say, but Leo held up a hand.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not staying on the ship. Besides," he added, "do any of you organic life forms even know where to find polyvinyl acetate in the grocery store?" He grinned at their blank looks. "Exactly."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Fine. But as for Pylos—."

"We'll deal with Pylos when we get there," Percy said hastily. Like Leo, he had no intention of putting someone else in danger while he stayed behind, but there was no point in starting an argument about it now. He ignored the look Annabeth was giving him and said, "So what are Frank, Annabeth, and I supposed to be doing while you guys are getting supplies?"

"Great question," Leo said. He pressed a few buttons on the Archimedes spear, which projected a 3D diagram of the Argo II. "In my absence, Annabeth will be supreme commander of the Argo II. Which means, she'll be directing you two on how to fix these leaks with the supplies that we have, so that the ship doesn't sink while we're gone."

"Is that a possibility?" Hazel asked, looking alarmed.

"Not if the leaks get fixed," Leo said.

The sun was setting when Jason, Leo, Piper, and Hazel set out. Following Annabeth's instructions, Percy and Frank the Octopus worked on mending cracks in the hull of the ship and realigning the oars. The good news was that Percy could communicate underwater with Frank while he was in his sea creature form. The bad news was that once the sun went down, neither of them could see what they were doing. It was ridiculously frustrating. Percy could sense the depth of the water, the way the currents were flowing, the exact longitude and latitude of the Argo II, but without light, he was completely incapable of hammering in a nail. When he missed the hull of the ship entirely and smacked Frank in the head with the hammer, they decided to give it up, though not before Frank threw out some curse words that would have made even Hazel's foul-mouthed horse Arion blush.

"Sorry, man," Percy said sheepishly when they were back on deck and Frank was human again.

"It's fine," Frank said, rubbing the rising knot on his head. "But next time, you can hold the nails."

"Deal."

"Well, we shouldn't sink, at least," Annabeth said, looking at the diagram of the ship. "Maybe Leo can pull some high-powered flashlights out of that toolbelt of his when they get back with the supplies."

But when the others came back, they were empty-handed.

"All the stores were closed," Piper said glumly.

"We'll have to try again tomorrow," Jason said.

"On the plus side, I always like to put off certain death until tomorrow," Leo said.

As Percy jumped back into the water, now with high-powered, waterproof, LED flashlights clutched in four of Frank's octopus arms, he wished it were that easy, that he and his friends could just keep putting off dying until tomorrow. But Gaea was rising and Percy had a sinking feeling that time was already running out.