I hate technology. Let my trials be a lesson to everyone: DON'T TRUST TECHNOLOGY.

And now I suppose I've confused you. So, explanation.

We have a wifi hotspot with a data limit of 8 gigabytes a month. That really isn't much for a family of six, but that's not really the point. The point is that we reached our data limit early this month. Really early. And, of course, no wifi means no internet, and no internet means no updates.

So, before you go pointing fingers and throwing cyber-punches, or posting angry reviews in all capital letters, I'd really like you to remember that this actually isn't my fault. At all. My dad's even 95% sure that my oldest sister's new laptop is the culprit, and that's not anyone's fault either, since no one really could have had any clue that her laptop would be a wifi-sucking demon from Hades.

But, if you have to blame someone, blame the sister. Or the wifi-sucking demon, whatever works.

And now. On to other things.

I have come to a decision. About...things. This fanfiction, actually. And it concerns updating, so you'll probably want to pay attention.

Before you have a panic attack or a heart attack or some other kind of attack that will most likely result in an ambulance being called, don't worry. I'm not putting this fanfiction on hiatus, or quitting, or anything like that. No, I'm hoping this will be good news, well-received, undisputed. Something that'll make people jump in the air waving their hands and screaming like an asylum patient.

I write fairly fast. And, normally, whenever I sit down to write, I don't get up again until I've finished a chapter. It's very rare that I get up before then. Sometimes those sessions take longer, sometimes shorter; it all depends on what my mindset is during those moments. Sometimes I have more than one session in one day, and sometimes I'll start on a second chapter after finishing the first, lessoning my workload for the next day.

But, the point. Yes. My point is that I don't usually post the chapters I finish right away, because I'm usually two or three chapters ahead of the one that has been posted. But, now, I'm going to start. Posting them right away, that is.

This is mostly as an effort to bring updates back under control, and also an attempt to soothe the raw ache my long absence has no doubt given a great number of you. I'd rather not have a mob gathering outside my doors any time soon, so it's a great hope of mine that this particular endeavor succeeds. This unfortunately also means I won't be responding to very many reviews-not very many at all. I will, of course, respond to those that have questions or requests, or those whose reviews I found especially amusing or some such. But on the whole, not a lot.

Now, a further explanation. Mostly of the strange cast to the words above: the use of long, confusing words, strange phrasing, the slightly British aspect to everything...Well, at least I think it's British, but of course I think it's British, because I know British people are the cause of the whole thing.

I've heard a lot of clamor and praise about certain British TV shows, including Doctor Who and Sherlock. I've meant to check both of them out for quite some time, but haven't had the chance, and recently the occasion arose that I had the ability to watch the first three seasons of BBC Sherlock. Which is absolutely riveting.

But. That's not the entire reason for the strange aspect to all my words, thoughts, actions. The entire reason is the fact that I watched the entire Harry Potter movie series and the entire first season of Sherlock in the same day. And then proceeded to watch seasons two and three of Sherlock the very next day.

Oh, and I'd really appreciate it if none of you told my mother about the Harry Potter/Sherlock marathon. I'm not even entirely certain how watching all of that in one day is possible, but obviously it is, because I've accomplished it. And I'm not really particularly proud. But she wasn't there, in any case-I was home alone all day, which is really quite nice. Relaxing, you know. So she doesn't know anything about the marathon and I'd prefer to keep it that way, because then I'd get the whole lecture about how sitting around watching movies all day isn't getting me anywhere and that I'm really just a lazy bum who sits on her arse all day.

Oh, yes, another thing I picked up. British terms. I like them; they're quite a bit better than the American way of saying-well, everything.

Back to making my point. Today is actually the second day-the one where I watched seasons two and three. And while I won't be able to post this until the third day, I'm writing it now because I'm bored and have nothing else to do. So all of Harry Potter and Sherlock and everything is still very fresh. And I've been thinking in a British accent ever since yesterday. Thinking, yes; all my thoughts are being thunk in a British accent. And my mental voice is that of Benedict Cumberbatch, although that really isn't necessarily a bad thing-he is yummy. I've already informed my mother that he's what I want for Christmas, and that's ages away.

And. I also happen to have an absolutely massive headache right now, probably caused by the fact that I haven't been eating regular meals and my food has largely consisted of Lucky Charms, bowls of ice cream, chocolate cupcakes, and other deliciously unhealthy sugar-filled junk foods. For the past two days, junk food is practically all I've eaten. I think I have a junk food hangover.

Also, yet another thing-I have had no outside human contact (meaning apart from my family) in...three weeks? A month? It's actually probably more, but of course by outside human contact I really mean contact with anyone I'd actually like to talk to, and that's mostly limited to my best friend, and she's always busy, so I never get to see her. Also, without wifi, I can't even talk to her via Facebook messaging, which is the only way we ever get to communicate anyway. My family are boring. And very different from me, which is hugely disappointing. So I don't really talk to them, either, which means I've been either holed up in my room or in the computer room or sitting and watching British shows on DVD for the majority of every day for far too long a time.

Oh, and did I mention that all my thoughts and written words and such now tend to be in strings of sentences very quickly one after the other with no pauses or breaks very similar to how Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock speaks on the show? Yeah. Brilliant, isn't it?

So, my mind is now temporarily British. It's quite a nice change actually, although I'm a little concerned whenever I start to wonder how long this is going to last and whether it really is just temporary. I'm fairly certain it is, though, so no need to worry too much.

I'm alone way too much. I think I'm going to shut up now.

Enjoy!

Chapter XCI

Percy

Down in the engine room, Percy feels kind of like a third wheel-which is weird, to say the least. But he really has absolutely no clue what Annabeth and Leo are talking about. And all the big words are giving him a headache.

So, he feels useless. And, as far as he can tell, he pretty much is.

Annabeth and Leo are sitting by the second control station he has next to the main part of the engine-well, Leo is crouching on the floor looking into some sort of panel while Annabeth stands next to him and talks with him about a control disk. Or something.

Currently, Leo is trying to find the perfect place to stop the ship. Meaning somewhere that isn't over a trench or something that could hide a horde of sea monsters or some other creature that would like nothing better than to eat them. And when he's finished with that, Percy and Annabeth promised to help him with his plans to get back to Ogygia after defeating Gaea.

Except that it's mostly technical stuff, and Percy can't exactly help with that, considering the fact that he has no idea what he's doing.

He sighs and walks over to Leo's table, clicking on the lamp and shuffling through the blueprints and other papers stacked there. A lot of the plans look really cool, but other than that, Percy can't tell much about them.

The astrolabe is laying on the far corner of the desk, and Percy picks it up, wondering what about it is making it unfixable. It seems fine, just looking at it.

He flips it over, fascinated by the intricate designs worked into the metal.

This is really cool. He thinks, studying it intently. To think, Odysseus once used this to navigate at sea.

An idea comes to him, thinking of that...I wonder...

Percy concentrates harder on the astrolabe, and feels a slight tug in his gut-the same way it is whenever he uses any of his powers. And just like that, it's like he can feel the astrolabe, the same way he can feel the workings of the Argo beneath his feet and all around him. The same way he can feel the ocean surrounding the Argo.

There really doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it...he thinks, about to give up. Then he feels something else. Wait...

He looks closer at one of the hands-like those on a clock-and tries to move it. It doesn't budge. He lifts the astrolabe up to eye level, and notices something wedged between the hand and the main body of the device...

Percy pushes at it with his thumb, surprised at how firmly it's stuck, and tries to dislodge it the best he can without damaging the astrolabe.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth asks, causing him to jerk his arm in surprise. He swears as his finger gets pinched underneath the hand, but the thing that was stuck finally pops out and clatters onto the floor.

Percy moves the hands experimentally, checking to make sure that was all that was wrong with the astrolabe. It moves perfectly, and Percy grins and lifts it up.

"Fixed it." He tells them, and Leo hits his head on one of the overhead pipes in his eagerness to stand up and see what he's talking about.

Leo takes it from him, turning it over and inspecting it, moving the hands around. His eyes widen in astonishment as he looks back at Percy. "You did. You actually fixed it."

Annabeth looks over at Percy, her expression curious. "How?"

"Um...I could sort of-feel it?" She raises her eyebrow at him, and he grins, a little sheepishly. "Sailors used astrolabes as navigational devices once. If I can control old sailing ships and," he spreads his arms, referring to the Argo, "warships, why not the tools they used on said ships?"

Annabeth stares at him with a weird look on her face. "You hang out with me too much. You're starting to sound like my brothers-and that's seriously creepy, to say the least."

Percy's grin widens and he wraps his arms around her, kissing the end of her nose. "Your brothers don't do that, do they?"

"No." She concedes. "It'd be kind of weird if they did."

"Well, I'll work on trying to sound less smart. Because I wouldn't want to creep out my awesome girlfriend too much, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't." Annabeth agrees. "Especially since it might mean you would get no kisses for a week."

Percy leans his face closer until their lips are only millimeters away. "You've really got to stop saying that. Especially when we both know you wouldn't last that long without kissing me."

"Mmmm." Is her only response. She kisses him, and he melts into it, letting everything around them fade away.

"A-hem." Leo clears his throat, and they both look at him questioningly. He raises an eyebrow. "Do you really have to do that now? While I'm in the same room?"

Percy and Annabeth exchange an amused glance before looking back at him. "Yes." They answer in unison, and then they kiss each other again.

Leo makes a sound of disgust in his throat. "Get a room, lovebirds."

"You know, Leo, when you see Calypso again, she's probably going to want to do something similar to this." Percy tells him.

"That is not relevant to this conversation." Leo protests, but Annabeth grins, warming to the new topic.

"No, really, Leo. How are you going to be able to kiss her if you think this is gross?" She asks.

"Yeah, Leo. And if you keep complaining about this and then have no problems kissing her when you see her again, then you're just a hypocrite." Percy points out.

Annabeth glances at him. "You're doing it again."

"Am I?" Percy asks, raising his eyebrows in mild surprise. She nods. "Oh. Sorry."

Leo opens his mouth to defend himself, and then closes it again. "You guys suck." He finally says.

Percy and Annabeth grin at each other, and he raises his hand for a high five. "We win." They chorus.

Leo glowers at them moodily, muttering something uncomplimentary under his breath.

"Aw, come on, Leo, don't be like that." Percy protests. "You still have plenty of things to tease us about."

"Yeah." Annabeth continues. "You'll just have to make sure not to tease anyone about certain romantic displays, because all it does is make you a hypocrite again."

Leo glances irritatedly between the two of them. "You have no idea how much this limits my insults."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Annabeth reassures him, patting him on the shoulder with mock sympathy.

"Personally, I'm a little offended you haven't come up with other ways to tease us before now." Percy says, grinning broadly. "It seems like most of it is limited to our romantic relationship, and not much else. I mean, we don't even have nicknames like the others. That's just not fair, man."

Leo returns Percy's grin, his eyes lighting up with the familiar mischevious twinkle. "Technically, you two already have insulting nicknames. It's just that no one's allowed to use them except for the two of you."

"True." Percy agrees, nodding. "That just means you'll have to come up with others. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"For you? No." Leo concedes, and Percy's not sure whether he should feel offended or not. "But Annabeth's kind of hard to insult."

"Very true." Percy says wisely. "Annabeth's good at everything."

Annabeth smacks him, blushing. "I am not, Seaweed Brain." But Percy can tell she's flattered by his comment.

"Well, I'm going to start calling you Aqua Man." Leo tells him.

"Travis and Connor call me that." Percy comments absentmindedly, drawing circles on Annabeth's lower back.

"Really? Okay, then Kelp Head." Leo tries.

Percy shakes his head. "Nope. Thalia calls me that."

"Oh, come on." Leo groans. "Can't I just call you Aqua Man anyway?"

Percy shrugs. "Fine with me. It's not like they're here, anyway." He tickles the strip of bare skin where Annabeth's t-shirt has ridden up, and she wriggles a little, trying to get away from his fingers.

"Did you find a place to stop the ship?" She asks Leo, trying to ignore Percy.

Percy grins and tickles her more, until he can see the strain of not laughing on her face.

"What? Oh, yeah. We should be almost there at this point." Leo answers, walking back over to the controls. He checks a small screen and then types something into the keyboard. "Yep. Here we are. Percy, you're going to like this place."

"Really?" Percy asks distractedly, focusing on the way Annabeth's fighting not to smile from his tickling.

"I'd think so. The water's pretty shallow right here-there are places where you could easily stand, but the ocean floor curves off pretty quickly after those spots, so it's great for swimming, too. If you plan to go swimming." Leo adds, still looking at the screen.

Percy doesn't answer-he's grinning too widely, tickling Annabeth's back and sides with his fingers. She tries to trap his hands under hers, but he pulls them out of her grasp and keeps tickling.

"Percy, quit it!" She hisses at him under her breath, and he can hear her barely suppressed laughter.

"Not until I get you to laugh." He whispers back, tickling her ear with his breath. She shies sideways, and he leans forward, kissing her ear.

She giggles, and he pulls away, grinning triumphantly.

"What in Hades are you two doing?" Leo asks, drawing their attention back to him.

"Tickling Annabeth." Percy answers.

"Getting tickled." Annabeth replies.

Leo stares at them, glancing from Percy to Annabeth and back again. "You two are the strangest people I've ever met."

Percy grins at him. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Leo smiles back, but Percy can see that it pains him, seeing them with each other. Because they're together, and he and Calypso are not.

"I think we need to take a break." He announces, and Leo's eyes get wide with incredulity.

"Are you kidding? We've barely done anything." He protests.

"I fixed an astrolabe, actually." Percy points out. "Besides, Leo, the whole idea of this was for everyone to relax. That includes you, as much as you don't want to."

Leo wanders back to his table, shaking his head. "You guys can go if you want to, but I need to work on these plans. I still don't know how I'm going to rebuild Festus' body, and that's kind of important to my plan."

"I've been thinking about that." Annabeth admits. "And I don't think you need to rebuild his body at all."

Leo looks up. "Why not?"

"Because now you have people who are coming with you." She replies. "And it's probably going to take a little longer than a day or two to find Calypso's island."

"Yeah, so?" Leo asks. "More than one person can ride on Festus' back. And when Jason, Piper, and I were on our quest, we slept on his back pretty easily."

"I know that. But you'll be going over the ocean, and I really doubt there're going to be very many places to land, especially as you get closer to Ogygia." Annabeth tells him.

"She has a point." Percy says. The more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense. "Could you reconnect that control disk in Festus as he is now?"

"I could, yeah, but I don't see why I would. He doesn't have a body." Leo replies.

"Make the ship his body. He's already attached to it, and he's obviously hooked into the control center of the ship or something, since he can do all that he does." Percy tells him.

Leo stares in astonishment for a second, frozen in place. Then he blinks, and starts nodding, tapping his fingers against the papers on his table. "That could actually work."

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Percy tells him teasingly. "And that's what Annabeth was getting at. I just finished her thought for her."

Annabeth rolls her eyes at him. "You just wanted to sound smart again."

"Not like your brothers, hopefully." Percy says, pulling her closer.

"Nope. This time you managed to present a smart idea in a way that made you sound much less like one of my brothers." She assures him.

"Good." Percy kisses her once on the lips and then turns back to Leo again. "So? Can you relax now?"

Leo looks up distractedly. "What?"

"Oh, come on, Leo." Annabeth says exasperatedly. She walks over to him, stepping over the pipes and wires criss-crossing the floor, and grabs his arm, pulling him away from his table.

"Hey!" He protests.

"What'd you have in mind for the morning, Percy?" She asks him, still holding tightly to Leo's arm.

A grin spreads slowly across Percy's face. "How long has it been since you've gone swimming, Annabeth?"

Based on the author's note at the beginning of this chapter, which I'm frankly terrified to go back and actually read, I really need to get out more. But that's kind of hard when you live in a place where nothing ever happens. It's strange, really; I live in the middle of a country and yet I'm a city girl at heart, even though I've never even been to a truly big city. Funny, isn't it?

I'm running out of amusing fandom references to write here, so I think I'm just going to start putting random things as they come into my head.

I love you, stay away from the purple elephant, don't get licked by fire kittens, and NEVER insult the zombie duck! ;)

Oh, I am glad to be back.