The scene changed again. For a brief moment, I was on a boat, holding hands with Annabeth. I wasn't sure where we were, but it looked like some place where you'd take any comfort you could get. I barely had time to finish that though before the scene changed again. Now we were in an air bubble. Annabeth looked older now, maybe fourteen, maybe a bit less. Oh, and she was crying. Even in my dream, I was somewhat aware of my real world memories and as far as I knew, this was the first time I'd seen Annabeth cry. I didn't really know what to do, so I just awkwardly pulled her closer to me. Annabeth didn't resist, which probably meant that it was really bad. A ignore-the-standards,-I-need-comfort-right-now type situation. And seemingly, I was the source of that comfort, which already was a higher position than what I was usually trusted with. We don't count the quest I was trusted with last year, I only got that because I was the suspect. Anyways, I couldn't talk to Annabeth right now because I still had earplugs in to protect me from the song of the sirens. I relived those few minutes until we were definitely out of range before focusing again. I took out my earplugs and tried to start a conversation. "Are you alright?" I asked. Instead of answering my question (which wasn't really necessary after having cried her eyes out for the last few minutes) she talked about the sirens and what they had shown her. A perfect world, no, a fixed world. Fixed by Annabeth. I had not been in that world, but I didn't dare to ask about that.
Once again, our surroundings changed. Annabeth was lying on the floor and she seemed to be doing a lot worse than last time. Like, verge of death kind of worse. There was something wrapped around her, a carpet maybe? No, it was the Golden Fleece and it was practically glowing with power. Power that was now flowing into Annabeth and healing her. Slowly, the color returned to her face and she tried to sit up, but was still too weak. I recalled our conversation earlier. Overestimating herself was Annabeth's fatal flaw after all. Now, there were a lot of things I could have said to my second best friend just coming back from almost death, but before I could choose the wrong one, Annabeth did so for me. "You're… not married?"
Seconds later, we were back on the ship exchanging stories. I made sure to sit between Annabeth and Tyson, my pen in my hand. After all we'd just been through, the last thing I wanted for Annabeth was to feel threatened by my brother.
The next thing I saw was a ball room. Well, it was actually just a school gym, but people were dancing, therefore it was a ball room. Speaking of people dancing, Annabeth told me to do so as well. "With whom?" I asked. She punched me before telling me to dance with her. Maybe I could have come up with that myself, but I'm not the one responsible for having ideas. That was Annabeth's job. We began to dance to the music, though I couldn't hear the song through almost three years of my memories getting blurry. I had never seen Annabeth dance before, but she was really good at it. Unlike me. I stepped on her feet like every two seconds, but she didn't seem to mind.
There was another change in scenery. Now we were on Mount Tam. Annabeth was standing a few meters away from me. Now that I was free from the sky, I ran to her and gave her a big hug. Not in a romantic way of course, more in a haven't-seen-you-in-so-long -I-didn't-even-know-if-you-were-still-alive way. We stayed like this until Thalia reminded us that we still had a lot to do today.
For my next memory, I was back at camp and for some reason I felt like seeing Annabeth. I hadn't seen her for a while now, so I asked Malcolm where she was. "She's in our cabin and we're not supposed to bother her" "Then I won't meet her I guess" "When she said she needed to be alone for a moment, she said something like 'Nobody. Except… nevermind" while touching the trident bead on her necklace, so if you're lucky, she'll make an exception for you" "I hope you're right"
I knocked on the door. "Who's there?" Annabeth asked. "Percy. Can I come in?" "What part of 'I don't want to be bothered?' didn't they tell you?" She didn't sound like she was giving me a genuine instruction to leave though. "Is that a yes?" "Fine, come in" I opened the door. "You just can't resis-" I joked, but then I saw Annabeth. She was sorting through some old maps, but when she looked at me, I could tell she was worried about something. "I'd ask you how it's going, but I think I already know the answer" "Yeah, not great" An awkward silence followed. "Want to, uh, talk about it? If you want to be alone, I can leave again" "No, stay here, don't go" It wasn't a command, it was a pleading request, like she was clinging onto the fleeting chance that I'd stay. I remember what Annabeth had once told me, that being left alone was a bit of a touchy subject for her. Not wanting to trigger her abandonment issues, I stayed.
"You know, I've always wanted to lead a quest. Ever since I was seven. And now that I've got the chance… it's just that the labyrinth is huge and complicated and none of the myths agree on anything. All the maps just lead to nowhere. I really want this quest, but I'm scared. What if you get hurt? What about Grover and Tyson?" "I'm sure you'll do great. I mean, just look at our first quest. Technically it was my quest, but we both know who was really leading it. You did a great job back then and you'll do a great job now" "Maybe you're right. Oh gods, I can't believe I just said that" "Hey. By the way, did you remember what the last line of the prophecy was?" "No, but I'm sure it's fine" Her face was practically screaming NOT FINE, but before I could bring that up, Annabeth opened up her arms. She was usually not a big fan of emotional closeness, so it took me a while to understand that this was a silent request for a hug.
I realized that I had never properly hugged Annabeth before. Well, at least not in a situation where she needed it for comfort. Interestingly, hugging her made me feel very butterflies-in-my-stomach-y.
Suddenly, the door opened. Malcolm was standing behind us. "I just wanted to tell you that archery practice is starting" Annabeth pulled away. "We were just… looking at maps" I said "Sure. I see how you look at my sister" Without saying anything else, he left. Annabeth and I looked at each other. She was redder than the strawberries on the fields and I didn't feel much better. For a while, we were both silent. "If we laugh about it, we'll stop being stressed about the quest" I suggested. Annabeth tried to fight it, but eventually gave in. I hadn't heard her laugh like that in a while. Seeing her happy made me happy as well.
The scene changed once again. I was sitting in a chair, in the bed next to me was Annabeth. Her shoulder was heavily bandaged and she didn't look good in general. Her entire body, or at least what I could see of it, was covered in scratches and there was blood on her shirt. I really hoped it wasn't her own. Her hair was somehow even messier than normal. But all of that didn't matter to me. Annabeth was here and she was going to make it. That was the only thing that mattered right now. And the whole winning the war thing if course. "You're cute when you're worried" she said. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together" "Why did you take that knife?" "You would have done the same for me. I just had a feeling you were in danger, even though you had your curse. It's stupid, I know" "He would have hit it"
"Where is it?" Annabeth asked. I hesitated for a bit, but eventually told her where my Achilles was and allowed her hand to find it. The contact sent a shock through my entire body. Annabeth pulled her hand away, but I kept holding it, not wanting the moment to pass. Not wanting to be separated from Annabeth. When Annabeth realized that, she couldn't help but smile, which prompted the butterflies in my stomach to perform a whole musical worth of dance moves.
The next thing I saw was my living room. We were watching a movie, but the memory was too blurry to make it out. "Why is everything here compatible with R2 units?" Annabeth complained, so it was probably Star Wars. "Also, that scene made no sense. First they're below the elevator, but then they pass the doors after the elevator, even though the elevator was moving down" "Annabeth, I know logic is very important to you, but shut up" That had come out louder than expected. Annabeth flinched away from me, fear in her eyes. I saw my stepfather standing in front of me, complaining that I had interrupted his poker game. "Percy, are you okay?" Hearing the sound of her voice seemingly cut me free from my oncoming flashback. "I'm sorry" I said. "I was being so mean to you. It won't happen again" "Relax seaweed brain. Everything's alright." "It's not" "Is this about Gabe?" "What if I'm becoming like him?" "Percy, you're not becoming like him" My vision got blurry, maybe my memories weren't as clear now. Annabeth's expression showed she was worried about me, so I was probably wrong about the memories. My vision was blurry because I was crying
"Percy, do you need a hug?" Annabeth asked. "I won't do that to you. It'll scare you more" "You're halfway right. I am a bit scared. But if you hug me, I'll feel safe. I promise" "Okay" Annabeth slid over and pulled me into her arms. I immediately felt better. Annabeth moved her left hand down my back. It took me a moment to understand what she was doing; covering my Achilles spot. I had only told her I liked that once, but she still remembered it. "You passed the test" she whispered. "The test? What test?" "The If-you-can't-handle-me-at-my-worst test" "But I got angry at you. I couldn't handle you" "You got me to not think about logical inconsistencies and you made me feel safe and protected. What more could a girl ask for?" "There's a lot she could ask for. A mentally stable boyfriend for example" "But then he wouldn't understand my struggles" "That's true. You could ask for someone who brings you breakfast in bed" "Is that a promise?" "No, it was just a suggestion of-" "Yeah, you're not getting out of this. Unless you want to of course, and only if it's not too much of a hassle" "I guess I have to now" We continued both the movie and our hug.
In case you were wondering, I did get Annabeth her breakfast in bed, simply because I wanted to show her that she was allowed to ask for more than the bare minimum. Also I didn't want her in the kitchen. Just because I had water powers didn't mean I was a good firefighter and Annabeth had already set the toaster on fire the day before.
A moment later, I was in my bed on the Argo II. Annabeth came in and told me she wanted to show me something. I got up and followed her to the stables. "This is my favorite place on the ship" She explained "Do you know why? What does it remind you of?" "The zoo truck. But why is that your favorite place. I don't know about you, but I felt like schist at that moment" "But it was the first time we really talked" We talked for a while longer about the dangers we'd have to face. Eventually, I decided that we'd done enough of that. "No more talk about Gaia rising, Nico being held hostage, the world ending, the giants-" "Shut up seaweed brain" Annabeth ordered. "Just hold me for a while" I was surprised by the sudden demand for affection. Not that it was inappropriate or anything, Annabeth just usually hard a hard time comprehending how much I loved her and that she was entitled to cuddles. Of course I granted her her wish.
After a few minutes of peaceful silence, I spoke again.
"I was just thinking about that zoo truck again. It was the first time you were opening up to me" Annabeth laughed. "Opening up? That wasn't opening up. That was providing the bare minimum of information" "You told me everything about your family situation" "The thing I said about leaving them to rot required an explanation. I had to tell you all of that to resolve the situation" "So, you felt like I was entitled to that information" "Of course" "No. I'm not entitled to anything, much less so four years ago. If I made you feel like you had to tell me I'm sorry for that" "It's fine. Even if my self worth issues sometimes try to make me violate my own privacy, my trust issues usually prevent me from telling too much. Isn't that useful?" "That's really sad" "That too. But if I focus on the positive aspect, I won't feel like… what was that word again?" "Schist?" "Exactly. I don't feel like schist" "Sorry" "For what" "For pointing out the bad aspects" "It's fine. Everything is fine. I'm fine" "If I went to Egypt and measured the Nile, it would still be less than what you're currently displaying" "Perseus Jackson, that has got to be the worst pun you have told all year" "The worst pun of the year so far. We've only spent like two days together and still have just over half a year left" "Didn't you say no more talking about deadly challenges" "Are you saying that over the course of the year, my puns will get so bad that they pose a threat?" "That is exactly what I am saying" "They'll at least be less dangerous than you in the kitchen. Fun fact, I once decided to never tell you that women belong in the kitchen" "Why is that?" "Either you'll get mad at me for being sexist or you'll actually go to the kitchen. In both scenarios, my life will be in danger. Also, that statement is wrong in general"
"Percy, you know I wouldn't kill you for being sexist. You probably wouldn't even sustain any lasting injury" "Fine, my life will only be in danger in the second scenario then" "Come on, I only set the kitchen on fire three times" "One of those times you were making salad. How do you burn salad?" "I have no clue. Do we have to argue now? I just want to cuddle" "Aww" "That's your contribution to the conversation?" "I thought you wanted to cuddle, not argue" "You can't just use my touch starved-ness (touch starvation?) to manipulate me" "I thought you wanted to cuddle, not argue" "You win" We went back to cuddling and after a while, we fell asleep.
When I woke up, sunlight shone into the room and Frank said "You guys are in big trouble"