I was woken up by someone shaking my arm, causing me to jolt awake. The castle maids never entered my room before I gave them the affirmative, so the behavior was unusual.

"What?" I asked groggily.

"Get up, Annabeth."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. "I'm up, I'm up."

Percy was standing beside the bed, wearing an all-black outfit. His hair was laying artfully across his forehead, and his eyes were bright and awake. "How's your leg feeling?" he questioned, delicately guiding my feet into my heels.

I furrowed my eyebrows and did a full body assessment. My leg was still very sore, but luckily not as intensely as it was last night. "Better, but still not good. Are we going to the doctor?"

He nodded. "We're gonna grab some food before heading to the next village over."

"There aren't any doctors here?"

"None that I would trust your life and our little secret with."

I narrowed my eyes. "What's our secret?"

Percy rolled his green eyes and grabbed my hands, standing me up. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you're the princess of Olympus and I've stolen you away from the kingdom."

"Maybe I should go and inform them," I teased. "I sure would like to let the public know I'm safe."

He glared at me and let go of my hands, causing me to drop back down to the bed. "Have fun getting there, Princess." He then turned and walked over to the step ladder leading to his loft.

"Wait!" I called.

Percy glanced over his shoulder, a glimmer in his beautiful eyes. "Yes?"

I scoffed. "You're a jerk. Come help me up."

He chuckled and spun back around so he was facing me. With a little grumbling and complaining from me, he helped me get up and was supporting me so I could stand.

I climbed on his back and held on tightly as he trudged down the ladder. Once we were back in the common area of his home, he set me back on my feet.

I put all of my weight on my unwounded left leg and rested just the tips of my toes on my right leg on the ground. Percy ran around the house, grabbing some last-minute essentials, before finally meeting me at the front door. I threw my arm across his shoulders and used him like a cane.

Together, we walked back to his small barn and he plopped me on Blackjack's back. Percy mounted the horse behind me after securing his items and we took off down the dirt road that led to his house.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the streets were barren. Blackjack raced along the road and into the woods we came from the night before. By that time, my eyelids were drooping closed. I slumped forward on the horse, but Percy tightened an arm around me to keep me steady.

"Tired?" he asked, a mocking edge to his tone.

I nodded sluggishly. "I don't like waking up before the sun," I explained sardonically.

I felt his chest rumbling behind me as he laughed. "Neither do I."

"Then why couldn't we have left an hour or so later?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Because," Percy drawled. "I wasn't even supposed to take that pitstop home for the night. The leg wound slowed down our progress quite a bit."

"You could have brought us straight to whatever village we're heading to now last night," I pointed out. "Why didn't you?"

"You're quite the complainer, Princess." Percy pulled the reigns left, turning the horse down a path. "Besides, I was tired and didn't want to get us in more trouble by accident."

I smiled. "Or maybe the big bad kidnapper has a heart and wanted to make sure I was healthy enough to travel," I pointed out.

He huffed. "Go to sleep, kid."

"I am not a kid," I protested.

Percy laughed. "Technically, you're older than me."

I rose and eyebrow and immediately dropped it, too tired to make facial expressions. "When is your birthday?"

He hesitated, directing the horse once more. "I'm turning eighteen on the eighteenth of August."

I nodded before my eyelids popped wide open. "That'll be the eleventh anniversary of my mother's death."

Percy hummed affirmatively. "She died on my seventh birthday, as did - " he halted mid-sentence. "Well, as did a lot of people. You should get some rest, Annabeth."

Although falling asleep on a horse wasn't the most ideal situation, my body was exhausted and couldn't find a fault in Percy's statement. Within minutes, my eyes drifted closed and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

I awoke once the horse had a drastic change of pace, slowing down to a normal walking speed.

"Wakey wakey," Percy murmured in my ear, making me shiver.

"Where are we?" I asked. "Are we in the village you were talking about?"

"Yup," he replied, hopping off of Blackjack. "Welcome to Kronratha."

I frowned, recognizing the name, but not remembering why. "Should I know this place?"

Percy shrugged, but I caught something flash in his eyes. He offered me his hands and I got down from the horse's back. We were right outside of a small armory with a wooden sign hanging above the doorway. On the sign were a worn image of a caduceus and a few letters, although all I could make out was a C.

"I thought we were going to a doctor," I stated as Percy helped me hobble inside the empty store.

"Be patient," he instructed, strolling over to the front desk.

A man with shortly cropped blonde hair was standing there and turned to face us when he heard our voices. My eyes widened, recognizing his tan face and icy blue eyes.

"Hello there," he called. "Are you here for the special?"

"The scythe?"

The salesman smiled. "Yes."

Percy nodded. "Affirmative."

The blonde man dug a key out of a drawer and stepped out from behind the desk. "Follow me," he said, gesturing with his hand for us to come with him.

I frowned as Percy assisted me over to a small door. It made sense that the man didn't recognize me. It had been eight years since Luke gave me my dagger. My cheeks flushed, embarrassed that I hade been harboring a useless crush over the boy for years when there was almost no chance he remembered who I was. I decided to not try and let Luke know who I was, fearing being seen as an insane girl.

Luke unlocked the door and stepped aside, revealing a rickety staircase with no lighting.

Percy looked down at me. "May I?" he asked, holding his arms as if he were cradling a baby.

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "I don't see any other way that I'll be making my way down those steps."

He grinned and scooped me up. I tightly held onto his neck as he stomped down the steps. Luke shut the door and followed behind us.