Annabeth

So far so good. Nothing that bad has happened, but it had only been two hours since we decided to team up with Percy's group. We were currently in the town of Larissa, but we were four hours early to meet Piper, so we decided to just go around town and hang out.

"I think we should go in groups of three or four," Thalia stated, playing with one of her arrows. "It probably wouldn't be smart if we all went together. It might draw suspicions." We were trying to travel incognito, because we didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Apparently, we had some pretty popular people in our group.

There was Darryn, whom I am pretty sure everyone knows. Thalia is surprisingly popular, ever since she saved the Duke of Nafplion (the old capital of Greece) and his family from a drakon that attacked them during one of their family trips.

Percy turned out to be very well known, but mostly among the commoners. That was something that surprised me. Usually, if you were as good a fighter as Percy, and your father was one of the Big Three, you would spend your time with royalty and gods and be arrogant and spoiled.

But Percy was quite the opposite. It appeared that he was popular to the commoners because he thought of himself as one. He focused on being with the commoners, helped them out, made friends, and was very kind to them. He treated them like family, even though he was born of royal blood, making it so he could be a king. I admired him for not thinking of himself as a superior being, rather bringing himself to be like those who are usually never noticed. It definitely bought more respect for him from me, even though I still didn't like him.

Anyways, everybody started grabbing partners. My three brothers were with Thalia (she was like another sister to them), my guards each split up, and everybody chose partners until I realized that I didn't have a partner, and the only other people there were was Jason, Nico, and Percy.

Just my luck.

The three boys grinned at me and Nico stated, "Well, looks like you're with us!"

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously, idiot."

But that only made Nico smile larger.

I looked helplessly at Thalia, who beckoned me over. "It might be good for you to get used to their company. They will be with us for three days, and it wouldn't do to have you uncomfortable and uptight around them. They are acting as extra body guards for you in return of letting them travel with us, so it is a nice deal. They travel with us, they get more protection, but they also help us with protection."

Therefore I reluctantly—very reluctantly—agreed.

So that's how I went off on an adventure that I was sure was going to be torture. However, it actually wasn't that bad. I learned that the three boys have known each other since they were born, so they were basically brothers. They had fun little conversations that I just listened to.

"So, Nico, how's Thalia? You guys almost have identical personalities and styles." Percy winked at me, letting me know that I was playing. I just shook my head at their playfulness as Jason continued with Percy's teasing.

"Yeah, and I definitely saw you checking out my sister. If . . . you know . . . anything does happen between you two, just make sure you tell me, because I am her brother." Jason said in a serious voice, but I could detect a hint of humor beneath the somber attitude.

Nico scowled at both of them, "What are you talking about?"

Percy looked at Nico blankly, "Thalia. I thought we made that quite clear." I turned my head so Nico wouldn't see my smile as I tried to hold back my giggles.

"Very funny, Perce."

"Um, guys. Thalia is a hunter. Which means no boys," I said, thinking it was time for me to intervene.

"That can always change," Percy said evilly, wiggling his eyebrows, causing me to smack his arm and glare at him.

I decided to change the subject, for Thalia and Nico's sake.

"It's about lunch time, do you guys want to grab something to eat?" I asked. It was true, my stomach was rumbling.

Percy sighed in relief. "I thought you would never ask. Come on, I saw a really delicious looking restaurant back a ways!" He then took off, running back towards where we were before. He had said it with such enthusiasm, you would think he hadn't eaten in days. I watched him run like there was no tomorrow, dumbfounded, then looked at Jason and Nico for an answer.

They both shrugged, and Jason simply stated, "He's a growing boy, needs his food, I guess. But he has always been known for his bear-like appetite." I rolled my eyes and grinned, then started walking off with Jason and Nico towards where we saw Percy run.

——————

"Hello, welcome to Larissa's Seaside Restaurant. Can I get you something to drink while you order?" the waitress asked us. She looked about a year younger than me, and was a petite and pretty woman, with her brown hair tied up in a bun, and her blue eyes shining with kindness.

I returned her smile and replied politely, "Thank you. I'll take an ice water,"

Jason and Nico both said at the same time, as if they rehearsed it, "Honey mead, please ma'am," causing the waitress to giggle as she wrote down their orders on her small notepad. She then turned to Percy and said, "And you, sir?"

Percy was staring at the window intently, as if he saw something extremely interesting.

"Sir?" the waitress asked again. He still didn't hear her, caught up in his own thinking.

I kicked his leg under the table. He jerked up and said, "What? Excuse me?"

I rolled my eyes as the waitress repeated her question.

After Percy had told her he wanted a water, I asked, "What were you doing, Percy?"

"I was just thinking," he replied distantly.

"Don't strain yourself too hard," I said with a smirk.

He glared at me. "Wow, Annabeth actually has a sense of humor? I thought she was just going to stay boring and annoying the whole entire trip!" he retorted sarcastically.

I pursed my lips and was about to answer when Nico beat me to it. "You two fight so much, you're like an old married couple!" (

Jason choked on his drink and barely swallowed in time before he threw back his head and started guffawing. I rolled my eyes (seemed like I was doing that a lot around these three) and glared at Nico (I glared at them a lot too).

"Really, Nico?" I said with contempt.

He grinned and high-fived Jason. Sighing, I turned back to Percy who was again staring out the window.

"Seriously, Percy, I don't think I have seen you concentrating so hard on something, except for that time when we met Aphrodite," Jason said, sending up a round of laughter from me and Nico, and earning a glare from Percy.

"Wow, you guys are over flowing with humor today, it's delightful," Percy said with crossed arms accompanied by a scowl.

I smirked and replied in the same tone, "Glad you find us entertaining."

We ordered our food and when it came back, I started to gingerly eat from it, acting like a lady. Percy, meanwhile, was eating it in huge gulps, and I don't think I had seen him take a breath.

"Percy, it's a free country. You are allowed to swallow, you do know that, right?" I said, reprimanding him. He looked back at me with noodles hanging out of his mouth and grinned, showing me his sauce covered teeth. I grimaced in disgust and looked over to see Jason and Nico acting the same way as Percy.

Wow these boys can eat.

After lunch, we paid and thanked the waitress. We had decided over lunch to go and check out some of the scenery around Larissa. Larissa was known for it's cliffs and rivers and forests, and many perches around the city that you could get a view of all of this from.

We agreed to go and see the Cliff of the Nemean. It was called this for it was where Hercules had defeated the Nemean Lion. He had toppled the lion's corpse over the edge of the cliff when he was finished, naming the place the Cliff of the Nemean.

It was a beautiful cliff, and we got a perfect view when we went straight up it. We had rented horses to climb the cliff to get a scene from atop. It was about a fifteen minute ride, and it was hot and we didn't bring any water, thinking that we could just drink from the river up there. But the trip was definitely worth it.

The sight was breath taking. I could sit on the edge of that cliff, looking at the river below, and the forest, and the city of Larissa for the whole entire day. We stayed for about a half hour, then decided we better head back if we want to continue looking through the town. Nico and Jason started filling our water flasks for the ride back, and watered the horses. They told me they could do my horse, and let me keep looking at the scenery. I smiled with gratitude towards them when they said that, and Nico said, "Woah! She actually smiled a genuine smile towards us! Wow! Somebody write the date and time, a phenomenon has just happened!"

I rolled my eyes and his ridiculousness and walked over, sitting on the very edge of the cliff. My feet dangled off the side. I knew that if I scooted just a little farther forwards, I would fall to the ground, which was about a hundred feet away, but I wasn't scared of heights.

As I sat there, enjoying the scenery, I felt someone come up behind me and sit right next to me. We sat together in silence, then Percy said to me, "That's a long drop. You aren't scared of heights, I'm guessing?"

I smiled and turned to him, "Nope. But if Thalia was here, she would be screaming her head off."

Percy threw back his head and laughed. He had a nice laugh, and it made me smile.

"She's a daughter of Zeus! God of the sky! He's all about heights!" He said incredulously.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes, "Yep, I don't know why she's scared."

I moved my position to mirror Percy's, leaning back a little, both my hands behind me on the ground, supporting my weight. It felt more comfortable.

We sat in companionable silence. Thalia was right. I had been uncomfortable and uptight whenever I was around Percy and his group, but I felt like today has loosened us up a bit. Just hanging around each other, I guess, solved the problem. I still don't exactly like them, but I tolerated them a lot better. I might someday become good friends with them.

I also liked how they didn't treat me like a lady, but more like a sister. Well, I mean, they held open the doors for me, and carried some things that I couldn't carry, and little things like that, but they knew I could fend for myself. They didn't think of me as a damsel in distress who was useless and couldn't do anything for herself. They knew I was probably the exact opposite of that. And they joked around with me a lot, making me feel like I was their younger sister who they played with a lot.

Percy's voice brought me out of my thoughts, "So, still mad at us?"

I pursed my lips, "I wasn't exactly mad at you, just really annoyed."

"Oh, I'm sorry," He said sarcastically, "Are you still annoyed at us?"

I snorted and said, "Oh yes, I definitely get annoyed by your group, especially you three boys. But I'm past your hideous first impressions and I may be able to move on and think of you differently," I finished with a smirk.

Percy looked at me, and I back at him, and he said, "Hideous first impressions? I thought it was a rather handsome first impression, especially since I was in it. I just brought up the handsome category by a ton!" I laughed. He grinned, obviously pleased that he could make me laugh.

I looked at him again, and made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Wow, they were enchanting. I could just sit here and stare into them, no matter how mushy that sounds. They kinda reminded me of the ocean, which was probably an appropriate description, seeing as he is the son of the sea itself.

I realized we were really close, and our hands were touching. And I couldn't move, hypnotized by those sparkling sea green eyes. Uh oh.

Then one of the horses snorted, and I jumped back, surprised. So did Percy. We both started blushing and got up quickly.

"We better go help Nico and Jason," Percy said at the same time that I said, "Let's go help Nico and Jason."

Percy cracked a lopsided grin that stole my breath away.

Then we went to help the boys. After everybody was regenerated and ready to go, we journeyed back to Larissa.

During the whole entire walk, I was thinking, What happened there? There is nothing between us. There isn't even an "us." I shouldn't be like this.

But for some reason I was finding it extremely hard not to be like this.