Percy Jackson:The Mountain Climbers

The Team is Assembled

"And you agreed to this?" Annabeth demanded.

She was lying on the couch, with one of her hands resting on her abdomen. Her stare was a little more intimidating than her mother's (trust me when I say that). She was wearing her nightgown because it was still night time when I got back to our own private house, so both her legs were bare. Her messed up blonde hair would have made her cute if it weren't for the outraged look in her eyes.

I explained what Zeus asked Jason and I to do, but Annabeth didn't take it as well as my mother who I talked to before I talked to Annabeth.

"Annabeth," I tried reasoning with her, "I know that this is a bit of a shock. However, Jason and I have got to do this."

"Can't someone else go?" she demanded desperately.

"They can't," I told her for the seventh time. "They're too scared to do this."

"I wonder why." She looked away from me.

I knew she would take this badly. And the reason why was because she wanted me to help with everything until the baby came. She needed all the help she could get - me going to Everest and most likely die on that mountain would literally crush her.

She was already desperate as it was at the moment. Lately she was more concerned about looking after both of us - she just quit a job that she didn't like (she worked as a building manager at the principia back in the camp) and was now living as a house wife at the moment. Me on the other hand - I worked as a training instructor for anyone who wanted to learn more about my combat experience. Annabeth wanted to get a job as an architect, which was her biggest dream. Reyna, who is still praetor at the camp, told Annabeth that there will be a job of that description for her soon but Annabeth has gotten more anxious about the whole subject.

I sat down on my armchair and clasped my hands together. "Annabeth, I know it's a lot to ask. Believe me, I don't want to leave you here alone on your own while I go on a mission like this. I'd rather stay here and take care of you and look after the baby."

"Then why are you going?" she asked me, looking like she was about to cry.

"Because Jason is going," I said. "You know what he's like Annabeth - he would only do a quest if he has someone to watch his back. And I can't exactly leave my best pal to do this on his own. That's just not me Annabeth and you know it."

She knew me enough to say that I'm way more protective of my friends than she was. It was my fatal flaw - relentless loyalty. I care so much about my friends, because when I make friends they're not really my friends - they're my family (which is ironic because every demigod in the mythological world is pretty much related to each other).

Though at the same time, Annabeth knew I was reckless when she isn't around to calm me down. When I'm trying so hard to protect my friends I forget that I don't take in the situation sometimes. My ADHD allows me to assess the problem at hand, but not the entire situation. Annabeth helps me in all of that thanks to her quick thinking - it made me realize that I depended on her a lot of times.

Annabeth looked at her abdomen and sighed deeply through her nose. "I'm just worried about you, Seaweed Brain. What if something goes wrong and I have to look after our boy on my own?"

"Wait a second," I raised my finger. "Its a boy? How do you know that?"

"I just know, Percy," she suppressed a small smile. "Whenever I imagine the baby, all I can see is a boy who looks very much like his dad."

I smiled back at her. "Though with his mother's intelligence and quick thinking."

"A best of both," Annabeth mused. She then looked straight at me. "See? This is what I want - the two of us together, with a family of our own and right now you're talking about climbing Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, where over a hundred people have died on?"