After that, they decided to fly the rest of the way, Jason insisting that he was ok enough for sentry duty with Gleeson and that Percy should get some sleep while he can.
But he had trouble falling asleep.
He just felt like a fraud.
He couldn't stop thinking about his failures.
Maybe that's why he had started to fear suffocation. It wasn't so much drowning in the earth or the sea, but the feeling that he was sinking into too many expectations, literally getting in over his head.
Wow...when he started having thoughts like that, he knew he'd been spending too much time with Annabeth.
Athena had once told Percy his fatal flaw: he was supposedly too loyal to his friends. He couldn't see the big picture. He would save a friend even if it meant destroying the world. At the time, Percy had shrugged this off. How could loyalty be a bad thing? Besides, things worked out okay against the Titans. He'd saved his friends and beaten Kronos.
Now, though, he started to wonder. He would gladly throw himself at any monster, god, or giant to keep his friends from being hurt. But what if he wasn't up to the task? What if someone else had to do it? That was very hard for him to admit. He even had trouble with simple things like letting Jason take a turn at watch. He didn't want to rely on someone else to protect him, someone who could get hurt on his account.
Percy wasn't a kid anymore. He didn't want anybody he loved taking a risk for him. He had to be strong enough to be the protector himself.
And now Annabeth was supposed to go off on a quest of her own - and if it came to a choice —save Annabeth or let the quest succeed—could Percy really choose the quest?
Annabeth was his best friend, but, there was some tiny part of him that knew he could let her go and choose the quest. But Cressida...he'd never be able to let her go, he vowed as much. If there was anyone who could take care of themselves it was her but, he didn't want her to. He needed to be able to take care of her and he wasn't sure if there were any words that could change his mind.
So, Cressida didn't try. She simply held him in her arms as soft music played and she ran her fingers through his hair, letting her touch do all the talking before she brought her lips to his and sent him off to sleep.
Both of them had a lot of scars, some they didn't even know about yet. Both of them had a lot to work on and a lot to deal with. But they'd get through it together because she'd been right.
That was the prize.
A life where he didn't have to worry about things like his fatal flaw. Where the only he'd have to worry about was not annoying Cressida by leaving the toilet seat up, remembering to get groceries, and changing the lightbulb in the bathroom, kissing her every day when they came home.
But before they got there, they had to get through this war, through the so-called tragedy Aphrodite was talking about.
And he had to get through the nightmare he was currently having.
Gaia presented him with a choice.
Choose between Annabeth or Cressida to die with him, to surrender with him, and maybe, just maybe, she'll leave their home, Camp Half-Blood, alone.
And the last words she purred, telling him to enjoy Tartarus and calling him her pawn, made him shiver and made him glad for the sound of the landing gear jolting him out of it.
Cressida wasn't by his side which was the first thing he noticed, but soon the door to her cabin was being opened and she popped her head inside.
Her raven hair fell in long waves down her back, her feet in her combat boots. She wore denim shorts and one of Percy's swim team shirts from Goode High School knotted on her torso. His number was number 5. Because that had been the date that he met her. And it was also his last name printed across her back.
She beamed as she slipped inside, leaving the door open, her eyes sparkling with an excited light.
"Hi," he murmured, still a little groggy as he sat up.
"Morning," she said.
"What's got you all smiley? You can't be this happy to see me, can you?"
Her smile turned cheeky. "I could be."
"But you're not."
"We're in Italy," she said as if she couldn't really believe it. "We're in Rome and it's stunning. And you should really get up and get dressed fast because you need to see it and I don't plan on strolling through the streets of Italy without my boyfriend."
Oh, that word did things to him. Especially with how happy she got when she said it.
"Well, how about you kiss your boyfriend good morning and then he will gladly walk you through the streets of Rome?"
"You're right. I should go find Jason."
"Don't even joke about that," he warned, and her smirk grew.
"I'm sorry. I would never do that to Leo."
"Cress."
She laughed as she walked over to the edge of her bed and held his face as she leaned down to kiss his lips.
"Good morning," she sang softly as she pulled away and his lips spread into a lazy smile.
"Good morning," he replied, and though he didn't like the fact that he was incapable of staying annoyed with her, he wasn't complaining about it. "Head back up to the deck, I'll be there in a minute. Then we can take that walk."
She kissed him again. "Ok. I'm holding you to it."
******************************************************************
The sky was brilliant blue as if the stormy weather had never happened. The sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled like the entire city of Rome had just come out of the car wash. The city seemed to have no regard for the limits of geography. It spread through hills and valleys, jumped over the Tiber with dozens of bridges, and just kept sprawling to the horizon. Streets and alleys zigzagged with no rhyme or reason through quilts of neighbourhoods. Glass office buildings stood next to excavation sites. A cathedral stood next to a line of Roman columns, which stood next to a modern soccer stadium. In some neighbourhoods, old stucco villas with red-tiled roofs crowded the cobblestone streets that made you seem like you were there in ancient times if you focused on just those areas. Parks cut across the city with a crazy collection of palm trees, pines, junipers, and olive trees, as if Rome couldn't decide what part of the world it belonged to—or maybe it just believed all the world still belonged to Rome.
Annabeth looked as if she was about to pass out from the sheer beauty as she turned Cressida's fingers purple from squeezing her hand but Cressida didn't mind. She seemed just as in awe of the city as well.
And her smile grew as she inhaled sharply, the air smelling like the sea as the pads of Percy's fingers left a featherlight touch on her exposed skin before they settled on her hips.
"We're setting down in that park," Leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "Let's hope the Mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something."
Jason pointed to the base of the archers' wall, where steps led down into some kind of tunnel. "I think I know where we are," he said. "That's the Tomb of the Scipios."
Percy frowned. "Scipio...Reyna's pegasus?"
"No," Annabeth put in. "They were a noble Roman family, and... wow, this place is amazing."
Jason nodded. "I've studied maps of Rome before. I've always wanted to come here, but..."
Nobody bothered finishing that sentence. Looking at his friends' faces, Percy could tell they were just as much in awe as he was. They'd made it. They'd landed in Rome—the Rome.
"Plans?" Hazel asked. "Nico has until sunset—at best. And this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."
Percy shook himself out of his daze. "You're right. Annabeth...did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"
"Yes," she said carefully. "It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should—"
"Take me and Cress along," Percy finished. "Yeah, you're right."
Annabeth glared daggers at him and Cressida was just confused about what he was doing. "That's not—"
"Safe," he supplied. "One demigod walking through Rome alone. We'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully, meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."
"Can I have a word with you two?" Annabeth said stiffly. "Alone."
And she grabbed Percy's wrist and Cressida's hand as she dragged them to the other side of the deck, out of earshot of the others.
"What are you doing?" Percy asked. "The plan was sorted."
"No, it's not!" Annabeth snapped. "Percy, I get that you're worried about me, but I have to do this alone. Just like you had to face the telkhines at Mount St Helens alone."
"Books, that's maybe not the best analogy since he almost died," Cressida pointed out.
"You guys want to help, and I love you for that, but I can't accept it. Just worry about finding Nico. If I can handle dealing with your bickering asses on every quest we've ever had, I can handle finding a statue of my mother."
"Hey!" Percy protested while Cressida just gave a breathless laugh before pulling Annabeth into a hug.
"If anyone can do this it's you," she said and both girls were incredibly pained at her next words. "I love you, Annie. Thanks for being my best friend."
"I love you too. And thank you for being mine."
Annabeth's grey eyes were teary when she let go of Cressida and turned to face Percy. "Can you do me a favour?" she asked.
"Anything."
"Take Cress on a date," she said and both of them were confused before Annabeth continued. "We're in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And yeah, I might be going on an extremely dangerous quest, but if my two best friends are happy and safe, even just for a little while, it'll make me feel a lot better about doing this."
Percy just pulled Annabeth in for a hug.
"I promise," he assured her.
Annabeth pulled away as she took a second to compose herself before they walked back over to their friends, all of whom were staring and watching the three of them intently.
"Hazel, now that we're in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico's location?" Annabeth asked and Hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance.
"Um...hopefully, if I get close enough. I'll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?"
Frank beamed. "Absolutely."
"And, uh...Leo," Hazel added. "It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."
"Yeah," Leo said, "no problem."
Frank's smile turned into something more like Chrysaor's mask. Percy was no genius when it came to relationships - he felt like Cressida carried theirs most of the time, her and Annabeth having to spoon-feed him answers - but even he could feel the tension among those three.
Piper drew her knife and set it on the rail. "Jason and I can watch the ship for now. I'll see what Katoptris can show me. But, Hazel, if you guys get a fix on Nico's location, don't go in there by yourselves. Come back and get us. It'll take all of us to fight the giants." She didn't say the obvious: even all of them together wouldn't be enough, unless they had a god on their side.
"Good idea," Percy said. "How about we plan to meet back here at...what?"
"Three this afternoon?" Jason suggested. "That's probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. If something happens to change the plan, try to send an Iris message."
The others nodded in agreement, but Percy noticed several of them glancing at Annabeth. Another thing no one wanted to say: Annabeth would be on a different schedule. She might be back at three, or much later, or never. But she would be on her own, searching for the Athena Parthenos.
Coach Hedge grunted. "That'll give me time to eat the coconuts—I mean dig the coconuts out of our hull," he said before turning to Percy and Cressida. "I don't like the two of you going off on your own, or whatever you're doing. Just remember: behave. If I hear about any funny business, I will ground you until the Styx freezes over."
But rather than get angry like they assumed she was, Cressida just smiled at the satyr, the prospect of her potentially losing her best friend making her more appreciative of what she had.
"We'll be fine, Gleeson," she promised before moving to hug the satyr. "Enjoy your coconuts."
"Be safe Ressa," he said as she pulled away and her smile was tight as she nodded and returned to her friends.
"I'll take care of her," Percy added and Gleeson merely gave him a nod. Percy looked around at his friends, trying not to feel like this was the last time they'd ever be together. "Good luck, everyone."
Leo lowered the gangplank, and Percy, Annabeth and Cressida were first off the ship. Except while Annabeth went one way, the couple went another.