Luke's POV
"They're heading for Ogygia, sir." My informant said.
I stared through the Iris message A/N: There wasn't anything else I could use, so meh. at the mystery person concealed in the shadows. I didn't know the person's identity, because we'd agreed that if I got captured, it was best if I didn't know who the spy was. I'd promised him complete safety for his information.
"Ogygia? You mean Calypso's island?"
The spy nodded.
"Uh, Ogygia doesn't exist. It's just a fairytale."
"No, it is real. Percy Jackson has found it before, and I was there. It is real." He insisted.
I frowned, tapping my fingers against the desk. Ogygia. No way had Percy found it. "How do I get there?" I demanded.
"I'm sorry sir. I don't know. Only the goddess inhabiting the island can let you in. I've heard she only lets the good of heart enter."
I almost burst into laughter, resisting the almost uncontrollable urge to say Then why the hell did she let Perseus Jackson in, he's a pirate for God's sake! "Find a way to get me on that island."
My informant nodded, and swept his hand through the mist, severing the connection.
Percy's POV
I raised my sword to block Annabeth's strike. The gleaming bronze metal rang as it clashed with her dagger.
Annabeth had gotten much better at handing the knife. She'd always been good for a beginner, but she was improving fast, becoming more swift and crafty in her strikes. She was discovering the weakest spots in a man's armour, getting in under the strongest strikes. She was good, but she still couldn't beat me.
"Come on, Annabeth! IS that all you've you got?" I taunted.
Her grey eyes flashed murderously and she swung at my feet. I stepped back, stabbing at her chest. Annabeth yelped in surprise, and moved to block me. Just as she moved to get out of the way, I lifted the blade higher, and Riptide's tip settled at her neck.
Annabeth froze, panting hard. With an frustrated sigh, she stepped away, knowing that she was beaten. Again. "It's not very fair, Percy, me versus you." She complained.
I laughed. "Aw. It wouldn't be training if I was your match, it would only be practise."
"What's the difference."
"You know the difference. You're far from stupid." I slid Riptide back into its sheath.
My thoughts drifted, taking me from reality.
"You know I would do anything to protect you." I said.
The beautiful blonde in my arms smiled, and her happiness seemed to light up the room like a thousands star. No, more beautiful than the stars. "I would do anything to be with you."
"Would that include dying, Miss Chase?" A voice sneered.
Suddenly, pain burst through my body, making my suck in a breath. I started at my chest, crumpling at the sight of the sword sticking out from my skin. I'd been stabbed from behind, run all the way through.
Annabeth screamed in sheer terror and sadness. She took me in her arms as I fell to the floor, sobbing and stroking my black.
"Percy, percy please no. Don't you dare die on me, don't you dare die." She whispered. Then she looked up to glare at Luke.
There was a satisfied expression on his face. After taking one last look at my dying body, he turned and left.
Only then did Annabeth burst into tears. She pulled my close to her, holding my head against her collarbone and burying her face in my hair. Her tears splashed onto my shoulder, soaking through my shirt.
"Annabeth... I," My voice broke off in a fit of coughing and Annabeth pulled back to look into my eyes.
"Shush, don't speak Percy. Please just stay with me, hold on." She pleaded, kissing my sweating forehead.
I chocked out the words, "I love you, Annabeth," as I drew my last breath.
"Percy? Percy! PERCY!" A frantic voice broke me from my reverie.
My eyes fluttered open. Hang on, since when were my eyes shut? Since when was I on the floor? I wondered, becoming aware of my surroundings. "Uh, Annabeth? What happened?"
"I don't know?" She said, leaning over me and sweeping my air away from my face. "You just collapsed."
Collapsed? "No, I didn't I was just..." I stopped. No, I couldn't... that wasn't...
"Percy? Are you okay?" Annabeth's voice was full of concern.
"No. I'm not." I scrambled to my feet and grabbed Annabeth's hand, pulling her after me.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She protested, but she didn't pull her hand away.
I dragged her to my cabin and shut the door.
"Annabeth, I-I had one of those dreams." I said once I was sure that no one was listening.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You did? What did you see?"
"Well, I died." I replied.
Her eyes widened. She sat down on my bed, resting her chin on her hand as she thought. I sat at my desk tapping my fingers on the wood.
"What does it mean?" She asked.
I didn't know how to answer her. What did it mean.
Annabeth's POV
"Annabeth." A voice whispered to me.
It wasn't the voice I'd thought it was. It was a woman's voice, soft and beautiful.
"Annabeth you are in danger. There is a spy among you, one who works for your enemy." She said.
I searched the mist that surrounded me, looking for the woman. I could see a distant silhouette of a young woman, maybe my age. "Who are you?"
"I am a friend." She answered. "You must know who you can trust. even people you think you know may betray you."
"Who can I trust." I demanded.
The woman laughed. "I can't tell you that Annabeth. But when you arrive at your destination, be ready for anything."
Then she disappeared.
Annabeth's POV
I decided not to tell Percy about my dream. I had the strangest suspicion of who it was, but she'd told me I was in danger, and that I should be careful who I trust.
"Annabeth, I..." He broke off. We were sitting on the quarterdeck, which had kinda become our place. No one came up here much, except for Grover and Beckendorf.
"What?" I asked, looking at Percy as he sat beside me, staring at his crew as they worked.
He looked up at me. "I'm worried."
I frowned. That never meant anything good.
"Luke's gaining on us. I have a spy. I-" He started babbling but I cut him off my putting a finger to his lips. His gorgeous eyes widened a bit in surprise, and I felt the strong urge to kiss him, to feel his body against mine.
"Let's not talk about that. I don't want to think about our possible doom." I said, and I knew he was thinking the same thing as I was. One of us would die. I prayed to all the gods that nothing would happen to Percy.
We stared into each others eyes for a moment, before Percy closed the distance, pressing his lips to mine. I breathed in his smell of fresh sea breeze and kissed him back. Percy put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer. I twined my fingers into his raven-black hair, dipping my head to deepen the kiss. Percy lay down on his back, running his hands along my sides to my back, where they crept under my shirt. My skin tingled where he touched it, like his fingers were sending out electrical currents. I held myself up so I wouldn't be lying on top of him, but he grabbed my shoulders and moved so I was on my back and he was pressed against me.
I traced the tattoo on his forearm and he planted his hands on either side of my head so he wouldn't be squashing me. I reached up and twined my fingers into his hair, trying to pull him closer to me. I only wanted more, the feel of him against me felt so right- the way his hands glided down my sides, the way his lips were so soft, yet so insistent on mine- but my logical voice screamed that this was wrong. I shut it out, finally listening to the irrational side. If this was what being irrational was, then screw logic!
Percy planted kisses along my jawline and down my neck, before kissing my lips again.
I was about to pull him closer, when he jerked away and threw himself off me, sitting bolt upright. I couldn't stop the disappointed sigh from escaping my lips. "What is it?" I asked.
Without looking at me, he got to his feet and said, "Something's wrong." He drew Riptide and ran from the quarterdeck, probably seeking out Grover.
Sighing again, I walked to the railing, cursing the Fates for ruining the moment. But when I saw what was on the horizon, I stopped dead. My eyes grew impossibly large, and my lips parted to form one word, screamed in a bone-chilling screech. "PERCY!"
I ran after him, thrown against the deck as thePrincess Andromeda rocked. Mayhem broke out instantly; pirates scrambling below deck to man the cannons, and I followed Percy, Grover, Beckendorf and Nico to the steering wheel. Percy grabbed the wheel so hard his knuckles went white, and turned to ship so we were facing sideways. There was an expression so full of anger and hatred on his face that made my blood run cold.
Nico grabbed my shoulder, just realising I was there. "Annabeth, go below deck."
What!? NO!" I shook my head. "It'd be more dangerous down there anyway, wouldn't it?" I looked at Grover pleadingly. Another attack rocked the ship, and I stumbled into Nico.
"You're not prepared for this sort of situation." He shouted over the noise, resting his case on the fact that I could hardly stand upright.
A desperate idea formed in my head. "No, wait! I can help! My mother is one of the best battle strategists in the country, I can help."
Nico's shoulders slumped at how clueless I was. "Battle strategy isn't much use if you can't even touch your enemies."
"Exactly!" A loud bang rang out as Percy's crew fired, flaming cannons streaming through the air towards Luke's attacking ships. The Argofollowed suit, and even when one of the cannons hit the water instead of a ship, the fire didn't go out. I silently thanked the gods for Leo's invention.
The look on the four men's faces told me that they saw my point. Even though I was happy to finally be following in Athena's footsteps as a strategist, I couldn't help thinking about my dreams, and that woman's warning.
Nico and Grover looked at Percy, and he nodded, some unheard conversation passing between the three of them. Grover turned to me. "Follow me," he said and pulled me to Percy's cabin, having no trouble what so ever with the swaying ship. Once inside, he walked to a map.
I recognised my home island, and the one that Jason and Reyna are from, but there was one small island that I'd never seen before, separated from the other islands by a massive expanse of sea. If you didn't know where you were going, this island would be impossible to find.
I ran a finger over the soft paper. "Where did you find this?"
Grover stood on the opposite side of the desk. "We were raiding a ship in these waters, and Percy found the map. He managed to somehow find that island, but it was before the mess with Percy and Luke, and he hasn't been there since."
"What do mean, he 'somehow managed to find it'?" I pursed my lips.
"It's magic, you can't find unless Calypso wants you to."
Calypso? I'd heard that name before. Something about a goddess, cursed forever to be stuck on her island. Occasionally, the gods would send a man to the island, a man she couldn't help but fall in love with. "Ogygia?"
Grover nodded. "I need you to find a way to detour so we lose Luke, and so he won't be able to follow us. If he follows us there, we'll be able to land too and no one will be safe."
I frowned. I just needed to find an ingenious way to ditch my future husband with getting the ship blown to pieces. Easy.