"You sure you want to do this?" Thalia asked.
"Yes," I replied. "It'll be the last time I'll be able to talk to him before the arena."
"But what if you're not paired with him?" Thalia asked.
"Then I'll bribe the girl who was," I replied.
Thalia shrugged. "Well, it's your choice, I suppose. But I still think you're insane."
She wrote my name on the list.
Π🏺Π
I wasn't paired with Percy, but Katie happily traded him for Travis, who I had been paired with.
It was companion night, my last night that I knew for sure that Percy would be alive for. And I wasn't wasting it.
Percy looked relieved when I walked up to him.
"Ready to eat?" I asked as I took his hand in mine.
"You bet," He replied, and we made our way to the mess hall.
There were fifteen gladiators going to the arena tomorrow, including Percy. Five of them were in the Mess Hall.
After dinner, we made our way up to Percy's temporary room.
"So," Percy said as we sat down on his bed. "How's life?"
"Horrible," I said. "I'm worried about losing you."
"I'm worried about losing me too," He said with a smile. I lightly smacked him.
"I'm serious," I said. "I want to sort out our relationship, have a future with you. And I can't do any of those things if you're dead."
"Hey," He took my hands in his. "I'm not going to die, okay? I promise."
"You can't promise that," I said.
"Yes, I can," He said. "I promise I'm going to come back for you."
He threw his arm around me, and I leaned into his shoulder.
"What's your favorite color?" I asked.
He blinked. "Blue. What's yours?"
"Grey," I replied. "Why's your favorite color blue?"
"Because it reminds me of the sea," He said. "Why's your favorite color grey?"
"It was the color of my mother's eyes," I said.
"And yours," He added. "Tell me about your mother."
"She was smart," I said. "She was my father's main counselor. She was quite beautiful, too."
"What family did she come from?" He asked.
"The Valdez's," I replied.
"So that's why she liked Argos," He said. "Because she was part of the royal family."
"Yeah," I said. "She kept wanting to take me there. But she never got the chance."
There was a brief silence.
"What was your mother like?" I asked.
Percy smiled. "Perfect. Kind, caring, smart, beautiful... practically a goddess."
"Do you know what happened to her?" I asked.
His face fell. "No."
There was another silence.
"You said you wanted to have a future with me," Percy said. "What did you have in mind?"
"I don't know," I replied. "I just want a future where you're alive. I can sort it out from there."
"I'm down with that," He said with a smile.
I touched my forehead to his. "Good."
He kissed me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him harder.
He lightly pushed me onto my back, so he was on top of me.
"Hey, Annabeth?" He asked, breaking our kiss.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Do you want to have sex?" He asked.
I smiled. It was one of the many things I liked about Percy: he would never do anything to me if I didn't give him permission.
"Well," I said. "It is companion night."
He smiled and moved his lips to my neck, while untying my dress. I started to undress him, too.
It was the best night of my life.