Goodnight Moon ↣ P. Jackson + A. Chase

1.12

Heat crept up the back of neck, burning the top of her head. Her hair was moved, gently brushed between carding fingers with the softest of tugs as it moved. She was dimly aware of the braid behind formed, but she couldn't focus much on it.

There was a weight slung across her shoulder, a heaviness similar to a thick blanket, one that she would never find herself using, but it wasn't so uncomfortable as it could be as it gave her a feeling that wasn't exactly warm, not like the direct gaze of the sun like the one at the back of her head, but one that was comforting and life-bringing, like a healing cocoon--

She jerked awake, blinking wildly as came face to face with the sea-spray of the ocean from the back of a hippocampus.

Her fingers were cramped from the way that she had them curled so tightly around the main, her legs starting to grow sore from being in a straddled position for so long.

"You're awake," Annabeth notes happily, fingers still moving through her hair.

She squints at the sky, almost sunset, and does a mental calculation on what time it is. They had been out here a while, and she had been asleep the entire time, it seemed. Sitting up further, she can feel Annabeth remove something from her shoulders carefully, as if she was trying to move as little as possible.

She blinks at the fleece as it pools between them, tucked safely so that it didn't fall into the water.

"When did you put that on me?" Kassandra asks, twisting as much as she could to look behind her. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel great. The fleece worked wonders by the time that I woke up around an hour or so ago, I trade it off so that you could use it," she told her. "You sort of went flying and hit with a rock, I think."

"I don't remember getting hit with a rock."

Annabeth just shakes her head, her own hair pulled back into a braid. "I didn't think you would, but when we were still in the cave, it was right next to you. I think you got hit with a chunk of it when you ducked down," she reaches out and traces a line against her temple. "Your adrenaline must have been running so high that you didn't feel it. That's why I led him out of the cave."

"You led him out of the cave and got hurt because of me."

"I got hurt because I made a bad choice," Annabeth counters, and she finds herself surprised by how easily she admits her mistake. "I panicked a bit. There might have been an explosion involved."

"I thought that was Polyphemus."

Annabeth shakes her head, pleased with herself. "Nope."

Grinning, she beams at the other girl. "What did you do?"

"Best not to give away my secrets now," she teased.

The hippocampus jerked, whining as it swam in circles. The other one that she had nearly forgotten about came into view with Clarisse, Tyson, and Grover holding out. The demigod shot them a confused look, one that demanded further instructions as Tyson spoke quietly to the monster.

"We should get Percy up," the blonde says, turning to wake her best friend as he was still partially leaned up against her back.

In the distance, the sun was setting behind the city skyline. She could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.

"What?" he asks, voice groggy with sleep.

"We're in Miami, I think," Annabeth said. "But the hippocampi are acting funny."