This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xiv. darkness unbound snuffs out the flames

IF MORPHEUS WASN'T FIGHTING FOR THE TITANS, Naomi might have sent him a prayer of thanks for giving her a dreamless sleep.

But he was, so she kept her prayers to herself.

Just about everyone else was asleep when she woke up, so Naomi took the chance to take a quick shower and change out of her old clothes, which smelled of her mother's garden (not an unpleasant smell at all, but it reminded her of the argument with Hades—something she didn't need right now).

When she stepped out, tightening the straps of her breastplate, she found Annabeth doing the same.

"What are you doing?" Naomi asked, raising an eyebrow. "You should be resting, not putting on armor."

"I'm fine," Annabeth insisted, though she was still pale. She was favoring her uninjured arm pretty heavily. "I feel good as new."

Naomi gave her an unimpressed look, but before she could argue, Annabeth asked, "Where's Percy? We should wake him up."

Naomi sighed. She knew there was no talking Annabeth down—she was stubborn to a fault. 

"He's over there," she said, pointing at the bed he'd passed out on. "See if he's drowned in his own drool yet."

Annabeth snickered, walking over to him. Naomi tied her hair up as Annabeth went to wake him up. 

Percy beat her to it, sitting up so fast he banged his head on her shield.

Naomi winced in sympathy.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Percy," Annabeth said. "I was just about to wake you."

Percy rubbed his head, a troubled look on his face.

"Percy?" Annabeth asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. "What—what are you doing in your armor? You should be resting."

"That's what I told her," Naomi grumbled, walking over to re-do Annabeth's mess of a ponytail.

"I'm fine," Annabeth told them both. "That nectar and ambrosia fixed me up."

"Uh-huh," Percy said, unconvinced. "You can't seriously go out and fight."

She offered Percy her good hand and helped him up. "You're going to need every person you have," she said. "I just looked in my shield. There's an army—"

"Heading south into Central Park," Percy said. "Yeah, I know."

He told them about his dreams—of the breach in the underwater Cyclops armory and Tyson charging into battle; Ethan, Kronos, and the army at Medusa's lair. He also quickly filled Naomi in on what she'd missed while she was in the Underworld—namely the diplomacy meeting with Ethan and Prometheus. Every word out of his mouth made Naomi more and more worried.

"Do you think Ethan suspects about your weak spot?" she asked.

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out—"

"We can't let him," Annabeth said.

"We won't," Naomi promised. She'd make sure, no matter the cost.

Ethan wasn't her friend anymore. She had to stop deluding herself into thinking there was any saving him. The friend she'd known was gone—there was only a stranger left in his skin.

"Any idea what surprise Kronos is talking about?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "I didn't see anything in the shield, but I don't like surprises."