All's Fair in Love and War

No Need To Be Worried? Yea, Right.

Annabeth had been spending too much time around Percy, was the conclusion she came to. Why else would she be this disrespecting of a goddess? And the goddess of love for that matter.

A bit of context might help here. Percy and Annabeth had been nearly inseparable since they escaped Tartarus. Percy helped Annabeth with her nightmares, and Annabeth helped Percy with his powers. The thing she had started to observe about his powers was that they were stronger, and he was having a harder time controlling them. That was when she started praying to her mother for guidance. If anyone knew how to handle powerful demigods, it would be the goddess of wisdom herself, right?

And that's how she landed herself here, talking to Aphrodite.

"I have just what you need, darling," Aphrodite said, waving her hand seductively at a camper walking by. "You and lover boy need a vacation."

"No," Annabeth protested, "we don't! I just need to help him get his powers under control, that's all!" To be honest, she was starting to panic now. Gods know what would happen if the goddess of love sent she and her boyfriend on a vacation.

"Now, now, dear. You should be grateful. I'll just send you and Percy to one of the most romantic moments in history! No need to be worried. See you both in a bit!"

Before Annabeth could protest again, she was surrounded by a blinding light and was suddenly falling.

~~~

When the light cleared, she was clinging to the familiar figure of Percy and falling through the sky. The situation reminded her bitterly of their fall into the pit. Percy was holding onto her tightly, slowly maneuvering himself so that he was below her.

She quickly scanned her eyes to their surroundings to try and figure out what the Hades Aphrodite had done.

She saw green and blue, so that was good. The landscape below her seemed freakishly familiar but she was too preoccupied with the very fast approaching ground so she wasn't overly concerned. "Percy!" she yelled, trying to gesture below them through the cage Percy's arms created around her. "I think there's water!"

Percy looked up at her and nodded. At least he heard her. He was probably being reminded of how much this was like their fall as well. She watched as Percy clenched his eyes shut and the water below them shot into the sky to engulf them in a tower of blue.

The water was warm, and reminded her of when she would go swimming with Percy in the lake at Camp Half-Blood. Even as she had this thought, she could feel Percy's grip tightening on her waist and pulling her up. The impact, while softened, still knocked the breath out of her. Obviously, Percy could tell and was kicking and using the water to push them to the surface as fast as possible.

When they broke to the surface, Annabeth was coughing violently as Percy heaved them to shore. She could hear shouts around she and her boyfriend, but she was very focused on breathing again. Black spots were beginning to dance across her vision and she was still coughing. She could vaguely see Percy getting slightly panicked as he approached the side and used the water to create a bed to lift her gently out of the water and onto the bed of the lake.

"Hey, Wise Girl, you okay?" Percy's worried face came into her vision as he put a hand on her forehead and closed his green eyes in concentration. She felt a coolness sweep over her body that she had come to associate with the son of Poseidon's healing powers and the spots disappeared from her vision.

She sat up, putting a hand to her side as she looked around. They were at... Camp Half-Blood? That's what it looked like at least. She could see the amphitheater to one side, and the cabins on the other. There were only twelve cabins though. All the other cabins they had built after the Titan War for the minor gods weren't there.

It seemed that Percy had noticed this as well. "Uh, Annabeth? Why are the rest of the cabins not here?"

"Stupid love goddess," Annabeth muttered before turning to Percy and speaking quietly. "I was praying to my mom to ask for help with your powers. Oh, don't give me that look. I can only help you so much. Anyway, Aphrodite had showed up, and said that you and I needed a vacation, and that she would send us to the most romantic moment in history. So we're obviously in the past. I just don't know when."

Percy nodded his understanding and began to stand up. Annabeth grabbed his hand to pull herself up and jumped to her feet to look around. There were campers surrounding them, looking at them in awe.

"Uh, that's a new one. Demigods falling from the sky. Okay then," one of the campers said, pushing through the throng of teenagers. "My name's Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. Let's take you two to Chiron."