PERSEUS MEANS DESTROYER

Lone Star

If you still believe in the Lord above,

Get on your hands and knees and pray for us.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Sally breathed in, about to say something else—how much she loved him, how much she wished she could have him back for forever, how much she wanted him to be safe—but he got his words out before she did.

"I'm near Central Park, and I'm going to walk to the taxi rink. Tell Paul to meet me there."

"Paul," she sighed, one hand cupped over her belly while the other cradled the phone, "he's at the Central Park taxi rink."

Paul called out something she chose to interpret as a sound of affirmation.

"Perseus Jackson, I love you. And if you don't come home safe, I will commit unspeakable acts," Sally glanced over to Annabeth, sitting on the couch in their living room, "and I'm pretty sure Annabeth would have something very similar to say."

"... I love you too, mom."

Sally sighed again, "Paul's in the car now."

Percy gave a hum of recognition. "Okay. I love you. See you soon."

Sally let out an exasperated laugh. "See you soon."

Percy was silent during the car ride back to the apartment blocks.

"So... Do you have more information on your 'secret assignment'?"

"Uh... oh, yeah. Not that I can tell you about it. Sorry."

"Don't sweat it, Percy. Just stay safe. For your mom's sake."

"I know. I'm trying."

Percy crouched back down to the floor to pick up the pair of socks he had dropped, shoving them on top of the clothes in the backpack he was packing.

"Hey, mom, do you know if the watch Tyson made me is here?"

He heard a soft laugh from the doorway, and turned around, startled by Annabeth's sudden appearance. She dangled the watch from her index finger.

"I think Annabeth has it!" Sally's voice was muted from the loungeroom, but Percy smiled.

"Thanks mom."

"I picked it up from your cabin when Chiron told me dad had called." She raised an eyebrow at Percy, "I hadn't expected you to forget it, but you put it back up on the wall after Tyson repaired it."

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Guess I did."

"Before I give this to you, I want you to tell me exactly what you're getting yourself into."

"It's nothing, Annabeth, don't worry about it—"

Her frown deepened. "I know what 'nothing' looks like, Percy, and it's not a call in the middle of the night because your mom is worried about your safety. And it's certainly not you disappearing for three days! Gods, Percy, what if something had happened to you?"

He stood up slowly, "see? I'm fine. Nothing happened."

"Percy Jackson, you are a filthy liar," she pinned him with an accusatory glare.

"I'm not! I'm not hurt, I swear—"

Annabeth took a few steps into the room and shoved harshly at his shoulder with her free hand. "Don't, Percy. Don't you dare lie to my face. What am I meant to do if you won't talk to me? I know we're dating," she ran her hand down his arm to squeeze his. "But we were friends before that. And almost everything we've done we've done together. You don't get to change that now."