LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . pjo

XX.

MIA WAS WOKEN up by knocking on her window.

She groggily sat up and looked beside her to see Annabeth outside.

What? Mia mouthed. Can't this wait until the morning?

Just go outside, Mia, Annabeth mouthed back.

Naturally, instead of going outside, Mia quietly got changed. As she picked out whatever she was wearing, she heard Percy's voice in the distance calling out her nickname, Stargirl. Immediately she got changed faster before sneaking outside and where Annabeth was situated.

"Why is Percy calling out my name?" Mia asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Calling out your name?" Annabeth frowned. "He's been calling all of our names."

"You just woke me up, sue me if I'm having delusions," Mia muttered. "Where is he?"

"Over there," Annabeth pointed toward Long Island Sound. "At least, that's where his voice is coming from."

"Alright, fine," Mia said. "Let's go."

Mentally, Mia was so tired. She didn't know how she was functioning. Physically? She felt like she had adrenaline coursing through her veins, as if the nighttime was making her feel better.

That made sense. She's the daughter of Persephone, after all.

Right as they got to the beach, they met up with Tyson. Annabeth looked at Mia imploringly, but she shrugged and forged on.

Percy was staring at the waves when they found him.

"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you calling for help!"

"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"

"I did not hear you," Mia added helpfully. "At least, until after Annabeth woke me up. Then I heard you calling my name. Well, nickname."

"I didn't call you guys," Percy said. "I'm fine."

"But then who . . ." Annabeth frowned, and Mia finally noticed the four yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins he was holding. "What—"

"Just listen," Percy said. "We don't have much time."

He told them about his conversation with Hermes. By the time he was finished, Mia could hear screeching in the distance — patrol harpies picking up their scent.

"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."

"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."

"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."

"Yeah, but you promised Chiron—"

"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Mia promised the same thing to Chiron, she'll come with us. Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"

"I want to go," Tyson said.

"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean . . . Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."

She and Tyson both looked at Percy, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.

"We can't leave him," Percy decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k . . . a C-y-k . . ." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. They could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"