How Fates Can Twist

Chapter 12

Annabeth's POV

Percy had commandeered a row boat off the side of the Princess Andromeda and soon they were speeding away from the ship and the mess of emotions that sat on the water with it. She couldn't be more relieved.

Annabeth wasn't sure of exactly what had happened there, but it had seemed like Percy was in complete control of the situation. The more her memories began slipping back in, the more she trusted him with that power. And it seemed like her memories had decided to come back in full force as they rode north on the water.

Back on the Princess Andromeda, Frank had asked if the monsters would get pissed at them for stealing one of their vessels. He wasn't in the mood to get thrown into a cell again, and Annabeth had to agree with him on that one. Percy had assured them that as the god of tides, anything water related was his for the taking. That wasn't exactly a mindset Annabeth was particularly fond of, and judging by the way he cringed after the words came out, neither was Percy.

That was the thing; so much of Percy was still... what was the right way to put it? Human. Beautifully so. Yes, his rippling muscles flexed like ropes every time his arm moved, but that was overshadowed by the way his hands hung casually over the side of the vessel, letting the water lap against them. Power and humanity seemed to hang in a perfect balance within him. Annabeth couldn't decide which aspect was more dazzling to her.

The corded veins along his forearm kept drawing her gaze. But her mind was completely captivated by her emerging memories of him and just how similar this godly version of him seemed. He was still the boy who told jokes around the campfire, held her in his arms while she cried, and raved about how amazing his mom's cooking was. She had just witnessed first hand with Luke how much his physical power had grown, but somehow it just seemed to make Percy more Percy.

A particular memory began playing in her mind. She was racing through tunnels, heat billowing at her back. She couldn't stop running, his voice in her mind wouldn't let her. Get out of here. The pressure of the heat was building behind her. Her feet kept carrying her forward until a force threw her onto the ground, a searing feeling racing over the top of her body.

Annabeth laid there for who knows how long, her skin stinging from the heat and ears ringing. Eventually she regained her wit and realized that must have been Mount St. Helens exploding. She saw Percy's vibrant green eyes in front of her, inches from her face, telling her to get out. That he'll take care of it. And he had, just like he had today.

Annabeth was drawn out of her memory by the sound of talking.

"You know where we're going?" Frank asked Percy.

Without looking up from where his fingers dangled into the rushing water beside them, Percy replied. "A glacier in Alaska. Managed to narrow it down at all since yesterday?"

Frank glanced over at Annabeth with panic in his eyes.

"Well..." Frank looked down at his lap in defeat. "No. Just that the prophecy said it would be a place beyond the gods."

Percy sighed. "So pick somewhere to start looking, you may be shocked to find Alaska's isn't that small. You've got quite the job cut out for you, Mister Captain-of-the-Quest," he replied mockingly.

Frank flushed out of embarrassment. Annabeth could tell he was still getting used to the supposed leadership role, and he wasn't quite confident in himself yet. That wasn't his fault; quests were demigods' first real chance to take charge. Nothing at a camp could compare to leading your friends when it's life or death. This was his time to grow, he just had to push himself to do it. Percy's dry comment surely didn't speed that process up.

Annabeth glared at the god in an attempt to teach him a lesson. He seemed to get the message, his eyes dropping and scooting himself closer to her on the bench of the lifeboat.

"Sorry about that, really," he apologized. "I'm just not too pumped about anything to do with this quest. You've already come close to poisoning yourself and been kidnapped by a boat full of monsters, and we're only halfway to the destination," he explained. Once again, the humanity still in Percy poured through. It left her speechless, something she had never found herself before. She'd never tell him that, of course.

"Well this isn't my first quest, now is it? You remember the past ones better than I do, Percy. So tell me, did I die a gruesome death last time?" she replied, knowing just what she was doing.

He looked at her quizzically. "No, obviously."

"Hm. Paralyzed by a monster attack?"

"No, but if you think that's all-"

"Starved half to death?"

"Well I don't know, you didn't tell us what happened after Luke... after Artemis took the sky from you," he sputtered out, clearly tripping over Luke's name.

The change was so fast that Annabeth couldn't catch it with her own eyes. Percy's whole demeanor shifted at the mention of that man. Annabeth had felt her own body contort at the sound too, even though she didn't remember what event he was talking about, but it was nowhere near as vivid as the new face that Percy suddenly wore. It was the opposite of the humanity she had noticed shining through just moments earlier. It was all rage, but not the harmless, bothersome type a rebellious teen would shout at their parents with. And not the inspiring, tear-jerking type an activist or a soldier might wear into conflict. But the damning, end-all type that was so common on Olympus. His expression reminded her of hazy memories of a certain very angry, very powerful king of the gods.

Her observation earlier had been right. Percy did in fact still have so much human to him. But that keyword "still" implied what she was seeing right now: that human wasn't the default anymore.

It didn't scare her. She knew Percy had a heart too big for his chest, even with ichor pumping through it. He would always do the right thing.

To her relief, he didn't expand on whatever memory with Luke and Artemis he had mentioned. The thought of Luke was still like an open sore in her mind, it didn't want to be poked at. And thankfully it seemed Percy didn't want to talk about him either, nor about the fact that he had just murdered the boy with divine power. Annabeth was okay leaving it at that.

"Annabeth," he began in a low voice, changing the subject. "Where we're going is the land beyond the gods, like Frank said earlier. That means no god can step foot on it."

She met his eyes, the realization dawning on her.

"You won't be with us when we find Thanatos."

"I'll be hundreds of miles away."

Annabeth didn't like that. She had only just gotten Percy back with her memories and all, she wasn't ready to say goodbye to him again. Gods know when, or even if, she contemplated in the back of her mind, they would return from their questing in Alaska. It was all far too uncertain for Annabeth to be content with. And judging by the anger still on Percy's face, he felt the same.