Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Sea of Monsters

| Chapter IX || Awkward Awakenings |

*August 24 XXXX*

***

Sleeping in the same room as your brother isn't so bad. Percy and Tyson entered their room, seeing that there was only one queen-sized bed in the center of it, along with a couch, a nightstand, and a wardrobe.

"Buddy, you take the bed. I can make do with the couch," Percy said, patting his younger brother's shoulder.

"You sure?" Tyson asked.

Percy nodded, smiling. "Yeah. It's no trouble. I'll fit." As if to punctuate his point, Percy strolled over to the couch and flopped down onto it, proving that his feet only slightly hung over the end.

Tyson shrugged, accepting Percy's statement. "Okay. Goodnight." Then, he too flopped down on his furniture of choice - the bed.

For Artemis and Annabeth, however, the living quarters weren't as accommodating.

"You take the couch," they both said at the same time.

Both girls turned to one another in surprise. "What?"

Annabeth's forehead creased. "I'm a mortal. You're a goddess. Sleeping on a couch shouldn't make a difference because gods can't cramp."

Artemis frowned back. "Precisely. I'm a goddess. A lowly mortal such as yourself should take the couch."

"But you're used to living in the wild! A couch should be an improvement from that, so why are you complaining?"

"I'm not complaining. I'm merely saying that I should sleep in the bed. Besides, it's my ship. You're lucky I even showed up or you'd be sleeping on that raft."

Annabeth scoffed. "Well, I'm not sleeping on the couch. You should've thought of that when you brought us aboard."

Artemis didn't answer Annabeth's haughty statement. She merely strutted over to the bed and made a show of herself plunking down on the comforter. She met Annabeth's eyes with a challenge in her own. In response, Annabeth strode over to the bed as well. Instead of sitting down, she just climbed right in under the sheets and rolled to face away from Artemis.

Artemis sighed. "Well, I'm not sleeping on the couch." With that said, she pulled the covers up as well, folding herself into the bed and rolling so that her back faced the blonde-haired demigod.

Both women lay silently for the next few minutes, both having pressed their bodies to outermost limits of the bed. They fought over the comforter in that time of silence, the only noises being their grunts of frustration.

Finally, Annabeth gave up, letting Artemis have the comforter while she pulled the sheets around her body and away from the goddess. "Goodnight," she said reluctantly.

"Goodnight." Artemis' answer was just as reluctant.

***

*August 25 XXXX*

Percy rolled over and immediately fell to the floor. His eyes snapped open in shock as he fell through the air, viciously sucked out of the pleasant blackness of his non-dreams.

"Ow!" he yelped, rubbing a hand over his scalp, checking for bumps after it smacked loudly against the solid wood floor.

Looking up, he saw that he was in a cabin, on a ship, and they were far out in the ocean, judging by the gentle rocking of the boat. Tyson was still asleep on the large bed on the other side of the room, snoring away happily. Every once in a while, he'd mumble something like, "Mmmmmm, peanut butter," or "Come on, brother," and then fall silent again.