Before I Die (Split Souls part 1)

54: Before I Die (pt. 1)

THIRD POV

Annabeth was tired and worried by the time the meeting had ended. Their  demigod friends had been sent home just moments before the meeting began. The gods thought that they had deserved to see the coronation, but were not privy to such things as meetings.

Percy was annoyed, but he had to get support, and a plan. So he dealt with it, and shoved past it. When the other gods started to teleport out to avoid the crowding at the door, Percy took the opportunity to vapour travel out of there with Annabeth.

They reappeared in the conference room at the tower, where the crew was still bustling around. Their friends stopped and stared for a moment at their attire. Annabeth, who was exhausted and leaning heavily against Percy, tugged on the skirt of her dress. "Ugh, I want my clothes back." She grumbled.

Thank Aphrodite, because the dress shimmered away and left her in her previous clothes. Annabeth's mood improved, though slightly. Neither she nor Percy particularly liked the plan, but it was the best way. The only way, some might argue.

"How'd it go? Seems like the demigods can't talk about it." Natasha narrowed her eyes at them.

"We have a plan. Don't ask, don't worry. It's better if you don't know." Annabeth replied. Percy nodded his agreement.

"Okay. What are you wearing?" Clint piped in.

It took Percy a moment to register what Clint was asking. He almost replied 'clothes' before shrugging. He then decided to say it anyway. "Clothes." Clint gave him a look like he'd just seen Percy pour hot sauce on toast.

"How long does this plan of yours need?" Steve asked, getting to the point.

"It'll be ready when we get there." Percy answered, his eyes hard. Had he mentioned that he didn't really like the plan, at all? Probably, considering how much he didn't like it.

"Alright. Then we're ready to go." Steve nodded to the rest of the crew, who the royal couple now realized were all dressed in their gear. Leo looked at ease in a suit that relatively matched his normal clothes, except they looked higher tech than normal cloth. Or magical cloth, but considering Calypso likely had a huge hand in making it, it was probably both.

Speaking of, Calypso was actually wearing clothes that reminded Percy of yogis. She had those really baggy pants with the cuff at the bottom. Percy was momentarily reminded of Ogygia.

"So, you can just materialize clothes, right?" Leo asked Percy.

"Uh, on myself." Percy frowned.

"Cool, do that." Leo said before walking out the door. He then popped his head back inside the frame. "We're leaving now, right?"

"Yeah, we're leaving." Steve confirmed.

They loaded into the aircraft, and for once Percy wasn't worried about getting shot out of the sky. He was, however, very worried about fighting Tartarus. The prophecy had said nothing about fighting Tartarus, and that had Percy concerned. Those were the circles his mind went on as he cradled Annabeth in his arms while she slept.

The others got some shut-eye in too. Percy began to debate internally. Should he try to sleep, and fake barter with Tartarus? Would that give them the upper hand with surprise, or would he just end up tipping him off? Would not talking to Tartarus tip him off that they already knew, or would he just assume that Percy was too terrified to fall asleep?

"What are you thinking about?" Bruce asked quietly.

Percy looked up, surprised. He thought everyone was asleep.