ANNABETH I

Annabeth rested her head on her arms, looking out from the side of the Argo II. The wind whipped her blonde hair behind her head and made her eyes water. But she had been coming up there most days anyway, so she could distract herself and not look like she was crying. But she was, with every second that went by she felt farther away from her old life, and not just because they were headed across the country in a flying battleship. Her old life was happy; everything had worked out for the best. She was finally with Percy, and she had never been as happy in her entire life than when she was with him. But she was having a hard time remembering those two months with him before this all happened, because they were overshadowed by eight months of worry, fear and heartache. That's why she came up to that one corner of the ship, where she could sit, watch the scenery go by and try her hardest to keep her mind blank. But everything she saw reminded her of Percy. The mountains, the clouds, the small suburban towns, and especially any body of water forced her mind back to a blissful memory that she may never feel again. Not just happy memories filled her head, but questions as well, so many questions. But she was too afraid to even think them, for fear of breaking down completely.

In the midst of this train of thought Annabeth felt a light tap on her shoulder that sent her sky high with surprise. She turned around slowly, catching her breath. Standing there was Piper, whose kaleidoscope eyes were full of worry.

"Are you alright Annabeth?" she asked in a comforting and melodic tone, "I know how you must feel, you know you can talk to me about it, right?"

Piper was always there when Annabeth's heart was about to break; it must be some goddess of love sense. Annabeth replied,

"No Piper, I'm fine, really. I'm just worried that the Romans will attack us when we get there, I'm not looking forward to a four against four hundred type of battle." She let out a half-hearted laugh, hoping it would convince Piper. But Piper still had the same look on her face, replying,

"Talk to me Annabeth, tell me what's on your mind, you don't always have to be this powerful leader all the time."

Annabeth let out a shaky breath, looking up to Piper with red eyes and a lump in her throat. After a few seconds went by, she reluctantly replied, "I'm just so scared Piper, what if he's changed? Jason said the Roman camp is much harsher. What if he got hurt? Why hasn't he called me? " She took a breath, looked to the floor and let out a whisper, "What if he doesn't remember me, he obviously lost his memory, Jason doesn't even have his entirely back…What if…What if he met someone else?"

Piper was sitting beside her, holding her hands. "Look at me Annabeth, Percy will be fine, and I promise, so will you. I have a sense about these things, the love that you two share, its not going away, its not something Hera could ever take from you, and if Percy's the same fantastic guy that everyone has been gushing about, then he wouldn't give you up, not ever."

"I want to think like that, I really want to know in my heart that everything will work out. But I can't, because it never has. Look at me and Percy, we finally get together and two months later he's been kidnapped…"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself you gorgeous girl," Piper said smiling, "In a few days time you'll be back with Percy, I'm absolutely sure of it. Now get up off your warrior butt and stand up as the kick ass daughter of Athena that we know and love."

Annabeth laughed and stood up, feeling a little bit better and ready to focus on being a good leader for her friends. They needed to stick together, and help each other. Jason had been a wreck, he was clearly nervous about returning home. On top of that, every time he couldn't remember a name or place from his past he got so angry with himself. Annabeth couldn't imagine living without remembering everything that had happened to her, she wanted to help Jason and she hoped returning to the Roman camp would jog his memory.