Something is seriously wrong with me.
Throughout these past years I've done nearly everything that some of the greatest heroes have done, faced monsters that some demigods pray to their parents' to never meet, and succeeded in things that even the Gods thought were not possible all while trying to not get kicked out of school, again! Not too bad for a 16-year-old son of Poseidon, if I do say so myself! Regardless, nothing will ever prepare me for what's coming next… Holy Zeus, I can't mess this up, but that may be the reason why I'm even more terrified now than when I first saw Thalia go into battle, which pretty much kept me frozen in place.
I kept trying to straighten my tie but it's kinda difficult to do so when riding a Pegasus. I looked over to my right at the Pegasus flying next to us and it's- Guido neighed,- sorry, his passenger. Bad idea. My mouth suddenly went dry and I was at a loss of words. Even with bored expression on her face as her blonde hair fluttered behind, she was beautiful. Her piercing gray eyes light up as she notice me staring, I questioned why the Goddess Tyche may have given me bad luck of all times. I did the best thing I thought of, I improvised!
"So… nice afternoon to go for a ride isn't it?"
She rolled her eyes, "Percy, just tell me where we're going. We've been flying for hours now! This better be good since you begged me to wear a dress!" She almost growled the last part.
I gulped. I silently prayed to my dad and, as much as I didn't want to, Aphrodite to allow this to go well. "Just, just a little more Annabeth! Promise!", I smiled reassuringly which worked I guess since she just sighed.
At this point, despite the cool breeze hitting us as we were riding the Pegasi, I began to sweat a bit.
'Blackjack, how much longer?'
'Not much longer boss! Look! Up ahead!'
I looked up and breathed a sigh of relieve. Thank Gods! We've made it!
Blackjack neighed, 'Did I do a good job boss? I get the sugar cubs you promised soon right?'
I smiled, 'Of course, I'll get you them when we get home, but I'll give you a few when we land.'
'You're the best boss!'
I looked over at the sky. Hm… not too dark, not too bright. Perfect! I looked down at the town that's going to the destination of my plan. I smiled.
The lights danced across the town as the Eiffel Tower stood proudly amongst it all. The moon was just getting into view within the sky as the sun began to near its set.
I looked back over to Annabeth to see a rare sight which made me grin. I brought the stunned daughter of Athena to reality as I directed Blackjack and Guido to hover just near the Eiffel Tower's dinning level. "Welcome to Paris!", I bowed slightly, "Will you honor me by being my company for an early dinner?"
Annabeth grinned, "Fine, I'll humor you. You did get me in a dress for this after all."
I jumped off of Blackjack, onto the metal ridge and extended out my hand to Annabeth. She grinned as she took it and jumped, landing next to me on the ridge. I smiled at her then looked at our Pegasi.
'Thanks you guys, here!' I threw them two sugar cubes each.
Blackjack neighed, 'Yum! I can't wait for the rest! Don't forget boss! Just call when you need us!'
As they flew away, Annabeth and I were left alone on the ridge. I looked back at her with a smile,
"Let's get ourselves a table!"
After sneaking our way in to the front desk of the restaurant, don't ask how we were able to do so without security finding us suspicious in any way, only Zeus knows, I tried to get the attention of the guy stationed there who, for some odd reason, found the lady in a long emerald colored dress coming out of the double doors in the back. I felt a bit of heat rush up to my cheeks, I can kinda understand why the waiter was staring but still, I have to make this night perfect for Annabeth! The lady made her way to the front desk, right next to the waiter I was previously trying to get the attention of and smiled at us, which I could've sworn had a hint of amusement but that might just be me. She looked at the waiter with a dazzling smile,
"I'll take care of this lovely couple, keep up the good work."
The waiter nodded and muttered something that I think were suppose to be words but came out as slurred syllables. I looked at Annabeth and she seemed to be deep in thought as we followed the lady to a table near the back. The waitress gave us another amazing smile and the next thing I know Annabeth kicked my shin from under the table. I looked up and saw that she was glaring at me. The waitress giggled as she patted my head and put our menus on the table,
"Such a lively bunch! When you're ready I'll send a waiter!"
Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "You aren't going to take it?"
The lady laughed and for some reason, the tune of her voice began to take over my head. Not in a bad way actually…. I was brought back to reality as I felt a weird tickling sensation in my leg, realizing that it was the cause of Annabeth kicking me again. Thanks Gods for the curse of Achilles! I rubbed my shin as I smiled apologetically at Annabeth and looked around. The lady was gone! What in Hades just happened? I looked over to Annabeth and she was glaring again.
"Given who she was, I can somewhat understand your reaction but really? Of all times Seaweed Brain!"
I raised an eyebrow, "Wha-" It hit me. Of course! The gawking, the giggling, it all makes sense! I whispered to Annabeth, "Aphrodite?"
She rolled her eyes, "Way to catch on."
I gulped. Oh great, nice going me! I was about to try to come up with something that would save me from making things worse until a waiter came up to our table with two dishes and placed them in front of us. He smiled as if he were in a trance,
"It's on the house…"
He immediately left after speaking and disappeared into the kitchen. Annabeth was one step ahead of me as always as she cautiously opened the platter and looked at the food, just in case. As a demigod, you can never be too careful!
She lifted the lid and both our jaws dropped slightly. It looked amazing! Annabeth's plate was practically art! Rice pilaf was shaped in the form of an owl on the square plate as two small sized, circular shaped steaks were placed where the eyes of the owl would be. A brown sauce, which I think is steak sauce, was drizzled in a zigzag formation from corner to corner of her dish. I quickly lifted the lid off my plate and was rewarded with a dish that looked similarly delicious. Three ribs were placed onto my oval plate in a, surprise-surprise! A trident. It was placed in the middle as it settled in a blue, glowing sauce.
I looked up from our steaming dishes to Annabeth.
"Do you think it's safe?"
"Well…. I don't know… One of us should taste it to make sure…"
I gulped as I lifted one of the ribs, "Well, let's hope no one's mad or out to get us right now!"
Annabeth looked at me blankly, "There are always monsters after us Percy."
"Oh….. yeah…."
I just sighed and took a bite. It was now or never right?
I chewed slowly and tried to taste anything that could be bad. The problem was, was that there was nothing wrong with it! I looked up at Annabeth and grinned.
"It's delicious!"
After several attempts, I finally get Annabeth to eat the food which, by the look on her face, she was glad I convinced her! After several bites in, I tried for some conversation.
"So… how's the food?"
She grinned, "Nothing bad has happened so I take that as a good sign."
I chuckled, "Right. So how're you liking Paris?"
That… was probably not the best idea of conversation starters that I tried because the rest of the night Annabeth went on a tangent about the Eiffel Tower. I mean, I know I brought her here because I knew this was one of her favorite architectural monuments, but come on! I sighed, well I don't dislike this part of Annabeth, I actually find it cute when she does that and at least we're conversing… in a one sided way but conversing none the less! Oh well, I'll let this one slide. As we finished our meals I placed the tip on the table and lead Annabeth out to the terrace.
I leaned back against the ridge as Annabeth gently placed her hands on it, gazing towards the moon. I silently thanked Lady Artemis for the beautiful night tonight. I settled my gaze towards Annabeth as her curly hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall from the sun and her usually lively eyes gazed as inactive as a child of Athena's eyes can get at the night sky. I was about to say something until Annabeth spoke,
"Did you know we can see about 37 miles out from here?"
My face dropped slightly, again with the facts? I'm trying to set a romantic mood here! "Well, I guess I do now-"
"And that it took around two years and two months to build?"
"I could see how with-"
"It was finished on March 31 of the year 1889!-"
"ANNABETH!"
She looked a bit shocked but she turned her gray eyes towards me.
"I get it! It was made by Gustave Eiffel and was designed around 1884, it's 984-990 feet tall, it's 108 stories high, it's made of 2.5 million rivets, 15,000 iron pieces, and 40 tons of paint, it weighs 10,000 tons, and it uses 7.5 watt hours of electricity annually! It's an amazing piece of architecture!" I was practically panting by the end of it all.
Annabeth's eyes were slightly wide, "Well yes, but it's 7.5 KILOwatts not watts…"
"Oh my Gods Annabeth!-" I was about to go on a rant until I saw Annabeth crack an amused grin.
That grin turned into laughing. She was messing with me… AGAIN!
Annabeth placed a hand on my shoulder as she continued to laugh, "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!"
Seeing her like this, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit. I was still a bit mad though.
"You were doing this, this whole time?"
Annabeth's laughter began to decrease until she was just smiling. She placed both her arms around my neck, "I told you I wouldn't make this easy on you Seaweed Brain!"
I sighed in relief, "I wouldn't want it any other way Wise Girl."
She smiled, "This was an amazing night Percy."
She leaned in and her soft lips met mine. It was warm, perfect actually. Our lips melded perfectly with each other. If time stopped I'd want it to be on this moment but when we finally did break the kiss I rested my forehead against hers and made a mental note to thank Aphrodite for the help, my dad for the guidance, Zeus for not blowing me out of the sky, Artemis for the perfect scenery, and Athena for not killing me tonight for kissing her daughter.