Percy Jackson-Leo's Return.

Annabeth is Back (sort of)

I was freezing.  Usually I didn't stay year-round at Camp, but I had to stay with my friends.  It was winter and even the weather proof dome couldn't keep out the cold.  I was sitting by the camp fire after dinner talking about the pearls to Leo.  Annabeth wasn't there; she was too busy getting re-programmed by the other Athena kids.
   Leo was shivering despite his jacket, and it occurred to me that he probably hadn't changed or had a shower in a long time.
   "Do you want some new clothes?  Those look pretty beat up."  I offered.  He seemed thankful that I had.
   "Yeah, that'd be good."  He answered and stood up with me.  I brought him to the Poseidon cabin and told him to wait for me to bring him some clothes.  I brought him a Camp Half-Blood shirt and some jeans that I hoped desperately fit him.  Luckily, they did. (Thank the gods they did.)  He changed and put back on his jacket, but this time it wasn't to hide.  I had a jacket on as well, and so did almost everyone else.  The nights were really cold, and somehow I hadn't noticed when I spent that whole night out with Annabeth.
   He made it clear that he really didn't want to sleep in the Hephaestus cabin, but he didn't really have a choice.  I walked him there, even though he could take care of himself perfectly well.  As soon as he walked in the door, I heard the sounds of swooning Hephaestus girls.  I smirked and shook my head, walking back to my cabin.  I desperately needed sleep, and I knew that, but after an hour of laying there I decided to go sit at the bottom of the lake for a while.  It's not as strange as it sounds, I promise.  
   I sunk to the bottom and laid down, looking at the muffled image of the crescent moon above me.  I sat there thinking about nothing until I had no idea what time it was.  All I knew was that I had to go now, because it was dawn.  Well done, Percy; another night you forgot to sleep.  I sighed and kicked my way up to the surface.  I ran back to my cabin to throw some stuff in a bag that would seem useless now but I would probably need it later because this is a quest and everything has a purpose and all that blah blah I've gotten too used to.
   I stopped by the Athena cabin with my backpack instead of waiting for Annabeth to come out.  Whatever the other brainiacs  had tried, I hoped it worked.  I knocked and entered to find Annabeth sitting at a desk squinting at tons of papers of even more books.  There was another Athena kid next to her pointing at different sections and asking questions and explaining.  When she saw me she sighed relief and got up to see me.
   "She was seriously brain dead.  It was more like trying to tutor a daughter of the god of stupidity."  She looked really tired, and I wondered if they had really been at this all night.
   "Hey, rude.  Wait, was?  You fixed her?"  I questioned.  
   "She isn't as good as before, but she... will do."  She turned to Annabeth, "Hey, Annabeth.  Percy is here for you!"  She looked up from the papers.  Her grey eyes looked glossy and red and she had dark circles under her eyes.
   "Hi."  She said and got up.  I explained to her and the other girl what was going on (that I could figure out) and what we were going to do.  Annabeth had grabbed a backpack and started shoving odd things into it as soon as I said we were leaving today.  
   "Are you sure we need to go to Salt Lake City?  And what if the pearls don't go there and we end up in some place called Salt Lake City in, like, Timbuktu?"  I didn't know that was a real place.
   "I am NOT sure we need to go to Salt Lake City, and ALSO not sure the pearls will take us there, but we don't have much choice."  Annabeth looked like there was an old computer in her head trying to load and process the information I was giving her.  She squinted one eye and rubbed her temples.
   "My brain hurts."  She complained.  I wondered if this was what I looked like when I was 'processing', as Annabeth liked to call it.  
   "Don't worry about it.  So does mine."  I reassured her.  She laughed.
   "Am I allowed to call you Seaweed Brain?"  She asked in the cutest way possible.
   "Only if I can call you Feather Brain."  I said, looking at the feather from a pillow that was in her hair.  The other Athena girl saw it and laughed.  Even though she had no idea what was going on, Annabeth laughed as well.  The hysterics died down and I spoke,
   "I'm going to cabin nine to get Leo.  Coming?"  She nodded and slung one strap of her backpack over her shoulder.  I noticed she was carrying her New York Yankees baseball cap again, even though it had lost the power to turn her invisible a long time ago.  I figured it was an impulse to grab it, or maybe that feeling a god sends you that you'll need something.
   We found Leo sitting outside the cabin with a small bag next to him.  He saw us and grabbed it, standing up to walk towards us.
   "Are you sure we have to go to the Great Salt Lake?  I don't like it there."  He shivered like he was remembering something he wished he didn't.
   "Yeah, sorry dude.  Do you not like it from the whole Echo and Narcissus thing, or from... whatever happened there with you?"  I'm sorry, I had to ask.
   "Both."  He grumbled as he pulled his hood down further over his face.
   "Don't do that."  Annabeth warned playfully, "You'll block out the great weather we're having."  I grinned.
   "Oh well."  Leo said unenthusiastically.
   "Lets have some breakfast, then leave.  There's usually a deadline for these things, right?  Just because we weren't given one doesn't mean it isn't there.  Anyone remember the usual time limit for quests?"  I looked at Annabeth on instinct, but she just shrugged and twisted her face in a funny looking apology.
   "Okay then, we're running on the schedule of a complete guess.  I say a week?  I also say lets go get some breakfast."  So we did.