Annabeth's alone watching Nico and Will fail miserably at dancing the Wobble. She's wearing a leather jacket over top of her singed bridesmaid dress, and a smirk paints her face. Her Yankees cap- her semi-invisibility cap- lays on the table next to her. Funny how these things work. Percy knew practically nothing about her at the beginning of the week; she changed so much in the past ten years, but now he's the only one who can see through her invisibility cap. Maybe that has something to do with their conversation in the pool yesterday, or maybe not. Maybe it doesn't even matter.

Percy's a little bit afraid to approach her. He almost passes her by to go shimmy with the others, but he decides it might be better to get this over with.

He pulls out a chair and takes a seat.

She raises her eyes to meet him, and gods, it's terrifying.

Sometimes people say Percy has a storm brewing in his eyes, and he's sure that's not a far-off comparison, considering he's the son of Poseidon, but Annabeth's eyes are something else entirely. They're fierce, and they have this look about them that says, "Do what I say or I'll kill you." There's a real storm brewing somewhere in there, and there's something nostalgic about it.

"You sittin' down or what?" Annabeth asks. "You're kind of staring me down and it's a little weird."

"Oh, right." Percy takes a seat. "How are you?" He's been asking that question a lot lately.

Annabeth shrugs. "I mean, I'm a crispy critter." She looks down at her shin, which is wrapped in a bandage. "Will's got it covered though."

Percy laughs. "'Crispy critter' is one way to put it."

She drinks some water. "But to actually answer your question, I'll be okay. It's weird, knowing that someone's tapping into my brain. You should be careful too."

"Annabeth, I don't even drink."

She raises an eyebrow. "That makes a lot of sense."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She chews on an ice cube, and ignores his question by asking another: "So what's next?"

"That depends," says Percy.

"On?"

Here goes nothing. "You."

Annabeth smirks. "Me?"

Percy puts the plane tickets from Frank on the table. "Europe, right?"

"That was so broad though. We don't even know what part of Europe they'll be at, and it's definitely a trap."

"If you don't wanna save the world, that's fine, but I'd rather have a partner," says Percy.

Annabeth sighs. "Listen, I just don't do the whole questing thing anymore. Isn't that kind of a teenager thing? I'm a grown-ass woman."

Yeah, she is, and Percy doesn't want anybody else on this trip with him. "C'mon, Wise Girl. It'll be fun. We liked Europe... kind of."

"The part where we went to hell was a little rough."

"Technically, Tartarus isn't Europe, so if you really think about it, Europe wasn't so bad," Percy jokes. "Besides, Frank gave me these tickets and he'll be kind of offended if we don't use them."

"Woah, woah, woah," says Annabeth. "You're asking me if I want to go on Frank and Hazel's honeymoon with you?"

"Well..." Percy starts. "Wait, are you just going to sit there and give me reasons why we shouldn't do this? Because to me, it sounds like you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid. I'm just not an idiot."

"Says the girl who was found passed out in a Dutch windmill," Percy teases.

Annabeth groans and rolls her eyes. "You just won't let that go."

"C'mon, Wise Girl." Percy pushes the plane tickets towards her. "One more quest."

Percy sees the hint of a smile on her face at the sound of her old nickname.

"Fine. But just know that I'm not going to be an easy partner," she says.

"When have you ever made things easy for me?"

Annabeth puts her cap on and twists it backward. He can't help but grin, knowing that he's the only one in the room who can see her grab an extra sub and her weapons before stomping out of the banquet hall.

"Well, what are you waiting for, dumbass?" she asks. "I'm not letting you get a prophecy without me this time."

It's not 'Seaweed Brain', but it's kind of close, right? Percy leaps to his feet and follows her out.

Time for a prophecy.

***

"Rachel!" Percy calls. "We're back! Think you can get a prophecy now that I've brought Annabeth?"

Annabeth takes off her baseball cap and then pops the collar on her jacket. It's funny; she keeps doing that thinking it's going to make her look tougher or something. It must be uncomfortable being back at the golf course.

"Are you sure she's here?" Annabeth asks.

Percy nods. "Of course. She was just sitting on the stone wall. Maybe she's collecting more lawn ornaments-"

"Heads up!" Annabeth tackles Percy to the ground. A polka-dot garden gnome sails through the air and into the koi pond. Poor fish.

She turns red. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's all good."

"Annabeth and Perseus."

"Oh, shit, there she is!" Annabeth says.

Rachel stumbles over various lawn ornaments, only it's not Rachel. Like, it's Rachel's body, but the Oracle of Delphi seems to have taken over.

"Alrighty then," Annabeth scrambles to her feet and grips her sword.

"Annabeth, you can't hurt her!" Percy says.

"Wasn't planning on it- Oh!" Annabeth lunges to the side as Rachel/The Oracle tries to spear her with the wire legs of a pink plastic flamingo. "Well, shit, Rachel!"

Percy sits up. "Rachel, it's us!"

"Shut up! I'm trying not to get skewered before our honeymoon quest!" Annabeth grips Rachel's wrist and Judo flips her into the koi pond.

Percy rushes over to make sure Rachel's alright. She opens her mouth to say something, and he braces himself for another prophecy, but she quickly snaps out of her trance.

"Hey, uh, how'd I get in a koi pond?" Rachel asks, scratching her head. She takes Percy's outstretched hand and he pulls her back over the stone wall.

"Are you alright?" Percy asks. "The Oracle went a little crazy there."

"Did you get a prophecy?" she asks.

Annabeth intervenes. "Nope, but you did try to turn me into a garden shish-kebab."

"Oh, Annabeth! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Rachel asks.

"Oh, totally. I mean, I flipped you into the pond, so there's that."

Rachel turns to face Percy. "You mean I got thrown into a koi pond by Annabeth and you didn't bother to film it?"

Percy scratches his neck. What? "I... I didn't really think to do that... I was a little panicked when you started attacking us."

"It's alright, Rachel," says Annabeth. "I've done better."

"I still want to see it," she says. "I take it you're going after Pothos and your ex with Percy?"

Annabeth crosses her arms and huffs. "Okay, first of all, he's not my ex-"

"Not gonna lie," says Percy, "a one-night-stand isn't much better."

"Well, if the Oracle attacked you, that's probably prophecy enough, but I'll let you know if I get anything else, okay?" Rachel asks. "Just text me. Does Annabeth have a phone yet?"

"Where the fuck are you people getting phones?" Annabeth asks.

In unison, Percy and Rachel answer, "Leo."

And with that, Percy takes Annabeth to get situated with a phone. He'll pack his bags and say goodbye to his mom and the others, and probably take a quick dip in the pool to talk to his dad quickly before they leave bright and early in the morning. At least, that's the plan. Percy has a feeling they might not be leaving that early.

But that's just the plan. It's okay to stray from the plan a little from time to time.

End of Part VII