Not Without Me

She stared up at the dome of the Vatican in wonder. It was some of the most incredible architecture Annabeth had ever seen, and the paintings that decorated the walls… breathtaking. Red-orange light from the setting sun fell through the windows dimly and left certain parts of the building in shadow, illumining others in a magical glow. She wished she could stay forever. But darkness was steadily falling and Annabeth had a mission to complete.

   Honestly, though, there were a lot of things she'd rather be doing. She'd rather finish her sightseeing of the magnificent city of Rome. She'd rather be back on the Argo II with Percy. She really just wanted him with her, but she knew she had to do this alone. Unfortunately, that was something he wouldn't understand, which is why she didn't tell him before she left. She just hoped he wouldn't worry.

  However, knowing Percy, he would worry.

  Annabeth reluctantly exited the Vatican and stepped out into St. Peter's Square. The obelisk in the center was tinted orange from the sunset and it cast a long shadow; Annabeth knew she had to find a safe place to sleep before night fell. She was running out of daylight.

  Annabeth had never been directionally challenged, so she had a pretty good idea of where she was: somewhere very close to the edge of the city where no one would think to look for her. She settled down for the night in a small alley, knowing subconsciously that it wasn't the best place to make camp, in that there was only one way out, but she was resourceful. She carved the dirt out from between the paving stones with her knife and contemplated what to do next.

  She'd been working on discovering as much information as she could about the Mark of Athena, but so far, most of the ancient libraries and museums were lacking in direct answers. The fact that everything she found about it was in Latin wasn't a problem; she could read Latin just fine. It was just that whatever she found was in riddles and puzzles and she had made little to no headway with solving any of them, which was extremely unusual for her.

  Annabeth was so completely lost in her own mind that she only barely saw the massive, shadowy figure at the entrance of the alley, didn't even have time to get to her feet before it brought down it's wooden club hard on her head. The last thing she saw was dark blood on the dark paving stones of the alley and the shimmer of monster dust as it exploded in front of her eyes.

~~*~~

  When she woke up, she was propped up against the side of the building in the alley. Early morning light filtered down between the rooftops and reflected brightly against the sword that he was holding. Spinning it on its tip. He was leaning against the opposite wall, watching her with a mixture of concern and carefully controlled anger.

  Annabeth gently lifted a hand to her head and probed the lump on her scalp. Not as much pain as she expected, however, her hair was caked in dried blood. "Hi," she muttered quietly, awkwardly.

  Percy narrowed his eyes and capped his sword. "How do you feel?" The concern in his voice did not match the expression on his face; that's how Annabeth knew that he wasn't terribly angry.

  "Ok. Dizzy."

  "Guilty?"

  Annabeth blushed in embarrassment and anger. "No. I did what I had to."

  Percy stood up and moved to sit next to her. "Why didn't you tell me?" Now hurt colored his voice and Annabeth decided that she did feel guilty.

  She shook her head, trying to ignore the stabbing pain that shot through her brain. "I wanted to do it alone. I didn't want anything to happen to you."

  Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, ok. You were worried about me but you were almost beaten to death last night. Good thing I showed up."

  Annabeth slowly, painfully got to her feet. "Well, thanks for that, but I don't need your help."

  "Oh I can see that!" Percy shouted, following her example and standing up. "If I hadn't been following you, you might have died!"

  "Like I said earlier, thank you. Now go back to the ship. I have to do this alone."

  Percy's hand whipped out and grabbed her arm like a vice. "I'm not going anywhere, you're not going anywhere. Got it? Now sit down and eat your ambrosia!"

  Annabeth narrowed her eyes and put on her "dangerous" expression. "Make me."

  All at once, Percy let go of her arm and pulled her invisibility cap out of his back pocket. He uncapped Riptide and held the razor-sharp blade against the fabric. "Gee, I wonder if this will still work if I cut it in half…. What do you think?"

  Annabeth froze. "You wouldn't."

  "Try me."

  Reluctantly, Annabeth sat down and Percy handed her some ambrosia before setting her cap down well out of her reach. He wrapped an arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh of defeat. "Like it or not, Wise Girl," Percy whispered, "you are not doing this without me."