How Long?

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, Percy was not expecting him to be wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that they all took a step back on the front porch.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

The team looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," Percy said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," Percy said, though he had no clue what he was talking about. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if he'd just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?"

None of them answered, but their faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

Y/N was now sure about it. Mr. Chase had no idea about Percy being her boyfriend and he wasn't exactly nervous or excited to let him know about it either. It's way too weird but no matter how grave the situation is, Percy who has feelings for Annabeth would've assured Mr. Chase of taking responsibility and saving her by now. So far, he has been giving a lot of promises to people. Maybe losing Bianca put a halt to it.

But boy, she was actually proud of Annabeth. She managed to keep it a secret from her parents for so long. If it was her parents, they would've guessed something is going on by now if she went out with a boy so much. To be honest, that's a fact since their guess about Harris and her having something between themselves were...partly true.

It didn't look like a house that the Chase family just moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

Dr. Chase turned to them. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun.

"Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is…"

He stared at them blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

They introduced themselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

Percy half-expected Mrs. Chase to turn into a raving lunatic at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at Y/N. "Nice meeting you, Y/N. I've heard a lot about you."

Y/N smiled politely and glanced at Percy. Really? No words for him? Sure she has mentioned him once, right?

It wasn't easy to explain everything. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. They were running out of time.

When they'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you. Hmm. it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" Percy said.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I… I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and Percy inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but…apparently it's no place for mortals."

Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys…"

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now"

They hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind them.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as they were leaving, "tell Annabeth… Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."

Okay, maybe Annabeth did mention him. But it was a bit weird how he didn't acknowledge him as Mrs. Chase did her. Maybe she just talked about him to Mr. Chase. Annabeth might still be feeling uncomfortable talking about everything to her stepmother.

In a way, it felt like Annabeth's parents chose a side of who to support and Mr. Chase chose Percy. Or maybe Y/N was just overthinking.

Siding about what?

There's a question that has been bugging her since Percy got together with Annabeth.

How long exactly has Annabeth known about her feelings for Percy? Surely after they started being in a relationship...

...right?

[ TIME SKIP ]

Their car blew up from a lightning strike, which thankfully Thalia was able to detect beforehand. When the fog cleared, the sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place they'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Then the shadows in front of them began to move. There were beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped his hand.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong." Percy stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our

voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

The dragon did though. After Zoe managed to distract it for a while but then he suddenly gained control of his senses. Zoe escaped with the rest and he didn't try to pursue them. He hissed and stomped the ground, but he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind. At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half-melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked, feeling like a fool as usual.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

"You're hurt," he said. "Let me see."

"The heck you gonna see for?" Y/N snapped pushing him away and holding her, "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing."

"I can heal-"

"No. You cannot lose any more energy in this. We need your offensive strength."

Y/N wanted to argue but Zoe was right. She knew a part of her job was to heal others but right now, they were very close to rescuing Artemis. She can feel it. And the air around didn't feel right. They would surely come across something dangerous and have no choice but to fight it. So far, she did good in balancing her energy between healing and fighting but somehow in this instance, it felt like she would need her energy.

Zoe cleared her throat, "I was saying… in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But… how is it here?" Percy asked.

Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked as the others started walking forward. He couldn't help but feel a bit scared about it. For the longest time he remembers, every statue of Atlas holds up the sky. Without a single thought, he turned to Y/N who was staring up at the clouds, and asked, "Do you feel anything strange?"

Y/N was taken aback. No way Percy just asked her about the situation. Did he really want to be sure if something was wrong? Would he even believe her? Whatever the case was, she didn't want to be accused anymore. So she nodded her head.

Percy felt guilty for some reason. And he didn't know what to expect up there. So he did what he wanted to do before it all goes down.

He held her hand and pulled her close to himself, "Don't ignore me...please."