Clothes? Check.

Money? Check.

Ambrosia? Check.

Riptide? Check. Duh.

Percy was busy fussing over his bag for the third time that day. It was unusual for him to do that, but he was nervous. He spent another ten minutes checking his closet. And then the bathroom. Even made the sheets on Tyson's bed. He was blindly reaching underneath his bed when his shoulders tensed up before relaxing again.

"Are you just gonna stare at me all day?" He teased, crawling backwards until he stood up to face his girlfriend.

Annabeth shrugged, a smile on her lips as she walked inside the cabin. "Are you ready?"

"Yup!" He said, gesturing wildly to the bag sitting on his bed.

"Your room is so..." The daughter of Athena pursed her lips, "clean."

He blushed but decided to deflect the statement-slash-question. Percy took her hand and cocked his head in the direction of the door. "Let's go say goodbye to the others before we have to leave." Percy started to run but it was kind of difficult.

And that was when he realized that she wasn't moving at all, "You alright Wise Girl?"

"I am. What about you, Percy?" Her grey eyes searched his in an attempt to find out what's wrong. That didn't exactly work because he wasn't looking back at her, "Percy, talk to me,"

"I'm fine," He said, forcing a smile on his lips.

"No, you're not," She argued. Annabeth took a couple steps forward until she was mere inches from his fact, "Tell me what's wrong,"

"It's nothing! I'm just... excited that's all,"

"You do realize I can tell when you're lying right?"

Percy spluttered to find an excuse but he didn't find one. He sighed, squeezing her hand. "I just, I don't know if it's right to leave. I don't want my mom worrying again."

"Percy, she's the one who told you take a vacation," she reminded him, "and besides, you deserve a vacation. You've done more than enough to help rebuild the Camp. And I can tell how restless you are being in one place for so long. Even if you call this place home,"

He didn't try to answer her because he knew she was right.

It did little to settle his nerves but he felt calmer knowing that she cared.

"Okay," Was what he settled on saying.

Silence filled Poseidon's Cabin until Annabeth placed a chaste kiss on his lips, "Now let's say goodbye to our friends,"

Percy, who was still feeling kind of dazed, put his free hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her deeper. It wasn't passionate, but it was calming and grounding. He didn't feel like he was flying (which is a horrible experience so thank the gods). He felt like he was safe and secure and like he belonged. They both pulled away for air soon enough, and he placed his forehead on hers. He leaned in to her ear and he whispered,

"Last one to the Hill is a rotten egg," before sprinting off like a madman.

Annabeth yelled cheater at him but she realized she was too late and ran off to follow him. He laughed loudly on his way out, gaining a few looks here and there. She rolled her eyes and tried to focus on running faster. Sadly, he did have longer legs than hers. When she reached Half-Blood Hill, she realized that most of their friends were here. Percy was leaning onto Nico - who seemed less than pleased about it - while talking with Leo, Grover and Piper. Once he noticed that she was there, his smile just got bigger.

"Finally! Damn, Wise Girl, you're really slow," Percy said with a teasing grin.

"First, you cheated," she pointed out, "and second, at least I have my bag with me," Annabeth pointed to the bag sitting by Piper's feet.

"Oh."

Percy sprinted past all of them and headed back to his cabin to retrieve his bag. She rolled her eyes but smiled at his back all the same.

"Looks like you're gonna have a lot on your hands for the next two months," Piper said. The other girl chuckled at that.

"Yeah," It was kind of unspoken that Annabeth wanted to add 'but I wouldn't have it any other way'.

"So where are you two planning on going?" Leo chimed in.

"We're going to visit Percy's mom first but after that we're going to just wander around. Head towards San Francisco for Camp Jupiter too, obviously. I was also thinking about visiting my cousin. Who knows though." Annabeth shrugged.

In her mind, she had already thought of many different routes to go on, and where they could stay, and also how they could earn money if they ever needed to. But that was just the way her brain worked. She would be happy to go with the flow this time. Especially after everything they went through in the last year.

"I wish I could do that too," Piper said, closing her eyes and thinking about it, "but I absolutely can't leave the Aphrodite cabin in the hands of Drew again,"

All five of them shuddered at the thought.

"But, I am going to miss you both so much." The daughter of Aphrodite leaned over and brought her into a tight hug. Annabeth hugged her back because she was gonna miss her too.

"GROUP HUG!" Leo declared, taking Nico's wrist and forced their way into the middle of the hug. Nico grunted in discomfort but reluctantly put his free hand on Annabeth's waist. It was kind of awkward for him, but it was better than a hug. Grover smiled, stretching his arms widely to hug everyone.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

The five of them turned their heads and saw Percy lugging his bag to the top of the hill. He jogged to catch up to them faster but they had already taken their arms off of each other. This time, it was Annabeth that stuck her tongue out at him. "Too slow, Seaweed Brain,"

He scoffed but didn't say anything else. Grover had just opened his mouth but he was interrupted by the speedy arrival of Blackjack. "Sup, Boss,"

"Hey Blackjack," Percy smiled at the pegasus. He looked at Annabeth and raised his eyebrow, asking if she was ready to go without saying it. She nodded back at him. They both turned towards their friends with a slightly sad smile.

"Guess this is goodbye,"

"Hey, you can't get rid of us that easily Kelp Head," Nico huffed, playfully punching him in the shoulder.

"I wish it was though, Death Breath," He teased back at his cousin, "We'll miss you guys,"

"Just leave would you! Before I start crying, man." Grover wiped an invisible tear from his face, sniffling. Leo followed soon after while adding dramatic wailing noises.

Annabeth rolled her eyes but nodded. She jumped onto Blackjack with the help of Percy who managed to grab a hold of both their bags. She wrapped her arms around his waist and scooted forward until there was no distance between them. The pegasus neighed loudly, making Percy blush but the rest of them were just confused. As Blackjack started to take off, they waved goodbye to their friends who were yelling out their goodbyes. Looks like Percy and Annabeth's next great adventure was to begin.

"To the apartment, Blackjack," Percy said to him and he leaned back to embrace the winds that seemed to pick up.

It was so weird to be partially in his uncle's domain without having to fear being struck down by lightning. But the feeling of riding Blackjack again was amazing. Especially with Annabeth holding onto him. They didn't talk for the entire ride but that was fine. Nothing interrupted them on their way to his mom's place. That should've been their first sign that something was off, not that they realized it. Blackjack landed on the ground, and they both thanked him for it. "Anytime, boss. Just bring some donuts next time would you?"

Percy nodded begrudgingly and soon enough the pegasus was off again. Off to do... pegasus stuff? Anyways, the two walked for a couple of minutes towards the apartment building. They blended in easily with the usual crowd of people on the sidewalk. When they reached their destination, was it really a surprise that the elevator was broken. It took an even longer time to walk up the stairs. He wasn't that exhausted, and neither was Annabeth, but all he wanted to do was just see his mom again.

He fumbled slightly with the straps of his bag and took out his own keys to the apartment. Which was also apart of a keychain with so many keys that he didn't even remember what they were for.

"It's that one." Annabeth pointed out the one with a sword engraved in it. He made a little 'ooh' noise before jiggling the key in the lock. Once he finally got the door open, he yelled out,

"Mom! Paul! I'm home!"

The two of them walked in but they weren't prepared for what they saw. They just kind of stood frozen in place.

"Oh, Percy! I didn't think you'd be back so soon," Sally Blofis said nervously but there was still a smile on her face at seeing her son again.

Annabeth leaned in to Percy's ear and whispered, "Am I hallucinating or is Gandalf in your living room?"

Whoever these people were, they didn't expect Percy to burst out laughing like a madman. Oh boy. What was going on now?

He stopped laughing after a couple of seconds because the vibe was getting kind of awkward. But he didn't pay attention to the strangers at all. He walked over to his mom who stood up and dragged him into a hug. It was tight, but it was so nice to have his mother in his arms again. "Gods, I missed you so much mom."

"I missed you too Percy," she said into the crook of his neck.

It seemed like this would go on for a long time, so Annabeth turned her gaze to subtly assess the strangers.

First, there was Gandalf. Seriously, there was no better way to describe the old man. Well, except for Rip Van Winkle, but that's not the point. He seemed calm, way too calm for her liking. He had this twinkle in his eye that made her itch to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. It was kind of weird. But he also looked knowledgable. Like if he looked you in the eye, he would know everything about you. He definitely is the leader of whatever group these people belonged too, she decided.

Next, there was a woman with glasses and (she couldn't believe it) was wearing a pointy hat. She sat with a ramrod straight posture, and she was very professional. Annabeth's best guess was that this woman was a teacher. She reminded her a lot of her mother. She sat next to a boy who reminded her of someone.

Of Percy! Yeah, that's it.

If, you know, he was paler and skinnier. But even though he couldn't stay still, Annabeth recognized an aura of power around him. He seemed like a natural born leader. Powerful, but he didn't even acknowledge it. He hunched his shoulders in what she assumed was a way to make himself seem smaller. And right now, she could only describe his state of being to be angry. Angry at what? She didn't know. It just looked like if he spent just a second more in the apartment, he would blow up. He also had a strange scar on his forehead. It was covered by his bangs so she couldn't make out the shape of it. Either way, something was going on right now. Annabeth didn't know what it was.

There were so many things that she didn't know right now and it was making her feel on edge. She wanted to reach into her bag, get her dagger and throw it at one of them. But that wasn't practical. So she clenched her fists by her sides and took a deep breath.

"Sit down Percy, you too Annabeth, let me just grab the cookies from the oven," Sally gestured to the couch that wasn't occupied.

The former instinctively held on to her hand as they both sat down. If any of them gave them strange looks as to why they were sitting so closely, they ignored it.

"So!" The son of Poseidon started to talk, "I'm Percy. But my mom might've told you that already. This is my girlfriend, Annabeth,"

Annabeth nodded curtly at them but she didn't say a word.

"It's very nice to meet you Percy," Gandalf said, smiling widely and talking with what sounded like a British accent, "My name is Albus Dumbledore, you may call me Professor Dumbledore."

'Dumbledore' turned his head towards the woman with the pointy hat, "I'm Minerva McGonagall. You may call me Professor McGonagall as well."

The two of them looked at the last person who bit his lip before saying, "Harry. Harry Potter."

Sally had just gotten back from the kitchen with a plate of blue cookies that she put in front of Percy. She took the empty seat right next to Annabeth.

"Why are you here?" The daughter of Athena asked, eyebrow cocked and staring straight into Dumbledore's eyes. Percy glanced at her, wondering why she was being very blunt. But he shrugged it off. He knew that any plan of hers was going to work.

Dumbledore stared at her skeptically. He turned towards Sally and asked her a question, "Is she to be trusted, Mrs. Blofis?"

"Of course she is," Percy cut in, his eyes hardening. He didn't notice that they all seemed to be slightly shocked (and scared). His wolf stare did tend to have that effect on strangers. And monsters, too.

"Well, Percy, Annabeth, do you believe in magic?"