Percy POV

"Um, shouldn't there be, like, a speech that gets everyone riled up?"

I frowned at Leo's words. He was right, we needed something. The Questers were standing around, shifting from foot to foot, waiting until it was time to go. I glanced at Annabeth to see her looking expectantly at me. I threw my hand out in a What? gesture. Then I realized Jason and Nico were looking at me the same. Scratch that, the whole group of demigods were looking at me, waiting for something.

"Uh," I said, shifting in the minimal amount of armor I had on, so as to not bear me down. "Isn't Annabeth the leader?"

She purses her lips, shaking her head. "No, not really. I'm the planner. You're the captain, Percy."

"Joy," I muttered sarcastically under my breath. Annabeth heard, however, and she flashed an amused smile at me, making my knees go weak. I remembered last night. I understood why she didn't want to start anything now, but I couldn't help wondering if this would've been our only chance. Then I chastise myself for thinking like that. I needed to be optimistic- but I was extremely nervous. To be honest, this was my first "big" battle. I was praying to the gods with everything I had that we would all make it out, and my anxiety grew by the minute. Now add having to make up an inspirational speech on the spot to my frayed nerves, and I was all a mess. But I tried to look confident and nonchalant.

I swallowed, standing up. Leo held up a hand, indicating me to wait, and then he ran and got a chair. He placed it at my feet, then knelt and bowed, sweeping his hand out in an elegant gesture.

"My lord, thy chair hath arrived," he said aristocratically. I scowled at him, resisting the urge to kick his bent head lightly as I stepped onto the chair. The Questers saw me stand up and they hushed, making the area silent. I swear they could hear my heart. It wasn't as loud as it had been last night with Annabeth, but it was still pretty loud.

I faced the Questers, my mouth turning dry. "Uh..." Oh, that's a great start, Percy, I said sardonically to myself. I glanced around, and met eyes with Annabeth. She gave me an encouraging smile, and that put a little strength back into me. I looked at the group again, licking my chapped lips. I couldn't think of anything, I was nervous.

Wait, why am I nervous? These people are the Questers. They're my family, my friends. They were going into battle with me. Fighting with me. Just like they always had. And hopefully always will.

"I know a lot of people are getting nervous," I said to them, trying to get rid of the tremor in my voice. "Me included. We've never really seen something this big before, and now we are fighting in one. Some of us think we aren't good enough... and others are fearful of the fact that some of us might not make it out of this. We all have people we don't want to see hurt. The ones we love." I hesitated on the word "love," and my gaze instinctively shifted to a certain blonde, grey-eyed girl. She frowned slightly when she saw me looking at her, and I hurried on. "But I know we can make it through this. Together. I have grown up with a lot of you," I nodded at Jason and Nico, who nodded back. "And some we have just accepted into our family." I sent a smile to Nyssa, Harley, and Silena.

"But even if I've known you for ten years or ten days, I know that we can work this together, like a true family." I paused, thinking. "I want you to know that I'm honored to fight with all of you. I wouldn't have it any other way. I would take you all over a god any day, because we're different. We care about each other. We will do everything to keep each other safe. Help your friend out, guard their back, and they'll guard yours. And that's how I know that everything will be okay in the end. Yes, we have to know that casualties happen. But we still have our other friends, and keep them safe. We can do this, but we'll have to help each other out.

"Luke and his men are going to come at us with their full force, but he won't be expecting this. As individuals, we are easy targets. But together, we're a deadly weapon. Let's get out there, and show Luke just what we can do. Let's show him he can't do all of that trouble in Greece and expect to get away with it. We can do this. So let's go do it. Let's give it all we got, and we'll have a big celebration in the end. With lots of food!" I raised a fist, punching it into the air as yells started rising from the throats of the Questers. Some of them were shouting and singing for the food jokingly (Connor and Travis, mostly, with Leo adding soprano), and the others were getting pumped up. Oh gods, that was terrifying. I sent a questioning look towards the daughter of Athena, asking her how I did. She grinned, nodding her head. I smiled back.

My eyes turned to the Questers. They already looked better, more fueled. Swords were waving in the air, and I resisted the urge to tell them to be careful, swords are sharp. They aren't kids. They are fighters, going into a war. They are capable. The hard thing is for me to accept it.

I step down from the chair, still looking around. We needed to get going. The hippocampi were all circling the small island, waiting for the Questers to get on and ride to Antikythera. Lacy's pegasus had flown back by itself, and she was joining the fight. So all in all, we had about twenty to thirty demigods who were ready to fight. I tried to shove down the worry, but I couldn't help it. Clenching my jaw, I turned away from all of them, motioning for Annabeth, Jason, and Leo to follow me. We waved as we started down towards the ocean.

I had already run through the plan once more with Nico and Hazel. They were pretty nervous, but determined. I knew they would guard each other's back, and Hazel would also guard Frank while Nico guarded Thalia, and Thalia Piper, and it just kept going, eventually covering everybody. We had to help each other out, and we would.

The four of us trudged down to the water. "You ready?" I asked them. Jason looked ready, Leo looked excited, and Annabeth swallowed nervously. I knew how much anxiety was burdening her because of the strategy she made. She felt responsible for every one of the Questers' lives. But she should know that I planned on all of us making it out of here.

We all stepped into the water, the three others' clothes and armor started getting wet. They dove down quickly into the cold water while I followed. I made a big sphere of air, letting them crawl into it. I went in after them, sealing the bubble and drying them all in turns. After, I propelled the bubble downwards, and we waited together. We didn't say anything, each one of us lost in our thoughts. I realized that even if we prayed to the gods, they couldn't hear us. Our communication was blocked. But I did anyways.

Fish swam past us, some peeking curiously at us. I normally would strike up a conversation with them, but I didn't feel like it right now. So I just watched them as they flipped in the water, darting away into the dark green and blue shimmer. Leo had started to make something out of things he pulled from his tool belt. Soon he put it on the ground, pressed a button, and removed his hands, letting us marvel at his work.

It was a tiny pegasus fashioned out of wires and gears. It reared, then took off into a lumpy gallop. It soon went into the air, flying around like a big bug. Annabeth smiled slightly, watching it flit around us. Leo smiled back at her, and I realized he was just trying to lighten everybody up. I nodded at him, glad Annabeth was smiling. He replied with a bob of his head, his curly brown hair bouncing up and down.

"There," Jason said, pointing out the bubble to an approaching figure. The shadowed person soon came into the lighter waters, a smile on his lips.

I greeted him with head nod, for sound is really muffled by the thick walls of the bubble we were currently in. He returned it.

The merman swept out a hand, beckoning us to follow him. We kept going through the darkness, trusting he was bringing us to where we needed to go. I knew where we were, but that was just because the ocean was my home. If I wasn't a son of Poseidon, I would have no clue where I was. You could see nothing, except for the occasional coral or fish that came into view. I could still sense the life scurrying around us. But you couldn't see farther than twenty feet out.

Adrian was swimming a couple yards ahead of us, and I said to the demigods, "I'll be right back." They nodded. I slipped out of the sphere, pushing myself through the water to come side by side with Adrian. He glanced at me, cheeks dimpling as he smiled.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked.

"Just wanted to say thanks," I replied sincerely. "For bringing us and all." Our voices were weird in the water, sounding like we were talking in a big, empty room, and we were just catching the ends of the echoes of our voices.

Adrian shrugged, the crossed swords on his back shifting in response to the movement. "No problem."

We just swam by each other in companionable silence for a while. I glanced back every once in a while to make sure the others were still behind us. Once when I did so, I met Annabeth's gaze. Her grey eyes were bright, peering right into me. Her lips turned upward, and I grinned back at her, unable to keep emotions off my face.

"You really love her, don't you?" Came Adrian's voice from beside me.

I didn't look at him, just kept watching Annabeth talk with Jason and Leo. "Yeah." I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I do."

When I turned my eyes to Adrian, I saw he was smiling. "So... Do I get to tease you for this?"

I gave him a look. "We're not together. I could've been talking about a brother and sister kind of love for all you know."

Adrian raised his eyebrow, replying slowly. "Ah, right. Definitely. Just a really close brother and sister. Really close. Really really close. Really really real-" I shoved him hard, and he let out a laugh. It was just like old times, where we would tease each other and then chase the other around the temple, ending up in a big sword fight where we would stop only when we got really hungry. Then we'd go steal some food just to spite the old, cranky cook.

"Shut up," I muttered to him as he kept laughing.

"Yes, Lord Percy," he said, bowing dramatically, knowing how much I hated it when people call me that. "Whatever you say, your majesty."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. But I enjoyed this little banter, it loosened the air up a little.

We soon reached a spot about a mike away from Luke's headquarters, and this was where things got a little bit trickier. We had to get close enough so we could see the island, but we didn't want any eyes seeing us in return. I helped a little by darkening the water around the bubble so it was a lot harder to see it and the people inside. Adrian would swim a little ways ahead, alerting us if he saw anybody. He had to be careful as well, however. He didn't look anything like Shar's men, so they would notice him. But Adrian was fast and agile, so he could sneak around pretty easily.

We inched nearer to Antikythera. As we got closer, there was less fish and signs of sea life. They had abandoned this place, and when I asked a lone, sleek fish why telepathically, it just mumbled something back about "bad fish guys being mean." I guess that was Shar's mermen. But I couldn't get anything else out of the fish, for it went away in a flash, streaking through the dark water.

"Here," Adrian whispered to me, gesturing to our surroundings. I could faintly see the black blob ahead of us that was the island. It just looked like a wall looming over us, going all the way to the ground, and all the other way to the surface. "The one entrance the mermen use is right to the left of that coral rock." I followed his directions, but I couldn't see anything. But I knew it was there. "We need to wait, maybe only fifteen minutes more. Stay out of eyesight." I nodded, then went back to relay the message to the three demigods in the bubble. They listened, then peered out the bubble into the water.

"I can't see anything," Leo said, baffled. They couldn't, but my eyesight was a little better underwater, so I could barely see the island. I could also see shapes moving around, which I assumed were the mermen.

"Well, it's there," I replied to the fire user. He rolled his eyes in a No, duh way. I sent a face at him, then turned to the two others. "Now we just have to wait. Though it won't be much longer."

Annabeth nodded, redoing her ponytail. Her golden curls fell for a second around her shoulders before she pulled them back up. I wanted to run my hands through the silky strands, hold her delicate, strong body close to mine once more, feel her completely safe, curled up against me. But I couldn't. I tore my gaze away, looking instead at the water outside running around us, unstoppable, completely unaware of the dangers going on inside of it's domain. Ignorance is bliss, they say. I just wish we could ignore this battle. It would be so much easier.

"Okay," Annabeth stated, pulling me out of my wistful thoughts. "Let's run through the plan once more."

Leo sighed exaggeratedly. "We've been through these plans, like, hundreds of times, woman! I could probably recite it from beginning to end."

Annabeth's eyebrow curved as she lifted it. "I doubt you were even listening. If you can tell me the plan from 'beginning to end,' we won't go through it again."

Leo stared at her. "Well, there's, uh... um..." Jason snorted, laughing at his friend. I joined in.

"Uh huh, like I thought." She smirked at him, then continued talking. She made us go through the whole plan again. Then plan B. Then plan C. Then plan D.

By the time we were at plan Q, Adrian rescued us.

"You guys ready? The mermen are just going in."

"No, no!" Leo said, making a shooing gesture. "We have to practice our alphabet! This is important!" Jason grabbed the son of Hephaestus' collar, muttering something about how best friends could be so annoying sometimes, and dragged him upright. Annabeth followed them. They went up to the edge of the bubble, looking intently out.

I could see the mermen, looking like bees swarming up to the hive. In less than a few minutes, every one of them had vanished into the island. I glanced around, but I couldn't see anything- or anybody. But that didn't mean nothing was out there. We still have to be cautious.

We all waited for only five minutes more, then we heard a huge BOOM! sound from the ground above us. They were starting.

I saw Annabeth bite her lip. "Hey, they'll be fine," I said reassuringly. "Hazel will be able to find more tunnels, and the bombs Leo made will hold off any monsters."

She nodded, but she still looked nervous. On the land, I could see the Questers holding off any attacks, throwing a bomb or two while Hazel searches for another tunnel they could use to get in. Another crash went off. Leo had made them extra loud at my request, for I wanted them to be heard by everybody. Including the mermen.

Sure enough, mermen started racing out of the cave they just went in. Many were carrying weapons, and they all headed up towards the surface. Just like they went in, they all came out. We had waited for them to go in, so we would know where they were. We hoped there were no more lurking about.

Just as quick as the came out, they disappeared towards the top of the ocean, going to fight off this new attack on land, and hopefully not notice the small group slipping in underwater.

Adrian said quietly, "Wait here." Then he pushed himself forward, his long hair hesitating in the water before jerking forwards, following like a shadow in sunlight. He slunk forward silently, constantly switching his eyes back and forth, looking for anything that might be considered hostile. Soon he was just a distant figure in the darkness, and the four of us waited with pounding hearts for him to return.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw my friend reappearing. He swung a hand out and back, gesturing for us to follow him. I urged the bubble to go forward smoothly and swiftly. It was eerily quiet and dark, no colorful fish to light up the water. The weird sounds underwater bounced into our ears as the island slowly became clearer. It was rocky, sand bunched up in crevices and plants swaying in the tide, attached to the dirt. Adrian was looking forward, and we watched our backs and sides.

Our merman escort led us closer to the island, then took a abrupt turn south. I made the bubble drop until Adrian straightened out again, going forward. The island was so dark, it was hard to see anything. Consequently, when Adrian entered the cave, it seemed as if he had just walked right through the hard dirt and disappeared. I exchanged glances with the other three before making the sphere go forward once more.

When we entered the cave, things were still dark. I could barely see Adrian, so it was difficult to follow him. Another explosion sounded above us, muffled by the water. We kept traveling, nervousness urging us into a faster pace. In a few minutes, the cave started getting lighter. Not a bit later, we saw two Greek fire torches resting on the wall opposite of each other, casting a light on the walls. The cave wasn't huge, about as wide as two or so men's heights put together, and just as tall. Stalactites hung over us, sharpening points threatening to drop. I made the edge of the bubble thicker and tougher as the sight of one of those things coming down and hitting Annabeth or someone entered my mind.

More frequently, we encountered twin torches on the walls, lighting our way. But we didn't see any mermen. Along the trip, we had started going up instead of straight. It had started out as a slow ascent, then curved more steeply. Now we were almost vertical. But it didn't last long, for when I looked up, I could see the glimmering water above that showed the surface of the water. We were still in a cylindar cave, so it looked like we were heading to the mouth of a giant worm or something.

Adrian broke through the surface, sending a shiver of ripples through the still water top. We were next. The bubble popped once it hit the air, and that left the four of us to swim. I looked to the left and saw a hard-packed dirt ground rising up out of the water, making a shoreline. We all started swimming for it. I made it there first, and I made the water push me up. I turned around, putting my hand out for Annabeth.

She grabbed it, and I hauled her onto the ground, bringing her to stand close by me. For a second, we were really close to each other, both of us panting, her hand still in mine. If I just leaned in a few inches I could close that tiny space between her pink lips and mine.

I took an abrupt step back, holding her hand only long enough to dry her body, then I turned to do the same to Jason and Leo, switching my gaze to them. I felt Annabeth's eyes on my back as I leaned down to help them both up. The two demigods nodded their thanks as they felt the water leave their clothes. The liquid pooled up on the ground, then darted back to its domain with all the other water. I glanced back at Adrian, who's head was above the water, green eyes bright in the dim light, looking at us.

"Well," he said, shrugging. "Good luck."