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Annabeth knows she’s being unreasonable. She also doesn’t think she can be the reasonable one here.
“You’re telling me that you’re not going to help?”
The praetor of New Rome looks impassive, flanked by two metal dogs. She says, “I’m saying you haven’t given us enough information.”
“What other information do you need?” Annabeth demands. “The world is ending -- the Earth is waking up. Demigods need to work together. We need to work together.”
“This is what you call working together?” the praetor asks. “Descending on our territory with a flying warship, holding a hostage?”
To Annabeth’s left, Jason takes a sharp breath. “Reyna, I told you--”
“Our praetor has been missing for months,” Reyna says to Annabeth, ignoring Jason entirely. “Now he’s back, and you expect us to just-- what? Trust that you kept him safe? Trust that you haven’t enchanted him somehow, just to trick us?”
Among the demigods standing behind Reyna is the person Annabeth’s spent months trying to find. Percy’s shirt is purple, not orange, and he hasn’t said a word since the Argo II landed. Maybe Annabeth should be the one asking about enchantments.
“I’m still me,” Jason says, stepping forward. “Reyna-- Reyna, it’s me. I know it’s been months, and I may have forgotten, but I know who I am now. I know what it means to be a legionnaire of New Rome. And I’m telling you, we have to work with the Greeks. It’s the only way we can survive.”
Reyna’s gaze falters slightly. She glances over at Annabeth.
Does she believe that Jason remembers now? Did she believe Percy’s amnesia, when he first arrived here?
Has Percy even remembered?
He’s still standing straight and quiet, flanking the praetor. Flanking his praetor? He’s barely looked at Annabeth since they arrived.
Annabeth’s stomach feels like it’s going to fall out. She takes a deep breath. “We’re not asking you to give us the nuclear codes. We just-- need to plan. We need to share what we know if we’re going to beat this.”
“You first,” Reyna says.
Annabeth’s fists clench. “That’s not-- we’ve told you so much already!” She gestures to the other people in her party. “There’s only four of us -- Piper and Leo were claimed last summer. How are we supposed to be the threat here?”
“We don’t know anything about you,” Reyna says. “You’ve known we existed for, what did you say? Eight months? We learned of your existence days ago. For all we know, a strike force--”
“Trust me,” Annabeth interrupts, losing patience, “if I was planning on invading your land, we would already--”
“Boon.”
Annabeth stops on instinct. Then she registers who just spoke.
Percy’s staring at her. He shakes his head, just barely, enough that she knows he’s serious. Then he steps forward, puts a hand on Reyna’s shoulder. “I know I’m new here,” he says to her, “but we just saved the world. That’s gotta count for something.”
His eyes don’t leave Annabeth’s.
“You seriously vouch for these people?” Reyna asks quietly.
“I do,” Percy says. “I know my memories are still coming back, but I remember enough to know...”
He trails off. His eyebrows furrow. He hasn’t looked at her with anything other than certainty in a long time.
Heart in her throat, Annabeth asks, “Boon?”
“Yeah,” he says, his expression relaxes. He cracks a familiar smile. Her chest constricts. “I mean, I know we used to use it the other way around. But I figured--”
“You figured right,” Annabeth interrupts. Her heart is pounding. She blinks, twice, willing herself not to show emotion in front of strangers. “Um--”
“Listen, I’m not under an enchantment,” Jason says, artfully saving her from having to keep talking. “Percy-- Percy, right?” He waits for Percy’s nod. “You’re not either?”
Percy gives him a tight smile. “Same guy I’ve always been.”
“Can we just-- can we just agree to work together, then?” Jason looks at Annabeth, then at Reyna. “I know both of you. I know you’re just trying to protect your people, but-- we’re not each other’s enemies here.”
Reyna’s expression relaxes slightly. She looks at Annabeth for a long moment -- then takes a deep breath. “I’d be happy to discuss with your team -- if the warship gets parked outside firing range.”
“--I can work with that,” Annabeth says. She tries for a smile towards Reyna, then looks at Percy. “How long did you go without your memories?”
“I woke up two weeks ago,” Percy says. His grin turns shit-eating. “The only things I remembered were Riptide and the number of years it took to build the Washington Monument.”
Somewhere deep inside her, the knot of stress and pain and worry she’s been carrying for months finally loosens. Annabeth says, “Shut up, Seaweed Brain,” and takes his hand.