NINE — Theo.

Since she had already decided she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, Theo bade Jason goodnight after their conversation drew to a somewhat productive close. She felt better than she had in days about Apollo's quest, at least, so this time, it wasn't anxiety or fear keeping her from drifting off. It was anticipation. She was ready to get back on track and finally get this quest under her belt.

Either way, she knew she wouldn't be heading to bed anytime soon, so why not find herself some company?

"Percy," she whispered. He always slept like a princess, though, so she knew it'd take a lot more than that to get him up. Even in the midnight darkness of his cabin, she could see a string of drool down his chin, his mouth hanging wide open and arms strewn over his head.

He looked so peaceful she almost wanted to leave him there, but she wanted to talk to him more, so her selfish will took over and she poked him in the cheek.

"Percy!"

His eyes, their stark sea-green even in the darkness, popped open. He reached under his pillow and pulled out nothing, though he brandished his hand towards her like he was fending off an attacker with a dagger.

She scoffed and pushed his hand down. "What are you gonna do with that, Aquaman? Punch off your assailant? You don't even use a dagger."

Once he realized he was in the company of his girlfriend and therefore not in danger, Percy dropped his hand and rubbed his eyes. His voice was deep and groggy. "So I need to work a bit on my sleep strategy. Big deal. What are you doing here?"

His eyes widened slightly and he pulled up the blankets to cover his chest, but Theo had long ago taken note of his bare upper body.

"In my bedroom?" he continued, now holding the blanket up to his chin. "You sneaked into my cabin?"

Theo rolled her eyes. "You're going to be nineteen in two months. You can't seriously be worried about getting into trouble with Coach Hedge."

"Have you seen his baseball bat?"

"Besides, I thought we could take a walk. We haven't had any time alone since before you left. I want to show you something."

Percy's eyes were still wide, but Theo got the feeling it wasn't from fear of getting into trouble anymore. "Can I brush my teeth first?"

Theo flashed him a smile. "I'm not kissing you until you do."

She led him, as quietly as they could muster, to her favorite place on the entire ship: the stables.

If you asked her why she had taken such a liking to the place, she'd tell you it was because of the peace. She just loved the comfort of it all—the wool blankets and fresh hay set up for any of the pegasi. The smell made her miss her own pegasus, Pepper.

In the center of the stable floor was a see-through panel, large enough to fit two pegasi through at a time, if needed. Below, the night landscape continued to whisk on by.

"A glass-bottomed boat?" Percy asked.

Theo squeezed his hand. "Sit with me."

They grabbed one of the wool blankets and spread it across the glass, settling in. It was surprisingly comfortable—you know, for being a makeshift bed made out of glass.

"These are doors," she explained of the odd choice of flooring. She tapped her knuckles against them. "Like on a bomber plane. For the pegasi to come and go as they please. I haven't ever seen one in here, though."

"Doors?" repeated Percy, glancing down. "What if they opened?"

Theo thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess we'd fall to our deaths. But they won't open. Probably."

"Great."

Theo laughed. "You know why I like it here?"

Percy's eyes drifted upwards in thought. "Because.. you finally got over that ridiculous fear of hay?"

"Hay fever," she corrected him, shoving at his shoulder. "I'm not afraid of hay, Percy."

"You never know." He shrugged, smiling, bouncing back from her push and sliding his arm around her shoulders.

They laid on their backs, staring up through the open ceiling of the stables together, letting the stars whirl by overhead and the land beneath them.

"Are you gonna tell me why, then?" Percy asked, tapping her shoulder. "Can't just leave me on a cliffhanger like that, Sunshine."

She smiled, content, and settled into his embrace. "What does this place remind you of?"

He glanced around, and she could practically see the gears turning in his head. The cages and stables, the lamp hanging from the beam, the smell of the hay, and of course the warmth of their proximity to each other.

Percy's lips split into a grin, turning to face her, their noses inches apart. "The zoo truck. The one we took to Las Vegas on our first quest."

She didn't answer, but she knew he'd take her silence as a yes.

"That was so long ago," Percy said. "We were in bad shape, struggling to get across the country to find that stupid lightning bolt, trapped in a truck with a bunch of mistreated animals. How can you be nostalgic for that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because, Aquaman, it's the first time we really talked, you and me. We told each other about our families and decided we could maybe get along. And..."

Theo swallowed, allowing her face to tip back up toward the ceiling. "And it reminds me of how long we've known each other."

"We were fourteen," he noted, tilting his own head back to the sky. "Children. Did you seriously like me all that time?"

"Of course not," she replied with a small laugh. "I hated you so much, actually. Then I tolerated you. Then... I hated you again. And then—"

"Okay, I get it."

Smiling, Theo leaned over and kissed him; a good, real kiss without anyone watching. No Romans anywhere, no evil spirits blowing up camps.

"I missed you, Percy," she told him, whispering it like a secret against his lips. "I had no idea what to do without you."

His eyes searched hers, like he was trying to find the right words to convey what he meant; like saying I missed you too was nowhere near powerful enough to get the point across.

"Theo," he said hesitantly, "in New Rome, demigods can live their whole lives in peace."

A pit seemed to open up deep in Theo's stomach. "Reyna told me all about it. But.. you belong at Camp Half-Blood, Percy. This other life—"

"I know," Percy said. "But while I was there, I saw so many demigods living without fear: kids going to college, couples getting married and raising families. There's nothing like that at Camp Half-Blood. I kept thinking about you and me...and maybe someday when this war with the giants is over..."

Theo hoped the dim lights of the stables were enough to cover her blush. "Oh."

Percy's eyes widened and Theo could feel him tense up. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just... I just had to think of that to keep going. To give me hope. Forget I mentioned—"

Theo pressed another kiss to his lips. "Don't worry," she told him, tracing her thumb across his cheek. "I just can't believe that I'm what kept you grounded. I... I thought you'd forgotten about me."

He smiled softly and relaxed against her touch. "Not even the gods could make me forget about you, Sunshine. You're the light of my life, after all."

She laughed, trying to roll away from him, but his arm curled around her chest and brought her back to him. "Corny. Corny as all get out, Percy."

"You love me for it."

Theo braced her hands against his chest and kissed him again, like she couldn't get enough of it, because she honestly didn't think she could. "Maybe."

When Theo was helping Jason, May, and Leo along their first quest, she had felt like an outsider, a wrench in the smooth clockwork of their friendship. Coming back to Camp Half-Blood felt like she could finally breathe again. Being in Percy's arms gave her the same feeling—like she had nowhere to be except at Percy's side for the rest of her life. And she would be content with it, if that was what the gods had in the stars for her.

But then she started thinking about the gods, and that chilly feeling crawled its way up her back again.

She cleared her throat. "Perce, have you seen Poseidon lately? Or had any signs from him?"

He shook his head. "Not since...Wow. I guess I haven't thought about it. Not since the end of the Titan War. I saw him at Camp Half-Blood, but that was last August." A sense of dread settled over him. "Why? Have you seen your dad?"

She didn't meet his eyes. "A few weeks ago," she admitted. "It...it was bad. He wasn't himself. He said some hurtful things, that I had failed him. That I was no child of his."

"Failed him?" Percy repeated, like he wasn't sure he heard her right. "How could you ever—?"

"I don't know," she said, cringing at the pathetic misery in her voice. "I've been having nightmares, too. Bad ones. I just... I've got a bad feeling about this quest. Prophecy's daughter walks alone. I don't... I don't want to walk alone, Percy. I need you."

She hadn't told anyone this. She had barely accepted it herself that she wasn't ready to take on this quest. But it was true: She really had no idea what she would do without Percy, if that's truly what the prophecy meant. She'd already lost him once and it just about killed her. She couldn't lose him again.

Percy was quiet for a moment, but Theo could see that look in his eyes he always got when he was thinking of how to fix things. He was a hero; he always had a plan to fix everything. Especially Theo. She could tell he was trying to think of how to turn their lives so they could lead to happy endings. After all they'd been through, even the gods would have to admit they deserved it.

Theo set her head against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. "At least I have you back," she whispered, shutting her eyes tight to block out the rest of the world. "You didn't forget about me."

Percy repeated his promise from earlier. "I never could, Theo."

She smiled softly and felt his hands on her cheeks. He leaned over to place one last kiss to her lips.

"No more talk of bad things," she decided, opening her eyes to see him again. "Not for the night. We're together, and that's all that matters."

They sat there for a while together, intertwined in each other's arms. Percy's thumb trailed over Theo's temple. She held his other hand against her chest. Before she knew it, the quiet hum of the ship's engine, the dim stable light, and the comfort of lying with Percy made her eyes feel heavy, and she drifted to sleep.

When she woke, daylight was glowing through the glass floor, and a girl's voice said, "How stupid are you guys?"

"Shh," Percy said, eyes still closed, patting Theo's face. "You can call me stupid later. Let me sleep in."

"Percy," said Theo. She shoved his arm. "Percy, we've been caught."

Her eyes trailed up to meet Mayfair's judgmental glare, arms crossed and foot tapping the floor impatiently.

Perfect. Just perfect. Mayfair already had a vendetta against Theo, hated her down to her very guts. But now, after finding Theo wrapped in her boyfriend's arms and sleeping in way past usual, she would be surprised if May had the self-restraint from throwing Theo off the ship.

"Look, we just fell asleep down here," she told Mayfair, spreading her hands in a peace offering.

"Everyone thinks you've been kidnapped," May told them. "We've been scouring the ship. When Hedge finds out... Oh, gods. You've really been down here all night?"

"May, don't worry about it," said Percy, sitting up next to Theo. She reached up to pick a piece of hay out of his hair. "We can talk to Coach Hedge."

Something in May's hardened exterior seemed to melt a little at Percy's insistence. She inhaled sharply. "Fine. But you have to talk to him; I'm going to be on the other side of the ship when it happens."

"Nothing happened," Theo tried again, hoping her cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "We came down here to talk, then we fell asleep. That's it."

"We kissed a little," Percy added solemnly. Theo hit his shoulder.

Mayfair pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I don't give a shit. We're supposed to meet for breakfast. Come explain yourselves. Especially you, Scott—you're supposed to be a leader."

She turned her back on the couple and stormed off. Theo and Percy exchanged a glance, then followed her to the mess hall, straightening out their clothes respectively.

When everyone else filed into the room, it wasn't as bad as Theo had thought it'd be. Jason was pretty relieved. Leo couldn't stop grinning and muttering, "Classic. Classic." Only Hazel and Mayfair seemed scandalized; Hazel being from the 1940s, and Mayfair hating Theo's entire existence.

Naturally, Coach Hedge was ballistic, but Theo had always found him hard to take seriously since he was barely up to her belly button.

"Never in my life!" he bellowed, waving his baseball bat around and knocking over a plate of apples. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!"

"Coach," said Theo, trying to hide a smile. "It was an accident. We were talking and we fell asleep."

"You know what else will be an accident!?" Hedge wheeled on Theo, sticking his bat in her face, then jutting it down toward her stomach. "The thing that comes out of there in nine months!"

The mess hall erupted into laughter, Leo at the forefront. Even Mayfair couldn't hide her smile.

Percy put a hand on Theo's stomach, grinning. "We'll name it after you, Hedge. Don't worry."

The baseball bat went flying through one of the enchanted windows. Hedge was dismissed from the meeting, though nobody was really sure if he heard it over the decibel his furious screaming had suddenly reached.

VIA SPEAKS!!

Goof idk I know I promised longer chapters but this one really is just silly not plot driven whatsoever ☀️ also can't stop hearing "We kissed a little 😉" in Jess Day's voice when she tells Schmidt she made out w his dad I LOVE NEW GIRL