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Annabeth knew that their plan was a good one, if for no other reason than she’d helped come up with it. There had been whispers of some underground group of monsters and minor gods banding together to overthrow Olympus for nearly a year now. At first, little to no mind had been paid to them, Chiron dismissed it by saying that there was almost always someone aiming to overthrow Olympus, but there just so happened to be an event going on, and they all figured it would be best to just check in on it and make sure that there wasn’t anything fishy going on. So, they’d all geared up to infiltrate a masquerade.
Percy and Annabeth had been chosen for the mission because of course they had. Really, they were perfect for the job. Annabeth had her Yankees cap, even if it didn’t fit all that well anymore, so she could easily flit from conversation to conversation, completely unseen and listening in for any interesting details. Percy’s job was a bit harder. His job was to impersonate a jilted minor god who had been ignored for centuries and wanted to show the Olympians just who it was they’d been neglecting all these years. When he focused, he radiated more than enough power to sell the bit, but he’d been unsure about his whole role in it until Annabeth had kissed him stupid and told him he’d be fine.
That’s where she was now. She’d been going back and forth gathering information all night, and she was more than convinced that Chiron had been right to feel completely unthreatened by these people. It was obvious that it was just a bunch of discontent, disorganized people who were more interested in complaining about the injustices of the world to one another than actually planning to do anything about it. In the several hours she’d been here, she hadn’t even heard mention of there being an actual leader, just the name of whoever stepped forward to foot the bill for the night’s party.
She was about ready to call it quits and set off the little silent communication device Leo had given them to let her group know that she was bailing when her eyes landed on Percy.
They’d arrived to the ball separately, so this was the first time she’d seen him all night. Between his mask and Hazel’s skill with the Mist, he was nearly unrecognizable, but Annabeth would know that defiant glint in his sea-green eyes anywhere. He was talking to some guy as well as a pair of Empousa, and they seemed to be clinging to every word he said, but he was clearly bored with them. He was slouched heavily to one side, his eyes trailing lazily over the room, and as Annabeth watched he very obviously looked down at his wrist and checked the time.
Then his eyes locked on something right behind Annabeth, and she froze like a deer in headlights.
“Excuse me,” Percy said, cutting off the Empousa. “Something over there has caught my eye.”
Without waiting for a response, he left his group and started walking straight towards Annabeth, his eyes never wavering.
Annabeth felt her breath hitch, and she whirled around in search of what could have so thoroughly shaken Percy when she suddenly felt warmth right behind her. She jumped and tried to whirl around, but Percy’s hands on her hips stopped her. She jumped and a low, quiet chuckle sounded in her ear. “Percy!” she hissed.
“Close, but it’s actually Palírroia,” Percy corrected. “Percy’s not exactly a good name for a god, is it?”
She huffed out a little laugh. “And just what are you the god of?”
Percy hummed and she could hear the grin in his voice, even if she couldn’t see it. “Tidepools. I just love the little crabs in there.” She chuckled quietly, and Percy spoke again. “And what about you? You must be the goddess of something. You’re far too pretty for anything else.”
Annabeth thought that over for a moment before she said, “I am Amelí̱s. Goddess of the forgotten.”
Percy pulled her close to his chest. “I’d never forget you,” he swore quietly.
She felt her cheeks pull up in a smile and she reached up to tangle her fingers in his hair. “I know you wouldn’t, Seaweed Brain.” He leaned forward, and she could feel his smile pressed into the side of her neck. She giggled quietly. “I bet this looks really strange to everyone else out there. This new god on the block standing off in a corner cuddling thin air.”
Percy’s smile turned down into a puzzled frown. “What do you mean? Why would they think you’re thin air?”
Annabeth’s brow puckered. “Because I’m invisible, remember? I’m not sure how you’re managing to do this right now, to be honest. You’ve either got really good spatial awareness or you’re guessing skills are something else.”
Percy was quiet for a moment before he said, “I didn’t realize you were wearing your hat.”
Annabeth’s puckered brow turned into a full furrow, and she finally turned around to look at Percy. His eyes immediately locked on hers. “What do you mean? Are you saying you can see me?”
“I’ve always seen you, Annabeth,” he said with a tiny smile.
That didn’t answer her question in the slightest, but she didn’t really care. Part of her was deeply concerned with the idea that Percy could see through her veil of invisibility. That meant that either her cap was losing its magic, or Percy was growing more powerful than any of them would know what to do with. But the part of her that was so deeply in love with Percy, had been since they were twelve, didn’t really care. It didn’t matter to her that Percy could see her when nobody else could. He’d done that their whole lives. So what if that was suddenly a bit more literal than it had been before?
She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss and he happily obliged. “Dance with me,” she ordered against his lips.
His eyebrows shot up in shock, but his mouth just curled into a little smirk. “You mean here? In front of everyone? Or do you wanna go somewhere else?”
“Doesn’t matter,” she told him simply. “Wherever you lead, I’ll follow you.”
Percy pressed their lips together again, and Annabeth let her eyes flutter shut, fully surrendering to the tide that washed over her.