"So," Percy finally said, after Annabeth had found him and explained their new problem. "What's the plan? Get the rest of the Seven involved? I could see about getting my dad's help, maybe, see if enough sacrifices could get his attention in time to avoid having to make a wish?" One hand was stuck in his pocket, and to someone who didn't know him that might have made him look casual, but Annabeth knew that he was probably gripping onto Riptide in its pen form, even as her head rested in his lap.
She'd been thinking about the same question, as she'd talked him through the whole series of events, and now it was time to lead Percy through her own train of logic. "I'm... not so sure that we should bring this to anyone else, actually. Or that we should avoid making a wish."
"Beyond just as a delaying tactic, you mean? To get some benefit for the world?" Even if she hadn't explicitly said it, Percy knew her well enough to pick up on the subtext.
"Yeah. I want to test out the level of power that this ifrit has, if she can really change the world in ways that even the gods won't be able to interfere with. We could fix some of the bad blood between us and the Romans, somehow, or maybe even do something with the mortal world? We could actually fix things, like you did when you got your wish from the gods!" She smiled up at him, giving him a one armed hug.
"I get it. We could get Damasen and Bob out of Tartarus, or something, even if we had to think of some way to make it sexualized... maybe if we set one of them up with someone else as part of the wish? But can you really trust her?"
"Ehhhh," she said, raising her other arm from her side to wiggle her hand side to side. "I got the impression that she's chaotic, and somewhat evil, and will probably try to twist my wishes, but that's why I'm thinking I start small. She's clearly bound on some level to tell the truth, otherwise she could have just lied and picked all the side effects herself, right?"
Percy frowned. "I guess? You're the one that saw her. But everything about the way you described her makes it sounds like she wants you to wish for something, and I really don't want to get dragged into another quest to stop her or something."
"You're right, but it just... feels like a waste not to do something. We have to make seven wishes, or else she'll make me start suffering penalties, and I don't want to just waste this chance." Annabeth shrugged. "I guess we're kind of going in circles, huh?"
"I guess so. Anyways, either way, your first wish is going to be low impact, right? What're we thinking for that?"
Annabeth blushed. "Well, I was thinking of asking her to fix my, y'know. Intimacy issues. Just make it so my hangups around that don't interfere with us having sex."
Percy's face turned a matching shade of red. They'd had sex, but... it was still a bit weird to just talk about it. "You know that doesn't matter to me. Whatever pace is good for you is good for me."
"I know. But this is what I want, too. I don't want my hangups from that place to define me, and I want to make you feel good. Let me make myself better able to do that? Please?" She really did feel bad about it. But every time they started really getting into it, she'd find herself freezing up, feeling like she was back in Tartarus, those periods that they'd spent entwined in one another there. It had felt good at the time, had grounded them both, but now all those feelings were tainted.
"Okay. Should we go and make the wish now? If you know what you want, and you're sure I shouldn't try and contact my dad?"
"Actually... I was thinking of making the wish by myself? Just in case she knocks me out or something as part of making the wish, or takes away my memories, or something, you'll know what's going on?" There was that too, but the truth was that she also wanted to wish for a bit more than she'd told Percy, since she suspected he'd object to the slight extension to her wish that she was thinking of.
"I don't like that," he said. "What if she attacks, and I could have fought her off?"
"She said she's untouchable and unseeable, Percy. I don't know if you could. But... how about I summon her in front of you, and then we see if she was telling the truth about that, at least. If she wasn't, we know we can't trust a word she says. Otherwise, we go with my plan?"
"Fine. But if you don't come out of that cabin perfectly fine, we go to the gods, yeah?" he asked to confirm.
"Yeah. Honestly, even if I do... maybe get Piper to charmspeak me a bit? We don't need to give her the full details, but just in case there's some mind control going on or something, she could help with the effects on me, at least?"
"Fuck. I don't like that we're planning something and we're also planning all the ways it could go wrong, Annabeth. But fine. Let's do it."
"Yeah, I don't see anything," Percy said. Then, he slashed his sword through where Annabeth was pointing.
"Like I told you, nothing of this plane can interact with or perceive me, other than you, my summoner. And while I appreciate the double helping of eye candy, did you simply summon me to test that out, or do you have a wish to make?" The ifrit looked just as hot as before, her purple eyes and silks contrasting with her dark skin and hair. She might not have had the constantly shifting beauty of Aphrodite, Annabeth thought, but she was just as striking in her own right.
"I do. Percy?"
"Right, yeah." But instead of heading out, he stopped by her first. "Kiss for good luck?"
She smiled. "Yeah, yeah, Seaweed Brain. I'm not planning on blowing up any volcanoes, at least." She leaned in, and their lips met. It wasn't a long kiss, but just like every time she kissed Percy, it sent a warm tingle down her spine.
Eventually, he broke the kiss. "I'll be right outside. Call out if you need me, okay?"
"It'll be fine, trust me."
The ifrit coughed loudly. "Uh, if you're not going to fuck, would you mind actually getting to your first wish? Not that the adorable lovey-dovey routine is bad, or anything, but usually it at least leads to something fun to watch."
Annabeth blushed. "Right, yeah," she said, directed a bit past Percy at the ifrit. Then, she turned back to Percy. "Okay, love you babe. She wants me to actually make the wish now. I'll see you in like a minute."
"Love you too," Percy said quietly. He was still a bit worried, but he trusted Annabeth.
And then there were two, Annabeth and Inara, looking one another dead in the eye.
"So, you didn't want him to be around to hear your wish, hmm? Well, spit it out. You don't have forever, you know."
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