Visiting Rachel and a revelation

As the sun shone in through the window at one end of Cabin Three, Annabeth's eyes fluttered open. She didn't really feel like getting up, not when she was cuddled up with Percy so nicely. Now, she had to think. Today, she needed to mee- wait a second. Wait.

Her head tilted to the side, and her eyes caught on a brass lamp on the ground. It wasn't a dream, none of it was. Percy and she had gone on for a while, but they'd mutually agreed to not have sex just yet, and instead take their time with it. They weren't really in a rush, so they'd taken a shower to clean off, and then they'd gone to sleep.

Now, though, it was the next morning, and Annabeth was suddenly hit anew by the repeated bombshells that had been dropped yesterday, and the sheer power she now had at her fingertips. But... maybe it didn't need too much thinking about. As long as she and Percy were together, they'd figure it out. And so, she nuzzled herself into Percy's back and let herself sleep again.

Eventually, though, the two of them had to get up for real, and when they did, they found themselves stretching, both of them dancing around the topic of Inara as they chatted. They showered, separately this time, and then, once they were up, they sat down to talk.

"So. What's the plan for today, and for our second wish?" Percy started, laying out what was on both of their minds. "Should we still go see Piper like you said?"

"To see if she can charmspeak me into, what? Going back to normal?" Annabeth asked. She remembered saying something about that last night, but they'd never really settled on what the plan was.

"I guess? We never really decided on what to ask her," Percy said, unknowingly echoing her own thoughts. "But do you think she could help? I mean... she can do a lot of things with her charmspeak."

Annabeth briefly thought back to the story she'd heard about Piper apparently convincing Festus to wake up, and her ability to lull Gaea to sleep. "But would that be enough to actually work against Inara? And what would we tell her to tell me, anyways?"

"I was hoping you'd have an idea, actually," Percy said sheepishly. "Like, you're not really different than normal, mentally, right? So I'm not really sure what we'd get her to do."

Annabeth frowned. "No, you're right. But maybe we could get her to charmspeak Inara? Make sure she tells us the truth as far as possible?"

"Would that even work? Inara would be invisible, and that'd mean we'd have to tell Piper, as well."

Annabeth hesitated. She liked Piper, she did. But she couldn't say they were particularly close, not beyond general friendship, and the kind of trust demigods had to have with each other. She elaborated on her worries. "You're right, and... I don't know if we can be sure she wouldn't tell the gods about this. I guess we could maybe not tell her the full story?" she asked tentatively.

Percy hummed. "That feels more like lying, honestly. Telling her only part of the truth, I mean. I think if we bring her in, we should bring her in fully."

If it was up to her alone, maybe she'd have told a partial truth to Piper, and gotten her help. But if Inara was lying, nothing she'd done so far seemed to indicate that, and she wouldn't go behind Percy's back on this. So, it probably wasn't worth it. She explained her thinking to Percy.

"If you're sure, I guess," he replied, shrugging it off. "You want to head to breakfast?"

"Definitely," she smiled. "At some point today, though, I'm going to have to head up to Olympus to deal with Apollo for a bit. I'm guessing you're teaching sword-fighting again today?"

"That and working on classes, yeah." Obviously New Rome University knew why Percy disappeared, but she was happy to say that her boyfriend didn't want to take advantage of his position, as, well, the two-time savior of Olympus. Both of them had decided to join for the winter semester, and she'd explained things to Berkeley with claims of a family emergency, helped along by the Mist.

"Just let me know if you need any help, okay?" she offered, like she always did.

And Percy responded like he always did, saying "I will, but I want to do as much as I can by myself, okay?"

He wasn't too bad at that, she had to admit, and he was keeping up pretty well. Whatever nicknames she might have for him, her boyfriend was actually pretty smart. She smiled to herself.

After breakfast, during which they mostly discussed other things, like how Sally was doing, how Percy's classes were going, or how fucking gaudy Apollo was, they headed back to the cabin in relative silence. Once they crossed the threshold, they both started speaking.

"I was thin-" Annabeth started.

"Maybe we shou-" Percy interrupted, then stopped himself. "You-"

Annabeth tried to let him speak first, saying "You can-". Then, she cut herself off, and burst into giggles, as did Percy. It was just a kind of inherently funny situation. "But seriously, you go first?"

"Right, okay." Percy agreed. "I was going to say, what if we brought Rachel into this? She's clear sighted, maybe she could see Inara? Or maybe she could give us a prophecy on what to do?"

"I-" Annabeth fell silent. At the very least, she did trust Rachel not to tell the gods if they asked. They'd bonded a bit when Percy had gone missing, and she trusted the girl. But... couldn't they handle this themselves?

"Wise girl?" Percy asked, "We can trust her, you know."

"No, I know," she replied. "Just thinking." She'd sort of broken Percy's faith earlier, even if it turned out fine, she supposed. And while Annabeth did used to feel a bit jealous of Rachel, she knew Percy loved her now, so Annabeth didn't need to care about who he dated. She could trust Rachel, and since Percy was asking... "You're right, that makes sense. You want to go right now?"

"Sure," he shrugged. He picked up the lamp that was connected to Inara, and together the two of them headed out.

"So... you're telling me you got a genie, and you retroactively gave yourself bigger boobs with your first wish?""It's not-" Annabeth started, before Rachel waved her off.

"Kidding, kidding. No, that seems fair enough if you were testing it out and you guys wanted to help your relationship. But, what, you wanted to check if I could see her if you summoned her, you said?"

"Yeah. And you're cool with keeping this on the down-low, right?" Percy interjected.

"I said I would, didn't I?" Rachel replied waspishly. "Besides, I don't see Apollo that often, and this should all be over in a week if you want to avoid penalties, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Annabeth confirmed. "So, you ready to check?"

"Sure, hit me," she said, and Annabeth took the lamp from Percy and rubbed it. Once more, a cloud of smoke appeared, and when it faded, Inara was floating in the air, clad in her gauzy silks.

"Rachel?" Annabeth asked questioningly. She suspected she already knew what Rachel was going to say.

"Nilch, nada, nothing. Don't see her at all."

"Really, Annabeth, you shouldn't have doubted me," Inara purred. "Didn't I tell you that no one but you could see me?"

"Thought it was worth testing," Annabeth replied. "Make sure you didn't lie about that, especially since Rachel is clear-sighted."

"So little faith, for shame." Inara tut-tutted. "And I am not bound by the rules of the Mist that covers this world, besides."

"I suppose you aren't," Annabeth acknowledged. At least it was one more piece of information, she thought to herself.

Rachel and Percy turned a questioning look to her at that response.

"Oh, right, you guys can't hear her," Annabeth suddenly recalled. She repeated Inara's claim for them, and they nod in understanding.

"So, I assume you aren't about to make a wish, then?" Inara's voice carried a tone of disappointment.

Suddenly, Annabeth is seized by a worry. "Wait. That doesn't make me incur a penalty, does it?"

"No, that'd hardly be fair, now would it? You'll have till midnight, like I said." Her gaze turned to Rachel and Percy. She hums in interest. "So these are your allies, are they? I suppose if anything could penetrate my power, an Oracle might, but no mere clear-sightedness would be enough." Inara made as if to leave.

Suddenly, Annabeth remembered something she was wondering about. It suddenly came out. "Why are you bound to an oil lamp, anyways? How long have you been in our world?"

"Eh, it's just for the aesthetic, make people think of genies, since that's what I'm closest to. As for the latter... maybe I'll tell you later, but shorter than you'd think."

Annabeth frowned at that.

"Aww, don't look so long-faced. Here, I'll give you a bit of information for free. Isn't that nice of me?"

"What is it?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

Inara smiled. "Well, your friend Rachel right there still has a crush on your boyfriend, and he still has a little bit of a crush on her." She quickly added clarification in a teasing tone. "Oh, don't worry, he wouldn't betray you, darling."

"I know that," Annabeth responded automatically– Apollo will bring the sun in the East, the gods will be dicks, and Percy would never betray her, those were all facts of her world.

"But hey," Inara continued, ignoring Annabeth's reply. "If she didn't have to worry about her obligations as the oracle, maybe she'd still be dating him. Just something to chew on."

Annabeth frowned, then glanced to either side at Rachel and Percy, who are still staring in the general direction of Inara. "What, are you hoping for me to make a wish to avoid that? It's already been avoided."

"Oh, I suppose you're right. I guess it's nothing to worry about then." She smiled. "Toodles! Remember, hit me up before midnight to avoid a punishment!" Then, she vanished.