Riding another horse for some time was not what Annabeth wanted to do. She didn't expect for Perseus to be into horses like he was. He reminded her of a knight in shining armor. Horse and all.

Then again, she hasn't seen him wear armor yet. Her mind suddenly brought up an image of Perseus in shining armor and riding his dark grey horse. Annabeth couldn't help herself as she smiled at the thought.

"Hang on, Chase! We're about to get to the borderline!"

Annabeth wanted to ask what the borderline is, but she didn't have a chance to when the terrain got worse, causing Annabeth to quickly wrap her arms around his waist. After a particular deep bump, she gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, holding onto him even more. She felt his stomach move in unheard laughter.

"You're fine, Chase! You will survive this! I have done this many times!" His gleeful shout reached Annabeth's ear. She was tempted to hurt him by hitting him or something, only she didn't want to risk falling off a speeding horse that was running in unknown territory towards an unknown destination.

If only Perseus had told her where they were going. Why was Annabeth trusting this stranger, she didn't know. Perseus could have been playing Reyna and Annabeth when he spoke of the war or about himself. He could have lied. We could be walking, or riding, into a trap that was set by the man that she was currently holding onto for dear life. Yes, Reyna's dogs didn't react to his words, but who knows, he could have done something or left out something. Yeah, that could have happened.

"When will we get there?!" She screamed into the wind. Annabeth felt the winds increase in power, making her tighten her grip around his stomach.

The response she had received was another laugh that had shaken her body from the force of it.

~I'm back! I am back to come and bring happiness to all those who read this! All two of you!!~

"Annabeth." Her closed eyes furrowed. "Annabeth, you have to wake up. We're here." Annabeth's body shook as someone was trying to wake her up.

"What?" She asked, starting to sit up properly. "Where..." She slowly looked around. Annabeth was met with a flannel back. It came rushing back to her. Camp Jupiter, the war, Shadow, Perseus and his dark grey horse-

"We're in Alaska. I brought you to where I live. I figured it's the best place to start for your quest." Perseus spoke over his shoulder. He got off of his horse, tying the reins to a fence.

Annabeth blinked at her surroundings. The horse she was sitting on was reined to a post in front of a pole barn that was painted red with white trimmings. It was a simple design for a normal sized barn, 36 by 36 square footage. It sat on a slight hill full of green grass and stood in front of an area of woods. The whole sight was breathtakingly beautiful.

"This is where you live?" She asked. It wasn't meant in a bad way, she was just surprised that he lived in a simple pole barn. It was such a simple place to live in. How could Perseus even-

"No. Where I live, sleep, and eat is behind you."

-stand to live in such a small space. "Oh wow." Annabeth's eyes widened in awe when she turned, following Perseus' instructions.

It was beautiful. The wood cabin was what looked to be two levels of a house. With a wrapped around porch, the house reminded Annabeth so much of the Big House back at camp. It made her wonder if Perseus ever went to Camp Half-Blood. By the way that Reyna had acted, he couldn't have gone to Camp Jupiter, meaning he was Greek. Annabeth blinked. Reyna said that he had said he wasn't a part of Camp Half-Blood, maybe he was still Greek, but why wouldn't he be a part of Camp Half-Blood? That is if he is a demigod, after all, the aura around him made him seem more powerful. He had to be at least immortal for that kind of glow. You could see it at random times, a slight glow around him.

"You can stop gawking. Come on."

~I need to stop getting addicted to songs. I need to stop writing so many different books. I also need to stop writing only to start rant about anything and everything.~

"Come on, Annabeth." Perseus called out again, opening the front door of his house.

Annabeth snapped out of her thoughts with a shake of her head and walked to the front steps. She hesitantly followed after him. "Wow." She repeated herself.

She stared around in awe of the interior. It was a beautiful wood cabin.

There was a kitchen on the left with low beamed ceilings, a bench and coat closet on the right, and farther in the house was a living room. Beyond the living room was something that made Annabeth really be in awe. It was a wall of glass.

Through the glass you could see the beautiful Alaska sky. The whole sight was a breathtaking one.

Perseus closed the door behind Annabeth and moved past her, walking into the kitchen. "You want anything?" He asked as he moved around the kitchen, gathering some dishes and food items.

It was that moment that Annabeth's stomach decided to growl. She blushed.

She blushed even more when Perseus stopped what he was doing and smirked at her. Annabeth glared at him.

He raised his hands up in surrender. "That's my fault. My way of travel sometimes causes bodily...problems. Mostly energy loss and hunger." Perseus shrugged, going back to the food on the kitchen island.

Annabeth felt some panic overcome her. "Bodily problems?" Perseus sent her a grin. "Wait. Your way of travel? But didn't we take a horse here?" She asked.

Perseus frowned in thought. "Annabeth." He paused, staring at her panicked state. "We're at the highest point of Alaska. You can't get any more north than here for Alaska. We're on the banks of Teshekpuk Lake. You're not even close to the mainland anymore."

"Mainland?" She replied, trying to remember where Teshekpuk Lake was. That is if she even knew.

Perseus sighed, stopping in his work once again. "I meant the area of land that holds the forty-eight states that connect with each other."

"But Alaska connects with the other forty-eight." Annabeth frowned.

"Annabeth." Perseus sighed again. "Here in Alaska, you fend for yourself. Mentally and emotionally, you find yourself seeing the other states as disconnected from Alaska. This is such a brutal and cold place. You can go insane here. Especially on your own." He whispered the last part, but Annabeth heard it.

She was a little concerned on how long he's been on his own, though she figured it wasn't her place to question him.

"Can you make olive pizza?" Annabeth requested.

"I was actually getting everything out to make pizza. I do have olives if that's what you want on yours."

She nodded and dropped her backpack on the bench behind her. "Then I guess we need those olives."

Perseus started to laugh. She found herself staring at him, smiling at the warm laugh that was his.

Annabeth could get used to Perseus. He didn't seem too bad now that she thought about it. She even found herself laughing herself. Annabeth enjoyed Perseus' company, and neither of them complained.

~MsPenguingirl1234.

Published: January 7, 2018.