Crystal's pulse quickened at Leo's words. Even though Annabeth had told her about his crush on her, hearing it from him made the butterflies in her stomach go crazy.

"I know," She responded. "I like you, too."

A comfortable silence fell over the pair like a blanket. The warmth of Leo, along with the gentle rocking of the ship, lulled Crystal to sleep.

__________________________________________

Crystal yawned as her eyes fluttered open. It was early, too early. The sun wasn't even up! Crystal groaned in annoyance as she tried to flip to her other side, but something held her fast. It took a moment to register who exactly had a death grip on her, but once she did, there was nothing that could be done to stop the grin from spreading across her face. Crystal wiggled around and finally faced the still slumbering Leo Valdez. As much as she wanted to stay there forever, Crystal knew that the others would be up soon and if they were caught, they'd never hear the end of it. Coach Hedge would also have her head if he found out.

"Leo," Crystal whispered.

No response. Crystal flicked Leo's pointed ear. With a quiet groan, he brushed away Crystal's hand like an annoying fly. Smirking, Crystal repeated her action multiple times. Just as she was about to go in another time, Leo grabbed her wrist and pinned it to his chest.

"Stop that." His eyes were still closed, but his brows were furrowed.

Crystal swallowed thickly, nearly melting at the sound of Leo's morning voice.

"Well, if you'd woken up properly the first time I flicked you, I wouldn't have had to do it four more times." Leo finally opened his eyes, meeting Crystal's gaze.

He chuckled and pulled Crystal closer, squishing her face. "I was having a good dream."

"Please," Crystal pulled her head away from Leo's grip, massaging her cheeks. "We're demigods, there's no such thing as a good dream."

Leo mumbled something that Crystal couldn't make out, but she could've sworn he said something about her.

"What was that?" The corner of her mouth turned up.

Leo turned red. "Nothing!"

Crystal laughed and tried to escape from Leo's still present hold. "Come on, I gotta be back in my room before Annabeth wakes up. If she finds out I snuck out, she'll skin me alive!"

"That chick is terrifying," Leo replied, finally releasing her.

Crystal stood up and stretched. "One time I misplaced her favorite combat boots and she chased me with her knife."

"You're joking."

"I don't joke, Valdez."

Thankfully, Annabeth was still asleep when Crystal returned to her room. Crystal quickly changed out of her pajamas into a pair of shorts and an orange sweater from camp. She made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and tie up her curls. By the time Crystal re-entered the bedroom, Annabeth was awake.

"Good morning, punk." Crystal greeted her friend with a smile.

An evil glint Crystal knew all too well flickered in Annabeth's eyes. "New accessory?"

Crystal froze. She had forgotten about the necklace Leo gave her and it was very much still around her neck. Crystal mentally cursed herself as she strapped her dagger's holster to her thigh.

"Yeah, uh," Crystal cleared her throat. "Leo gave it to me."

Annabeth tilted her head. "When? You didn't have it when we went to bed last night."

"I hate when you interrogate me." Crystal threw herself onto Annabeth's bed, covering her face with a pillow.

Annabeth laughed, falling silent quickly after. Crystal peeked out from under the pillow and noticed the troubled look on her friend's face.

"Hey, you okay?" Crystal sat up.

"I keep thinking about the vision you had," Annabeth said. "I know I have to keep a level head, but-"

Crystal looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I just didn't know how to."

"Crystal, we've known each other for years. You shouldn't ever feel like you need to hide things from me, no matter how bad it may seem."

No matter how bad it may seem...

"Annabeth, I-" A knock on the door interrupted Crystal.

"One second!" Annabeth called to the door. "What were you saying, Crystal?"

Crystal shook her head and smiled. "I'll tell you later."

Annabeth held up her pinky finger, a habit of theirs. "Promise?"

"Promise." Crystal hooked her pinky around Annabeth's.

The door opened to reveal a smiling Percy, black hair hanging over his eyes. "Leo says we're going to land soon, so I wanted to make sure you guys eat beforehand."

"How kind of you," Crystal laughed and got up from the bed as Annabeth did the same.

Grabbing two granola bars from the mess hall, joined the rest of the group above deck. She tossed one bar up to Leo, who caught it with a grateful smile. Crystal winked in response before making her way to the bow of the ship, greeting Festus as usual.

"Festie!" A metallic groan was emitted from the dragon at the sound of Crystal's nickname.

He nudged her and she laughed, petting the figurehead. "I know you hate it, but I can't help myself!"

The sunflower field below began growing closer and Leo announced that they were landing. Crystal braced herself as the ship landed, the gangplank lowering itself. Hopping down from her place on the railing, she made her way to Piper, who was talking with Annabeth and Percy.

"I think we should check out the highway. In the knife, I saw a man by a sign- Topeka 32." Piper continued to explain what she saw in her knife and the man sounded eerily like Mr. D.

"Ugh," Crystal gagged. "Don't tell me we seriously came all this way for a god who can't even remember a single name."

"Well," Jason began. "Bacchus isn't that bad. His followers, however..."

Crystal watched as Piper and Leo visibly cringed. She remembered that the three of them went on a short side quest, while Crystal was stuck training at Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately.

"Didn't Zeus order all the gods to stop all mortal contact?" Percy asked.

Frank crossed his arms. "The gods aren't very good at following orders. Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic as Hazel said-"

"And Crystal," Grinning, Crystal added her input.

Frank nodded. "And Crystal-"

"And Leo!" Leo said.

Frank scowled. "Anyway, who knows what going on with them? It doesn't sound too good."

"I have some repairs to finish, so you guys have fun with that," Leo said. "Crystal? Could you help?"

"I could try, but I doubt I'm very useful. I can build, but I'm not as good with engineering. Annabeth may be of more help." Crystal shrugged, turning her head toward Annabeth.

The blonde nodded, looking at Percy. "She's right, I should stay."

Frank removed his bow and set it against the railing. "Hazel and I can keep an eye out from the Romans. I'll turn into a bird or something while Hazel watches from the ground."

"Why not a dragon, like before?" Leo asked. "That would be so cool."

"Why not weight-lift the maximum weight every time? Wouldn't that be cool? Yeah, but you don't, because you could hurt yourself and it's hard. The same applies when I transform into a dragon."

"Right. I wouldn't know."

Frank scoffed. "Obviously."

Crystal clenched her jaw, watching the scene before her. What was Frank's problem with Leo? She also didn't miss the evil look Hazel threw at Leo as well, before breaking the tension. The pair took off to scout soon after. Percy, Jason, and Piper left as well, to find Mr. D at the highway sign. That left Annabeth, Leo, and Crystal alone on the deck.

"Alright," Annabeth said. "Let's get to work."

Crystal nodded, turning to head below deck.

Crystal...

The demigod froze. Gaea.

"What could you possibly want right now?" Crystal muttered under her breath.

Go into the sunflower field and stop in the clearing.

"Why should I listen to you?"

Do you want to sign your friends' death warrant?

"Hey, guys?" Crystal called out, causing Leo and Annabeth to stop and turn around. "I-I'll be down in a sec. I have something I need to do first."

Annabeth nodded. "Of course, see you in a bit."

As soon as they were out of sight, Crystal hopped over the side of the ship, landing in the field of sunflowers. It was difficult to see over the tall stems, but Crystal needed to preserve her energy in case she was being led into a trap. That meant no flying. Unsheathing her dagger, Crystal began slicing down plants until she reached a clearing.

"I'm here!" Crystal called out.

"Took you long enough." A voice behind her caused Crystal to whirl around.

There was no one there. The voice seemed to be coming from the flowers themselves. The faces of the sunflowers turned toward her.

A shiver ran down Crystal's spine. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gaea chuckled. "Your help."

Crystal scrunched her face. "You're kidding. There's no way in Hades I would ever help you."

An ominous cackle resonated through the field. Crystal's grip on her dagger tightened. Reg flags were going off in her head. Why would she even come here? She had no choice. Either comply or guarantee the death of your friends. Crystal froze as she sensed movement under her feet. Her eyes widened. It was a trap.

Crystal shot into the air, the sunflowers following her. Several wrapped around her legs, yanking her back to the earth. Crystal frantically sliced everywhere but there were too many. She was wrenched to her knees, completely trapped in rope-like flower stems. Every time she tried to move, the grip on her got tighter. Her arms were useless, anchored behind her back. She couldn't even use her powers, they weren't working.

"Let me go!" Crystal screamed.

A stem crawled up her neck and wrapped around her mouth, silencing her screams. Crystal's head began pounding. Panic flooded her system as she tried to break herself free. Crystal's lungs burned. She was wheezing, gasping for air. Her head felt like it was splitting. It seemed like she couldn't breathe, couldn't move at all. She wasn't in control of her own body, her own powers. The wind began picking up and the ground rumbled. A face emerged from the dirt, one that looked a lot like Crystal. Though Gaea's eyes were closed, an evil grin etched her sleeping face.

"You forgot one tiny detail, my dear daughter."

Dirt swirled several feet in front of her. It compacted into a figure, morphing into a human. A human that looked exactly like Crystal. The fake Crystal inhaled sharply and snapped upright, her posture painfully straight. Her eyes grew unfocused as the color drained from her face and black tendrils flooded over her green irises. Crystal's face was caught in a bruising grip, forced to look at her clone in the eyes. Gaea's voice echoed through her ears as the fake Crystal's lips were pulled into a dark smile. Crystal's vision blurred.

"I own you."