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"Uh, but the answer?"

Annabeth laughed "You don’t fight against the handcuffs You push your fingers in, not out That loosens the braid"

"Oh" Frank tried it It worked "Thanks, but…couldn’t you have just shown ram and the calculations?"

Annabeth hesitated Soiant teenaged goldfish "I guess you’re right That was silly I learned soain "It’s easy when you know the solution"

"Many of the best traps are simple," Annabeth said "You just have to think about it, and hope your victim doesn’t"

Frank nodded He seemed reluctant to leave

"You know," Annabeth said, "Leo doesn’t intend to bemouth When people make him nervous, he uses humor as a defense"

Frank frowned "Why would I make him nervous?"

"You’re twice his size You can turn into a dragon" And Hazel likes you, Annabeth thought, though she didn’t say that

Frank didn’t look convinced "Leo can summon fire" He twisted the handcuffs "Annabeth…sometime, maybe could you help uess you’d call it an Achilles’ heel"

Annabeth felt like she’d just had a drink of Rootten the terave her that sensation He was just a big teddy bear She could see why Hazel liked him "I’d be happy to," she said "Does anyone else know about this Achilles’ heel?"

"Percy and Hazel," he said "That’s it Percy…he’s a really good guy I would follow hiht you should know"

Annabeth patted his arood friends Like you But, Frank, you can trust anyone on this ship Even Leo We’re all a team We have to trust each other"

"I--I suppose"

"So what’s the weakness you’re worried about?"

The dinner bell sounded, and Frank jumped

"Maybe…maybe later," he said "It’s hard to talk about But thanks, Annabeth" He held up the Chinese handcuffs "Keep it siht, Annabeth slept without nightmares, which just made her uneasy when she woke up--like the calm before a storm

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall Along the shore was a historical district with tall ht-iron fences Antique cannons pointed at the water

By the time Annabeth came up on deck, Jason, Frank, and Leo had already left for the e, they’d proo, but first Annabeth turned to Percy, as leaning on the starboard rail, gazing over the bay

Annabeth took his hand "What are you going to do while we’re gone?"

"Juht say, I’ with the local Nereids Maybe they can give me some advice about how to free those captives in Atlanta Besides, I think the seain that aquarium led as usual, but Annabeth thought about the streak of gray he used to have on one side When the two of the the weight of the sky The strain left theray hair Over the last year, while Percy had been ray streaks had finally disappeared from both of them, which made Annabeth sad and a little worried She felt like she’d lost a symbolic bond with Percy

Annabeth kissed him "Good luck, Seaweed Brain Just come back to me, okay?"

"I will," he promised "You do the sa unease

She turned to Piper and Hazel "Okay, ladies Let’s find the ghost of the Battery"

Afterward, Annabeth wished she’d jumped into the harbor with Percy She even would’ve preferred aout with Hazel and Piper At first, they had a pretty good tins, the seaside park was called White Point Gardens The ocean breeze swept away the y heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasantly cool under the shade of the pal the road were old Civil War cannons and bronze statues of historical figures, which ht about the statues in New York City during the Titan War, which had come to life thanks to Daedalus’s command sequence twenty-three She wondered how many other statues around the country were secretly autoered

Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun To the north and south, strips of land stretched out like ar in the mouth of the harbor, about a ueimportant in the Civil War, but she didn’t spendabout it

Mostly she breathed in the sea air and thought about Percy Gods forbid she ever had to break up with hiain without re her broken heart She was relieved when they turned away froardens