Tuning In To The Titan's Curse

by NUMBER1ANGIRL

Summary:

8 demigods are packed in a van, driving to California, listening to the inner thoughts of their absent friend.

That sounds like the set up to a bad joke, but I promise that it isn’t.

Or,

The third installment of characters reacting to the pjo books but make it road trip AND audiobook!

Now with more death scenes <3

Notes:

Yeah... we're not gonna talk about how late this is.

i used allnovel.net to copy and paste the book passages (one of many good places to find the series online for free if you're searching)

ENJOY <3

Chapter 1: My Rescue Operation Goes Very Wrong

8 demigods are packed in a van, driving to California, listening to the inner thoughts of their absent friend. 

That sounds like the set up to a bad joke, but I promise that it isn’t. 

For Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, and Reyna Avila Ramìrez-Arellano, it was their (rather fortunate) reality.  

The sound of 14 year old Percy Jackson filters throughout the car.

The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school. We picked up my friends Annabeth and Thalia on the way.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me.

Reyna raises one dark eyebrow. “Your mom just drove you and your two female friends 8 hours to Maine in a blizzard. I think she is entitled to tell as many embarrassing stories of you as she wants.” 

“Raise your hand if you would kill to have a mom that tells embarrassing stories about you!” Leo says this in a sing-song voice, but the words are edged with a sad, slightly bitter sentiment. 

Half of the car puts their hands up. 

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."

Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.

Nico sucked in a deep breath at the name ‘Westover Hall’. Hazel sends him a curious look, and Annabeth’s shoulders stiffen. 

“Oh shit.” She whispers under her breath, sending a sideway glance at Nico.

“Westover Hall?” Frank’s face scrunches up as he considers the description. “Is that, like,  a prison or something?” 

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" my mother asked.

"No, thanks, Mom," I said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."

I hoped I wasn't blushing. It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles.

Reyna narrows her eyes. “Put some respect onto Sally Jackson’s name, Perseus. You’re lucky your mom is willing to drive you into your battles.”

“Yeah!” Leo yells. “Count yourself lucky! Our mom can’t drive!”  

Annabeth grumbles, though her voice sounds a tad thin for reasons that nobody knows. “I can drive, you people just don’t like my driving.” 

“Haha, you just referred to yourself as our mom!” 

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean. "We'll keep him out of trouble."

“What ocean is he looking at?” Jason asks, genuinely curious, picturing Ananbeth’s gray eyes in his head. 

“The ocean of Annabeth’s eyes, obviously.” Hazel shrugs.

“Shut up.” Annabeth huffs, though there was no real malice behind the order.

My mom seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most level headed demigod ever to hit eighth grade. She's sure Annabeth often keeps me from getting killed. She's right, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Piper nods her head after hearing the last part of Percy’s thought process. “Okay, because I was about to say… No part of Sally’s beliefs are false.” 

"All right, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

Reyna raises a hand. “What do I have to do to get Sally Jackson’s phone number? Asking for a friend.”

Nico turns to face her. “A friend with the initials RARA?” 

Reyna blinks at him, her face remaining impassive. “Maybe.” 

"Mom—"

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

She looked a little hurt, and I was sorry about that, but I was ready to be out of that car. If my mom told one more story about how cute I looked in the bathtub when I was three years old, I was going to burrow into the snow and freeze myself to death.

“I would pay to hear those stories about Percy.” Leo says. 

Annabeth smiles, mischievously. “If you’re really lucky, Sally ‘ll even show you the pictures.” 

Annabeth and Thalia followed me outside. The wind blew straight through my coat like ice daggers.

Once my mother's car was out of sight, Thalia said, "Your mom is so cool, Percy."

"She's pretty okay," I admitted. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"

Leo wrinkles his nose. “Uh oh.” He says under his breath. He didn’t know much about Jason and Thalia’s mom, other than the fact that she had a child with both the Greek and Roman versions of Zeus, had died, and abandoned Jason to a wolf when he was a toddler. 

Those details didn’t exactly give him the impression that their mom was a pleasant topic of conversation. 

As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears—the ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, the black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. But the look she gave me now was a perfect evil "ten."

“Thalia is good at giving evil looks.” Nico agrees. He turns around to look at Jason. “What happened to you?” 

Jason shrugs. “I dunno. I was raised by a wolf, you’d think I’d be better at it.” 

"If that was any of your business, Percy—"

"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Nothing good," I guessed.

“That’s probably a good guess.” Piper shrugs.

Nico presses his lips into a thin line, and murmurs under his breath, “I’ll try not to take offense to that.”

“Huh?” Hazel asks him.

“Huh?” Nico repeats, acting as if he hadn’t spoken.

The oak doors groaned open, and the three of us stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.

All I could say was, "Whoa."

The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. I mean, I knew Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.

Leo wrinkles his nose. “I hate military schools. They’re the worst type of schools.” 

Frank narrows their eyes. “You once told me that Catholic schools were the worst type of schools.” 

“I am a man of many layers, I can think that they are both the worst.”

My hand went to my pocket, where I kept my lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide. I could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item. I knew we were thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.

A few people, namely Piper and Leo, snicker when Percy says ‘lethal ballpoint pen’. They’re all very aware that his ballpoint pen is actually lethal, but that knowledge doesn’t lessen the comedy of the sentence. 

Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where—"

The doors slammed shut behind us.

"Oo-kay," I mumbled. "Guess we'll stay awhile."

I could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music.

Leo shakes his head. “Unless it’s ABBA, I don’t want it.”

“What about Taylor Swift?” Frank questions.

“You don’t dance to T-Swift, you cry to T-Swift. Gods, Frank, don’t you know anything?” 

“Even ‘Shake It Off’?”

Leo fake sniffles, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. “Haters gonna hate…” 

We stashed our overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. We hadn't gone very far when I heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept us.

They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

“Hey, this is the 21st century, Perseus!” Piper defends. “You break those glass ceilings, babe!” 

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Um…" I realized I hadn't planned for this. I'd been so focused on getting to Grover and finding out what was wrong, I hadn't considered that someone might question three kids sneaking into the school at night. We hadn't talked at all in the car about how we would get inside. I said, "Ma'am, we're just—"

“You guys were in the car for eight hours, and didn’t talk about how you were going to get into the school?” Jason furrows his eyebrows. “What were you talking about?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I dunno. I don’t remember every single conversation I had half a decade ago?” 

“Gosh, Annabeth,” Nico deadpans, shaking his head. “You’re slacking.” 

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

Piper’s eyebrows furrow. “Wait, did he just say--”

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's.

Annabeth shudders at the description of the man. Unconsciously, she tugs at her blue strand of hair.

I figured he was about to toss us into the snow, but then Thalia stepped forward and did something very weird.

She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of us, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."

Hazel smiles brightly, pointing at the radio. “Hey! Thalia can use the mist too. I didn’t know we had anything in common.” 

“Well, you are cousins.” Frank reminds her. 

Hazel shakes her head in mock disgust. “Just had to go and make it weird.”

The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. I didn't know what Thalia was thinking. Now we'd probably get punished for lying and thrown into the snow. But the man seemed to be hesitating.

He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

Leo lets out a bark of laughter. “Ms. Got Chalk? Really?” 

Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. A teacher named Got Chalk? He had to be kidding.

Jason shrugs. “Well, there’s a daughter of Demeter with the last name ‘Gardener’, and Hermes has two sons with the last name ‘Stole’... It’s not super uncommon in this world to have prophetic names.”

The woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "I… yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at us. "Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

Before we could answer, I heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. "You made it! You—"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"

Piper narrows her eyes. “I wonder if ‘Thorn’ is also some sort of prophetic name.” 

Nico and Annabeth share a look, but neither say a word.

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."

Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

“Is it just the way that Percy is telling the story, or did Grover really sound that unbelievable?” Reyna asks, her eyebrows furrowed. 

Annabeth sighs deeply. “I love Grover. He is one of my best friends. But he is easily one of the worst liars I’ve ever met. And considering his job of nearly a decade required extensive lying…” 

Dr. Thorn glared at us. I decided one of his eyes had to be fake. The brown one? The blue one? He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

“I can already tell that they’re going to leave the gymnasium.” Jason sighs resignedly. 

“Most probably, yes.” Piper replies, nodding at him through the rearview mirror. 

We didn't wait to be told twice. We left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.

Grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music. 

I could feel the teachers' eyes on my back, but I walked closely to Thalia and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?"

"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?"

It’s the way that Percy relays this conversation, the slightly bitter edge to the words that probably hadn’t come directly from Thalia, that has Jason wrinkling his nose in distress. “I can already tell that this is going to cause problems.” He wrings his hands together. “Uncomfortable situations make me feel uncomfortable.” 

An uncomfortable lump formed in my throat. Chiron was our head trainer at camp, but he'd never shown me anything like that. Why had he shown Thalia and not me?

“That actually is a good point.” Frank says slowly, eyebrows furrowed and head tilted to the side. “I mean, Percy has been at camp for two and a half years, Thalia got to camp, like, a month before summer ended. He must have trained her intensely for her to be that good in such a short amount of time.” 

“Girls rule, boys drool.” Reyna says in the same serious, matter of fact manner that one would say two plus two equals four. 

Grover hurried us to a door that had GYM written on the glass. Even with my dyslexia, I could read that much.

"That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!"

Annabeth and Thalia both hugged Grover. I gave him a big high five.

Nico shakes his head. “To think that those two are currently spooning back in New York.” 

It was good to see him after so many months. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human—a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was, like, Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.

Nico leans closer to Annabeth, and whispers to her conspiratorially, “It was both.”  

Annabeth’s hand comes up to cover her nose and mouth, and she quietly snorts.

"So what's the emergency?" I asked.

Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."

Leo’s face scrunches up. “Two… what? Am I missing something?”

Jason presses his fingers to his lips in a shushing motion. “I’m sure they’ll explain soon.” 

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"

“Ooooh!” Leo says slowly. “That makes sense. At least compared to where my head was going.”

Frank’s eyebrows furrow. “Where was--” 

Reyna places a hand on Frank’s chest. “No, don’t. Never ask.” 

Grover nodded.

Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.

“Ah, the recruiting of child soldiers.” Reyna says with a smile that doesn’t reach her obsidian eyes. “Gotta love our lives.” 

"A brother and a sister," he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

Nico digs the nails of his left hand into his bottom lip, pulling it. Hazel, seeing this, takes the same hand into her own two. 

"Monsters?"

“One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Grover looked at Thalia desperately. I tried not to feel upset by that. Used to be, Grover looked to me for answers, but Thalia had seniority. Not just because her dad was Zeus. Thalia had more experience than any of us with fending off monsters in the real world.

“I’m sensing some jealousy.” Leo says slowly.

“Yeah, well, Percy already admitted in the last one that he was jealous of Luke and Thalia for taking care of Annabeth.” Piper shrugs. “Makes sense that that wasn’t miraculously resolved by Thalia coming into their lives.” 

"Right," she said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Annabeth argues, “Percy and Thalia did not have some strange rivalry over me.” 

“No, but I’m sure your attention was a major catalyst in Percy’s jealousy.” Piper replies.

Annabeth shakes her head. “You’re giving me way too much credit.”

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance," Thalia said. "Who's the monster?"

"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

Jason nods, his lips pressed into a thin line. “That makes sense.” 

Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something.

There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys looked more like me—uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in my case, it was true…

“I hated middle school dances.” Leo huffs. “I remember when our school forced us to learn dances in gym class. When it came to slow dancing, we were supposed to switch partners every few minutes. Nobody wanted to switch with me or my partner, though. I’m still traumatized.”  

"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

The car takes a collective breath, even Annabeth and Nico, who were well aware that this was going to be coming. 

“Wait!” Hazel’s glittering eyes widen, staring slack-jawed at her brother. “This-- you were the ten year old?” 

Nico doesn’t answer, doesn’t make eye contact, a muscle in his jaw working furiously. 

The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

“Using our hands a lot as we talk. That is just an Italian stereotype!” Nico shakes his head.

“You’re talking with your hands now.” Hazel looks a bit gobsmacked, still processing the first description she’s ever gotten of her older sister. Still, she can tell that Nico doesn’t wanna talk about it, and forcing him will do no good. 

Nico shrugs. “Well, yeah. Just because it’s a stereotype doesn’t mean it isn’t a real one.” 

Annabeth said, "Do they… I mean, have you told them?"

Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."

He looked at me, and I nodded. I'd never really understood what half-bloods "smell" like to monsters and satyrs, but I knew that your scent could get you killed. And the more powerful a demigod you became, the more you smelled like a monster's lunch.

“Wow… We can’t know we’re demigods, we can’t get stronger, we can’t use certain names, our parents…” Leo shakes his head as he trails off. “We really got the short end of the stick in this whole… being alive thing.” 

"So let's grab them and get out of here," I said.

I started forward, but Thalia put her hand on my shoulder. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.

“That’s creepy.” Reyna says slowly. “How-- how do people not see how that old man hanging around two specific kids is creepy?”

Judging from his expression, I guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were. He was just waiting to see why we were here.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

Hazel looks at Nico sitting right next to her. “That seems to have worked out well.” She deadpans. 

"How?"

"We're three powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."

“But how can you keep an eye on someone if you aren’t allowed to look at them?” Leo asks.

“Are you being difficult on purpose?” Reyna asks him.

“Typically, yes, but I’m genuinely confused by those directions.” 

"Dancing?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia nodded. She cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

Piper makes a face. “Jesse McCartney, really?” 

Grover looked hurt. "I did."

“On second thought, that one song, that he sings with the… um…” Piper narrows her eyes in thought. “He was great in… Suite Life?” 

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

Piper makes a small, pained sound in the back of her throat. 

“You okay there, Pipes?” Reyna asks, an eyebrow raised. 

When Piper speaks again, her voice is a tad bit squeaky. “He doesn’t even know Boulevard of Broken Dreams ?” 

"Never mind. Let's dance."

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."

Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

“Your sister is intense.” Frank tells Jason.

“Yeah,” Jason agrees.

Leo wrinkles his nose. “Is it wrong that that makes me find her attractive?” 

Jason chooses to ignore that question. 

Annabeth smiled.

"What?" I asked.

Hazel allows a bright smile to form on her face, stowing the deep emotional turmoil behind the facade for a moment. “Yes, Annabeth, what would you happen to be smiling at?” 

Annabeth hides her face behind a stray curl. “How should I know? It’s been years since then…” 

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Piper, catching on to Annabeth and Hazel’s line of thought, smirks. “I’m sure it is.” 

“Will you both shut up?” 

“Never.” Piper and Hazel reply at the same time, sharing a small smile. 

Annabeth had grown taller than me since last summer, which I found kind of disturbing. She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls—the symbol of her mother, Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. It made her look older, for some reason.

Annabeth nibbles at her lower lip. “Do you think he means that in a good way, or a bad way?”

“Past events would say ‘good’,” Frank surmises. “but I’m not always the best at reading tone .” 

"So…" I tried to think of something to say. Act natural, Thalia had told us. When you're a half-blood on a dangerous mission, what the heck is natural? "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

Annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program…"

She went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and I tried to listen. I knew she wanted to be a super architect when she grew up—she loves math and historical buildings and all that—but I hardly understood a word she was saying.

Annabeth blinks a few times at that revelation. “He doesn’t understand a word I’m saying?”

Jason leans forward in his chair. “I’m sure he’s learned more over the years… Probably.” 

The truth was I was kind of disappointed to hear that she liked her new school so much. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York. I'd been hoping to see her more often. It was a boarding school in Brooklyn, and she and Thalia were both attending, close enough to Camp Half-Blood that Chiron could help if they got in any trouble. Because it was an all-girls school, and I was going to MS-54 in Manhattan, I hardly ever saw them.

Piper raises her eyebrows, and sends a quick, victorious look towards Annabeth.

The other girl’s face remains impassive, and she simply crosses her arms over her chest. “That is inconclusive.” 

“Yeah, uh, cool," I said. "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?"

Her face got dark. "Well, maybe, if I don't—"

"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. At least his feet were fake. Unlike me, he had an excuse for being clumsy. "Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."

“Wait, but what was Annabeth going to say?” Hazel asks, her hands grasping at thin air. “I am feeling very conflicted towards Thalia right now.” 

Frank cocks his head to the side. “Why ‘conflicted’?” 

I looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym.

"Well?" Annabeth said.

"Um, who should I ask?"

Piper has to actively stop herself from dropping her head to the steering wheel in embarrassment.

She punched me in the gut. "Me, Seaweed Brain."

Hazel looks at Frank. “That’s why.” 

Frank nods slowly. “I get it now.” 

"Oh. Oh, right."

So we went onto the dance floor, and I looked over to see how Thalia and Grover were doing things. I put one hand on Annabeth's hip, and she clasped my other hand like she was about to judo throw me.

Every member of the car (who had the ability to do so, and had been there for the infamous ‘Percabeth Reunion’) turns to look at Annabeth. 

“What?” She asks. “I had to practice my technique on someone .” 

"I'm not going to bite," she told me. "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"

I didn't answer. The truth was we did. But I'd never, like, actually danced at one. I was usually one of the guys playing basketball in the corner.

Reyna nods. “Yeah, that holds up.”

We shuffled around for a few minutes. I tried to concentrate on little things, like the crepe-paper streamers and the punch bowl—anything but the fact that Annabeth was taller than me, and my hands were sweaty and probably gross, and I kept stepping on her toes.

Annabeth can’t stop herself from allowing a wide smile to creep onto her face.  She says, fondly, “He’s such a bad dancer.” 

"What were you saying earlier?" I asked. "Are you having trouble at school or something?"

She pursed her lips. "It's not that. It's my dad."

“Uh-oh.” The word was whispered, but because several people had whispered it at the same time, it was still heard quite clearly by all present. 

"Uh-oh." I knew Annabeth had a rocky relationship with her father. "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?"

Annabeth sighed. "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco!'

She said this the same way she might say Fields of Punishment or Hades's gym shorts.

Reyna shakes her head, and deadpans, “Freaking San Francisco.” It is unknown if she genuinely dislikes the city, or if she is saying it for ‘humor’.

"So he wants you to move out there with him?" I asked.

"To the other side of the country," she said miserably. "And half-bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."

“I didn’t know that.” Leo says softly. Then he thinks, ‘It seems like your expectations must be high for your dad to know that.’

Thankfully Leo reconsiders before speaking that second thought out loud. 

"What? Why not?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Maybe she thought I was kidding. "You know. It's right there!”

“Oh.” Jason says, understanding in his tone. He clearly seems to understand the problem, even if most of the rest of the car remains in confusion. 

"Oh," I said. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I didn't want to sound stupid. "So… you'll go back to living at camp or what?"

"It's more serious than that, Percy. I… I probably should tell you something." Suddenly she froze. "They're gone."

Frank, who had been leaning forward in their seat in interest, asks, “Whose gone?” 

"What?"

I followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

Frank blinks several times, as if coming out of a daze. “Oh, right, that’s still happening.” 

“Story of my life.” Nico grumbles underneath his breath. His voice is filled with forced humor.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!"

She ran through the crowd. I was about to follow when a mob of girls got in my way. I maneuvered around them to avoid getting the ribbon-and-lipstick treatment, and by the time I was free, Annabeth had disappeared. I turned a full circle, looking for her or Thalia and Grover. Instead, I saw something that chilled my blood.

About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

Nico winces, rubbing the back of his neck as if he could still feel the grip of the monster/school administrator. 

Hazel gently nudges him in the ribs. “Were those trading cards yours?” She lightly teases.

“I’ll never tell.” Nico forces a small smile on her face. That makes her worry more than his silence.

I still couldn't see Annabeth, but I knew she'd be heading the other way, looking for Thalia and Grover.

I almost ran after her, and then I thought, Wait.

“Uh oh.” Piper says slowly, glancing at the radio. An unsettling feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. 

I remembered what Thalia had said to me in the entry hall, looking at me all puzzled when I asked about the finger-snap trick: Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet? I thought about the way Grover had turned to her, expecting her to save the day.

“This can only end badly.” Jason predicts. 

Not that I resented Thalia. She was cool. It wasn't her fault her dad was Zeus and she got all the attention… Still, I didn't need to run after her to solve every problem. Besides, there wasn't time. The di Angelos were in danger. They might be long gone by the time I found my friends. I knew monsters. I could handle this myself

“Wow… it must be really awful to be the son of one of the lesser big three.” Reyna deadpans.

Hazel raises both of her eyebrows. “I know that you’re joking, but it really is.”

“Especially when your dad isn’t Zeus or Posiedon.” Nico adds. “It’s like, ‘Oh, Hades is your dad. That’s whatever. He was the last of Kronos’ sons to be regurgitated.’” 

Piper shakes her head. “Imagine what those poor Demeter kids must feel.”

I took Riptide out of my pocket and ran after Dr. Thorn.

The door led into a dark hallway. I heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. I uncapped Riptide.

The pen grew in my hands until I held a bronze Greek sword about three feet long with a leather-bound grip. The blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers.

“Why does he always have to rearticulate things that he’s already told us?” Jason asks, wrinkling his nose.

“No idea, it’s weird.” Piper says.

“But, admittedly, helpful.” Leo chimes in. 

I jogged down the corridor, but when I got to the other end, no one was there. I opened a door and found myself back in the main entry hall. I was completely turned around. I didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di Angelo kids. They stood frozen in horror, staring right at me.

I advanced slowly, lowering the tip of my sword. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. What was wrong with them? Where was Dr. Thorn? Maybe he'd sensed the presence of Riptide and retreated. Monsters hated celestial bronze weapons.

“I think that that’s just wishful thinking.” Leo predicts. “The only thing that school administrators are scared of is angry parents.” 

"My name's Percy," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."

Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only too late did I realize what her look meant. She wasn't afraid of me. She was trying to warn me.

“Percy--” Nico hesitates, takes a deep breath, then plows through, “Percy didn’t exactly inspire a lot of terror back then.” 

I whirled around and something went WHI1ISH! Pain exploded in my shoulder. A force like a huge hand yanked me backward and slammed me to the wall.

Piper swallows thickly, her shoulders tense as if she was preparing herself for an attack. 

I slashed with my sword but there was nothing to hit.

A cold laugh echoed through the hall.

"Yes, Perseus Jackson" Dr. Thorn said. His accent mangled the J in my last name. "I know who you are."

Annabeth shakes her head, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “I always find it weird when monsters call him Perseus.” 

I tried to free my shoulder. My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I'd felt something like this before. Poison.

“So… Thorn threw a thorn.” Jason nods, slowly, his eyes distant, looking at something far away. “Sometimes, I hate the world.” 

I forced myself to concentrate. I would not pass out.

A dark silhouette now moved toward us. Dr. Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of my sword.

"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."

“Who doesn’t?” Leo asks, attempting to lighten the atmosphere.

Frank looks at Leo. “Not the time, dude.” 

I tried to swing my sword again, but he was just out of reach.

WHIIIISH! A second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn. He didn't appear to move. It was as if someone invisible were standing behind him, throwing knives.

Next to me, Bianca yelped. The second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, half an inch from her face.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."

Chapter 2: The Vice Principal Gets a Missile Launcher

Notes:

I FINISHED! YAY!

I finished this on friday, but decided to wait until today to at least semi keep on schedule.

plus, happy valentine's day 🥰

ENJOY <3

“He didn’t provide a good enough example of that already?” Piper asks. The joke falls a tad bit flat. Due to the poisoning and all.

I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but he was fast.

Leo sighs deeply. “Let’s hope he’s not too fast.” 

While Frank furrows their eyebrows, confused by that statement, Reyna gives Leo a long, blank look. “What is the matter with you?”

Leo bites his lower lip. “I’m five feet tall. Also… I can’t remember if I took my lexapro last night.”

Maybe I could defend myself if I could get my shield activated. All that it would take was a touch of my wrist-watch. But defending the di Angelo kids was another matter. I needed help, and there was only one way I could think to get it.

I closed my eyes.

“That…” Frank hesitates, clearly trying to follow Percy’s train of thought (which was a scary task, let me tell you), “Is an interesting idea?” He can’t quite keep the question out of his voice.

"What are you doing, Jackson?" hissed Dr. Thorn. "Keep moving!"

I opened my eyes and kept shuffling forward. "It's my shoulder," I lied, trying to sound miserable, which wasn't hard. "It burns."

"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"

Jason shrugs. “It was worth a shot.” Then he cringes. “Shoot, too soon?” Then he cringes again. “Darn.” 

Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate. I pictured Grover's face. I focused on my feelings of fear and danger. Last summer, Grover had created an empathy link between us. He'd sent me visions in my dreams to let me know when he was in trouble. As far as I knew, we were still linked, but I'd never tried to contact Grover before. I didn't even know if it would work while Grover was awake.

Hey, Grover! I thought. Thorn's kidnapping us! He's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac! Help!

Thorn marched us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like a Percy-sicle.

"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride."

“What ride?” Leo asks. “Where are they going?”

"What ride?" Bianca demanded. "Where are you taking us?"

“Wow, look at Bianca asking exactly what I’m thinking.” Leo sighs. “That hasn’t happened in a long time.” 

"Silence, you insufferable girl!"

"Don't talk to my sister that way.'" Nico said. His voice quivered, but I was impressed that he had the guts to say anything at all.

Nico can’t help but feel a small smile tug at his lips. Don’t get me wrong, Nico was totally over Percy, and so deeply in love with his dorky, sunshine boyfriend. 

But, that little kid, still buried within him that had worshiped the heroic Perseus Jackson? That kid was dancing around on the inside that he’d managed to impress the older boy. 

Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive. Meanwhile, I projected my thoughts like crazy—anything to get Grover's attention: Grover! Apples! Tin cans! Get your furry goat behind out here and bring some heavily armed friends!

“Hey, just Grover would have been enough!” Piper defends. 

Annabeth shakes her head. “I love Grover, but I can guarantee that he would not have been enough.” 

"Halt," Thorn said.

The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. At least, I sensed the sea was down there, hundreds of feet below. I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness.

Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, and Bianca caught me.

"Thanks," I murmured.

"What is he?" she whispered. "How do we fight him?"

“That’s a very healthy mindset for a new demigod to have.” Leo appreciates. “During our first monster, I thought I was having a super realistic hallucination from lack of sleep. Literally until my head caught on fire.” 

Frank gently pats Leo’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I think I’ve made it obvious by this point that I am not .” 

"I… I'm working on it."

"I'm scared," Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something—a little metal toy soldier of some kind.

"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn said. "Face me!"

We turned.

Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package—it is ready to deliver."

There was a garbled reply, and I realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy—a monster using a mobile phone.

“‘Walkie-talkie mode’?” Piper asks. 

Jason is blinking rapidly. “‘ Mobile phone ’?” 

Leo shakes his head. “When the hell did this happen? 2008?” 

“No,” Annabeth shakes her head. “It was, like, five years ago, though… I’m not quite sure what year that was…”

I glanced behind me, wondering how far the drop was.

Reyna shrugs. “It probably wouldn’t matter, considering how many times he’s plummeted to his death and survived thus far.” 

Nico nods. “Happens at least once a book.” 

Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."

Hazel narrows her eyes. “I don’t trust the way he said that.” 

"What did he call you?" Bianca muttered.

"I'll explain later," I said.

"You do have a plan, right?"

Grover! I thought desperately. Come to me!

“Sadly, not the worst plan he’s ever come up with.” Reyna sighs. “Anyone else remember how Annabeth had to save them from Cerberus with a red, rubber ball?” 

Leo shakes his head. “No. When did that happen?” 

Maybe I could get both the di Angelos to jump with me into the ocean. If we survived the fall, I could use the water to protect us. I'd done things like that before. If my dad was in a good mood, and listening, he might help. Maybe.

“ Love the confidence.” Piper says sarcastically. “That is exactly how you want to be when contemplating jumping off a cliff with two complete strangers.” 

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said, as if reading my thoughts. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"

“No.” Several people say at once. 

“No idea.” Leo mutters. 

Frank furrows their eyebrows. “Should we?” 

A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible… almost like a tail.

"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead."

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I…" Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."

Nico’s lips thin into a line at Bianca’s words. An old feeling that he has long since buried rose within his chest; Longing and a mix of bitterness turned into a burning cold sensation he hasn’t allowed himself to feel since he was ten years old. 

"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

Hazel rolls her eyes. “Oh, for-- it’s the bitch, isn’t it?”

"Luke," I said. "You work for Luke."

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when I said the name of my old enemy—a former friend who'd tried to kill me several times. "You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

“Hey,” Piper notices. “Hazel, you and Dr. Thorn have the same reaction to Luke.” 

Hazel shrugs. “He may be a soulless monster with a missile launcher tail, but at least he has taste.”

"The General?" I asked. Then I realized I'd said it with a French accent. "I mean… who's the General?"

Leo leans forward, talking to Nico. “Did he really?”

“‘Did he really’, what?” Nico asks, his voice slightly more detached than normal. 

“Say it with a french accent.” 

“I don’t remember.” Nico says, shortly. “I was a little too busy worrying about falling to my death at that point.” 

Hazel reaches for Nico’s hand, but he moves it out of her reach, signaling that he does not want to be touched at the moment. 

Thorn looked toward the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.

Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “Where the hell is Luke getting funding for this?” 

Reyna shrugs, “He lives in America, I’m sure it’s not too hard for him to coerce someone into funding a war.” 

"Where are you taking us?" Nico said.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls."

Leo’s head cocks to the side. “Excuse me? Dolls?” 

Nico slowly turns his head to face Leo. “I can see inside your nightmares.” 

“Question redacted.” 

"They're not dolls! They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And if you do not, well… there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

“Excuse me, sir. This is a children's book. There are impressionable, young ears around here.” Leo places an affronted hand over his heart. 

Hazel presses her lips together. “You’re talking about me, aren’t you?” 

Leo shrugs. “Hey, you said it.” 

"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him talking while I tried to figure out a plan.

"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"Okay," Bianca whispered to me. "He's completely nuts."

“That’s true.” Piper affirms.

“She isn’t wrong.” Hazel says softly, though she keeps an eye on Nico the entire time she speaks. She sees the way his jaw twitches, and eyes glaze over every time that Percy talks about Bianca. 

"We have to jump off the cliff," I told her quietly. "Into the sea."

"Oh, super idea. You're completely nuts, too."

Piper nods. “That is also true. No offense, Annabeth.” 

Annabeth shrugs. “None taken until right now.”

I never got the chance to argue with her, because just then an invisible force slammed into me.

Leo nods slowly. “Intriguing. Please continue.” 

Looking back on it, Annabeth's move was brilliant. Wearing her cap of invisibility, she plowed into the di Angelos and me, knocking us to the ground. For a split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over our heads. This gave Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.

Annabeth can’t stop the small blush that forms on her cheeks from Percy praising her tactic. Thankfully, Piper and Hazel are too preoccupied to notice. 

For now.

If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never been truly frightened. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modeled after one her dad Zeus uses—also called Aegis—a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

“No, seriously, what happened to you?” Reyna asks Jason.

“I happen to think I can look pretty intimidating in battle.” Jason murmurs, attempting to puff out his chest. 

“Well, yeah,” Hazel says. “In the way that you’re a six and a half foot tall white boy with a huge weapon and a scar on your face. But anyone that knows you, knows that you’re actually a huge dork who loves his sister, and school, and tried to eat a stapler when you were a toddler.” 

Jason wrinkles his nose. “I will never forgive Thalia for telling that story to everyone. 

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"

Piper wrinkles her nose. “Ooh, that totally ruined the badass moment. Don’t bring that nasty man into your girlbossing, Thalia.” 

Despite the nearly perfect weather, thunder rumbles in the distance.

“Here we go again.” Jason mutters.

Piper shrugs. “I have no regrets.” 

I thought Dr. Thorn was a goner. Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet.

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look.

Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia, and this time I could see how he did it. He had a tail—a leathery, scorpion like tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.

Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.

“Wooh!” Piper cheers. “That’s my favorite satyr!” 

Leo raises an eyebrow. “I’m telling Coach Hedge.”

Piper quickly amends, “That’s my favorite satyr that I’ve never met in person before.”

Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

“Wait…” Reyna hesitates. “Is that--”

"A manticore!" Annabeth said, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she'd plowed into us.

“That is how my sentence was going to end.” Reyna clarifies. “Just for your information.” 

"Who are you people?" Bianca di Angelo demanded. "And what is that?"

"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

“I actually have a manticore card.” Frank says proudly. 

Nico remains silent, though he whispers, out of the side of his mouth, to Annabeth, “That’s actually pretty cool. Those cards are super rare.” 

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I didn't have time to worry about it. The manticore clawed Grover's magic weeds to shreds then turned toward us with a snarl.

"Get down!" Annabeth pushed the di Angelos flat into the snow. At the last second, I remembered my own shield. I hit my wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon. The thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield, a gift from my brother, was badly damaged. I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley.

Frank pouts. “Tyson made that shield.” 

“He did?” Leo asks. 

“Yes.” Frank replies. “We literally just finished the last book. It’s barely been an hour.” 

“I’m sorry Frank, not everyone has the pleasure of being lactose intolerant.” 

I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Grover landed next to me with a thud.

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind us. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

“Mortals work with monsters all the fucking time.” Reyna grumbles. “At least this one is honest about being a monster.” 

"No!" I ran out to help her. I parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest. I raised my shield over us, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. We had no chance.

Then I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.

“That’s… random.” Leo says slowly. “Does nobody else think that that is random?” 

Annabeth shakes her head. “No, it was very random, but welcome due to the  circumstances.” 

The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades.

"No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder.

“It’s not just me, right? This is super abrupt?” Leo asks the rest of the group. “I haven’t missed a huge portion of what just happened?” 

“You have not missed a single thing.” Jason agrees. “I mean you might have, but it is a very drastic change in narrative.”

He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

Piper sighs deeply. “This is hell with adhd. I would be super confused too, if half of my attention wasn’t already on the road.”

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but my eyes must've been playing tricks on me. No one, not even Apollo's kids at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.

Jason leans forward in his seat. “I’m sorry, did you just say only half of your attention is on driving.” 

Piper waves him off.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. I tried to swipe at him with my sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged my attack and slammed his tail into my shield, knocking me aside.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, like me. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

Leo breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m at least glad that I already know about the Hunters and are aware of who they are. Otherwise, this would be way more confusing.” 

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Gosh, imagine hearing this for the first time and not having any idea who the Hunters are, or what this meant.” 

“ So confusing.” Leo stresses.

Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, wonderful."

I didn't have a chance to ask what she meant.

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. "Permission to kill, my lady?"

Annabeth looks affronted. “Wow… he’s pretty liberal with the description of ‘princess’.” 

“But…” Nico hesitates. “Wasn’t she actually a princess or something?” 

“Stop trying to be rational, di Angelo.” 

I couldn't tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore.

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," another girl said. This one was a little younger than me, maybe twelve or thirteen. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silvery yellow like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made me catch my breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoe, permission granted."

Leo narrows his eyes, obviously deep in thought. His face resembled the meme of the woman doing math. “Hunting. Ancient laws. Moon eyes-- Holy crap! Is that Artemis?” 

Nobody answers, though Piper mentally cheers Leo on for his use of context clues. 

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at Thalia and me, knowing we were weak and dazed.

"No.'" Annabeth yelled, and she charged at the monster.

"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet said. "Get out of the line of fire!"

But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.

“Annabeth,” Leo says slowly. “What were you doing? That sounds like a plan that I would make. You don’t want to be like that.” 

Annabeth rolls her eyes at him. “You may not believe this, Leo, but I have just as much adhd, impulsive, bullheadedness as you do.” She hesitates, as she remembers being spun around and bucked on the Manticore like she was riding a mechanical bull. “Maybe even more.” 

"Fire!" Zoe ordered.

"No!" I screamed.

But the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"

And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.

“What the damn hell?” Piper yells, her mouth dropped open. 

“Holy crap,” Reyna mutters. “ Annabeth fell off the cliff. I did not see that coming.” 

Annabeth shakes her head, rubbing the middle of her forehead. “Neither did I.” 

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

I started to run after her, but our enemies weren't done with us. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire.

“They realize they’re firing on children, right?” Frank asks the car. “They are all, literally , children.”

Reyna shakes her head. “Fucking Americans.” 

Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.

"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness my hunt."

She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust—no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds—ravens, which scattered into the night.

Jason narrows his eyes. “He mistook a flock of birds for dust?”

“He was probably just remembering it wrong as he recalled it, that’s not what’s important.” Leo waves Jason off. “What the hell happened to the people on the helicopter?” 

“ No .” Frank says, “I’m pretty sure the important question we should be asking is, what happened to Annabeth ?” 

The Hunters advanced on us.

The one called Zoe stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she said with distaste.

"Zoe Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

“Zoe…” Hazel trails off, furrowing her eyebrows. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before. I don’t know why.”

Zoe scanned the rest of us. "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

"Yes," the younger girl said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Annabeth!" I yelled. "You have to let us save her!"

The auburn-haired girl turned toward me. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."

“Wha-- No! She’s right here!” Piper exclaims, gesturing wildly in the general direction of Annabeth, nearly hitting Hazel in the face. “She’s clearly not beyond help!” 

I tried to struggle to my feet, but a couple of the girls held me down.

"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl said.

“Is there a proper condition to hurl yourself off of a cliff?” Leo asks, his face scrunched in confusion. “Asking for a friend.”

Choosing to ignore that second part, Reyna answers, “Considering how often Percy finds himself plummeting to his doom, the condition might just be, being Percy Jackson.” 

"Let me go!" I demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

Jason’s eyes widened. “Uh oh.”

Zoe stepped forward as if to smack me.

"No," the other girl ordered. "I sense no disrespect, Zoe. He is simply distraught. He does not understand." The young girl looked at me, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "I am Artemis," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

Notes:

I'm really sorry, school has been a little more difficult than i thought, which is sad for me since i really only have three classes full semester, but that's whatever lol. ofc i have an 8 am class this semester, and if you've been here for a while you know that i have night owl tendencies, and the clois brain rot is so bad you guys don't even know.

i know that there weren't a lot of reactions this time around, but i really have no idea how to react to fight scenes. and they're so common place to these kids, that i genuinely don't see them having lots of thoughts on the actual fight scenes.

also, pls note that this book is SO different than any of the others. like both annabeth and nico make appearances, but for the most part, the only person whose perspective we're getting is PERCY'S and add that to the MULTIPLE unhealed traumas introduced in this book... it's A LOT!

anyways sorry for the ramblings, i'm a little sleepy right now.

until next time <3

Chapter 3: Bianca di Angelo Makes a Choice

Notes:

ENJOY <3

Leo’s mouth drops open. “I can’t believe I actually got that before she said it! My understanding of context clues is improving! Screw you, Mrs. Dunne!” He yells at the fifth grade teacher that told him he would never improve. In anything. Then Leo sobers, “May you rest in peace.” 

After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth, you'd think nothing else could shock me. But when this twelve-year-old girl told me she was the goddess Artemis, I said something real intelligent like, "Um… okay."

“Um…” Hazel says slowly, raising a hand. “I’m still dealing with the whole, Annabeth-just-fell-off-of-a-cliff thing. I think that the kid goddess is the least weird thing about this story.” 

That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"

“That’s how I imagine Piper would react to seeing Grover in person for the first time.” Reyna  comments.

“It’s the circle of stanning, Reyna.” Piper says wisely, though her fingers are anxiously tapping on the steering wheel. “The circle of stanning.” 

"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is gone!"

“I wasn’t gonna say anything…” Piper says slowly. “So, I’m glad that Thalia did.” 

Frank’s eyebrows raise up. “You’re disagreeing with something that Grover did?”

“One of my best friends just fell off of a cliff!” 

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out." Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"

Leo golf claps. “Good for Bianca. Always asking the smart questions.” 

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you? Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.

“She was the first goddess I ever saw, sue me for being a little awestruck.” Nico huffs.

“Hey, it’s cool.” Reyna reassures him. “Mr. D can’t always be around to disillusion every new demigod to what the gods are like.” 

“Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…" She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.

"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

"You are a half-blood," Zoe Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

"An Olympian… athlete?"

“No, but that would be super cool.” Leo says, then scrunches up his face. “Except… then they’d probably expect us to also be an athlete. And train. So much exercise. Ugh. That sounds terrible.” 

Frank blinks at Leo. “That was a real journey you just went through.” 

"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."

"Cool!" said Nico.

Nico shakes his head. “Oh, you poor, naive, little bastard.”

Hazel looks at him. “I’ve never heard you curse before.” 

“It’s not a curse word if it was used in the bible.” Nico says, tapping his temple.

"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"

Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"

Nico remains ramrod straight, feeling heat creep into his cheeks at the unflattering, yet unfortunately accurate, impression of ten year old him. 

Thankfully, only Annabeth and Hazel see the redness on his face, and neither are going to mention it.

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game, okay? There are no gods!"

“I wish.” A few people mumble under their breaths, but nobody can tell whose mouths the words came from. 

As anxious as I felt about Annabeth—all I wanted to do was search for her—I couldn't help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. I remembered what it was like for me when I first learned I was a demigod.

Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a little bit. "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are dangerous."

“That’s an understatement.” Jason mutters under his breath. “We’ve had to fight in three different wars in less than a decade.” 

Annabeth nods. “Yeah, and that was just in our world of gods. Who knows what’s going on with other deities.” 

"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."

Leo narrows his eyes. “Her name is Annabeth. Show some respect to our mother.” 

Annabeth rolls her eyes, but puts one of her hands towards the back seats, and Leo quickly latches onto it, squeezing her hand. 

Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained.

"Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

Annabeth blinks several times. “I wasn’t dead. Why-- why was she using past tense?” 

"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" I asked.

"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

Frank leans forward, hands on their knees. “But… she’s right here !” He says, gesturing emphatically to Annabeth. 

I still wanted to jump off the cliff and search for her, but I had a feeling that Artemis was right. Annabeth was gone. If she'd been down there in the sea, I thought, I'd be able to feel her presence.

Piper shakes her head. “Not loving the way they all keep saying ‘gone’. ‘Gone’ is the term my dad used when telling me my grandpa died.” 

Hazel scrunches up her face. “Is nobody going to comment on the fact that Percy just said that he wanted to jump off of a cliff? No? Just me?” 

Annabeth shakes her head, curls bouncing. “I… can’t focus too hard on that, or I’m going to mention it to him, and I think we all agreed we mention this only in Elysium, right?”

“Right.” The car chimes.

"Oo!" Nico raised his hand. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him with arrows! Is he dead?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."

“But if he dissolved… what happened to Annabeth?” Piper asks. She whips her head to look at Annabeth. “What happened to you?”

"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.

Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"

Hazel blinks several times. “I’m sorry, what?” 

"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."

“So, that’s it? We’re just skipping over that whole ‘guys tried to attack us in an alley’ thing?” Hazel asks. 

Leo nods. “It would appear so.” 

"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be half-bloods."

“Maybe not the best time to mention that a grown man has been stalking them for the past several months.” Jason murmurs. 

The ‘Annabeth Problem’ really must be weighing on Piper’s mind, because she didn’t say anything to that comment. Not even a ‘ Put some respect on his name ’ or something. 

It was concerning. 

"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"

"Well, a satyr, actually." He kicked off his shoes and displayed his goat hooves. I thought Bianca was going to faint right there.

"Grover, put your shoes back on," Thalia said. "You're freaking her out."

Annabeth shrugs. “At least she met him when he was still wearing pants out in public.” 

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

Jason furrows his eyebrows, leaning forward until his elbows rest on his knees. “Come again?” 

“You did not mishear me.” Annabeth replies. 

"Bianca," I said, "we came here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," I said. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

"Sweet, let's go!" said Nico.

“You were so agreeable as a child.” Leo notices. “What happened to you?”

Reyna lightly elbows Leo in the side. She didn’t know much about Nico’s past, but she had a feeling that whatever occurred in this story explained a lot about her freaky (and she means that in the most affectionate way) little friend. 

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't—"

"There is another option," Zoe said.

Piper’s eyebrows rise to her hairline. “Wait a second...” 

"No, there isn't!" Thalia said.

Frank’s eyebrows furrow. “I am confused.”

Leo leans closer to Frank. “So am I.”

“Kind of par from the course, Valdez.” 

“Shut up, Zhang.”

They both speak with an underlayer of affection that only they and people who have spent quite a lot of time with them could understand. 

Thalia and Zoe glared at each other. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I could tell there was bad history between them. For some reason, they seriously hated each other.

Nico snorts. “You don’t say. Even I could tell that back then, and I was…” The small amount of good humor in his face disappears, and color slowly returns to his cheeks. “Well… you’ve seen him.” 

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis announced. "Zoe, we will rest here for a few hours. Raise the tents. Treat the wounded. Retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady."

"And, Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you."

“Oh, my gods.” Piper says slowly, clearly catching on to why exactly Artemis wants to talk to Bianca. 

“What?” Leo asks, leaning forward. “What’s happening? Why do I never know what is happening?” 

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis considered the boy. "Perhaps you can show Grover how to play that card game you enjoy. I'm sure Grover would be happy to entertain you for a while… as a favor to me?"

Grover just about tripped over himself getting up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Nico harrumphs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Typical.” He looks particularly deflated at the fact that Grover was talking to him only as a favor to Artemis. So she could talk to Bianca in peace. So many gut punches in so little time. 

Nico and Grover walked off toward the woods, talking about hit points and armor ratings and a bunch of other geeky stuff. Artemis led a confused-looking Bianca along the cliff. The Hunters began unpacking their knapsacks and making camp.

Zoe gave Thalia one more evil look, then left to oversee things.

As soon as she was gone, Thalia stamped her foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so… Argh!"

Jason presses his lips into a thin line. “Irony.” 

"I'm with you," I said. "I don't trust—"

"Oh, you're with me?" Thalia turned on me furiously. "What were you thinking back there in the gym, Percy? You'd take on Dr. Thorn all by yourself? You knew he was a monster! If we'd stuck together, we could've taken him without the Hunters getting involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you think of that?"

Annabeth blinks a few times, her eyes glinting. “Thalia, I love you, but shut the fuck up. He blames himself enough for things that aren’t his fault without you lashing out. I don’t blame Percy, you don’t blame Percy.”

My jaw clenched. I thought of some harsh things to say, and I might've said them too, but then I looked down and saw something navy blue lying in the snow at my feet. Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.

Annabeth’s face softens, “Seaweed Brain.” She says softly.

“You find that cute, but have not reacted to any of his compliments to you throughout the other two books?” Frank asks, their head cocked to the side like a curious puppy. 

“Frank, think about it. Percy Jackson didn’t say what was on his mind, because of the thought of Annabeth.” Piper explains.

Thalia didn't say another word. She wiped a tear from her cheek, turned, and marched off, leaving me alone with a trampled cap in the snow.

“Wow, that’s true love.” Frank says softly.

Hazel nods. “Now you get it.” 

The Hunters set up their camping site in a matter of minutes. Seven large tents, all of silver silk, curved in a crescent around one side of a bonfire. One of the girls blew a silver dog whistle, and a dozen white wolves appeared out of the woods. They began circling the camp like guard dogs. The Hunters walked among them and fed them treats, completely unafraid, but I decided I would stick close to the tents. Falcons watched us from the trees, their eyes flashing in the firelight, and I got the feeling they were on guard duty, too. Even the weather seemed to bend to the goddess's will. The air was still cold, but the wind died down and the snow stopped falling, so it was almost pleasant sitting by the fire.

Almost… except for the pain in my shoulder and the guilt weighing me down. I couldn't believe Annabeth was gone. And as angry as I was at Thalia, I had a sinking feeling that she was right. It was my fault.

Annabeth grumbles. “See, now the guilt trip is starting.”

“If only he felt more guilty for all the times he broke the plumbing on the Argo.” Leo mutters under his breath. Annabeth turns to glare at him. “What? I was thinking aloud, I never said it to him.” 

What had Annabeth wanted to tell me in the gym? Something serious, she'd said. Now I might never find out. I thought about how we'd danced together for half a song, and my heart felt even heavier.

Hazel sniffles, and wipes an invisible tear from her cheek. “I never lose.” 

Piper’s eyebrows furrow. “Annabeth literally fell off of a cliff.” 

“But she’s never far, Pipes. She’s never far.” 

I watched Thalia pacing in the snow at the edge of camp, walking among the wolves without fear. She stopped and looked back at Westover Hall, which was now completely dark, looming on the hillside beyond the woods. I wondered what she was thinking.

Seven years ago, Thalia had been turned into a pine tree by her father, to prevent her from dying. She'd stood her ground against an army of monsters on top of Half-Blood Hill in order to give her friends Luke and Annabeth time to escape. She'd only been back as a human for a few months now, and once in a while she would stand so motionless you'd think she was still a tree.

Leo snorts so hard that he bursts into a splutter of coughs. “Oh, my gods!” He wheezes in between coughs. “She does do that! I never put it together before now.” 

“That’s my sister.” Jason deadpans.

“Right.” Leo takes a deep breath, attempting to gain control of himself. “You know her habits.” 

Finally, one of the Hunters brought me my backpack. Grover and Nico came back from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up my wounded arm.

Leo, leans closer to Jason, who still does not look particularly happy about the ‘tree incident’. “Did you remember that he hurt his arm?” 

"It's green!" Nico said with delight.

Frank cocks their head to the side. “Okay, maybe you haven’t changed all that much.” They concede. 

"Hold still," Grover told me. "Here, eat some ambrosia while I clean that out."

I winced as he dressed the wound, but the ambrosia square helped. It tasted like homemade brownie, dissolving in my mouth and sending a warm feeling through my whole body. Between that and the magic salve Grover used, my shoulder felt better within a couple of minutes.

Nico rummaged through his own bag, which the Hunters had apparently packed for him, though how they'd snuck into Westover Hall unseen, I didn't know. Nico laid out a bunch of figurines in the snow—little battle replicas of Greek gods and heroes. I recognized Zeus with a lightning bolt, Ares with a spear, Apollo with his sun chariot.

Hazel can’t help but smile, and knocks her shoulder against Nico. “You were such a dork.” 

Nico sniffs. “I prefer the term ‘geek’. It’s more accurate.”

"Big collection," I said.

Nico grinned. "I've got almost all of them, plus their holographic cards! Well, except for a few really rare ones."

"You've been playing this game a long time?"

"Just this year. Before that…" He knit his eyebrows.

Frank looks astounded. “You did all that in a year? It took me three to cultivate my collection. That’s awesome .” 

Reyna blinks several times, and takes a deep breath. “I am surrounded by geeks.” 

“Thank you for using the correct term.” Nico tells her, though he refuses to look at anybody. 

"What?" I asked.

"I forget. That's weird."

“That is weird.” Leo agrees. “For Nico, at least.” 

“Yeah,” Jason agrees. “He’s still holding a grudge against me for that one time I accidentally fed him meat on a Friday of Lent.” 

“I’ll hold a grudge against you for talking about me like I can’t hear you, so shut it!” Nico huffs. 

He looked unsettled, but it didn't last long. "Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"

I showed him Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it.

"Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?"

"Um, well, I don't actually write with it."

“Yet.” Annabeth adds under her breath. 

"Are you really the son of Poseidon?"

"Well, yeah."

"Can you surf really well, then?"

I looked at Grover, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried."

“Yet.” Annabeth repeats. “Right answers, wrong timing.” 

He went on asking questions. Did I fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (I didn't answer that one.) If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? (I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.)

A few people, try (and fail) not to let out surprised laughs. Even Annabeth was forced to choke out a chuckle at the second question, 

“Wow,” Piper mutters. “And here I thought Leo’s brain to mouth filter was broken.”

“I know, right.” Leo agrees, leaning forward in his seat. 

I figured any second he was going to ask me how many hit points I had, and I'd lose my cool completely, but then Zoe Nightshade came up to us.

"Percy Jackson."

She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that I had to resist the urge to sit up straight and say "Yes, ma'am." She studied me distastefully, like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch.

“That is an accurate description of what happened.” Nico attests. 

"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."

Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Bianca di Angelo was seated next to the auburn-haired girl, who I still had trouble thinking of as Artemis.

“Ares’ eyes are literally burning fires, and Aphrodite takes on all kinds of forms depending on who you are, and what you find attractive, and the twelve year old goddess is tripping him up.” Hazel shakes her head. “I will never understand men.” 

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.

Leo gasps. 

“No.” Reyna says.

"Join us, Percy Jackson," the goddess said.

“What?” Jason asks, confused.

I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. She had such old eyes for a young girl.

“No, Leo can not get a pet deer.” Reyna clarifies.

Leo splutters “How did you-- I wasn’t-- Why would you-- fine… ”

"Are you surprised by my age?" she asked.

"Uh… a little."

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray."

Piper’s mouth drops open. “The average age of girls that run away with Artemis and take on immortality is twelve ?” 

Annabeth shrugs. “I think it’s more of a median age, but yes.” 

"Go astray?" I asked.

"Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves."

Frank narrows his eyes. “I was insecure way before I turned twelve, so I think that that is an inaccurate statistic.” 

Hazel nods. “And Annabeth was already smitten with Percy by that age.” 

Annabeth wrinkles her nose. “I have neither confirmed nor denied that statement.” 

"Oh."

Zoe sat down at Artemis's right. She glared at me as if all the stuff Artemis had just said was my fault, like I'd invented the idea of being a guy.

“Percy did not, in fact, invent the idea of being a guy.” Leo says in a monotone, vaguely British voice. The rest of the backseat gives him looks. “What? You know we would have hated ourselves if nobody did it!” 

"You must forgive my Hunters if they do not welcome you," Artemis said. "It is very rare that we would have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp…" She looked at Zoe. "Which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoe said. "You turned him into a jackalope."

Piper sighs deeply. “You know the world is really messed up when she’s one of the more reasonable Olympian gods.” 

"Ah, yes." Artemis nodded, satisfied. "I enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca has reported some of the… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you."

And so I told her.

When I was done, Artemis put her hand thoughtfully on her silver bow. "I feared this was the answer."

“What was the answer?” Leo asks. “Why is everything so vague and confusing in this one?” 

“I agree with Leo.” Frank says. “And that is not a statement that I make lightly.” 

Zoe sat forward. "The scent, my lady?"

"Yes."

"What scent?" I asked.

“At least Percy also seems confused.” Jason says. 

Leo shakes his head. “Not much of a consolation.” 

“Misery loves company.”

“That’s a stupid saying. Who wants company when they’re miserable? No, miserable people love being put out of misery. Company is just annoying.” 

"Things are stirring that I have not hunted in millennia," Artemis murmured. "Prey so old I have nearly forgotten." She stared at me intently. "We came here tonight sensing the manticore, but he was not the one I seek. Tell me again, exactly what Dr. Thorn said."

"Um, 'I hate middle school dances.'"

Hazel shakes her head. “His memory is actually kind of insane.” 

"No, no. After that."

"He said somebody called the General was going to explain things to me."

Reyna rolls her eyes. “And yet, he always seems to ‘forget’ when I tell him that Blackjack is not allowed in the New Rome Donut Shop…”

Zoe's face paled. She turned to Artemis and started to say something, but Artemis raised her hand.

"Go on, Percy," the goddess said.

"Well, then Thorn was talking about the Great Stir Pot—"

"Stirring," Bianca corrected.

“See, it’s times like this when thinking should come before speaking.” Jason tells the group.

Piper narrows her eyes. “Why are you getting cranky? It’s not your bedtime yet.” 

"Yeah. And he said, 'Soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus.'"

The goddess was so still she could've been a statue.

"Maybe he was lying," I said.

“Unlikely.” Reyna says, wrinkling her nose, and shaking her head. 

Frank shrugs. “Ignorance is bliss.”

“Ignorance is death.”  

Artemis shook her head. "No. He was not. I've been too slow to see the signs. I must hunt this monster."

Zoe looked like she was trying very hard not to be afraid, but she nodded. "We will leave right away, my lady."

"No, Zoe. I must do this alone."

Leo sighs. “That’s what everyone in horror movies say before they die.” 

“She’s a goddess, she can’t die.” Hazel reminds him. 

“Still, I don’t trust it.” 

"But, Artemis—"

"This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me."

“Where is she--” Leo cuts himself off. “You know what, I’m gonna stop asking questions that I am clearly not going to get the answers to.” 

Annabeth nods approvingly. “Smart.” 

"As… as you wish, my lady."

“I will find this creature," Artemis vowed. "And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."

Piper’s eyebrows raise. “Wait, are the gods still pretending that the whole Kronos thing isn’t happening? That was a rhetorical question, by the way.” She quickly adds before anyone can answer her. 

"You know what the monster is?" I asked.

Artemis gripped her bow. "Let us pray I am wrong."

“Can goddesses pray?” Frank asks, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying to figure out a complex math problem. 

"Can goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that.

Frank smiles, tapping a finger to his temple, and giggles. “Great minds.” 

A flicker of a smile played across Artemis's lips. "Before I go, Percy Jackson, I have a small task for you."

"Does it involve getting turned into a jackalope?"

“Why should that matter?” Reyna asks, shrugging. “You’ve already been turned into a guinea pig.” 

Annabeth shakes her head. “Oh, you think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

Reyna allows a smirk to play on her lips. “Oh, I know that I’m funny.” 

"Sadly, no. I want you to escort the Hunters back to Camp Half-Blood. They can stay there in safety until I return."

"What?" Zoe blurted out. "But, Artemis, we hate that place. The last time we stayed there—"

“Ooh!” Leo rubs his hands together. “I’m sensing a fun story.” 

"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But I'm sure Dionysus will not hold a grudge just because of a little, ah, misunderstanding. It's your right to use Cabin Eight whenever you are in need. Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down."

Jason’s head whips around. “The cabins that they what ?” 

Zoe muttered something about foolish campers.

“That’s it? We don’t get the good story?” Leo’s voice takes on a whiny quality. 

“Nope.” Hazel replies. “We’re stuck with this one.”

Leo groans. “ Fine .” 

"And now there is one last decision to make." Artemis turned to Bianca. "Have you made up your mind, my girl?"

Bianca hesitated. "I'm still thinking about it."

Piper whispers under her breath, “Thinking about-- oh, shit.” Her eyes quickly dart over to Nico, before quickly darting back to the road. It was starting to pour, after all. 

"Wait," I said. "Thinking about what?"

"They… they've invited me to join the Hunt."

“Oh.” The exhalation echoes throughout the car. Most of the occupants try their best not to look at Nico, whose face has gone hard and impassive. 

"What? But you can't! You have to come to Camp Half-Blood so Chiron can train you. It's the only way you can learn to survive."

"It is not the only way for a girl," Zoe said.

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. "Bianca, camp is cool! It's got a pegasus stable and a sword-fighting arena and… I mean, what do you get by joining the Hunters?"

Annabeth shakes her head. “Never ask questions you don’t know the answer to.”

Piper sighs. “Yeah, he totally set us up for that one.” 

"To begin with," Zoe said, "immortality."

Leo raises a finger. “Can we get her on our side?” 

I stared at her, then at Artemis. "She's kidding, right?"

"Zoe rarely kids about anything," Artemis said. "My Hunters follow me on my adventures. They are my maidservants, my companions, my sisters-in-arms. Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal… unless they fall in battle, which is unlikely. Or break their oath."

Nico winces at ‘unless they fall in battle ’. Hazel, noticing this, feels ice cold dread fill her chest.

"What oath?" I said.

"To foreswear romantic love forever," Artemis said. "To never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."

“This sounds like one of those mid 2010 female remakes of Peter Pan.” Leo mutters. “You know, like they did with Ghost Busters.”

Nico cocks his head to the side, and deadpans. “Are you saying that Percy is the Chris Hemsworth of this scenario?” 

Leo shrugs. “Maybe.” 

"Like you?"

The goddess nodded.

I tried to imagine what she was saying. Being immortal. Hanging out with only middle-school girls forever. I couldn't get my mind around it. "So you just go around the country recruiting half-bloods—"

Piper wrinkles her nose. “I’m with him. Middle school girls are actually the worst. Speaking as a former middle school girl.”  

"Not just half-bloods," Zoe interrupted. "Lady Artemis does not discriminate by birth. All who honor the goddess may join. Half-bloods, nymphs, mortals—"

"Which are you, then?"

“Smooth.” Leo mutters sarcastically. 

“I’ve seen you do similar things dozens of times.” Jason comments. 

Leo nods. “Which is why I am particularly suitable to comment.” 

Anger flashed in Zoe's eyes. "That is not thy concern, boy. The point is Bianca may join if she wishes. It is her choice."

"Bianca, this is crazy," I said. "What about your brother? Nico can't be a Hunter."

"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do."

“That’s nice.” Piper comments, dryly. 

"Hey!" I protested.

"You can see him from time to time," Artemis assured Bianca. "But you will be free of responsibility. He will have the camp counselors to take care of him. And you will have a new family. Us."

The more that Nico hears, the stonier his face becomes. Only looking into his eyes would reveal the torment that hearing this story was causing him. 

"A new family," Bianca repeated dreamily. "Free of responsibility."

Hazel gently wraps one of her arms around Nico’s elbow, and presses her cheek against his t-shirt covered bicep. 

"Bianca, you can't do this," I said. "It's nuts."

She looked at Zoe. "Is it worth it?"

Zoe nodded. "It is."

"What do I have to do?"

Frank blinks several times. “That’s it? That’s the end of the conversation?” 

"Say this," Zoe told her, "'I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis.'"

"I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"'I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt.'"

Leo scrunches up his face. “What’s weird about this oath, though, is that it doesn’t mention at all, giving up romance. Just men. Yet, Hunters have to leave the Hunt if they fall in love with each other.” 

“That’s such a good point, Leo.” Piper says, raising one fist in the air. “Let the Hunters be lesbians!” 

Bianca repeated the lines. "That's it?"

Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts thy pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept it," Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. Bianca looked no different, but she took a deep breath and opened her eyes wide. "I feel… stronger."

"Welcome, sister," Zoe said.

Nico lets his facade fall down for just a second, wincing at the word, ‘sister’. 

Without saying anything, Annabeth reaches out, and pats Nico’s right shoulder. He tilts his head, ever so slightly, as a way to acknowledge the gesture.

"Remember your pledge," Artemis said. "It is now your life."

“Seems like a kind of big decision to make at, what, twelve years old?” Leo says. 

Nico nods, slowly. “Yeah,” He replies, his voice scratchy. “She was twelve.” 

I couldn't speak. I felt like a trespasser. And a complete failure. I couldn't believe I'd come all this way and suffered so much only to lose Bianca to some eternal girls' club.

"Do not despair, Percy Jackson," Artemis said. "You will still get to show the di Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there."

"Great," I said, trying not to sound surly. "How are we supposed to get there?"

Artemis closed her eyes. "Dawn is approaching. Zoe, break camp. You must get to Long Island quickly and safely. I shall summon a ride from my brother."

Jason’s eyebrows raise to his hairline. “Her… brother.” He says slowly. He remembers all of Percy’s interactions with Zeus’ many sons. “Gods, I really hope she’s referring to Apollo.”

Zoe didn't look real happy about this idea, but she nodded and told Bianca to follow her. As she was leaving, Bianca paused in front of me. "I'm sorry, Percy. But I want this. I really, really do."

Then she was gone, and I was left alone with the twelve-year-old goddess.

"So," I said glumly. "We're going to get a ride from your brother, huh?"

“Y’know, what?” Piper asks. “I kind of miss that dude, this should be fun.” 

Leo shakes his head. “I can’t believe she’s letting him drive around a bunch of kids, though. Dude is a scary driver.” 

Artemis's silver eyes gleamed. "Yes, boy. You see, Bianca di Angelo is not the only one with an annoying brother. It's time for you to meet my irresponsible twin, Apollo."

Notes:

yeah, so this was... idk, but it's finished.

i have so many... ungood feelings about this chapter, just bc there's so little information that you actually get, at least in the beginning.

I hope you guys like it, at least. pls lmk your thoughts.

Until next time <3

Chapter 4: Thalia Torches New England

Notes:

I'M FINALLY BACK!!!

Enjoy <3

Nico can’t quite hide his glum facial expression at being referred to as ‘Bianca’s annoying brother’ by the literal goddess, Artemis. 

Frank leans forward. “Just so you know, dude, I don’t think that you’re annoying. If I knew you back then, I would totally want to be your friend.”

“Thanks, Frank. That means a lot.” Nico says it in a deadpan voice, but he means his words sincerely. 

Artemis assured us that dawn was coming, but you could've fooled me. It was colder and darker and snowier than ever. Up on the hill, Westover Hall's windows were completely lightless. I wondered if the teachers had even noticed the di Angelos and Dr. Thorn were missing yet. I didn't want to be around when they did. With my luck, the only name Mrs. Gottschalk would remember was "Percy Jackson," and then I'd be the subject of a nationwide manhunt… again.

“Again.” Several people happen to say at the exact same time that the recording of Percy says the word. 

Leo lets out a low whistle. “That was a freaky coincidence.” 

“ Coincidence ?” Piper asks, raising one finger up in the air to wag at Leo through the rearview mirror. “I think not!” 

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. I stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who didn't seem to feel at all uncomfortable), and Artemis stared into the east like she was expecting something. Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. I could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt. I couldn't help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her brother like that.

“Y’know…” Jason swallows thickly, trying to find the right words to comfort Nico. “I get it. Having a sister that’s a Hunter isn’t easy…” 

Nico nods. “Yeah, but the difference is, your sister joined the Hunt, still thinking that you had died. My sister joined to get away from me.” 

Jason nods absentmindedly, his brain working to find something better to say. “Right…”

Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around me, anxious to hear what had happened in my audience with the goddess.

When I told them, Grover turned pale. "The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."

“Really?” Reyna deadpans. “And here I thought all of that talk about arson meant that they all had a great time.” 

"How'd they even show up here?" I wondered. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca joined them," Thalia said, disgusted. "It's all Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good—"

"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.

Piper’s head cocks to the side. “Is Grover in love? With Artemis? The eternal maiden?”

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “It’s more like a celebrity crush. She’s into nature, and also looks younger than she really is, just like Grover. It’s not that deep.” 

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

“Hmm…” Leo says under his breath. “Maybe I have more in common with Grover than I realized.” 

"But she's so… into nature," Grover swooned.

"You're nuts," said Thalia.

"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."

Finally the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

Hazel nods slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense.” 

Nico sighs. “It’s a family trait. Will goes from working 10 hours in the infirmary to only 8 in the winter.

"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked.

"For my brother. Yes."

I didn't want to be rude. I mean, I knew the legends about Apollo—or sometimes Helios—driving a big sun chariot across the sky. But I also knew that the sun was really a star about a zillion miles away. I'd gotten used to some of the Greek myths being true, but still… I didn't see how Apollo could drive the sun.

“What the fuck is a ‘Helios’?” Leo asks. 

“He was the Titan of the sun. Apollo took his job. And his symbol.” Annabeth explains. 

Leo presses his lips together. “Wow. I now feel bad for Helios.” 

“Yeah,” Annabeth nods. “Helios really got the short end of the stick in his immortal life.” 

"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said, like she was reading my mind.

"Oh, okay." I started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a—"

Reyna shakes her head. “I can already tell that whatever he’s about to say is what Apollo will be pulling up in.” 

Frank nods. “That would be consistent from what we’ve seen so far.” 

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth.

"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."

Parks?

I averted my eyes, and saw that the other kids were doing the same. The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was melting off of me. Then suddenly the light died.

I looked. And I couldn't believe it. It was my car. Well, the car I wanted, anyway. A red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was so awesome it glowed. Then I realized it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why I was now standing on green grass and my shoes were wet.

Annabeth shakes her head slowly, resting her head in the palm of her hand. “He’s an idiot.” She whispers fondly. “I love him so much.”

The driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke, my old enemy. This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks. But it wasn't Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Luke didn't do much more than scowl and sneer these days.) The Maserati driver wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.

“If Percy was thinking about Luke when he saw Apollo for the first time, does that mean that he thought that he had a crush on Apollo?” Piper asks, his eyes narrowed. 

“No.” Hazel says with utter certainty. “He is way too focused on the Annabeth situation to be anything other than clinical right now.”

"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

“Sweet Home Alabama.” Leo sing-songs, wrinkling his nose. 

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant."

“It’s official,” Piper sighs. “All Big Three kids have a thing for blondes.”

“I don’t.” Jason pipes up. 

"Little sister!" Apollo called. If his teeth were any whiter he could've blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

Leo shakes his head. “That’s because you are blonde. Everybody knows that two blondes can’t date, it just doesn’t work like that.”

“Also, you’re Roman.” Piper adds on. “You don’t count.” 

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister."

“Thanks?” Jason phrases it like a question. 

“You’re welcome.” Leo and Piper chime, clearly ignoring Jason’s question mark. 

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—"

"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

Reyna sighs deeply. “Not the attempted mansplaining of archery to the goddess of archery and her followers.” 

Hazel shakes her head. “Sometimes men are the worst.”

“I feel like that’s an uncalled for generalization.” Jason says.

At the same exac time, Reyna asks, “ Sometimes ?” 

Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

The Hunters all groaned. Apparently they'd met Apollo before.

The entire car groans. They, too, had all met Apollo before, in varying degrees of intensity. 

He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically. "Green grass breaks through snow. Artemis pleads for my help. I am so cool." He grinned at us, waiting for applause.

“That wasn’t five syllables.” Frank points out. “I should know. I was great at Haikus in primary school.” 

"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.

Apollo frowned. "Was it?"

"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"

Frank shakes his head. “And that is six syllables.” 

Jason presses his lips into a thin line. “Right… That is the problem with that suggestion.” 

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself.

Frank looks at Jason triumphantly. 

“I stand corrected.” 

Zoe Nightshade turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, There once was a goddess from Sparta—"

"I've got it!" Apollo announced. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself. "And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo checked us out. "Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

“ Thalia blushed ?” Leo asks in surprise.

“Or she could’ve been lightly sunburned,” Nico comments. “We were standing way too close to that car.” 

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—"

“Calls her his sister and pretty within one breath.” Annabeth observes. “Yeah… that seems about right for this family.”

"Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."

"Oh, right." Then he looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah. I mean… yes, sir."

It seemed weird calling a teenager "sir," but I'd learned to be careful with immortals. They tended to get offended easily. Then they blew stuff up.

“Yes…” Frank says slowly. “But to be completely fair, that same description could easily apply to Percy as well.” 

Reyna shrugs. “Well, Piper did Beetlejuice him twice. At this point, I think we could put them on the same level.”

Annabeth blinks several times. “Piper did what?” 

Apollo studied me, but he didn't say anything, which I found a little creepy.

“Millenium old man in the body of a teenage boy, staring intently at a fourteen year old boy.” Hazel recaps. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

"Well!" he said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

“That doesn’t sound super efficient.” Jason notes. 

Annabeth shrugs. “I mean, if it would cut down our travel time to Camp Jupiter to less than a day, it doesn’t sound that bad.” 

Nico shudders. “Spoken like someone that didn’t have to ride in the sun chariot of doom.” 

I looked at the Maserati, which would seat two people max. There were about twenty of us.

"Cool car," Nico said.

"Thanks, kid," Apollo said.

"But how will we all fit?"

“Wow, look at Nico asking the important questions.” Leo claps. 

Nico looks at Leo with a deadpan expression. “I could destroy you.” 

“Understood, but let it be noted, that what I said was actually a compliment.” 

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…"

He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. Chirp, chirp.

For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those Turtle Top shuttle buses like we used for school basketball games.

Piper tilts her head to the side. “Wait… was Percy on the school basketball team?” 

Annabeth nods. “Kind of. He didn’t play most of the season for being short, and new to the team. He got put in one game, and then was immediately benched for the rest of the season for ‘accidentally’ elbowing someone in the face and breaking his nose.” 

“Percy has such a rich and vibrant history.” Jason comments. 

"Right," he said. "Everybody in."

Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

Zoe recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously.

“To be completely fair to Zoe, I, too, react that way when some old guy calls me ‘sweetheart’.” Piper informs them. 

Frank’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How often do old guys call you ‘sweetheart’?” 

“Too often.” Annabeth, Hazel, Piper, and Reyna all speak at once. 

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

“Is Apollo flirting with children such a normal occurrence that Artemis has to mention it more than once?” Hazel asks, her face scrunched up in disgust.

“I do not want to know the answer to that question.” Leo tells her. “Ignorance is definitely bliss in this situation.” 

"Hunting," Artemis said. "It's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around."

Reyna raises both of her eyebrows at that. “Sure, Jan.”

Piper stares at Reyna through the rearview mirror. “Did you just meme?”

“Not that you can prove.” 

Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

“Except for the whole ‘turning men into jackalopes’ thing.” Leo says. “Not because I wouldn’t want to see Percy turn into another rodent, but because I don’t think she has the capability to do that.” 

Zoe straightened. "Yes, my lady."

Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found."

She sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

Frank blinks several times. “Did Apollo just ask a dozen or so adolescents if they want to drive the sun?” 

Jason’s eye begins to twitch. “So many bad things happening at once, it’s so hard to focus on one thing to worry about.” 

The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they'd be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males, Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me, but Nico didn't seem to mind.

Nico’s jaw twitches. Piper squeezes her hands around the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turn white, as she hears the sound of Nico’s teeth grinding together. 

Apparently, Nico did mind now. 

He minded a lot. 

"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," Apollo said. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

Piper shakes her head. “Stupid, poor, Romans.” She glances at Hazel. “Except for you, Haze, you’re beloved by all.” 

"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"

“Not at all.” Jason says. “Also, can we talk about astronomy? How does that work. Not talking about it just seems like a cop out.” 

Nico shook his head. "No."

“You and Jason said the same thing.” Reyna points at Nico. “That’s embarrassing for you.”

“Shut up.” Nico huffs, but the teeth grinding had thankfully stopped at this point. 

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?"

"No. Too young."

Frank presses his lips into a thin line. “At least there are some boundaries?” 

Leo shakes his head. “The line was so low it was practically in hell.” 

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry."

Piper shakes her head. “That is satyr intolerance.”

He looked past me and focused on Thalia. "Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?"

Thalia hesitated. "I don't know."

Hazel lets out a small, humorless laugh. “Been there, done that.” 

“That’s so sad.” Frank tells her. 

Hazel nods slowly, her smile slowly falling. “I know.” 

It was sad, but true. She'd been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. So she should be nineteen, if you went by years. But she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly.

“OMG, Thalia is so old.” Leo says slowly. 

“Leo, do you know what I’m about to say?” Annabeth asks him.

“That I dated a goddess that was older than my father, so I really can’t judge?” Leo guesses. 

“Well, that’s a fair point. But also, we’ve talked about you saying the acronym of words. Both ‘OMG’ and ‘LOL’ are not allowed.” 

Leo nods slowly. “I vaguely remember ignoring you saying that.” 

Apollo tapped his finger to his lips. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."

"How do you know that?"

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second."

Jason’s mouth drops open. “Huh!” 

Piper tilts her head to the side. “Is this the first time you’re finding out your sister’s birthday?” 

“And age.” Jason reveals. “We don’t talk much about Thalia’s personal details.” 

"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!"

Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh—"

"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."

“Yeah, I wasn’t there for this, and I haven’t spent all that much time with Thalia, but I can guarantee that that was not what she was going to say.” Reyna deadpans.

"That's not what I was going to say."

Reyna raises her hand into the air. “Called it!” 

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."

Frank blinks several times. “I’m sorry… what was that?” 

Apollo laughed good-naturedly. The rest of us didn't join him.

“The last kid he trained was blasted out of the sky by Zeus.” Nico enunciates, slowly. 

Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was absolutely not going to take "no" for an answer. He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. I had to read it backward (which, for a dyslexic, really isn't that different than reading forward). I was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

"Take it away!" Apollo told Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural!"

I'll admit I was jealous. I couldn't wait to start driving. A couple of times that fall, my mom had taken me out to Montauk when the beach road was empty, and she'd let me try out her Mazda. I mean, yeah, that was a Japanese compact, and this was the sun chariot, but how different could it be?

Jason rests his chin on his fist. “Oh… Percy…”

Reyna leans forward in her seat, and places a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “That’s your boyfriend.”

Annabeth sighs deeply, though her eyes do soften at the word ‘boyfriend’. “Yeah, I know.” 

"Speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was going to be sick.

“I guess the nervous driving thing is a family trait.” Leo jokes. 

Jason doesn’t react to the quip, but Leo doesn’t worry about it, because the strong and silent type is Jason to a T. 

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she said shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."

She pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast I fell back and crashed against something soft.

"Ow" Grover said.

“Grover!” Piper whines, her lips tilting downward into a pout. 

“He should really get out of the way.” Reyna says, just to add fuel to the fire. 

“You shut your drunk mouth!” 

"Sorry."

"Slower!" Apollo said.

"Sorry!" Thalia said. "I've got it under control!"

I managed to get to my feet. Looking out the window, I saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where we'd taken off.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Frank notes.

“Really? What gave you that impression?” Nico deadpans. 

Hazel looks at her brother. “You’re being a real bitch today.” 

“Thank you.” Nico responds.

"Thalia," I said, "lighten up on the accelerator

"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored.

“Damn,” Reyna whistles. “I finally see where Annabeth got her driving skills from.” 

“Shut up.” Annabeth huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Loosen up," I told her.

"I'm loose!" Thalia said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of plywood.

“Or pine wood.” Leo says. Frank and Jason both give him a look™. “What? Too soon?” 

"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left."

Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped.

“I’m assuming something similar happened the first time you drove with Percy and Grover?” Piper asks Annabeth. 

Annabeth scoffs at the accusation, but then looks out the window, and admits, under her breath, “Yes, actually.” 

"The other left," Apollo suggested.

I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now—so high the sky was starting to look black.

“They’re so lucky that Zeus loves his daughter more than he hates Percy.” Frank hums.

Jason shakes his head, his lips quirked to the side. “It’s way more likely that he just wasn’t paying attention.” 

“That’s a sad thing to say.”

“Life is a sad thing to live.” 

"Ah…" Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."

“Stop calling girls sweetheart, Apollo!” Piper yells. “It’s super creepy and condescending!” 

Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat. Something was definitely wrong. I'd never seen her like this.

The bus pitched down and somebody screamed. Maybe it was me. Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus.

“At least he’s honest.” Leo mutters. 

Frank shakes his head wildly. “Not the time dude. Stuff is getting real.” 

Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.

"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him.

"No worries," Apollo said. He looked plenty worried. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"

I saw what he was seeing. Down below us was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As I watched, the snow melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.

Piper’s mouth drops open in shock. “Holy, shit! Thalia was responsible for the New England Winter Wild Fire of 2018?” 

“Is that a thing?” Reyna asks the other girl.

“For those of us that were living in New England during the winter of 2018? Definitely.” 

"Pull up!" I yelled.

There was a wild light in Thalia's eyes. She yanked back on the wheel, and I held on this time. As we zoomed up, I could see through the back window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.

"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

“Hey, I said the exact same thing that one time Annabeth drove me.” Leo reveals. 

Thalia was thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. I could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheater.

"I'm under control," Thalia muttered. "I'm under control."

“Sounds fake, but okay.” Piper mutters under her breath, keeping her eyes on the road. Turns out, hearing about driving horror stories makes a person want to be a much better driver. 

We were only a few hundred yards away now.

"Brake," Apollo said.

"I can do this."

"BRAKE!"

“Are you sure that you and Thalia aren’t blood relatives?” Leo asks Annabeth.

Jason speaks up. “Well, technically, Annabeth’s mom is Thalia and I’s sister, so…” 

“Jason,” Annabeth says slowly. “I am begging you not to finish that sentence.” 

Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge FLOOOOOOSH! Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.

“Aww,” Leo coos, a hand pressed to his heart. “Just like how we first arrived at camp.” 

“I guess we have more in common than we thought, Nico.” Jason says. 

“Yippee.” Nico deadpans. 

The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

"Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"

Notes:

yeah, it's been a while, i'm sorry. spring break was intense, and i wasn't feeling well the entire week before, and as i'm writing this, i've been awake for 15 hours straight, and watching b99 again, while still suffering from clois brain rot, and am terribly unprepared for my psych exam tomorrow (actually in less than 12 hours but whatever), and probably did not do well on the assignment for the same class i just turned in and will regret later-- ANYWAY, y'all don't care, but my therapist has been ghosting me and i need to get this stuff out there one way or another 🙂👍

i can't promise that the next updates will be faster. you guys don't understand, the last time I hyperfixated this hard was that nearly year long hiatus i took during sea of monsters during my hp obsession. i'm hoping that it won't come to that, but rn every update is a victory.

btw, i skimmed the next chapter and can i just say FVCK LUKE CASTELLAN! WE aLL HATE LUKE CASTELLAN!

anyways, until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 5: I Place An Underwater Phone Call

Notes:

i'm back!

Enjoy <3

Frank leans forward. “Did he say anyone ?”

“No.” Reyna replies, gently patting Frank’s back. “You just misheard him.” 

“Oh, thank the gods.” Frank sighs, leaning back in his chair and throwing his head back. 

I'd never seen Camp Half-Blood in winter before, and the snow surprised me.

Leo scrunches up his face. “But I could’ve sworn that I heard him say ‘anyo-’” Reyna leans over Frank, whose eyes are still closed to the world, and places her hand over Leo’s mouth. 

She says no words, but her eyes convey it all; Frank could never know the truth. 

See, the camp has the ultimate magic climate control. Nothing gets inside the borders unless the director, Mr. D, wants it to. I thought it would be warm and sunny, but instead the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body. I wondered if the spirit of Delphi was roasting marshmallows up there or something.

“I can’t tell if that’s cool or creepy…” Leo mutters.

“Definitely creepy.” Jason replies, giving Leo a slightly judgemental look.

Nico shrugs. “Sure. Or, y’know, it could be cool. Cool works too.”

“ Thank you , Nico.” Leo says pointedly. “Nico’s my only friend.” 

"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

“That’s actually a good point.” Hazel says. “I never understood that either.”

“You aced the rock wall.” Piper reminds her. 

“Yeah, that doesn’t mean I understand the lava thing.” 

"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoe, have you met—"

"I know Chiron," Zoe said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

“Ooh, I’m sensing some drama there.” Piper trills. 

“Shh, quiet down.” Reyna puts her finger to her lips. “Frank’s sleeping.” 

“How?” Nico asks, turning around in his seat to get a view on the now snoozing Frank. “He was awake literally ten seconds ago.” 

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

“His commitment is awe worthy.” Leo mutters. “I aspire to be him.” 

Annabeth shakes her head. “I am not on board with this friendship.” 

Zoe rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away.

Nico scowls down at his lap, wringing his hands together. 

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at me. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

“Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Piper asks, her head tilted to the side. 

Annabeth shrugs. “Don’t ask me. I was kidnapped.” 

He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

Nico was still looking grumpy. I wondered what his sister had told him.

Hazel looks over at Nico, wondering the same thing as Percy. She wants to ask him, but she can tell by the way that his shoulders are hunched up that he isn’t willing to talk about it. 

"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," I said. "He's… well, you'll see.

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

“I aspire to be as petty as you are, one day.” Reyna tells him, reaching out to pat his shoulder. 

“Thanks.” Nico replies, putting his hand over hers. “You’re a good friend.” 

Hazel lets her head fall into her hands. 

The second thing that surprised me about camp was how empty it was. I mean, I knew most half-bloods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't even seem to be many of them, either.

I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even my old rival from the Ares cabin, Clarisse, didn't seem to be around.

Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “What happened to Clarisse?” 

“I don’t know, Jason. I was kidnapped .” Annabeth tells him. 

“You can’t use that as an excuse every time.” 

Leo shrugs. “I think she can. That isn’t the kind of thing that runs out.” 

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.

Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't posing as a teacher this year, so I guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.

Hazel sighs with longing. “That sounds nice. I miss the winter.” She glares at the faulty air conditioning unit. “You suck.” 

He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Thalia! Ah, and this must be—"

"Nico di Angelo," I said. "He and his sister are half-bloods."

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."

“Well…” Jason says slowly, his head lilting to the side. “Define success.” 

"Well…"

Leo shakes his head. “You guys are so tethered.” 

Jason wrinkles his nose. “I don’t know how I feel about that.” 

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

“‘ Another one ?’” Piper’s voice squeaks in an unflattering way. “How many people are lost?” She puts up a finger. “And don’t say ‘I dunno, I was kidnapped’.” 

Annabeth shrugs. “Well, as long as you’re aware.”

I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"

“That’s what we all wanna know, Thalia. You aren’t special.” Leo huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Dude, that’s my sister.” 

“Exactly!” Leo points at Jason as if he just proved his point. “She isn’t even the only forbidden demigod child of Zeus.”

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

“He’s so relatable.” Leo murmurs.

Hazel looks at him over her shoulder. “That isn’t good. You hear how that isn’t good, right?” 

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

Piper grumbles under her breath, “We never got the orientation film.” 

“We were busy!” Nico and Annabeth both insist at the same time. 

"But… Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"

"It's PG-13," Grover said.

“Due to explicit cursing.” Nico informs the group. 

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

Reyna rests her cheek on her fist. “I so want to meet ten year old you. He sounds like a riot.” 

"Now," Chiron said to Thalia and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."

"I'll go," Thalia and I said at the same time.

“Awkward.” Leo sing-songs, swaying side to side in his seat. 

“Oh, you have no idea.” Nico murmurs, slightly shaking his head. 

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Thalia and I both started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.

Reyna pouts. “I wish I could stop people from complaining with purple fire in my eyes.”

Jason blinks rapidly. “ Why ?” 

Reyna shrugs. “Stories.” 

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell—"

“Oh, no.” Jason sighs deeply. “Percy’s gonna almost get himself eviscerated, isn’t he?” 

Piper nods. “Most probably, yes.” 

"Annabeth," I snapped. She'd gone to camp since she was seven, and still Mr. D pretended not to know her name.

"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."

Annabeth’s lips were pressed into a firm line, nodding slowly. “Great. That’s… that’s just great .” 

I wanted to strangle Mr. D. It wasn't fair Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Mr. D's bad behavior on Olympus, but it ended up being a punishment for all of us.

“I’m going to be super honest right now,” Piper informs the group. “I would totally support Percy in any and all strangling efforts related to this moment.” 

“Agreed.” Leo nods. “How dare that small, purple, leopard man say that shit about our mom.” 

“ Your mom.” Piper corrects. “I’m the wine aunt, that isn’t actually related to anybody.”

"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He'd practically raised Annabeth all those years she was a year-round camper, before she'd given living with her dad and stepmom a second try. "She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."

"That's right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive."

Hazel scrunches her nose up. “Is she saying that because she has an idea of what Luke’s planning, or because she still has faith in Luke? Because one of those is really gonna be a problem going forward.” 

Annabeth raises a finger. “That’s…” She hesitates. “Not totally unfair.” 

"In which case" said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

I got up from the table.

“Uh oh.” Leo mutters. 

Reyna sighs, as if already tired from all of Percy’s close-calls with gods. “Cue the evisceration.” 

"Percy." Chiron's tone was full of warning. In the back of my mind, I knew Mr. D was not somebody to mess with. Even if you were an impulsive ADHD kid like me, he wouldn't give you any slack. But I was so angry I didn't care.

"You're glad to lose another camper," I said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"

“Yeah,” Leo nods. “I don’t think he was hiding that, Perce. What’s your point?”

Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"

“Oh, no.” Leo whispers in horror. “Do I have something in common with Mr. D?” 

Jason gently pats Leo on the back. “Condolences.” 

"Yeah," I growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"

“How did he survive that ?” Jason asks the question on everybody’s minds. 

For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast me to smithereens—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're… you're a centaur!"

Jason’s head cocks to the side. “Asked and answered.” 

Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

Reyna lets out an honest to good giggle . “Little Nico is so iconic.” 

“That’s certainly one word to describe him.” Nico grumbles under his breath. 

Mr. D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

Annabeth’s eyes narrow. “Is 500… low?” 

Nico slowly turns to look at Annabeth, a look of genuine offense on his face. “You’re joking, right ?” 

Annabeth gapes at him. “Um…” She forces out a chuckle. “Of course I am!” 

Nico nods, turning to face the front of the car again. Annabeth looks at Hazel, shrugging and mouthing “ I dunno. ” 

"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved my life. "Well, that's… gratifying."

“Aw, Nico!” Hazel gently rubs her brother’s elbow, pulling his attention away from Annabeth’s faux pas. “You saved Percy’s life.” 

Nico shrugs. “Wouldn’t be the last time.” He adds as an afterthought. “Though, I guess it’s pretty rare that I save his life without first putting it in danger…”

Jason leans forward slightly. “What was that?” 

"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

"Capture the flag?" I asked. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

“ Friendly ?” Piper asks. “The last time the camp and the Hunters played capture the flag, someone broke my nose.” 

“I told you that I was sorry.” Annabeth groans. “But, really, it was your fault for having your face right next to my elbow.”

"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."

Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us.

"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, Percy." She hauled me out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that he wanted to kill me. "You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded me as we trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"

“Well, there’s also Kronos.” Jason mentions.  

“Zeus.” Jason continues. 

“Hades isn’t super fond of him, either.” Reyna murmurs.

Piper shrugs. “Artemis didn’t turn him into a jackalope. I guess that’s something.” 

She was right. My first summer as a camper, I'd gotten in a fight with Ares, and now he and all his children wanted to kill me. I didn't need to make Dionysus mad, too.

"Sorry," I said. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."

She stopped by the armory and looked out across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill. Her pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used Thalia's spirit for power.

Piper nods. “Yeah… it’s probably not the best time to mention fairness to a girl that lost seven years in a pine tree.”

“Who only came back to life because her former best friend attempted to kill her.”  Hazel feels compelled to mention. 

"Percy, everything is unfair," Thalia muttered. "Sometimes I wish…"

She didn't finish, but her tone was so sad I felt sorry for her. With her ragged black hair and her black punk clothes, an old wool overcoat wrapped around her, she looked like some kind of huge raven, completely out of place in the white landscape.

“Even when he’s being sympathetic, he’s still kind of a jerk.” Jason notices. 

“Yeah.” Leo agrees. “He’s great like that, isn’t he?” 

"We'll get Annabeth back," I promised. "I just don't know how yet."

"First I found out that Luke is lost," she said. "Now Annabeth—"

“Is fine.” Leo finishes for her, looking over at Annabeth. “You are fine, aren’t you.” 

“Uh-huh.” Annabeth replies, semi-distractedly, scratching at the spot where her neck meets her shoulders. 

"Don't think like that."

"You're right." She straightened up. "We'll find a way."

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.

"I'll break that up," Thalia said. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."

“What do you think the chances are that Percy’s going to get into another fight just by circulating the message around?” Hazel asks the car. 

“Pretty high.” Annabeth replies. Most of the occupants of the car, who aren’t driving or sleeping, turn their heads to look at her. “What? I love the guy, but I’m also realistic.” 

"All right. You should be team captain."

“Can two random kids just decide that they can captain the whole camp?” Jason questions. 

“Annabeth captained the last time we played.” Leo reminds him. 

“Yeah,” Nico nods. “But we also all knew that Annabeth could help us win .” 

"No, no," she said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."

"We can, uh… co-captain or something."

“This is only going to end in disaster.” Reyna comments. 

“Which part?” Piper asks. 

“All of it. All of it is going to end in disaster.” 

She looked about as comfortable with that as I felt, but she nodded.

“Why would he offer it if he felt uncomfortable with it?” Nico asks. 

“Politeness.” Hazel responds. 

“Sounds fake, but okay.”  

As she headed for the court, I said, "Hey, Thalia."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about what happened at Westover. I should've waited for you guys."

'"S okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." She shifted from foot to foot, like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. "You know, you asked about my mom and I kinda snapped at you. It's just… I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles. She, um… she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and…" Thalia blinked hard.

The car goes silent, Leo sending quick, side-eye glances at Jason, who is staring straight forward at the telling of this story. 

He’d heard it before. He just hadn’t been expecting to relive it amongst jokes about capture the flag and Percy almost dying again. 

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well. It's… it's not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. But still—"

"That's why you had trouble with the sun van."

Hazel winces. “Uh oh. Where’re you going with this, Percy?” 

“Nowhere good.” Reyna guesses. 

She gave me a wary look. "What do you mean?"

"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."

I was sorry I'd said anything. Thalia's expression was dangerously close to Zeus's, the one time I'd seen him get angry—like any minute, her eyes would shoot a million volts.

“She really does have the angry dad look down.” Jason muses. “I’ve never realized that before.” He huffs. “Thanks, Percy.” 

"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, that must've been it."

She trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.

“My money is on the basketball.” Leo crows. 

“Y’know, what?” Reyna asks. “Same.” 

“It’s not about the weapon, but who wields the weapon.” Leo informs. “And I have been hit in the head by enough basketballs to know how to wield that particular weapon. 

The cabins were the weirdest collection of buildings you've ever seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabins One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth.

Piper wrinkles her nose. “I always find it so weird when he only mentions twelve cabins.”  

“Yeah.” Jason agrees. “Considering we currently have twenty plus cabins, it really adds a whole new definition for how filled up the Hermes cabin was.” 

I made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. I woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at me to go away. When I asked him where Clarisse was he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"

"Is she okay?"

"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"

“Well, don’t sound too broken up about it.” Hazel deadpans. 

I decided to let him go back to sleep.

Leo nods slowly. “Wise choice. It’s never good to wake up a sleeping war child.” His eyes darted nervously towards the still sleeping Frank.  

Finally I got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. It was a low gray building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was just as empty as always, except for my bunk. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to my pillow.

I took Annabeth's baseball cap out of my backpack and set it on my nightstand. I'd give it to her when I found her. And I would find her.

“Aww,” Hazel and Piper coo. 

Annabeth doesn’t even bother to chastise them, her eyes going soft as she listens to the sadness still evident in younger Percy’s voice. If this were a cartoon, her pupils would be dilating in the shape of little hearts. 

I took off my wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that my brother had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of me and Annabeth fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in my head. I hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now. Maybe Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin could fix it for me. He was the best armorsmith in the camp. I'd ask him at dinner.

I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound—water gurgling—and I realized there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big basin of gray sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.

I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.

“I wish my cabin got random upgrades.” Leo grumbles. 

Jason glares at him. “You have an additional three stories under your original cabin, with one floor dedicated just to private bathrooms. I don’t even have a bed because it clashes with my dad’s ‘aesthetic.’” 

I looked into the water and said, "Thanks, Dad."

The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered—a dozen or so golden drachma. I realized what the fountain was for. It was a reminder to keep in touch with my family.

“Wow, Poseidon is really trying to make up for all of those missed child support checks.” Piper comments. 

“Well, sure.” Reyna shrugs. “He only has one child to make it up to.” 

 

I opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then I fished a coin out of the hot water.

“Again,” Jason says. “I don’t have a bed . A fountain and drachmas is above and beyond in my book.”

“That’s sad.” Hazel tells him. 

“It is what it is.” 

"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," I said, "accept my offering."

I tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared. Then I realized I didn't know who to contact first.

My mom? That would've been the "good son" thing to do, but she wouldn't be worried about me yet. She was used to me disappearing for days or weeks at a time.

My father? It had been way too long, almost two years, since I'd actually talked to him. But could you even send an Iris-message to a god? I'd never tried. Would it make them mad, like a sales call or something?

“Didn’t he technically send an Iris message to Mr. D in the last book?” Piper asks.

Leo shrugs. “How should we know? That was like, months ago.” 

“Months?” Annabeth questions. 

“Months… an hour or so. Either way, too long for me to have retained it.” 

I hesitated. Then I made up my mind.

"Show me Tyson," I requested. "At the forges of the Cyclopes."

Piper gasps, which causes Jason to panic for a second that something bad had happened on the road. Instead, she happily taps her fingers against the steering wheel, and squeals, “Tyson’s back!” 

The mist shimmered, and the image of my half brother appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean.

Jason’s face is slack, his eye twitching. “There’s… fire… in the… ocean…?”

"Tyson!" I yelled.

He didn't hear me at first because of the hammering and the roar of the flames.

“Oh, no.” Reyna mutters. “Percy broke Jason again.” 

Leo gently rubs the other boy’s back. “Don’t think about it too hard, dude.” 

"TYSON!"

He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Percy!"

He dropped the sword blade and ran at me, trying to give me a hug. The vision blurred and I instinctively lurched back. "Tyson, it's an Iris-message. I'm not really here."

“We’ve all been there.” Leo nods. 

“Have we?” Hazel asks him. 

"Oh." He came back into view, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."

Leo hesitates. “Depends on what your answer is.” 

“It’s okay, Leo.” Piper calls to him. “I wanted to hug you, too.” 

“That does not make me sound any cooler, Pipes.”

"How are you?" I asked. "How's the job?"

His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. "I made this!"

"That's really cool."

“It’s conversations like this that remind me just how young Tyson really is.” Nico murmurs. “That kind of forced excitement that older kids show younger kids.”

“I have never seen you interact with a child before.” Hazel tells him. 

"I wrote my name on it. Right there."

"Awesome. Listen, do you talk to Dad much?"

“No,” Nico agrees, voice so low that only his sister can hear him. “But I remember what it was like to be one.” 

Hazel winces, feeling like she just pulled at another dangling thread that made up her relationship with her brother. One wrong tug, and she feared it would all come tumbling apart. 

Tyson's smile faded. "Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war."

"What do you mean?"

Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."

Jason lets out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Oh, so the place with the flames isn’t filled with water…” Then his face slackens again. “But what stops the water from getting in?” 

I sort of knew what he was talking about. He meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good.

“I’m pretty sure Oceanus was on the gods’ side of the war, though.” Piper speaks up. 

“He was.” Annabeth replies. “But y’know how undersea politics are.”

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

Tyson shook his head sadly. "We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the bad boat."

“No. I don’t.” 

Annabeth hesitates. “I don’t either, but Percy seems to think that it’s common knowledge.”

"The Princess Andromeda?" I said. "Luke's boat?"

"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would smash it."

"Smashing it would be good."

“Isn’t that the truth.” Hazel sighs. 

“Well, if water isn’t taking it down, you could always blow it up.” Leo suggests. 

Thankfully, he can’t see the way that Annabeth flinches from where she’s sitting in the front seat. 

Tyson perked up, as if he'd just had another thought. "Annabeth! Is she there?"

"Oh, well…" My heart felt like a bowling ball. Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter). I didn't have the heart to tell him she was missing. He'd start crying so bad he'd probably put out his fires. "Well, no… she's not here right now."

“Aw, they both love you so much.” Hazel beams. “It’s so cute. And sad at the same time.” 

“That’s called angst.” Piper informs her. 

"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello to Annabeth!"

“I think I love angst.” 

"Okay." I fought back a lump in my throat. "I'll do that."

Piper allows a small smirk to curl her lips. “Welcome to the dark side.” 

"And, Percy, don't worry about the bad boat. It is going away."

"What do you mean?"

"Panama Canal! Very far away."

“Really?” Leo asks. “Where’s the Panama Canal?” 

Jason blinks at his friend. “ Panama .” He replies slowly. 

I frowned. Why would Luke take his demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen him, he'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training his monstrous army.

“Right, but where is that?” 

Jason shrugs. “South America.” 

"All right," I said, not feeling reassured. "That's… good. I guess."

“I thought the canal was in New York.” 

“No, Leo,” Annabeth says, gently. “You’re thinking about the Erie Canal.” 

Leo snaps his fingers. “That’s it! Thanks.”

Jason looks just the tiniest bit like he was about to have a stroke.

In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched. "Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother!"

"Okay, tell Dad—"

But before I could finish, the vision shimmered and faded. I was alone again in my cabin, feeling even lonelier than before.

Reyna nods, not looking at all surprised. “That sounds about right with the way things have been going so far.” 

I was pretty miserable at dinner that night.

I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates, which meant I was alone at the Poseidon table. Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table, but we couldn't sit together. Camp rules. At least the Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes cabins had a few people each. Nico sat with the Stoll brothers, since new campers always got stuck in the Hermes cabin if their Olympian parent was unknown. The Stoll brothers seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose.

“I definitely did not.” Nico confirms. 

“That’s good.” Hazel sighs. “Your poker face is crap.” 

“Hey!” Nico protests. 

“It’s true.” Reyna agrees. “I can read every expression on your face, clear as day.” 

Leo stares between the three of them in confusion. “ How ?” 

The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoe sat at the head like she was the mama. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled. Bianca di Angelo seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.

Both Hazel and Nico unconsciously lean forward at the description of Bianca. Despite the way things unfolded, she was still their sister. And this may be the only chance that they would get to see her in this light. 

Free of the shackles of inferiority and betrayal. 

When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty half hearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.

Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, and even by my standards it was a whopper.

Annabeth blinks, clearly taken by surprise by this information. 

Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.

“He dreamed about you.” Leo notes, looking over at Annabeth, who has gone eerily still. 

Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums.

"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped.

There was Luke. And he was in pain.

Nobody says anything, even Hazel refraining from saying something by grinding her teeth together. There was a very delicate air around them, as if one wrong move would shatter the very world around them. 

He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat,

"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"

Annabeth was rubbing her hands together, almost viciously. The calluses on her fingers scraped the skin of her palms with every swipe. 

She ran forward.

I tried to cry out: He's a traitor! Don't trust him!

But my voice didn't work in the dream.

The only sounds of the car was the sound of Annabeth’s skin against skin, Hazel’s grinding teeth, and the splatter of rain against glass. 

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

“Hazel, can you please stop grinding your teeth.” Piper pleads in a whisper, trying not to break the tension by talking too loudly. 

“If I don’t grind my teeth, I’m definitely going to say something I shouldn’t. It’s best for everyone this way.” Hazel repeats, her voice so low that she has to lean towards the other girl just to make sure Piper can hear her. 

I couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog were squeezing him to death.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.

"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

Let him die, I wanted to scream. Luke had tried to kill us in cold blood too many times. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth.

Jason’s eyes widen at the severity in Percy’s tone. He sounded furious, even by the recounting of events. He sounded murderous. There was no doubt in his mind, that Percy really wanted Luke to die for this. 

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

Annabeth is grinding her teeth now, too. She has placed both of her hands on her jean short-clad thighs now, stroking the stiff denim. 

Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.

"I knew I could count on you." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.

The pad of Annabeth’s thumb was rubbing incessantly at the skin of her other hand, as if she was trying to rub away the dermis. 

"HELP ME!" she pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

The sound of a few people’s jaws coming unhinged filled the car. Even Nico looked shocked by the turn of events, and he had at least an idea of what had happened. 

Annabeth tugs at the blue streak amongst her blonde curls. 

The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.

I sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in my cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on my nightstand read just after midnight.

Only a dream, but I was sure of two things: Annabeth was in terrible danger. And Luke was responsible.

Notes:

fuck luke, all of my homies hate luke. thankfully, the only other person that hates luke as much as me and hazel is percy motherfreaking jackson.

I'm sorry it took so long. i wanted this chapter to be so much shorter that it was, but then it wasn't. and it's so much harder to write chapters when there's little to nothing happening at the beginning then when there's more stuff at the end bc this book is so much easier to write in a groove.

i'm officially finished my first year of college! Yay!

i know some of this got real, and i cannot right REAL for the life of me, so lmk your thoughts on how this turned out.

Until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 6: An Old Dead Friend Comes To Visit

Notes:

Wow, I'm back!

Warning, excessive breaking of the fourth wall ahead.

Enjoy!

For once, the car’s residents are silent as they wait for Percy to begin speaking again. 

The next morning after breakfast, I told Grover about my dream. We sat in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the poor satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.

“Just like that scene in Hercules.” Leo recalls. 

Annabeth nods, mutely. “Yeah, that movie was a bit of a camp favorite for a while, there.” 

Piper nods. "That's fair. I mean, he's a terrible person, and I don't support anything he does, but that movie is damn good." 

When I told Grover my nightmare, he started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur. "A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.

“That’s such an odd habit to have.” Nico comments, absentmindedly twisting a strand of his slightly over long hair around his index finger.

Hazel looks at her brother for a long moment. “Uh-huh. Imagine that.” 

"Yeah. What the heck does that mean?"

Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed—"

“Oh, gods, what did Zoe dream, now?” Reyna groans. 

“Reyna!” Piper chastises. 

The black eyed girl shrugs. “What? It’s bad enough having our own nightmares, on top of experiencing Percy’s. All of this can really drain a person, you know.” 

"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream like that?"

"I… I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."

Jason wrinkles his nose. “Why does he know that?” 

"Wait, how do you know this?"

“That’s terrifying.” Piper stage whispers, and Leo who nods in agreement. 

Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."

Jason sighs, deeply. “I regret asking.” 

“Don’t worry, after Thalia joined the Hunters, he kinda got over the creepy stalker thing.” Annabeth informs him, her voice becoming stronger the more that she uses it. “Mostly because she threatened to electrocute him if she ever found him hiding in a bush outside her cabin.” 

Jason cocks his head to the side. “He doesn’t actually hide in bushes , does he?” 

"What for?"

"Just to be, you know, near them."

Leo shakes his head. “Players gonna play.” 

“Leo, neither of you are players.” Piper deadpans. “I guarantee it.” 

"You're a stalker with hooves."

"I am not! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene.”

Reyna looks over at Jason. “Why do you keep asking questions that you don't want to know the answers to?” 

“I really don’t know. You’d think at this point I would’ve learned my lesson.”

Leo shrugs. “Yeah, but what would be the fun in that? Without you asking these questions, we very easily run out of material.” 

I tried to imagine that. Argus was the head of security for camp—a big blond dude with eyes all over his body. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. I wouldn't want to place bets on a fight between him and Zoe Nightshade.

“Wow,” Piper mutters. “Zoe must've been quite formidable.” She drums her fingers against the steering wheel. “Why do I find that attractive?” 

Nico gives her a sideways glance. “You have a type.” 

"What did she say?" I asked.

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—"

“Argus talked ?” Leo yelps. “Wow, he must’ve taken that brain comment really hard.” 

Reyna raises an eyebrow. “You’re not going to even comment on the whole ‘Artemis being in trouble’ thing?”

"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?"

Reyna sends Leo a look that clearly says, ‘told you so’. 

“Yeah, sure, Artemis is in trouble. Whatever. But, I haven’t seen Argus talk once in the years that I’ve been at camp.” 

“That’s actually a good point.” Annabeth says. “And I’ve been at camp four times as many years as you have.” 

"I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and—"

“ Curlers ?” Several people chorus. 

Reyna shakes her head. “You people have no sense of important details.” 

"He wears curlers in his tail?" Grover covered his mouth. 

“Well, would you look at that!” Leo sends a superior look at Reyna. 

“Wow, you have the same attention to detail as Percy .” Reyna deadpans. 

Jason lightly nudges Leo in the side. “She’s got a point.” 

“Sorry," I said. "Go on."

"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…" Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

“That’s a good point.” Piper mutters, a dream-like quality to her voice. “I’ve never thought of it like that…”

“First of all,” Annabeth says, ticking off her fingers as she counts. “First off, every satyr that gave their lives searching for Pan would disagree with that statement. Second of all, it has just now occurred to me how long you’ve been driving. Do you need a break?” 

“Probably. But every time I consider asking, I forget again. I don’t know--” Piper cuts herself off, as she notices something outside the car. “Ooh, that was supposed to be our exit! What was I saying?”

"What do you mean lost? Like she needs directions?"

Nico shakes his head. “I am so embarrassed to know him, right now.” 

Reyna narrows her eyes. “As opposed to…” 

“That’s a good point.” Nico resigns. “I guess I’m always at least a little bit embarrassed to know him.” 

"No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" I tried to get my mind around that idea. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone."

“ Another good point.” 

“You’re oddly agreeable in this chapter.” Hazel says, suspiciously. 

Nico shrugs. “I’m a fair man.” 

“Since when?” 

"But she was like, the goddess of flowers."

Grover looked offended. "Springtime."

Hazel’s eyes widened in horror. “How has he not been smited before this?” 

“You’re asking this now ?” Jason questions. 

"Whatever. Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"

Nico snorts. “ Clearly he’s never seen Persephone play the Game of Life.”

Leo leans forward. “And you… have ?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Hazel agrees. “Persephone is intense about Game Night.” 

Grover shook his head miserably. "I don't know. Kronos?"

"He can't be that powerful already. Can he?"

The last time we'd seen Kronos, he'd been in tiny pieces. Well… we hadn't actually seen him. Thousands of years ago, after the big Titan—God war, the gods had sliced him to bits with his own scythe and scattered his remains in Tartarus, which is like the gods' bottomless recycling bin for their enemies. Two summers ago, Kronos had tricked us to the very edge of the pit and almost pulled us in. Then last summer, on board Luke's demon cruise ship, we'd seen a golden coffin, where Luke claimed he was summoning the Titan Lord out of the abyss, bit by bit, every time someone new joined their cause. Kronos could influence people with dreams and trick them, but I didn't see how he could physically overcome Artemis if he was still like a pile of evil bark mulch.

“He has such a way with imagery.” Piper comments. 

Leo hums, “It almost makes you wonder why we listened to the first two when we had a summary like this to look forward to.” Nobody could tell if he was being sarcastic or not. 

"I don't know," Grover said. "I think somebody would know if Kronos had re-formed. The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like—"

"They're connected," I said.

“But how ?” Leo questions. “I don’t see the connection!” 

“What’s new?” Reyna asks him.

“Hey!” Leo huffs, offended. “That’s fair, but hey!” 

Over in the frozen meadow, a satyr skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She giggled and held out her arms as he ran toward her. Pop! She turned into a Scotch pine and he kissed the trunk at top speed,

"Ah, love," Grover said dreamily.

Hazel shrugs. “Or something like that.” 

I thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after mine.

"I've got to talk to Zoe," I said.

“ That’s sure to go well.” Jason says, dryly. 

"Um, before you do…" Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said—about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might've been scouting us."

"Scouting us? What do you mean?"

He gave me the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! and A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!

"I found that in Annabeth's backpack," Grover said.

“ What ?” Piper shrieks, looking over at Annabeth. 

“I have to admit, the Hunters’ brochure is very compelling.” Leo admits. “It almost got me to join.” 

I stared at him. "I don't understand."

"Well, it seems to me… maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining."

Annabeth’s cheeks flood with color. “I-- I didn’t know that they knew about that.” 

“It was true ?” Piper asks. “You almost became an immortal Hunter?” 

“I considered it.” Annabeth corrects. “For, like, three seconds. It never meant anything more!” 

I'd like to say I took the news well.

The truth was, I wanted to strangle the Hunters of Artemis one eternal maiden at a time. The rest of the day I tried to keep busy, but I was worried sick about Annabeth. I went to javelin-throwing class, but the Ares camper in charge chewed me out after I got distracted and threw the javelin at the target before he got out of the way. I apologized for the hole in his pants, but he still sent me packing.

Jason grimaces. “That’s… so… violent.” 

“Wow…” Piper says. “Percy really took the whole “If anything ever happened to him I would kill everyone in this room and then myself” thing to heart.” 

Leo leans forward. “I thought you said he was Jake.” 

“Even Jake has a little Rosa in him, Leo.” 

I visited the pegasus stables, but Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin was having an argument with one of the Hunters, and I decided I'd better not get involved.

After that, I sat in the empty chariot stands and sulked. Down at the archery fields, Chiron was conducting target practice. I knew he'd be the best person to talk to. Maybe he could give me some advice, but something held me back. I had a feeling Chiron would try to protect me, like he always did. He might not tell me everything he knew.

“Why was he sulking?” Annabeth questions, her cheeks still a vibrant shade of red. “How would this have affected him?” 

Hazel leans closer to Piper. “Do you want to tell her, or should I?” 

I looked the other direction. At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Mr. D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.

Then it occurred to me: no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else… something else I could ask for guidance.

“Uh-oh.” Reyna mutters. 

“Why do you always expect the worst from Percy’s plans?” Leo asks her. 

“Experience.” 

My blood was humming in my ears as I ran into the house and took the stairs. I'd only done this once before, and I still had nightmares about it. I opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.

“That’s fair.” Piper agrees. “I still have nightmares about getting prophecies, and Rachel is a living, breathing, not shriveled girl.” 

The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk, just like I remembered. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.

Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle.

“Is the mummy still in the attic?” Leo asks. 

Annabeth lets out a nervous titter. “Leo… nobody knows, we’re all too afraid to look.” 

I made myself walk toward her. I waited for green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth, like it had before, but nothing happened.

"Hi," I said. "Uh, what's up?"

“ Interesting tactic.” Piper mutters. “Never tried that one before.”

I winced at how stupid that sounded. Not much could be "up" when you're dead and stuck in the attic. But I knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. I could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.

"I have a question," I said a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth. How can I save her?"

Annabeth smiles softly. “He talked to the mummy for me.” She says with barely contained glee. 

Leo puts a hand to his heart. “Now, that’s true love.” 

No answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air.

I waited longer.

Then I got angry. I was being stonewalled by a corpse.

“As opposed to Piper’s dad, who bought a stone corpse.” Leo laughs. 

Piper shook her head. “I’m never going to live that down.” 

"All right," I said. "Fine. I'll figure it out myself."

I turned and bumped into a big table full of souvenirs. It seemed more cluttered than the last time I was here. Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins, or stuff that held painful memories. I knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up here—the one that had scarred his face.

Hazel raises her eyebrows to her hairline. “Now that is something I would love to see.” 

“The claw, or it scarring Luke?” Jason asks. 

“Yes.” 

“That is so dark, Hazel.” Jason tells her.

“So is Luke’s shriveled heart.”

“Hazel’s right, Jason.” Leo says. “The bitch hurt our mom.”

There was a broken sword hilt labeled: This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999.

“Does anyone else really want to know who Leroy is now?” Leo asks the group. 

Reyna thinks for a long moment. “Yes, actually.” 

“Did Reyna and Leo just agree on something?” Hazel questions. 

“Oh, my gods. The apocalypse has finally come.” Nico mutters. “Fourth times the charm, I guess.” 

Then I noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. I picked up the tag and tried to read it:

SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE

RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.,

BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSON

“Wow, that feels like a million years ago.” Piper whispers. “Or, at least 3 years, 7 months, and 9 days.” 

I stared at the scarf. I'd totally forgotten about it. Two years ago, Annabeth had ripped this scarf out of my hands and said something like, Oh, no. No love magic for you!

Annabeth bites her bottom lip. “He remembered.” 

“You guys are so cute I’m gonna be sick.” Nico grouses. 

Annabeth rolls her eyes. “You took three hours to say goodbye to Will before we left.” 

Nico is silent for a long moment. “Retracted.” 

I'd just assumed she'd thrown it away. And yet here it was. She'd kept it all this time? And why had she stashed it in the attic?

Hazel shakes her head. “Oh, you poor, oblivious idiot children.” 

I turned to the mummy. She hadn't moved, but the shadows across her face made it look like she was smiling gruesomely.

I dropped the scarf and tried not to run toward the exit.

That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at capture the flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, and about the same number of campers.

Nico dims, slightly, at the mention of his older sister. Not that it was exceedingly obvious, but if you knew Nico well, you could tell. 

Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess Zoe had told them about her nightmare.

“Wow,” Piper says. “I couldn’t imagine crying over a god. I don’t even cry over my own mother.” 

Leo cocks his head to the side. “What about that time back at Wilderness--” 

“Since I met her!” Piper amends. 

On our team, we had Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from the Ares cabin (though it still seemed strange that Clarisse wasn't around), the Stoll brothers and Nico from Hermes cabin, and a few Aphrodite kids. It was weird that the Aphrodite cabin wanted to play. Usually they sat on the sidelines, chatted, and checked their reflections in the river and stuff, but when they heard we were fighting the Hunters, they were raring to go.

"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "I'll pulverize them!"

Piper can’t help but smile a little. “Damn. My sister sounds cool.” 

Annabeth allows her lips to quirk upwards. “She was.” Thankfully, nobody was looking at her, otherwise they would notice the glint of sadness in her eyes. 

That left Thalia and me.

"I'll take the offense," Thalia volunteered. "You take defense."

“Uh oh.” Hazel mutters. As an often overlooked Big Three kid, she knew immediately that only bad things were going to come from this. 

"Oh." I hesitated, because I'd been about to say the exact same thing, only reversed. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"

“I see what he’s saying,” Leo says. “But, also, lightning .” 

Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa.

"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense," Thalia said. "Besides, you've had more practice at defense."

Jason tilts his head to the side. “Is she talking about that time in the first story where Clarisse almost killed him?” 

I wasn't sure if she was teasing me. I'd had some pretty bad experiences with defense on capture the flag. My first year, Annabeth had put me out as a kind of bait, and I'd almost been gored to death with spears and killed by a hellhound.

“Okay, Jason, it’s getting kind of old at this point.” Leo says. “Get out of Percy’s head.” 

“I would if I could.” 

"Yeah, no problem," I lied.

"Cool." Thalia turned to help some of the Aphrodite kids, who were having trouble suiting up their armor without breaking their nails. Nico di Angelo ran up to me with a big grin on his face.

"Percy, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. I wondered if there was any way I'd looked that ridiculous when I'd first arrived. Unfortunately, I probably had. Nico lifted his sword with effort. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

“What the fuck?” Leo asks. “Dude, are you okay?”

“I think you’ve all known me long enough to know that the answer to that is ‘no.’”

"Well… no."

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides—"

"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and—"

“Wow, Nico,” Piper mutters. “You predicted one of the plot points in our own series… of events.” 

"Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt."

He stared at me, a little disappointed, and I realized that I'd just sounded like my mother. Whoa. Not a good sign.

Reyna raises both of her eyebrows. “Excuse you, sounding like Sally Jackson is an honor and a blessing , thank you very much .” 

I patted Nico on the shoulder. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast." 

Nico lets out a small huff of a laugh. “Well… someone had a blast.” 

Annabeth narrows her eyes. “What do you mean by that?” 

Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

“Does that mean that accidental maiming is allowed?” Hazel asks. “And, if so, how can he tell what is accidental and what is premeditated?” 

"Sweet," Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"

I was about to break it to him that he didn't, when Thalia said, "Blue team! Follow me!"

They cheered and followed. I had to run to catch up, and tripped over somebody's shield, so I didn't look much like a co-captain. More like an idiot.

Reyna opens her mouth to say something. 

“Don’t!” Annabeth orders without turning around, pointing her finger at Reyna sitting behind her. 

We set our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist. It's this cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let us call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.

“Isn’t that the truth.” Jason sighs, shaking his head. 

Anyway, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.

I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.

Nico’s mouth drops open in shock. “ That’s why he put me on guard duty? He said that he thought I could learn a lot from all the head counselors--” His eyes widened more. “ That’s why I was put with three head counselors!” 

Hazel pats his bicep comfortingly. 

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."

“ Jason ?” Leo asks, looking at his Jason. 

Annabeth nods. “Yeah. We lost him not long before you guys showed up at camp.”

“When you say, ‘lost’...?” Leo asks. 

Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.

“He was one of the campers that died in the Battle of Manhattan.” Annabeth sighs. 

“Well, that’s depressing.” Piper mutters. 

Thalia looked at me. "Anything to add, Percy?"

"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post!" Thalia said.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," I added.

Hazel wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. “This is going to turn out so badly.” She predicts. 

Thalia scowled. "Just don't leave your post."

"Right, unless—"

"Percy!" She touched my arm and shocked me. I mean, everybody can give static shocks in the winter, but when Thalia does, it hurts. I guess it's because her dad is the god of lightning. She's been known to fry off people's eyebrows. "Sorry," Thalia said, though she didn't sound particularly sorry. "Now, is everybody clear?"

“Was it as awkward as it sounds?” Piper questions Nico. 

“Oh, no.” Nico replies. “It was way worse in person. I quite enjoyed it, actually.” 

Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.

Silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. Thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.

I waited for something to happen. I climbed Zeus's Fist and had a good view over the forest. I remembered how the Hunters had stormed out of the woods when they fought the manticore, and I was prepared for something like that—one huge charge that could overwhelm us. But nothing happened.

“Silence from a group of women is never a good thing.” Leo says. 

All of the women in the car silently glare at him.

“ See ?” 

I caught a glimpse of Silena and her two scouts. They ran through a clearing, followed by five of the Hunters, leading them deep into the woods and away from Thalia. The plan seemed to be working. Then I spotted another clump of Hunters heading to the right, bows ready. They must've spotted Thalia.

Piper lifts one hand off the steering wheel to tug on the baby hairs at her hairline. “This is going to go so badly for everyone involved.” 

"What's happening?" Nico demanded, trying to climb up next to me.

My mind was racing. Thalia would never get through, but the Hunters were divided. With that many on either flank, their center had to be wide open. If I moved fast…

I looked at Beckendorf. "Can you guys hold the fort?"

Beckendorf snorted. "Of course."

“Yeah!” Leo cheers, pumping his fists into the air. “That’s my brother!” 

"I'm going in.

The Stoll brothers and Nico cheered as I raced toward the boundary line.

“That should’ve been enough of a giveaway that this was a bad idea.” Annabeth winces. “No offense.” She gently touches Nico’s elbow. 

“Oh, none taken.” Nico waves her off. “I totally agree.”

I was running at top speed and I felt great. I leaped over the creek into enemy territory. I could see their silver flag up ahead, only one guard, who wasn't even looking in my direction. I heard fighting to my left and right, somewhere in the woods. I had it made.

The guard turned at the last minute. It was Bianca di Angelo. Her eyes widened as I slammed into her and she went sprawling in the snow.

Hazel winces at that. “Ooh, poor Bianca.” 

Nico pouts, slightly. “We were both put on guard duty to get out of the way.” 

"Sorry!" I yelled. I ripped down the silver silk flag from the tree and took off.

I was ten yards away before Bianca managed to yell for help. I thought I was home free.

Jason shakes his head. “That doesn’t sound good.” 

ZIP. A silvery cord raced across my ankles and fastened to the tree next to me. A trip wire, fired from a bow! Before I could even think about stopping, I went down hard, sprawling in the snow.

"Percy!" Thalia yelled, off to my left. "What are you doing?"

“Getting himself put in the doghouse.” Reyna replies. “Nobody likes the guy that doesn’t follow orders.” 

“Well,” Leo shrugs. “If he loses .” 

“Does it sound like he’s going to win ?” 

Before she reached me, an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed around her team. They started coughing and gagging. I could smell the gas from across the woods—the horrible smell of sulfur.

"No fair!" Thalia gasped. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

“I don’t think that’s a written rule.” Leo points out. “By the way, does anyone dare me to switch out some of Frank’s arrows for fart arrows?” 

“They’d kill you.” Hazel warns him. 

Leo shrugs. “I could live with that.”

I got up and started running again. Only a few more yards to the creek and I had the game. More arrows whizzed past my ears. A Hunter came out of nowhere and slashed at me with her knife, but I parried and kept running.

I heard yelling from our side of the creek. Beckendorf and Nico were running toward me. I thought they were coming to welcome me back, but then I saw they were chasing someone—Zoe Nightshade, racing toward me like a cheetah, dodging campers with no trouble. And she had our flag in her hands.

“Well, yeah, I would wait until the son of the sea god who can control water was away from the creek where his flag is placed before grabbing it too.” Annabeth sighs, shaking her head at her camp’s shoddy attempt at capture the flag. 

“You said a lot of words at once without pause.” Leo points out. “Does it say more about me or you that I understood it perfectly, though.” 

"No!" I yelled, and poured on the speed.

I was two feet from the water when Zoe bolted across to her own side, slamming into me for good measure. The Hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking grim. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.

"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced without pleasure. Then he muttered, "For the fifty-sixth time in a row."

Piper inhales so much air so quickly that she immediately starts to cough, her eyes watering. 

"Perseus Jackson!" Thalia yelled, storming toward me. She smelled like rotten eggs, and she was so mad that blue sparks flickered on her armor. Everybody cringed and backed up because of Aegis. It took all my willpower not to cower. "What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?" she bellowed.

“A lot. All of the time. All at once. And sometimes I forget it all, and then it starts over again.” Leo answers. 

“I think she was talking to Percy, not you, Leo.” Jason tells him.

Leo shrugs. “It’s semantics.” 

I balled my fists. I'd had enough bad stuff happen to me for one day. I didn't need this. "I got the flag, Thalia!" I shook it in her face. "I saw a chance and I took it!"

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" Thalia yelled. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won."

“Eh,” Annabeth shrugs. “ Maybe . It was a shot in the dark either way. If you really wanted to sell your ruse, you should’ve switched Thalia and Silena’s positions.” She pauses. “But, that’s not the point.”

"You had too many on you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

“They’re both right.” Hazel insists. 

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water. Some of the campers gasped. A couple of the Hunters stifled laughs.

“Ooh!” Leo coos. “No, she didn’t!” 

Nobody responds. 

“You know that Frank wouldn’t leave me hanging without an, ‘Oh, yes, she did.’” He stares, glumly, at the slumbering giant beside him. 

"Sorry!" Thalia said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to—"

Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe.

Annabeth’s mouth is dropped wide open. “I leave them alone for a day .” 

I stood up. "Yeah," I growled. "I didn't mean to, either."

Thalia was breathing heavily.

"Enough!" Chiron ordered.

But Thalia held out her spear. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"

Annabeth immediately straightens up. “That bitch.” 

“Annabeth!” Jason chastises her. 

“Only I get to call him Seaweed Brain!” 

Somehow, it was okay when Annabeth called me that—at least, I'd gotten used to it—but hearing it from Thalia was not cool.

“I agree with Annabeth.” Hazel shakes her head. “It just sounds wrong coming from Thalia. Or, at least, from Percy’s voice mimicking Thalia’s voice.” 

"Bring it on, Pinecone Face!"

“Oof,” Piper huffs. “He is so bad with insults.”

I raised Riptide, but before I could even defend myself, Thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into my chest.

I sat down hard. There was a burning smell; I had a feeling it was my clothes.

Hazel shakes her head. “This escalated so quickly.” 

“Though,” Leo points out, turning to face Jason. “Now you know why Percy wasn’t intimidated by you when you first met. If I faced off Thalia, I wouldn’t be intimidated by you, either. No offense.” 

Jason blinks at him. “ Some taken!” 

"Thalia!" Chiron said. "That is enough!"

I got to my feet and willed the entire creek to rise. It swirled up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.

"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

I was about to hurl it at Thalia when I saw something in the woods. I lost my anger and my concentration all at once. The water splashed back into the creekbed. Thalia was so surprised she turned to see what I was looking at.

“It’s not Jason Voorhees is it?” Leo asks. “Cause I get nervous every time I’m in those woods that we’re in the middle of a ‘Friday the 13th’ remake.” 

Nico shakes his head. “Oh, trust me, it was way worse than Jason Voorhees.” 

Someone… something was approaching. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.

"This is impossible," Chiron said. I'd never heard him sound so nervous. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

“Oh, no, it’s ‘The Mummy’ ,” Leo whispers. “At least, I think, I’ve never actually seen that movie.” 

None of us dared move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. Apparently everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.

“I am the spirit of Delphi,” the voice said. “Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.” The Oracle regarded me with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade. “Approach, Seeker, and ask.”

“Damn, talk about the shade.” Piper mutters.

Reyna shakes her head. “I would never show my face again if I was dissed by a mummy like that in front of everyone.” 

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. 

The Oracle spoke: “Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, one shall be lost in the land without rain, the bane of Olympus shows the trail, campers and Hunters combined prevail, the Titan's curse must one withstand, and one shall perish by a parent's hand.”

“Oh, my gods.” Leo whispers. “So much is happening right now.” 

Piper nods. “I don’t even know how to process all of this.” 

Jason leans forward. “Did she say ‘perish?’” 

Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

Notes:

For those of you that are new, I apologize for how late this is.

For those of you that have been here since the beginning, and remember how it took me three years to finish Sea of Monsters, you know me well enough to not be surprised at this point. Let's be real, 3 months is NOT my longest hiatus in this series.

Thank you so much for all of the comments on the last chapter. Comments really do help with the writing process!

Inspiration has been a little wonky, as has my focus. wrath of the triple goddess comes out in september, so that might help me out a bit.

I started rewatching Charmed. This is relevant, bc I watched this show for the first time at the same time i first read Heroes of Olympus, which was funny bc there are two characters named piper and leo in both the show and books, with completely different dynamics. (also, i started writing a charmed fanfiction too, which will take up most of my creative energies until the hyperfixation runs out)

btw, Piper has been driving for almost 8 hours. do you think someone else should take over soon?

btw (shameless self promotion warning) if you haven't already, and you like my writing and/or character interpretations of piper and hazel, check out my other work, The Devil's In The Details.

Until next time<3<3<3

Chapter 7: Everybody Hates Me but the Horse

Notes:

I FINISHED IT!!! I wrote, like, eight pages in the last seven hours, but it happened!

ENJOY<3

“Well,” Nico mutters. “ That was just as traumatizing the second time around.” 

The least the Oracle could've done was walk back to the attic by herself.

Instead, Grover and I were elected to carry her. I didn't figure that was because we were the most popular.

“What gave him that idea?” Reyna asks. 

“The fact that they were chosen to carry a corpse .” Jason answers. She gives him a look. “ Oh . You meant that rhetorically.” 

"Watch her head!" Grover warned as we went up the stairs. But it was too late.

Bonk! I whacked her mummified face against the trapdoor frame and dust flew.

Annabeth’s head falls into her hands. 

“Well, I guess that’s one way to get back at her for not answering him.” Piper shrugs. 

"Ah, man." I set her down and checked for damage. "Did I break anything?"

"I can't tell," Grover admitted.

“They’re two of your best friends.” Nico tells her. 

“I know.” Annabeth sighs, without looking up. 

We hauled her up and set her on her tripod stool, both of us huffing and sweating. Who knew a mummy could weigh so much?

Jason tilts his head to the side. “That is surprising. Considering one of the processes of mummification is removing the organs.” 

“At heart, you really are just a creepy, little, nerd, aren’t you?” Reyna questions. 

I assumed she wouldn't talk to me, and I was right. I was relieved when we finally got out of there and slammed the attic door shut.

"Well," Grover said, "that was gross."

I knew he was trying to keep things light for my sake, but I still felt really down. The whole camp would be mad at me for losing the game to the Hunters, and then there was the new prophecy from the Oracle. It was like the spirit of Delphi had gone out of her way to exclude me. She'd ignored my question and walked half a mile to talk to Zoe. And she'd said nothing, not even a hint, about Annabeth.

Annabeth sighs, looking out the passenger side window. “I’ve been there.” She whispers, mostly to herself. 

"What will Chiron do?" I asked Grover.

"I wish I knew." He looked wistfully out the second-floor window at the rolling hills covered in snow. "I want to be out there."

"Searching for Annabeth?"

“Wow, even before you two started dating, Percy would fail the ‘not talk about his girlfriend for ten minutes’ challenge.” Leo mutters. 

“Is that a real challenge?” Hazel asks, genuinely curious, since she’s still quite new to all of the ‘modern day things that teenagers do’, as she and Nico like to dub it. 

Leo shrugs. “I have no idea. But I got curious if he could do it once, so last month I started a conversation with him and brought a stopwatch. As I said, he failed.” 

He had a little trouble focusing on me. Then he blushed. "Oh, right. That too. Of course."

“Thanks, Grover.” Annabeth deadpans. “Really feeling the love.”

"Why?" I asked. "What were you thinking?"

He clopped his hooves uneasily. "Just something the manticore said, about the Great Stirring. I can't help but wonder… if all those ancient powers are waking up, maybe… maybe not all of them are evil."

"You mean Pan."

Leo blinks, confused. “You mean the cooking spray?” 

“No, the wilderness god .” Piper corrects him. “We went through this whole thing in the first book.”

“Pipes, I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to be aware that I do not remember any of that.” 

I felt kind of selfish, because I'd totally forgotten about Grover's life ambition. The nature god had gone missing two thousand years ago. He was rumored to have died, but the satyrs didn't believe that. They were determined to find him. They'd been searching in vain for centuries, and Grover was convinced he'd be the one to succeed. This year, with Chiron putting all the satyrs on emergency duty to find half-bloods, Grover hadn't been able to continue his search. It must've been driving him nuts.

“It’s good that Percy does not play favorites with his two best friends.” Piper says, sarcastically.

Hazel laughs at that, doing an (eerily impressive) impression of Percy. “Annabeth’s lifelong dream, to become an architect, easy! Grover’s lifelong dream… I dunno, ask someone else.” 

"I've let the trail go cold," he said. "I feel restless, like I'm missing something really important. He's out there somewhere. I can just feel it."

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to encourage him, but I didn't know how. My optimism had pretty much been trampled into the snow out there in the woods, along with our capture-the-flag hopes.

Before I could respond, Thalia tromped up the stairs. She was officially not talking to me now, but she looked at Grover and said, "Tell Percy to get his butt downstairs."

“That’s real mature.” Piper says. 

“You did the exact same thing to Drew last week.” Jason jumps in, defending his sister. 

“ She started it!” 

"Why?" I asked.

"Did he say something?" Thalia asked Grover.

"Um, he asked why."

“Oh, poor Grover.” Hazel winces in sympathy. 

“Those two would not try that shit if I was there.” Annabeth declares, shaking her head. 

They all, unanimously, agree with that statement.

"Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy," she said. "Unfortunately, that includes Percy."

“ Dionysus. ” Reyna repeats, blankly. “Is calling a council . Things must be bad.” 

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

“I love the fact that most of them being underage was mentioned second .” Hazel hums. 

Nico shrugs. “They’ve already got a deadly prophecy. No need to be blown up by Zeus as well.” 

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end. Thalia and Grover and I sat along the right, and the other head councilors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers—sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Leo snorts. “Yeah, ‘ accidentally .’” He glances at the still slumbering Frank. “I am so glad that they are still sleeping.” 

Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.

“Oh, Grover.” Piper sighs, not a note of sarcasm in her voice. “Always a joy to have you around.” 

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. I was amazed at how different she looked after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose, and her dark eyes vaguely reminded me of someone famous, but I couldn't think who. She looked like she'd been working out, and her skin glowed faintly, like the other Hunters, as if she'd been taking showers in liquid moonlight. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

It was a subtle thing, the way that Nico deflated every time Bianca was mentioned. His shoulders would sag and hunch, just a little more than they already were. The corners of his mouth would point downwards, and go from a grimace to a frown. His eyelids would droop lower, until his eyelashes touched the tops of his cheeks.

Most wouldn’t be able to see it.

His sisters weren’t most. 

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

“Is that really the most pressing issue right now, Thalia?” Piper feels compelled to ask. 

“She has her priorities!” Jason huffs. “Let off my sister, Piper!” 

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

“She’s got the spirit!” Leo exclaims. “What? I’m a Zoe defender. Angry, pretty, wouldn’t give me the time of day if we met in real life. She’s exactly my type!” 

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

“That is not the spirit.” Leo mutters, shaking his head. 

“I don’t think he understands what is happening right now.” Reyna nods slowly. 

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

“To who ?” Jason questions, his eyes narrowed. 

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced, but I could tell Thalia had scored a point.

“Ooh!” Leo coos. “My girl versus your girl, Jason. Who's gonna win?” 

“You mean a girl that none of us have ever met, versus my sister ? In a competition that took place several years ago?” 

Leo nods, seriously. “ Exactly .” 

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

“And the day after that would’ve been Thalia’s birthday.” Jason hums. 

“You mean her sixteenth birthday?” Piper asks, suddenly sitting ramrod straight in her chair. 

Hazel’s eyes widened, understanding what Piper was alluding to. “Oh, shit.” 

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

“She’s so real for that.” Reyna mutters. 

“One point for Zoe.” Leo taunts in a sing-song voice. 

Jason doesn’t give him a response. 

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

Hazel purses her lips. “At least he’s self aware.” She hesitates. “That can’t be said about too many of the others.” 

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," I said.

Nico gasps, sarcastically. Don’t ask me how he can make a gasp sound sarcastic, but he did. “I think that might be the first time I’ve heard Percy talk about numbers.” 

Everybody looked at me. Thalia even forgot to ignore me.

"We're supposed to have five," I said, feeling self-conscious. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

Piper shakes her head. “I can already tell that those numbers are not going to hold up.” 

“They did, in fact, not hold up.” Nico replies. 

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

“Wow, he really knows how to play her.” Leo mutters. “I wonder if Chiron manipulates us like that, to get what he wants.” 

Annabeth glances through the rear windshield, to the trailer filled with weapons that they were lugging behind them. “No, probably not.” She deadpans. 

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

“I would like to nominate one of the Stoll brothers for whacking.” Hazel raises a hand. “Not that they did anything bad, they just seem like they deserve a good whacking.” 

“You are so real for that.” Reyna tells her. 

Everybody looked at Dionysus, I guess because he was the only god present and gods are supposed to know things. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

“I mean,” Piper hesitates. “I guess that’s true enough…” 

"Chiron," I said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Your father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “Keto. She was the one that sent Shrimpzilla after us.” 

Leo shudders. “I could never look at shrimp the same way again.” 

Annabeth shakes her head “And, trust me everyone knew when Typhon woke up.” 

Piper blinks several times. “I’m sorry, did you just say when the father of all monsters woke up?” 

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. (I liked how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."

Nico clenches his fist, tightly. 

Annabeth’s face grows somber. 

“Well, that got dark, fast.” Leo mutters. 

"One shall be lost in the land without rain" Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

“Like it’s ever that easy.” Hazel mutters, twisting a curl around her finger anxiously. 

There was a muttering of agreement.

"And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

I saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it.

“Of course not. Why would they?” Reyna asks, rhetorically. “Why should anyone share any information ever ?” 

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

“Kronos ate five out of six of his own children.” Piper points out. “And only didn’t eat the last one because his wife switched him out with a rock first. And we’re all, in some way, shape, or form, related to that.” 

There was heavy silence around the table.

I glanced at Thalia and wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was. Years ago, Chiron had had a prophecy about the next child of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades—who turned sixteen. Supposedly, that kid would make a decision that would save or destroy the gods forever. Because of that, the Big Three had taken an oath after World War II not to have any more kids. But Thalia and I had been born anyway, and now we were both getting close to sixteen.

“I mean, Thalia was way closer to sixteen than he was at this point.” Piper mutters. 

“Well, yeah, but there was still a week left for her to die before that happened.” Nico reminds her. 

Jason asks, “What is the matter with you, dude?”

“Oh, so many things.” 

I remembered a conversation I'd had last year with Annabeth. I'd asked her, if I was so potentially dangerous, why the gods didn't just kill me.

Some of the gods would like to kill you, she'd said. But they're afraid of offending Poseidon.

Could an Olympian parent turn against his half-blood child? Would it sometimes be easier just to let them die? If there were ever any half-bloods who needed to worry about that, it was Thalia and me. I wondered if maybe I should've sent Poseidon that seashell pattern tie for Father's Day after all.

“ Did he end up sending him that seashell pattern tie?” Leo can’t help but ask.

Annabeth nods. “Yeah, like, last year. I think he wears it as a headband, though.”

Nico nods. “ This is why Paul gets the ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ mug.” 

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said. Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

Piper glances at Jason, who is shaking his head, through the rearview mirror. “ That is your brother.” 

Jason sighs, his head falling into his hands. “I know .” 

"Percy is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Piper bristles at that insult, her hands clenching around the steering wheel. “She really is your type, Leo. I’m not sure if I have a slight dislike towards her, or want to strangle her.” 

“She’s misunderstood!” 

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.

“Uh oh.” Annabeth mutters. 

Zoe nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added.

Hazel shakes her head. “That cannot be good.” 

"Yes," Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

“Say ‘no!’” Several people chorus, most of them, at one point or another, having dealt with the Stoll Brothers and their antics. 

Most ended with one, or both, of the Stoll brothers seriously maimed, but those are stories for another time. 

I knew the Stolls were up to something. They always were. But I guess Zoe didn't know them as well as I did. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

“Weird that she would take a gift from a boy.” Piper mutters. 

However, Nico had tensed, once more, at the mention of Bianca.

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But… I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

Bianca closed her mouth. I felt kind of sorry for her. I remembered my first quest when I was twelve. I had felt totally unprepared. A little honored, maybe, but a lot resentful and plenty scared. I figured the same things were running around in Bianca's head right now.

Hazel swallows thickly. Already, she was starting to get a very clear, very sad picture of what had occurred so many years ago. What had caused her brother to become so obsessed, as to break the rules and bring another sister back from the dead.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met mine, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

“Wooh!” Piper cheers. “Grover gets to prove himself on a quest! I love this for him.” 

“Uh-huh.” Hazel says, slowly. “But I was thinking that the two campers going on the quest were going to be Thalia and Percy…” 

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

“Thalia gets points for this.” Piper declares. “She’s a girl’s girl.” 

“But, Grover isn’t a girl…?” Jason says, confused. 

“I’m talking about me !” 

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered. I didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoe thought it was a good thing.

"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

Hazel nods, lips pressed together. “Yup, that was about what I was expecting to happen.” 

Now, okay, maybe my math skills weren't the best, but it suddenly occurred to me that we'd reached the number five, and I wasn't in the group. "Whoa, wait a sec," I said. "I want to go too."

Thalia said nothing. Chiron was still studying me, his eyes sad.

"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean… I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."

Annabeth lets out a forlorn sigh. “They really are platonic soulmates.”

Leo nods. “They’re both equally bad at math.” 

"He cannot," Zoe said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"You traveled here with me," I reminded her.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

"What about Grover?" I demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

“Yeah, technically he’s a twenty year old man.” Jason points out. 

“He was thirty, then.” Annabeth corrects. 

“Yeah, Jason!” Piper teases. “Get it right!” 

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I have to go," I said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

I felt myself blushing. I hated that everyone was looking at me. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"

Hazel scrunches up her face. “Oh, the denial just makes it worse.” 

Nobody rose to my defense. Mr. D looked bored, still reading his magazine. Silena, the Stoll brothers, and Beckendorf were staring at the table. Bianca gave me a look of pity.

Piper wrinkles her nose. “ Oh, no . The secondhand embarrassment is so real.” 

"No," Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

“I mean, he’s right .” Piper agrees. “But does this mean that we have to listen to Percy whine about Annabeth, for a few more hours until the others come back from their quest?” 

Leo shrugs. “Well, it isn’t like that’s what he did when Clarisse got her own quest.” Jason and Reyna both give him a surprised look. “ What ? I can retain some stuff.”

My ears were ringing as I sat down. I knew Grover and some of the others were looking at me sympathetically, but I couldn't meet their eyes. I just sat there as Chiron concluded the council.

"So be it," he said. "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, we hope—be with you."

“I wouldn’t waste too many hopes on him.” Reyna admits. “It just feels like a waste.” 

“That’s valid.” Nico shrugs. “It isn’t like he’s done anything to disprove that thought.” 

I didn't show up for dinner that night, which was a mistake, because Chiron and Grover came looking for me.

“I hope they brought food with them.” Leo says. “I would be starving if I skipped dinner.” 

“Do you talk about anything other than food?” Reyna asks him.

“Not if I can help it. It keeps me away from thinking about my traumatic childhood and life in general.” 

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover said, sitting next to me on the bunk. "I didn't know they'd—that you'd—Honest!"

He started to sniffle, and I figured if I didn't cheer him up he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset.

“That doesn’t sound like a great habit.” Jason mutters. 

“Oh, it isn’t.” Annabeth agreed. “Him and his girlfriend got in an argument one time, he chewed up all the lamp covers in Sally’s house.” 

“ That’s why none of the shades match their lamps!” Hazel exclaims. 

"It's okay," I lied. "Really. It's fine."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking… I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

I nodded and tried to ignore the big crater that was opening in my chest.

“I don’t think that ‘if’ is helping matters, Grover.” Hazel says. 

Piper defends, “He’s doing his best, Hazel!” 

"Grover," Chiron said, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?"

"Sure," he sniffled.

Chiron waited.

"Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at me miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."

Annabeth pouts. “ Grover .” 

“Being a third wheel for almost a decade takes its toll.” Nico informs her, which just causes Annabeth’s lips to quirk further downwards. 

He trotted out the door, blowing his nose on his sleeve.

Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "Percy, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," I said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."

“So true.” Reyna hums. 

“He spoke no lies.” Leo agrees. 

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."

“Again, no lies detected.” Leo steepled his fingers. 

Jason sighs. “That is not… false .” 

"Would you have chosen me?"

"Frankly, no," he said. "You and Thalia are much alike."

Annabeth nods, as if she had already seen this coming. “I tried telling him.” 

"Thanks a lot."

He smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."

“ Damn .” Piper mutters. “Either Thalia was really sure of herself, or Percy was really unsure of himself.” 

Nico narrows his eyes. “I’m thinking it’s the second option.”

"We could handle it."

"The way you handled it at the creek tonight?”

“ Ooh !” Leo coos. “ Burn !” 

I didn't answer. He'd nailed me.

"Perhaps it is for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call."

“He doesn’t have a phone.” Hazel says, slowly. “And neither does anyone else at camp.” 

Jason grimaces. “I think he was just saying that to be nice.”

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe."

I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and set it on my nightstand. It didn't seem that I'd be using it for anything but writing Christmas cards.

“That was just hyperbole.” Annabeth informs the group. “He had not yet known how to write with Riptide at this point.” 

When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon."

“Wait, what ?” Piper asks. “What’s going on with Riptide, now?” 

Leo rubs at his temples. “I feel like every moment we’re learning something new, or picking up a new mystery, and it’s kind of overloading my brain.” 

I didn't understand what he meant. Then I remembered something he'd told me a long time ago, when he first gave me the magic sword: It has a long and tragic history, which we need not go into.

I wanted to ask him about that, but then he pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to me. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth… I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

“ Great !” Leo huffs. “Now I want to see Chiron go on a quest.” 

“Do you think--” Annabeth starts to ask, hesitantly, before stopping herself. The question that she’d wanted to ask hangs in the air, unfinished. ‘Do you think he wanted to go on the quest to save me ?’

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah."

I didn't need to ask. I knew Chiron's dad was Kronos, the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.

Piper raises one hand off the steering wheel, to emphasize her point. “That’s what I’ve been saying!” 

"Chiron," I said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush."

Reyna shakes her head. “ Whenever someone says that, it almost always means what you think it means. Just tell us what you think!” She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s very frustrating.” 

He said your time the way people did when they meant your death. I didn't know if Chiron meant it that way, but the look in his eyes made me scared to ask.

“You wouldn’t get an answer anyway!” Reyna mutters. “Because everyone is so damn cryptic!” 

I stood at the saltwater spring, rubbing Chiron's coin in my hand and trying to figure out what to say to my mom. I really wasn't in the mood to have one more adult tell me that doing nothing was the greatest thing I could do, but I figured my mom deserved an update.

“I hate it when adults say that.” Leo sighs, deeply. 

“I have faith in Sally!” Hazel proclaims. “She’s a good mama!” 

Finally, I took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.

"Show me Sally Jackson," I said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And there in the mist was a scene I did not expect. My mom was sitting at our kitchen table with some… guy. They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was, I don't know, thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor—like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.

“I’m imagining this guy as Paul Rudd.” Piper says, promptly.

Annabeth’s eyebrows raise up to her hairline. “I’m sure Paul would be happy to hear that.” 

“Why would Paul Rudd care about being compared to some random guy on a date with Percy’s mom?” Leo asks, genuinely. 

“Because it’s Sally Jackson .” Reyna answers, like it’s obvious.

I was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, my mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice my Iris-message.

The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?"

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

“This makes me feel uncomfortable to listen to.” Hazel mutters, pulling her entire bottom lip in between her teeth. 

“How is this different from when you learn about my relationship?” Annabeth asks. 

“Because I love you, and I ship you. And I won’t have to live with you.” 

"Mom!" I said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on me. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

She blinked. "Homework." Then she seemed to understand the look on my face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul—um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

“Wait, isn’t Percy’s sister’s last name, Blofis?” Leo asks the group. Annabeth, Nico, and Hazel all turn around to send him a look. “What?” He asks, his eyebrows scrunched up, before his face brightens up. “Oh! That’s his stepdad, before his-- Okay, I get it now.”

"Mr. Blowfish?"

Leo pouts. “He glared at me for a solid five minutes when I made that joke!” 

“To be fair to Percy, you made it, like, an hour after the Eidolons made you blow up New Rome.” Piper reminds him. 

Jason, who had been unconscious at the time, stares at Leo. “Really?” 

“It was an icebreaker!” 

"Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong. I told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.

Hazel starts giggling, covering her mouth with her hands. 

Reyna, on the other hand, fondly rolls her eyes. “Of course it did.” 

My mother's eyes teared up. I could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. "Oh, Percy…"

Annabeth’s cheeks heat up, touched by Sally’s emotional display for her. 

"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home."

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"—she sighed like she was mad at herself—"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

Jason’s eyebrows skyrocket to his hairline. “Wait, what is she saying?” 

I stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."

“I’m pretty sure she’s telling him to sneak onto this quest.” Reyna replies, crossing her arms over her chest, a smile worming its way onto her mouth. “Like a boss.” 

"You're… you're telling me to go?"

My mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that… you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."

Leo looks at Hazel. “Your faith was well placed.” 

“Of course it was.” Hazel replies. “I put my faith in Sally Jackson.” 

"Mom—"

The toilet flushed down the hall in our apartment.

"I don't have much time," my mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you'll do what's best for Annabeth."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because she'd do the same for you."

Annabeth sniffles. 

“Sweetie, are you crying?” Piper asks, glancing over at her friend. 

“I just love her so much.” Annabeth swallows thickly. 

Hazel gently rubs Annabeth’s back. “It’s okay, sweetie. She’ll be your mom soon, you can love her.”

And with that, my mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving me with one final image of her new friend, Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.

Annabeth was reconstructing her face into it’s usual RBF™, so Nico reveals for her, “Two years from then, they will be married.”

“ Aw .” Piper coos. Jason raises an eyebrow at her through the rearview mirror. “Yeah, I’m a daughter of Aphrodite who loves love! Sue me for being a stereotype!”

I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember the dream.

I was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above me. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, I knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.

Annabeth’s face collapses once more, but not from an overflow of happy emotions. She shudders at the image that Percy had painted.

"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed.

It wasn't Kronos. Kronos's voice was raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. I'd heard it taunting me many times before in my dreams. But this voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.

Reyna wrinkles her nose. “I’ve never hated a bass guitar more.” 

Leo narrows his eyes. “Do you… often hate bass guitars?” 

Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."

The hypocrite. Like he really cared what happened to her.

A few people retracted, baffled at the tone of Percy’s voice. 

Percy sounded more venomous when talking about Luke than Hazel did. And that was saying something. 

The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.

“Oh, thank gods.” Piper mutters. She elaborates when a few people send her confused looks. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to what just happened, I just noticed that we have a place to stop soon.” 

I gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.

"You heard the boy," said the man in the shadows. "Decide!”

Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. I didn't know why she just didn't will the chains to burst, or make herself disappear, but she didn't seem able to. Maybe the chains prevented her, or some magic about this dark, horrible place.

Jason’s eyes widen, as something seems to occur to him. “Oh, gods .” 

“What?” Leo asks, concerned. 

Jason swallows thickly, looking at the back of Annabeth’s head of curls. “I know what she’s holding up.” 

The goddess looked at Annabeth and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"

"She will die soon," Luke said. "You can save her."

Annabeth made a weak sound of protest. My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn't move.

“You’re also not actually there.” Hazel feels compelled to remind him. “Or… here , I guess. Why do I keep forgetting that?” 

Leo leans forward, and gently pats Hazel’s shoulder. “You’re from a different time.” 

"Free my hands," Artemis said.

Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. With one expert strike, he broke the goddess's handcuffs.

“Couldn’t that have gone very differently?” Leo asks. 

Annabeth shrugs, attempting to keep a calm facade. “I dunno. I was barely conscious.” Her voice still cracks on the last word. 

Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.

“A freaking goddess could barely hold it up.” Nico mutters, glancing at Annabeth out of the corner of his eyes. 

The rest of the sentence goes unspoken, but they can all hear it as if he had said it. “And yet you held it up.”

The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."

"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."

“Well, yeah.” Leo mutters. “Because you’re trapped .” He looks up at the roof of the car. “No offense.” 

"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."

Artemis groaned "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."

"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Luke, you may kill the girl now."

Leo’s eyes widen, and his eyebrows raise. “ Excuse me ?” 

Annabeth swallows thickly, her shoulders hunching over. 

"No!'" Artemis shouted.

Luke hesitated. "She—she may yet be useful, sir. Further bait."

"Bah! You truly believe that?"

"Yes, General. They will come for her. I'm sure."

Hazel grimaces. “Well, he isn’t wrong. She’s certainly baiting Percy .” 

The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless."

“He says… to a… mortal…” Jason says slowly, his brain whirring to catch up with the cryptic sentences and riddles that they were speaking in. 

Luke gathered up Annabeth's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.

"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."

"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is… challenging."

“ And Thalia and Grover.” Piper adds. “And Percy, I guess, will be there too. I don’t know where we ended up on that, cause I was too distracted by the sweet release… of driving.” 

The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.

I woke with a start. I was sure I'd heard a loud banging. I looked around the cabin. It was dark outside. The salt spring still gurgled. No other sounds but the hoot of an owl in the woods and the distant surf on the beach. In the moonlight, on my nightstand was Annabeth's New York Yankees cap. I stared at it for a second and then:BANG BANG.

“ Cupid ?” Leo asks, lightheartedly. 

Nico shudders, his nose wrinkling. “Please don’t bring him up. It’s still too soon, dude.” Hazel gently pats his back. 

Someone, or something, was pounding on my door. I grabbed Riptide and got out of bed.

"Hello?" I called. THUMP. THUMP. I crept to the door.

I uncapped the blade, flung open the door, and found myself face-to-face with a black pegasus.

“Blackjack!” Piper exclaims. “I miss him.” 

Leo nods. “Yeah. Remember that time you convinced him to knock Percy out on the head so that he didn’t kill Jason?” 

“He wasn’t going to kill me!” Jason insists. “It was an evenly matched fight!” 

Leo nods, lightly rubbing Jason’s shoulder. “Sure it was, buddy.” 

Whoa, boss! Its voice spoke in my mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. I don't wanna be a horse-ke-bob!

Its black wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted me back a step,

"Blackjack," I said, relieved but a little irritated. "It's the middle of the night!"

Blackjack huffed. Ain't either, boss. It's five in the morning. What you still sleeping for?

Leo winces. “Wow, if sleeping ‘til five am offends him, I don’t think Blackjack would like me all that much.”

"How many times have I told you? Don't call me boss."

Whatever you say, boss. You're the man. You're my number one.  

“I want a hype man like Blackjack.” Leo whines. “Reyna, be my hype man!” 

“Fuck off.” She deadpans. 

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried not to let the pegasus read my thoughts. That's the problem with being Poseidon's son: since he created horses out of sea foam, I can understand most equestrian animals, but they can understand me, too. Sometimes, like in Blackjack's case, they kind of adopt me.

“Percy trying to keep his thoughts a secret is fair.” Piper sighs. “I probably wouldn’t have kept too many friendships, or any familial relationship, if people that wake me up could hear my thoughts.” 

See, Blackjack had been a captive on board Luke's ship last summer, until we'd caused a little distraction that allowed him to escape. I'd really had very little to do with it, seriously, but Blackjack credited me with saving him.

"Blackjack," I said, "you're supposed to stay in the stables."

Meh, the stables. You see Chiron staying in the stables?

“That’s a good point.” Leo relents. “Do horses that can’t speak English secretly hate and resent us.”

“Yes.” Hazel says, with all of the authority of a girl that managed to tame an untamable, water-walking, wind-riding horse. 

"Well… no."

Exactly. Listen, we got another little sea friend who needs your help.

"Again?"

Yeah. I told the hippocampi I'd come get you.

I groaned. Anytime I was anywhere near the beach, the hippocampi would ask me to help them with their problems. And they had a lot of problems. Beached whales, porpoises caught in fishing nets, mermaids with hangnails—they'd call me to come underwater and help.

“Oh, that’s why he always has nail clippers in his cabin.” Piper mutters, pulling the van into a crowded parking lot. “I thought that was just how he kept his nails so pristine.” 

Annabeht shrugs. “It can be a bit of both.” 

"All right," I said. "I'm coming."

You're the best, boss.

"And don't call me boss!"

Piper navigates her way through the crowded parking lot, taking a recently vacated spot before another waiting car could take it from her. 

Blackjack whinnied softly. It might've been a laugh.

I looked back at my comfortable bed. My bronze shield still hung on the wall, dented and unusable. And on my nightstand was Annabeth's magic Yankees cap. On an impulse, I stuck the cap in my pocket. I guess I had a feeling, even then, that I wasn't coming back to my cabin for a long, long time.

Piper pauses the radio, and then stretches her arms. “Alright, this is where I take my leave.” She looks in the rearview mirror. “Jason, take my spot.” It was not a question. 

Jason grimaces. “Isn’t it Frank’s turn?” 

Leo snorts. “ Sure . You be the one to wake him. Speaking from experience, it isn’t pretty.” 

“Hold on,” Annabeth stares in bewilderment at where they had stopped. “Is-- Are we at the St. Louis Arch?” 

“Huh,” Piper mutters, opening her car door. “I guess we are. Didn’t realize that.” 

Reyna raises one singular eyebrow. “The St. Louis Arch was just on our way?” 

“Obviously, Reyna.” Leo chimes in. “Since we’re here and all.” 

Hazel stares at the arch. “Percy fell off that ?” 

“This was already established, Hazel.” Nico reminds her. 

“Yeah, but I didn’t have a good frame of reference when we heard about it earlier. Now that I’m seeing it… How is he alive ?” 

“You’re asking this now ?” Jason grumbles, sliding back into the dreaded driver’s seat, and having to push it back several inches. Piper was much shorter than he was, afterall. 

Piper sighs, leaning her head back as she takes Jason’s old seat. “Ah, I get a window seat, and I don’t have to drive! Dream come true!” 

Jason nods dutifully. “And I’m driving.” 

Hazel reaches over to turn on the radio, but Annabeth puts a hand on her wrist to stop her. “Quick, before you do that, I have a call I have to make.”

Notes:

guys, i hate myself. 49 chapters, over 283,000 words, and it has just now occured to me to recall what happened in toa, and found out that piper and grover have actually met in canon??? i'm not gonna retcon this, bc that would be too hard, but dear gods do i have to reread and ultimately finish toa bc wtf?

yeah, so, we reached our first stop in the Percy Jackson Tour. according to the map I created for this roadtrip, they shouldn't have reached St. Louis until a little into the next chapter, but this is a world where monsters exist so i figured it didn't have to be totally accurate.

also, i wanted to wait a while before bringing percy into this story, but i figure that this is the last time we can talk to him before sh!t hits the fan, so this felt like a good compromise.

until next time <3<3<3

Chapter 8: I Make A Dangerous Promise

Notes:

I'M BACK!!!

this is dedicated to all of my american readers that won't be able to sleep tonight. or, possibly, the next four years <3

Enjoy <3

"Annabeth?" Percy's groggy voice comes through Annabeth’s phone, tinny just like it sounds on the radio. “Why are you calling me?” 

“I’m not allowed to call you?” Annabeth questions. 

“Oh, no,” This time, it’s Grover’s voice. “You’re always allowed to call, Percy is just bummed that he’s the one that’s been calling you all week.” 

Hazel raises an eyebrow. “We’ve only been gone for two days.” 

“Yeah.” Percy replies. “ All week .” 

“Are you in any way implying that I am slacking in my girlfriend duties?” Annabeth asks. 

Percy is quick to assure her, “Absolutely not.” He adds under his breath, though still loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Shut up, Grover. You’re gonna get me in trouble.” 

“Anyway, what are you guys doing?” Grover quickly changes the subject. 

“We’re in a car, Grover.” Nico deadpans. “Not much to be done around here.” 

Piper leans forward, keen to add her own two cents. “Though, I just got Jason to take over the driving for me.” 

Percy lets out a small huff of a laugh, that is quickly followed by a tiny cough. “I bet he loves that.” 

Jason, who is staring intently at the road, hands at two and ten, glares. “Thanks for the sympathy, man.” 

“What are you two up to?” Annabeth asks, intent on steering the conversation far away from what it was those in the car were up to, lest someone accidentally spill the beans. 

Percy answers her, “Well we were watching that show that Leo recommended, but Grover made us pause it, because the season six finale was too overstimulating, so now we’re eating some soup that Mom made us.”

“And she brought me the tin cans that the soup came from!” Grover enthusiastically adds. 

“Sally’s a queen.” Reyna murmurs. 

“Very true!” Grover agrees. 

“Anyway, I just wanted to call and say I love you.” Annabeth says quickly, shooting a glare at the others. “Both of you.”

“Aw, I love you too.” Percy says, and the smile is obvious from his voice. 

“But, I love you more.” Grover chimes in. 

“You’re a liar.”

“That is true, I don’t think anyone loves you more than Percy, Annabeth.” 

Piper makes a small, offended noise in the back of her throat. “Um, I’m sitting right here!” 

“Anyway, we’ll let you get back to your soup and cans. Bye.” 

As soon as the call ends, Hazel is quick to reach for the radio, and turn the story back on. 

“You’re so thirsty for the drama, girl.” Leo comments. 

“Shut up, Valdez.” Hazel mutters, though no venom is in her tone. 

Blackjack gave me a ride down the beach, and I have to admit it was cool. Being on a flying horse, skimming over the waves at a hundred miles an hour with the wind in my hair and the sea spray in my face—hey, it beats water skiing any day.

“How does Percy know what water skiing is like?”  Jason questions. 

Annabeth barks out a small laugh. “That’s a story for another day.”

“What?” Leo questions. “You can’t just say that! Now I’m curious!” 

Here . Blackjack slowed and turned in a circle. Straight down .

"Thanks." I tumbled off his back and plunged into the icy sea.

I'd gotten more comfortable doing stunts like that the past couple of years. I could pretty much move however I wanted to underwater, just by willing the ocean currents to change around me and propel me along, I could breathe underwater, no problem, and my clothes never got wet unless I wanted them to.

Piper shudders, pinching at her shirt. “Why would anyone want their clothes to be wet? I can’t even get dressed when I’m slightly damp.”

“We know, Pipes.” Leo tells her. “Going to the beach with you can be a real mess.”

I shot down into the darkness.

Twenty, thirty, forty feet. The pressure wasn't uncomfortable. I'd never tried to push it—to see if there was a limit to how deep I could dive. I knew most regular humans couldn't go past two hundred feet without crumpling like an aluminum can. I should've been blind, too, this deep in the water at night, but I could see the heat from living forms, and the cold of the currents. It's hard to describe. It wasn't like regular seeing, but I could tell where everything was.

Nico rolls his eyes. “We get it, your life is like a live-action Aquaman comic. Stop bragging.” 

As I got closer to the bottom, I saw three hippocampi—fish-tailed horses—swimming in a circle around an overturned boat. The hippocampi were beautiful to watch. Their fish tails shimmered in rainbow colors, glowing phosphorescent. Their manes were white, and they were galloping through the water the way nervous horses do in a thunderstorm. Something was upsetting them.

Reyna narrows her eyes. “Phosphorescent?” 

“It means to glow softly in the dark.” Annabeth tells her.

Reyna hums, softly. “My next question was going to be ‘how does Percy even know that word’, but you just answered it.”

I got closer and saw the problem. A dark shape—some kind of animal—was wedged halfway under the boat and tangled in a fishing net, one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. I hated those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fishermen would just cut them loose and let the trapped animals die.

Annabeth makes a small noise in the back of her throat at Percy’s rant.

Piper leans forward, talking to Annabeth. “Is this one of the ‘Underwater Issues’ that Percy talks about a lot?” 

“I get that it’s important, but if I had a nickel for everytime I’ve had to listen to him going on about fishing nets…” Annabeth shakes her head exasperatedly. 

Apparently this poor creature had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had somehow gotten itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. It had tried to get out and managed to get even more hopelessly stuck, shifting the boat in the process. Now the wreckage of the hull, which was resting against a big rock, was teetering and threatening to collapse on top of the tangled animal.

Hazel wrinkles her nose. “This is why I hate boats.” 

“We spent months together on a boat.” Jason reminds her. 

Hazel turns her head to look at him. “ Exactly .” 

The hippocampi were swimming around frantically, wanting to help but not sure how. One was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi teeth just aren't meant for cutting rope. Hippocampi are really strong, but they don't have hands, and they're not (shhh) all that smart.

Percy had ended up whispering those last three words into the voice recorder.

Piper tilts her head to the side. “Did he… whisper that to… not hurt the feelings of the Hippocampi? That weren’t there?”

Jason shakes his head. “I’m getting the impression that Percy is way more respectful to ocean creatures than humans.” 

“As he should be.” Hazel says. “Most humans suck.” 

Free it, lord! A hippocampus said when it saw me. The others joined in, asking the same thing.

I swam in for a closer look at the tangled creature. At first I thought it was a young hippocampus. I'd rescued several of them before. But then I heard a strange sound, something that did not belong underwater:

"Mooooooo!"

Frank jumps up at the sound, and lets out an entirely realistic, “Moo!”, in response. “What’s happening?” They ask, still bleary eyed.

“The end of the world.” Nico deadpans. 

I got next to the thing and saw that it was a cow. I mean… I'd heard of sea cows, like manatees and stuff, but this really was a cow with the back end of a serpent. The front half was a calf—a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle—and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.

“Aw,” Piper coos, pouting. “That sounds adorable.” 

Leo raises both of his eyebrows to his hairline. “You really are my soul sister.” 

“And step-sister.” Nico reminds him. 

“Jail!” 

"Whoa, little one," I said. "Where did you come from?"

The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!"

But I couldn't understand its thoughts. I only speak horse.

“That’s an annoying measure of the fine print.” Leo hums. 

Frank shrugs, rubbing at his eyes. “Not really. Cows don’t typically have much to say, other than ‘eat more chicken.’”

Leo gasps. “The advertisements were right!” 

We don't know what it is, lord, one of the hippocampi said. Many strange things are stirring.

"Yeah," I murmured. "So I've heard."

I uncapped Riptide, and the sword grew to full length in my hands, its bronze blade gleaming in the dark.

“One could say that it is phosphorescent .” Piper exclaims. 

Annabeth turns to her best friend. “Are you trying to impress me by remembering a big word?”

Piper teasingly wiggles her eyebrows. “Is it working?”

The cow serpent freaked out and started struggling against the net, its eyes full of terror. "Whoa!" I said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me cut the net."

But the cow serpent thrashed around and got even more tangled. The boat started to tilt, stirring up the muck on the sea bottom and threatening to topple onto the cow serpent. The hippocampi whinnied in a panic and thrashed in the water, which didn't help.

"Okay, okay!" I said. I put away the sword and started speaking as calmly as I could so the hippocampi and the cow serpent would stop panicking. I didn't know if it was possible to get stampeded underwater, but I didn't really want to find out. "It's cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Sea grass. Mama cows. Vegetarianism."

“Is ‘vegetarianism’ really a calm thought?” Leo asks. 

“Depends on how low your iron is.” Piper sighs. 

I doubted the cow serpent understood what I was saying, but it responded to the tone of my voice. The hippocampi were still skittish, but they stopped swirling around me quite so fast.

Free it, lord! they pleaded.

"Yeah," I said. "I got that part. I'm thinking."

But how could I free the cow serpent when she (I decided it was probably a "she") panicked at the sight of a blade? It was like she'd seen swords before and knew how dangerous they were.

Hazel quirks an eyebrow at that. “Just like he’d thought that Blackjack was a mare in the last story?” 

“Yeah,” Annabeht sighs. “He’s really bad at ascertaining gender.”

"All right," I told the hippocampi. "I need all of you to push exactly the way I tell you."

First we started with the boat. It wasn't easy, but with the strength of three horsepower, we managed to shift the wreckage so it was no longer threatening to collapse on the baby cow serpent. Then I went to work on the net, untangling it section by section, getting lead weights and fishing hooks straightened out, yanking out knots around the cow serpent's hooves. It took forever—I mean, it was worse than the time I'd had to untangle all my video game controller wires. The whole time, I kept talking to the cow fish, telling her everything was okay while she mooed and moaned.

"It's okay, Bessie," I said. Don't ask me why I started calling her that. It just seemed like a good cow name. "Good cow. Nice cow."

“Bessie the cow fish.” Jason summarizes. 

Leo nods. “That’s gonna be iconic, I can already tell.”

Finally, the net came off and the cow serpent zipped through the water and did a happy somersault.

The hippocampi whinnied with joy. Thank you, lord!

"Moooo!"The cow serpent nuzzled me and gave me the big brown eyes.

"Yeah," I said. "That's okay. Nice cow. Well… stay out of trouble."

Which reminded me, I'd been underwater how long? An hour, at least. I had to get back to my cabin before Argus or the harpies discovered I was breaking curfew.

“I don’t know which is worse. Argus or the harpies.” Hazel mutters.

“You kidding?” Nico asks her. “Have you ever had hundreds of disapproving gazes focused on you at once? I would easily choose being eaten alive than have to face that again.” He shudders.

I shot to the surface and broke through. Immediately, Blackjack zoomed down and let me catch hold of his neck. He lifted me into the air and took me back toward the shore.

Success, boss?

“Depends on how you define success.” Reyna says. 

"Yeah. We rescued a baby… something or other. Took forever. Almost got stampeded."

Good deeds are always dangerous, boss. You saved my sorry mane, didn't you?

I couldn't help thinking about my dream, with Annabeth crumpled and lifeless in Luke's arms. Here I was rescuing baby monsters, but I couldn't save my friend.

“Baby cowfish. Pegasus. Annabeth.” Piper whispers. “Yeah, okay, I can see how that thought process tracks.”

As Blackjack flew back toward my cabin, I happened to glance at the dining pavilion. I saw a figure—a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone.

It was Nico, but it wasn't even dawn yet. Nowhere near time for breakfast. What was he doing up there?

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was more time for Nico to tell me about his Mythomagic game. But something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was crouching.

Nico presses his lips into a thin line, his typically pallid cheeks flushing with color. Clearly, he was embarrassed about his former hyperfixation, and how everyone around him reacted to it.

"Blackjack," I said, "set me down over there, will you? Behind that column."

I almost blew it.

I was coming up the steps behind Nico. He didn't see me at all. He was behind a column, peeking around the corner, all his attention focused on the dining area. I was five feet away from him, and I was about to say “What are you doing?” real loud, when it occurred to me that he was pulling a Grover: he was spying on the Hunters.

Annabeth chokes out a laugh, imagining her friend’s reaction were he to ever find out that Percy used his name as a verb for spying on the Hunters of Artemis. Then, she thought of Thalia’s reaction to that tidbit, and her laugh grew even louder.

“In my defense,” Nico speaks up. “Grover and I were doing this for two completely different reasons!” 

There were voices—two girls talking at one of the dining tables. At this ungodly hour of the morning? Well, unless you're the goddess of dawn, I guess.

I took Annabeth's magic cap out of my pocket and put it on.

Annabeth’s smile drops. “He took my cap forty feet under the lake ?” 

“You can’t call him again to yell at him.” Hazel reminds her. “He only gets one cameo per book.”

I didn't feel any different, but when I raised my arms I couldn't see them. I was invisible.

I crept up to Nico and sneaked around him. I couldn't see the girls very well in the dark, but I knew their voices: Zoe and Bianca. It sounded like they were arguing.

"It cannot be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate."

“What’re they talking about?” Frank asks, worried that they’d missed something while asleep. 

“Smallpox.” Leo says seriously, or, as seriously as Leo can say anything. 

"But how did it happen?" Bianca asked.

"A foolish prank," Zoe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it."

“Oh, my gods!” Piper exclaims. “That isn’t a prank, that’s attempted murder!”  

"That's terrible!"

“Literally.” Reyna comments. “That is the exact way that Hercules was murdered by his second wife.”

“That isn’t quite as horrible.” Piper hums. 

"She will live," Zoe said. "But she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It's up to me… and thee."

"But the prophecy," Bianca said. "If Phoebe can't go, we only have four. We'll have to pick another."

"There is no time," Zoe said. "We must leave at first light. That's immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose one."

“Good thing Percy’s already awake, then.” Hazel comments.

"In the land without rain," Bianca said, "but that can't be here."

"It might be," Zoe said, though she didn't sound convinced. "The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It could be a land without rain."

“Tell that to the first book. When Zeus made it rain in camp.” Reyna reminds them.

“Your memory astounds me.” Leo whispers in awe. 

“It was 24 hours ago.” 

“Exactly!” 

"But—"

"Bianca, hear me." Zoe's voice was strained. "I… I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe's. I don't want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And… I don't want to risk another Hunter."

Nico’s lips purse. Clearly, he was not happy with the Hunters that Zoe was willing to risk on the quest. 

Bianca was silent. "You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream."

"No. It would not help."

"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General—"

“Who’s the General?” Leo asks the group. 

Piper shrugs. “I dunno, but whenever a General pops up, they’re never a good character. I can think of two examples from the Superman comics alone.”

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe said. She sounded really anguished. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."

Nico scooted out of their way. He was faster than me.

As the girls sprinted down the steps, Zoe almost ran into me. She froze, her eyes narrowing. Her hand crept toward her bow, but then Bianca said, "The lights of the Big House are on. Hurry!"

And Zoe followed her out of the pavilion.

Frank lets out a deep breath of relief. “That was close. I think. Honestly, my brain is still pretty sleepy.”

I could tell what Nico was thinking. He took a deep breath and was about to run after his sister when I took off the invisibility cap and said, "Wait."

He almost slipped on the icy steps as he spun around to find me. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here the whole time. Invisible."

He mouthed the word invisible. "Wow. Cool."

“I was invisible too.” Annabeth mutters. 

“Yeah, but you weren’t, y’know, a boy. And I was deeply in the closet.” Nico tells her. 

Annabeth thinks this over for a moment, before relenting with a shrug, “That’s fair, I guess.”

"How did you know Zoe and your sister were here?"

He blushed. "I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't… I don't sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps, and them whispering. And so I kind of followed."

"And now you're thinking about following them on the quest," I guessed.

"How did you know that?"

“It seems like a pretty obvious guess.” Jason comments. 

“Must you discredit everyone’s accomplishments?” Leo teases, goodnaturedly, slightly shaking his head at his best friend. 

"Because if it was my sister, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."

He looked defiant. "Because I'm too young?"

"Because they won't let you. They'll catch you and send you back here. And… yeah, because you're too young. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die."

He shoulders sagged. He shifted from foot to foot. "Maybe you're right. But-- but you can go for me."

Reyna’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Wow, you were much easier to dissuade back then.” 

"Say what?"

"You can turn invisible. You can go!"

"The Hunters don't like boys," I reminded him. "If they find out—"

“Who is he trying to persuade?” Hazel asks the group. “Even Sally told him to go.”

"Don't let them find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my sister! You have to. Please?"

"Nico—"

"You're planning to go anyway, aren't you?"

“Wow, you were a perceptive little bugger, weren’t you?” Leo directs this question to Nico, who proceeds to not acknowledge his existence. 

I wanted to say no. But he looked me in the eyes, and I somehow couldn't lie to him.

"Yeah," I said. "I have to find Annabeth. I have to help, even if they don't want me to."

"I won't tell on you," he said. "But you have to promise to keep my sister safe."

Nico winces. Clearly, this was not a memory that he was keen on reliving. 

Hazel lifts her hand, wanting to reach out to comfort her brother, but not knowing how. 

"I… that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. Besides, she's got Zoe, Grover, and Thalia—"

"Promise," he insisted.

"I'll do my best. I promise that."

Not being able to help herself, Hazel wraps her arms around Nico’s forearm, gripping his hand with both of hers. 

He doesn’t make any indication that he even notices her, but the fact that he isn’t pulling away is enough. 

"Get going, then!" he said. "Good luck!"

It was crazy. I wasn't packed. I had nothing but the cap and the sword and the clothes I was wearing. I was supposed to be going home to Manhattan this morning. "Tell Chiron—"

"I'll make something up." Nico smiled crookedly. "I'm good at that. Go on!"

“Why would you brag about being good at lying?” Frank asks, confused. 

“Because I didn’t have all that much to brag about to Percy, duh!” Nico huffs, more agitated than most of them had ever seen him. 

I ran, putting on Annabeth's cap. As the sun came up, I turned invisible. I hit the top of Half-Blood Hill in time to see the camp's van disappearing down the farm road, probably Argus taking the quest group into the city. After that they would be on their own.

I felt a twinge of guilt, and stupidity, too. How was I supposed to keep up with them. Run?

Piper opens her mouth to say something, then immediately closes it. Too easy.

Then I heard the beating of huge wings. Blackjack landed next to me. He began casually nuzzling a few tufts of grass that stuck through the ice.

If I was guessing, boss, I'd say you need a getaway horse. You interested?

A lump of gratitude stuck in my throat, but I managed to say, "Yeah. Let's fly."

Notes:

guys, i finally watched the final two episodes of pjo, (i know, i'm a slacker, but this isn't news) and it was REALLY GOOD! i have my own thoughts and feelings about certain things, but i am SO PUMPED for season two!

(spoilers (kind of, if you're here, you clearly know what happens in book one) the statue scene happened as i was writing this 😭)

also, so excited about the thalia casting,

(rip all of the white boy jokes at jason's expense 🤧)

Also, last year I drew a picture based off of my percabeth dressed up as moana and maui comment, but was too nervous to post it back then, but now it's here if you want to give it a look

Notes:

okay, i'm a tad bit sleep deprived, and if you're new here, you should know that I do not proof read.

i watched episode 6 of the new tv show (NO SPOILERS) but instantly got inspired to post the next chapter.

i'm sorry it took me so long to get here. i had finals, then i was planning on writing all during winter break, which ends on Saturday ToT, so clearly that did not go as planned.

i remember this being one of my least favorite books (so much de@th and not enough annabeth will do that to you lol), but i'm excited to start this new journey with you all.

Until next time <3<3<3

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 3 of Peeping on Percy Jackson and the Olympians