Chapter 1: 3 Years Ago
I look behind me as we are running and gasp. There are at least a hundred cyclops behind us.
"Luke there are at least 100 cyclops behind us" I whimper. Luke looks behind us while keeping a firm grip on my hand.
"She is right. You guys keep on running I will hold them off" says Thalia bravely. No, no why Thalia? Why couldn't it be someone I don't care about. I am not going to stand idly by and let Thalia sacrifice herself for us.
I scream very hard "Thalia, no!" Annabeth screams with me too, but this doesn't work. Luke isn't letting go of me. I try to bite Luke but he is smart and keeps his hand away from my mouth. I look behind me and see the first Cyclops pick up Thalia and throw her. I scream at the top of my lungs. When Thalia hits the ground she doesn't move. From that moment on I knew Thalia was dying. No matter how much I scream we keep on moving. Why? Thalia is family. Why aren't we going back to save her. I look back at Thalia and see a miracle. I see a tree growing out of Thalia. As soon as it grows to it's full size a barrier releases in front of us. When the cyclops tries to get at us the cyclops simply falls. I smile. Thanks to Thalia we are finally safe from the monsters. The rest of our family can have a happy ending. This is how the story of Grace Lyde started.
Chapter 2: Our first Quest!
Annabeth and I are sword fighting. As usual Annabeth wins. Drats! Why does she always have to win? Couldn't she for once give up her victory?
"Why do you always have to win? Can't you go easy on me for once?" I whine.
"It's my job to keep you in line Daughter of Aphrodite" says Annabeth smirking.
"Very true" says a deep voice. I turn around and find Chiron.
"Come to the Big House with me" beckons Chiron. I bite my lip. Could we be in trouble? Usually if Chiron calls you to the Big House it's a bad thing. I throw a sideways glance at Annabeth. No way are we in trouble! Children of Athena never get in trouble. Nevertheless we follow Chiron to the Big House. When we get inside Chiron turns around with a serious expression on his face. Uh oh, what did we do?
"There's a new kid at camp and we've figured out that he is a Son of Poseidon" says Chiron. Annabeth and I gasp. But the Big Three made an oath not to have anymore children.
"And that's not all. Zeus blames him for stealing his lightning bolt." Says Chiron solemnly.
"This is very, very bad" gasps Annabeth. I nod my head agreeing with Annabeth. Chiron, Annabeth, and I all know this is not just about Zeus' anger but also about the Great Prophecy. I still have nightmares about it. Annabeth fingers her Pearl necklace nervously. One of the pearls on her necklace holds the Great Prophecy. I can only imagine how many nightmares Annabeth has.
"Zeus has threatened there will be war if the Lightning Bolt isn't returned. You guys, the boy Percy Jackson, and Grover will go on a quest to find the Lightning Bolt before the Summer Solstice" says Chiron. Annabeth squeals with glee. I feel very happy for her. Ever since we made it to Camp Half-Blood Annabeth has been begging to go on a quest. She didn't talk to Luke for a week because he went on a quest and didn't bring her along. Chiron raises his eyebrows at me and just walks away. Well, well it seems this year will be interesting.
Chapter 3: Capture the Flag
Annabeth walks up to me all wet. Wow I wonder what happened.
"That son of Poseidon is really getting on my nerves. Do you know what he did? When Clarisse was bullying him he exploded the water in the toilets and made everyone wet including me" growls Annabeth.
"Sounds like someone has a crush on Percy" I say chuckling. Annabeth scowls at me and stomps off.
Behind her shoulder she yells "By the way Percy is on our team for Capture the Flag." I roll my eyes and go to the Pegasus' stables. I unhitch my favorite Pegasus, Winter and ride him. It feels so good when I'm riding a Pegasus. I'm able to think when I'm riding Winter. As I soar above camp I look down. I don't get why people say don't look down. There can be so many good memories below you. Luke looks up at me grinning and waves at me. I grin and wave back too. If I had to choose who I wanted as my brother, I would choose Luke. When I was little he was the one who gave me piggy back rides. He was the one who protected me and he still does it now. After 10 minutes I land Winter and take her back to the stables. When I make it to the crowd surrounding Chiron Annabeth whispers "Where have you been. You were almost late for the game."
"I went Pegasus riding" I explain to Annabeth. I notice that Percy is standing next to Annabeth. I nod my head at Percy and he nods his head back.
Chiron begins "Rule 1 yada yada yada. You all know the rules. I'm going to give you 10 minutes to hide your flag and come up with a plan. 1 2 3 begin!" Our team walks to the trees to talk.
"Everyone knows their position, right?" asks Annabeth. We all nod.
"Okay get in position" says Annabeth. My position is to stay at the front lines and try to keep the other team from getting into the woods. Annabeth's position is to stay in front of the flag and fight what morbid soul goes there as usual.
Just then Chiron says "Ready Set Go!" The other team starts running toward us. Luke grins and goes for me. I growl. Why does he go for me always? The first move Luke does catches me off guard. He almost gets past me but then I push him back in front of me with the butt of my sword. We start to do sword fighting. I'm doing so good until another camper interferes between our duel. Both Luke and the other camper start fighting me. After 10 minutes I finally get overwhelmed. Luke smirks at me as he slides past me. Nobody else goes at me. I look behind me to see how everyone else is managing. I see Percy fighting Clarisse. In the end Percy breaks Clarisse's electric spear.
Clarisse screams very loudly and yells "You freak!" Now I feel very bad for Percy. Clarisse is going to try very hard to get back at Percy for breaking her spear. But then again its nice to see someone making Clarisse's life miserable.
I jog up to Percy and give him a high five saying "You Rock!" A small goofy grin spreads over his face. The grin reminds me of Annabeth. I know Annabeth loves that grin a lot. Oh Annabeth and Percy would be a cute couple. If only Annabeth opens her feelings up to Percy. Just then Luke comes out of the woods screaming with our flag. Annabeth slowly walks behind him. I notice that she's smiling at Luke. Luke is the only one who can get away with victory from Annabeth. It's not hard to notice that Annabeth has a crush on Luke. But for some reason I don't think Luke is perfect for Annabeth. I have a feeling Luke will break Annabeth's heart. I look back at Percy and see a hound behind me.
"Percy don't look behind you" I murmur. My hand immediately goes to my sword and I take it out. That gets everyone's attention on the Hound behind Percy. The Hound stares at Percy and growls. The Hound takes a leap to attack but Chiron shoots it with a bow and arrow.
Chapter 4: A Start
I am talking to my best friend Silena when Charlie comes up to us and says "Grace Chiron wants you at the Big House now." When I make it to the Big House Annabeth, Grover, and Percy are sitting at a table with Chiron. I slide into the seat next to Annabeth.
"In order for the quest to begin, you guys need to start with something. Percy since you're the leader of the quest I want you to go to the attic and see the Oracle" says Chiron calmly.
"No you can't! He might be the one!" explodes Annabeth. Chiron, Annabeth, and I all share a look. She's right. Percy could be the one the Great Prophecy is talking about. If Percy stands in front of the Oracle and that's what the Oracle says then he could cause the downfall of Olympus. The very thought of what would happen if Olympus fell brings me shivers.
"Annabeth you will go with him" says Chiron firmly. Annabeth and Percy get up without saying a word and go to the attic. After 5 minutes Percy and Annabeth come back. Annabeth's expression is unreadable.
"Percy what did the Oracle say" speaks Grover for the first time.
Percy says "The Oracle said You shall go west, and face the god who has turned,
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,
You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you a friend,
And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end,
"So what do you think it means?" asks Grover looking concerned.
"Well I think the God who has turned is Hades. I mean he never gets invited to the parties at Olympus, doesn't have a throne at Olympus, and doesn't even have a cabin here. No doubt Hades would love to get revenge on Zeus." I point out.
"But then wouldn't that mean that someone from here would have had to steal it. Gods aren't allowed to go into other Gods' privacy." Annabeth says.
"So it would have to be a hero that stole it. Nevertheless you all need to go to the Underworld to retrieve the Bolt." Chiron says. Sensing that this conversation is over, we all get up to leave.
"Wait, Wait! What about the other lines?" Percy asks.
"Percy we'll figure out the other lines in time. Right now we have a start, let's build off of it." Annabeth says exasperatedly.
Chapter 5: The Three Furies
I'm returning to my cabin when someone jumps out of the trees and stands in front of me. I look up and see that it's Luke Castellan. He has a concerned look on his face. I scowl. What could this be about? It's probably about me going on the quest and how dangerous it is.
Luke begins "Grace I know you are excited to go on this quest and I'm happy for you but I would like you to reconsider it." HOW DARE HE? He knows how much Annabeth and I want to go on a quest. Well I'm not as crazy about it as Annabeth is. But still I haven't seen the world since I was 8. I want to see it again. I want to feel the fresh air again instead of being cooped up here.
"It's really dangerous and you could get hurt" Luke coaxes. Oh I'll show him a piece of my mind.
I smile sweetly and say "You're right but I'm still going." I kick Luke in the chest and run to my cabin. When I get in Silena is waiting for me.
"So what were you doing with Luke?" says Silena smugly. Just then I notice that everyone is staring at me. Why are they staring at me like that? Silena didn't ask the question loud enough for everyone to hear. Then it hits me. Those little Spies! I will get back at them! Everyone notices my expression and start pampering me with questions. I groan inwardly Oh why, oh why?
Line Break
There are butterflies in my stomach. It has been ten minutes since I left camp. No monsters have attacked yet which is good. Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and I all decided that going by plane was too risky so here we are waiting at a bus station. Finally the bus pulls up in front of us. We all climb in. The bus is already packed so we sit in the back seats. When we all sit down Annabeth takes out a book to read, Grover takes out his DSi to play on and as usual Percy takes out a chips packet and starts to eat the chips. I swear that boy is hungry all the time. After 10 minutes of doing nothing I know my ADHD will start to kick in. I bite my nails nervously. Annabeth notices this and hands me a book to read. I sigh in relief. Finally something to do. I'm about to read but the bus halts. Annabeth checks to see if this is where we drop off. It's not where we drop off. I'm about to go back reading when 3 old ladies get on the bus. One of them looks really familiar. Then it hits me. When Luke, Thalia, Annabeth and I were on the run we faced one of these ladies. When we faced it the lady turned into a fury. I gasp these ladies are furies. Annabeth curses in Ancient Greek and glares at us all to stay in our seats. The 3 ladies take the front seat. After a few minutes the Ladies say they need to use the bathroom and come towards the back. Quickly Annabeth gives her invisibility cap to Percy so he could become invisible. Then Annabeth takes her dagger out. I take my dagger out too ready to fight.
When the ladies get to us they hiss "Where is Percy Jackson?" We all stay silent. Then the ladies turn into furies and start to attack us. We attack too. Each of us takes on one Fury. Just then our bus lurches to one side and then the other. I look at the driver and see that his eyes are wild. He obviously has no idea what's happening. The only person who could cause this right now is Percy. Stupid Percy. He's making his presence known. Just then the bus crashes into a tree. Everybody immediately evacuates except for us. When the fury isn't looking I throw two of my knives at her and pin her against the wall. Annabeth takes out her whip and lassos the whip. Percy taking off the invisibility cap help Grover defeat the third one. We all get out of the bus except for the furies. As soon as we get out the bus explodes and we start running into the woods.
Chapter 6: Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium
