The Rod of Asclepius

Peleus Gets the Dragon Flu

Author's Note: I tried to keep the chapter names similar to the ones in the books, even if I didn't write it in first person. XD Anyway, enjoy!

A girl with short black hair walked towards the car. To the trained eye, a silver, shimmering light could be seen around her, though it was clearer at night. Annabeth grinned, rolling down the passenger window. "Hey, Thalia!" she said happily. "How's it been with the Hunters?" "Not much excitement lately," Thalia responded as she climbed into the passenger seat behind her friend.

"It's great that Artemis and Chiron let me take part of the summer to teach archery to the campers," she added. Annabeth nodded agreement. "It's gonna' be great." In a matter of minutes, Annabeth and Thalia were on their way to Camp Half-Blood.

A few minutes down the road, Annabeth turned on the radio, immediately switching it over to her CD. Thalia looked at her oddly. "Who is that?" she asked curiously. "Owl City," Annabeth responded. "Don't you have any Green Day, or..." Thalia suggested. "Oh, he's not that bad!" Annabeth chided. Both girls grinned.

By the time Annabeth's silver car reached the borders of Camp Half-Blood, Thalia switched the CD to a Green Day album. Annabeth didn't mind. She parked near the white vans with Delphi Strawberry Fields painted across the sides. A few other cars belonging to campers were parked in the small lot; Annabeth recognized a certain Prius and smiled. They grabbed their stuff from the truck, then both eagerly headed towards the camp. However, their cheery disposition faded when they saw the dragon wrapped around the large pine tree.

His head was low to the ground, and smoke trailed from his nostrils uncontrollably. His normally bright, green eyes looked red and puffy, and he barely had the energy to look up at them to make sure they were allowed near the camp. "Peleus?" Annabeth said, concerned. She gently stroked his head. "You'll get better," Annabeth reassured him, then continued through the borders to camp.

They found Chiron as soon as they entered camp. "Ah, Annabeth, Thalia," he said. "Hi, Chiron. What happened to Peleus?" Annabeth said, getting to the point. Chiron sighed. "Nobody knows. None of the Apollo campers have been able to heal him, and none of my herbal remedies have helped," he told them. Chiron rarely appeared worried, but the girls could tell he was stressed over Peleus.

"Why don't you girls get settled into your cabins? There's not much we can do about it, now," he told them. The girls nodded. Annabeth headed towards the Athena cabin and Thalia headed to the empty cabin of Zeus. Before Annabeth could reach her cabin, she was met by Percy, who pulled her into a hug. "Did you see Peleus?" he asked. She nodded grimly. "I have to get unpacked. See you later," she told him, giving him a peck on the cheek before continuing to her cabin.

She was unpacked in a few minutes. Along with the year-round kids, a couple of her siblings had arrived before her. However, they had enough sense to leave her her usual bed. Her stuff strewn across the bed to claim it, she was unpacked.

She met up with Percy again outside his cabin. "Is Rachel here yet? Chiron's probably going to issue a quest for Peleus," Annabeth asked. "She should be here tonight. Her dad finally allowed her to come," Percy explained. "How's she gonna' get here?" Percy grinned. "Blackjack is on Rachel duty," he told her. Annabeth smiled.

"Sword practice?" Percy suggested. "I was going to see how Thalia was doing, first," Annabeth responded. "I'll come with you," Percy said. "I haven't seen Thalia since last summer." With that, they headed towards the archery range.

* * *

Thalia notched an arrow, aiming for a straw dummy in Greek armor. She fired. Between the dummy's "eyes," an arrow was lodged perfectly. "Nice shot," Percy complimented. "Naturally," Thalia returned with a grin. "Well, I wanted to say hello before I beat Annabeth in a sword fight," Percy said, winking. "Yeah, right, Seaweed Brain. You'll see," Annabeth retorted. "Well, we'll see you later, Thals," Annabeth said, waving and heading out.

In the sword fighting arena, Mrs. O'Leary was contentedly chewing on the dismembered head of one of the training dummies. "AROOF!" she barked as she saw Percy and Annabeth, barreling into Percy and soaking him in hellhound drool. He stood up, stroking her shadowy fur with a grin.

As both he and Annabeth donned training armor, Mrs. O'Leary went back to chewing on the dummy's head. Her tail was wagging ferociously. Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket and uncapped the pen. It grew into a sword, its celestial bronze blade shining. Annabeth found herself a sword, wasting no time and lunging for Percy.

He parried the blow easily. He jabbed out at her with Riptide, but she was too quick. Side-stepping, she aimed for his side. Percy's blade met hers, pushing it aside. She scowled, but she had a strategy. A daughter of Athena always had a strategy. She dodged his blade as it came towards her. As he lunged again, she countered the blow, twisting the blade and wrenching it out of Percy's grip. It clattered across the ground, laying in the dust. Annabeth repositioned herself so that she was between Percy and his blade.

She knew that Riptide would return to his pocket eventually, but she hoped to tire him out before it could. He lunged, empty-handed, at her right in an attempt to distract her. He then dove to her left, but she blocked his path with a broad slash of her sword.

"You done yet, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth taunted. "Not even close, Wise Girl," he smirked. However, Annabeth could tell that he was beginning to tire. His breathing was becoming slightly heavier and sweat was beading up on his forehead. Since he was invincible, he tired faster. On top of that, he was mostly out of practice from limited training over the winter months.

Annabeth lunged at Percy again, forcing him down with her sword point at his stomach. With one final push, she had him on the ground with her sword at his throat; not that that could hurt him. After taking a dip in the River Styx, only one part of his body remained vulnerable.

"Okay, okay! You win!" Percy held up his arms in defeat just as Riptide returned to his pocket. Annabeth helped him up, planted a kiss on his cheek, and starting taking off her armor. Percy whistled. Annabeth glared and pushed him back into the dust.

He grinned and picked himself off the ground, following Annabeth as she exited the arena. Mrs. O'Leary followed him, her tail still wagging. "I was just joking," Percy said as he caught up with Annabeth. "I know." She pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"Let's go see poor Peleus," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's wrist and dragging him in the direction of the tree. He didn't object. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily after them. They could spot the dragon's bronze-tinted scales from the Big House. They shone in the sun, but as they got close, the glitter of the scales was dulled by the smoke and his sickly appearance.

"Hey, buddy!" Annabeth said gently, walking up to the dragon. For some reason she'd taken a liking to the beast. "We'll figure out how to make you better," she promised. "Um... you'll be fine, big guy," Percy added. Mrs. O'Leary barked her encouragement, jumping in excitement. She was by far the most excitable hellhound- ever. Percy grinned, stroking behind her ears.

It was almost dinner when they returned from visiting Peleus. They ran into Seth Miller on their way back. He was a son of Apollo, with mousy brown hair and striking blue eyes. He was tall, and was rarely seen without a bow and a quiver of arrows. "How's he doing?" he asked. Percy frowned. "He hasn't gotten any better," he answered. "Well, I'm going to check on him," Seth told them. They nodded and continued on.

As everyone scraped a food offering into the fire, a large black shape rocketed overhead. Percy yanked Riptide from his pocket before he realized it was Blackjack and Rachel. Woah, boss! Percy heard Blackjack say. It's just me! Percy grinned and returned Riptide, in pen form, to his pocket.

The Pegasus landed on the ground beside Percy's table. He was sitting alone because his Cyclops half brother, Tyson, hadn't yet returned from Poseidon's forges, where he was serving as a general of the Cyclopes' army and worked to build weapons.

Chiron perked up slightly at the sight of Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi. She slipped off Blackjack's back, patted him on the side, and went to talk to Chiron. "Sorry I'm late. My dad didn't want to let me come, and-" Rachel started. "It's fine. We have a more pressing matter at hand. I don't suppose you saw Peleus on your flight in?" Rachel looked confused. Percy mouthed "the dragon." "Oh, um, no," she said. "Well, I'm afraid he's sick. Without him, it would be easier for someone to steal the Golden Fleece, leaving the whole camp at risk. We were hoping you could advise us," Chiron explained.

Rachel nodded cautiously. She hadn't had much expercience yet as the Oracle, but she'd administered the next Great Prophecy. "First, though, who will go on this quest?" Chiron asked, directed towards the campers rather than Rachel. The Oracle didn't seem to realize that. Rachel's eyes started glowing green, and her voice seemed to triple as she talked.

"Three demigods will seek a cure,

returning will be more.

What they want they will not find.

'Less matter is trumped by mind.

What's not sought but comes along

is often right when thought wrong.

For fear of death, turn back in vain,

and fail to retreat, stay in pain."

Then, the glowing stopped, and Rachel stumbled backwards. Percy caught her before she could hit the ground. Chiron contemplated the prophecy. It didn't sound too promising, but prophecies were rarely as they sounded. "That still leaves the matter of who to send on this quest," Chiron said. Seth Miller stood. "I'd be happy to go," he volunteered.

"You need to remain at camp," Chiron stated. Seth started to object. "The sons and daughters of Apollo are needed in case Peleus gets worse," Chiron stated. "And you're one of the best of the healers." Seth thought it best not to object.

Annabeth sprung from her seat. "I promised Peleus to find a cure. I need to go," she said. Chiron sighed; he didn't exactly want Annabeth gone, and she'd been on many quests. However, no one else volunteered. "Very well. Who will you take with you?" Not that it was a surprise. "Percy?" He nodded. Annabeth scanned the other campers. Grover wasn't back from his nature mission yet. She and Thalia exchanged a look; Thalia promised Artemis she'd teach the campers archery. "Nico?" Nico shrugged. "Sure," he said.

With that settled, the campers, aside from the ones going on the quest, returned to their dinner. Nico and Annabeth went towards Percy's table, where he, Chiron, and Rachel were already talking. "The prophecy didn't tell much about where we're supposed to go," Percy mused. He looked at Rachel expectantly, who shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"You could talk to Apollo," Rachel suggested. "The gods are busy," Chiron answered. "Even Apollo. Even if you could talk to him, he probably wouldn't have time to com heal Peleus." "Wait," Annabeth said, remembering something. "Isn't there another god of healing? Asclepius?" Chiron nodded. "Apollo's son. But he was killed by Zeus." "I know," she said. "But didn't he have some kind of healing rod?"

Chiron lit up. "You're absolutely right! Though no one is quite sure where the rod is located," he said. "It's most likely in a museum somewhere," Percy suggested. "And I know just where to start."

End Note: Cliffhanger! Mwahaha! Anyway, I had to add Thalia in here. She won't have too big of a part in the beginning but I couldn't not have her in the story. XD What do you guys think was the cause of Peleus getting sick? I'm curious as to your predictions. :3