CHAPTER 1
AUTHOR POV
Author's note: You need to review guys! At least TELL ME whether you want me to continue or not. Bec to all you fanfic writers out there, we all need SOME encouragement. Come on!
-

It was a peaceful morning, at least what was left of it, since it was nearing noon. The sun blazed over Camp Half-Blood, causing every camper to feel the heat despite the occasional cool wind blowing. Sunday called for some late-sleeping, and this time even Annabeth hadn't bothered to pick herself up out of bed until it was almost lunchtime.

All the campers were enjoying a hearty meal of orange juice and toast. Percy sat alone at the Poseidon table as usual, wishing for the hundredth time that either Annabeth could sit with him, or that Tyson would visit him during the summer. But even Percy couldn't be morose on a Sunday. Suddenly, strange loud noises were heard.

Clarisse could be heard quite clearly, yelling battle cries at the top of her lungs from the other side of the camp. Chiron was a little more composed. He gathered all the young ones, and trusted them to the Apollo archers who were handling defence from the top of the Big House.

Percy uncapped his pen, Anaklusmos and pressed the knob at the side of his watch. Tyson's magnificent shield surfaced and turned into a full-fledged battle-fighting tool in his hand. He glanced towards the huge, gold-colored, metal form of a Pegasus that was swooping above Camp-Half Blood spitting darts of Greek fire out of its slender fork-shaped tongue. Advancing cautiously towards the metal monster, he watched as he turned half a dozen arrows into ashen crisp before they could even bounce off his coat harmlessly.

He felt a gust of warm air behind him, and felt something touching his forearm and shoulder. He didn't even need to turn to the side to know that Annabeth was here with her knife. Probably invisible wearing her Yankees baseball cap with her hair tucked in, and was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him, preparing for battle was they had done so many times before.

They took slow measured steps towards the monster allowing them to spot any chinks in its metal coat, or as the "Seaweed Brain" fable goes, to remember the stories associated with the monster so that they might get an idea to kill it. "Annabeth, you remember how this monster was killed?" She sighed, "No, Perce, I don't think this monster ever existed. I would 'guess' that this perhaps might be a recent creation of Hephaestus." because she hated not knowing. Something clicked in Percy's mind. There was a fair chance that this might not actually exist at all. It could be another one of Gaia's hallucinations, but on a larger scale.

But, as far as visuals go, Gaia took the icing on the cake. It wasn't like one of those ones which could be dissipated by just keeping your mind under control. Gaia had mastered the art of tormenting people by creating images in their mind which are as real as spoons. In order to defeat her, as they had learnt in Tartarus, they had to first establish utter calmness among everyone. She did that through Morpheus but here, they had to go with the hard work.

Annabeth took off her cap and looked at Percy. Their eyes met, and he knew what she was thinking. This time they had a plan, and it wasn't only her who knew what it was. She rushed off into her cabin to retrieve Daedalus' laptop. She came out, tying up her hair, a usual sign of action, and balancing the laptop with the other hand. Percy ran over to her, and looked at her questioningly. In response, she hammered her fingers on the keys until she found the right folder and file. She clicked on it, and handed the laptop to Percy. Sure, Daedalus' notes were too complicated to be understood by Percy, but this was one of her own work. Percy furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he studied the plan carefully.

A whistling sound could be heard. It was getting louder by the second. Percy was immersed in the laptop, but nevertheless, he placed it safely on the ground. He immediately ducked, just as a stone went sailing past, where a moment ago his left eye had been. Percy looked up, then around him, and ensured that no more were coming. He then picked up the rock and pulled off the note tied to it with a string. It said- PATTY JAMISON! WHY ARE YOU STILL HAVING YOUR UNFINISHED BREAKFAST? COME ON, YOU BRATTY LITTLE HERO, FIGHT!

Percy laughed, and he heard Annabeth chuckle behind him. He looked around, and saw Mr. D staring wildly at him, as if he were a crazed goat who had run away. Percy mouthed a "later" at Dionysus just to annoy him, and went back to his work. After another minute, he stood up with a sigh, and brushed dust off his jeans, "Do you really think we should do this?"
"Yeah, Percy, we don't have another choice."
"Fine, let's do this then. Annabeth, are you ready?"
"Like there won't be another chance."

He picked up his sword and shield, and tossed Annabeth's knife to her.
Together, they sprinted to the big house, and the basement. The old oracle was still there, though she was no longer shriveled. Apollo had let her remain there, like a sort of guide for Rachel. Her eyes glowed bright green once in a new moon, as her body had once been a host for Delphi's spirit. At times like those, she spoke few words, surprisingly meaningful, and that always managed to distract the campers, how many ever times it happened.

Percy and Annabeth dashed up to the basement, collecting jars of Greek Fire as they ran up. Percy handed the jars to Annabeth who climbed up and placed them on the terrace. Meanwhile, he dragged the mummy till the raised door, when she returned to help. Then, they both hoisted it and carried it to the top.

Annabeth uncapped one of the jars and threw it at the mummy's revived hand. She trembled slightly, but bit her tongue as she firmly decided to keep her fears related to Apollo's reaction grounded. Whether he would be stereotypical godly in his actions or not, would be thought about later. Right now, they needed to save the camp.

As they had expected, the mummy stirred from the burning of her hand, and stood up, her green eyes glowing. She gave out a long trill note of pain, and that was enough to get the campers' attention. The illusion rippled very slightly, but did not vanish. After all, Gaia's illusions were such that could even cause materialistic harm. Chiron looked up, confused, while Mr. D was plain bursting with red, probably because he thought that Percy had gone over to the Big House to finish his breakfast.

Percy picked up a jar, and threw it at Zeus' fist, which caused the campers to shriek, even though they were nowhere near it. This triggered Percy and Annabeth, and they began destroying the camp, choosing carefully the areas that were deserted so that everyone except the monsters was out of harm's way. Percy grunted, he wouldn't be going to Elysium any sooner than a millennium, considering what he was doing.

One of the Pegasi realized what he was trying to do. Thus, it spit a mouthful of acid and boulders his way. He raised his celestial bronze sword, and deflected most of the deadly acid, but some of it got on his face, and a speck touched his eye. Oh, great. He thought. Mr. D misses his chance, and then this insult of a Pegasus claims my eye.

His face burned horribly from the acid, and Annabeth yelled at him, "PERCY! HOW MUCH OF A SEAWEED BRAIN CAN YOU BE? I HAD JUST THOUGHT OF THROWING AWAY THAT NICKNAME WHEN YOU SHOW ME YOU ARE EVEN DUMBER THAN I THOUGHT! ARE YOU CRAZY? DON'T YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DEFENSE PROPERLY? TOO MUCH OF ATTACKING PRACTICE, BUT YOU COULDN'T EVEN SAVE YOURSELF FROM THAT ACID?" On top of her screaming at the top of her lungs at him, he couldn't see from his left eye which was horrendous. Well, I guess Annabeth shrieking at me is her way of showing me affection. Someone at least thinks positive.