Demigod dreams stunk. Percy had known that for years. The reason for this is that demigod dreams are rarely just dreams. They often show something bad that is going down, or act as way for godly communication, usually with some sort of dangerous quest. This one however was definitely odd. He was standing on a road, surrounded by rows and rows of corn, stretching as far as the eye could see. He heard a rustling in the cornfield, and reached into his pocket to pull out his trusty sword, riptide. However, it wasn't there. A figure emerged from the cornfield. It was a boy, about Percy's age, maybe sixteen or seventeen. He was tall and muscular, with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a t-shirt and jeans similar to Percy, except that his shirt was a deep purple, where Percy's was orange. The blond haired boy seemed to be surprised by Percy, and went to draw a weapon that wasn't there. The blond haired boy walked onto the road and stopped a few feet short of Percy. He seemed to be assessing Percy. They stood there, neither one sure what to do, when a voice spoke up, "It's about time you got here." Percy knew that voice. Even if he didn't, he would be hard pressed to mistake the man in the black robes with tormented faces trying to escape it, or the face of the man that looked remarkably like the face of Adolf Hitler, minus the mustache, as if the man could be his brother, or his father. "Hades." Percy said coolly. "Lord Pluto." The blond haired boy said, reverently. Percy glanced over at the other boy. Lord Pluto? He thought. Since when has Hades been called 'lord'? And why is that kid calling him Pluto? Percy opened his mouth. "Great. Three questions. First- where are we, second- who is this guy, and last, and definitely least, what do you want?" Hades smiled "As for your first question, lets just say you're on neutral ground. A half-way point, if you will." "That doesn't answer my question" Percy pointed out. Hades ignored him and continued. "as for the identity of the other boy, I'm not at liberty to say." Percy rolled his eyes "So you won't answer my first question and you can't answer my second… can't wait to hear the third answer!" he said sarcastically. Hades ignored him and continued as if he had never spoke. "And to answer your final question, I need you two to go on a quest for me." "Great." Percy said sarcastically. "Why don't you get your son to do it?" Hades face reddened. It looked for a moment like he might strike, but he calmed himself. "Nico cannot be involved in this! And besides, he is currently…. indisposed." "indisposed?" Percy echoed. "As in you got rid of him?" Hades face reddened again. He scowled. "No." he replied barely keeping the fury out of his voice. "He is currently on an undercover mission. Unfortunately, he cannot be reached at the moment." Percy frowned but said nothing. There was a tense moment between them, finally broken by the blonde kid. "Lord Pluto," he began. "If you don't mind me asking, what is this quest you have summoned us for?" Hades looked at him. "Finally, I'm shown some respect!" Percy rolled his eyes. Hades continued. "Your quest is simple. There are some people that I need for the two of you collect and bring to me." He handed them both a scroll. "This contains all the information you need." "Um. Hades," Percy spoke up, "This scroll is blank. And also, don't we need a third member for a quest? And also also how do I find this kid if you won't even tell me who he is?" Hades smiled nastily. "Now, where would be the fun in that?" His eyes filled with black flames as the corn fields around them began to shake. "Now WAKE UP!" he roared.

Percy shot up in his bed, awake. "Well that stunk." He mumbled to himself. He then felt something in his hand. He pulled off his covers and saw that he had the scroll that Hades had given him in the dream. He began to unroll it. "Fantastic. At least I still have a blank-" He paused for a moment as he realized it was no longer blank. He tried to read it, but it seemed even more jumbled than usual. Only one set of words seemed to make any sense "Rachel Dare" Of course! Percy thought maybe Rachel can make sense of things. As he headed to Rachel's cave, he passed the Athena cabin. He paused for a moment. He wanted to tell Annabeth about this development, but she was currently still on Mount Olympus, helping design and rebuild after the Second Titan War, and besides, Percy had a feeling that he needed to do this alone. He arrived at Rachel's cave, torches glowing within. He passed through the beaded curtain in the entryway and into the cave itself. It didn't look like a cave inside, though. It was fully furnished with modern appliances and furniture, and the walls were covered in Rachel's own original artwork, giving the place a slight psychedelic feel. Rachel was sitting on the floor, meditating. Without opening her eyes, she spoke. "Took you long enough, Percy." Percy's eyes widened. "How did you know-"" That you were coming?" Rachel responded, opening her eyes. She tapped a finger on her temple 'I've had a feeling for a couple of days now." "A feeling of what?" Percy asked. Rachel looked towards him, but her eyes seemed unfocused as if looking at something far away or out of focus. "I'm not sure. I've got s strange feeling, a rumbling of sorts…" she trailed off. "I get strange rumblings too," Percy interjected. "have you tried Pepto-Bismol?" Rachel ignored him. "I fear things have changed. The Prophecy of Seven no longer applies. Something else is coming. It could change everything." Percy frowned. "Not so sure about the whole 'everything will change' thing, but isn't that a good thing? The Prophecy of Seven didn't exactly sound like a great time." Rachel's eyes focused on Percy, her eyes seemed to drill a hole into Percy's skull. "No." She said in an eerily calm voice. "something has changed something is… different. This isn't how this is supposed to go... it must be…. It must be…." She doubled over and dropped to her knees. When she looked up, her eyes were red. "Zkhq ilyh zruogv froolgh dqg phujh dv rqh, zkdwv zurqj lv uljkw dqg uljkw lv grqh. Ilqg wkh pdq rxw ri wlph dqg eulqj klp krph. Wkh zdb wr ylfwrub eb klp lv nqrzq. Exw vkrxog wkh iorzhu fuxpsoh, doo vkdoo eh orvw. Wuxvw lq hdfk rwkhu, ru zh'oo doo sdb wkh frvw" she chanted in a deep voice that wasn't her own.

Silence, and then "Julius… Change… Julius" She whispered in her own hoarse voice, and she collapsed." "Rachel!" Percy exclaimed, rushing over and picking her up. "Rachel, wake up!" She did not respond. He picked her up and rushed her to the big house. He knocked on the door urgently. After what seemed like an eternity, Chiron answered the door, in his wheelchair disguise. "Percy!" He exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here so-" He stopped when he saw Rachel draped over Percy's shoulder. "Perhaps you and Miss Dare should come inside." He said. Percy carried Rachel into the big house and followed Chiron into his office. "Why don't you lay Miss Dare on that couch." While Percy was laying Rachel down, Chiron went to the corner of his office to a cabinet and pulled out various bottles, and a small stone bowl. He turned to Percy. "Since Miss Dare seems currently incapable of telling us anything, perhaps you should tell me what's happening." Percy hesitated. "I'm not sure where to begin." "Well, then, why don't you start at the beginning? Why were you at Miss Dares in the first place?" And so Percy began explaining starting with the dream with Hades, the strange boy, and the even stranger scroll, finding Rachel's name on the scroll, and finally, what happened while at Rachel's cave. While Percy was telling the story, Chiron combined the ingredients from his cabinet in the stone bowl to form a foul-smelling, green paste that he then applied to Rachel's forehead as Percy finished his story. "-And then I came straight here. Do you think she'll be alright?" Percy asked. "Miss Dare will be alright, Percy." Chiron replied. "But for now she must rest. Besides, it seems like we have more pressing issues to deal with." "But Rachel-" Percy began. "Will be fine." Chiron said firmly. "Now, do you still have the scroll?" Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out the parchment. He unfolded it and handed it to Chiron. "Do you have any idea what this says?" Chiron was silent for a moment. 'this parchment is heavily enchanted. It will reveal another set of clues once you reach your destination. As for what's currently written, I believe it is an odd mixture of Greek and Latin- one that hasn't been used since-" Chiron stopped himself, apparently have said something he shouldn't have. "Since what?" Percy asked. Chiron seemed lost in thought half muttering to himself. "But if this is true, then that means- but no, why would Hades do something so-" "Chiron!" Percy interrupted loudly. Chiron jumped-or at least as much as he could. He seemed to remember that Percy was in the room. "Right. So, the scroll. I do believe that it describes, in much detail a location that you must travel to. It says that you must meet your companion at the following location and await further instructions." "Does it say where I'm supposed to meet my 'companion'? Chiron cleared his throat. "it says here, 45.468567 degrees north, 122.711502 degrees west." "Gee," Percy responded, "Lucky for me, I'm a human GPS… Oh, wait I'm not. What is that supposed to mean?" Chiron chuckled. "You may not be a human GPS, but you have the next best thing. This came for you a few hours ago." He reached under his desk and pulled out a brown package with phrase 'Hermes Express" Stamped across the top of it.

"I believe this is from Miss Chase. Perhaps she knows something?-" Chiron paused as Percy opened the package, and out fell a laptop with a triangle on the lid. "Daedalus' laptop. Percy breathed. "But why would she give it to me?" "Perhaps," Chiron replied thoughtfully, "She knew you would need it more than she would." Percy nodded. After all this was the only piece of technology a demigod could use safely. "But how would she know? I, mean, she's so busy up on Olympus…" Percy thought he saw a flash of an emotion appear on Chiron's face. Was there something going on? Percy shook it off. If there was something Chiron needed him to know, he would tell him. "So now we can find out where I'm going!" Chiron opened the laptop and began imputing the information. "According to this, your destination is in Oregon." "Oregon?" Percy echoed. "Yes. Portland to be exact. It seems to be an address for a Starbucks." "So I have to travel across the entire country to meet a mystery guy at a lousy Starbucks?!" Percy asked incredulously. "It seems that way." Chiron replied dryly. At that moment there a loud beeping noise emanated from the laptop. "That's not good." Chiron said in a low voice. "What is it?" Percy asked. Chiron's eyes scanned the screen. "I set up a program to analyze the scroll to identify any additional enchantments on this scroll. Apparently, you have less than forty-eight hours to reach your destination before the scroll explodes." "Great." Percy said sarcastically. "Just what I needed a deadline and the possibility of exploding… Anything else in there, like summoning laser sharks or invisible ninjas? Or is one death threat enough?" Chiron ignored him. "There's only one way to get there on time. You'll have to fly" Percy looked confused for a moment. "But I can't fly! If I do Zeus…." Chiron looked at him "Not on a plane, Percy." "But then how…" Realization dawned on him as he exclaimed 'Blackjack, of course!" Percy put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. A few seconds passed and they heard a loud thump outside. They left the big house to find a magnificent black Pegasus waiting for them on the lawn. Hey, Boss, Blackjack started. What crazy adventure are we going on this time? Percy grinned. "We need to get to a city called Portland. Ever heard of it?" Blackjack snorted. Portland? Yeah I've heard of it. They've got some great doughnuts there, but its all the way across the country! Percy had to hold back a laugh. Blackjack always had doughnuts on his mind. "Well we need to get there and do it in under forty-eight hours." Forty-eight hours?! Blackjack echoed. I don't know, Boss… "Fine, then." Percy replied. "You can miss out on all the doughnuts I'm going to get." Okay, you've got yourself a deal, Boss. Blackjack replied. Percy climbed onto Blackjack. He looked at Chiron. "Don't worry, Percy. Miss Dare will be in good hands at the Apollo cabin. She'll be taken care of. And I'll make sure to notify Miss Chase of what's going on at the moment." Relief washed across Percy's face. "Thank you." He said. Chiron handed him a small leather pouch. "Here. It's not much, but you might need it, though let us hope that you don't." Percy pocketed the pouch. "Thanks." He said. "Now, let's go, Blackjack!" The Pegasus spread its wings and took off into the sky quickly shrinking into the distance until it was nothing but a tiny speck and vanished. "Good luck, Percy." Chiron said quietly. "You're going to need it."