I was watching Chiron break up the fight that Clarisse and Will Solace were having, when I heard someone exclaim, "Luke!"

I turned around, wondering who was standing behind me, as I hadn't heard anyone approach. I saw Percy standing there, with Annabeth by his side. "Percy!" I exclaimed, faking a grin "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're ... uh ... fine," Annabeth stammered. I noticed she was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"

"He's down at the cabins." I frowned. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. "What kind of issues?"

"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" I yelled, straining to see what was going on.

"I'll take care of it.'" Annabeth yelled back. "Grover, come on!

"What?" Grover said. "But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered.

Grover muttered something, but handed Percy the nozzle. He adjusted it so that I could see him.

"Chiron had to break up a fight," I shouted to him over the music. "Things are pretty tense

here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus—Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how—

probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take

sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing

Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."

Percy shuddered. I heard the music decrease drastically, and I relaxed.

"So what's your status?" I asked Percy. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."

Percy told me about the dream he had, and everything else that had happened so far. I tensed up, realizing that Kronos had been talking to Percy, and that Percy wasn't listening to him. I heard a beep, realizing that I didn't have much longer to talk to him.

"I wish I could be there," I told Percy. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen

... it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I

was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him." I was about to smirk, but then I realized that Percy could still see me, so I held it back.

"But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly." Percy remarked, looking puzzled.

"That's true," I said, pretending to look troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."

We were silent for a minute, and then I realized what I had just said.

"Oh, hey," I protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."

Then the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and then I heard the car peeled out of the car wash.

"You'd better go see what that was," I said, staring Percy in the eyes. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."

"Oh ... uh, yeah!" Percy stuttered. "Yeah, they've come in handy." I had a funny feeling that he was lying.

"Really?" I grinned. "They fit and everything?"

I heard the water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.

"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver," I called, the image of Percy getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"The image of Percy disappeared completely. I was left standing there, on the porch in the big house. I grinned, but then the smile on my face faded. I realized that Grover and Annabeth would be heartbroken if Percy were to die, or get dragged into Tartarus with Percy. I scowled, but heard Chiron coming up to me. I quickly put on a straight face, took a deep breath, and turned to face the old teacher.

AN

Thank you for all of the encouragement that I received. I really appreciate it. I will try to update once a week. The updates might be a little slow, because I have a bunch of tests this next week, so I need to study.