I don't own PJO or HOO

Percy POV

I woke up to Nico jumping on me.

"Get up Percy, get up. A horn went off and Thalia came by and said it was time for breakfast. Get up get up get up!" he hopped off the bed and ran around the room shouting a whole bunch of random Mythomagic stats.

I rolled out of bed and sent Nico back to his room to get dressed. I threw on my khaki cargo shorts and a yellow T-shirt and found Nico ready to go and waiting for me at my door.

"Let's go get breakfast Percy, let's go let's go." he grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, I barely had time to see what we were passing as Nico dragged me into the dining pavilion. We got our breakfast and made sacrifices to the gods.

I noticed a small girl, maybe 8 or 9 tending to the fire with a large poker. I gave her a small wave and she looked at me shocked, like she couldn't believe I saw her. She wasn't exactly hiding. She gave me a wave back and vanished into the flames. Weird. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked.

I made the same sacrifices as I did yesterday. One to whoever my godly parent was, the other to Lord Hades, as thanks for letting me stay in his cabin.

I sat at my table with Nico and ate my food quietly, brooding over my dream. Was Bianca really forced to hold the sky, then Artemis took it from her? And why would she take the sky from me, I wasn't anything special. I was just...me.

"So Percy, what should we do today? We have capture the flag at night against the hunters, we can so beat them. What else should we do? Archery? I saw you have a bow. Is that your weapon like my sword?" he asked the last part while holding up his hand with the ring.

"I am getting a different weapon, but your sword is special, straight from your dad. It shows how much he cares for you." I told Nico, his face fell instantaneously.

"If he cares for me so much, how come I have never seen him?" he asked me and I pulled him into my side.

"He is bound by stupid rules, like you hate not being allowed to have dessert for every meal, he hates not being allowed to see his children. He cares for you and Bianca tons." I told him and he full on started crying.

"Then why isn't she here too? Why did he let Bianca get taken? Artemis was there, why couldn't he be there too?" He sobbed into my arm and I gave him a hug.

"I don't know, I just know he cares about you. Never doubt that." I told him while I rubbed his back as he kept crying. Thinking about what I knew about what might have happened to Bianca, my eyes started to water. But I couldn't cry now, I had to be strong for Nico.

"How about we find you some armor for the game tonight, that way we can beat the hunters better?" I asked him and his face brightened a little and he stopped crying.

"Ok." He said in a soft voice. He is always so active, but I wonder if it is just a shield for all the pain he is going through.

"Well what do we have here, an albino weakling and an extra from the walking dead. Both of you need to learn, this is my camp, and I choose who stays here. Both of you two are going to be asked to leave and never come back." Darren started to taunt us and I stood up and pulled Nico behind me.

"Go see if you can find Chiron and ask about the sword fighting lesson you wanted." I told ordered Nico and he scurried off to go find the kind centaur. Now I was stuck with a mindless bully brute who had no common decency or brain cells.

"There goes the zombie freak, now what are we going to do with you little pale one?" he taunted me and cracked his knuckles. We were in the middle of the pavilion, but no one tried to stop him, they just looked away. One girl at the table full of body builders glared at him a little, but she just went back to eating her platter of steroids and raw meat.

Darren raised his fist and gave me a good pop right in the face. I felt my lip split and blood start to trickle from my mouth. I scrambled away from him and dashed in the first direction I could, Darren right on my heels.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be the beach.

"Going to my home turf, not smart brat." he told me and he ripped his shirt off. A small crowd had formed and he was trying to show off his muscles.

I glared at him and felt my gut pull a little. Nothing happened, but something felt different. He reached his arm out to the water and the water sprang up to follow his commands.

He swung his arm at me and the water slammed full force into my gut. I was completely winded and barely managed to sit back up before Darren gave me a solid kick to the stomach.

The repeated blows hurt more than I expected and I lost my breakfast right there on the beach.

"EWWW" Darren mocked me, then grabbed my face and slammed in down into my own puke.

"You made a mess, now clean it up sweetie." he jeered and I struggled to breathe as he kept smashing my face into the puke covered sand. I felt my nose break with a loud crack after a while.

Darren eventually threw me sideways and away from the vomit. He gave me a wordless glare and drew his sword.

"You are so weak and pathetic, now let's carve that into your back so the whole world knows." he told me with a grin and a flourish of his sword. I mentally chuckled a bit, Gabe already beat you to it, sorry chump, try again.

"What did you say to me little freak?" he growled at me, oops, I said that out loud didn't I?

Weak and the Freak, I hope his next try is bastard, if it is, I am so calling him smelly Gabe from now on.

"Maybe I could carve bastard, since your pathetic father will never claim you." he joked and I burst out laughing. Maybe not the best timing, but he was some much like Gabe, just in better shape and without the addiction to every drug on the planet.

"What's so funny white freak?" Darren growled, stalking closer to me, his grip on his sword tightening. "You think this is funny, I'll show you funny." and he swung his sword at me.

I just managed to roll out of the way and slowly got to my feet. He had given me a small cut on my arm, but I had gotten plenty worse from Gabe. Then I noticed something, every bit of exposed skin he had sported a bright red color. He was completely and horribly sunburned. In a matter of minutes. An evil plan formed in my head.

"I was laughing at the bug on your chest." I told him smartly and he absent-mindedly slapped his chest with his hand.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH" he shirked like a little girl, hopping up and down in pain. He gave himself a once over and freaked out that he was sunburned. I cracked up.

I slowly hobbled away from him after I dunked my head in the ocean to clean the barf off. I slowly walked back up the way I came to get a fresh shirt.

Most of the camp was in the area as I came up the hill that over looked the beach. They all had stunned looks on their faces and some, cough-Thalia-cough, were trying hard not to explode with laughter at the sight of Darren running in circles swatting random parts of his body to try and get the sunburn off. How stupid could you get?

I made my way back to the Hades cabin. I passed the archery range and saw silver arrows being shot from inside at the targets, all hitting bulls eyes. Guess no archery for me right now.

Once I was back in my room, I took my shirt off and traced the three carvings on my back.

Weak, Freak, Bastard.

Were they true? That was the debate I had with myself every day. I would always be a bastard until my father claimed me, whoever he was. I was a demi-god, an albino one at that. Freak seems like the right word for me.

Weak, my least favorite, and the hardest one to ignore. It was true, I couldn't lift anything heavy. In that sense of strength, I was completely helpless. Mentally, I consider myself to be stronger than anyone. I put up with countless beatings and I kept going, putting others needs before my own wellbeing. I had no explanation for it, it just felt more important to help others rather than myself.

Then there was powers. I had never thought about it until now, all the demi-gods around me had power, where did I fall on that scale. I had no powers I could think of. I couldn't summon lightning like Thalia, I couldn't control water like Darren. Nico would probably be able to summon skeletons to fight for him some day and I sure as hell didn't have that power.

Then it hit me, the sunburn. Maybe I could somehow control the...sun? That didn't seem possible, maybe the radiation. But I am pretty sure there is no radiation god. If I could consider Apollo as my father, then maybe, but Apollo himself told me that I wasn't his son.

Apollo probably just felt bad for me and burnt Darren a little, yeah, that's what happened.

I threw a new shirt on and grabbed my bow, the hunters were probably done my now, and I could probably get a turn shooting.

I made my way to the archery targets and found gold arrows being shot. Apollo and his children, perfect chance to learn from the best.

When I went inside, most of the shooting stalls were filled, but there were a few empty ones at the far end. I noticed a guy that was helping some of the other littler campers and approached him.

"Are you the head camper for Apollo?" I asked him and he looked up at me and gave a nod.

"Yup, Lee Fletcher. Nice to meet you." he extended his arm to me and I shook it.

"Percy Jackson. I was wondering if I could use the empty shooting stations, I couldn't come earlier because of the hunters." I told him and he gave me a nod.

"Of course you can, we were supposed to be here earlier too, but the hunters almost never leave and once they decide they want to shoot, they throw everyone else out. Real pain in the ass." he told me and gestured to the empty stalls. I gave him a smile of gratitude and started shooting.

Each time I shot an arrow, it was the face of some terrible person who had hurt me.

Gabe-arrow to the face

Darren-Arrow to the gut

The manticore-arrow to the heart

The blond scarred boy-arrow to the nuts, he really earned it by hurting Bianca.

I stopped shooting when a horn sounded and Lee came to get me.

"Lunch time, don't leave your stuff here in case the hunters come in here and break everything, again." he said the last part exasperatedly, the hunters were starting to sound like a real pain in the butt, even if they had a good reason.

"Good to know, thanks." I said to him and I took my stuff and jogged back to my cabin. I left my bow and arrows in my room and I went to lunch. Nico was already at our table and he waved to me. My nose was still broken, but I guess he didn't notice.

I made my usual sacrifice in the fire and I saw the little girl again. I waved to her again and she waved back and continued poking at the fire.

When I got back to the table, Nico started his lightning fast commentary about his day so far.

"You were right, I did find Chiron and I showed him my sword, he said it was made of Stygian iron, underworld metal. Then he taught me how to use it. It was super fun. Darren was at first aid for something all morning and he won't be able to sword fight for a week Chiron said. Now he can't pick on us, isn't that great?" he told me about his morning and I chuckled a little when he mentioned Darren.

"That does sound good, but I have a feeling that once he loses his sunburn, he is going to be coming right back here to mess with me." I told him and he looked a little down hearted.

"Why you, what did you do to him?" he asked me and I shook my head, Nico was so innocent and so blind sometimes.

"I'm different, so he picks on me." I told him and his eyes began to water.

"That's what Bianca always told me." he said before he took off running back to our cabin. How could I be so stupid, I had picked that up from Bianca and now I was quoting her to him? Of course he started crying. I had to try not to cry whenever I thought of Bianca. I had to be strong, for Nico.

When lunch was over, I had no idea what to do, the hunters were probably hogging the archery range and I didn't want to be in a cabin with a sobbing Nico right now. I would go talk to him before dinner. I saw Beckendorf and I got an idea.

"Hey Beckendorf." I called to him and he turned and met with a big grin.

"Your weapons are almost done, they will be ready for tomorrow." he told me while grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Cool, but I had a favor to ask. Since we don't know who my father is, can you maybe help me try my hand at forging, maybe we are related?" I asked and he looked shocked.

Then he gave a hearty laugh.

"Sure Percy, you have to be the most determined person to find out who your godly parent is, like, ever. I would be more than happy to help you try forging." Beckendorf told with a wide smile on his face.

Turns out, I can't forge anything to save my life. I tried several times with Beck's assistance, but no luck, just heaps of metal that are malformed. I managed to heat the metal right, I just can't shape it right, not enough muscle to lift a hammer.

"Well, that would be a no, but I would have been proud to call you my brother." Beck told me after we washed all the soot off our faces and we headed to dinner.

"Yeah, I figured it was a long shot, but it was worth a shot. It was fun even if it didn't work." I told him and he smiled at me.

"Good to hear." he told me and we went to dinner.

At dinner, Nico was sitting alone, slowly picking his way through his barbeque. When I sat down next to him and gave him a nudge, he looked up and his face brightened.

"Percy!" he exclaimed and gave me a hug.

"Good to see you to buddy, you only didn't see me for a few hours though." I told him and he shook his head.

"I have already lost Bianca, I don't want to lose you either. "He told me and I was touched. I hadn't realized how much I meant to him.

"I promise buddy, unless it is to find Bianca, I'm not leaving camp without you." I told him and he gave me a funny face.

"But I want to come with you to help find my sister." he whined, "And when she sees how awesome I am at saving her, then she will let me eat dessert whenever I want!" he exclaimed and I burst out laughing, he really loved his sugar.

"When I find her, I will tell her how good you have been here, then you can have your extra desserts, how does that sound?" I asked him and he gave me a nod.

"Deal." he told me and we finished our dinner.

After dinner, Lee and Beck helped suit me and Nico up for capture the flag. Beck gave Nico some extra small armor, which he proceeded to dump black paint on. Where he got the paint, I still don't know.

Lee gave me a set of leather archer's armor. I was grateful for it, I probably couldn't walk in the big heavy stuff the normal fighters wore.

Nico was a ground fighter protecting the flag and I was one of the archers in the trees. I picked a tree near Nico and had him wait in the shadows next to the tree. I told him if any of the hunters passed, to knock them on the back of the head with the butt of his sword. He nodded and got ready.

When the horn sounded for us to begin, the main raiding party, led by Thalia, charged forward.

We waited for a while, then we saw our first hunters, there were two of them, rather menacing ones, creeping slowly towards us. I drew my bow and waited for a good shot.

After about 15 seconds, I let my shot go and I caught the bigger, meaner hunter right in the back of the head with a blunt arrow. She went down hard.

"Phoebe!" the other girl cried and checked on her friend. Then she got up and drew her bow, trying to find where the arrow came from. As she passed by out tree, Nico sprang out of the shadows and clubbed her on the back of the head and she went down too.

He got back into the shadows and me into my tree after we pulled both girls into shrubbery. We heard some shouts from where the flag was and we both focused on that. Shortly after, a group of five hunters began running towards us, holding the flag.

I drew my bow and fired shot after shot at them. I managed to take out three of them before they were on us. Nico sprang out and attacked one of them, but she was ready and blocked his strike. Soon they were sword fighting with fancy moves I had never seen before, I guess he really did learn a lot from Chiron this morning.

I kept shooting at the girl with the flag, but I only managed to skim her a few times. I hopped down from my tree and chased after her. Trying to shoot my bow as I went. I couldn't get on target at all so I made a desperation move, I threw my bow at her.

It somehow hit her feet and she came crashing down just short of the river. She put the flag down and pulled out her hunting knives and cut herself loose from my bow. I got between her and the river and grabbed two arrows to use as knives.

"Get out of my way boy and I might not beat the tar out of you for hurting so many of the hunt." she growled and I noticed the silver circlet in her hair. I was facing Zoe, I am so screwed.

From behind me, I heard cries of "Get her!" and "Don't let her get away!" I grinned, I only had to stall Zoe a little longer.

I grasped the arrows in an ice pick stance and charged her. She matched every one of my strikes effortlessly. Then she went on the offensive. I could barely manage to block half her strikes, resulting in an array of cuts all over my body. From behind me the yells were becoming louder. I grinned, not much longer.

I pressed for one final offensive and kept trying to push her back. I kept pushing, despite my body screaming in protest. I heard the forest behind me explode with sound and I turned around.

Thalia was sprinting to the river, holding the hunter's flag. Beck shielding her from behind.

I turned back to Zoe and was met with a fist to the face. I felt my nose break for the second time that day. I fell down, the blood pouring down my face. Zoe grabbed the flag and was running to the river again. I couldn't let her win, we were so close. I did the only thing I could think of, even if it would get me killed afterwards. I tackled her legs.

She fell, her face inches from the river bed. Thalia just then leapt over the river and the whole camp cheered. The hunter's silver flag turned to a bright orange. We had won. Everyone was lifting Thalia up and cheering.

Zoe was not happy. She grabbed me by my shirt and started whaling on me.

"You stupid idiotic male. We would have won if not for your interference." she yelled at me, punching every bit of me she could reach.

"That was the point, sorry." I told her and she froze. Maybe I am better at apologizing than I thought.

"That's impossible."

"She never leaves the attic."

"Wonder who gets the quest."

I heard the whispers and looked up. I almost fainted. It was an ancient hippy lady who had been turned into what looks like a zombie. She grabbed Zoe by the wrist and spoke.

"I am the oracle, approach speaker, and ask." she said in a voice that sounded like someone was speaking through the dead body, instead of the dead body speaking itself.

"How do I help Lady Artemis?" she asked the zombie and green smoke came out and there was an image I had seen in my dream. Lady Artemis holding up the sky, with Bianca collapsed at her feet. I realized only Zoe and I could see what was in the smoke as far as I could tell.

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains

One shall be lost in the land without rain

The pale one shows the trail

Hunters and campers combined prevail

The Titan's curse one must withstand

And one shall perish at family's hand

After she said that, the zombie collapsed in a heap, unmoving.

The entire camp exploded. People were shouting and shouting until Chiron came into the clearing.

"Enough" he bellowed and everyone shut up. Nico came to my side, a little bloody, but with a huge smile on his face.

"I won." he told me and I beamed at him.

"Of course you did." I told him and I pulled into my side.

"I want Miss Nightshade and the other cabin counselors to come to the big house to discuss the quest." he told everyone and I nudged Nico forwards.

"I think that means you." I told him and he gave me a smile before going off with Chiron.

I went back to my cabin, past campers congratulating each other on the win, each one taking credit for it. Only Thalia could claim the win, she had captured the flag after all.

When Nico got back a little while later, he looked sad. He went right to his room. I wondered what was up with him when I heard a knock on the door.

When I answered the door, it was Zoe, I instantly flinched back and she gave me a funny look.

"While discussing the prophecy, it mentioned a pale one showing the trail. We think that it means you. Are you willing to join us on the quest to save Lady Artemis?" she asked me in a very businesslike tone.

"I'm in. "I told her and she looked shocked.

"Why would agree to save her so quickly?" she asked, obviously, she had been prepared to argue her case for hours to convince me to join.

"I'm not going for Lady Artemis, I'm going for Bianca." I told her and shut the door.

I knocked on Nico's door, hoping he wasn't already asleep. I couldn't just leave without talking to him first.

I heard a weak "Come in" from the other side and I pushed my way into his room.

It was destroyed. Clothing was thrown everywhere and Mythomagic cards were scattered. The figurines were still lined up neatly on a shelf, he clearly didn't want to break them on accident.

"So, I am going on a quest, how does that sound?" I asked him and he ran up and hugged me.

"I don't want you to leave." he mumbled into my shirt, tears pouring down his face.

"Let me tell you something. There is only one reason I am going." I pulled his head up and looked him in the eyes.

"When the zombie lady was spewing out green smoke, saying the prophecy, I saw something I am pretty sure only Zoe and I saw. It was Artemis holding something big and heavy. By her feet was another figure, it was Bianca. I am going to bring Bianca home." I told him and a fresh wave of tears hit him.

"Promise you will come home." he told me and I hesitated. Some of the lines in the prophecy were pretty brutal.

"I can't promise that, but I do promise that you will have Bianca back at the end of all this. I told him and he sobbed himself to sleep in my arms.

I put him in his bed and went back to my room. I lay down and hoped for a dreamless sleep, sadly, that wasn't the case.

~~Dream~~

I was in a room. Everything was a bright color, no darkness anywhere. No shadows either.

In the middle of the room there was a man with his back turned to me. He had bright white hair, like mine. His skin was a little darker than mine, pale instead of albino. When he turned to face me, he was wearing a pair of blue ray band sun glasses.

I walked closer to him and he gave me a gentle smile.

"There is no reason to be afraid my son." he told me and the dam broke.

I started crying and I flung myself into his arms.

"Ho-how are you here?" I asked him "Aren't gods not allowed to visit their children?" I asked him and he sighed.

"We aren't, but dreams are a different story." he told me and I gave him another hug.

"Why are you here now and why haven't you claimed me in front of the entire camp yet?" I asked him and he chuckled.

"Two different answers. To the first one, you are supposed to be guiding the quest. I am here to help you do that. Start in Bianca's home, then go west." he told me and I gave him a nod.

"Washington DC?" I asked, to make sure I was right.

"Yes, and to the second questions, that would only cause you more problems than solutions." he told me and I was confused.

"What does that mean?" I asked him and he sighed.

"That means that some gods aren't supposed to have children. I am one of those gods. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the same way. Thalia and Darren aren't supposed to exist." he told me and I got another question.

"What about Nico and Bianca?" I asked and he sighed.

"They are another story, not mine to share. Wait, and the answer will come to you." he told me and everything began to ripple.

"Wait, you never told me your name." I asked him and he mouthed something that I couldn't make out and I woke up with jolt.

~~End Dream~~

I woke up, still in my leather armor from yesterday. I had been to a healer and gotten myself patched up with Nectar and I was good to go for the quest.

I packed a small bag with a change of clothes and some snacks I had left over from west-over hall, just some candy bars really. That seemed like so long ago when it was really just two days ago.

I left my cabin and went to the top of the hill where two figures were waiting. It was two hunters. Zoe and the big hunter I had shot down when she was going after the flag.

"Well, looks like you were wrong Phoebe, the male was not last." Zoe told her and she grunted.

"You bet Thalia would be the last one, I bet the male. If Annabeth comes last, no one owes anyone money.

"Who said my name?" Came Annabeth's voice as she made her way up the hill.

"Damn" Phoebe swore and she handed Zoe some coins.

"Wait up!" I heard a call, and I turned to find Beckendorf running up the hill, carrying a case.

"Here Percy." He opened the case and I found a pair of strange looking weapons.

They looked like swords, but they had hooks on the ends. They had curved coverings over where I would hold them. When I picked them up, they fit nicely in my hands, and they were light enough for me to wield. (Jet's hook swords from Avatar, the last air bender)

"What are these?" I asked him, awed at how flawlessly they were made.

"Hook swords, they are light and easy to wield, I changed my design after I saw you fighting Zoe yesterday. These will do better than arrows." he told me with a grin.

"I didn't think anyone saw that." I told him, blushing

"Thalia, Lee, and I all saw it. You did good." he told me and I blushed harder. No one ever complimented me before.

"Well thanks." I told him and I held out my hand.

"Good luck Percy, come home again." he told me, grasping my hand in a solid shake.

I went back up the hill where the hunters and Annabeth were waiting for me.

"Where are we starting?" Zoe asked me in a condescending tone.

"We start in DC, then we head west from there." I told them and Phoebe made a face.

"How do you know that, boy." she asked, sneering.

"I had a dream." I told her and she scoffed.

"Like that will do any good." she laughed.

"Demi-god dreams are no laughing matter Phoebe, they are one of the few sources I trust. It was the only thing he could have said that makes me believe him." Zoe told her and Phoebe made a face.

"I don't trust a word any male says." Phoebe growled.

"Sorry, I slept in" Thalia came jogging up the hill, her hair a complete rats nest.

"Don't worry about it, I won a bet on you sleeping late. "Zoƫ mocked her and she scowled at her.

"Of course you did, now let's get going, anyone know how to drive?" she asked, holding up a set of car keys and gesturing to a white van.

"I do" I volunteered, but Phoebe shut me down.

"Anyone else?" she immediately asked.

"I can drive." Zoe said, snatching the keys from Thalia.

Fine, but you better not hit any wandering guys. You have lowered the population enough." Thalia told her and Zoe scowled. I get the feeling if it weren't for all the prejudice against guys, they would get along pretty well.

"Whatever." Zoe grumbled and hopped into the driver's seat. Phoebe took shotgun and Thalia lay down in the third row of seats, leaving Annabeth and I in the middle row.

"I'm going to take a nap." Thalia announced and put her bag behind her head, out in a few seconds.

"Same." I told them and lay my head against my bag against my window. I slipped into the world of dreams once again.

~~~Dream~~~

I was in a garden. I looked down at myself and realized I was wearing a lion skin and a lion cloth. Definitely not my opinion of a good wardrobe choice.

"Follow me brave hero. He is this way." a girl with flowing black hair and wearing a light dress told me.

"I am aware of where the beast is, I need to defeat it, let me go and face it." I said to her in a husky voice that wasn't my own.

"He will surely defeat you." she told me, obviously worried about whoever's body I was in.

"I have bested every monster I have ever faced. I wear the nemean lion skin now, nothing can stop me." I told her, boasting of killing the nemean lion. Then I realized who I was. I was Hercules. The greatest hero of Greek mythology.

"Well if you insist on facing Ladon, take this." The girl held out a hair pin for me to take.

"What good will a hair pin do me against a monster?" I asked, laughing at her.

She breathed on the pin and it transformed, it turned into a sword. It seemed familiar from somewhere, as did the girl, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Does that suit you better?" The girl asked me and I was impressed.

"I normally fight with my hands, but I will fight with your blade to conquer the mighty beast." Hercules told her.

He jumped off and fought some monster. I stayed with the girl and studied her more closely. I could swear I had seen her somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

When Hercules returned, He was holding the sword in one hand, two golden apples in the other.

"Thank you pretty one." he told the girl and he began to walk away."

"Wait, won't you take me with you?" she cried to him.

"I never intended too, but your help was most appreciated." he told her and she began to cry

"But my father will cats me out, I will lose my immortality." she wailed. Hercules just laughed.

"You should have thought of that before you helped me pretty one." he said brandishing the sword at her.

Then it clicked in my head. The sword was the same one Darren had.

"What is this sword named?" He asked her, still pointing the sword at her.

"Anaklosmos, or Riptide, the tide that catches one off guard." she said, tears streaming down her face.

"Good, goodbye pretty one." he said to her and he walked off, juggling the apples in one hand, the sword in his other.

I turned back to the girl and I was hit with another revelation, it was Zoe.

~~End Dream~~

I woke when I felt a push on my arm.

"Time to get up Perce." Thalia told me and I hopped out of the van and stretched.

I looked at the others as they got out of the van. My eyes lingered on Zoe, there wasn't a doubt in my mind she was the girl betrayed by Hercules.

I turned to face the building we stopped in front of. It was a burger joint.

"We are stopping for food, then heading west." Zoe told us and I nodded.

"I am going to go look at some of the museums." Annabeth said, pulling out a Yankees hat. When she put it on, she vanished.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed.

"Careful Annie." Thalia called to no one in particular.

We went into the burger joint and ordered. When we got out burgers, Thalia grabbed hers right off the plate and dug in.

"Mmmm" she moaned in pleasure, burger juice dripping down her chin.

We ate our burgers, mostly in silence sometimes I would chat with Thalia, but she was consumed with her burger most of the time.

When we were almost done, Annabeth appeared in the middle of the restaurant.

"We gotta go, like now." she said, out of breath.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"There was Luke, and some guy called the general," she started, but Zoe cut her off.

"The general cannot be here, he is trapped far away." she said, with a steely resolve in her voice.

"Well he was in the Smithsonian, and he broke a marble floor, I think that is something. Who is the general?" she asked.

"Not important, show me where you found him." Zoe demanded, but Annabeth shook her head. He sent Sparti after us, he had silver cloth that he gave them. I am sure they are hunting you Zoe. We have to move." she said and Zoe stared at her.

"Did you say Sparti?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, he also mentioned a little surprise he was sending our way." she said, trying to recall as much detail as she could.

"Then we need to move." Zoe said and we all got up and ran to the van.

We were driving when a helicopter started shooting at us, just like back at the academy.

"More mortal mercenaries! Keep driving until you get to a tunnel!" Annabeth called to Zoe.

Phoebe in the meantime, had stuck her entire upper half out the shot gun window and was trying to shoot down the helicopters with arrows. She managed to hit one of the engines and the copter had to pull away, leaving two more.

We finally got to a tunnel and we pulled the van across the entrance, blocking the lanes of traffic.

"We got a shield, now where do we go?" Zoe called back to us.

"Go to the sub way tunnels, then we can find our way to a train station." I called back to her and she gave me a nod.

We hopped out of the van and dashed to the subway service tunnel that connected to the driving tunnel. There were plenty of upset mortals, but who cares. Just as we made it to the service tunnel, we heard a loud roar. We all turned around. It was a lion, the size of an suv. It had glistening gold fur and rows of deadly sharp teeth.

"Nemean Lion!" Phoebe cried and we all ducked back for cover.

Zoe and Phoebe drew their bows, Thalia, her spear and freaky Medusa shield, Annabeth pulled out a long dagger and her invisibility Yankee's cap. I drew my hook swords from the back sheath I had them on. I have no idea how none of the mortals noticed any of this happening, but I remember Thalia saying something about mist earlier, so there was probably an answer in there somewhere.

We all jumped up from the divit where the service tunnel was and charged. Zoe and Phoebe perched themselves on the hanging lights in the tunnel after they climbed up to them and tried shooting the lion, but the arrows just bounced off.

"Damn, can't use lightning in this damn tunnel." I heard Thalia as she stared up at the ceiling.

Annabeth had vanished, but the monster kept flinching in random directions, like it was being pushed away by a dagger.

I had my swords ready and I charged alongside Thalia. The lion swiped at me, but I slide under the paw and right under the lion. I tried to swipe at its underbelly with my hooks, but it just bounced off. When I came out the backside of the lion, its tail flicked across my face and gave me a small cut above my left eye.

The lion turned at random for a second and swiped at empty air that wasn't really so empty. Annabeth let out a shriek as she got hit back, managing to dodge the claws, but still getting knocked out on a side wall of the tunnel. Thalia charged at the lion at the same time I did, each from different sides. The lion turned to Thalia and gave a swipe at her, but she blocked it away with her shield. I jumped on his back and grabbed on for dear life, my hooks snagging on the lion's ears.

It roared in fury as I tried to stay on when I got an idea. I got one of the hooks ready and when it roared again when Zoe hit it in the eye, I moved my hook forward and snagged the inside of the lion's mouth. I then did the same with my other hook. I pulled as hard as I could and just managed to pull the lion's mouth open. It's pink tongue open for the world to see.

"Shoot the mouth!" I called to Zoe and Phoebe and its mouth was soon turned into an inside out porcupine. It was still alive, but roaring in pain. Thalia ended it when she stuck her spear right into the roof of the lion's mouth.

When it burst into golden dust, I fell onto what looked like a giant golden shag carpet. When I picked it up, it was a lion skin cloak. Zoe looked at it with disgust.

"Who wants it?" I asked the group. Thalia was too busy feeding Annabeth some ambrosia stuff and Zoe and Phoebe both turned it down.

"You opened the lion's maw and came up with a way to defeat it. It belongs to you." Zoe told me bitterly. I got an idea.

I took one of my hook swords and burst the gas tank on our van. Once there was a small pool of gasoline, I threw the lion fur and soaked it in the gasoline. I pulled it away from the gas tank and when everyone else was far enough away, I threw a match from my bag onto it.

To Lady Artemis, tell Bianca that Percy is on his way.

The lion skin burned into nothingness. Leaving a faint scent of pine in the air. Zoe stared at me like I was crazy.

"Why would you burn the cloak?" she asked, completely dumb founded.

"I'm no Hercules, I mean have you seen my noodle arms, I can't do anything right." I told her and she looked grateful and headed into the tunnel, followed by Phoebe, Thalia, and Annabeth with me taking up the rear.

When we made it to a subway station, we changed trains for about an hour until it was nearly sunset and we had found our way to a train station. We were searching for a train that would take us west, but the farthest one only west to Chicago.

It was getting cold, seeing as it was December and places that weren't camp still had normal weather.

"Let's go over there." I pointed to a faint light I saw in the distance. We all made our way over to it and found a hobo roasting hotdogs over a fire barrel.

"Howdy troops." he called and we looked at each other skeptically, was this old dude really as harmless as he seemed.

"Come join me round the fire for some fresh cooked wieners." he said giving us a grin. All his teeth were perfect. Not something commonly seen in hobos. I kept my guard up.

"Sure!" Thalia replied enthusiastically. She Phoebe and Annabeth and sat down on crates and grabbed some hot-dogs off the skewer he was offering to them. Zoe sat down as well, but didn't take a dog. I remained standing, wary of the guy still.

"What you doing here in a train yard, I know of some other places that would be nicer for you to stay the night." I asked him and eyed me, his bright blue eyes were sharp and intelligent, he was certainly no ordinary hobo.

"Why, I'm just admiring this here train. It be heading west in a bit." he said, as if daring me to contradict him. I looked at the train car. It had the faded logo, Sunset railways.

Sunset, blue eyes, bright teeth.

I relaxed at once and plopped down next to Annabeth and snatched a dog off the skewer.

"Sounds like we got a ride guys." I said to the others and Zoe nodded in agreement.

We all turned to face the train line and saw the engine just starting to spit smoke.

"We gotta get on, now!" Thalia called and I pulled one of the doors open. We all hopped in the two story storage cart and turned to thank the hobo from the car, but he was gone, just an empty skewer and a smoking fire barrel left behind.

We turned to see what we had to share our compartment with and were greeted with dozens of deluxe cars.

Zoe and Phoebe made their way to a pair of silver jeep wranglers and hopped in, locking the doors so they wouldn't be disturbed for the rest of the night.

Annabeth hopped in a convertible bright red lambo and lay down in the back. Thalia, had found the ladder up to the second floor and was motioning me to follow her up.

I followed her up and she hopped into a black viper and cranked a stereo she hotwired in a few seconds, I guess being a daughter makes hotwiring cars easier than normal. She glanced at me and patted the seat next to her. I hopped shot gun and listened to the song. I couldn't put my finger on what it was until Thalia turned it off.

"What song was that?" I asked her and she grinned a little.

"I thought you would like that one, it's called Kick Me, by Sleeping with Sirens."

"I felt like that song was made just to apply to my life." I laughed and she gave me a look.

"How so?" she asked me and I thought for a minute.

"Well, No one, except maybe Nico and Bianca, maybe my mom, know who I really am. And on top of that, every time I fall down, there is always someone there to make it worse." I told her and she gave me a look.

"You've never mentioned your mother, what is she like?" she asked me and I felt my eyes water.

"I, I don't want to go there yet Thalia, I haven't told anybody that story yet and we only just met." I told her, getting out of the car slowly.

"I know a bit about problems with mothers, try Me." she said and I cringed, I knew her mother couldn't be like mine.

"No Thalia." I told her and wandered to the far corner and hopped into the back seat of a random car.

"She never did know when to back off." a voice said from the front. It was the hobo.

"Lord Apollo." I nodded my head to him and he chuckled.

"Good job figuring it out kid, but call me Fred. Zeus really cracks down on gods who help quests, but no one hurts my little sis and gets away with It." he growled the last part and I chuckled.

"Fred the helpful and slightly vengeful god, got a ring to it don't you think." I asked him and realized what I had said. I hope he doesn't blast me for that. I have really been pushing my luck the past few days.

He just chuckled a little.

"Good one kid, I stand by what I said before, I wish I could call you my kid." he said, shaking his head a little.

"Thanks for helping me with Darren yesterday." I told him and he shook his head again.

"That was all you kid. I felt you using sun energy to give him one hell of a sunburn. Getting him to slap himself was a stroke of genius though." he burst out laughing.

"If only someone was videotaping it, I could watch it over and over again." he kept laughing, but I was even more confused.

"So you didn't disguise yourself and appear to me in my dream?" I asked him and he grew a serious face.

"So, you got a dream with a god saying they were your parent, what did he look like?" he asked me, looking curious.

"He had pale skin and shock white hair, like mine. He had the same jaw line as me. He also had on blue tinted ray band sunglasses." I told Apollo and his face drained of all color. He was pale as, well, me.

"I gotta go, don't tell anyone else about your dream, just keep it to yourself, I just need to check on some stuff." he told me and vanished in a flash.

I lay down in the back seat, wondering what had gotten him so worked up. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

Whoa, chapter done. I am trying to churn out as many chapters as I can since I will be in Greece enjoying the sights for 2 weeks and I probably won't post in that time. As far as the vote, the response for Aether was overwhelming. He is going to be Percy's father. I am going to be writing a story in the future based on Japanese mythology, but that will be a ways in the future when I finish one of my two active stories.

Kick me is one of my favorite songs, so I just had to include it.

Happy reading- Centurion Africanus