Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the 12 Olympians, Rick Riordan does

WARNING: contains spoilers up the fourth book, Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 3

I am not sure how long this trip lasted, but time seemed to go by pretty fast. I got bored so I started to throw Riptide. Every time it came back into my pocket. I started to hum a song. Then I thought 'I should probably warn Grover I am coming'. I started thinking in my head 'GROVER!'

I was doing this because he made us an empathy link. We can kind of talk to each other through our thoughts. I was getting a little annoyed. Why? Because Blackjack kept complaining that me yelling "Grover" over and over again made him have a headache.

You see, I am a son of Poseidon, the creature of horses. So, I can talk to them, too. After a few more minute I saw the Statue of Liberty. That's when I heard a response in my head. It was 'PERCY!' I told him my plan. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was nervous. He agreed. I told him to meet me by the Pine Tree. Then, I got no response. I figured he was busy and I was interrupting. I didn't think anything of it.

I figured it was another five minutes before we arrived. We got to Camp. I could tell that Blackjack was tired. I didn't want to burn out all of his energy. I told him to drop me off and he could go back to the stable.

I saw Grover. When he saw me, he ran to me. "PERCY!" He said. He gave me a big hug. I then said "Now, where is Tyson."

"I told you" he said "with Poseidon."

"That isn't good"

"I know"

Tyson was a highly respected Cyclopes. He is very good at weapon making. But, my Dad is in a huge war. He is very busy and Tyson could maybe die at any time. I didn't like that thought. I sent it out of my mind."And Nico?" I asked.

Grover thought a minute. "Well, I haven't talked to him recently. Last summer was the closest time. I know he is busy. I wouldn't worry."

Nico is a son of Hades, the god of the underworld. He is a child of the big three (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades) They made an oath to never have a child. A prophecy said that the next son/daughter of the big three would have the power to destroy or save Olympus on their 16th birthday. Zeus had Thalia. She was about to turn 16 when she decided to go with the Hunters. Now, she will never turn 16. Hades has Nico like I said. He is younger them me. Aside from that, we think he was born before the prophecy. Long story, I'm not getting into full detail.

I decided that we should walk a little ways, give Blackjack a break. Grover and I headed off. It wasn't that long before we had a deadly encounter.

We got about, I don't know, 3 miles (we can last a very long time on foot believe it or not) before we met a monster. Well, two that is. We ran into two small Minotaurs. A Minotaur is a man-eating monster with the head of a bull. That's a good way to sum it up. I have always hated them. One almost killed my Mom a few years back. I immediately charged before it was even ready. I unleashed my shield and pulled the cap from Riptide off. I swung a few wild shots on the left one. One hit but it just dented him. I was wondering how it happened. He should have blown up into dust. I fell back a little. Next thing I knew, Grover was playing his reed pipes. He played a short tune and the Minotaurs began to fight each other. Grover laughed to himself. I asked "What?"

He explained to me that this is a new breed of Minotaurs. I noticed that they did look different. Normally they are red but these where more of a pinkish color. They can only be killed by another Minotaur. Then I looked back and saw that they where both a pile of dust. uh oh I thought. What if we run into more and Grover is hurt?

Grover and I continued walking. I caught him up on everything I hadn't said when we talked last. We finally got to the Connecticut River. I had this great plan that we would 'borrow' a canoe and head down stream. We could probably get close enough to the ocean line. Then we could get Blackjack to take us some place… Well I haven't figured it out yet.

I told Grover. He sounded uneasy. He went along with it. Grover hates the water. We looked around and saw a few docked motor boats. I walked around a little longer. I saw a canoe and jumped it. Grover took his time getting in. I encouraged him to hurry. His pace was a little faster, but not much. I then focused my powers to make the water take us down stream. It worked.

It was quiet. We where now speeding along, going downstream at 40 miles an hour. Pretty decent to me. We could have gone faster but it was a canoe and I didn't want people to be suspicious. Especially because we weren't paddling.

I broke the silence. "Grover, I have an idea" Grover looked at me. I took that as an 'I'm listening'. I said "If I put a bubble around us, we can go underwater without getting wet and go faster. I will be able to tell when we are close to the Atlantic Ocean, so don't worry."

Grover asked me "Will I get wet?""Nope" I assured him. Without waiting, I did exactly what I said I would. We where going a lot faster and we didn't get wet.

When we arrive at the border lines of the Atlantic Ocean, I decided that we would make a circle and rise from the water that way. It would be less noticeable. So, I did. I looked over at Grover. He was sleeping. I then saw it was getting dark. I should have let him sleep. But, we needed to get a move on. He could sleep once we got settled on somewhere. I decided that we could go to New York. I didn't see any harm in that. I knew I had to stay close to land. I went back under. We continued on.

When Grover and I got to the edge of New York, I got back on the surface. It was 7:00. I decided we needed to take a long and good rest. It would be better if we went to bed early. That way, Grover and I could wake up earlier. I parked us and picked Grover up. I tried not to wake him. I found out that he is a very heavy sleeper. I carried him into the woods and set him down on a pile of leaves. I checked my pocket for Riptide. It was still there. I tried to sleep but it was hard. I was afraid that I would have a nightmare. But at the same time, I normally learn something from them. I kept looking at my watch. The last time I looked at it, it was 10:00. I heard a noise in the woods. I pulled out Riptide. A boy with black hair and dark eyes appeared. I could see he had a leather jacket on. Bags where under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. The boy looked to be about 12. He had scratches and scars all over him. He had a faint smile. It was Nico di Angelo. I ran to him. He was completely out of it. "Nico?" I asked. He groaned. I knew I should have been nicer, but I slapped him across the face. He was wide awake then, but at the same time, kind of ticked off. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" He yelled. I put my finger over his lips. "Shhh" I told him. I then told him to sit on a tree stump and listen. He was still angry but that was normal for him. I caught him up on everything. He simply said "Your right"

I nodded and said "About what part…"

"Annabeth isn't dead. I would have sensed it."

I felt dumb. I should have asked him in the first place! He was a son of Hades, god of the underworld! I then asked him "Is she okay?""I don't know" He told me. "You need some rest. I will look at for you."

I laid back down unwillingly. He needed more sleep then I did. But, when I did fall asleep, a nightmare found me. This one gave me a weird feeling.

Annabeth was limping to her home. Well, not limping. Almost crawling, but not really. Its hard to explain. In easy words, she was hurt…badly. She got to the door and knocked. Her Mom's face appeared in the door way. She looked worried. Mrs. Chase picked Annabeth up and sat her on the couch. Nobody was home. Mrs. Chase sat across from Annabeth. Annabeth lied down on the couch. "Where is Dad?" She moaned. Mrs. Chase had an evil grin on her face. She stood up and said in a very evil voice "now, you listen here daughter of Athena! I hate you! You are a problem to my family! I don't want you alive! If you don't get out of here in about five minutes, I will kill you!" Annabeth was about to say something when Mrs. Chase screeched "SILENCE!" She took a pause and said "Now, your daddy already knows you are dead. I sensed you where coming back today. Atlas purposely let you live. I told him to beat you down until you where almost dead. He did well. If you even come close to here again, you will be sliced in half by me!" Annabeth looked horrible enough. Now she was crying. "GET UP GIRL!" Mrs. Chase yelled. Annabeth stood up and was slapped across her face. Annabeth immediately began to bleed. Mrs. Chase picked up Annabeth and literally threw her out the door. Annabeth tried to get up and run, but she was hurt. She crawled away and sat next to a tree. She sobbed and didn't stop. I then ran to her. I tried to confer her. But, I went right through her. I then heard her say "I will never get to see Percy again." She began to cry harder. Mrs. Chase laughed and I woke up with a start. Nico and Grover where standing over me. It was morning. "Just a dream" They both said. I shook my head and said "No, it was real!