Thanks for reviewing!

So Luke is 21. Wow, he's old! (says the 17-year-old blithely, full prepard to deny the words in 4 years time.)

Right now Percy in 15 and Annabeth's 16, just to get that straight. Linear or no, thats the requirement for the story. (looks sheepish about changing so many things around)

As requested, here's a longer chapter for you all! I can't promise that they'll all be longer (I have to keep them small or I'll ramble) but I'll try to get the word count up a bit.

Enjoy!

Lizzy

Percy: A Divine Visitor

"Wake up, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth practically yelled in my ear. I jumped.

"I wasn't asleep," I began, then gave it up. From the look on Annabeth's face, that wasn't the first time she'd called me. "What is it, anyway?"

She rolled her eyes, and pointed up the hill to Thalia's pine tree. A large group of people, none of them dressed in Camp Half-Blood-orange t-shirt, clustered at its base. I figured they must be alright, because the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece hadn't turned them into barbecue yet. I could just make out Chiron in the center of the bunch, head and shoulders above the rest of them.

So much for an afternoon lazing around outside the Poseidon cabin with Tyson, I thought, shaking my brother awake. His lone eye opened and he stood, peering down at me from several feet up. I'm pretty tall, but Tyson would make a giant think he wasn't so big after all.

"C'mon, big guy," I said. "Let's go see what's up before Annabeth explodes."

We weren't the first campers to get to the hill, but we were close.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth exclaimed when we were only a few yards back. She was right; those bows were as unmistakable as the auburn haired girl who was talking to Chiron. "But where's Thalia? Do you see her?"

I frowned and shook my head. Was that normal? The lieutenant of the Hunters being sent off to do something on her own? Then another possibility occurred to me, and I felt sick. There had been all too many skirmishes with Kronos's forces lately. Never anything big, just minor assaults on lone half-bloods, or small groups maybe. It made everyone jumpy, wondering just what Luke and his army were up to. The Hunters wouldn't be an unusual target for such an attack.

"--considered that Thalia could be dead?" I heard Chiron ask as we came within ear shot. Annabeth balled her hands into fists.

Artemis shook her head sadly. "I'd know if she were. She was only hit in the shoulder, and the fall wasn't long enough to kill. She's been captured. The boat was near enough. And--" The goddess of the hunt trailed off as she saw the expectant faces of the gathering half-bloods. "Perhaps we could finish our conversation in the Big House, Chiron?"

He nodded. "Campers, escort the Hunters to their cabin. They will be staying with us only briefly, so I regret to say that we will have no opportunity for our traditional, friendly game of capture the flag. However, I'm sure that we'll enjoy their company for as long as they are here." The last remark was meant as a warning to the Stoll brothers, who were giving each other conspiratorial glances. They were well known for their practical jokes, particularly toward the Hunters.

Grumbling, the campers made their way back to the cabins. All activities had been canceled that afternoon, though no one had been told why. Perhaps Chiron had been expecting Artemis.

"Thalia captured?" Tyson asked.

"Looks like it," I said heavily, and turned to ask Annabeth what she thought of all this. The words never left my mouth. She had on that faraway look she gets when she's thinking really hard, and there were tears standing in her eyes. "Annabeth?"

"I should have guessed!" she said angrily, wiping the tears away with the heel of her hand. "But it's too awful. I hadn't thought that even they . . . "

"What're you talking about?"

She glanced around, making sure there wasn't anyone but me and Tyson near enough to hear her words. "Do you know why Thalia didn't join the Hunt when she was twelve? Before Zeus turned her into a pine tree?"

I blinked. "Yeah, of course. You told me. She didn't want to leave Luke and Grover to fend for themselves, or force you into joining."

She shook her head. "That wasn't the only reason. She and Luke . . . " she coughed. "Had potential. Mutually felt potential. Thats also one of the reasons she joined in the end. It was awful for her when she found out what he'd done, what a monster he'd turned into."

It was my turn to shake my head. Somehow I'd never thought of Thalia as being, you know, in love or anything. She was always just . . . Thalia.

"So I'd bet anything that Kronos knows about that, and that he's trying to use it to his advantage. If he could get Luke to convince Thalia to break her vow against romantic relations, then she'll turn sixteen and he'll have a shot at the prophesy. You've already proved to be a hardened case where he's concerned. Thalia's more vulnerable to his attack. If Kronos got his hands on the Ophiotaurus, then I don't know what would happen."

"Hang on, " I said. "Doesn't Artemis smite anyone who breaks the vow? Or turn them into, what was it, a jackalope? "

"No. In some ways the punishment for an oathbreaking Hunter is much gentler then being killed or turned into a jackalope or a deer, and in other ways its much worse."

I shivered. Worse? "What is it?"

"The knowledge, forever stamped upon your mind, of what you lost, and that you cast it away with your own two hands."

"Oh," I said. Then, "We've got to something to help her."

Annabeth and Tyson nodded their agreement emphatically.

"We'll have to go by sea. No other way."

More nods.

"And we'll have to sneak out. You know they'd never let us go otherwise."

We worked out the finer details of out escape, then made our way back toward the cabins.

"I wish Grover weren't still off searching for Pan," Annabeth said. I agreed. The goat boy would have made the perfect fourth for our miscreant quest. But then maybe it was better like this. When ever more them three people set out on a quest, something awful always happened. It was the traditional number, so I guessed we'd better stick to it.

Beside me, Annabeth suddenly started giggling. I looked at her sideways, concerned for her sanity. With an effort, she composed herself.

"I'm sorry," she said breathlessly. "But it's just too much like the summer before last."

I smiled to, but only a bit. Deja vu wasn't necessarily a good thing. After all, they say that history repeats itself.

A slightly less poetic phrase I'd heard was 'the Fates only buy one brand of cosmic thread.' But that doesn't have the same ring to it.

Right, I thought to myself. Now all we have to do is leave camp undetected, storm a demon cruise ship (assuming Thalia is even on it) bust her out of there and get back here again. Simple.

Dear gods, I hope Mr. D doesn't expel us from camp like Tantalus was going to last time.

-

Interim: Luke

Aboard the Princess Andromeda, Thalia tossed and turned, her damp hair straggling across her face. Behind their lids, her eyes moved back and forth restlessly. I leaned forward and rested my fingers against her forehead. She felt hot. Too hot to be healthy.

As she murmured inaudibly in her restless sleep, I shivered. Fever had set in.

To be continued . . .

Hmm, was too much of that a repeat from last chapter? I don't know. But it was interesting to write about from a outside perspective. -- Lizzy