At first I was floating in this dark, polluted river. I couldn't shake the feeling that this place seemed very familiar. The trash that floated around seemed as endless as the river itself. I took a closer look at the junk around me and I finally realized where I was, Styx. A shiver went down my spine, as a small figure began to approach. For some reason, I knew who it was: Charon. I began to panic. I couldn't be dead. There's still the unfulfilled prophecy and my friends at camp who needed me for the war. As each second passed, Charon got closer and so did my imminent death. I could see the smug look on his face that said: so your time finally came. He reached out for me andmy short miserable life began flashing before me. But just as the tip of his fingers were about to touch me, darkness swallowed me. For a moment, I was floating in a dark void. I saw nothing, felt nothing, and heard nothing. Then the scene shifted. A wave of relief washed over me. I was not dead, yet. I was on Mount Orthys this time, the palace of the titans. Standing in front of me was Lu-Kronos, a guy in black armor, and another wearing a gold one.

"-a shame he escaped we could have used him well." The dude in black said

"The plan was a long shot anyway. We shouldn't have even bothered with it." The guy in gold responded. He faced Kronos "Shall we proceed with the plan my lord?"

"Well, we can't keep the Olympians now can we?" he wickedly grinned. "You all know what to do."

"Yes my lord." They laughed menacingly. "The gods will never know what hit them"

That doesn't sound good.

Kronos sighed "If only I could use my powers to peek into the future yet again. Unfortunately, I have to muster my strength –"

I wanted to listen some more, desperately trying to grab anything that could help us win. But my dream had other plans. My surroundings began to spin and soon enough I was sucked into a whirlpool. I was greeted by a familiar face, Poseidon.

"Dad?"

"Hello, Percy. I do not have much time. Tell Chiron the prophecy is unfolding. It is time he showed you the whole prophecy."

"But-"

"There's no more time to waste. You must wake, NOW."

And on that happy note my dream collapsed. I vaguely heard someone calling my name. When I opened my eyes, I was quickly blinded by a flash of gold.

"Thank the gods!" Annabeth screamed and body slammed me.

She smelled like the lemon shampoo she uses, as usual. I quickly forgot everything else in the world, including my name. I would've felt all mushy inside if my body wasn't really stiff like I'd just been frozen for a week. Of course the tight bear hug didn't help.

"I think you may have broken something." I gasped.

"Oh…sorry" she quickly pushed me away. I might've imagined it but I could've sworn she was blushing.

Her eyes were all red and puffy like she'd been crying for days. I looked around and figured I was at the infirmary of the big house. I was wearing the striped pyjamas I left last summer at my cabin. Then I suddenly remembered.

"Beckendorf!"

"He's fine" Annabeth assured me. "in fact, he was the one who brought you back to camp"

"Oh, that's good to hear"

Suddenly, Annabeth's face went blood red and she punched my arm, really, really hard.

"Ow… what in world was that for?" I rubbed my shoulder.

"Oh…that's good to hear? That's all you have to say after making me-I mean, us think you were about to die?" I had no idea she could talk that fast. She blinked back a few tears like she was about to cry some more.

"Sorry" I muttered. "I didn't mean to try and kill myself"

Annabeth's expression softened." I'll go get Chiron and tell him you're up"

She got up and left for the door.

"Ann-"

But she already got out. I was just about to tell her about Rachel and i. You know, the "we're a couple now and I hope she could be nice to her" speech that I should've been working on. I groaned. A war of astronomical scale was a few days away and here I am worrying about girl problems. Why couldn't they just get along like giggling school girls? Sure it can be annoying, but it's better than having stare downs every time they meet. It's not like they're very different. I'll never understand girls. My thoughts were interrupted when Chiron rolled in.

"Ah…Percy, nice to see you're all right. I can see the healing magic has worked its wonders" He said in his usual

"Thanks. Um…Chiron, I had this dream-" so I went on telling him about my vivid dreams. I skipped the part about being in Styx since it still kind of freaks me out. When I finished, he'd put on his pinochle face and it was really hard to read his expression.

"Alright" he finally spoke. "Go find Annabeth when you feel you're ready"

He began wheeling himself out but he suddnely stopped and turned to me again.

"Oh, and try not to be so hard on her. She was really shaken up, my boy. The last time she acted that way was when you went missing after Mount St. Helens "

My face went hot. That was where I got my first kiss.

"Oh.."

Chiron chuckled. "She's a nice girl Percy. Be sure to treat her well."

Something about the way he said that made me think what he actually meant was I don't care who you are but if you hurt Annabeth, Kronos is the least of your problems, which of course was definitely not on my to-do-list.

"And Percy"

"Yeah?" I sad still trying to get over Chiron's threat.

"You might want to call your mom. She knew way before we did that you were very close to death. I don't know how she found out but you better IM her."

"Thanks for the heads up." Chiron smiled and left me alone again.

I got up and changed to regular camp clothes. I got a gold drachma and made a rainbow from where my fountain once stood.

"Oh, Iris goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering, Sally Jackson, Manhattan."

The rainbow shimmered and I saw my mom who'd looked like she'd aged twenty years in the last twenty-four hours.

I took a deep breath and got ready for the worst "Hey mom"

I tried to put on my best please don't ground me smile. But it didn't really help much. I still had to listen to an hour of Percy Jackson you are in so much trouble blah blah. When she finally finished, she took a deep breath.

"Well I'm glad you're fine"

"Yeah me too" I smiled. Then the doorbell rang.

"I'd better get that, would you hold for a moment, dear?"

I heard the door open and a few whispers. Then, out of nowhere, Rachel popped out.

"Surprise!"

I chuckled. "Whoa, Rachel what are you doing at my house?"

Rachel raised her eyebrow. "Can't a girlfriend go to his boyfriend's house for no reason?"

"Well, yeah…but I'm not there so there's-"

"Oh don't get too full of yourself Jackson! I'm not here to see you. I'm here to listen to your mom tell your mom tell me about how cute you looked in the bathtub when you were a baby" I could tell she was resisting to laugh.

"Oh no she wouldn't" I tensed.

"Oh yes she would" my mom came in chuckling.

"Mom!"

They both giggled, which was nice to see.

"Anyway" my face still as red as a tomato "Mom, how'd you know I was in trouble?"

"Ask Rachel, she's the one that told me"

I turned to Rachel who was now turning red

"I saw it in a dream"

"Oh so you dream about me?" I said trying not to look amused

"It's not what you think!" she exasperated "I've been having these weird dreams lately. Ever since-" she faltered. I didn't get to hear what she was about to say but she was interrupted when Paul closed the door and said "Sally, I'm home"

"I'd better go meet him" my mom said

"So About these dreams" I started.

"Gosh, gee look at the time I gotta go now Perce. Still got a thing going on downtown." She blew me a kiss and just as she was about to wave at the mist. "I can't wait for our next date Percy" she smiled and blew me another kiss and the mist dissipated. It'd all happened so fast I was still trying to figure out what happened the last ten seconds. Then I heard something break behind me. When I turned, I saw Annabeth standing there with her fist clenched and gave a angry face that would've drove the three furies back to the underworld.