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Being turned into a guinea pig didn't feel good. I've been forced to turn into a lizard, but this was worse. My arms and legs were stubby and my body felt… hairy. [Stop laughing Sadie, it's not a pleasant situation to be in.]

"Reeeet!" I squealed.

"Shut up Carter," Sadie said.

"How long will it take for Hermes to arrive, do you think?" Percy asked.

"I really don't care about Hermes at this point," Annabeth said. "You have the drachmas right?"

"Um…" Percy started. "Would you get mad if I said no?"

She sighed and opened her backpack. She took out a pouch of golden coins the size of Girl Scout cookies. "Here. You owe me," she tossed the pouch to Percy.

I started squealing up a storm again. Then there was a bright flash and a man appeared. The man was wearing a jogging outfit with wings on his Reeboks.

"Ah, hello Percy," the man said. "So you're with the girl too."

"I have a name you know," Annabeth said crossing her arms.

They had a brief stare-off until Percy cleared his throat.

"Uh, Hermes, we're really in need of the vitamins now," he said.

Hermes sighed. "Oh all right!" he glanced at me and Sadie. "Oh, the boy ran into Circe I suppose!"

I started squealing again.

"Shut up Carter," Sadie said again. I dug my claws into her shoulder. "Ow!"

"So how much is it?" Percy asked.

"That'll be 8 drachmas please," the god said.

Percy counted eight drachmas and gave it to Hermes who gave him the vitamins. "Hey, where's George and Martha?"

"Oh, they're on vacation," Hermes said. "Bye Percy. Oh, and you two Egyptians, tell Ja-hooty that I said hi."

He jogged off and disappeared into the distance.

"Looks like Ja-hooty's popular," Sadie said stifling a laugh.

"What flavor do you think Carter will like?" Percy asked. "There's lemon, grape, and cherry."

I squealed. What was up with the sudden relaxation after getting the vitamins?

There was a vibration from Annabeth's phone and she opened her laptop again.

"I think he'll hate grape the most," Sadie said.

"Reeeeet! Reeeet!" I squealed. Sadie knew me so well. Too well.

Sadie took out a vitamin the shape of a hydra. "Open wide brother dear."

She stuffed it in my mouth and I felt myself getting bigger and bigger until I was back human again. Luckily, I had my clothes on too. [No Sadie, it'll be horrifying if I didn't have my clothes on.]

"Hey, glad you're human again!" Percy said.

"You're Greek aren't you?" I asked.

Percy looked surprised. "Yeah."

I was kind of annoyed that he didn't tell me, but then again, we didn't tell him we were Egyptian either.

"Hey, someone stole the jar from Olympus!" Annabeth said.

"What? Who?" Percy asked.

"Hestia claimed that the jar was missing just a few minutes ago."

"Is it possible to steal an offering?" Percy wondered.

"Then should we go back inside?" I asked.

"You crazy?" Sadie asked punching me.

"I don't know, but I imagine we'll have to," Percy said.

"But they plan on causing sickness among the gods," Annabeth said. "Does that count for the other too?"

"But our gods withdrew themselves from the world," I said.

Percy shrugged. "Our gods are several feet above the Empire State Building. And I think the diseases can spread almost anywhere."

"We'll probably end up here anyway," I said nudging Sadie.

"But we could bring some initiates then!" she protested.

I glanced at Percy and Annabeth. "What about you two?"

"It's best for us to be in smaller groups, so we probably won't be able bring more of us along," Annabeth said. "We usually have three demigods in quests."

"The smaller, the better," Percy added. "Plus, uh, I attract a lot of monsters."

Annabeth entered a command and the laptop turned into the size of a pack of chewing gum. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, but it's best to have all the help we can get."

"Okay," I said. "I'm in."

"Sure, but what are we going to do once we get inside?" Sadie asked.

"We could split up," Annabeth suggested. She ripped out a piece of notebook paper and started drawing. "So this is the entrance where we are. We could split up. One group searches the left while the other searches the right. Then we could meet up by the back door over here." She drew a circle.

"There's a back exit?" I asked.

"Well, it's not much of an exit," she shrugged. "It's the cell we were in."

"So how the heck is that an exit?" Sadie demanded.

"The roof is open. We could use it as an exit," she said.

"How, by climbing out?" I said.

"I could call some pegasi," Percy suggested. "Let's have some food too, before we go in."

So Annabeth took out the bag of bread and we shared. "We could either with Egyptians and Greeks, or we could go mixed," I said.

"I'd prefer going with Annabeth," Percy said holding her hand.

"But it might be better if we go mixed so that we could cover for each other," I said.

"But then again, we've worked with each other for years, so we can have better progress if we work us together and you two together," Annabeth said.

"Did she just outsmart you?" my sister smirked.

"As expected from my Wise Girl," Percy smiled and kissed her cheek.

"I mean, I understand where you're coming from," Annabeth said, "but I think it'll work out either way."

"I don't mind who my partner is," I said.

"If you go with Percy, you guys will be strong, if you go with Sadie, you two know each other well," Annabeth reasoned.

"And if he goes with you, you two are pretty smart," Sadie said.

She shrugged.

"If you're trying to avoid being with him, I don't blame you," Sadie said. [What do you mean, I'm annoying? I'll get you for that. Someday.]

"Maybe you should go with Carter then," Percy said. "You might be able to figure out more things and stuff."

"Sure," Annabeth said. She dusted off her jeans. "Let's go."


I hope this chapter is good enough for you guys. Sorry if some of you wanted Percabeth to go together.