Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Voldemort

Chapter 6

We left for the quest so early in the morning, even Annabeth looked the slightest bit disgruntled. Surprisingly though, I was wide awake and kind of hyper too.

"Morning!" I greeted loudly. Thalia merely glowered at me. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be the daughter of the god of the sky, which includes birds?"

"So?" She grumbled.

"So: the early bird catches the worm!"

"Go away, Jackson," she said in a muffled tone due to her dark blue scarf that was wrapped tightly around her face as if she was a mummy.

"Well, you're a bit wrapped up in yourself," I said.

Before Thalia could murder me, Annabeth stepped in. "Let's just get going."

"Yeah, Thalia, that's a wrap."

I felt a small amount of lightning surge through me that made me feel all tingly. "Ouch."

"Perce," Thalia said, fake wounded. "I thought you knew me by now- it's not that shocking is it?"

I felt a hand grip my coat hood, and the other hand grip Thalia's coat hood. "Get in the car guys, Argus is waiting."

Laughing, I got in the back, and Thalia joined me, seeing as Annabeth was smugly sitting in the front.

"Okay, Argus, put the pedal to the medal," Thalia called out.

I frowned at her while she cackled evilly.

Argus did as told, and soon, camp was behind us and the city scenery in front of us. I guess Argus didn't want to hear us bickering, because he turned on the radio.

Thalia groaned at the music choice as it started to play some pop music, and I didn't really appreciate it either.

"Annabeth, could you change the channel?" Thalia asked, and I saw her nod.

"Yeah, maybe we could listen to some wrap music," I suggested, snickering.

"Oh my gods," Thalia fumed, before taking the scarf off and I was met by her blue eyes glaring at me.

She shoved me, and I shoved back more lightly, and soon it was a full out scuffle.

"Percy, Thalia." Annabeth sounded pissed..

We stopped. Literally. The car came to a stop, and I guess, in the midst of our fight, Annabeth was really hungry because I saw a restaurant in front of us.

"We should've gotten something to eat before we went on a quest," Annabeth said in annoyance. "But we didn't so I'm going to grab something to go for us alright? Argus."

She pointed towards us as if we were bad children who needed to be watched at all times. Then she proceeded to leave us alone with only Argus. In the car. With the radio playing some music.

And yeah. I actually tried to keep quiet, but soon I was tapping my fingers to whatever song was playing, and Thalia was drumming her palms to the beat.

And soon, we got into the rhythm and started singing along, even though I thought we sounded like dying whales being caught by evil fishermen.

When Annabeth came back with a recycled brown bag with the restaurant's name plastered on it, I immediately dug inside and found food. Glorious, amazing food that was perfect for Thalia, because-

"They only sell wraps," Annabeth supplied, fighting back a grin when Thalia groaned as she found out.

I finished mine before they even started. "Hey, Thalia, can I have your wrap?"

She clutched it almost possessively. "Why?!"

"I though you'd be more wrapped up in the wrapping paper."

I swear I saw my life flash in front of my eyes, but it was just lightning that shocked the innocent seatbelt.

"Jackson," Thalia fumed, looking really pissed off. "Stop."

I really didn't want to stop but then even Annabeth shot me a glare, and if four eyes glaring at me wasn't enough, all of Argus' eyes swiveled towards my direction and the intimidation started.

"I guess you guys aren't really into jokes then," I muttered.

They didn't reply and the rest of the car ride was spent in silence. The feeling of being hyper had ceased, and all I wanted was sleep. My eyes started closing, and a dream started to appear- a dream of Grover interacting with someone.

Like a camera, it zoomed in on them, and I wondered if the person was the demigod Grover had found.

First off, the demigod was a she- and honestly, she reminded me of a scary crocodile. Which led me to thinking if I could communicate with crocodiles... No, but actually, it was mainly her eyes which were slightly terrifying.

No- her eyes reminded me of a snake whose attention was always rapid and hawklike. It's color was like a brownish red, and I instantly knew that she would get claimed by Ares. That is- if he bothered to claim her at all.

I guess Ares would be proud though. She looked small, but tough also- with a messy ponytail consisting of short dark brown hair. A smile was on her face as if it was always there.

I couldn't hear what I was talking about, because their voices were so soft, so I crept closer and closer until I jumped back because Grover started to bleat loudly.

"Geez, Grover," the girl said, snorting. Yet she was looking around warily, clutching a bamboo stick tightly. "What is it this time?"

"Well, you know how your science teacher died?" He asked, and I started to get the gist of things.

Turning around, I saw this humongous (was that 20ft tall...?) creepy old guy who was at first holding a ruler, but then it shifted to a club that would probably really hurt if it hit you.

I wanted to help. I really did, but I felt the world shaking, and I panicked, still frozenly staring at my best friend who was trying to get them to escape but the girl looked at the monster determinedly.

"Jo!" Grover bleated, and the famous reed pipes started to play music. Terrible, terrible music, but effective nonetheless. "Run!"

The monster laughed- deep scratchy laughs that honestly terrified me, before the world started to flip and tumble, and-

"Percy!"

My eyes opened, and I blinked, my hands gripping Riptide. "Grover," I said lamely. "And... Jo."

Annabeth looked at me expectantly, already getting the gist.

"Trouble," I managed to get out, the laugh still ringing in my ears painfully. "They're in trouble."

Thalia pointed to a street right in front of us, where I saw people running away from...

So maybe the car could've sped up, but I unlocked the car door and dashed right towards the monster without waiting for a plan. I heard indignant shouts behind me, before I heard running.

I tried to recall the scenery in my dream, but all I remembered was tidbits of grey and a park bench nestled in some sort of green area. I was more focused on getting Grover and Jo out of harm- along with the rest of the pedestrians.

Not before long, I saw Grover summoning up grass to grow and hold the monster by it's feet. It roared but simply kicked, and the grass flew up like confetti.

"G-man!" I shouted, and I swear I could see his shoulders sag in relief.

"Percy! Jo, she's on-" He started to say, but was cut off by the monster doing what looked like the salsa.

I ran closer, and tried to see where Jo was, before realizing that she was right on the monster's back. She was whacking it's head from behind with her bamboo stick, and unsurprisingly, the monster didn't seem to happy with that.

Of course, if it was a human, it would've had severe brain damage by now, so I suppose I saw it's reasoning.

I quickly joined in the fight, raising Riptide to strike it down but it merely moved out of the way with speed that could beat the nymphs back at camp. Since it was quick and harsh, Jo flew off it's back, and my eyes widened before seeing that Annabeth had caught the demigod in her arms.

So finally they were joining the battle. I tried to look around to see where Thalia was, but I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Where's Thalia?" I asked Annabeth once Jo was safely on the ground.

Annabeth quickly joined in the fight, scanning the monster over. "She's talking to the reporters."

"Reporters, wha...?"

"Tell you later, but focus!" She scolded. "The monster is a Cyclopes- kind of just a giant regular monster really."

She said regular monster as if she was just picking out regular pizza toppings. (Which was, you know, Greek pizza, but with extra olives.) Food...

"Should be easy," she summed up, but still frowned in diastase. I knew she had a crappy memory associated with Cyclopes, so they were never exactly her favorite monsters to meet.

Of course, there weren't really any favorites when it came to monsters.

"It smells like a shark," Grover said. I don't know what he wanted to achieve with that statement, but I guess Annabeth understood because her eyes widened.

I cringed. "Not a regular monster...?"

"Maybe it was bitten by a shark, but it was like, Poseidon's favorite Cyclopes child, so he blessed it so that it could live, so now it has enhanced powers," I heard Thalia say.

I shrugged. "Makes sense."

Annabeth frowned. "So the theory is that it's bitten by a shark, and it has a faster speed than average Cyclopes, which can prove to be extremely tricky. What else do we know about it?"

"Well he has a scary laugh," I added in helpfully.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "That really helps. Thanks."

Thalia just snorted.

"His name is Mr. Odward?" Jo supplied. "He always heard everything everyone said in class, has really crappy writing, and when he slams his 'ruler' on a desk, the desk breaks in half."

"He should get fired," I said thoughtfully.

"He should be dead," Jo said vengefully.

"Or that too, yeah."

"Plan?" Grover asked Annabeth.

Now, we were all together- the five of us, against Mr. Odward.

"Well, he's quick... So we should cover all sides of him so he doesn't get to escape. Basically, just attack. Grover, since you don't really have a weapon, get it distracted by using the grass technique. It probably won't hold but it'll give us some time to attack. Once he's 'trapped,' attack, but avoid his legs, because he'll kick."

Right after, we split up and did our job. Grover played some song and grass started to coil around the monster's legs, and once that happened, my companions all attacked.

Except for me. See, Annabeth said avoid it's leg, but I stared at them and waited till one of them would do it's kick. Once it did, I ran and jumped on it's foot before sprinting all the way up his massive leg. Once his leg was high up in the air, I scampered and made a leap of faith where I then held his hand.

It was actually a little unnerving- holding hands with a monster, but then it started to notice a tiny little demigod compared to it's size called Percy Jackson, and it's hand moved down, then back up again.

I hadn't been on many rolllercoasters, but I deemed that ride the worst one I've ever been on. My plan was to try to get more up in the air so that I could jump on his face and stab his eye so that he couldn't see.

So I tried to wait for the right moment to jump yet again, but I was getting so dizzy I wanted to vomit- but if I did it would land right on top of my friends' hair, and while that would be funny, I don't think I would get a thanks.

Taking a deep breath (and holding in my sickness), I planned out my jump as best as I could and jumped.

And this, kids, is why I'm not a child of Athena, because I stabbed it's nose.

It wasn't supposed to be funny at all but I kept on laughing while holding on for life because I was only holding riptide which was still gruesomely attached to it's nose.

"Got your nose," I howled with laughter.

Mr. Odward wasn't amused really. It did it's bellowing roar, and I took out my sword before landing on it's wide shoulders with ninja skills. I proceeded to hack at it's neck- and with Annabeth and Jo doing their stabbing, Thalia doing her zapping and stabbing, and Grover repeatedly making grass sacrifice themselves- the monster gave it's final roar.

When gold dust rained, I realized a little too late that I was still kind of high in the air, and that I was falling- 15ft from the ground. I guess it wasn't that bad when I cushioned my fall, but my legs were still achey even after we started to walk to the monster hideout.

"That was wicked," Jo informed me, a bounce in her step as she walked beside me.

I could tell Annabeth didn't approve of my stunt, but she didn't say anything. I grinned and slung my arm around Jo. "I know."

"I saw you stab it's nose," she said with a guffaw. "It's like you recreated Voldemort!"

I clamped my hand around her mouth, jokingly looking around. "Don't say his name!"

She laughed loudly, her hands on her knees. "And then I heard you say..."

"Got your nose!" We said together and broke into another fit of laughter.

"Dude," she said catching her breath. Once she stood up straight again, her facial expression changed to a serious one. "Grover said..."

"Hmm?"

"Grover said there was a safe haven for... demigods..."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it's a camp."

"Why are we required to go there?" She asked. "There are monsters out here, right? In the 'mortal' world. So why are we- the only ones who can defeat them- the ones hiding while the mortals ignorantly live on...?"

"Well..." I struggled to find an answer. "From what I've encountered, monsters don't really target monsters. All the monsters I've faced, they only go after demigods. Us."

She looked thoughtful, and her hawk eyes looked wary. "Oh. But what about the monsters that you haven't faced? What if there are other monsters out there? Ones that target mortals- what if the murderers on the news are-"

It wasn't that camp was some government facility, but I felt like she was questioning the system. Ignorance was really bliss, and that statement stood true in this situation, but now that I was paranoid, I felt like a changed person.

"The murderers on the news are monsters. Just because they don't have one eye, or scaly feet doesn't make them innocent. Monster is a term used for evil stuff. There are monsters everywhere."

"Like my mom," she mumbled.

"Eh..." I replied. "I'm sure she was charming."

"She was the one who told me everything about the Greek gods and stuff. Except she never told me about camp. She just said that there was this place where demigods hide. She wanted me to save humanity from the monsters- to become the ultimate fighter- to get acknowledged.

"So she tried to lure the monsters to me- so I would hone my skills while ridding the world of monsters. And she... She wanted to reveal the world of magic."

To reveal the godly world to mortals... Honestly, I don't know what outcome would emerge. Would the mortals live in fear? Or would revolutions start and mobs would attempt storm to Olympus? Either way, it would've been an extremely chaotic mess.

"Bad idea," I said. "What happened then?"

"She got pecked to death by vultures," Jo said seriously.

I grimaced. "Nasty way to go." I was going to offer my condolences or something, but she smiled.

"I've seen worse. But hey, I'm not going to say that she deserved it. She was fighting for what she believed in and I respect that. But at the same time, she wasn't exactly Mom number one. She would rather see the human race thrive than me being alive."

Replying to something like that was difficult. So I hugged her, and she gave a small smile.

"Hey, once we reach camp, we'll be okay," I assured her. "And if you still want to kick some monster butt, we can always sneak out and do that."

Of course, I don't think Chiron would be too pleased, but if she really wanted to semi-honor her mom's beliefs, maybe it would be fine.

Jo gave me a megawatt smile, and I realized that she smiled a lot. "Thanks, Percy." She paused. "Anyways, dude, have you seen these Voldemort pictures?"

She showed me some pictures which cracked me up more than a piñata before I realized that she was holding a cell phone.

"Cell phone!" I said lamely.

Her eyebrows raised. "Yeah. This is a cell phone."

I think I still might've been high off adrenaline, because I waved at Annabeth and Thalia wildly, pointing at the thing. "Cell phone!"

"Voldemort!" Grover bleated, and eyes squinting to look on further, "Christmas hat!"

"Don't say his damn name!" Thalia said exasperatedly.

I felt kind of proud because Annabeth ignored everyone but me. She walked up to me before pulling out a cell phone out of her pocket. My eyes widened, but it was more for comedic purposes.

"It's for emergencies," she told me.

"Yeah- so it wouldn't attract-" Jo started...

... Behind us, I heard the sound of monsters.

"Not at all," Thalia remarked sarcastically.


We didn't find the monster hideout, because the monster hideout found us.

Except, Grover told us that we were pretty near it already, and he was right. Even though I heard monsters all around, I saw this forest-y place with a small hut in the middle.

"This is it!" Grover declared, as we finally stopped running. "Smells like monsters."

"That's because we're surrounded," Annabeth said factually.

"You don't say," I said.

"I do say," she corrected me, a smirk on her face, before it was replaced with a more determined expression.

I had to say, even though it was a monster hideout, it was also the perfect place to wipe them all out. There was a lake nearby I could sense, along with some trees for Grover to use, and some hiding spots.

Yet, despite all our advantages, we were severely outnumbered. Hordes of monsters- no battle plan really- just charged at us, and we fended for ourselves as well as we could.

And it went pretty well, the monsters weren't the most powerful- mostly Cyclopes with malnutrition so they were weak and easy to defeat. But I think Chiron underestimated just how many there were, because if he knew, he would've sent out more campers to fight.

Chiron chose us for a reason though. And as cheesy as it sounds, I wasn't going to let him down. As I saw dust appear, I made my way over to Thalia, who was battling a hellhound who kept on leaping like a ninja- making it harder for her to kill.

"Thalia!" I shouted, but she didn't turn around. "Idea!"

"What is it?!" She hollered back.

"You know how you say that I'm a kelp head?" I said. "Bring the others there."

She got the gist immediately, and started to yell out our friends' names to go to the lake, while I started to sprint there. I've never tried something like this with my powers, and I prayed to Poseidon that it would work.

Luckily, all the monsters were more in the forest part than the lake, so I could use my water powers in peace.

Once everyone assembled, I told them my plan. "If Thalia zaps them one by one, it would take a lot of time, but if I use water as a mass to flood them, the electricity would electrocute them- leaving them stunned and easier to kill."

There wasn't really any room for agreement, so the lake started to rise- gallons and gallons of water starting to flood the forest. I made sure to encase my friends in bubbles so they could breathe. When the lake crashed down upon the monsters, Thalia gave a powerful zap to the water up in the trees, and I could feel the water and electricity frizzle together.

All that took a lot out of me, so I ignored reality and sat down on the ground cross legged, feeling my gut explode inside. If that wasn't enough, I still had to fight control over the water- making sure my friends were safe and that it only reached out to the monsters.

"Done!" Thalia said distortedly.

Groaning, I tried to will all of the water back but I couldn't. And I think that was the part where I started to write a mental will of who I should give my skateboard to, because I was losing control of everything.

The bubbles disappeared, so I heard shrieking, and I saw my friends swimming to the surface. I wanted to help them, I really did, but the water sloshed on the ground and started to go to the city. My gut lost the terrible feeling, but I could still feel something bad.

At this point, I was useless in the quest, but fortunately it was an easy fight. My companions started to hack away at the shocked monsters, and the number of them started reducing drastically, until some monsters started to run away.

I tried standing up, but with the pain in my gut and my achey legs, I staggered to support my full weight. Still, I uncapped Riptide and woozily joined the fight until eventually, all that surrounded us was golden dust and a couple of hellhounds that were running away. My friends followed, but I stayed.

My vision was starting to go hazy, but I pulled a funny face to concentrate on staying awake. I vaguely saw Jo approach.

"You have a nose bleed," Jo told me, handing me a handkerchief out of nowhere. She was holding her side tightly, and her hairband was lost, so her hair was sticking up everywhere.

I ruffled it up even more, and she jokingly flicked my hand away, laughing. Except even with my 'I'm about to collapse' vision, I saw specks of red.

"Jo?" I asked.

"Hmm?" She propped herself up beside the tree next to me. Her breathing was labored and heavy.

My eyes wandered to the specks of red, inspecting them, before they widened.

"I got stabbed," she said, showing me the wound.

I saw a knife sticking out of her side like a unicorn horn.

"No..." I whispered, trembling as I saw the harsh shade of red stare at me mockingly. "Jo, just..."

"Today was a good day," she said with another smile before her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

A red symbol consisting of swords in an X position hovered above her head. It gave me hope that maybe, maybe her godly parent would try to save her.

But no ambrosia or nectar dropped from the sky, so I used the last of my water powers to try and heal the wound, but to no avail. I didn't want to give up, but the battle between life and death was already lost.

"...knife..." She muttered.

She was ready to die, but given from what she's told me, she had been ready to die a long time ago.

"All hail Jo, daughter of Ares," I said, and gently but firmly took out the knife from her side.

She died with a smile on her face.

A/N: So this was a weird chapter. Originally I wasn't going to write about the quest at all, but oh well. And yes, Jo is an OC. That died in the chapter she was introduced in. Sorry. Thanks for all the support!

The Sorrowful Deity: Haha, the mystery of Zoë's mood swings is something I'd rather not explain...

monkeybaby: Thanks!