Monsters, Light, Darkness, Swordsmanship, Loyalty, Bravery, Courage, Balance, Heroes, Assassins, Weapons, Senses, Emotions, Justice, and Battle, Time, Flames, Storms, and Tides.

So while I got a few reviews about it being this chapter I didn't get the impression that it really mattered for a lot of you, so I decided that I would go with my original plan, sort of slow paced, it will build from this point on. After the titan war and directly during "The Lost Hero" story line I will have Percy and Artemis together. Sorry to the few of you who wanted fast paced pertemis.

(Time skip Titan's curse)

Demigod Percy POV

It was the Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag with the necessities. You know, clothes, nectar, ambrosia, a drachma or two, and most important of all, a few deadly weapons. We picked up Annabeth and Thalia, Thalia has been doing well so far. I mean, all things considered, she has a right to be freaking out a lot more than she did, really when she found out she was a tree for so long she only said "Oh" and was ok with it.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't see each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. She talks MORE when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me.

Thalia is a bit like Annabeth, she's curious, she can't just be complacent. I told her it was a military school and she kept asking questions, thousands of questions. Then when we got here she immediately wipes the fog off the car window and looks outside. "Oh, yea. This'll be fun."

I knew it was a military school, but this was like King Arthur's castle, only more evil. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking a frosted over forest on one side and the ocean on the other. This close to the ocean made me feel powerful, and stronger, faster, the salt in the air. I love this, this rescue job won't go bad as long as I'm near the ocean. Whatever Grover needs help with will be easy.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" my mom asked.

"No, thanks, Mom," I said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."

I hoped I wasn't blushing. It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles.

"it's okay, Miss Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color of the ocean over the ledge. "We'll keep him out of trouble."

My mom visibly relaxed a bit. She thinks Annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit the eighth grade. She's sure Annabeth often keeps me from getting killed. She's right, but that doesn't mean I like it.

"Alright, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

""Mom-"

"Your Ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

She looked a little hurt, and I was sorry about that, really I was, but I was ready to be out of that car. If my mom told one more embarrassing baby Percy story I was going to explode. My mom got the message though, and she drove off.

"Your mom is so cool, Percy." Thalia said.

"She's pretty okay," I admitted. "What about you? Did you ever get in touch with your mom?"

As soon as I asked I immediately regretted it. Thalia was amazing at giving death glares, what with the puck clothes she always wears-The ripped up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. This look was a perfect "ten" on the scale of "OH shit that's scary." I decided to glare back, using my powers of water to change my hair from black to white by freezing water particles in my hair giving me a "death reaper" kind of look by also catching my eyes on fire. I have been really hard-core working on my powers, training left and right. I can now use my water powers to control ice, also can use my water and fire powers in almost perfect harmony. However, every now and then the powers don't get along very well and they, well, the combination turns toxic and explodes. I was suddenly afraid of my face exploding so I let my looks go back to normal before my face exploded. She's still scary, no matter how many powers I can control. "If that was any of you business, Percy-"

"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."

"Speaking of Grover, what do you think he found that made him sent the distress call?" Thalia asked.

I stared at the dark towers of Westover Hall, "Nothing good is my guess."

The oak doors were heavy, and when we pushed those big doors open and they groaned really loud. All I could say was "Whoa."

This place was huge, giant actually. It looked every bit the castle on the inside as it did the outside. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapons on display, battle axes, swords, spears, and the works. It was truly amazing, but also kind of overkill. Literally.

My hand went to my pocket where I always kept Riptide, I could feel the evil in this place. I could feel the monster, so whatever it is, well it's old. That makes this monster very dangerous and powerful.

The doors slammed shut, and we turned fast. Then we heard the sound of heels clicking on the ground, someone was coming, and by the heel clicks I'm assuming it's a teacher. We hid our bags then started walking down the hall, and then a man and women stepped out of the shadows and cut us off. They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Um….." We hadn't planned for this; I was trying to think of a lie but didn't know what to say. I was thinking of lying, so I was going to say something "Ma'am, we're just-"

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump a little. "Visitorrrrs are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

Then Thalia did something weird, she stepped forward and snapped her fingers "Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia, and this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."

It turns out what happened was Thalia manipulated the mist, then Grover came running out and almost ruined it, and then worst of all Grover said that he found two demigods, and it turns out they are big three aura material.

(Time skip fighting the Manticore)

So it turns out that the man who was in the hall is a manticore. They are really weird hybrid creatures, a lion and a scorpion, what? Anyways, I knew his tail was dangerous, the spikes would kill if they impaled you but other than that they couldn't. The toxin is painful as all hell but not deadly. Anyway, as I was thinking of a plan I couldn't help but remember what Annabeth had said, she knew I liked her and she sort of liked me but she didn't want a relationship because of the life we live. That hurt. More than it should have, and then I realized why. I liked her a lot more than I had originally thought. I was hoping that maybe after this whole "Great Prophecy" thing that maybe we could have hit it off. Now really isn't the time for this though. Damn ADHD, now is not the time. Time. That's when it hit me, I just need a few seconds, a few seconds more to be able to block his spikes, I know that somehow I can get some other form of me to help out every now and then, but I doubt that would work. I could try summoning my weird version of Riptide. I usually get faster with that out, I don't know why but I do. No, now I know what I need to do. I closed my eyes trying to focus, this would take a lot of concentration, I have never controlled water to this degree.

I must have stopped because the manticore sounded really impatient. "Keep moving demi-god, we have to get to the extraction point."

I finally felt the connection I was looking for, all the fog surrounding the castle was going to come in handy. That's when it started getting really hard to walk, the air was thick like sludge around our waist and chest, my plan was working. My hand inched toward my pocket and my fingers wrapped around Riptide. I pulled the pen out and as the monster was cursing the thickness and wondering what was happening I uncapped it spun and slashed the monster across the face. It roared loud, obviously pissed, but at least now my friends know where we are, I hope. Now I just had to keep us all alive until Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia get here.

The monster started volleying spike after spike right at us, I was slashing hacking doing anything I could to deflect them all, but I knew I could only keep this up for a few minutes at most, he knew it too, his smirk said it all. That's when something amazing happened. A girl with black hair, a shield, and a spear jumped in front of me and used the shield to help me block the spikes. THALIA!

"Thank the gods you got here Thals, I was about to be impaled." She grinned and gave me a look that said she would never let this go. Then the ancient monster charged, claws ready and launching more spikes. I decided to lift the thickness of the fog, and instead made a wall of water out of it and made it hit the manticore making him go flying towards the edge of a cliff. Then I heard a loud "THUD THUD THUD" it sounded oddly familiar, like in those military moves when the helicopters ari- oh no, helicopter. I heard a loud "whoosh" as the helicopter rose up from behind the cliff, right behind the manticore. We all stopped moving, just staring at the sleek black military gunship.

After seeing our faces Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes." But over everything, the helicopter the monsters laughter and fear in my chest, I hear it. A hunting horn was blown, it was crisp and loud and clear.

The manticore froze. He got pale, really pale, "No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be-" then a silver arrow was in his shoulder, I didn't even see it go by but it did. "Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens and dozens much faster than before, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like these arrows were cutting the spikes in half, but not even our best archer at camp could do shoot with that much accuracy. Annabeth and Grover must have just got here because vines started growing around the monster which he easily tore away from. Then I saw a shimmery spot next to the manticore. Annabeth. She's invisible, maybe she can end this.

Then I saw her move away and come next to us, she took off her cap and yelled "The Hunters!"

I heard Thalia say "Oh, wonderful." I guess she doesn't like them. That's when the archers came from the woods, they were all girls, about a dozen or so. The youngest was maybe ten the oldest looked to be my age, fourteen. All of them wore silver ski parkas and jeans, and they all had bows.

One of the oldest stepped forward with her bow ready and an arrow at the ready. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. However she stood out because of her silver circlet braided into her hair she looked like a princess. "permission to kill my lady?" she seemed to be talking to no one

Thorn was pissed "This is not fair! Direct interference is against the Ancient Laws!"

Annabeth POV

I found it highly amusing to watch a centuries old monster cry like a baby to the goddess of the hunt and her vicious girls. Then I saw Dr. Thorn's hind legs get ready to let him jump. I couldn't let that happen.

I heard Lady Artemis respond to the monster "Not so," She looked twelve or thirteen and had auburn hair in a ponytail and moon colored eyes. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast. Zoe, permission granted."

The moment I was ready for happened "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!" Growled Dr. Thorn, then he charged at Thalia and Percy.

I freaked and yelled "NO!" and charged him. I heard someone yell at me but I didn't pay attention. I jumped on the monster and drove my knife into his back.

He howled in pain and yelled "This isn't the end Huntress!" then dove off the cliff with me on his back. I lost consciousness shortly after.

Not long after that

I regained consciousness in front of someone's feet. I looked up at the person, he was built, huge actually, but he had this cruel look in his eyes that told me I was screwed.

"Hello young demi-god. We are going to have a talk. One you won't enjoy." Needless to say I was terrified, his smile promised pain.

Percy POV right after Annabeth is gone

She is gone. That damn helicopter, if it hadn't distracted me I might have been able to kill that manticore before it took Annabeth. I barely registered the green ethereal glow coming from my hands, or the giant storm coming out of nowhere, or the lightning, all I could think was destroy the helicopter. Then lightning struck the helicopter, large concentrated bolts, one after the other tearing through the thing.

Artemis POV

I was genuinely surprised at my half-sister. She was powerful, all of that lightning, but she needed to reign it in. I walked up to her then looked at her to my left to see her shocked face. She was surprised at her power too, interesting. I shook her shoulder "Thalia, this is unnecessary, you need to reign in your power."

She turned and said "No offense Lady Artemis, but you're not very observant. This isn't me, it's him." Then pointed at the young demigod with raven black hair, how did I miss the GLOWING hands.

I didn't understand how this is possible; he's a son of Poseidon, not Zeus. I know Poseidon is the god of storm bringers but his children hardly ever get that power, same thing with earthquakes. They have to be extremely powerful to get those powers and the fates have to say the person is pure hearted for them to have these powers. So how does a male have these powers? Whatever the reason I'm sick of this boy showing off his power. I notched a blunt arrow and shot at his leg, it won't penetrate but it will leave a nasty bruise. At least, that's what I thought. Somehow this boy managed to turn around and catch it. Then right in front of me, he burnt the arrow to ashes. I could sense the god like energy rolling off of him in waves, how is Percy Jackson so powerful?

Then in a voice that would terrify even the most deadly and ancient of monsters, he said "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! It is their fault that Annabeth is gone and you stopped the destruction they rightfully deserve."

I don't care if he is way more powerful than he should be and had powers he shouldn't, I am a goddess, he is still a demigod, and I will not take this attitude. Before I could do anything, however, a few of my girls launched arrows. I figured he would be dead, but he moved with inhuman speed and caught them. No one, not even Hermes can move that fast. The arrows only seemed to piss him off even more, thankfully they were blunt arrows, so he didn't seem that upset, but he was still pissed.

"I repeat, WHO ARE YOU?!" He was emotional, that's the only reason he is acting like this. Wait, why am I defending his anger and stupidity? Whatever.

I've had just about enough of this so I said "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt."

Percy POV

You would think that nothing could shock me at this point, right? Wrong, this little girl claims to be Artemis, yea I said something like "Yea, and I'm Hades." then I realized she was serious, "Oh, you weren't kidding. I'm sorry for losing control like that I could have hurt someone, it's just, me and the one who disappeared were close."

She nodded and said "I understand, just try to control you powers better, especially since you have so many powers, some you shouldn't even be able to use."

"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out." Everyone looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"

Artemis's expression softened. "It might be a better question, my dear, to as who are you? Who are your parents?"

"Our parents are dead, We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our school, but…" she trailed off, I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her. "What?" She demanded. "I'm telling the truth."

One of the hunters gave the rundown, Zoe I think "You are a half-blood," She started. Her accent was hard to place too, it sounded old fashioned and proper. "One of thy parents was mortal, the other, an Olympian."
She seemed confused, "Olympian… athlete?"

"No," Zoe said. "One of the twelve Olympian gods."

Nico seemed pumped about this, "Cool!"

Bianca not so much, "NO! This is not cool."

After a lot of explaining and a few annoying questions about my "damage rating" we managed to get the two demigods to relax. Artemis wanted to talk to Bianca then wanted to talk to me, alone. I hope I don't die. Right after that thought Zoe came out of the tent with Bianca. She said something to Bianca who nodded then walked toward her brother, she looked at the fire and I could tell she was deep in thought.

Then Zoe came up to me "Percy Jackson." She looked so much like a royalty I had to try really hard not to sit up straight and say yes ma'am. She looked at me like I was a bag of dirty laundry she'd been sent to fetch. "Come with me, Lady Artemis wishes to speak with thee."

When I entered Lady Artemis's tent I wasn't surprised to see that it looked like a hunting cabin. Then the twelve year old goddess spoke, "Join us, Percy Jackson." I still couldn't believe a goddess was twelve. She must have sensed this because she asked "Are you surprised by my age?"

"Uh… a little."

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray."

"Go astray?" I asked

She smirked before responding "Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves. Maidens are strong, but many times they allow boys to take control and even use them then leave. Boys are disgusting, that is why my Hunters do not welcome you. It is very rare that we have boys in this camp. Boys are usually forbidden to have any contact with the Hunters. The last one to see this camp..." she looked to Zoe, "which one was it?"

"That boy in Colorado," Zoe replied. "You turned him into a jackalope."

"Ah, yes." A satisfied smile spread on her face. "I rather enjoy making jackalopes. At any rate, Percy, I've asked you here so that you might tell me more of the manticore. Bianca reported some of the more… mmm, disturbing things the monster said. But she may not have understood them. I'd like to hear them from you."

I told her a lot of stuff, we talked about an ancient monster that could bring the downfall of Olympus, and how many monsters from millennia ago were forming. Then she said she had another question for me. I nodded saying to go ahead. "Why did you feel the need to show off your powers, you had already destroyed the helicopter but you decided to demolish it, why? To show off to us, or your friends? What if you had lost control, you are powerful but very arrogant, and that is dangerous."

I was pissed, she had the nerve to ask why I did what I did when that monster had just taken the girl I had feelings for?! "WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE MY ACTIONS! You think that just because I'm male I was showing off! My BEST FRIEND was taken by the MANTICORE! So I'm SO SORRY, if I react badly to that!" I didn't realize it but my eyes were glowing orange, like fire, and the flames lighting up the room were growing taller and bending toward me.

Artemis POV

This boy wasn't showing off? He was just UPSET and lost control? He is incredibly powerful, and he wasn't trying to show off, and he doesn't just grovel for forgiveness like most weaker males. He stands up for what he believes in, why is he different, he is even different from most of the gods I yell at or question because even they cower. He is definitely different, and I will keep my eye on him. He seems to be one of the only males I will ever find respectable. However, the sarcasm he displayed earlier could be a problem, not to mention the fact he sent Medusa's head to Olympus, he has serious problems with authority.

Then I noticed Zoe was scared, I didn't know why until I looked at him again, he was glowing orange, and fire was surrounding him, I needed to defuse the situation before someone got hurt. "Perseus, relax, I merely assumed because I only know the bad side of men. I meant no offense, you are clearly different and liked her, but do not presume to think you can talk to a GODDESS like that. If it happens again you won't live do you understand me?"

I must have knocked some sense into him because he calmed down, stopped glowing, and apologized. He really is different.

Percy POV

I apologized, I really didn't mean to lose control like that. Then Artemis said "We must end this soon, I need my Hunters ready in the morning. I must hunt the monster we talked about."

Zoe looked like she was she trying really hard not to look afraid anymore, but she nodded. "We will leave at first light, my lady."

"No, Zoe. I must do this alone."

"But, Artemis-"

"This task is too dangerous even for the Hunters. You know where I must start my search. You cannot go there with me."

"As… as you wish, my lady."

"I will find this creature," Artemis vowed. "And I shall bring it back to Olympus by winter solstice. It will be all the proof I need to convince the Council of the Gods of how much danger we are in."

"You know what the monster is?" I asked.

Artemis gripped her bow. "Let us pray I am wrong."

"Can Goddesses pray?" I asked, because I'd never really thought about that. She actually laughed, a good hearted laugh, I had surprised her, I think.

She turned to Zoe. "Go check on our newest member, and let the others know we will be traveling with my brother in the morning."

Zoe left and I turned to Artemis. "New member?"

"Yes, Bianca di Angelo has joined the eternal Hunt. She is now immortal unless she falls in battle, which once I'm done with her won't happen." Then she said "It's approaching dawn, Zoe, break camp, Perseus, it's time for you to meet my irresponsible younger brother."

I nodded and said "Sounds fun, but please for the love of the gods, call me Percy. Perseus makes me feel old and I'm only 14." I thought I saw a small smile start to form but I wasn't sure. It's near impossible for a guy to get the man hating goddess to laugh once, but twice? Forget it.

Then I realized there were no windows but she knew it was almost dawn? Man, the powers of a goddess. I guess it's time to leave the tent, I think if I stayed any longer Zoe would kill me. "Well, it was nice talking to you Lady Artemis, but I think it's best for me to leave you be now."

She nodded and I left, and sure enough it was dawn. It must have been about 5 minutes since Artemis told Zoe to break camp, and it was all done, all except Artemis's tent was gone. That is impressive, then I realized it only took them a few minutes to form a camp. I couldn't stop looking back at Artemis's tent. I don't know what it is, there's just something I can't shake, maybe it's because she's a goddess. I looked back as Artemis walked out of her tent and then touched somewhere on her tent and I watched as it collapsed into the size of one of the now and later candies. I thought that was amazing, but I really wasn't surprised. Now we just stood in a group while waiting for Artemis's brother. She kept staring at the east like she was expecting something, all I saw was beautiful colors, but no sun, I was beginning to doubt the sun would even show up today. Finally the sun peaked over the horizon, at least now we won't freeze while we wait for whatever Artemis is waiting for.

Then she said something weird "Finally, my brother is soooo lazy in the winter."

"Umm, you're waiting for sunrise?" I asked a little hesitantly

"For my brother. Yes."

I didn't want to be rude. I mean, I knew the legends about sun gods flying the sun across the sky, but the sun is just a ball of fiery gas, like, a zillion miles away. But almost like she was reading my mind she said "it's not exactly like you think."

"Oh, okay." I kind of relaxed. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a-"

There was a sudden burst of light and warmth. "Don't look, not until he parks."

So it turns out Thalia can't drive the sun for crap, and it also turns out the sun is actually a transforming vehicle that a narcissistic but funny sun god drives. The naiads seemed a little upset when Thalia crash landed in the canoe lake though. But as for now, Thalia and I were giving Chiron and Mr. D the run down.

The second we finished telling Chiron that Annabeth was missing he turned to Mr. D and said "we should launch a search for Annabeth immediately." Naturally I wanted to help but so did Thalia, we both volunteered to go at the same time.

Mr. D sniffed "Certainly not!"

We started complaining right after that until he put up his hand in a stop motion, and we noticed his eyes were glowing with purplish fired that usually meant something bad and godly would happen if we didn't shut the hell up. "From what you have told me we have broken even on this rescue mission. We lost Anna Bell-"

"Annabeth!" I cut in.

"Ah yes, her. But you managed to get a young annoying boy in the process. IF she is alive, and that is a big IF, then she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I got up from where I was sitting.

"Percy." Chiron's tone was full of unspoken warnings. But I was royally pissed off, which is never a good thing.

"You're glad to lose another camper!" I yelled, "You'd prefer if we all disappeared and never came back. You drunken wine god. You were sent down here to dry out for something you did on Olympus because you were a failure of a god up there and now you just a failing drunken camp leader. Oh wait, that's right, you fail at getting drunk too because of your restrictions! I hope one day you lose something you care about, then maybe you will understand how Thalia and I feel."

I heard Thalia gasp, and Chiron make a strangled cry sound. Mr. D, who was previously looking at the cards in his hands without a care in the world, was now looking me in the eyes. He looked furious but also some other emotion in his eyes. "You know young demi-god. The reason I hate all of you so much is because one demigod once needed help. To get the help he needed he asked a beautiful young princess for it. Even promised to take her as his wife. Later I found her abandoned on some island all alone, ditched by the same man that promised to take her as his. She loved him and was devastated to lose him. I always assumed that none of you heroes ever thought of anyone but yourself. You are truly something different. Very well, if in a few days we have not heard anything from Artemis then we will organize a rescue mission. You had the guts to stand up for what you care about, against me. I admire that Perseus."

Chiron seemed like he was about to faint. He turned to me and said "Percy, Thalia, you two go tell everyone that we will be playing Capture the Flag, it's a friendly tradition whenever the Hunters come to camp."

So that's what Thalia and I did. We went around telling everyone that there was a CtF game tomorrow night, Campers vs Hunters. Many campers groaned complaining that we never win, literally, the score is 75 to 0. But I was extremely tired so I turned in for the night. I almost wish I hadn't, because I had a demigod dream.

I saw Annabeth, she was on the ground climbing her way up a hill, the ground covered in fog, and she was yelling. "Thorn! Why did you bring me here?! I won't join! This is useless." Then she came over the crest of the hill and gasped, I saw Luke holding a mass of shadows up, I didn't understand what it was at first, then I saw the statue of a big muscular man holding up the sky. That's when I realized that Luke was holding up the sky, but barely.

It seemed like at any second it would fall. He barely had enough energy to speak but he said "Annabeth, please, help me! They put me under here when I refused to go along with the last part of the plan! Please! HELP!" He slowly started sinking to one knee, and I tried yelling out not to trust him, that he is a traitor and is probably lying. To my horror, my voice didn't work, and she took the sky burden with him. Luke collapsed and after a few seconds rolled out from under the sky. Annabeth was struggling, and she looked at Luke pleadingly but he just walked away saying "You will be relieved of this burden soon, it's all a part of the plan. I'm sorry it had to be this way Annie."

I woke up in sweat, fists clenched and half of the room scorched and half frozen. I may not know what the "plan" that Luke spoke of is, but I do know two things. Annabeth could die and it's Luke's fault.

Time skip CtF

The time for capture the flag came, after I would approach Chiron and figure out where the point the sky almost touches the Earth is. However, for tonight, Thalia made the plan, I was guarding with the Stoll's, the Ares cabin would charge head on, and two flank teams would go around from each side. I thought it might work, then everything fell apart, I heard screams from every direction signaling that the flank teams had been ambushed. I did, however see a straight shot between the middle and left flank. I could even see the flag on top of Zeus' fist. I looked at the Stoll's and Nico, "You guys hold, I'm getting that flag." They all nodded.

Artemis POV

I was still on the trail of the monster, but it was night and the moon was out, as goddess of the moon I can see anything under the moon if I want. I promised to keep an eye on Perseus Jackson so I figured it was time to take a break and check on the girls and Perseus. I closed my eyes and focused on the moon, then my targets, my girls first. I wasn't surprised when I saw a capture the flag game, it is tradition after all. What I was surprised to see though was my girls only had one person guarding the flag, and that was Bianca. She was so inexperienced she wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, and if someone made it to the flag it would be over.

I decided to take a look at Perseus now, see how he was doing. What I saw both shocked and scared me. He had found an open line to the flag, none of my girls were blocking it and Bianca was facing the other way in a bush. He might win this. He saw Bianca, used water from the dew on the ground and tied her up then froze the water into ice as hard as steel. He grabbed the flag and sprinted back, he was fast enough to match a few of my Hunters, even without my blessing, And Then I noticed Zoe had his team's flag. I figured it was over, Zoe is much faster than Percy is. Even if Percy had my blessing and Zoe didn't she would be faster. She is the daughter of someone with a rather particular skill set.

Right as Zoe jumped, a good five feet from the river, the most unexpected thing happened. Percy used his powers in a way that no son of Poseidon of old could ever have, and they were more powerful than any other demigods in history being closer to the times of our rule. He made the river form a wall of water, but if that wasn't surprising enough, he froze it! No demigod from ancient times had enough power to raise up a whole river, let alone freeze it! His power is truly unmatched by any demigods before him. He crossed the river by diving towards the ices and a little window melted before he hit it.

I watched as every camper raised him up, but how he checked on Zoe knowing that hitting the ice that hard could not have felt good, he apologized. Then he was modest and said "I couldn't have done it without all of you helping me! Thank you all!"

Wow he truly is different from all other males out there. He has all this power but he humble, I don't understand I thought to myself. Then I felt a sharp pain on the back of my skull and before everything went black I managed to send a mind message to my brother QUEST! Then everything went black.

Apollo's POV

"QUEST!" that's all I got from my sister, when I went to look to see where she was, using the reflected sunlight off the moon, I couldn't find her. Usually I can find anyone with no problem what-so-ever, unless they are part of a search and rescue quest of course. That tampers with prophecy which is against Ancient Laws. Then I realized why Artemis said that, she is a part of a quest. So I used my prophecy domain and let it flow through my Oracle.

Percy's POV

Even though I had won the game for us for the first time EVER, Thalia was pissed, she bellowed toward me yelling "Perseus Jackson! What in the name of the gods were you THINKING? I gave you a specific post, one you decided to leave and almost lost the game for us!

I balled my fists. I'd had enough bad shit happen the last few days, I didn't need this. "I got the flag Thalia!" I drug it across her face. "I saw a chance, I took it, and it PAID OFF!"

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE! But the flag was gone. I could have gotten it and it wouldn't have been so damn close Percy!"

"You had too many people on you, you had a tiny chance of getting the flag and getting out of there to win it!" I pointed out.

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" Thalia pushed me and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water. Some campers laughed and the Hunters were DYING in laughter, some even had to sit down to breathe.

"SORRY! I didn't mean to-" she started.

Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek and hit her head on, she was knocked back and soaked. "Yea, sorry, I didn't mean to either.

Thalia POV

I was sick of his shit. I heard Chiron say something but I was so pissed all I could hear was the crackle of electricity and the whoosh of water. I summoned my spear and said "You want some Seaweed Brain?"

Saying the nickname she came up with for him made me even angrier. Annabeth was gone because this one demigod made a stupid decision. I'm going to make him regret ever meeting me. He raised Riptide and said "Bring it on Pinecone Face!" I knew his skill with a sword surpassed my spear skill by far. I had to end this before he got to me. He raised Riptide to defend himself, but I had a better idea. I yelled as loud as I could and called on the sky, feeling the connection I had thanks to my father. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky, hit my spear, and blasted forward into Percy's chest. I smelt burning and when he got up I noticed his shirt was on fire, he didn't even register, probably those freaky fire powers of his. He got up like it was nothing, and I could tell he was PISSED.

As he rose, the water rose up, it formed a large icy funnel of death with a fireball in the middle and lightning on the outside. Also, if I didn't know better, I would say the ground started shaking too, if only slightly. Then all of a sudden, it fell apart. The water crashed down, the fireball disappeared, the ground stopped shaking and the lightning broke apart. Percy isn't one to back down so I wanted to know what made him stop. I turned and saw the Oracle shuffling through the forest.

"Impossible," said Chiron. "It… She has never left the attic. Never." everyone could tell he was nervous, hell even I was a bit spooked.

Percy POV

To see the Oracle outside of the attic meant some bad shit was going down. Then it spoke, and everyone must have heard it because some of us grabbed our ears from the snaky metallic voice in our heads. Approach seeker, and ask. She regarded me with what was obviously a glare then turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade.

Zoe swallowed and said "What must I do to help my goddess?"

Green mist started flowing around us all, I saw a vague image of a mountain and a girl standing at the barren peak. Artemis! I don't know how I know, but I do. She was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised in surrender. She was in obvious pain, and it hurt to see this

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One may be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunter combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one can perish by a parent's hand.

I wasn't so sure about this prophecy, I mean, MAY be lost, Can perish. This has an uncertain ending. I approached Zoe before we went to the counselors meeting. I begged her to take me with her, gave her every reason I wanted to go, but she said no. She said she had her team, Her, Phoebe, Thalia, Bianca, and Grover. Simply for the sake of tracking. So here I am, sitting in my cabin pissed off. I had almost completely forgotten about the Stoll's gift for Phoebe until it was 5 o'clock and I was outside with Annabeth's invisibility ball cap on. I was outside the Big House just thinking, but since it was before wake up we technically couldn't be out and about yet so I had the hat on. Then I heard voices. It sounded like Thalia, Bianca, Zoe, and Grover. "What are we going to do Zoe! We need five but since Phoebe is out because of the centaur poison on the shirt we only have four!"

Zoe said "I had another dream of my lady, she NEEDS help. We cannot wait for thy council to make a decision. We leave now." With that they left. WAIT, that's only four, they NEED five, the prophecy says so! If they try to fight this prophecy then it's doomed. But maybe if they had five and they just didn't know it…? I ran to the stables and woke Blackjack. He is a pegasus I saved on Luke's boat last year in the sea of monsters quest. He found me at camp and insisted on being MY pegasus only. If anyone else tries to ride him he freaks out and hurts that camper.

"Hey boss! What are you doing waking a poor pegasus up at the ass crack of dawn?" He also likes calling me boss, it's annoying.

"Sorry man, but I need help, we are going to follow a quest, they need five but only have four. Now let's go." He nuzzled me and then trotted out of the stables. Then someone cleared their voice. "Mr. D! Wha- What are you doing out here this early!"

He smirked "I'm a GOD Perry, I don't need sleep. And since you are going on that quest I figured mortal money could do you good." He gave me a roll of 100's.

"What makes you think I'm going? IF I was going, why would you let me?" I was confused.

He simply said "I respect you peter, you are clearly different, your heart is in the right place. Now get going before I change my mind."

Needless to say I got out of there fast. I mounted my pegasus and we left. Annabeth, we're coming. Artemis, hold on. I thought I heard a groan so I looked down, I didn't see anyone though. Weird.

Zoe was driving like a maniac! She was swerving in and out of lanes, passing just about everyone. It's a miracle they didn't get pulled over. Blackjack is fast, REALLY fast, and he has great stamina, but I'm not sure if he can keep up with her for long. We passed the time by mainly talking about a weird thing that happened this morning. You see, whenever there is a sea creature that needs help a Hippocampi or whatever sea creature found this poor animal will contact Blackjack who gets me and I go down and save it. Well, this morning I saved this weird looking cow serpent mix. It didn't contact me through the way any sea monster or animal can. It actually mooed at me. I asked Blackjack if he knew what it was, he didn't. Maybe he was too tired to actually think though. We were in Maryland and they pulled off at a rest stop. Blackjack needed a break from my weight and I needed a break from sitting on his back this long. I put on my- Annabeth's hat and sat by the car. Blackjack was just around the other side of the rest stop. I thought we would have a while, but no. We had maybe 15 minutes of rest when they came out, I quietly moved away but managed to hear "D.C? Art thou sure Grover?" I assume that was Zoe, a safe assumption in my opinion.

"Yes I'm sure, it's one of the most reliable tracking spells that we are taught." Grover said.

I mounted Blackjack and we headed for Washington. By the time we got there he was slowing down and dropping altitude. I felt really bad for having run him so hard. Then I saw the van, it was in the parking lot for the Smithsonian. Then I told Blackjack to go back to camp. He had done well and I owed him a lot of sugar cubes. After he left I started to head to the Smithsonian, I needed to convince them to let me join them now. Then I noticed someone leave, when he looked around I recognized his face, and I said "Oh you son of a bitch."

It was Dr. Thorn, why was he here? Then I figured he must have been spying on the quest members. That raises a sticky question. Why would he not attack, last time it was two demigod children of the big three, an army of Hunters, and a goddess, and we still lost someone. So I figured I would follow him. He crossed the street to the Museum of Natural History and entered. At first I thought the sign said CLOSED FOR PIRATE EVENT. Then I realized that pirate must be private. When I got inside what I saw nearly made me gasp, which would have gotten me killed. There were two guards with guns and quite a few monsters as well. Then a HUGE guy. He must be 700% muscle mass.

He was in the middle of something, pushing teeth into the ground, when Thorn said "Reporting in General!"

The one he called the General turned. He said "Full report. Now."

Thorn gave him the rundown and asked to finish them off. I almost launched myself at him, then remembered I would he shot or sliced to ribbons before I even got near him. I was so in thought about tearing him apart I almost missed the part about how he already sent company. I didn't like it, and I wanted to warn them but I had to know what was about to happen. "This is how we will take them down. Give me the canister." Someone handed him a watering can, but when he poured it didn't look like water. I almost choked when I realized it was BLOOD. Then the ground bubbled, and a bony hand shot out of the ground. "Now the scent, QUICKLY. Once these warriors get a scent they will hunt their target until the end of time, or until they kill the target." The guard above him dropped a piece of cloth that looked familiar.

I realized it was a piece of clothing from the Hunters! I didn't have time to think, I ran, dove and snatched the scarf out of the air. The General was seriously confused and said "What is this!"

Luke connected the dots, "its Percy Jackson it has to be!" I sprinted for the nearest exit and right as it closed I made it through. I heard a ripping sound and turned just in time to see a skeleton with a chunk of my sleeve, they had a scent.

Time skip fighting the Nemean Lion

Needless to say, Thalia wasn't thrilled to see me, neither was Zoe. We were talking and Zoe accused me of lying about the General. I tried to tell them we needed to leave. Zoe said "There is no WE. Thy aren't a part of this quest." That is, until, a large golden lion dove through a window and roared. Zoe yelled "NEMEAN LION! No one get close, and try to stay alive until we can figure something out!" It roared again, then I got an idea. I remember the space food from here was awful, made me want to vomit. I ran for the gift shop and heard "COWARD!" It sounded like Zoe.

I almost couldn't find the vile stuff, but when I did I ran out and said "Hey ugly!" It turned but it wouldn't open its mouth. I held my hand out and thought of heat in my hand. A fireball formed and I launched it at the monster. The heat must have hurt it because it roared in a painful way. I launched the first packet of shit into its mouth and then another, one after the other after the other. It retched and gagged and I felt so bad, but in my defense it was trying to kill us. I yelled "NOW!" I was so worried they wouldn't get it, until the arrows sprouted from its mouth. It slowly dissolved until just a pelt was left behind. I bent down and picked it up, Zoe was watching me with wary. I walked over to her and held it out. "I believe this is your spoil."

She shook her head, "It was thy plan, so it is thy kill, which makes it thine spoil. Use it well, it is now a layer of armor. Even though it isn't on the lion anymore it is still impenetrable."

I was shocked but figured it would come in handy, just had to figure out how to wear it. I had just finished this thought when it morphed into a Nixon black leather jacket. Not really my style but whatever. Then I remembered the skeleton warriors. "You need to leave. The skeleton warriors are hunting me, not you. I can hold them back for a little bit, it might be long enough."

The most shocking thing happened. Zoe said "No. We go together. You are a part of this quest now, I don't like it, but you can't fight fate."

Of course, escaping skeleton warriors after killing the Nemean lion is too easy right? So the fates OBVIOUSLY have to make things harder, for whatever reason I guess I deserve it. Let me clarify, there's a gods damn helicopter after us. Bianca saved our lives. She pointed out a subway entrance that we decided to just take to Alexandria.

"Nice job Bianca, thinking of the subway." Grover said.

"Yea well, when we passed that station I remembered it was here. Last summer when we passed through here I was just so surprised to see it because when me and Nico lived here as kids it wasn't there."

I was confused, something didn't add up. "You mean it was new? That station looked pretty old?"

She shrugged "All I know is there was no subway when me and Nico lived here."

Thalia seemed really interested now. "You mean no subway at all?"

Bianca nodded. I was going to say something when I heard the sound of a helicopter get steadily louder. They found us.

Time skip Cloudcroft new Mexico

We had to switch trains twice to lose the helicopter, then we needed to find transportation west. We were freezing when we met an old homeless guy who shared his garbage fire with us, and then pointed out a train that was called "SUNNY WEST RAILROAD". Turns out the old guy was Apollo incognito as a homeless guy he likes to name himself Fred when he's like that. But he helped us get to here from Washington. I had a weird dream that showed me Zoe Nightshade had helped Hercules in his quest for the golden apples by giving him Anaklusmos. At first I didn't understand why she hated me so much, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact I wield a sword she gave to Hercules. However, now we at least had a goal, thanks to Apollo. San Francisco. He told me to seek out Nereus, the old man of the sea. Apparently he has near infinite knowledge, sometimes better than the Oracle of Apollo. Now the challenge is getting there.

I barely had time to start thinking of a plan when I saw two skeleton warriors appear from brush. I got the others attention and they said we should hurry out of here. We started to turn when we hear a rustle to our left. Two more appeared.

End note. So this chapter will be split in two. ITS SO LONG! But sorry it took so long to get this half of the chapter done. Also, if you are looking for an amazing finished story to read then check out Percy Jackson: the Rising! By Barclayeto

Monsters, Light, Darkness, Swordsmanship, Loyalty, Bravery, Courage, Balance, Heroes, Assassins, Weapons, Senses, Emotions, Justice, and Battle, Time, Flames, Storms, and Tides.