Chapter Seven! Yay!


I sat in the car next to Nico, my mind on Annabeth. I was still thinking about why she was taken when I remembered who lived in this city.

"Argus, take us to street corner 85th and First." I said, and Argus took a sharp turn.

"What are you doing?" Jaycee asked, and I smiled.

"We're going to see an old friend of mine."


I knocked on the door three times, letting her know that it was me standing there.

We were currently standing in the apartment building right on the corner of where I had told Argus to drop us off. I kept staring at the 4L on the door until it opened.

"Password?" The girl said, and I smirked.

"Iris." I said, and the door swung open wider.

"Come in." We walked into the small apartment and sat down on the fur rug in the living room.

"What do you need?" The girl asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Get Lisette." I said, and the girl's eyes widened. "Now!" She scrambled off, and everyone looked at me.

"Why are we here?" Nico asked quietly, and I sighed.

"We need a location on the map." I said. "And voodoo magic works on almost anything." Just then an older woman came in and sat down in front us.

"Why are you here, child?" She asked in a Creole accent, and I took a deep breath.

"We need a location on the Map of Morpheus." I said, repeating what Chiron said about the map, and Lisette sighed.

"Child, you remember the kind of sacrifice needed for this kind of magic." She said, and I nodded. I held out my open hand, palm up, and she took the knife across the skin, causing the skin to break and blood came out. She ran the knife across my other hand and I let out a small gasp of pain.

"Do you still have the statue?" Lisette asked me, and I nodded.

"Nico, take off the necklace with the leather strap." I said, and Nico did as he was told, the cold skin of his hands brushing against my neck, and the hairs on it stood up. He handed it to Lisette and sat back beside me, silently watching the ritual.

"Now close your eyes, child, and say the chant I taught you three years ago." Lisette said, and I took another deep breath.

Now I was not born into a Creole family, but I was French (according to Mr. D), so it was not that hard remembering the chant in the different language.

I started to speak the chant, and my mind floated elsewhere. I saw a park, and the map was resting on a large rock covered in moss. I stopped chanting once I realized where I had seen this rock before—Central Park.

"I know where the map is!" I said excitedly, and we rushed out of the apartment, my hands still covered in my blood from the ritual. Lisette was calling out for us, but I didn't hear her.


I ran the entire way to Central Park, not telling Nico where I was going so he was punished into running too to try and catch up to me.

Now I don't consider myself to be that fast of a runner, but I am faster than the seniors at my school, and I could run at very fast paces for hours at a time (I would know—my friends made me when we had our Harry Potter movie marathon). It was especially hard when I was wearing jeans, but I didn't pay attention as I entered the clearing where the rock was. Panting, I ran over to the rock and picked up the map. Nico was the first one to catch up to me as I studied it.

"So, where are we going now?" Nico said, his breath coming in short gasps, and I saw the map shimmer. I looked at the first dot and grinned up at him.

"Goodbye Manhattan, New York, hello Custer, South Dakota."


We were sitting at a table in a small Pizzeria in Custer waiting for our number to be called.

"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked, and Percy shrugged.

"Tackle one at a time, I suppose." He said, and I shook my head.

"Our deadline for the summer solstice is in a week, or did you forget?" I said, pointing to the map, and Connor frowned.

"So how will we get all of the items we need today?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"Split up, I guess." I said. "We need to go to three places. Crazy Horse Monument for a rock from all of the mountain that they've gotten down, Reptile Gardens for the scale of an albino alligator and the fangs of an Inland Taipan, and to Bear Country for the fur of a black bear and the horns of a mountain goat. Then we need to go to Mount Rushmore and wait until midnight, and then we have to perform the ritual to a tee to get the first diamond we need." I said, and Jaycee's eyes widened.

"But then one of us will end up going alone!" Jaycee said, and I shook my head, smirking at the girl who had just walked through the door.

"Nope!" I said. "Jaycee, you'll go with Connor." Jaycee nodded and took Connor's hand into her's at that. "Nico, you'll come with me." Nico nodded and sent me a quirky grin, and I just rolled my eyes. "And Percy, you'll go with Thalia. Hey Thals." I said, and Thalia sat down next to me.

"I heard you guys needed me?" Thalia asked, and I nodded. "Great!"

"Thalia and I will take Crazy Horse." Percy said. "Sometimes the easiest jobs have the nastiest monsters." Just then our number was called and Percy went to go get our pizza.

"I can do that." Thalia said, and I nodded.

"Connor and I'll take Bear Country." Jaycee said, and she smirked. "I love bears."

"So I guess me and Nico will take Reptile Gardens." I said, and Nico frowned.

"But the Inland Taipan is the most dangerous snake in the world!" Nico said. "It's super fast and its poison can kill you in a matter of minutes!" I shuddered, and resolved that Nico would get the fangs for us.


Once we had eaten our pizza, we went our separate ways.

"Now we have to learn how to wrestle an alligator and get the fangs of the most dangerous snake in the world." I said to Nico. "This should be fun!" And then I took hold of his arm and we shadow traveled to Reptile Gardens.


The next three chapters are of each team getting the ingredients for the ritual, and the third chapter will also have the ritual of getting the diamond from Mount Rushmore.

Hope you liked it!

~*N.L*~