It has been three months since Percy left from Camp Jupiter in his car. After I heard about the gas station explosion, I cried for several days before deciding to move back to Camp Half Blood. My father heard about what had happened and he called to try and alleviate my sorrow, it didn't work. I went over to see Percy's mother and I told her what had happened and that we weren't sure whether the was alive or dead. She and I cried together and I stayed there for a couple of days before moving back to the house on the beach that I had designed for me and Percy to live in.

In that house were just constant reminders of his absence, I spent most of my time crying, only coming out for meals and then going back home. This morning was different, however, I woke up and didn't feel as depressed. I heard a knock at my door and Piper entered, a huge smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Percy's pegasus, Blackjack, was just spotted approaching Half Blood Hill."

"So? He probably went for a short flight, what is so special about that?"

"Annabeth, the has a rider on his back."

"Oh my gods, Where is the going?"

"Half Blood Hill."

I jump up, still in my pajamas that Percy got me for our wedding anniversary last year. Stepping into my shoes I run out the door. I sprint through camp and up the hill. I reach the top just as Blackjack lands and Percy climbs off of his back.

As soon as I see him, my heart jumps out of my chest. The has gained muscle during these last three months. It takes me a moment to register that the is shirtless and covered in monster dust. In his hand is a familiar weapon, I cannot believe my eyes, my knife. I lost that in Tartarus.

I pull my eyes up his monster dust coated body and notice a river of red flowing out of his left shoulder.

"Oh my gods, Percy, you're hurt."

He smiles and says, "You always notice the little things Annabeth." And then he collapses to the ground.
I pounce on him and shake his head to keep him awake. "Percy, stay with me, I am not losing you a third time."

"Annabeth, I got your knife back."

"That is unimportant, what is important is what caused your wound."

"Your knife did, it was thrown by a monster."

"What monster?"

"It was a - I - I can't remember. Annabeth, I can't remember anything about the quest, at least, not after the gas station explosion and being stabbed then picked up by Blackjack."

Blackjack whinny's at Percy and shakes his head.

"Yes buddy, you are the fancy horse."

With that Percy passes out.

"I need the Apollo cabin, get over here now! Camper down! Camper down!" Annabeth shouts frantically.

"Annabeth, calm down, they are here. Come on, lets get you back home."

"No, I am not leaving Percy again." I say and I race off after the Apollo cabin as they carry Percy to the med tent.

"I am never leaving you again Percy, I am never leaving you again." I enter the tent with them and watch as they feed him Ambrosia and nectar to help to speed up the healing.

One of the Apollo campers came over to me and asked, "What caused the wound?"

"This." I say and I hold up my knife. "I lost it in Tartarus and somehow the was stabbed in the shoulder with it by some monster, at least, thats what the said."

"Thank you, Johnny, we will need some magic over here."

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"As long as we can manage to take out the Celestial Bronze poisoning in the wound then the will be alright. Johnny, we need you NOW!"

"What is it?"

"Celestial Bronze poisoning, Percy got stabbed."

"On it!" I see a blonde haired kid race off over to where Percy is lying. He lays his hands over Percy's wounded shoulder and a bright light shines from his hands as the mutters an incantation. I see a dark substance ooze out from the closing wound and fall to the floor where it dissipated.

"What was that stuff?" I ask.

"That was the Celestial Bronze poison in the wound, almost any cut with depth to it that is made with celestial bronze on a demigod leaves behind a trace amount of poison but a stab wound such as he got, well, that leaves much more. Woah, someone catch Johnny!"

Johnny collapses and one of the Apollo campers catches him and leads him over to an empty bunk.

"Thank you. I need to rest, that took a lot out of me. Annabeth, you can see Percy now. Someone put a curtain around Percy's bunk please to give them a little privacy."

I walk over to Percy's bedside just as the curtain around his bed is drawn and we are left there, alone, together. Percy is sleeping soundly and I sit in a chair that is sitting right beside the bunk. Looking at his face, so peaceful in sleep, I notice a bit of dirt on his nose and I proceed to rub it off, eliciting a small grunt from him.

Percy's Point of View

I feel the wind on my face and the throbbing coming from my shoulder as I lie against Blackjack's back as the flies me towards the crest of Half Blood Hill. A crowd of campers are standing at the base of the tree there but one catches my eye. A blonde headed girl runs through the crowd in her bright red pajamas and her familiar tennis shoes. Seeing her after so long brings a smile to my face as Blackjack lands right in front of everybody.

I dismount slowly, the monster dust covering my bare chest and arms starting to get into my wounded shoulder. I keep a straight face as best as I can as my wife runs up and stops in front of me, staring into my eyes as I stare back. Oh, how I missed those beautiful grey eyes that I had grown accustomed to seeing when I wake these past two years, before the quest happened.

Out from behind my back I pull a surprise for Annabeth, her old bronze knife. Her face lights up when she sees it, but then her eyes travel to my shoulder which is still bleeding from the knife wound.

"Oh my gods, Percy, you're hurt."

Hearing her say this brings a smile to my face, "You always notice the little things Annabeth." I finally run out of energy as the adrenaline from my fight wears off and I feel my knees give way and collapse underneath me and I fail to find the strength to land so that I stay sitting and I fall on my back, the soft grass cushioning my impact and tickling my bare back.

Annabeth practically jumps on me and starts shaking my head saying, "Percy, stay with me, I am not losing you a third time."

"Annabeth, I got your knife back." I say weakly as I try to give it to her.

"That is not important right now, what is important is what caused your wound."

"Your knife did, it was thrown by a monster."

"What monster?"

"It was a - I - I can't remember. Annabeth, I can't remember anything about the quest, at least, not after the gas station explosion and being stabbed then picked up by Blackjack."

Blackjack looks at me and says, I am the fancy horse, boss.

"Yes buddy, you are the fancy horse."

After I say this, I pass out from the pain in my shoulder. I am unaware of anything that is happening to me, but I have a feeling that I have been moved and patched up by the Apollo campers.

Three Hours Later. . .

I wake up to find Annabeth sleeping with her head resting on her arms, lying against my bunk in the hospital tent, sitting on a chair. I sit up and laugh when I see her. The movement that this causes wakes her up and she looks at me like I am crazy.

"Annabeth, you have no idea how much I have missed you these past three months. I tried to send Iris messages but my calls were blocked."

"I understand Percy, your sister was in danger and you had to save her."

"I guess, but she's gone Annabeth, she went to Tartarus, we lost her."

"The prophecy said you would fail in the end."

"I guess, but I didn't expect it to be like this." I say forlornly.

Annabeth looks at me and smiles, "I am just glad you're safe."

"I'm just glad I'm home." I say with a smile and I firmly plant a kiss on her lips, allowing myself to be engrossed in her intoxicating presence and forgetting about all of my other troubles.

Three Hours Later . . .

I have just been released from the hospital tent and I am now going home to our cabin by the beach. I wonder what happened to my car after I left it behind in New Mexico when I went to follow my sister underground as she created a path to Tartarus in the desert. Wait, how do I remember that? What else do I remember? I concentrate and see a hole in the desert, my car is parked off to the side of it and I am standing at the mouth. It goes down but at an easy incline, I step inside and - the memory ends. What happened down there that was so horrible that I cannot remember it? I wonder to myself.

Annabeth is helping me walk to our cabin, I am still weak, but I insist on walking down there by myself. After three steps I almost collapse and if she weren't there to catch me, I might have landed on my bad shoulder.

"Thanks Annabeth," I wince as she grabs my bad shoulder by accident. "Thats the bad one."

"Sorry Percy."

"Brother?"

I hear a familiar voice and feel the ground shake as my cyclops brother comes running towards me, his big brown eye starting to fill up with tears.

"I am so glad that you have not been killed dead!" The says as he grasps me in a big bear hug, squeezing the life out of me.

"Tyson. . . My . . . Shoulder . . . Ow!" I choke out.

"Sorry brother. I am just so glad that you are not dead."

"I am too Tyson." I say as he releases me. Falling to the ground from lack of strength, Annabeth grabs me and helps me up in time for me to see Ella flying towards us mumbling under her breath.

"Percy is living, living is good for Percy. Tyson is happy Percy is alive, Ella is happy Percy is alive. Percy is a friend to Ella, Percy is good. Ella likes Percy, Ella loves Tyson. Tyson is good for Ella, Tyson loves Ella. Ella knows of Percy's quest, You shall go west alone without friends. Friends are good for Harpies, You fail to complete the task in the end. Percy did a dangerous quest, quests are bad for harpies, quests are bad for Ella."

Annabeth and I look at eachother amazed. She looks at Ella and asks her, "Ella, did you know about this prophecy?"

"Yes, Ella saw it in a book. The book was in Latin, Ella cannot read Latin, Ella used Latin dictionary to read book. Dictionaries are good for Ella, help Ella read books. Ella loves books, books are good for harpies." Ella nods her head up and down as she says this.

"What book was this prophecy written in Ella?" Annabeth asks.

"Books, books, books, lots and lots of books, Ella read many books."

"Yes but what book was that prophecy written in?" Tyson asks.

"Book had many Latin prophecies, lots and lots of them, some burned, some missing. Ella likes books, books tell Ella things she didn't know before. Ella loves to read, Tyson loves to build and write."

Tyson begins to blush.

"Tyson, you write?" I ask, standing up straight for a moment.

"Yes, I do, I write books about-"

"About Ella and Tyson and Percy and Annabeth, lots and lots of stories, many things the writes. The best at writing Tyson is, Ella's favorite writer Tyson is. Ella loves Tyson's book, Ella must keep a copy of Tyson's book, Ella loves Tyson."

I smile and look at Annabeth, "We should take a look at Tyson's book then, when the feels he is ready to share, but for now, we really should get home, Annabeth, will you please take me back? Tyson, Ella, we will see you two later." I say as Annabeth begins to help me to walk off.

"Ella thinks the should know, Surprise is not good in his condition. Percy should know secret, Ella wants to tell secret."

"Not now Ella, it is not the right time for that, maybe when he is better, but right now Percy needs to rest. We will tell him later, okay? I am making him a special tool too, maybe it will help him to get better faster."

"Ella wants Percy to get better, Percy is good for Ella. Percy is Ella's friend, Ella loves Tyson. Tyson is Ella's boyfriend, Percy is happy with Annabeth. Annabeth is smart, smart Annabeth is good to Ella."

Tyson smiles as the walks towards the Poseidon cabin with Ella flying behind him as the sun sets.

Annabeth and I arrive at the house and she sets me down on the bench on the porch, facing the ocean. She sits down beside me and I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

"I missed you, while I was gone."

"I missed you too Percy."

We hear a beep beep that sounds just like my car and we watch in astonishment as it drives up out of the water and up to the house, parking itself.

"I love that car." I say.

"I do too." Annabeth replies.

"You know what I love more than my car?"

"What?" She asks questioningly.

"You." I say and I plant a kiss on her lips. "Come on, we should get to bed, I am really tired."

Annabeth smiles. "Okay, lets go." She helps me up and leads me inside and helps me into the bed.

As soon as my head hits the pillow, I fall asleep and the dreams that hit me, are more horrible than I can imagine.

As I step into the hole, I find the dark overwhelming me and I draw my sword. The light from the bronze blade illuminating the darkness eerily. Hearing a rumbling up ahead I run forwards and find Leslie carving the tunnel, going ever deeper into the ground. "Leslie, stop, come back to camp."

"No, I need to do this Percy, you don't understand, I need to do this."

"No, you don't understand, I have been to Tartarus and it is worse than anything the fields of Asphodel could come up with. Trust me, I have seen both."

"Percy, please, just go. The monsters know you are here, you need to leave."

"I am not leaving without you."

"One more push and I will break through into Tartarus."

"Leslie, don't."

"I'm sorry Percy." And she pushes her hands forward and the hole opens up into a steep abyss. Angry red light emanates from the opening, drawing us towards it. Leslie steps through. and I grab her arm.

"Leslie, you have a family here, friends, people who love you, there is no need to do this. Please Leslie, I need my sister, I don't know what I would do without you. We all need you, Annabeth and me most of all, please, come back with me."

Tears begin to fall from her eyes and she looks at me and says, "Percy, run." And she tears out of my grip, falling into the abyss and closing the tunnel behind her as she fell into Tartarus. The image of her falling into the angry red light and the unforgiving landscape below her forever imprinted into my mind. I turn around and find a mass of monsters I have slain in the past grouping up and coming down the tunnel. Hundreds of thousands of them it seems, group upon group. Anger floods through my veins and I attack. Before long my shirt has been shredded and I am halfway to the mouth of the tunnel. Monster dust begins to coat my body as I make my way up to the mouth of the tunnel. I reach the opening and slice the last couple of monsters to dust and jump out. As I race towards my car I feel a sting as a knife sprouts from my shoulder.

I look at the knife and I am astonished that it is Annabeth's knife. I run forward and a Dracaenae slithers out from behind my car followed by another seven. I swing my sword and dissolve one of them, but I feel the strength leaving me fast.

A voice shouts out in my head, Yo, boss. In need of a fancy horse?

"Blackjack, boy am I glad to see you." He lands beside me and I hop onto his back and he takes off. I hear the dracaenae swearing behind us as we rise into the sky.

"Take me to Half Blood Hill buddy, I need to see Annabeth." As he flies there, I tentatively take the dagger out of my shoulder, felling the blood begin to run down my chest. What will Annabeth think? Half Blood Hill appears in the distance and I begin to wonder what she has been up to lately. Then I see her there on the top of the hill, pushing her way up through the crowd of campers as Blackjack takes me down.

"AAAHHH!" I scream as I wake from the dream, springing out of bed and getting to my feet. I stand there for a moment and then I collapse from a lack of strength. Annabeth sits up when she hears me scream and collapse on the floor.

"Oh my gods, Percy!"

I am aware of Annabeth grabbing me and lifting me up off the ground and setting me as gently as she can into the bed while gently caressing my face while the world around me goes dark and I drift into oblivion.

Three Hours Later . . .

"There is not anything that we can do, whatever is happening to him has to run its course."

"What is it that is going on with him?"

"Don't worry Annabeth, he should be fine."

"What is happening to him?"

"I am not sure, but I am pretty sure that whatever it is, he will get over it before long."

I am aware of them talking about me, Annabeth and some Apollo camper. They are standing beside the bed. I decide to get their attention and I groan and turn my head. Annabeth doesn't notice and I peek open one eye and see that she is not looking in my direction.

"Annabeth," I mumble while closing my open eye.

She rushes to my side and I do my best to hold back a laugh.

"Yes Percy, what is is?"

"I need him gone first."

"Please, let us be alone for a moment, I will be out shortly." Annabeth says to the Apollo camper. At her request he leaves.

"Percy, what do you need?"

"I need you to get naked." I say, suppressing a grin.

"Why?"

"It has been a long time since I have seen you."

"Well it will have to wait until you are all better to see me that way."

"Why?" I ask.

"It will be incentive for you to get better and to stay with me."

"Your beauty is incentive enough, Annabeth." I respond, cracking my eyes open to see her beautiful grey eyes hovering over my face, studying me with that calculating face she makes when she is studying a person or a set of blueprints that I have come to love.

"Get better Percy, and you will do more than just see me naked Percy."

Annabeth stands up to walk away and I grab her hand.

"Annabeth?"

"Yes Percy?"

"I love you."

"I love you too seaweed brain." She says and she steps away, allowing our hands to touch for the longest she can before breaking my hold. I see her exit the room and close the door behind her. I slowly drift off to sleep and my mind goes back to my quest.

Six Hours Later . . .

"Percy, wake u-up." Annabeth says softly in a childlike voice, eliciting a smile from my lips.

"What is it honey?"

"The sun is going down. I thought you might want to watch it set over the bay."

"Help me over to the front porch, and we can."

Annabeth helps me to sit up and then she carefully takes me out to the front porch. I meant to tell her that I can walk by myself now, but her holding me was just too comforting, so I decided to stay my tongue. We sit down on the bench out front and we gaze out at the setting sun.

"Annabeth, is there something wrong?" I ask seeing the look on her face.

"Percy, we lost a few campers earlier, a Drakon appeared behind the borders and killed several of our new campers before we managed to kill it."

"Oh no, how did it get past the barrier?"

"We can only assume that it was somehow summoned here by somebody on the inside."

"You mean we may have a traitor in the camp?"

"Either that or someone foolish enough to want to take on a Drakon singlehandedly." She said.

"Well, at least it is dead. How long do you think it will be before I can get up and move around?" I ask.

"Maybe a week, two at the most. Why? Don't you like me nursing you like this?"

"I do like it, but I just wish that I could do more, now that my sister is gone, I need to know how I can help with the camp. I failed my quest, got injured and I have done nothing but pass out and sleep since I got back. I just feel a bit, useless." I say, a wrenching feeling growing in my gut as I say this.

"Oh, Percy, you are not useless, if anything, you are the bravest demigod I have ever met, you went after your sister all the way to the borders of Tartarus and back to try and save her, and the you fought your way out to come back to be with me, if that is not bravery, I don't know what is."

I smile when she says this, "I guess you're right. If you don't mind, I will be going back to sleep now."

"Sweet dreams Seaweed Brain." Annabeth says as she leaves the room and closes the door.

I drift off into sleep and my mind again goes back to the quest and what greets me is more bizzare than I ever could have thought possible.

I am standing on a cliff in the middle of a desert, my car is parked down below, I am backed up to the edge of the cliff, a horde of monsters advancing before me. Suddenly, a huge burst of angry red light flashes and I feel a presence beside me. Anger surges through me and I realize who it is. "Ares, what are you doing here?"

"Truse me kid, I didn't want to come, but Zeus made me. He said I had to help you get after your sister because if I don't, the gods will die or something like that. So come on, lets push these monsters back, eh?"

I look at him astonished, but that quickly changes into anger and I decide to focous that on the monsters.

"We attack on three." I say.

"Got it."

One . . ."

"Three!" And Ares charges the monsters before I can say two.

Shrugging, I join in. The monster horde disintegrating in front of us and, in moments, we have cleared the cliff of them.

"Hold on kid." Ares says as the grabs me and jumps off the cliff.

We land on the ground right beside my car and, surprisingly enough, I am not a grease stain in the middle of the desert.

"You did good out there kid, now go and kick your sister's ass. Don't think this means I like you though." Ares says before disappearing.

I climb into my car and drive off into the desert. Not long into my drive, something explodes beneath my car and we go flying fender over fender through the air.

"AAAHHHH!" I sit up, screaming the way I had been in the dream before realizing that I am in my room, back at camp, Annabeth is barging through the door upon hearing my scream, and it is dark outside.

"Percy, what is it, whats wrong?" Annabeth asks, concern in her voice as she sits down on the bed beside me.

"My- my- my c-car, and there was- boom- and I was-" I break down in tears, unable to form a comprehensible sentence.

Annabeth wraps her arms around my head and she holds it close to her chest as she rocks back and forth, rubbing her small hands through my hair.

"Shh, its okay, you're home, it's safe. Come on, there there, calm down." She says in a soothing tone. The only thing going through my head right now, is how great a mother she would make.

"A-Annabeth?"

"Yes Percy?"

I turn my face to look at hers, "I love you."

She smiles a bit and gazes into my teary eyes, "I love you too Percy." And we both grasp eachother tight and climb under the covers and fall asleep.

When I wake up the next morning, she is still asleep in my arms.

Two Weeks Later . . .

I haven't had another flashback to my quest in two weeks now. Finally, I am up and about, able to help and train. The first thing I do, is go to the sword training arena and get in some practice. Our new sword instructor, Jameson from the Ares cabin, helps me to get back into shape over the next week. Unlike the other Ares campers who all hate my guts, he actually is quite nice to me and treats me like a friend. This is a little reassuring because he is not beating me into a pulp like the other Ares campers would be, he is actually helping me to get better.

Recently I have noticed that I am seeing less and less of Clarisse and Chris recently. I have my suspicions that they have something going on that they are not telling us but if I tried to ask her, I know she would beat m into a pulp and tell me to mind my own business.

I do ask Annabeth about it but she is as much in the dark about it as I am. She is not home as much anymore now that I am all better because she is down working on New Sparta and is getting the last of the buildings finished. Three more weeks and the town is done and she will be able to stay at home with me more often. I am eagerly awaiting those three weeks to be over so that I can finally spend every waking moment with her without passing out or needing her help just to get out of bed.

There are not many side effects from the knife wound to my shoulder aside from a slight soreness that crops up from time to time. Lucky for me I fight with my right hand so it does not really affect me that much. The only trouble I seem to have with it is that I occasionally struggle to lift up my arm fast enough to block an opponent's attack with my shield.

According to Jameson, my arm will be like that for another few months and that I need to excersize it as much as possible otherwise I will have that weakness for the rest of my life and I realize that realistically, if I do not overcome this that my life will be very short indeed.

"Hey Percy!" I hear a familiar voice coming from the stands in the arena, the voice of my wife, Annabeth.

"Yes Annabeth!"

"I was just thinking about your prophecy about your sister."

"Yeah, and?" I ask.

"It said 'The fallen darkness arises at last, Work hard before the day all demigods die comes to pass,' and I just realized, we are still alive." She says with concern written on her face.

"What are you saying Annabeth?"

"I'm saying, I don't think that the prophecy has finished quite yet, I think that there is more to it, it sounded almost like it was incomplete, as if it were just a segment from a larger prophecy."

"Annabeth, you're scaring me."

"Man up Seaweed Brain. I think you still have a part of your quest to finish, and I think it involves more than just you." She says.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think that everyone who ha gotten a prophecy after you is meant to be on this quest, each with a piece of the whole hidden inside."

"So what you are saying is that the oracle spirit is speaking in more riddles than it already does?" I ask, confusedly.

"Essentially, yes, I think that might be it."

"Then we are screwed." I say.

"Yep, big time." She replies with a nod.

Together we go to the Big House to inform Chiron of our hypothesis, and to seek his counsel. Secretly, I desperately hope we are wrong.