Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you to those who took the time to write a review for me. I really appreciate it. When and if I write a sequel, I'll find a way to let you guys read some of it first. I'm kind of stuck on a way to do that, so let me know if you have something. Oh, and one more thing, thank you to a very special friend of mine. Your willingness to give me advice is much appreciated.

Review replies:

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Gold Testament: Here it is, anyways. Thank you for your support since the beginning!

Well, here is the next chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.

MALCOLM POV:

The light faded and I came to. We were still in the car on the way to the train station. Percy's eyes flashed before my vision, and his words still haunted my ears. I had to know, I just had to know. As we passed a gas station, a thought of what Percy and Annabeth did to send an Iris message all those years ago flashed through my head.

"Stop. Park it at the gas station. There's something I need to do."

Sam looked at me weirdly before obediently turning into the gas station. The two followed me down and into a do it yourself car wash. I punched a few buttons and a fine mist floated down. I fished out a drachma from my pocket. I took a deep breath.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Annabeth!"

The mist fizzled a bit before a picture came into focus. Annabeth had her back turned to me, probably working on some sort of design. I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"Lady Annabeth."

The goddess whirled around, surprise written on her face. Then the expression was replaced by a grin and twinkling eyes.

"Hello Malcolm, what can I do for you? Have you seen Percy?"

"I have, milady. We… communicated in our dreams. I came to ask you a question."

She waved off the question and fired off one of her own.

"What did he say? Where is he?"

"I don't know where he is, milady, but he told me to ask you for the truth."

I thought I saw her eyes flash with fear before taking on an indifferent expression. Did I just imagine it?

The goddess fidgeted with the armrest on her chair. She took a big sigh, and exhaled slowly.

"The truth… it is something that I cannot give to you, Malcolm."

Sam spoke up. He and Lina had been so quiet during our exchange that I forgot that they were there with me.

"Can't or won't, Lady Annabeth? You know as well as we do that there is a huge difference between those words." Sam retorted.

She closed her eyes. "Children-"

Lina cut her off. "So now we're children to you. You became a god barely older than us. You yourself are an infant compared to the Olympians, and you have the nerve to call us children?"

Annabeth's eyes shone with fury. "I am a GODDESS! You will address me as such! You WILL respect me!"

Sam stepped up beside me. "I respect those that earn my respect. And so far, you haven't even come close to earning it."

Lina did the same. "I stand by Sam."

I looked at the people I had grown to know over the last couple weeks. They were brave friends, and in that moment, I knew that they were right. I turned my head towards the Iris message.

"You've changed, Annabeth. The Annabeth that I know would have told me the truth because she expected me to do the same. I respected that Annabeth. I don't know you anymore."

Anger unlike any I've ever seen before burned in the goddess's eyes. "Tread carefully, questers, and always watch your backs." With that, she swiped through the mist and was gone.

I turned to my quest mates. We walked out of the car wash as the mist died down and climbed back into the car. My sister was hiding something, something important. I just hope that it doesn't get us all killed.

PERCY POV:

As I came to, I felt a splash of water and the pain of something metal catch me in the face and I was knocked back. As I rubbed the water out of my eyes, two faces came into focus. Nico was grinning wryly and Caleb was just staring at me a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I groaned and held my head. I saw a bucket lying on the ground next to me. "Was it necessary to chuck a bucket at my face?"

Nico just smiled. "Sorry. It slipped."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? It SLIPPED?"

Caleb piped in and smiled innocently. "We made it to the train station about ten minutes ago but you wouldn't wake up, so we splashed you. And threw a bucket in your face."

"Great. You two better watch it next time we get in a pool. So where is this train supposed to take us?"

Caleb took out a map. "It drops us of about ten miles to the base of the glacier. Info booth says we have to take a plane or a boat the rest of the way."

"Boat. Definitely a boat." Nico and I said simultaneously.

Caleb just looked at us weirdly. "Okay. Now that's settled. We need to buy the tickets."

A few hours later, we got off the train and began the walk to the docks that would lead us to the glacier. When we got there and rented the boat, we took off. The ocean was relatively calm, and with that familiar tug in my gut, we were shooting towards the wall of ice. Overhead, I heard the drone of a plane. I got a feeling in my gut.

"Nico, do you sense that?"

he nodded. "We're not the only ones after that hoard."

So that was what Malcolm and the two Greeks must be after. They needed the weapons. My eyes narrowed. Well, I wasn't going to let the take it. I pushed the boat even faster.

MALCOLM POV:

We were cruising along in a little plane we managed to get tickets for. Luckily, no one else was on board. Sam and Lina were sitting in the row ahead of mine, arguing about Mythomagic cards or something like that. I looked out the window and I saw a little boat skipping on the waves.

"Probably a fishing boat." I thought.

Then I got a tingle in my gut. I dug around in my bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars. As I looked through the lens, I saw the familiar dark hair and green eyes. They were heading towards the glacier. So that was why they were here, to get the hoard. Things were about get ugly. Just as we passed the edge of the glacier, we saw Percy and – was that Nico?- jump onto a small floating piece of ice. There was no way they could get up in time. The hoard was ours for the taking. We looked around and saw that we were in some sort of camp made of ice. The weapons were at the bottom of a pool of water.

"Sam, use your water powers to lift the weapons up."

Just then a fountain of water erupted behind us, sending Percy, Nico, and another flying. Sam and Lina drew their swords while I drew my dagger. Percy's Riptide was gleaming, and Nico's sword flared with the power of the undead. The boy drew a dagger and a sword, both steaming in the cold air. But before any of us could make a move, a loud voice boomed out across the glacier.

"Welcome, demigods, to my humble abode. I am sorry, but you will not be leaving alive."

A/N: Well, how was it?

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Starstryker97