A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! My school is on hiatus for swine flu, so here's another update. Hope you enjoy!

Percy felt as if he was on trial. He sat in front of Mr. D's desk, the God's eyes searing through his skull. Chiron was also there, wheelchair and all. He seemed tired.

"Well," he said, when Annabeth had finished explaining the turn of events. "This does explain some things that have happened in the last twenty four hours."

"Mmm?" Percy said. He had a feeling he was about to get a dose of bad news. Again.

"It's Zeus, his lightning bolt his gone missing," Chiron replied.

"And me being a whose-it has something to do with that?"

"Son of Poseidon," Annabeth whispered, in his ear. "Get used to saying it."

"He seems to think so," Chiron said. "The two brothers have had a long standing rivalry, and he seems to think…"

"That I have it?" Percy asked incredulously. "What the fuck? I only found out about this whole dad thing a couple minutes ago."

"Minutes can seem much longer in the gods' world," Chiron said.

This seemed backwards, as they were eons old, but no one corrected the centaur.

"Excuse me," Luke said, piping up. "Zeus thinks Percy took it – I mean, his lightning bolt?" His pale face flooded with color.

"Yes," Chiron said, "Which is why, I have planned a quest."

"A quest?" Percy said, before the others could react. "Like with a map and stuff?"

"No, that's map quest," Annabeth murmured.

Percy rolled his eyes, wondering if she'd always be his personal correction bulletin. Something like that could get annoying fast.

Chiron shook his head. "You see, it is our belief that Hades has taken the lightning bolt."

Annabeth and Grover shared a look, Luke stared straight ahead. Percy tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"Hades? You've heard –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know who Hades is," Percy said. "But… what do you mean?"

"We think he has it," Chiron explained. "And for situations like this, a quest is called."

"Well, okay," Percy replied, "Will Zeus shut up, then?"

Annabeth slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You're going to get an extra lightning in the sky for that, once you get it back for him."

"What, me?" Percy said, "Why me?"

Chiron looked sheepish. "Even though you are new, since you are both a child of a big three, and this concerns you…"

Percy leaned forward, his mouth open in surprise. "I'm going on a quest thing?"

"Oh be quiet," Mr. D snapped, speaking for the first time. "This will go a lot faster if you just let Chiron explain." He glared at Percy.

Percy sat back a little, folding his arms in indignation. He stopped speaking, though. "You have to go to California," Chiron explained, "Where the entrance to Hades is. You will have two friends to accompany you, and the three of you will enter and bargain with him." He glanced at Percy nervously. "It would probably not be a good idea to return without the lightning bolt."

Percy thought it over. He supposed he could say no. He could mention football tryouts, he could mention schoolwork. He could say that it was too much for them to ask of him, after all that had happened. But the truth was, he sort of wanted to do it. Hades… if it was the place he thought it was, he could see his mom again. That would be worth anything.

"Let's say I agree," Percy said, ignoring the sigh of frustration from Dionysus. "What happens?"

"You'll leave tomorrow, after breakfast. We'll send you with food and money and directions. Also, I have something for you." He reached under the table, and pulled out a blue pen.

"I hope you've been practicing," he said, smiling. He handed it to Percy.

"My penmanship? Um, not so much."

"It's a sword," Annabeth said, evidently exasperated with him. "It transforms, when you need it to."

"Oh," Percy replied, frowning at her. How could he have known that? "Uh, thanks." He knew they thought the sword would bring him some confidence about the journey, but it did nothing of the sort.

"Are you agreeing?" Chiron asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

Chiron smiled once again. "Not really, but we pretend."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"Wonderful," Chiron replied, looking relieved. "Now, it is customary that the leader of any quest have two companions. Who would you like to pick?"

Percy turned to look at his three friends, and shrugged. "Decide amongst yourselves, I couldn't care less." He sank lower in his chair, suddenly tired. It was late, and the prospect of leaving in the morning was stressful.

Luke turned to Annabeth, grinning. "I've got to be an RA. You go."

She beamed, giving him a pretty hardcore kiss. "Thank you," she said, hugging him around the neck. "I love you so much."

Percy stuck out his tongue involuntarily. Being cutesy was so not their forte. "You're in too, buddy?" he asked, turning to Grover.

Grover smiled meekly. "Of course. Hey Chiron, can we go pack? I want to make sure I take everything I need."

"Go ahead," Chiron said, nodding. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it once more. "I'll talk to the three of you later, about the… other thing."

Luke's expression turned grim, and he nodded. Annabeth and Grover followed suit. Percy felt confused, but decided that it didn't concern him. He was too worn out to worry over things in which he wasn't involved.

"Goodnight," Chiron said, waving them out. Mr. D gave a reluctant wave, as well.

Annabeth smiled, as soon as they were outside. "Oh, wow. Percy, I'm sorry, I know your life is in danger and everything, I've just never been on a quest before!" She looked the happiest he'd seen her yet.

"Sucks to be me," Percy said lamely.

A/N: As I think I've said before, here's where I start straying further from the events of the book. The plot of their quest is going to differ majorly from that in the books. Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated!