Hiyah! I've decided to keep the poll a little bit longer, so I'll announce the winning pair tomorrow...

So far, the score is:

Percy/Siofra - 12

Percy/Annabeth - 11

Me. Duh: To answer your question, both Siofra and Annabeth will go on the quest. I've never liked the "three is a lucky number" thing, mostly because it is blasphemous (yeah, I'm one of those Bible freaks, blah, blah, blah... I don't care about anyone's opinions regarding that all too much.). Therefore, I'm completely ignoring it and will send 4 people on the quest.

weluvwaffles2218: Cool! I've read yours, and it's really good so far!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own PJO. I don't own AF. I don't own Chevy. I don't own a '78 Camero (not that you care...). I don't own New York. I don't own 104th Street. I don't own 1st Street. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

CLAIMER: Well, you get the point.

On with the story!

2004 A.D.

Manhattan, New York

Siofra's POV

We ditched Grover the second we got to the bus terminal. I know, it was rude. But it was also Percy's idea. He had kept muttering: "Why does this always happen?" And: "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"

Grover's bladder acted up when he was upset, so as soon as we got off the bus, he made us promise to wait for him, and made a beeline towards the restroom. And the second he did that, Percy grabbed my arm and pulled me outside to get a taxi. Percy told the driver where we were going, E. 104th and 1st.

A word about Sally Jackson.

She is probably the nicest mortal in the world, no doubt that's why Poseidon fell for her head over heels.

She also has the worst luck.

Her parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't really care about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she worked through high school to save enough money for a college with a good creative writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. When he died, she had no money, no family, and no diploma.

Then she met Poseidon. They fell in love, blah, blah, blah. Poseidon convinced her to take care of us, and then she got stuck with two conflicting personalities. I mean, that part's normal, but when the conflicting personalities in question could both make Hiroshima look like a wet firecracker in comparison with their destructive forces, doing that is basically suicide. When I get mad, thing start levitating, catch fire, or get struck by lighting. When he gets mad, you get soaked, or the moon moves closer to the Earth and tsunamis form.

Like I said, suicide.

Then she goes and marries this jerk named Gabe Ugliano. His scent is so disgustingly mortal, that it helps disguise our scent from monsters. Seriously, he smells like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in week-old gym socks.

Did I mention that she is the nicest mortal on the planet?

She worked at Sweet on America, a candy store at Grand Central Station, and she always brought free samples. When a school year started, she'd send us off with a giant bag of the stuff, and Percy would sell some of it out of his dorm room.

When we walked into the apartment, Gabe was in the living room playing poker with his friends. There were chips and beer cans strewn all over the floor, and ESPN was blaring from the television.

"So, you're home," he said, not even looking up from his game.

"Where's Sally?" I asked.

"Working," he answered. "You got any cash?"

That was it. I snapped. "You got any reason to live?"

Eddie, the building superintendent, laughed. So did Percy.

Percy's POV

That was hilarious. And what made it even funnier was that it was completely serious. She had mortal weapons, and she would use them if she needed to.

Gabe turned to look at me. "You took a taxi from the bus station, you've got six, seven buck in change. Hand 'em over, kid."

I didn't want to deal with him, so I dug a wad of bills out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose," I said.

We went to our room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study". When Siofra walked in, she gagged.

"This place is disgusting!"

That was code for, "Before we do anything else, this place needs to be cleaned." I didn't really like cleaning, but this room really needed it. Siofra grabbed a garbage bag from the kitchen, and started throwing in Gabe's magazines and beer bottles.I had to smile at that, I mean, she was the only person who actually stood up to him. Most people tried, and then had to go throw up.

After she had his trash collected, she instructed me to take the sheets off of the bed. She went to go throw his stuff in the alley. I wondered if he knew that's where his stuff went at the end of the year.

I took off the sheets, and went out the window to the fire escape. It faced the alley, so it was safe to use my abilities. I soaked the sheets, and got Siofra in the process. "Perseus!" she yelled. "Eiste toso hlithioi!" Uh-oh. Siofra using Ancient Greek on me was not good. And when she was cursing in Ancient Greek, well, can you say: "Run!"? But I was too late. I got struck by lightning. Again.

When she got back up to the room via fire escape, she glowed for a second, and the sheets were dry and warm. "Beds." she ordered. I scrambled to make the beds while Siofra got some candles out of her backpack. Some means about twenty, if you were wondering. The rest were in the closet where Gabe had stuffed them. She put them all out on the dresser, and then light them. She loved candles, and kittens, and all that other girly stuff, but looked like a juvenile delinquent. That was thanks to her slightly odd parentage. Her dad, Zeus, was tough and didn't follow instructions very well, so she got that, and her mom, Hestia, goddess of the hearth, was the sweet, familial, and loving Olympian. An odd combination.

She took more stuff out of her backpack. The automaton that Hephaestus had given her when we were little, a jewelry box, clothes, and some gift-wrapped boxes. Her birthday was in January and mine was in August. I was actually older than her by seven months, but we celebrated our birthdays at the same time since Sally liked to be around. But the gods always sent her gifts on her actual birthday. Well, some of them did, anyway. Hera didn't, but that was understandable.

"Is that bag charmed, or something?" I asked jokingly as she kept pulling things out of it.

"No," she said. "I just know how to pack. Unlike a certain Seaweed Brain I know."

"That was low, Siofra."

"I know."

We were quiet for a minute after that, silently rejoicing that we could see the floor. Then I heard Sally's voice.

"Percy? Siofra?"