Hello. So, I only got a few reviews on my last chapter so I'll make this short. First ChiVall, Dang, you are good! You should really look into being a detective when you get older or something. Yes, all the people you said were correct. Now you just need to figure out Cert. Nice Job, I commend you! 22guns, Haha, so sorry! I have to make drama in stories or else I wouldn't have a plot. Don't worry though, Sally Jackson will be fine, I like her. Drinkingthestarswithbob, I will! By the way, thanks for reviewing so much! Finally, Kate. Thanks a lot! I'm trying really hard not to make a copy of the Titan's Curse, but it's not easy when I have basically the same components. Thanks about the prophecy, it took a long time to make it up! :) Haha, sorry about the suspense, hopefully this chapter will help a little! Everyone who reviewed, thank you so much for the encouragement! It's really very appreciated!

Annabeth's POV

I had replayed the prophecy in my head more than thousand times. Some of what the spirit of Delphi had told us was pretty obvious. For example, Thalia, the daughter of the sky, would lead one group of all girls to Mount Tam. Reyna, the daughter of Bellona or war, would lead another group who would stay back at Camp and learn about Nat Klue and his gang. I would be leading another group, but I wasn't sure what Delphi meant by "though her group won't have easy balance". Does that mean that I will literally have bad balance? Or does she mean that my group will have a bad balance of power? What about a bad balance of personalities? My mind raced with possibilities.

My group of friends sat under Thalia's tree, in complete silence. I knew we had to start, but we still didn't even make groups yet. Finally Thalia heaved herself off the ground and stood in front of us. "Okay, so at least we know the leaders. Annabeth, Reyna and I. I will have a group of all girls and I'll be heading out to Mount Tam."

I nodded. "Correct, and so will I and my own group. Reyna," I turned to look at her. "You stay back here at Camp to learn about Nat Klue."

She nodded dutifully. "Yes. We need to make groups first. Since we already have a pretty good sense of wear Percy is, I think that Grover should be in my group." We stared at her stunned. None of us would think that a strict, power-craving, leader would want the gentle satyr. She met our stares with a calculating look of her own. "Don't look so shocked, it makes sense. As much as I hate to admit it, I won't be doing a whole lot of fighting, not at the beginning at least. You need fighters, and no offense to you Grover, but you aren't much of a fighter. Besides, you know Camp pretty well, we'll need you."

"Okay, fine, you have one of the two other people you need." I replied, seeing her logic. "I think I should have the group of four." Seeing my friends curious gazes I continued. "Delphi said that my group what have bad balance. An even number of demigods might help me a little. It's worth a try at least." They nodded. I took a deep breath. "Okay, so Thalia. You should pick, you have a limited choice right now."

Thalia nodded. After some thought, she locked eyes with Hazel. "Hazel, will you come with me? You are a great warrior and have a connection to the Earth which could come in handy when dealing with a giant mountain." Hazel smiled warmly and nodded. Frank pulled her in for a quick kiss which she returned lovingly. Thalia cleared her throat. "Okay...-" She trailed off. "Piper, would you come with me? Your charm speak could even out our powers to make a good front."

Piper laughed slightly. "Of course. I don't have that much of a choice anyway." I smiled, it was true. Since Reyna and I were leaders of different groups, Hazel and Piper were the only other girls Thalia could pick.

Thalia turned to me. "You should pick a few now, you still don't have anyone."

I nodded. I surveyed the remaining demigods. Leo, Frank, Jason and Nico. My mind ran through possibilities. "Nico, will you come with me? You probably want to find Percy as much as Thalia does and I doubt you want to stay behind with Reyna and Grover." He nodded, relieved that he got a chance to move. Before I could say anything else, Reyna cut me off.

"Jason. Come with me, I need a powerful demigod with me since I don't have a very good fighter right now." Her voice was sharp and ice cold. Grover looked down in shame and Hazel laid a hand on his shoulder in comfort while Piper glared at Reyna. Great, like we need more tension between those three. I thought as I watched Reyna flutter her eyelashes at Jason while he looked at Piper, trying to reassure her probably. Piper simply shot one last glare at Reyna before arranging her face into an emotionless mask. That is, until Jason ran over to her and hugged her from behind. Then her mask melted into a combination of jealousy, love, and what looked like sadness. Jason whispered things into her ear while still hugging her while she nodded slightly and whispered back.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably. "Right, so I was going to ask for Leo and Frank anyways. Though now you two really don't have much of a choice..." I trailed off, smiling sheepishly at the two boys. They both looked slightly uncomfortable with the arrangement, but they both nodded as well. I let out a breath of relief. "Great, so we should leave as soon as possible. We obviously aren't supposed to travel with each other, so we'll have to find other means of transportation. If you don't mind Thals," I turned towards her. "Could my group go on a train? I have the biggest group and getting a car would slow us down the most while you only have two other people." I smiled apologetically at her.

She simply nodded her head. "Yeah, sure. I wasn't thinking of a train anyway. I was thinking of a really fast car. I think we should leave the plane transport open to Reyna." Thalia faced Reynan. "You have Jason in your group, and he's on better terms with dad, than I am. Plus, you guys would have to travel the fastest since you would have stayed back."

Reyna simply nodded in acknowledgement. She was busy watching Piper and Jason talk quietly a few yards off. Jason had his forehead resting on top of Piper's while his hands were intertwined with her own. As much as I didn't really like Jason, I had to admit they were a great couple together.

"Okay then." I said, clapping my hands for attention. "We should all pack and get ready, then we should all start on whatever we're doing depending on which group we are in."

Thalia nodded as she started walking towards the Zues cabin. "Let's go get my idiot cousin."

_Line Break~

Percy's POV

"Mom!"

My voice carried through the air. Mom's head snapped up and her soft blue eyes met mine. Her face was gaunt and scraped, but it was still the one I remembered. I couldn't believe it. They had somehow captured my mother. My dead mother who had died in a car crash years ago in Long Island. My mother, who had had severe depression but tried to cover it up. My mom.

I had reached where she was standing when she started to speak. "P-ercy. Percy, oh m-my baby boy." Her voice was strained and shaky, and I couldn't imagine how hard it must've been for her to speak while carrying the sky on her shoulders. "You have to get out of here." Her voice was urgent.

I shook my head fiercely. "No, mom, I'm not leaving you. I just found you." I took out Riptide and cut through the chains that bound her to the rock.

"Percy, n-no. You have to go! Get out of here! They want you t-to be trapped here, so they can use you w-when the time is right. Please, P-Percy!" Her eyes were pleading with me, but it wasn't working.

"I just found out you are alive after years of thinking you died. I'm not letting you go, I can't. Once I take the sky, you need to get away from here, okay mom?" I asked as I stepped up next to her. I reached up and touched the cool, swirling mass of air above me. I braced myself, then pressed my hands up higher till I was holding it alongside my mother.

"No! Percy, please! I-I can't explain how I was b-brought back, but I know I was u-used as bait to make you take the s-sky." Her voice was slightly less strained, giving me the courage to hold more and more. It was heavy. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it felt like I should've been crushed right then and there. I screamed in my head, not wanting my mom to know.

"Mom," My voice was weak and strained. "P-please... I wouldn't... forgive myself i-if... I left you h-here...-" I trailed off trying to catch my breath. I didn't know how mom had managed to speak so much before.

"Percy, my brave b-boy. Y-you have a life to l-live and a f-future to build. I h-have nothing to g-go back to. The only t-thing that kept me going w-was you." She sucked in a deep breath. "Y-you are my world P-percy."

I bit back a sob at that. "N-no mom." I sucked in as much air as I could. "Don't you d-dare say that. M-my life revolved around you... I-I couldn't live with m-myself... if I left y-you." I turned my head with enormous effort to look her in the eyes. My green eyes met her blue eyes. "Please... understand that I-I love you so much... it hurt everyday w-when you were... gone." Tears started sliding down mom's face. "Y-you deserved so much m-more than Po-Poseidon... who l-left you... us,..."

Mom sobbed. "I-I love you P-Percy. I l-love you so s-so much. Y-your the one who d-deserved a b-better life. I'm n-not leaving you." She looked at me as if she was seeing all the bad things that had happened to me over the years she was gone.

I grimaced in pain, from the sky and from my mother's pain. "I-I love you too, M-mom." I was already short of breath. "T-that's why-" A plan started forming in my head. It would be a short lived plan that only accomplished one thing, but it was the most important thing to me. "y-you have to understand-" I slid a large chunk of rock under my left foot and tensed to step up onto it. "why I d-did this." I finished, and as I did I stepped onto my make-shift stool, effectively bringing the sky out of mom's reach. It took a moment for the pain to register, but when it did, it felt like a thousand cement blocks were smashed on top of me. I groaned in pain but managed to keep my hold on the sky.

"Percy." My mother's shocked whisper brought me slightly out of the haze that the pain put me in. "No!" She tried to grab it, but she was still weak from holding the sky. She looked at me desperately. "Don't do this Percy!"

I groaned again, trying to find the strength to reply. "S-sorry m-mom. L-love you. N-now... Ge-get a-away from... h-here." She shook her head. I was about to speak again before a cool voice cut me off.

"Well, well, well. I thought you were a mommy's boy, Percy. Helped us quite a lot." I couldn't see anything but the space ahead of me since I didn't have enough energy to turn my head, but I could imagine Nat's face lit with a malicious smirk. I grimaced.

My mother was still standing there, torn on what to do. "M-mom..." I said quietly. Her eyes met mine and there must've been something in them that made her listen to me. "P-please... g-get away fr-from here."

Nat's voice was getting closer and closer. I could tell by the way he was speaking that he planned to use my mom in some other cruel way. She must've heard it too, because her eyes widened with fear. I felt a surge of anger ripple through me, what had these people done to my mother?

"P-Percy." Her voice was faint.

"Go mom. Now." My voice didn't waver like it had the other times. "I want you to live, mom. Please, for me. Just get away from here. Now!"

My mother looked at me with new found strength and determination. "I will come back for you, Percy. I will come back and bring you home. This isn't over, just hold on." She gave me a loving look then darted out of the clearing.

Ramsn and Sam start towards where she had disappeared, but Nat must've stopped them because I heard their heavy foot steps halting, then returning to their previous spots. Nat's voice was as cold as ice. "No, let the mortal go. Her plans didn't really matter all that much except to make Perseus's time here more... difficult." I could feel his presence right behind me, but I still didn't have the strength to turn. "However, that is not necessary right now. We want Perseus to last the next few days don't we?" I could picture the giant smirk on his face as he said this.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stick around and watch Perseus sweat under the sky, I need to catch up on some beauty sleep." Anna's voice rang out.

"Yeah." Aura's voiced. "We all need sleep and rest for tomorrow. And as attractive as you are, Perseus, I don't think I could stare at you until morning without falling asleep." I could hear to sets of foot steps heading back to where ever the slept.

"Aura and Anna are right, we should all turn in. Perseus isn't going anywhere any way." Nat said. And then they were gone.

As I stood there, being crushed by the sky, my thoughts wandered. First was my mom. Her hair, still brown with tiny streaks of grey. Her eyes, still a light blue. I prayed to the gods that she would find a way to get home to Montaulk. To be able to start that book she always wanted. Most of all, I wished that her soul wouldn't return to the Underworld, she deserved better. I didn't dare pray to Hades, because he might send her back because I notified him. Instead, I prayed to Hestia, Hera and Artemis. I knew they were unlikely people for a demigod to pray to, but Hestia was the goddess of the home and hearth. Surely she would see the warmth my mom radiated into any household. Hera was the goddess of family and marriage, she would see that mom was a part of a family. She would also see how bad mom's marriage went, but how well she kept it together still. Artemis was the goddess of the hunt. She symbolized strong females through out history. Surely she would realize that mom was the strongest of them all.

Then my thoughts began to wander to my friends. Thalia, Nico, Grover, Hazel, Piper, Jason, Frank, Leo, Reyna. And most of all Annabeth. Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth. I chanted in my head, trying to find the strength to survive in her name. Her golden blonde hair, her intelligent grey eyes, her healthy summer tan. I sucked in a painful breath. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. I will do this, I will. I will do this for my mother, for my cousins, for my friends, for the human race. I will do this for Annabeth.

_Line Break~

Annabeth's POV

It was five in the morning when Thalia's team headed out. Hazel hugged Frank goodbye and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Frank held her as long as he could before letting her go. Piper also hugged Jason, but their kiss was a little more passionate. Jason whispered into Piper's ear and she smiled and kissed him again. I hugged all three of them, telling them to be safe and smart.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Gee, we will be mom." But I knew she was just trying to lighten the mood. We waved at them as they headed down the hill and jumped in the van that Argus was transporting them to New York City.

_Line Break~

My group left an hour later. I said my goodbyes quickly, trying to get going as soon as possible. Soon enough Leo, Frank, Nico and I were all sitting in the van, waiting to arrive in NYC.

"So, you have a plan on which train we're taking?" Frank asked from the back. I turned from the passengers seat.

"Yeah, I do. We're jumping onto Acela Express. (Yes there is an actual train) That will bring us to Washington D.C. Then we're going on Sun West Line (From the books. Yes it was in a different place, but please just play a long.) That will be our ticket to California. We would arrive a few miles off of Marin Country, that's where Mount Tam is. We should be able to catch a taxi there, and if worst comes to worst, then we'll walk the rest of the way."

All the boys wore an identical expressions of awe. Leo snapped out of it first. "Wow, you certainly got this whole thing figured out." He flashed a smile.

I smirked. "Well I didn't think you guys would be planning anything, so I did." My smirk grew at their guilty expressions.

"Whatever, as long as we get to Percy." Nico replied. My smirk faded thinking about what Percy might be enduring at that very second.

_Line Break~

Our journey was pretty uneventful until we arrived at Washington D.C. We were waiting for our train to come when I spotted five monsters.

"Guys, we have some company." I whispered to them. We were all sitting on a bench in the busy train station. They looked at me curiously. I swallowed. " Five Empousai just crossed over to Platform 8." (I know there is only one Lamia, but I wanted to use this monster, so please just play along... again. Okay, also, before this happens, no that I'm making up most of the Lamias' powers here... well all of them really.)

"Empousai?" Leo asked, scanning the crowds.

"Yes, vampiric monsters. They target mostly men." I swallowed, My whole team is male except for me. Great. "They're fierce fighters. They usually use their claws, I think."

Frank seemed to figure it out to because he reached back and took out the bow. (We heavily 'Misted' our weapons) "Unless their spying for someone else." He finished grimly.

Nico's eyes narrowed. "If that's true than we should take them out. Cut off the stream of information."

I shook my head. "No, we can't attract attention to ourselves like that. We only take them out if they look like their giving information about us, because honestly, they don't look like they even know we're here."

Nico shrugged. So we waited.

_Line Break~

Fifteen minutes later, the five Empousai started heading in our direction. Their creepy pale faces were glued to the floor, not looking at anything or anyone. Then, suddenly, all five met our gazes. They started moving faster, practically sprinting towards us.

Nico looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. I nodded, it was time to take them out. We were at a disadvantage, though. We were surrounded by unsuspecting mortals who would probably see four teenagers beating innocent girls. I knew there was a risk, but we didn't really have a choice as they closed in.

The first Empousai swiped her hood off, revealing a beautiful face. She seemed to be African American with her chocolate skin, and pretty coffee brown eyes. The only thing that was off, was that she had a mad spark in her eyes, like she was waiting to attack. (Which I guess she was) Leo's fist wavered while Frank's bow dipped the slightest. Come on, don't turn on me, now.

I breathed out, I can do this. I took out my dagger and held it in a ready position. All five had backed us up into a corner. Frank took put his bow away and took out a spear instead. Nico pulled out his Stygian Iron sword and looked ready to kill. Leo, a little less confident, pulled out what looked like breath mints from his magic tool belt. When I raised my eyebrow at it he blushed and brought out two hammers instead.

"Much better." I approved, then turned my attention to the empousai.

"Oh look, little demigods." The leader spoke up. Her voice was pretty and had a nice bell-tone, but I knew not to trust it. "What are you doing so far from your precious camp, hmm?"

I was about to retort, but Leo's dazed voice beat me to it. "We're... we're rescuing our friend. We're also free..."

I smacked him. Of course, I thought, All males are pretty much at risk here. "We're only passing through. And it would be wonderful if I didn't have to ruin my new clothes with monster dust." I finished for Leo.

One of the empousai sneered at me. "Oh hon, maybe you could come through with that threat if you had your little team with you, but I think the boys would be more than willing to follow us, instead of you."

My eyes widened as I glanced around. Frank and Leo were both in a dazed stupor, but could undoubtedly snap out of it with the command of the Lamias. I thanked the gods when I saw Nico shaking the stupor off. As much as Frank and Leo wanted to find Percy, Nico had the most drive.

"Well," I turned back to the empousai, hoping that Nico would recover fast enough to help me. "I may not have my team, but I can still defeat you. You want to know why?" I stalled for as much time as I could.

One empousai snarled and was about to attack before the leader stopped her. "No, I want to hear what the little half-blood has to say." She turned to me, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "And why could you defeat us without your team?"

"Because I'm a daughter of Athena," I took a deep breath, trying to contain my fatal flaw while still seeming arrogant. "I always win."

The leader smiled at me. "I'll make sure to remember that when I tear you to pieces, hon!" She lunged forward, followed by her four other followers.

I sidestepped around the lead, and plunged my dagger into the second. She screamed and turned to dust. I pivoted just in time to block a set of claws hurtling towards my face. I ducked under her claws before she could react and drove my knife into her chest. She, as well, turned to dust. I turned back to the remaining three. They backed up warily, analyzing my fighting style.

The empousai on the far left swiped at me first, her claws missing me by an inch. Before she could recover from her miss, I stabbed downwards and turned her to dust. The other two empousai, the leader and a follower, tried attacking together. But before they could even come close to me, a Stygian Iron sword was thrust through the follower. Her scream was pierce as her essence returned to Tarturus.

"Nico!" I exclaimed.

He looked up at me from where he had been standing behind the empousai before he stabbed her. "Sorry it took me so long to get out of that stupor."

I grinned, "Well I didn't really need too much help anyway." He nodded, then we both turned our attention to the leader.

Her claws were out, and there was fire in her eyes. "Well done, daughter of Athena. You bested my followers." I expected her to attack me, but instead she took out a little ball. (Not actually in the books, but I need it to be. Sorry) She smiled. "I can now tell master how well you fight." She then tossed the ball in the air and disappeared in a flash of light.

I breathed out. "Great, we got another problem." I said. Who the Hades is her "master"? I glanced towards my team. Leo and Frank seemed to have come out of the stupor.

"Yeah, who was her "master"?" Nico asked. He was pacing in a circle.

A groan interrupted my thoughts. "Whoa... uh, what happened?" Leo asked, his head swiveling from side to side. Frank looked confused as well.

Nico and I exchanged a glance. I was about to explain the situation, but I heard a piercing whistle. My head jerked up, catching sight of the police officer who was running towards us at full speed. Great, these mortals saw. I thought. "Look, I'll explain on the train, but we need to get out of here now. I'm sure that cop already called for back up. Let's get on the train, then I'll explain.

_Line Break~

I sat in front of Frank and Leo as they thought things through. After the initial embarrassment of being stuck in a stupor for the whole fight, Leo and Frank started thinking of possibilities of who the empousai's master could've been.

"Nat Klue is definitely a suspect, but I don't see how he could make an Empousai bow down to him without killing it." Nico finally stated after fifteen minutes of silence.

I nodded. "Yes, he is a suspect. But other people could be, too. Empousai are the creatures of Hecate. They could've been referring to her. Though I don't know what her motives for finding out how well we fight would be."

We lapsed into silence again. Finally Leo's ADHD must've taken over. "Okay, well, we aren't going to be finding out anything tonight. We're all tired and our brains are fogging right now. Not to mention that we need as much sleep as we can get, because tomorrow," He flashed a grin. "We arrive in California." He then promptly fell asleep in his seat.

Nico, who was sitting beside him, leaned on the window. "Leo, for once, is right. We need sleep." He then, too, went out like a light. Wow, I guess that stupor really sapped them. I thought as I observed how Frank had already passed out.

After another five minutes of brain storming, I leaned against the window. Time for sleep... I thought as I drifter off. Unfortunately I drifted right into a dream.

Sorry that this chapter, also, is a little lame. I wrote most of this in the middle of the night, trying to finish it, so the plot sorta went weird. Anyway... okay, so I don't normally ask you guys to do things. But, I just found out that my grandfather has Stage 1 cancer, meaning it's very aggressive. I... had a really hard time writing this part (Seriously, I've been re-writing it for the past 15 minutes.) But, please. I know a lot of people take a lot of things for granted. I took the fact that I had loving grandparents for granted, and now I just realize that I could lose one. I don't know exactly how to word this, but I'm gonna try. I don't know what you believe in... and I don't judge either way. (If I did judge people from their race, religion, sexuality or gender, then my judgement isn't worth a whole lot) But, please, asked whoever you believe in to at least make his going peaceful, if he has to leave. The world needs balance, I know, and that's why I will accept the facts. Be grateful to whoever is in your life. Hey, why don't you go give them a hug when you see them next? I know I'm going to. Take it easy, U got 2 get down 2 get up