A/N: So, Lastapter was WAY too long plus they had pretty much differnt sections in it so I cut it in half. sorry.

Chapter 10

Eli's Mom and a Python

"Eli?" said Miss Bask, "What are you doing here?"

"Hi mom," said Eli as he ran in to hug her.

"I hope you don't mind but I was wondering if we could stop here for the night." I asked, "I promise that we'll explain everything."

"Sure Odysseus," she said with a friendly smile, "But I don't think I'll have enough beds for all of you."

"We could sleep on the floor or something. We'll be fine with it" said John quickly.

"Oh, hello John. This is a bit unexpected. I didn't think you and Eli were friends."

"We are," said Eli, "He's actually pretty awesome."

John seemed to be… happy. He seemed to like being someone's friend.

"And who are these three. I've never met them before." Asked Miss Bask.

"This is Christian, Jake, and Alice," answered Eli.

"Nice to meet you," she said with another welcoming smile.

She brought us inside and all of the boys stayed in Eli's room. Most of us either slept on the desk, in the chair or on the floor. Meanwhile Violet and Alice stayed in the living room.

That night I had another dream.

It was really brief though. I saw Mary running as fast as she could through a statue of Cerberus but then the legs moved. 'Hold up! That's really Cerberus, which means she's already in the underworld. How'd she get there so fast' I wondered but I didn't have time to think about it. She ran past a long line of people and entered the Judgment Pavilion. She's obviously still alive though so why would she need to go there? She walked up to the three judges.

"Hey! What are you doing here? I'm sorry but its dead only." said Radamanthus.

"Whatever," she said. But she wasn't whining. She sounded cold and strict, "Have Odysseus and his friends come through here yet?"

"Well yes," He said, "They came about a million years ago. Didn't you read the Odyssey?"

"No, Not that one!" she shouted, "Sir. I meant the demigod born to Athena."

"Oh that one," he said as he looked through billions of papers, "No, he hasn't."

"Can you tell me where he is?" she asked. Was she really trying to find us? No, she would just want to complete the quest and go back, looking like a hero. If only she knew what I was really trying to find out.

"No," he said, "I know where the dead are. It's not in my job description to know where the living are too. Now get outa' here."

As she left she whipped her hair so it seemed more dramatic but she just looked stupid. She ran past the field of Asphodel and toward Hades' palace. Half way there she stopped and turned to a huge cave. Her eyes were filled with fear. I could barley make out a voice calling her name as she slowly started walking in the cave.

At that point I woke up to hear Miss Bask calling us for breakfast. We walked to the kitchen to find waffles and pancakes everywhere. We all rushed for a plate and filled it to the greatest extent. It had been a while since we all ate good food. Not that the Tilapia at Lamia's house was bad but… Yea it was the worst fish I had ever eaten, even if it was fresh. However the waffles and pancakes where delicious. While we ate, Eli told his mom what we were doing and I saw Miss Bask signal me to come join them.

"Thank you for breakfast, Miss Bask it was wonderful," I said.

"Thanks," she said half-heartedly, "Odysseus, I understand you've lived your entire life in Camp Half-Blood and… Eli and I were wondering if you'd like to stay with us over the winter, and come to school with Eli."

"I… I…" I tried to find the right words to say, "I would love to! Oh thank you so much, Miss Bask, I promise I won't be a bother."

"Alright then It's settled," She said, "Make sure you verify this with Chiron though."

"We will," answered Eli. He seemed as excited about this as I was. We helped Miss Bask with the dishes and started getting ready to head out. As a thank you we gave Miss Bask the car we borrowed and she was thrilled and offered us a ride to LA. We gratefully accepted and gathered our things together. I thought over my dream and wondered what part of the underworld she was about to enter. She looked terrified and I couldn't figure out why. I needed more information. If only I had stayed asleep a little bit longer. There was a sudden shriek from the garage. Eli and I ran in to see a fifteen foot python trying to strangle Eli's mom.

"Get off of her!" Eli shouted as he grabbed his spear. With this he commanded the light to blind the serpent. As a result it slowly slithered off of Miss Bask who was now unconscious. I grabbed her by the arms and John rushed in to help me carry her back into the house.

"Come on we have to help him," said Christian as he started toward the garage.

"No. this isn't some ordinary python!" I shouted.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack.

"I think this is a descendent of the python that lived at Delphi," I said, "Hera sent it to kill Apollo's mother so he killed it. As a result only children of Apollo can kill it."

"That doesn't mean we can't help!" said Violet as she also tried to enter the garage.

"You don't understand!" I pulled her back, "To kill this creature is an ancient crime. Eli will have to purify himself once it's killed."

I turned and watched the python try to lunge at Eli. It was so fast but Eli was somehow faster. He was about to strike the serpent with his spear but Python whipped it out of his hand. He grabbed his bow and arrow from his backpack as he dodged the Python and shot its head, but it continued to wrestle him. I could tell it was dying though. The python has to give into death to die. The quarrel between Eli and the huge serpent continued. Eli was starting to weaken as well. He reached for his spear but it was too far out of reach. I wanted to help him but I knew that he had to do it alone. In desperation he flung his bow from his hand and struggled to grab another arrow from his backpack. Python was slowly enclosing him. He finally reached an arrow and stabbed the python again. It hissed and suddenly turned into a huge pile of dust. Eli limped back into the house, doused with dust.

"That was…" he said as he tried to catch his breath. "Hard."

"I shouldn't have let you do that," I said.

"What… are you… talking about?" Eli asked.

"Python is a child of Gaea. You have to be purified," I answered.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," I said, "I'm not sure as to what you would have to do now days, but Apollo had to serve a king for nine years." I answered.

"What!" He shouted.

"The purification might have changed though."

"Oh gods," he said. He had suddenly regained his strength but he looked stressed. This quest was going horribly. The underworld seems like its condition is getting worse and worse, we have no form of transportation, and Eli had to be purified somehow. John and I lay Miss bask on the couch and we all went into Eli's backyard. I had to say, his backyard was very nice. Eli sat at the edge of a large lake and a flock of swans came out of nowhere. We all looked up at the beautiful sight. As they flew near the sun I saw a chariot being pulled by huge swans. Inside the chariot was a young adult with shaggy blond hair. He wore a white shirt with a blue jean jacket and a pair of jeans. Judging by his resemblance to Eli, I guessed it was Apollo. The swans were also a dead giveaway to his identity. Eli backed away from the lake and we all grouped together.

The swans landed in extreme grace and Apollo clicked a button on his keys. The chariot suddenly changed into a red Ferrari.

"Hey kiddo," he said as he got out off his car.

"Dad?"

"Yep, nice to see yah." Apollo said. He gave Eli hug and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Listen kiddo," he said with care in his eyes, "I'm here to tell you what you have to do to be purified. You and you friends have to complete this quest, and you'll be off the hook."

"Really?" asked Eli, "Just like that?"

"Yep," Apollo said, "Usualy you'd have to be some snobs intern but your friends need you for this quest. I mean this is big. So do well. Oh, I almost forgot."

Apollo walked back to his car and grabbed something from the passenger seat. He walked back to Eli with a small gold plate of ash in his hand. He put the plate in Eli's hand and the ash began to grow red. The plate turned into a bird cage and from the ash came a small bird. It was red, and yellow with a purple tail.

"What is this?" asked Eli.

"That is one of my beautiful creations," Apollo said, "That is a phoenix."

"Really?" asked Eli.

"Yep and it's all yours, now," he said, "Her name is Sunshine."

"Dad," Eli said, "I can't accept this."

"Please," Apollo said, "I have a whole bunch more at home. This little birdie will last you a whole five hundred years so take good care of her."

"Thanks Dad," said Eli.

Apollo gave Eli a hug and walked back to his car.

"Apollo," I said, "Before you leave. I need to ask you something."

"Sure," he said.

"Why are you giving him a chance to be purified, just by completing a quest?"

"Because, you guys are going to need as many team mates you can find," he said, "This quest…it's the start of something new. It's not just repeating itself like the titan and giant wars. Something much larger than remakes is being created. In a sense this quest is your purification."

And with that he calmly got back into his car and drove off.

It was strange how he could come in and out of Eli's life so calmly. As if it didn't matter that much.

From behind us Miss bask called us inside. We didn't bother to tell her what happened. Without much discussion we piled into the truck. I felt like Atlas, as though I was carrying the whole world on my shoulders. We had only two days to stop Kronos from rising. Gaea was wise to let him rebuild in secret for ten years. Of course if it wasn't in secret it would have only taken four years. I now knew that it didn't matter because no matter how hard we may try. We didn't have enough time. No. Eli depends on this mission to be purified. We had to do this.