This is a short chapter.

To make up for it, I'm posting it a few days early and leaving a longer author's note at the end.

Thanks to NinjaWriter11 for beta-reading,

and also thanks to my dedicated reviewers:

glimmerof-hope
B. D. Legan
GoodnessGraciousTheGods

and my sisters for being the crazed fangirls they are and bugging me constantly to write.

Hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 10

Part of the Plan

The Empire State Building. I looked up at the towering metal behemoth, illuminated by pure white light. It was night-time, but not in New York.

The city that never sleeps.

People were scurrying around, their heads lowered in thought. There was always something to worry about, something that needed to be done.

My eyes wandered to a young woman nearby. Her curly blond hair waved smoothly behind her as she walked into the building. I followed her quietly, pausing as she asked the security guard for something.

He produced a key and she swept it up, walking straight for the elevator without a backward glance. I hurried after her but couldn't get in the lift before the doors closed.

I saw her eyes for a split-second. Stormy-grey.

Then the scene changed.

I was in a long, dimly lit corridor.

The place was damp and decrepit; fungi grew freely on the walls. A single iron-wrought door stood at the far end of the corridor. Two monsters took watch outside.

One of them had the top half of a woman, but two snake bodies for legs: a Scythian Dracaena.

The other monster had the head of a dog, but flippers for limbs and a smooth seal's body: a Telkhine.

They were talking and I inched closer to listen.

"He needsss another hero," the Dracaena rasped.

"Why?" the Telkhine replied with a bark.

"Part of the plan," the Dracaena replied with a hiss. "We sssshould tell him."

"No… no… we'll be punished."

"Not if wwweeeee bring him anottttthhhher herrrooooo…"

"It's summer. All the half-bloods are at camp."

"Not all of tttthhhem," the Dracaena said with a menacing drawl.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a giiiiiirrrlll… Sssshe went to Olympusssss. We'll take her when ssssssheee comesssss out!"

"How? We can't take a demi-god."

The Dracaena cackled wickedly, "We can't, but sssssshhhe can!"

Then everything went black.

'''''''''''''''

"We have to leave now!" I yelled as soon as I saw Grover at the breakfast table.

He looked at me in total confusion, a cherry in hand.

"Wait, wait…" he said quickly. "What's going on?"

"It's Annabeth," I babbled. "They plan on kidnapping her!"

"Who's, they?"

"I don't know… I heard a Dracaena… a Telkhine… but they work for someone bigger…"

"What about my report? What about Calypso?"

"There's no time! Annabeth could leave Olympus any minute and they'll-"

"Percy, what is happening?" Calypso asked, walking to the table.

I gulped loudly and turned to face her. Her gentle almond eyes were clouded by worry and I felt guilty for being the cause of her distress.

"I… I have to leave," I said as remorsefully as I could.

Her expression hardened and she struggled to keep an even face. I wanted to reach over and hug her but she withdrew.

"The boat will be waiting by the beach," she said distantly, her eyes wandering away to the forest.

Grover took a nervous bite out of his cherry and sticky red liquid trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"Are you coming?" I asked him hesitantly.

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "I haven't finished the report completely, but it should be enough. I want to find out what happened to my friends too."

Calypso turned to exit the clearing, but I tapped her on the shoulder lightly. She turned around warily, a tired, sunken look on her face.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. Her eyes drifted down to her feet while I spoke which made me feel uncomfortable.

"I promise I'll look for him," I whispered so that only she could hear. Calypso looked me in the eye and a wave of understanding passed between us.

"Don't give up," I continued softly.

She nodded and after a careless wave to Grover, headed back out into the forest, her caramel hair billowing in the wind.

"Let's go," I said to Grover and we headed out of the clearing, leaving the stone satyrs and the rainbows behind us.

'''''''''''''''

We walked in silence down to the beach as the sun blazed overhead, reminding us of what we were leaving behind.

Eventually, the warm soil of the forest gave way to the soft sand of the beach. We paused at the edge of the beach, looking out at the sea and the small boat floating nearby.

"Are you sure you want to go now?" Grover asked cautiously. "We may never come back to this place again."

I nodded grimly and stomped down the beach.

But before I could get into the water, an intense white light appeared in front of me and I shielded my eyes.

"Not so fast, young hero…"

Sorry about the cliffhanger!

I just had to put it in though, because it leads up to a huge event and I want it to be the main focus of another chapter. Be patient, I'll make sure you'll get satisfying answers!

One more thing I want to add, I don't write like Rick Riordan and I don't try to. I know that many of you would like it if I did, but I have a pretty different writing style, a more serious, descriptive tone. It may appeal to some people who like descriptive writing, but others may find it boring.

Characters can also seem out of character because I write so differently, but I'll try my best to keep them in character with the dialogue. Remember that the story is set two years after the Last Olympian, so the characters have probably matured and changed slightly. Over a long story, their behavior and emotions change all the time especially since this story is centred so heavily on the whims of love. Please cut me some slack with them, at least until the story is over.

However, if there are grammatical or spelling mistakes, please point them out either in a pm or in a review. Be specific or I can't really make any meaningful changes. I want to make this story as professional as possible and your feedback here is invaluable. I've got quite a lot of help already so my writing should be fairly clean, but there's always room for improvement!

Anyways, I'm probably going to have some time to write over the next few days too, so the next chapter should be up fairly soon. Remember to favorite/alert this story if you like it so you don't miss an update!

Also, I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't made 100 reviews yet. If you like this story, please, please, please REVIEW. It doesn't take much to write a sentence or two.

Like the last chapter, if you leave a signed review for this one, I'll reply with the details for the next chapter.

Where: ?
POV: ?
Major Event: ?

I know you can't resist, so review!

Hope to see you again soon,

Camzy