*Rowan Baker is NOT my own character, he belongs to 'The Half Assassin' by Tea and Biscuits on wattpad.

She gave me permission to take his name and make him a son of aphrodite. But go check out her story, because it's amazing.

An Update: Holy hera i actually updated? AYyy sorry, it's beeen about a month and a half. I was working on Primordial Four and Curse of unknown and MIGHT EVEN BE STARTING A RARESHIP STORY.

Yeah, well you don't care about that. You care on whether or not dite!Percy is gonna continue. Well it is, because dite!Percy is adorable af and pan af too...

on to the well anticipated chapter!

Annabeth's jaw dropped.

"Me?" She pointed at her chest. "You want me-"

"Yes," I snapped. "Unless you don't want to go."

"Well of course I want to go, Dove Boy."

"Don't call me that." I frowned. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I accept your offer."

"Chiron, are you sure-"

"We must trust Percy on this." Chiron's face turned grim.

"But last time…" Luke trailed off. His eyes changed in colour to a more sapphire-tone. Pain.

Chiron shook his head. "The prophecy issued states he shall succeed. We must trust the Fates."

Luke looked slightly defeated, but nodded. "Yes… You three should go get packed and head out. It's the 12th, and you need to get the bolt back by the 21st…"

He trailed off, his face morphing into one of concentration. I opened my mouth to try and say something, but Annabeth dragged me off the porch.

"What was that for?" I hissed at her as soon as the Big House was out of sight.

"Just go get ready, Dove Boy." She replies back, darting off towards Cabin 6

"I liked Seaweed Brain better." I grumbled, heading towards the dreaded Pink Hell House.

ȣ

"Oh my gods, a quest?!" I flinched at the high pitch voice. Drew Tanaka was sitting on her bed, curling her hair. "Percy, that's so…"

"Amazing?" I offered. She rolled her eyes.

"Useless. Quests are for children of Ares, not for us. Unless it's a quest to go kidnap Tristan McLean. Now that is a quest I would volunteer for."

I laughed a little, folding the very few clothes that I had. Well, the very few decent clothes…

"You should totally take the Smashbox Full Exposure Mini Palette!" She gasped, pulling out a sleek black case the size of a phone.

"Um, Drew, no offense, but I don't think a nude palette is going to help me out much."

She frowned. "Yeah… Maybe a neon one would though."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Aren't you not allowed to use those palettes?"

She huffed. "Just because Mom hasn't inspired the person to make the palette yet does not mean I can't wear it."

"Uh huh… yeah."

She pulled out a rosey-red lipstick. She was only 11 years old, but she was a makeup expert. She could pick the right shade of lipstick to match anyone. She could select the perfect foundation for you on her firsts try. Want a hair cut? She knew exactly what would make you look perfect.

Made her mad? Well that was a whole other story. She could curse you with weeks of bad hair days, give you grey hair, make you have uncontrollable acne, and even curse you to have clown make-up for weeks, no matter what you did.

She didn't talk much to others though. Ask her for a favour, she'd just nod or shake her head in response. But, for some reason, she opened up and talked up a storm around me. I didn't mind, she was my sister, but it was a little strange.

"So where do you think you're going?"

I frowned. I didn't think about it.

"I…"

"Well it helps if you know the goal." Drew decided, putting her lipstick down. "What is it? A new pair of shoes?"

"Zeus' master bolt." I admitted. She frowned.

"Why…" She trailed off, staring at something behind me.

I sat down next to her. "Someone stole it. Zeus… he blames Poseidon for hiring someone to steal it. Poseidon's mad at Zeus for accusing him of such a crime. Chiron thinks I should be the one to return it, since Zeus also blames me."

Drew wrinkled her nose. "Ew, sounds messy." She tapped her chin. "But there is someone who isn't in the picture."

I glanced at her, confused. "Uh, who?"

Drew gently punched my arm. "Hades, duh!"

"What does he have to do with this?"

Drew sighed. "He's their older brother. You remember when Adriana took Jessica's favourite ribbon and pinned the blame on Rowan*?"

I shivered. "Don't remind me. Jessie blew up right in front of the campfire. All the drama."

"Well, maybe that's what's happening, but in a more deadly, godly scale." Drew reasoned. "Hades get's someone to take Zeus' bolt, and watches from the background while Poseidon gets the drama wave."

"But he'd have to be careful about it… You saw what happened to Adriana when Jessica found out who really stole that ribbon."

Drew nodded. "Oh that curse was a good one. I've never seen a raincloud curse like that one before. Her hair was ruined for days!"

"Drew, focus."

"Uh, right. Sorry." She twisted her hair around her finger. "Hades is a god, at least a thousand years older that Poseidon or Zeus. He might have spent eons planning for this."

"Gee, thanks for the motivational booster." I grumbled. Drew smiled.

"Welcome!" She paused. "Wait, that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

I smiled a little and Drew frowned.

"Very funny, Percy."

"I live to be hilarious." I faked flipping my hair, making Drew giggle.

"That's not how you do it, it's like this." To demonstrate, she expertly flipped her hair over her shoulder. Of course, she pulls it off naturally, but she stuck out her tongue while doing it, so I laughed.

Knock knock knock.

Drew and I went silent.

Knock knock knock.

"Percy, hurry up!" Annabeth's voice was muffled, like she was trying to scream underwater. "We haven't got all day!"

"OOoh, Annabeth is going with you?" Drew teased. My cheeks glowed red.

"Shut up."

"You like her."

"I said shut up." I hissed, hiding my face in my hands. Drew laughed a little.

"I shouldn't hold you back from your future girlfriend. See you when you get back home!"

She planted a kiss on my forehead, then got up to go back to the bathroom to finish her makeup.

Bang bang bang.

"Percy Jackson, I swear-" Annabeth started rapidly cursing in Greek, making my flinch. And I thought I had a bad mouth.

I opened the door and a surprised ball of blonde fell forwards.

She quickly regained her posture and glazed at me.

"Well it's about time. What did you do, pack a whole makeup team?"

I growled. "No, Bird Brain, I was busy figuring out where the Hades I'm going."

Annabeth crossed her airs. "And where's that?"

I looked at her with a 'seriously' face. "Uh, Hades… duh."

She blinked. "Wait, what?"

I grabbed my bookbag and slung it over my shoulder. "Poseidon and Zeus are getting into a fight, who better than to start it than their older brother?"

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I guess you're right."

"No need to state the obvious." I deadpanned. Annabeth glared even more.

"Shut up." She scowled. As I guided her out of the pink house, I imagined Drew smirking to herself in the bathroom.

The weather seemed strange, like the clouds were trying to claw their way inside the camp, lightning flashing inside of the puffiness. I knew that they couldn't go in, since that was apart of the camp's magic, but the cloud was so big… I shook my head. There would be no thunderstorms making their way onto camp.

Grover was waiting patiently for us in the middle of the green, like he had waited for me earlier that day. When he saw us walking over, he raised his eyebrow in a questioning matter.

"Um…" He looked between us.

"What?" I frowned. "Did the blessing wear off? Please tell me the blessing wore."

He shook his head.

I groaned. "Great. I'm going on a quest looking like a Polynesian Ken Doll."

Annabeth snorted. "Or maybe it wears off halfway through and you end up with bad acne."

I rolled my eyes. "Better than looking like a model."

Grover looked between us like we were crazy, then shook his head. "Where do we head first."

I thought for a moment. "The prophecy said to go west."

"And face the turned god." Annabeth said. "Who is Hades."

Grover's face paled dramatically. "Wait, what? Him?"

I looked between the two, who shared a pained look. Before I could ask anything, Jassible ran up to us.

"Hey losers." She slung her arm my shoulder.

"What do you want Jassible?" Annabeth glared up at the blue haired girl.

"What she means is 'hey Jaz.'" I corrected. Annabeth turned and glared at me, but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"A little birdy told me you're leaving camp for a quest." Jassible messed with my hair, obviously delighted that it pops back into place. "I came over to wish ya good riddance."

I rolled my eyes. "As if I'd just leave. You still owe me 20 bucks for the Rowan incident."

She snorted. "No idea what you're talking about."

"Is that it, Jassible?" Annabeth commented, glaring at the older girl. Jaz shrugged.

"Chiron sent me to tell you 3 to meet him at Thalia's Tree in…" She looked at her wrist, which was bare. "Mh… now."

Annabeth scoffed softly. "Right."

Jassible shot the daughter of Athena a smile. "Better getting flying, Lil' Owl. And Perce," Jass turned to me. "If you die, I call dibs on whatever stash you have in Cabin 10."

"If you can get to it." I replied back. "You might come back out of that cabin with pink hair."

"Never." She sneered. "Never in a millennium"

"Uhuh." I said. "Right… Keep telling yourself that."

Jassible narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. "What did you do?"

I smiled. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Rule number six of pranks: bluff is your greatest weapon. Jassible's eyes turned colder as she scanned over my face. She decided that it wasn't worth poking and prodding, turning to go join the Hermes Cabin as they filed to the dining pavilion.

"Gods she's so…." Annabeth growled with frustration, clenching her fists into tight balls. "I can't stand her."

"Why?" I said, completely confused.

"It's like she oozes aggravation." Annabeth stated firmly. "She's so annoying and always picking fights not worth fighting."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I stated. Annabeth looked at me like I were a killer who just burned her favourite book.

"No, of course you don't," She crossed her arms. "Aphrodite is all about 'loving everyone'."

"Watch your mouth." I snapped.

"Could you two please not fight." Grover interrupted. "We… we should go see Chiron."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to skewer me alive with her knife, but instead she turned on her heel and marched towards Thalia's Tree, in search of a centaur.

Grover glanced at me nervously but I trudged after Annabeth, already wishing this quest would be over despite the fact we haven't even started yet.

ȣ

Chiron, Luke, Mr. D, and a blonde dude were waiting for us at the top of the hill, next to a van parked very close to the tree.

"Well it's about time." Mr. D grumbled, flipping the page of his Party City magazine. "Thought you chickened out."

"We'll we're here now, if that makes you so satisfied." I mumbled under my breath, glaring at the god in the loud purple shirt. Mr. D either didn't hear me or didn't acknowledge what I said, because he continued scanning the pages in search of a fine party favour. Chiron smiled warm-heartedly at me, sitting in his wheelchair like he had been a few weeks ago, only now he's not my latin teacher.

Luke was under the pine tree, looking at it was a pained look in his eyes. For a moment I swore I saw a girl's face the colour of rose etched into the bark, but when I blinked it was gone. Before I could say anything, Luke noticed us.

"Hey, wondered what took so long." He paced over to the 3 of us, standing next to Chiron.

"I was figuring out where we would go first." I said matter-a-factly.

Mr. D raised an eyebrow, his magazine popping out of his hands in a puff of purple smoke. "Oh we have, have we? And where would that be Petra?"

"Percy," I corrected him, glaring. "It's Percy, and we'll be heading west, to the Underworld, since you ever so nicely asked."

Mr. D glared at me, his eyes flaring purple. Inside of them, I could see memories of people being driven into insanity, entire ship crews transforming into dolphins, and vines growing out of control.

"I'd watch your charmspeak if I were you, child." Mr. D's voice was low. Before he could say anything else, Chiron held up his hand up to silence the god.

"Dionysus, please. The boy means no disrespect to you, he simply hasn't learned how to manage his powers yet." Chiron's voice was oddly calming, despite the look of rage in the wine god's eyes. Mr. D glared at me, and I glared right back. I wasn't afraid of him. Not after that yawn incident at the side of the road. Still, something told me that I shouldn't get on the wrong side of this god.

The god sighed. "I suppose." He pulled out a keycard, which was burgundy with white grapes imprinted on the center. "I don't want to see any of you here by the time I get back from this emergency meeting, or you all will be swimming with the fishes."

He evaporated in a mist of light purple, leaving the scent of champagne behind. I nearly gagged on the alcohol, vowing to never go anywhere near wine again. The other blonde dude watched me with all his eyes.

Yes, I said all. Not both, all. According to the other campers, his name is Argus and he has 100 eyes. Argus, the guy who failed to keep watch of Io, was still around after 5 thousand years.

Argus offered a small smile when he saw me glance over, holding up 2 fingers, then tapping the back of his wrist like you tap a watch.

2 minutes.

I looked back at the 2 seniors residents, which was hilarious to think about since Luke was only 19 and Chiron was easily older than the Olympians themselves. Luke held a box in his hands, which was falling apart at the seams and had scratches that looked suspiciously like tiger-claw marks. I took one look at it and felt like something really bad was inside.

Chiron cleared his throat, easing the tension I had no idea was there. "Yes, Percy, I guess we should bid you farewell, and remind you that you have to be back at Olympus the day of the solstice."

I could tell he was trying to be kind, but to me it felt like it was a speech someone had to give it a funeral. "Yes, I understand."

"Do you have any weapons?" He glanced between me and Annabeth, who stood on the other side of Grover so she didn't have to be next to me. I glanced at her and she nodded, pulling a dagger as long as her forearm and a Yankee's cap from her belt.

"Yes, we do."

"No we don't," I corrected. "At least, not me."

I glanced at Grover, who was fiddling with his reeds.

Chiron frowned in my peripheral vision. "Yes, I almost forgot"

He slipped something small from his jacket pocket, holding it out towards me. I turned so I could see it better, taking a step closer.

In his hand was a rather familiar pen - a gold capped purple ballpoint pen.

"Wait… this is…" I gingerly plucked the pen from the centaur's hand. "This is the pen you threw at me when that… that thing attacked me."

Chiron's eyes sparkled in mild amusement. I quickly held the pen in my fist, ballpoint side up, and slipped the cap off.

Instantly a glowing bronze sword sprung to life, nearly causing me to jump back.

The sword seemed different than all the other times Chiron used it in class. Back at Yancy, the sword was just plain bronze. This one, however, was completely decked out in accessories.

The hilt was wrapped with soft brown leather, worn down in a graceful way. At the base of the blade were 7 little loops the size of the needle in a thumb tack, each one holding a small charm. One was a rose, another was a dove. There was a heart, a golden apple, a seashell, a star that was painted a rosy red, and a sapphire ring made with silver. Above the charms was an engraving of a shell, the lines filled in with some sort of blue-white iridescent material that twinkled like a pastel night sky. Along the guard was black greek letters, which instantly translated in my mind.

Ανακλυσμός - Anaklusmos

Riptide.

I weighed the blade in my hand. Perfectly balanced, almost like it was made specifically for me. Chiron's smile was well hidden, but his eyes glowed as he watched me.

"This is mine?"

The centaur nodded. "Poseidon told me a very special hero would wield it someday. At the time I had thought he meant one of his own, but the pen seemed to like you a lot."

I smiled and placed the golden cap on the tip. Instantly the 3 foot long blade scrunk back down to the ballpoint pen. Bronze glowed to life on the side and slowly Ανακλυσμός etched it's way into the cool metal shelling.

"Wow," I heard Annabeth breathe lightly under her breath. I nodded.

Nervously I tucked it into my pocket, my mind wandering to the millions of times I lost school supplies. I was not going to lose my pen/sword.

Wait, if I have a pen sword, then which one is mightier; the pen or the sword?

Before I could answer myself, Chiron's voice pulled me out of the philosophical abyss. "You won't lose it."

"Whot?" My accent thickened momentarily, causing my cheeks to flush. Chiron chuckled softly.

"The pen is magic; it'll appear in your pocket if you lose it. Go ahead, throw it."

I looked at him like he asked me to drop a bomb on a house. Then, using only two fingers, I slipped Riptide out of my pocket and flung it over the hill. I waited a few moments until I was sure the pen was far away, then reached into my pocket.

My hand wrapped around my pen and I pulled it out, shocked. Annabeth snorted.

"You look funny." She teased. I glared at her.

"Whot, can your little knife do that, too?"

She closed her mouth and glared at me. I slipped my pen back into my front pocket.

"That's whot I thought."

"Now now, no fighting you two." Luke chimed out. He took a step towards me. "I also have something to give you."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand cue the heart fluttering uncontrollably despite the fact the dude is literally 5 or so year older than me.

I want to say I handled it with class, but honestly right then and there I was glad to have the blessing or I would have looked like a sundried tomato left for rot.

"Uh, you… you do?"

Luke took off the lid to the box and pulled out two black Nike running shoes in top condition, both of which had two tiny wings attached at the heels.

"This were a gift from my father, from when I went on my last quest," Luke explained, a steely look forming in his eyes. "I don't use them for anything anymore, and I thought you'd need them."

He tossed them into the air, towards my head, and shouted, "Maia!"

Instantly the 4 dormant wings fluttered to life, hovering 6 inches away from my face. I blinked in mild alarm and the shoes tilted to the left a little, almost like a dog tilting its head when you say the word 'treat' for the very first time.

"Just say that whenever you need to shoes to flutter to life or not." Luke smiled, the bottom half of his scar fading a little. "Anywho, I should get to Lunch before the Stolls start yet another food fight. Good luck on your quest!"

With that, he trotted off to the dining pavilion, leaving just me, a centaur, a dude with 100 eyes, a satyr eating his shirt, and a girl who looked like she was hyped up on enough caffeine to out-lecture a professor, standing at the top of a hill with a girl-tree-thing.

I turned to Chiron. "I can't use these, can I?"

The old man nodded slightly. "It'll be ill-advided to. Zeus blames you for the stealing of his bolt, going into his domain would be suicide."

I frowned and looked at the shoes. Their toes tipped down a little, as if they were pouted.

Great, I have empathic flying shoes I can't use.

I glanced over at my goat-friend, who was munching away at his tie dye shirt like it was a candy bar. An idea bubbled in my head. I took the shoes from the air and turned to face my bestie.

"Hey Grover, how would you like top condition flying Nike's?"

His face lit up like Christmas. "M… me? You want me to have them?"

I smiled and handed them to him. "Of course, can't put a gift like this to waste."

Grover snatched the shoes out of my hands and proceeded to slip off the Vans he had on right now. I smiled a little, glad my friend was excited.

But something didn't feel… right.

Argus grunted softly. I turned to look at him as he held his right hand open, palm facing away from me and parallel to his face. He jerked his hand outwards, curling his fingers into a cone like shape. I knew that sign, my mom used it all the time.

"Let's Go," I translated. Chiron raised an eyebrow but said nothing concerning to the ASL.

"Very well. You 3 behave. And remember: Olympus is counting on you."

We filed to the blank white van 20 feet right of the tree. As I climbed in, I took one last look at the strawberry and death-defying obstacle spotted valley.

"We can do this," I muttered. "For Olympus."

Then I climbed into the very back and pulled the door shut.