Last chapter, peeps! Hope you like it!

Caroline's POV

Annabeth and Percy volunteered to talk to Chiron about leaving camp to get Autumn, leaving me and Grover alone in the strawberry fields.

"So...Have you three been friends for a while?" I asked him, trying to make small talk.

"Actually, yeah. I've known Annabeth since she was seven, and Percy since he was twelve," he responded, looking out onto the fields. "It's surprising how many near-death experiences three people can have on one quest."

"For real?" I said, surprised.

"For real. On our first quest together, so many monsters came for us- well, for Percy- that we constantly had to fight for our lives. It didn't help that back then, he and Annabeth hated each other."

"Wait, you're saying they weren't always lovebirds?" I joked, laughing a bit. Anyone could tell how in love with each other they were.

"It's true! They despised each other," he laughed. "Actually, that first quest was when we encountered Crusty."

I sat there in silence, letting that wash over me. Just then, Annabeth and Percy came back, saying that we were leaving in one minute.

X-X-X

After catching a cab to the abandoned pottery place, and getting a very strange look from the driver, we slipped inside.

"We're almost there," I said, reciting what Annabeth had told me to say. She made it so it would sound like I had tricked them, even though I hadn't.

"Why are we here?" Grover asked nervously. I couldn't tell if he was doing the nervous tone for show, or if it seeped naturally into his voice.

"You'll see," I answered airily. We stepped into a joining room, and found ourselves faced with three empty beds, the bald man, and Autumn.

"I see you brought my prizes," the man said.

"Hello, Crusty," Percy said smoothly, pulling out a pen. What, was he going to draw on him?

"We meet again, little heroes. Although, you're not so little now, are you?" He turned to me. "As for you, well, I've seen smaller."

My face grew hot. How dare he insult my size! Sure, I was a bit on the short side, but I'm only thirteen!

"Give me Autumn," I said, clenching my teeth.

"Well, you did bring me these three…" He grinned wickedly. "However, it was plain to see that you did not trick them as I instructed. And, your sister is too short for the bed so I think…" Before any of us could react, he snapped his fingers and called, "Ergo!"

Thin ropes swung over the side of the bed, tying Autumn down. She woke up and yelped as they tightened over her broken arm.

"Whatsgoingon?!" She shrieked. Her eyes focused on me. "Caroline?"

I tried to run to her side, but Crusty knocked me over and held his axe above me.

"You aren't going anywhere," he sneered. Before he could drop the axe and kill me, Annabeth slammed into him, knocking his axe to the ground. It embedded itself in the floor, a mere three inches from my head.

Percy uncapped his pen, which elongated into a bronze sword. So that's what that was for. He swung at Crusty, who dodged and tried to run.

Grover pulled out a set of pipes and began playing, making vines grow over the door. Autumn groaned in the background as the ropes pulled from both directions, stretching her.

Percy and Annabeth cornered him finally. He tried to slip in between them, but Percy jabbed at him, killing him.

"How is it that a lot of my half-siblings are so evil?" Percy asked in disgust.

"How is it that the one son of Poseidon I end up dating is such a Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth retorted jokingly. She went over and cut the ropes on Autumn's bed. "Come on, Autumn. Let's get you home."

X-X-X

Three days later, everything was back to normal. Autumn's scratches and bruises faded when Will Solace from the Apollo cabin gave her some nectar, but her arm was still in a sling. Nectar and ambrosia can heal broken bones, but it took a couple days, he had explained.

Everyone was relieved when we got back. Even though not a lot of people knew her, everyone was scared at the thought of a camper going missing. I guess they had a lot of those cases back in the day.

After the campfire that night, Autumn couldn't sleep. She nudged me awake, and asked, "So our mom is a goddess, I was kidnapped by a monster, and now everything is pretty much back to normal. I can't believe how much of a shock this summer has started to be."

"I know. Just imagine what the rest of the summer will be like," I whispered, turning on my side.

Autumn sighed. "Well, so far this has been a lot of new beginnings for us, huh?" Her voice trailed off, and I heard her breathing slowing. She had fallen asleep in the middle of our conversation.

"Yeah." I murmured to the silent cabin. "Our summer of new beginnings."

I've been told that I wrapped things up here a bit too fast, but I couldn't think of much else to say. I hope you liked it, and tomorrow, we'll be moving onto a Mortal AU!