AN: Finally, Double Digits! Thank you for reviewing and reading this story.

Sam

After we decided to leave the lake, Astrid and I went to the cabin. Edilio and Dekka had taken Annabeth and Percy on a tour of the lake. I felt nervous about Caine. He might go crazy when he finds out there are some people even more powerful than him. I didn't know how he would react. I hoped he wouldn't see them as a threat and kill them on the spot. We would probably have to tell him their secret. I knew I could lie easier to Caine than to my friends but he's clever. He might not buy the lie, no matter how well we tell it. If he found out Annabeth and Percy were half god, they could die. Well, Percy could anyway, Annabeth wouldn't be there.

Even with the journey ahead of me, I was happy. I might be going insane, but with Astrid in my arms, it felt like nothing could ever go wrong. We would be together. We would stay alive. I kissed her gently. She put her hands around my neck and refused to let me go. The kissed deepened. I felt like I was flying. Hopefully, we would kiss again. Finally, after what felt like hours, we broke apart.

"You don't need to do this." She told me, her head leaning on my shoulder.

"Who else would do it? I need to go." I replied. I could feel her tighten her grip on me. I had to go. For everyone. No matter how much I wanted to stay here, in Astrid's arms. I had to go.

She tilted her head and looked me straight in the eyes. As she spoke I could feel her breath, soft and warm. "You've done enough. More than enough. They can manage without you."

I felt her heart beating rapidly. I wanted to give in so much. I wanted to stay with Astrid. I sighed, if I did that then even more people would die because of Gaia.

"It's the endgame. Gaia ran off and I doubt it was because she was weak. We need to strike first. You know that as well as I do." Astrid looked at me, a defeated look in her eyes. She knew I had to go. I was relieved and disappointed at the same time. I wanted her to have an argument, a reason I should stay. If she had had one, I knew I would've stayed. I wanted to stay instead of trying to defeat Gaia, who was more likely to kill me if Drake didn't. I also knew that if I didn't go, Gaia would kill everyone.

"I love you." I whispered in her ear.

A silent tear streaked down her cheek. I brushed it away gently.

"I love you too." She stepped away from me. She was angry, but I knew it wasn't towards me. She was angry that I had to go. Astrid started to whisper again, "First, isolate her. Take out Drake and if you have to, Diana. Try to do it by water, let Percy protect you."

My body froze. I wasn't sure if I could take out Diana. She was manipulative, but she had been my friend. The disbelief must have been clear on my face because Astrid grabbed it and told me, "Listen, Sam. Promise me you'll do anything you can to survive. I'm not losing you because you played fair. You're not going to be killed. You aren't doomed to die. Do you understand? We can walk out together, Sam. You and me."

She let go and stared at me. "I promise." I agreed. The silence stretched on afterwards. We didn't know what to say.

Percy

The hour passed quickly. We were told who lived in each boat and Dekka explained the FAYZ in more detail. I couldn't concentrate on anything, though. I looked at the sky, wondering if we were ever going to escape alive. I glanced at Annabeth. She was listening intently to everything Dekka was saying. I hoped we could stop Gaia. There was one thing that I found strange. Gaia and Gaea sounded so similar, and I knew that Gaea could also be called Gaia. It was probably nothing, but I was wondering if Gaia had any connection to Gaea, or if the Gaiaphage did.

Edilio had explained how Gaiaphage literally meant "World Eater". I've always wanted to try and kill something called World Eater- notice my sarcasm here. I wondered if the gods knew that Gaia existed. Maybe that's why my dad sent me the teleportation present. So I could help kill here.

Before I knew it, an hour had passed. Edilio was getting into the driver's seat. Annabeth came up to me.

"Good Luck Seaweed Brain." She smiled playfully. I kissed her quickly. She smiled at me when we broke apart. If there was one thing I could do, it was protect Annabeth from Gaia. I smiled at her.

"See you soon." I told her, walking towards the truck. I hoped this wasn't goodbye, but even if it was, it was a pretty good goodbye. I saw Sam waving at Astrid, his clothes a bit out of place and I smiled even more. Somebody had been busy. I looked back at Annabeth and silently thanked her for not crying. I wasn't sure I could leave a crying Annabeth. I will be back I thought as I waved at her. At that moment, my body decided to have an unplanned conversation with the ground.

My face turned bright red as I stood up again, looking for the culprit. I found it quickly, a rock the size of my hand. I kicked it and it spun about a meter away. I could see Annabeth laughing and I knew that everyone else would probably be too. I turned towards the car and pulled myself into the back.

"What took you so long?" asked Edilio, obviously trying not to laugh. Sam wasn't able to, though. He was laughing hard, clutching his sides. Toto just looked puzzled.

"Let's just go." I told him. My face probably becoming even more red as I was speaking. I looked over at Toto, who had fallen asleep. I whispered to Sam, "Anyway, I was wondering what you did for an hour, Sam?"

He went a dark shade of red and for a moment it looked like he was eating a very hot chili. This made Edilio laugh. After a couple of seconds, Sam and I joined in. For the rest of the car journey we told jokes and riddles, brightening the mood and making everyone in the car think, We might be alright after all.