chapter 11:

Let's be frank: I suck at sneaking out. Okay, so my so called "escape plan" didn't work out like I hoped. After dinner I raced back to my cabin to finish packing some essentials like tooth brush, drachmas and a few mortal dollars. Tucking the bag back under my bed something caught my eye. I reached next to my bag and grabbed a necklace. The necklace Athena had given me.

"Better pack that," I said out loud, tying the leather strap to my neck. When the leather was securely fastened around my neck, I got in bed and drifted off to sleep.

I was back in the room with the oddly placed furniture. The jerk, Matt, was hunched over his workspace again making something that I couldn't see. I moved with ease-and without an electric current running up my spine-which surprised me. I had almost made it to Matt's desk when the door flung open. Kade, the guy who defended Annabeth, marched in, obviously pissed.

"Matt!" said the livid Kade.

Matt did a very dramatically annoyed sigh then looked away from his desk and said, "I'm busy." Then he turned he back toward Kade. That wasn't the answer Kade was looking for. He stormed over to Matt and threw him off his chair

"Ow," whined Matt like a baby girl.

"The girl, you promised you wouldn't hurt her," seethed Kade.

"I didn't."

"Then why is she half dead!" cried Kade. Some one had a little crush, but since it was saving my best friend they could have made out and I wouldn't have cared. Wait, yes I would have.

"I did nothing. Now my cyclops on the other hand did some damage," said Matt heartlessly.

"You promised. Besides you only want the boy, the girl was just bait," Kade yelled irritated. I couldn't help but catch that 'you'. Matt had picked himself up off the ground long enough to dodge another blow from his brother. He brushed some invisible dirt off his faded jeans then said:

"Once I get the boy, we will let that Anntible-"

"Annabeth," corrected Kade. Some how I felt jealous when he said her name.

"-leave," finished Matt.

Kade, not wanting to do anything rash (well except for the whole push-brother-out-of-chair thing), walked out of the room and I can swear on the river Styx that I saw smoke billowing out of his ears. Matt walked over to his chair and picked it up off the ground then continued his work. I was just about to walk over there and see what he was doing when suddenly my dream changed and I was in the Olympus throne room.

The gods were arguing, probably about something stupid, but the only thing different was that Athena wasn't there. After making sure I was invisible, I looked around for Annabeth's mother. I found her out on a newly built balcony-compliments to Annabeth-and I could practically see the gears turning.

"Just like her daughter," I thought walking over to where she was standing.

She wasn't talking, or breathing from what I saw, just thinking. About what you ask. I have no idea. I was getting pretty bored so I decided to wake up, but nothing was happening. I tried again. It worked, surprisingly.

I checked the clock, still bewildered from actually being able to control my dream. It read 2 o'clock A.M. Perfect timing. I jumped out of bed and grabbed the bag out from under my bed. I was already dress in kaki shorts and a blue t-shirt so I just had to put on my Reeboks and leave. Well just as I was about to pass the Big house, I heard foot steps.

Oh no, I thought as I picked up the pace. When the foot steps didn't cease, I started to get nervous. Just as I was about to break into a full-fledged run, a hand landed on my shoulder. I silently scowled myself.

"Where do you think you're going?" a familiar, very feminine, voice.

"Thalia?" I whispered. I turned around and was face to face with a girl that was wearing black skinny jeans and a "Death to Barbie" t-shirt. Thalia Grace.

"Thalia-" I groaned.

"You are not going to save Annabeth without me!" exclaimed Zeus' daughter.

"Yes I am," I said, shaking her hand off my shoulder and kept walking.

I heard Thalia groan in frustration then run after me. She placed her hand back on my shoulder and said, "Face it Percy: you need me." I just snorted and kept walking.

I was kind of hoping Thalia would get the message and leave me alone but, like on almost everything, I was wrong. I could hear the crunching of twigs next to me and her shaking breath in the quiet of the morning. As we were approaching Thalia's tree, I could see a looming figure leaning against the trunk. Nico.

"Thalia, did I forget to tell you that Nico will be coming with us?" Her response, to my satisfaction, was an annoyed groan.

Nico was waiting for us with a duffle bag over his shoulder dressed in all black like he was planing on robbing a bank. Even his worn out converse had black shoe laces. I was impressed.

"Hey Nico, nice . . . outfit."

"What outfit?" He asked, already walking down the hill.

"Um, Nico?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Where are you going?" I laughed. He looked behind him then shrugged.

I didn't actually know where to start. This time I started walking down the hill. Thalia and Nico both threw their hands up in frustration - or that's what it looked like from my peripheral vision. Well, they probably were doing that because I was walking down the hill back into camp grounds.

"What are you doing, Seaweed brain!" Thalia whisper - yelled.

I was about to snap at her about calling my that but I decided not to waste my breath. I needed to get the ocean because that is where I think best. When I was ankle deep in salty water something pulled me under. I was struggling to reach the surface but then I remembered: Hey, I don't need air, I can breath under water.

I cleared the bubble out of my vision to see what was pulling me. It was a huge great white shark. I almost shot out of the water like a rocket until a shiny building was in front of me. Dad's underwater palace. I'd seen it before but that was after Beckendorf and I blew up the Princess Andromeda. The shark left me at the front steps of the palace, awestruck. The place was huge: the pearl door was beautifully accented with a golden trim and there was windows that gave you a look into the grand dining room. The ADHD part of me wandered on thinking about what they ate down here: fish . . . crab? Just as I was thinking about how much the maid must get paid, the door opened.

I walked into the luxurious entry way and found myself face to face with my brother - half brother? Triton. See, Triton was like a merman and Poseidon's son but I was also Poseidon's son, with the exception that my mother is mortal and Triton and his mother hate me. And probably my mother. Anyways, my half brother was scolding me, silently of course, and probably thinking some interesting things about me right now. He reached out to grab my arm and I instinctively got out riptide.

"Oh save it," Triton said, walking away. Talking underwater made your voice sound weird but Triton's sounds just unnatural. It sounded like a combination of gargling water finger nails on a chalk board. Not inviting. I followed Triton through halls and rooms before making it to my father throne.

"Percy," boomed Poseidon, "how's my favorite son doing!" I smiled, feeling uncomfortable that Triton - Poseidon's son - was standing next to me and heard that.

"I'm doing . . . fine," I choked.

"Listen Percy, we need to talk."