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Wow... so many new readers! Guess I better start earning them, huh?

Without further ado! Please enjoy the twelfth (extra long) installment of the PJO/TKC crossover: When Worlds Collide!


Chapter 12: Bloody Duct Tape

(Sadie POV)

The flying snake ruined my day.

Everything up until then had been going smoothly. Finding the things on Leo's shopping list turned out to be easier than I'd first thought, and a mere forty-five minutes after we'd parted ways with my brother and Percy, we'd acquired nearly all of the items. 'Nearly' being the key word.

"Polka dot Duct Tape?" I cast a quizzical gaze to my demigod companion as the taxi pulled into the shopping plaza. "Why in Horus does he need polka dot Duct Tape? Can't we just get him regular duct tape and be done with it?"

Annabeth smiled, as if amused by my impatience. "If there's one thing I've learned about the children of Hephaestus, it's that they can be very explicit about what tools they use. Besides," she glanced down at her watch, "we've got plenty of time to spare."

Something was up with the demigod. I didn't know what, but for some reason she had been uncharacteristically non-inquisitive ever since our departure from the Needle. Occasionally I would catch her looking at me, grey eyes filled with- not pity, exactly- but understanding. The only reason I could pinpoint as for her sudden mood shift was that Carter must've divulged the significance of Cleopatra's Needle to the demigods. It was practically the headstone of mom's grave.

Then again, maybe the blond had just finally run out of questions. As unlikely as the second option was, I was glad that Annabeth- for whatever reason- chose not to pry into my personal life during our little errand run.

"We're here, miss." The cabbie announced, putting the car in park. "That'll be fifteen pounds."

I handed him a twenty. "Wait for us? We'll only be ten minutes." The driver shrugged and nodded, taking the money and tucking it into his pocket as we exited the car.

"Well." I said, looking at the multicolored neon store sign. "If we can't find it here, we won't find it anywhere."

The large, warehouse-like building before us stretched out on either side. The florescent lights on top of the entrance doors reading 'SMARTY PARTY: Party smarter and harder'. Large signs in the store windows promoted various mega sales and outstanding seasonal offers on themed items. The inside of the building was no less colorful, rows upon rows of costumes, fake jewelry, balloons, stickers, party plates and utensils, games for kids, goodie bag choices, and so on and so forth running the length of the building.

Glancing over at Annabeth, I saw the demigod standing stock still, mouth on the floor, eyes impossibly wide as she slowly took in all the sights. "This place is huge." She breathed.

"Y-up!" I nodded, rubbing my hands together. "So here's the game plan, I'll take isles one to nineteen, you search through rows twenty to forty, and we'll meet back here in ten minutes." The strategy-style sentence seemed to snap the older girl from her stupor and she nodded.

"Good plan."

"Of course it's a good plan." I scoffed. "I came up with it."

We split up to cover more ground, Annabeth heading off to the right while I started down the rows of apparel and accessories to the left.

I'd only been in the store once before; Liz and Emma had dragged me along to find matching 'charlie's angels' Halloween costumes a few years back. Smarty Party was the first- and last- stop on that venture. It left quite a first impression. I smiled, my mind flashing back to that Halloween with my mates; Emma had tried on practically everything in the store while Liz and I laughed at some of the ludicrous skimpy nurse hours and a hundred pound note later we'd walked out with our purchases.

Not that I would ever admit it, but I missed being in London. America was great and all, but being back home brought forth all the memories I'd had before learning about my magical heritage. Back when life had held some semblance of normality.

Then dad had blown up the Rosetta stone, released five major Egyptian gods- one of which tried very hard to kill us, A+ for effort- and ever since we've been constantly saving the world from imminent destruction. My education quickly evolved from learning about math and english, to studying words of power and practicing complex spell invocations.

I was in aisle six, scanning a shelf with Mythomagic cards (now with new Egyptian, Roman and Norse expansion packs!) when my phone buzzed. Pulling it out of my back pocket, I glanced at the caller ID and smiled. Accepting the call, I brought the phone up to my ear, hearing a beautifully deep voice on the other end of the line.

"Sadie?"

I rolled my eyes to the heavens. "No, Walt, this is Carter. When you dialed my number who did you think was going to pick up?"

"Ah… right. So Carter's with you, then?" Walt sounded relieved, which only served to make me worry. "Good."

I hesitated, my mind running through a million questions before finally settling on, "Why is that a good thing?"

"Hmm? Oh, I tried calling him a minute ago but he wasn't answering."

Now that was odd. Carter had been the one to insist that each initiate of the Brooklyn House have a means of communication on them at all times for emergencies. Walt had fashioned some single use, telepathic charms for the younger mages while those of us old enough to know what a data plan was obtained cellphones. My brother always kept his on; annoying Jimi Hendrix ringtone and everything.

"Anyways," Walt was saying. "I just wanted to let you guys know that I've hit a dead end." He sounded despondent. "I've looked through all of the books and scrolls in the library, but none of them mention anything about an Egyptian relic with similar powers to the Feather of Truth."

Wonderful.

"Well, just… keep looking." I said lamely, mentally smacking myself: Great job Sadie- some top notch advice. "There's gotta be something. We just need to find it."

There was silence for a long moment on the other end. "You're right." Walt's reply was a mix between grudging and hopeful. "Every problem has a solution, we just need to be creative enough to figure it out."

"Exactly what I said." I heard Walt laugh on the other end.

"You have a... unique way with words, Sadie." He teased.

So maybe I wasn't the public speaker Carter was (although, to be fair, my brother wasn't the best at speeches either), but my cheeks still colored slightly at the barb. "Don't you have an artefact to find, death boy?"

"Yes, yes. I'm going, I'm going. And Sadie-" He added as an afterthought. "Be careful."

"Aren't I always?"

Walt didn't reply.

"Okay, fine, I kinda walked into that one. But we're alright, I promise. I'm on a hunt for polka dot Duct Tape right now."

"The hunt for… what?"

I grinned at his confusion. "Exactly, it's been very elusive thus far."

"But why do you need- oh, nevermind." He sighed. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Good luck!" I replied cheerily, closing out the call.

As I tucked the phone into my back pocket, I glanced at my watch. With a curse, I realized that there was only three minutes until Annabeth and I were supposed to reconvene at the checkout area; and I hadn't even gotten through a third of the isles. Quickening my pace, I practically ran down the rest of the rows, my gaze skipping over the items as I looked for anything with polkadots.

Nada. Other than a few clown costumes, nothing in the first nineteen rows contained anything involving brightly colored, and variously sized dots. By the time I got to the end of row nineteen, I was already two minutes late.

Annabeth was waiting for me at the front of the store, a rainbow colored bag in her hand as she sat on one of the benches inside the entrance. The demigod glanced up at my approach, a triumphant smile quickly morphing into one of concern as I came to a stop, still panting from my unplanned jog. While I caught my breath, Annabeth's eyes scanned behind me, narrowed grey iris' slowly investigating the store.

"What happened?" She muttered quietly, her free hand inching to the backpack she'd brought.

I frowned at the battle-ready stance. "I was late… Took too long in… one isle." I explained between breaths, deciding to omit the part about my conversation with Walt. Better to relay the information one we were back on the ship with the others. "Had to run through the rest... of the rows. Why?" I asked. "What did you think… happened?"

The demigod blinked a few times, her posture relaxing slightly. "So you weren't running from a monster?"

"What? No." At this point I'd recovered enough to form coherent sentences without a break. "Trust me, you'd know if I was running from a monster. I assume you were successful?" I added, glancing meaningfully at the bag in her hand.

"Hm? Oh, yeah-" She hefted the rainbow eyesore up proudly. "One jumbo roll of polka dot Duct Tape as requested."

"Excellent- let's go before I contract that color seizure thing."

Annabeth raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Epilepsy?"

"Sure, that." I nodded as we walked out.

The sky had darkened considerably, street lamps beginning to flicker into existence. There was a big red bus parked at the curbside, bright white lettering announcing it as the 'Gore Be Gone Blood Bus' a small plastic sign advertising free movie tickets to any who donated. A woman with bushy hair was handing out fliers to passerby. Annabeth and I made our way towards the crosswalk, a thought crossing my mind as I glanced at my companion.

"How much time do you think we have before the boys get back?"

"That would depend on how long it would take them to find the book." The demigod's reply was instantaneous.

"Well…" I dragged out the word, trying to find an answer to her unasked question. "With London traffic, and assuming that they may have needed to plead their case-" and assuming this Latoya person doesn't want us dead. "I would guestimate at least an hour and a half? Maybe two?"

The demigod pursed her lips, contemplating for a minute and staring at her wristwatch. "So we have, roughly, another thirty minutes to an hour before they'll get back to the Argo III. And we're only a ten minute ride away. Meaning… basic math leaves us with an average of forty-ish minutes."

"Just enough time for one more stop."

Sensing the note of finality in my voice, the blond stopped just short of the painted white lines and tilted her head. "Where exactly did you have in mind?"

"My grandparents house." I said, turning to face her, chin raised ever-so-slightly, daring her to argue with my request. Selfish? Perhaps. A childish demand? All right, yes. But then again, no one had accused me of being an adult recently. "If we're facing doomsday, I want to see them at least one more time and-"

"Okay."

I blinked. Now I was sure that something was wrong with the blond. I had been fully prepared to defend my case; bracing for an argument, or at least some form of dispute from the demigod. I'd expected her to point out some extenuating circumstance or say something about it not being part of the original plan. The last thing I thought I would hear from Annabeth was a quick acceptance.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "That's it? Just… okay?"

Annabeth bobbed her head up and down. "Yeah... okay." After a moment regarding my unconvinced expression she sighed. "Look, believe it or not, I'm not a schedule-driven maniac. Sure, I prefer a flushed out plan as opposed to winging it. But I'm not some heartless monster who would say 'no' to visiting family. Besides," The blond added with a smirk. "You pointed it out yourself, we have plenty of time and nothing pressing to accomplish."

"So you are just agreeing because it works into the schedule." I deadpanned.

"Eh," Annabeth shrugged as she started across the street. "Details." She commented over her shoulder. With a scoff, I rolled my eyes. Pulling out my phone, I sent Carter a quick text that said 'Stopping at Grans, c u soon' before following the blond.

My foot had barely lifted off the ground when I was intercepted, a bright red flier being shoved under my nose. Replanting my foot on the surface, I looked up to see that the bushy haired woman now stood before me, a row of perfectly maintained pearly whites stretched into an impossibly wide grin.

"Good evening, young lady, my name is Yuu Reyale. I'm the core founder of the 'Gore Be Gone' blood bus service. We're a nonprofit group looking to combat the global iroas epidemic." The precise, practiced words rolled off her tongue faster than a flying griffin. "Would you and your friend be interested in helping our cause? We're offering two free movie tickets to all donors."

Perhaps it was her slanted, acid green eyes. Or maybe it was her black, dreadlocked hair that still lifted in the wind despite its heavy volume. Whatever it was, all of my battle instincts were on edge as the woman smiled expectantly, awaiting my decision.

"Sorry, but we're in a bit of a hurry-" I stammered, trying to push past her.

The woman moved easily between me and the crosswalk, still smiling. "Oh, it doesn't take but a minute. And for such a heroic cause-"

"No thank you." My tone was firm this time and I forced my way around her, only to have my heart leap into my throat as I felt a vice like grip snare onto my arm. I whirled, wincing as her manicured green nails bit into my skin. For half a second our gazes met, and I saw a flicker of confusion cross her eyes. Releasing my arm, Yuu Reyale merely placed the flier in my hand while giving me a quick once over. I thought I saw her pale lips scowling ever so slightly, but then she tilted her head with a that same plastered smile.

"Please give us a call if you ever change your mind." She said, her tone of voice noticeably less insistent than before. The woman then turned on her heels to go flag down another pair exiting the store.

A chill ran down my spine, causing me to shudder. I had seen plenty of weird things before- a hippopotamus nurse, an albino crocodile, Carter trying to comb his hair- but that had made it into my top ten list of creepy encounters.

Suspicious of charities now, are we? A snide voice mocked in my head. What's next? Homeless shelters? By all means, be on the lookout for dangerous people fighting to end world hunger! I had to agree with my inner musings: I was being absolutely ridiculous. A small part of me felt justified for following my intuition, it had kept me alive this far, and, considering the last few years of my life, I still wasn't comfortable with just accepting things as they appeared. The larger part of me, however, berated my continued misgivings. Not everything in the world is out to get us. Not everyone is a power hungry maniac.

Take Annabeth, for example. Sure, the demigod was annoyingly unrelenting at times, but she didn't hesitate when saving my life during the battle against the sphinx's. She'd also made a snide comment after doing so, but that was a minor detail. On the whole, I was coming to realize that the blond, while stubborn, genuinely wanted to help. That realization left me with a strange mix of elation and reluctance.

Speaking of Annabeth, I turned to find that she'd nearly reached the taxi, apparently not having noticed my absence. Sparing a glance over my shoulder, I hurried to catch up with the demigod.

"What's that?" Annabeth asked, glancing down as I drew level with her.

Confused, I followed her gaze and realized that I was still holding the blood bus flier. "Oh, the woman back there was handing them out." I passed it over to the blond as we reached the cab.

"Where to, miss?"" The driver asked as we hopped in.

"Canary Wharf." I stated, closing the door. With a nod, the cabbie began pulling out of the parking lot as Annabeth handed the pamphlet back to me. I had started to tuck the flier away when I saw the symbol. It was a stylized logo, like the ones you see at hospitals, with a snake wound around a vertical staff. Behind the rod was the faint outline of a set of wings, stretched out like the stick was about to take flight. Something looked different about it. A vague discrepancy that I couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Does that look wrong to you?" I asked my companion, showing her the symbol.

Annabeth glanced at the page. "Wrong how?"

"Doesn't it usually have two snakes? Not one." I explained while we were jostled along through London traffic.

Clarity washed over the blond's face, her eyes sparkling in the same manner Carter's did whenever he was asked to explain the history of Egypt. "You're thinking of Hermes' staff, it's a common misconception." The demigod began. "Hermes staff- or as it's officially known, Caduceus- is a winged staff with two snakes entwined around the central rod. It's the astrological symbol of commerce, not medicine. That would be symbolized by the Rod of Asclepius- correctly depicted here with only a single serpent wound around the cane."

I looked at the blond for a long moment. "Did you inhale an encyclopedia as a child?"

The demigod snorted. "W-What?"

"Book of useless facts?" I pressed.

"No, and there is no such thing as a useless fact. Why?"

I shrugged, leaning back against the grungy leather seat. "You just seem to know everything; from architecture, to multicolor strobe light disease, to random meanings and misconceptions about a snake staff."

"Well I am a daughter of Athena." She replied, as if those six words explained everything. Unfortunately for me, they didn't. Sensing my confusion, Annabeth elaborated. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. All of her children inherit her gift for tactics and a love of knowledge."

"You mentioned being half god, half mortal before." I recalled vaguely. "Are you saying this goddess and your dad…" I thought for a moment and revised my question. "You said 'children', does that mean you have siblings?"

Annabeth chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yes and no. I have half-siblings. You see, Athena is a virgin goddess, she was born by jumping out of the cracked skull of her father, Zeus-"

"Gross." I pulled a face at the thought.

"Very." The demigod agreed, before continuing to lecture, "and as such her children- me, in this case- were born in a similar manner. I didn't emerge from my mother's cracked head, mind you," Annabeth absolved hurriedly. "I was born from the thoughts of the goddess. As were my siblings, so, technically, we're only related on our godly side of the family."

I chuckled. "A literal brain child? Must've been nice to grow up with a goddess of wisdom as your mom- I bet you aced the SAT, didn't you."

The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I'd pinched some kind of nerve with the demigod who's soft grin vanished faster than a flash of lightning. Annabeth's gaze slid from mine to stare at the grungy taxi floor and a silence stretched far longer than I deemed comfortable.

"Sorry," I muttered, having the grace to look apologetic. The blonds reaction was a healthy reminder that even though she was my ally, we were still practically strangers.

Blinking, Annabeth looked over at me. "No- it's okay. I just-" She took a deep breath, a wry grin crossing her lips. "Demigods godly parents are usually… too busy to spend time with their children. There was even a point in time that Zeus had forbid communication between the gods and their offspring. And my dad… well, let's just say he wasn't thrilled to have been 'gifted' a daughter by Athena." She explained, using air quotes around the word 'gifted'. "I ended up running away from home when I was six."

"You-" I must've looked shocked because Annabeth hurried to cut me off.

"It wasn't long before I ran into some other demigods." She assured. "We made our way to Camp Half-Blood and Chiron- the camp director- took me in, trained me, taught me all about the Greek gods and monsters. I met other children of Athena, made friends- and enemies." The blond added as an afterthought. "Essentially, I'd found my real family."

I felt my admiration for the demigod growing. Not only was she a brainiac like Carter, but the blond was a pretty decent fighter, too. Smart and strong, with no reliance on magic, either. Now I was learning that she'd been doing this since she was a toddler? Color me impressed.

There was only one thing nagging at the back of my mind. "So, your dad…" I hesitated, not sure how to word the rest of the question without offending the demigod. Luckily, Annabeth seemed to get where I was going and she smiled.

"We're good now." She said. "After the world nearly ended, I realized how stupid it was to hold a grudge with family; even if he hadn't really been there for me all the time."

I nodded; now that I could relate to. After mom had died, my grandparents no longer trusted Dad. After six lawyers, two fistfights, and a near fatal attack with a spatula (don't ask), they won the right to keep me with them in England. Dad and Carter began travelling the world while I stayed in London, having as normal of a life as I could. Dad sent postcards from time to time, and he and Carter were allowed to visit us twice a year. But it wasn't the same. I used to resent him for it, for not being there: even though, deep down, I knew it wasn't his fault.

"Yeah. The apocalypse tends to change your view on stuff like that." I agreed, gazing out the window to watch the buildings and trees flash by.

Without looking, I could tell that my comment had brought Annabeth back from her respite. The blond was practically buzzing with unasked questions. After a moment, I heard her draw breath, mentally preparing myself for a barrage of inquiries.

But then she stopped. Silence overtook the back row of the cab as the demigod held her tongue. My initial reaction was one of gratitude, I wasn't a fan of sharing my feelings with friends, let alone strangers. However, as we continued our trip, I found myself inadvertently wondering what Annabeth had wanted to ask me. My mind ran through a lengthy list of possible questions she had been meaning to ask; each one more outlandish and absurd than the next, until finally, I decided to end my mental deliberation by addressing the real issue.

"What?" I asked, my tone snapping more than I'd intended.

Annabeth's head whipped up, a confused frown on her face at my sudden outburst. "What?"

"Don't parrot me." I growled. "I asked you 'what' so don't say 'what' back, understand?"

The demigod blinked slowly. "...No." She eventually replied. "What 'what' are you asking about. Or, to put it another way, why are you asking 'what'?"

"You were going to ask me something." I sighed.

"I was?"

"You were, I heard you draw breath to ask it."

"I see…" Her brows scrunched together for a second. "What was I going to ask?"

I couldn't decide if she was being annoyingly oblivious on purpose, or if she was genuinely unsure. "That's what- if I may be allowed to use that word again- I was trying to find out." I muttered between gritted teeth.

"Ah…" Annabeth nodded sagely. After a minute she shook her head. "I forget, what were we talking about?"

I raised my eyes skywards as we pulled into the neighborhood. "Nevermind."

After providing the driver with a few more directions, we arrived. My grandparents, the Fausts, lived in a simple housing development near Canary Wharf, right on the west bank of the River Thames. A squat, narrow, one story building that could best be described as nondescript. The walnut hued paint job was worn with age, a neatly trimmed hedge running the length of the front lawn. It wasn't much, but to me, it was home. We paid the cabbie- or, more accurately, I paid the cabbie- before making our way through the gate.

As we neared the front door, Annabeth suddenly asked, "Are they magicians too?"

I looked back. "What?"

"Your grandparents," The demigod reiterated, tactfully avoiding pointing out that we were getting into dangerous territory with that word again. "Are they magicians too?"

I gave a quick shake of my head. "No, but they are aware of the existence of magic."

Stepping up to the door, I gave the entrance three quick raps with my knuckles. Normally, I'd just let myself in, but, not knowing we would be making a London pit stop, I'd left my spare key back at the Brooklyn House. It only took a minute before I heard the shuffle of slippered feet and the rasp of the deadbolt retracting. The door swung open to reveal a frail and colorless woman, like a stick person really. Her curly silver hair made it look like she had styled it after a mop, and her watery blue eyes widened at the sight before her.

"Sadie?" The woman's voice cracked slightly, disbelief and joy intermixing on her face.

"Hey, Gran." I smiled, not even embarrassed when she stepped in to give me a crushing hug. "Missed you too."

"But how-" She stuttered, stepping back from the embrace. "It's so good to see you! When did you get here? If I'd have known you were stopping by I would've cleaned up the place- Oh, but nevermind that, come in, come in. Dear, Sadie's here!" She called towards the living room.

Annabeth followed me across the threshold, Gran shutting the door behind us and giving me an appraising once over. "Have you gotten thinner, dear? You look simply famished- I made a fresh batch of scones today, I'll go fetch you some."

"N-no, that's okay, Gran." I assured hurriedly, but she had already disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. I sighed, glancing behind me to see that Annabeth was busy looking around; her eyes lingering on every picture frame, every scratch in the wall, every detail unable to escape her scrutiny.

"Welcome home, Sadie." I turned back at the gruff voice to see a man with beefy arms, a belly much too big for his shirt, and eyes sunk deep in his face- as if someone had punched them- making his way towards us. The man nodded towards Annabeth. "Who's your friend?"

"Hi, Gramps. This is Annabeth," I introduced, the demigod looking up from her surveillance at the mention of her name. "She's a new initiate at the Brooklyn House." I lied.

The demigod shot me a side glance but went along with it, holding out her hand. "A pleasure to meet you, sir." Gramps huffed but took the offered appendage as Gran returned, carrying a small plate stacked with burnt biscuits and a teakettle.

"Something to drink, dear?" She offered sweetly. Annabeth eyed the blackened baked goods warily.

"We just ate, actually." I fibbed again. "But some water would be nice."

Gran smiled, moving back towards the kitchen while Gramps motioned for us to follow him to the living room. Before the demigod could take a step, I grabbed her arm. Annabeth raised an eyebrow in my direction. "I'm gonna grab something from my room real quick. Gran and Gramps aren't huge fans of magic," I explained quietly. "So just ask Gramps about rugby- he'll talk your ear off but it'll be less awkward."

Annabeth nodded in understanding, walking into the living room while I turned and took the stairs two at a time.

My room was nothing posh, just an attic space with a window and a bed and a desk. I made my way over to foot of the bed, crouching down and sliding out the shoebox hidden underneath the frame. The box was my emergency stash of magical wares; just a precaution I'd installed in case I came home to find my grandparents possessed by unfriendly gods again. After rummaging through the various scrolls and amulets I found what I was looking for.

Mom's curved ivory wand looked more like a boomerang than a magic tool. Some of the symbols etched into it's side had faded through the years, worn down by useage. Contrastingly, it's magic could not have burned stronger. As soon as I grasped the item I felt a shock of power run across my body.

One of the tricks I'd learned from Walt was how to store energy in inanimate objects. While Walt specialized in creating new magical charms, I was only able to imbue magic into objects that already had magical properties. Over time, I had learned to store a portion of my magical energies within Mom's wand, allowing the tool's magic to build up within the object.

And what with our current situation and all, I decided it couldn't hurt to have the equivalent of a magical Red Bull on hand.

After I tucked the wand into my belt, my eyes wandered across the room and fixed on my desk. No, I thought. Not going to do it. But as it always did, my resolve crumbled and I walked over, opening the top drawer. I shoved aside a few old magazines, my stash of sweets, a stack of math homework I'd forgotten to hand in, and a few pictures of me and my mates Liz and Emma trying on ridiculous hats in Camden Market. And there at the bottom of it all, was the picture of Mom

Gran and Gramps have loads of pictures. They keep a shrine to Ruby in the hall cupboard—Mom's childhood artwork, her O-level results, her graduation picture from university, her favorite jewelry. It's quite mental. I was determined not to be like them, living in the past.

But I did keep the one picture. It was of Mom and me at our old house in Los Angeles, just after I was born. She stood out on the balcony, the Pacific Ocean behind her, holding a wrinkled pudgy lump of baby that would some day grow up to be yours truly. Baby me was not much to look at, but Mom was gorgeous, even in shorts and a tattered T-shirt. Her eyes were deep blue. Her blond hair was clipped back. Her skin was perfect. Quite depressing compared to mine. People always say I look like her, but I couldn't even get the spot off my chin, much less look so mature and beautiful (Stop smirking, Carter).

The photo fascinated me because I hardly remembered our lives together at all. But the main reason I'd kept the photo was because of the symbol on Mom's T-shirt: an ankh. My dead mother wearing the symbol for life. Nothing could've been sadder. But she smiled at the camera as if she knew a secret. As if my dad and she were sharing a private joke.

Of course, now my brother and I were in on that joke.

At the thought of Carter, I pulled out my phone again, quickly dialing his number. Even as I raised the device to my ear I could hear the droning sound of a dead line. Frowning, I closed out the call, staring dully at the device for a long moment. The faint seed of worry that had been planted after my conversation with Walt began to bloom into genuine concern.

Why would Carter have his phone off? Knowing my brother, it couldn't be anything good.

After a moment of hesitation, I grabbed the photo of mom, slipping it into my jacket pocket before making my way downstairs. My sense of dread only increased as I overheard the topic of conversation being discussed in the living room.

"-and that was during Sadie's second grade school play." My grandmother said as she handed the blond a framed photo.

"Gran!" I admonished, snaking forwards to snatch the picture away from Annabeth. But the damage had been done.

The demigod snickered. "Aww, Sadie, you were so cute! What happened?" She teased.

I shot her one of my signature glares as I put the photo back in it's place on the mantle. Said image depicted me standing on the cafeteria mini-stage during the elementary school's production of 'The Wizard of Oz', mouth wide open as the whole class sang 'Somewhere over the rainbow'. Mini me was acting out the part of the tin man, costume complete with a silver painted cardboard chestplate, an overturned metal funnel on my head, and a big red paper heart taped over where my real one was. I was covered in silver finger paint, most of which had faded or been wiped off at some point during the show.

"I don't know what you mean." I replied, refusing to look as mortified as I felt. "As far as I'm concerned I am still adorable."

Annabeth's chortle burst into a full blown laugh. It was infectious, my grandparents quickly joining in. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't maintain my annoyed facade, eventually joining in. For a few seconds, I felt myself relax. Allowing the gravity of our current situation to fade into the background as the room rang with laughter. For a few seconds, I felt like a kid again. Complete with good friends and overly embarrassing grandparents.

The demigods next words brought me back to reality.

"So are there any funny pictures of Carter?" She asked with a devilish grin.

The mood shift was instantaneous. Faster than I could blink, my grandparents stopped laughing. Gramps face twisted in a scowl and Gran's eyes narrowed, her lips turning downwards at the edges. Annabeth was baffled by the sudden shift, her lone chuckle dying out awkwardly. The grin was still on her face even as her brow crinkled in confusion.

I muttered an Egyptian curse- of the cussing variety, not the magic kind- and stepped between my grandparents and the demigod.

"Well would you look at the time?" My voice sounded much too loud, even in the sullen silence. "Gran, Gramps, it was great seeing you again. I wish we could stay longer but Annabeth and I have a flying boat to catch." My words broke the tense atmosphere, Gran and Gramps giving me sad smiles as I hugged them each one more time.

"Do be careful, sweetheart." Gran mumbled as she reciprocated the embrace.

"Aren't I always?"

Gran just laughed.

After a short lecture from Gramps about staying in touch more often, a small paper bag filled with Grans burnt scones being shoved into my hands, and a half dozen 'last time' hugs, Annabeth and I found ourselves strolling towards the nearest entrance to the London underground. The demigod hadn't spoken a word since the picture incident, and I was in no hurry to bring up the complex topic of how Gran and Gramps didn't really like Carter because he reminded them of Dad and blah blah blah. But there was one concern that I did voice during our walk.

"I think Carter's in trouble." I said, knowing the words would invoke a reaction from the demigod. If I thought Carter was in trouble, and her boyfriend was with my brother, then by the transitive property I thought her boyfriend was in trouble too.

As I expected, the comment snapped Annabeth back to the present as she looked at me sharply. "Why do you think that?" She sounded a bit perturbed by my calm deliverance of the realization.

"He's not answering his phone." I replied, "I tried texting him, Walt tried calling him, I tried calling him- It wouldn't even let me leave a voicemail."

Annabeth had paled noticeably. "We need to get back to the Argo now." She urged, picking up the pace so that I was nearly jogging to keep up.

"Whoa- slow down." Have I mentioned that I'm not a fan of running? "I know you're worried about Percy, but-"

"It's not them I'm worried about." The blond interrupted, her hand straying towards her backpack again. "Cell phones are like a homing beacon for Greek monsters. If you've been using yours all day, then-" Her words cut off abruptly as we rounded the corner.

I soon saw why.

You know those scary movie scenes, where the killer is standing underneath the sole street lamppost in the dead of night? I swear, all of those clips would've been a hundred times creepier if only they'd added a big red blood bus behind the bad guy. Sure, you laugh, but the sight was seriously giving me the heebie-jeebies. The Canary Wharf entrance to the subway system was right behind the vehicle, a mere street crossing away, but our path was blocked by a sole woman with dreadlocked hair. It didn't help the creep factor to see that Yuu Reyale was staring directly at us, as if she'd known we were coming. She grinned, displaying her pearly white… fangs? Okay, those definitely hadn't been there before.

"Please tell me they don't have vampires in Greek mythology." I muttered to Annabeth.

"The concept of vampires originated in European folklore." The demigod assured, having taken out her copper colored dagger. Her eyes shifted to read the white lettering on the bus. "Gore be Gone… Gore… Gone…" Annabeth cursed. "Gorgon. How did I miss that?"

"What's a gorgon?" Before the demigod could answer my question, Yuu Reyale had come to realize that we were in no hurry to cross the one way street.

Her smile fell into a snarl as she spoke, her voice much more sinister than before. "Annabeth Chase." She hissed, lingering on the 's' sound longer than normal. "I must be favored by the fates to have been delivered my sister's killer."

"Sister?" Annabeth's eyes widened in understanding. "You're Euryale! Medusa's sister."

"You killed the snake lady?" My eyes darted between the two Greek entities.

"It was a long time ago."

I vaguely remembered from some old movie that Medusa was a half-snake, half-human monster, and as I looked closer, I saw that Yuu Reyale's form was beginning to distort. The fog seemed to clear from my mind and I saw the monster as she truly was; dreadlocks becoming a writhing mass of miniature serpents, nails lengthening into claws, her lower half melding into a scaly green torso that curled around the lamppost.

"Yessss." Euryale snarled. "And now you shall suffer as she did."

Raising a clawed hand towards the blood bus, I felt a magical tremor rip through the air as the emergency doors burst open. Slithering out of the confines was an impossibly huge snake; not as big as Apophis, but much too big to have fit in the vehicle. Some insignificant section of my mind rationalized that Euryale had probably manipulated the space inside the bus to be bigger than it appeared on the outside. But the greater portion of my mind was a bit preoccupied with the fact that there was a giant snake coming out of the back of a bus.

Because, y'know, priorities.

As if a monstrous snake wasn't terrifying enough, two large, feathered wings unfurled from its side once it had cleared the doors. The rainbow-colored feathers shimmered in the low light, the reptile blinking twice before it's diamond head turned in our direction. A forked tongue flicked between its lips and it hissed at us, razor sharp fangs unfolding from it's jawline.

"What in Horus is that thing!" I yelped.

"An Ophies Pterotoi. It means-"

"Lemme guess, Greek for giant bloody snake with wings?" Unfortunately, our conversation ended there as Euryale pointed towards us. Following the unspoken command, the Pterotoi lunged- incredibly fast for a giant monster. Annabeth and I sprinting in opposite directions as it's mouth snapped closed in the space where we had just stood.

"Heqat." I cried, holding out my hand as the rod materialized into existence. Now armed with my staff, I felt my confidence surge. After all, I'd fought bigger snakes. Extending to staff towards the creature, I channeled a burst of magic and yelled, "Sa-Mir!" The bright golden hieroglyph for pain blazed into existence above the snake's snout. I smiled as I awaited the tortured scream (hiss?) of agony to be ripped from the beast.

The snake sneezed. Shaking it's head as if to rid a stubborn fly, the serpent glared at me. It's colorful wings rippled in annoyance.

Oops.

I barely managed to avoid the next attack by the Pterotoi, rolling underneath it's coils as it tried to swallow me again. As I stood up, I missed it's follow up strike, the air forcefully ripped from my lungs as it's tail smacked me to the curb. If you've never been hit by the backside of a very large winged snake, allow me to inform you that it is not a pleasant feeling. I felt as if I'd been backhanded by a truck, my body going airborne for a solid three seconds before I crashed into the asphalt, rolling to a painful stop.

I groaned, barely hearing Annabeth call my name through the haze of 'Ow' overtaking my senses. Drawing in a shuddering breath, I looked up to see that the demigod had somehow managed to jump on the Pterotoi's back, having plunged her dagger through the snake scales. Amazingly, I was able to drag myself upright, stumbling a bit as the world spun dangerously. I glanced around, seeing my rod lying a few feet away near the bag of scones. Taking two shaky steps towards the weapon, I felt something whip my feet out from under me, reuniting my face with the sidewalk.

"Really now," Euryale hissed, sounding slightly disappointed. Her lower snake half wound itself around my legs, pinning them together. "Where is all that power I felt from you earlier?"

I desperately made a grab for my staff as the snake lady yanked me towards her. I felt my hand just miss the object as the gorgon brought me within striking distance, lifting me up so that we were face to face. Only, my face was upside down in comparison. Her eyes narrowed as she studied me up close. Her hair hissed, a few of the snakes flitting their tongues out in my direction.

Behind me, I heard Annabeth struggling to fend off the Pterotoi. The demigod seemed to be having better success than me at the moment. Though, for how much longer I couldn't say.

"You're not a demigod." Euryale mused. "What are you?"

As if I would waste time to answer. I placed the palm of my hand against the scaly appendage wrapped around my legs and commanded, "A'max!" The area beneath my palm glowed a deep, burning red as the spell activated. The scales beneath my hand should be boiling hot, but once again my expectation was subverted as the monster smiled instead of screaming in pain. I was starting to get really frustrated by their apparent immunity to magic.

"That tickles." She taunted, before striking me across the face. Her claws left deep, stinging grooves, blood slowly seeping from the wound. Euryale's own forked tongue licked up the trail of red, her eyes drifting as she muttered, "No… not Greek…"

Seeing as my spells weren't doing any real damage, I tried a different approach. "I-ei!" I cried. Come. But instead of the magical staff flying into my awaiting grasp, Grans bag of scones shot towards me. Just my luck, but it would have to do. I swung the brown paper bag as hard as I could at the gorgon's face.

Apparently, the Greek monster wasn't immune to burnt biscuits, the momentum snapping the gorgons head to the side as the bag ripped on impact; the contents spilling onto the sidewalk. My attack was enough to shock Euryale into loosening her hold on my legs just enough for gravity to actually be helpful for once. I tumbled to the ground, standing and sprinting over to my staff while the snake lady shook off her surprise.

I spared a glance over at Annabeth who caught my eye as she danced around the giant snake's tail. She gestured towards the entrance to the subway and, amazingly, I understood; the entrance to the London underground was too narrow for a giant snake to fit through. If we got to the entrance, we'd be scott free.

If we got to the entrance. And currently, that was a big 'if'.

The gorgon hissed angrily, turning to face me. I should've been terrified, but I was finding it harder not to laugh as a few of her hair snakes began fighting over one of the scones.

"You dare assault me with baked goods!" The gorgon screeched.

"More like burned goods." I shrugged, taking a step back as she slithered slowly towards me. Despite my outwards appearance of surety, my head was still spinning from earlier, my brain scrambling to find a way to detain the Greek monster long enough to get past her. But if my magic couldn't affect her, then- I stopped backing up as I got an idea. A terrible, trademarked Sadie Kane kind of idea.

Lowering my staff, I closed my eyes and concentrated, pulling on the flow of magic.

"Accepting your demise?" Euryale hissed triumphantly, "Smart girl."

I heard her getting closer, but I forced myself to ignore the monster. Grasping my amulet, I tapped into the power of Isis. Looking up, I saw that Euryale was a mere three feet away, most of her hair snakes hissing menacingly while a few still grappled over the scraps of a biscuit. Taking a deep breath, I stepped towards the gorgon, pushing aside the layers of the Duat and walking through the monster. Well, not exactly through, but rather, on a different plane than the creature.

Euryale's shocked face turned to outrage as she turned her head from side to side. To her, it probably seemed like I'd vanished into thin air. "What trickery is this?" She growled.

I kept moving, feeling as if I was fighting against the current of a raging river with each step. Sweat dripped into my eyes as I focused on maintaining my material form. I knew that if I let my concentration slip, my essence would be ripped apart by the magical force surrounding me. As it was, I knew I couldn't maintain my presence in the layered realm for much longer, my magic reserves were depleting fast. After what felt like an eternity, I found myself next to the London underground entrance. With one final step I emerged back into the mortal realm, releasing my amulet and my concentration. Exhaustion swept over me and black spots dotted across my vision.

With the last vestiges of willpower I had, I raised my eyes to find Annabeth dashing towards me, the blond having lost her dagger and sustained numerous scrapes in her fight with the giant snake. The Pterotoi wasn't far behind, it's movements disjointed as if it was having a hard time pinpointing our location. It's wings fluttered angrily and as it turned it's head, I realized that the demigod had miraculously stabbed the creature's right eye, the hilt of her knife still protruding from the socket.

"Move!" The demigod yelled at me, her voice sounding a long ways off. "Let's go!"

My last thought as I plunged into the subway after Annabeth? All this for some bloody duct tape.


Fin! Thanks for reading!

Whew... that took a lot out of me. I spent the past three days bent over my keyboard, attempting to will the words on the screen to fit with how the scenes played out in my head. It was a delicate process that I found most annoying. BUT! After hours of circulating between writers blocks and breakthoughs, I finally manged to spew out the above chapter.

In all honesty, this was a tricky chapter to write. So I thank you all for being patient and for all the encouraging reviews. They really are a writers lifeblood.

Speaking of which...

Final Things:

First, to Asuna 2020: Thank you! I'm honored that you think my style maintains the integrity of the great Rick Riordan's work.

Next, to FieryGirl101: Yes, the fact that those places exist in real life came as a surprise to me too. And I loved writing their reaction to Percy's display of power. :) Thanks for the review! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

To Ensis96: Hahaha, Latoya IS rather rude she finsihed a lot of- sandwitches? That's what I was gonna say!- and yes, Percy's easy dominance was a funny scene. Being half-god has it's perks. Not that I would know, of course ;P

To Guest (Chapter 11): Thank you for reading! I'm glad you find it awesome, I too, enjoy writing this for y'all. Thanks for the review!

To S.J Spencers: I'm so glad that Rick's style is showing up in my work- that was my original intention, after all. As for more reviews, follows, and favorites? I'm pleasantly surprised with how fast the current following is growing. Thanks for the review!

To Personofmanythings: Yay! That is my one biggest fear when writing these chapters. I would be mortified to learn that I had misrepresented a character. So thank you for allying those fears of mine. Please don't be afraid to call me out if a character begins to feel too OOC! Thanks for the review!

To Jake/Jack (Chapter 1 and 2): OML=Oh My Lord? One More Laser? Open Mom's Lunchbox? Dude, I just HAVE to know what it means ;D I'm happy you enjoyed it! And thanks for telling your friend Mark to read it too, he too shall be brainwashed, Muahaha! Thanks so much for the encouraging comments!

To Mark (Chapter 3): Hello friend of Jake! I'm happy you enjoyed the story as well, welcome to the following! One of us... One of us... One of- Ahem- sorry, where was I? Oh, yes, thank you for the review!

To DarthDestroyer2: Haha- It'd only been up for a day before you said 'Update!' Chill, man ;) I'm may be excited to start writing again, but I'm gonna need more than a day to spit out a coherent chapter. That being said- here you go! One update as requested! Thanks for encouraging me to get my butt in gear!

To WhisperOfTheHeart0925: First off, let me just say THANK YOU so much for your amazing reviews! You have no idea how much I love to read long, detail specific reviews :D Yours are some of the best feedback I've ever received so thank you SO much! Now, I have to agree with you, finding out these places actually exist is a writers dream come true! Especially since I usually don't try to plan out more than one or two chapters in advance. Little gold mines like Oblix and Aquashard are happy accidents I love to discover as I research a location. I'm glad you enjoy them as much as I do. And yes, Carter and Percy make a great team! I love how Percy refused to be sidelined, stepping in to help his friend/ally- such a Perry Johnson thing to do. As for Latoya, she does make a point, but as we all know our friendly, neighborhood Kanes would NEVER put the world at risk to save their family... right? Thanks again for being such an avid supporter of this fanfic :)

To Bookworm 32211: Thank you! And I shall! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others!

To Guest (Chapter 11): Update soon... yeah... life got in the way of that. But! Update I shall! Maybe not as often, but I've in no way given up on this story.

To AnomyReader: Thanks for the review! Next update will be in a week or two, granted that school doesn't get in the way.

To Forest Bird: I'm glad you enjoy it! And yeah, bad spelling and grammar can take away from an overall story so you bet your tail I'll be double checking the details. What's the point in taking the time to write something if people have trouble reading it?

To arctickitten2005: Thanks for the review and responding to the PM's! It was the last little push i needed to really hunker down and get the ball rolling again. I hope you enjoyed this update!

Finally, to all other readers/reviewers: Thank you for understanding that life- being life- can sometimes get in the way. Thank you for being patient and sticking it out. Moving forwards from here, I'll try to get on some kind of schedule to where I can release a new update every two weeks or so but no promises yet. College life has only just begun for me so once I get a solid read on my class schedule I should be able to determine how much time I will have to write. Thanks again for being awesome!

As always, please review, rant, rave, critique, criticize and comment in the box below. I truly value feedback (good and bad).

Until next time!

-Ardoa88

p.s. Greek Translations: iroas = hero, Ophies Pterotoi = name for a winged serpent monster in Greek mythology (similar to the Quetzalcoatl)

p.p.s. Ancient Egyptian translations: heqat = summon staff, sa-mir = pain, a'max = burn, i'ei = come