New chapter! Hope you liked the last one, hope you like this one! :D Disclaimer: I own nothing, but Skylar! :D


It took about fifteen minutes for me to pack. I was bringing with my wand, which I carried in my pocket, a dagger, which was strapped to my calf, a change of clothes, a rain jacket, a sleeping bag and my enchanted necklace, called Stochos, or Target, which when rubbed, changed into a gold and silver bow and quiver, with celestial bronze tipped arrows, a gift from Apollo and Artemis.

The camp store loaned us one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas, which were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of the various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas, of course, had been silver, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. The coins could come in handy for non-mortal transactions—whatever they might be.

He gave Annabeth, Percy and I a canteen of nectar each and a resealable bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was the food of the gods, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of nearly all injuries, but it was fatal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her trusty magic Yankees cap, which had been a twelfth birthday present from her mom, and had already proved its worth in the short amount of time since then. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and her long bronze knife, hidden in her sleeve. Percy was bringing a simple backpack, containing a change of clothes and a toothbrush, and that was it.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his papa goat had made for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes, especially when played by him.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be my friend, Thalia.

Chiron was waiting for us in his unneeded wheelchair. Next to him stood the camp's head of security, who had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so you could only see extra eyes on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron told Percy. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard someone running towards us. Luke came running up the hill, carrying his special pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around, and I grinned at her knowingly.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told us. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He handed Percy the sneakers, which, to the unsuspecting eye, looked pretty normal and even smelled kind of normal. Luke called, "Maia!" White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, shocking Percy so much, he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said. Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." His expression became sorrowful, and I felt a surge of pity for him.

"Hey, man," Percy said. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke shifted back and forth, uncomfortably. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

They shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out, and one to me. After Luke was gone, Percy looked at Annabeth, "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"

She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys as he went. Percy picked up the flying shoes and gave them an almost hesitant look. He looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."

Percy nodded, disappointed, but then his face brightened. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

Percy laced one of his feet in, while I did the other. Now, standing before us, was the world's first flying goat boy, ready for launch.

"Maia!" he shouted.

He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a demented lawn mower, heading toward the van.

Before we could follow, Chiron caught my arm, and Percy's. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason—they all got more training."

"That's okay. I just wish—" He stopped, a guilty look on his face.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

He pulled a pen from his pocket and handed it over to Percy. It looked like an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. But I knew better.

"Gee," Percy said, sarcastically. "Thanks."

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

Percy flipped off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier until he held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs, in his hand.

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron said. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"'Riptide,'" Percy translated. "Very appropriate," I said, grinning.

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

Percy looked at the sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"

"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

"Good to know."

"Now recap the pen."

Percy touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. Percy tucked it in my pocket, looking a little nervous.

"You can't," Chiron said, reading something in Percy's face that I couldn't.

"Can't what?"

"Lose the pen," he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

Percy looked wary, but then threw the pen as far as he could down the hill and we watched it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron told us. "Now check your pocket." Sure enough, the pen was there, as promised.

"Okay, that's extremely cool," Percy sighed. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"

Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

"Mist?"

"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality. Skylar has read it about it, she might go into some more detail later."

Percy looked at me, and I nodded in assurance.

"Chiron ..." Percy said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

"So what was it like ... before the gods?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?"

Chiron gave him a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."

"Relax," Chiron told Percy. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"Relax," Percy said. "I'm very relaxed."

"Now," Chiron said, turning to me. "Skylar, I know you have done similar things to this before but-"

"I know. It's different when its a monster from the depths of Tartarus, with my death being it's number one plan, than it is to go up against a human wizard, who could easily change his mind, or chicken out. I realise that. I'm ready for that." I blurted out, rushing through the words. I had thought all that through long ago.

"Well then," Chiron smiled, pleased. "I have nothing more to say to you but, good luck."

Percy and I walked to the bottom of the hill, but then we looked back. Under the pine tree that was once Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in his centaur form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur/hero trainer.


Review, Favourite or Follow? All that jazz! :D

Love, me.