Hey, my peeps! The end is near! Only two chapters left, according to my Calamity Countdown speedometer. But you know, there's something that always bothers me. Whenever I ask you to do something in my reviews, you never do it. In chapter 3, I asked for you to suggest a chapter title. Only AnnabethIsTheBest did. In chapter 5, I asked if anyone knew the song I referenced. I would understand if you didn't know the song; you could've just typed "Sorry, I don't know that one," at the end of your review. That's all it would have taken. But no one responded. And then in chapter - humph. That's it. Oh, you get the point. So, why do reviewers do this? It irks me - almost as much as the work irks! I mean, if I'm supposed to have supreme control over the earth someday, how could I fail at cyber mind control? I guess I just won't rule all. I'm different. I'm one of the only people I know who would turn down the opportunity for world domination if it was given to me for free. Seriously, if I took over the world, it would be Heck on Earth. Trust me.

MMMMM ... oh, that's some goooood chocolate. Oh, I'm LOVIN' it! Hey, what the - JIMMY! DUDE! YOU JUST GOT PEANUT BUTTER IN MY CHOCOLATE! AUGGH! Are you ASKING to get fired? GET OUT OF HERE, GIVE ME TIME TO GRIPE! I have to have a talk with you later. Shoo, shoo! *turns back to chocolate* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

*sniff sniff* *starts bawling* *half an hour later*

Get over it, RToC. It's okay. It'll be okay. Wait a sec - *leaves room for a minute, comes back with more chocolate* Okay, I'm good. *smack smack* Well, I'm in a referencey mood today. I've already made two pretty good references, both in the second paragraph. They're - you know what? I'm about to test you. You heard my speech. Now guess that reference! Hey, that sounds like it could be the name of a game show. Welcome toooo ... GUESSSS thaaaaat REFERENCCE!

DISCLAIMER: Who's playing first? You, Sid? Okay. Good. If you can guess the reference, I don't have to disclaim. What? Do you get a hint? No, no you don't. There. I've made my reference. You have ten seconds. GO! Come on ... I'm COUNTING on you here! GO SID! What do you mean, I never said the reference? The "no, no you don't" thing! You don't - WHAT? TIME IS UP? THAT'S NOT FAIR! Ughh! Fine. I don't own PJO. THERE! I disclaimed ... heh. Heh. Disclaim ... deh deh ... deh deh deh disssssssclame-uh! Disck-ck-ck-ck-CLAIM!

Sid, stop looking at me like that.

Seriously, stop it. Now.

{DAY FOUR}

GPOV:

Gotta find Percy.

I was driving down the road somewhere in Illinois. After I'd ditched the Dog Dab a Sanetha, I'd felt overcome with guilt. What was that, the third time I had lied to Annabeth in the past week? The fourth? Who could tell?

I had stayed at Norom Sandhice, the hotel I had stopped at after fleeing Sanetha, until noon the next day. I just couldn't get myself to leave; I felt too horrible. Finally I sucked it up for Percy's sake and tried to face my fears. I was an honorary member of the Council of Cloven Elders, for crying out loud! I was Pan's heir! A Lord of the Wild! A hero to nature spirits everywhere! I can't crack now! I'm at the top of my game! Just because I betrayed her doesn't mean I'm ….

Wait a sec.

Betray?

Betrayal?

I betrayed?

I betrayed Annabeth?

How - how COULD I?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Woah, woah, Grover. Get a grip. I didn't BETRAY her. If she had gone to find Percy, she would have been too distracted to think about the task at hand, and she'd have let her guard down, making her vulnerable to attack. Echidna would have easily brought her down. I'm doing the right thing here.

I still felt guilty.

I was still deep in thought, pondering if what I had done was wrong or not, when -

HOOOOOOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!

What the -

I leaned my head out the window to look at the person in the car next to me. "Hey, jeez, what's the problem here?"

Considering I was in a truck and this jerk was in a small car, I had to twist and turn my head to see the driver.

And when I did, I got the surprise of a lifetime.

HOOOOOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOONK!

The car window rolled down.

"PULL OVER, GROVER!" called a female voice from inside.

Oh, great.

Busted.

APOV:

I pulled over to the side of the road - thank the gods we weren't on the highway yet - and hopped out of the car immediately. Grover did the same, and I stormed over to him.

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?" I screamed.

"Annabeth, I –"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"I –"

"No. No! You WEREN'T thinking!"

Before I knew what was happening, my hand was flying out in front of me, slapping Grover hard on his left cheek. He appeared stunned. "Annabeth … let me explain –"

"No! SHUT UP!"

I fell to my knees and leaned out over the ground. Tears flew from my eyes uncontrollably. How many times had I cried that day? I wanted to slap him again, but I also knew somehow that I had no right. Maybe Grover was as overcome by the experience as I was. Maybe he was desperate.

Ha. Desperate. Aren't we all?

"Annabeth."

The sound pierced through my skull. I looked up and saw … Percy.

"Annabeth?" he asked, Grover's voice coming clearly out of his mouth.

What …?

"Annabeth, it's okay," Percy said, in the voice that was not his own. "I'm here for you, Annabeth."

"No, you aren't," I replied softly. "You haven't been. As soon as I thought we could finally have peace …"

"Annabeth –"

"YOU GO AND GET YOURSELF KIDNAPPED!" I stood abruptly, too abruptly, and fell back down again. But not to the pavement. I fell into a memory. There I was on the sidelines, watching the scene play out once again …

The shore of Camp Half-Blood. Since Percy and I had started dating, it had become one of my favorite places. The ocean waves rocked back and forth as there, right in front of me, I lay next to Percy. My head rested on his shoulder, his arm around me as we relaxed together.

"Hey, Annabeth?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes. There he was. Percy. How I had missed that face. I was no longer a bystander to this flashback, I was a part of it. "Mmm?"

Percy looked uncomfortable, like he was trying to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say without it sounding awkward. "Uh … you don't … like Jacob, do you?"

I laughed. "Jacob? He's nuts! Where did you get THAT idea?"

He shifted. "Uh … I don't know … I noticed you looking at him at breakfast … and he's always … showing off … around you …."

"Really? Really, Percy? Come on, you know me better than that. Your head may be full of seaweed, but his head is on an overdose of crazy glue and Smurfs."

Percy thought for a moment. "What was that supposed to mean?"

"I have no idea."

We both laughed. Say it! I willed myself. Say it!

But it was a memory, not a fantasy. I wasn't in control.

"Percy, you're the one who's always there for me. Not Jacob, or anyone else in that camp. You're my boyfriend. And I'll always have your back."

Percy smiled, then tilted his head down to kiss me.

Yes! Yes!

Then suddenly, I was back in Illinois, on the street, on my hands and knees.

"But you didn't have my back," Percy reminded me from above. "You failed me."

"No! I didn't do anything wrong! I'm trying to get you back!"

The tears began again, worse than before. Each lurch brought another sob.

"You're right," I realized. "I did fail you. I let Echidna take you, and I still haven't found you. I failed. You hate me."

"No, Annabeth." Percy leaned down to whisper in my ear: "I love you."

"But why?" I asked him.

No answer. "Percy?" I looked to where he was standing. Grover returned my gaze. "Annabeth … are you okay …?" he asked carefully. "I'm beginning to get a little worried about you."

"Where did Percy go?" I asked him. "He was right here…."

Grover shook his head slowly. "No … no, he wasn't."

"You LIE! He was here! I SAW him! I SPOKE to him!"

"It's just me, Annabeth. No one else was here."

No! Percy ….

Grover stood frozen in his spot, watching me sob violently on the pavement.

He knelt down beside me. "Annabeth, I'm really getting worried about you. You're not making sense. If this is about how I left you at camp, you have to understand. I did it for Percy's own good. And for your own good. Listen, you have to admit – even if you reach Percy in time, you'd be too focused on getting him out of there … you might not be as cautious as you should be. And now … now I'm positive. You shouldn't continue on. Go back to camp. You'll be safer there. I'm Percy's protector, I can do this."

"No, Grover," I whispered through my tears. Then a thought struck me. "You don't even know where to look, do you?"

Shakily, I got to my feet. My face felt rough and crisp and I quickly wiped my tears. "He's not in Cheyenne. Echidna moved him. He's in –"

"Powell, I know."

I felt like I'd been slapped in the face – which I guess was ironic, since I had just slapped Grover in the face. "How – how do you know that?"

"Uh, do you forget? The empathy link," he replied, in the same tone of voice he'd use to tell me that water was wet. "I can talk to him, remember? I'm the one who found him in the first place – did you really think I couldn't do it again?"

I shook my head. I hadn't really thought about that.

Grover continued: "Which reminds me, when I contacted him yesterday, he had a message for you."

My eyes widened. "He … he did?"

"Yes. He told me to tell you that he's okay. He's surviving. Echidna's keeping him alive, for some reason. Occasionally they'll give him a small amount of water. He told me that they're in Powell. Echidna has a plan. She is depending on you coming to rescue him, so that she can fight you. Me, too, although he said she didn't seem as concerned for your appearance as for mine. Which is why he doesn't want you to come."

"Wha – what?"

"Annabeth, Echidna's plan requires you to make it there. She wants you. She needs you. He doesn't know exactly what her plan is yet, but he knows that you're a key piece. If I go and you don't, she doesn't get you. She'll fail, and you can see him safely once we get back to camp."

"But Grover – I have to see him!"

"Come on, Annabeth. Seeing the state you're in, I don't know if it'd be wise for you to rush into a battle. I think you're getting a bit too desperate. You're starting to lose it."

I don't know why (somewhere down inside I must have known it was true), but this made me furious. "The state I'm in? You think I'm going INSANE?"

"Annabeth, that's not fair –"

"NOT FAIR? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT'S NOT FAIR! How about finally hoping that the battles were over, that we could finally relax? How about finally settling in, and then someone I completely forgot about goes and snatches my boyfriend right from underneath my nose! It's my fault he was taken. He was getting ready for our date! When he was late, I waited too long, and she got him! If I had been there, we could have overpowered her! But NO! I waited, and I lost him! I trusted him, and he disappeared! HOW'S THAT FOR UNFAIR?"

There was a silence that lasted for a good few minutes. Finally, Grover muttered, "Wow."

I nodded sternly.

"How did you know?"

Grover had caught me off guard. "What?"

"How did you know that Percy had been taken to Powell? You can't – wait a second."

He ran back to his truck, and for a second I thought he was leaving me again. But then he came back with a piece of paper in his hands. "You got this, didn't you?"

I took the paper from him. Wait a second … I've seen that before ….

"Hold on a sec." Running back to the car, I reached for the passenger-side seat, from where I grabbed the directions and hurriedly unfolded them. I grabbed a paper that wasn't a part of the packet and tossed the rest back inside. The pebbles on the road crunched under my feet as I handed the paper to Grover.

The sheets matched.

Grover had gotten a ransom note, too.

"The winter solstice," he noted. "That's in, what, four days?"

My eyes bugged. "Four days?"

He nodded. "We'll have to –"

Suddenly, from somewhere close, I heard something.

Grover cocked his head and looked me in the eyes. "Annabeth, are you growling? Now I'm really worried about you."

I shook my head. "That wasn't me… at least, I don't think it was –"

I had stopped because while I was talking, the growling had continued.

Grover's bottom lip began to quiver slightly, and his legs twitched softly. "Well, if it wasn't you, then …."

Another growl, coming from my left (and, since we were standing opposite each other, Grover's right). We both turned our heads toward the sound. Something was in the trees.

The beast leaped.

Goodie goodie! Another cliffhanger! Man, what is it with me and one-line paragraphs? Whatever. This was one of the funnest (teehee!) chapters to write, and I'm proud of it. I made a couple of allusions within, and I wonder if any of you can find them. One of the allusions is extremely well hidden. Hehehe. I'm proud.

Oh, lookie-here! According to my Calamity Countdown Calendar, there's only ONE CHAPTER LEFT! My goal is to get it posted by the new year, but I don't know if I can manage that. I have a life, too, you know. Schoolwork and such. Still, it'll be faster than this one took, I guarantee. Well, see you whenever for the final chapter! :)

- FUZZY BUNNY!