THIRTEEN

Saying that I was worried would probably be an understatement. Out of the five visits I had, four of them was Zeus demanding me for information and the other was Hades and Pallas.

The other thing I was worried about was Nikita. I hadn't been able to contact her.

I paced around in the small cell, making the most of the space. I hit my head several times on the ceiling, making me wonder if the gods had a super-tiny-molecular-sized form which would help them fit. I mean, every single one of the gods were taller than me in their human form.

Even Mr. D.

Sage? Sage? Is this working? A voice rang in my head.

"Huh? Nikita?" I accidentally spoke out loud.

Sage? Talk to me! You haven't talked to me for ages and it's getting too quiet in my head!

NIKITA, I CAN HEAR YOU! I yelled in my head as loud as possible.

I felt her confusion and worry from the otherside.

Look, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but Nico's contacting Thalia, Alice and Tala. If things go smoothly, they should find you in around 2 hours. If not... Let's not think about that.

Anyways, get ready to kick Zeus' sorry ass. For that you need to preserve energy. I'm not sure if you have your belt right now, but if you don't, Alice should probably be able to give you a random sword from camp. If you have your belt... Don't use your spear. I'm scared that you're going to cut your own arm off.

Nico has an idea where you might be, so don't worry, they'll find you.

Oh, gods.

Oops, sorry about that. We're in the middle of a monster attack. I'll talk after they're finished, alright?

So five facts that are (supposedly) true:

1) I'm stuck in a cell and Thals, Alice and Tala are going to come in 2 hours if things go smoothly.

2) Nikita, Nico and a few others are being attacked by monsters.

3) Nikita can't hear my thoughts but I can hear her's.

4) Nikki finally learnt how to multitask.

5) I'm starving.

I sighed and sat down on the cold stone floor. In the dark, quiet room, I rested my eyes just as Nikki had suggested.

Almost immediately, fatigue washed over me. It must've been from me staying awake since the vision Hades gave me. And I wouldn't actually count that as sleeping.

I let myself be sucked into my little whirlpool of sleep.

"WHAT?" Thalia yelled angrily at an IM, "And you kept that information from me?"

Someone shuffled on the other side of the message, "We needed to get it sorted out first." I immediately recognised the voice. It was Nico's.

Thalia huffed, "What day is it today?"

Nico shrugged, "Friday... I think."

"Nico, Capture the Flag was yesterday. It's 9:00 in the morning on Saturday."

"What?"

"Nine. In. The. Morning. On. Saturday." Thalia said as if talking to a baby.

"I know that." Nico replied.

"Why did you ask then?"

"Have you ever heard of this thing called making sure?"

"Yep, definitely."

"But anyways, I wanted to ask you if you'd go."

"Go find her?"

"Uh huh. And will you ask Tala and Alice while you're at it?"

Thalia nodded, "Yeah, sure. Where's she?"

Nico cocked his head to the right, "I'm not certain, but I think she's here." He points at a square on a hand drawn map.

"Why is it hard to believe that you drew that?"

"Because I didn't."

"Right. It would've been great if I had a camera to photograph that as well."

Nico shrugged, "Just remember that you have to go through the Throne Room, past uh... I think that's Apollo's throne, and go to that fountain thing, and you should somehow be able to move it or something, and then climb down the stairs, and there should be a huge double door. You open that, and she should be in one of those cells."

Thalia groaned, "You tell me to remember that, and you don't even tell me how to move the fountain thing, or whether the double door would be open!" She waved her hands around exasperatedly.

"Um... Yeah. I don't have that much information. I only went to Olympus... Um... Four times? No, maybe three. Whatever." Nico said, "Oh, by the way, where're the rest of the hunters?"

"Oh, the Mess Hall. I just came back from Counselor's Meeting."

"Are you going to tell me what it was about?" Nico questioned.

Thalia hesitated, "Yeah, I guess. They were talking about getting you guys back."

"That's kind of hard since we separated into 3 groups."

Thalia nodded, "I'm starting to wonder which side Chiron's on."

Nico stared at her, "You, of all people, saying that?"

"You might be talking about Annabeth." Thalia said, glaring.

They both fell into silence.

"I'll be going then." Thalia grinned at Nico, "Make sure Nikki doesn't do anything stupid."

Nico smirked, "Of course."

The message dispersed, leaving Thalia alone in the Artemis Cabin.

"Thalia, hurry up." She muttered to herself as she ran out of the cabin.

As she arrived in the Mess Hall, she made sure Chiron wasn't looking and grabbed Alice off the Aphrodite table.

She pushed her out and placed her out of view, "Wait right there. No moving."

Then, she dived back into the hall crawling to avoid Chiron, which dodging falling food.

"Phoebe." Thalia whispered from under her. Phoebe jumped and looked under the table.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe hissed.

"That doesn't matter. You're in charge while I'm gone as always."

"What?" Phoebe demanded, but Thalia was long gone; she had already crawled under the Erebus table.

She pulled Tala under by her feet. Tala spilled a plate of spaghetti, landing on a random Apollo dude who turned around and accused the person who had been sitting next to her.

"What the hell?" She whispered angrily, "I was eating!" She crawled behind Thalia.

Thalia looked behind her, "Yeah, I noticed. But this is kind of urgent. Come follow."

Tala sighed and hurried followed the daughter of Zeus outside.

"Where are we going?" Alice asked as Thalia pulled her and Tala towards the North Forest.

"We're going to save someone." Thalia replied.

"Who?"

"She said 'someone'!" Tala told Alice over the blowing wind.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"I know!"

They kept running until they reached the end of the forest.

"Okay, we're going to rescue Sage." Thalia finally said.

"The way you say it makes it sound like we're princes trying to rescue the princess." Tala mumbled.

Thalia gave her look, "You can interpret it however you want. But we have to go get her out."

"Do we get a say in that?" Alice questioned.

"No." Thalia stated.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Tala said, bored.

"Uh, oh, yeah." The other two said in unison. Tala nodded at them and peeked out of the forest, making sure they were out of Argus and the border patrol's views.

"It's clear."

The three of them snuck out, escaping one of Argus' eyes just in time. They ran across the borders and launched into the mortal world.

After running for a few minutes, they came to a stop.

"Thalia, are we going to walk all the way there?" Alice asked. She and Tala casted looks at Thalia.

"Uh..." Thalia hesitated, "Yeah?"

"We're going to go through Brooklyn. Do you know how many times Chiron said not to go there?"

Thalia shook her head, "We're not exactly following orders by going out of camp in the first place."

Tala stuck her hands in her pockets, "Are we going or not?" A bored expression appeared on her face.

"Yeah, we are." Thalia gave Alice a pointed look then marched ahead. Alice gave Tala an exasperated look, which was ignored. She sighed and trudged behind the other two demigods.

They walked, and walked, and walked. Until they finally wore out.

"Thalia, do you have money?" Tala asked. Thalia shook her head.

"I'm broke. Don't ask why." Thalia grumbled. Translation from me. 'I'm broke because I lost a bet to Percy.'

"I've got 100 on me right now..." Alice said timidly.

Thalia's eyes brightened in an impossibly fast manner.

"Let's go get Cheese Burgers!" Thalia almost ran off, until Tala grabbed her arm.

"Or maybe we can take the taxi. I have a few dollars on me as well, so we should be able to get there."

Thalia thought for a while, "What if the driver's a monster?"

Alice gave her a surprised look. A smile lingered on her face.

"It's not like you to think ahead."

Tala agreed instantly, "Plus, what can it do in a taxi?"

"Blow it up?" Thalia suggested.

The other two shook their heads and dragged Thalia and caught a taxi.

"Guys, how long did that take?" Thalia asked.

Alice shrugged, "An hour or so."

Thalia frowned but didn't say another word and walked up ahead. Tala followed her into the Empire State Building and gestured Alice to follow.

"The 600th floor." Thalia ordered. The doorman looked at her, confused.

"There is no 600th floor." He replied.

The daughter of Zeus scowled deeply, "I said the 600th floor. Unless you want my father striking you with his Master Bolt, give me the key card."

Apparently her death threat worked, because the doorman cowered behind his desk and slid the key card along the surface of the marble which Thalia snatched away. She huffed in frustration and stomped over to the elevator.

"What's wrong with her?" Alice whispered quietly as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

"I think an hour of taxi was a bit hard for her." Tala muttered under her breath so that only Alice could hear. Alice nodded understandingly and entered the elevator as it arrived.

Having the 70s and 80s running in the background of your extremely long elevator ride isn't fun. Their silence was unbearable for all of them. But somehow, they managed to keep silent and calm their ADHD by make doing with foot tapping and fidgeting.

The elevator was rising quickly. It zoomed past 100, 200 then 300.

Thalia banged her head on the wall. Everyone turned their attention towards her. She groaned and shook her head.

Tala sat on the railings, looking at the numbers on the panel racing up.

400.

Alice combed her hand through her hair and looked around the tiny space, wondering what to do.

The music didn't stop. It blasted through the speakers, filling the space with horrible music, but it was enough to fill the silence.

500.

Tala started tapping her foot faster, becoming more impatient. But I mean, seriously. These elevators are not healthy for us demigods!

Alice began pulling on strands of her hair, while staring at the plain shiny wall.

And Thalia? Well, she was standing there with her forehead on the wall twisting her bracelet uncomfortably. She seemed to be mumbling something, but it was inaudible.

550.

Almost there. I could almost feel a smile creep up my sleeping face.

560.

Thalia snaps her head up.

570.

Tala stops tapping her foot and walks to the door.

580.

Alice comes back into the real world.

590.

The three gather at the door.

And finally...

600.

The doors slowly slid open as the three poked their heads out, making sure the coast was clear.

"Let's just go." Thalia whispered. The other two nodded and tiptoes down the corridor and into the throne room.

Thalia stopped.

"Right. Left. Right. Left." She repeated.

"If you're wrong you can go the other way you know." Alice said. Thalia shook her head.

"There's two fountains. One which leads to the cells and the other which leads to Tartarus."

All eyes were glued to her. Thalia looked at them as if they were being creepy.

"What? That's what Nico said! Plus, I'm pretty sure that that's Apollo's Throne." Thalia pointed to a golden throne.

"That's pretty obvious." Tala said. Thalia glared at her.

"That's a bit golden as well!" The daughter of Zeus pointed at the Throne opposite the fully golden one.

"I'm thinking it's this one." Tala stated, pointing to the previous one.

"Alice?" Thalia asked.

Alice hesitated and looked between the two thrones, "That one has a sun on it." She pointed at the surface of the second one.

"So it's up to me. Great." Thalia groaned for who-knows-how-many-times that day.

"I'm thinking about agreeing with Alice for this one..." She trailed off. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"No... Actually... The golden one looks more familiar. Let's go with that."

Alice smiled, "I was thinking the same. I guess we should go before anyone catches us."

We snuck behind the Apollo's throne, careful not to be found by anyone and reached the fountain safely.

"Now what?" Tala asked. She studied the fountain vaguely.

"Is it possible to be lifted?" Alice questioned. Thalia shook her head.

"It looks like it'll weigh a ton." She walked around and sat on it, "How about sliding it?"

"How is that suppose to not weigh a ton?" Tala demanded. Thalia shrugged.

"If we can make a gap big enough, we could slide through it." Alice suggested reasonably.

Thalia gestured to her, "See. Like that. Come on, we don't have all day."

Together, the three of them pushed the huge chunk of marble with all their might. Thankfully, water hadn't been flowing out of the fountain, meaning that they didn't get wet. The slab of rock shifted slowly and created a gap just big enough for a person to get through. Alice slid through it first. Then Tala. Then as they thought Thalia was going to slide down, she stopped.

"I'll keep watch. I'll be down once you guys come up."

The two of them nodded and proceeded further down the stairs. And as Thalia had told them in the cab, there were pitch black double doors.

"Are you sure this isn't Tartarus we're going to?" Alice mumbled, worried. Tala shook her head.

"I don't think it's Tartarus, but I'm not a child of Hades or Thanatos so I'm not absolutely sure."

Cautiously, they pushed the double doors, which surprisingly opened.

"These people need to work on security. Not that I'm not thankful that their so stupid." Tala commented. Alice agreed.

The two looked at eachother then nodded, and stepped into the cell chamber.

I woke up with a start. Quickly, I stood up and looked around frantically.

"Wow, seems like we've found our target." I jumped as a voice came from behind me.

Tala. Oh, thank the gods.

"This room seeps power out of people. Alice do you mind?" She said assessing the room. Alice looked shocked, but nodded and stepped forward.

She placed her hand on the bars of the cell as it slowly turned to ice. She kicked it, making it shatter.

I dropped to the ground, relieved. Tala looked at me and grabbed my arm. She gestured Alice to do the same.

The two of them dragged me out of the cell chamber, while I felt embarrassed and weak. I slumped in the corner while they looked for injuries.

"You seem fine except for major burns and and the fact that you're starving." Tala said. She turned to Alice, "Get her some Ambrosia and Nectar from Thalia."

Alice nodded and ran up the stairs, careful not to trip in the dark.

Once she disappeared, Tala looked at me with a serious expression.

"Look, I got this from Nico. He told me to give it to you." Her hands dug into her pockets and brought out a light brown case. She gave it to me.

"Open it."

And that's exactly what I did. I opened the case and lifted out a golden chain. There was a slight green glow to it, and it looked beautiful. I stared at it, speechless.

"Come on. Let me put it on you."

I gave the chain to Tala and let her put it on me.

"Why do you have it?" I asked, "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but why you of all people who could have given it to me?"

Tala shrugged, "I don't know." She finished securing the clasp and let go.

"It's not like him to give presents." I said, lifting the necklace from my collarbones.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Someone came.

"I asked Alice to keep watch. Here." Thalia passed me a cube on Ambrosia. I gladly accepted it and nibbled on it as she kept talking.

"It was so awkward up there. You see, I had to close the fountain once because Athena came. She even asked me questions about why I was here and stuff, so I told her I was waiting for Zeus to come. But then she asked me whether I wanted her to get him. Since when did she become so polite?"

I looked at her, "I'm half burnt here, and I can still see that she was suspecting you."

Thalia mocked and offended look, "No one can see through my wonderful acting skills!"

I smirked, "But everyone can see through your lying skills."

"That's Nikki, not me, sorry."

Sage laughed, "Right."

Thalia cracked a smile and offered a hand as they stood up. Tala took Sage's other arm and the three of them walked out the fountain.

"Not yet!" Alice tried to push them down.

"Not yet what?" A voice asked. It belonged to Athena, "Come out you three."

How she knew there were three of them, we'd never know, but we walked out anyway.

I smiled shyly at her, "Hi?"

Athena looked at me with a stern look on her face. My eyes widened.

"Oh no, you're not sending me back in there." I pull an arm free and I ready my sword. Athena looks at the sword, then me then all the rest of them. She sighed.

"I'm not going to send you back." She stated. I still held my sword, "And put that sword down or I will send you back." I didn't put it down, "I should've know that that wouldn't have worked. But anyway, I'm going to send you back to Camp."

Thalia opened her mouth, "But Chiron doesn't trust her!"

Athena gave her a look, "Who said it was her. I meant you three, not her."

"Where's she going to go?" Tala asked.

Athena gave her the duh-isn't-it-obvious face which usually meant that it wasn't too obvious.

"She's going to join the quest until her name is cleared. And by the way, Thalia, the hunter need you. I think you should get going right now. The other two will fill you in when they get back."

Thalia looked at Athena, "What for?"

Athena paused.

"Artemis has gone missing."

Thalia scrunched her eyebrows together, "Didn't that happen before?"

"Yeah, something like 2 years before the Great Prophecy." Tala said.

"It's happening again, but in a different way." Athena declared, "Gaea has captured her."

"Why is it always Gaea?" I groaned.

"Thalia, you must go now." Athena said urgently. Thalia sighed and nodded.

"See ya." She ran out the Throne Room.

"You know you could've teleported her..." I said to Athena.

She nodded, "I was planning to. Alice, Tala, I'll teleport you two back to—"

Athena stumbled. Alice dropped me and steadied her. I almost fell back down the gap.

"Oops, sorry, Sage—"

"Anyway, Alice, Tala and Sage, you three will teleport to—"

Tala interrupted her, "What? Why us? Why so suddenly? You said before..."

Her voice faded away as Athena gave her an intense look. Her mouth was set in a frown and her eyes narrowed onto her, "That is none of your concern."

Before any of us could react, she placed a hand on my shoulder and the other on Alice's. I closed my eyes instantly as a blinding white light engulfed us.

I tripped and fell as I opened my eyes too late, and landed in a heap. Alice appeared behind me with a perfect set down. Tala flashed in a few seconds later, falling on top of Alice.

"Oops." Tala picked herself up off the ground and brushed herself off.

Alice stood up as well, checking her surroundings.

"Why in Hades' name are we at the beach? Isn't this Long Beach?"

She was right. We were at Long Beach. The shape of the beach and the colour of the waters were all too familiar.

"Great. We came right back." A voice said. The three of us turned around, "We were suppose to go left, not right!" Angel huffed. Then, she took us in.

"Hey." I greeted awkwardly. A smile slowly started to appear on her face. She ran up to me and hugged me tightly.

"We were all so worried, you know!" She cried. The rest of the guys were behind her, but I only saw 3 others. Angel pulled away from me.

"Are those all the quest members?" I asked, pointing towards them. She looked at my finger and pulled it back.

"Pointing's rude. Anyways, no! 14 demigods in a group didn't work out so we split up!" She said cheerfully, "Are you guys joining us?"

I nodded as she squealed in delight.

"Okay, then. Let's get moving! I'll fill you guys in while we walk."

The three of us followed the group, and I finally took in the fact that I was a part of the quest now. I nodded to myself, processing the thought, while Angel's chatter became the background noise.

I was wrapped into my thoughts so much that I jumped when a voice that didn't belong to anyone I knew, invaded my head.

Guess what? Epic-ly long chapter! Woo hoo! This chap's just over 3600 words! I'm so proud. I hope this makes up for the long wait, though I know it probably won't. I was just planning for my first co-written story.

Sorry about that! And see ya soon!

TCY