A/N I just discovered that when you're tired in the morning, taper practice is your BFF. :D So I was feeling happy and happy for me equals updates, so here we go, from where the story left us last time. DISCLAIMER: I own this water bottle. I own an apple. I don't own PJO. OKAY!

PS: Yo Princess Annabelle, WHEN'S THAT REVIEW COMING, HUH? (See chapter 11 ns 12's PS for clarification)

Chapter 13: Wise Boy, Lord of the Ring

The red rocks seemed to loom all around me, swirls of dark Jupiter and hard, cold night surrounding us. We had been climbing for a few hours, and the night had come around us. I thought that with nothing around, the moon and stars would be beautiful-but if I looked, I would fall.

"Okay. Jump."

"What?"

"You heard me, Penny." Alex's voice sounded kind of far away.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"No, he's right." Hunter's voice carried up to me.

I closed my eyes and swallowed. The blue eyes of my dragon bracelet began to glow. I was nervous and somehow that was activating the Hecate powers. I forced the magic down. save it for the battle.

Hunter's voice drifted up the stone. "Penny, we don't have all night."

"I'm coming, okay?"

"Today, right?" Alex sounded vaguely amused.

I ground my teeth. "No, Wise Boy, I'll be down in two weeks. You two can go have some fun while I'm up here, though, I won't have demigod sized abandonment issues for the rest of my life. Oh wait, I will."

I closed my eyes and jumped off the rock.

Now, I would like to say I was graceful. It would please me greatly to be able to say that I dove like a swan from the cliff, and landed catlike on my feet at the bottom.

The truth?

I flailed. My hand hit the rock ten times on the way down, and instead of landing on my feet, I landed in Alex's arms. Again.

But this time, he didn't let me go.

We lay under the stars. Hunter said that we would probably lay need a full night of sleep before we took on Chaos in what would probably be the suicide mission we've been waiting for this whole time (yay us, right?) and we were taking turns with watches. I was up first, and Alex was next to me, awake. What were we doing, you might ask?

Talking.

Sorry, no big-bad romance moment. We were just...being friends, I guess. The whole I'm there for you, you're there for me sort of deal. And I have to admit, I like it so far.

"So, what's the deal with the dragon bracelet?" Alex asked.

"What's the deal with your ring?"

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second."

He laughed. "If we get out of this alive, Penny, we need to work on your negotiation skills."

"When we get out of this. Not if."

Alex's gray eyes were solemn. "For once you are absolutely right."

We were silent for a while before he spoke. "The ring was a gift from my mother."

"Athena?"

"Yeah." He took a breath. "After I got claimed, the counselor a started training me more intensely. More weapons, more styles, more ways to beat someone up. And I noticed that having a shield made it easier to do battle. So, I asked my mom for a shield. None of the ones in the camp armory worked, and the Hephaestus kids were still into bribes from the Hermes kids at that point, so unless I could sneak out of camp and buy them some Coke I was out of luck. And on my eleventh birthday, I woke up and this was on my nightstand, with a note. the shield is actually a work of strategical art- while you're under its protection it slows down time and allows you to analyze the situation." His eyes sparkled; explaining insignificant stuff to even more insignificant people was one of his favorite pastimes.

"What did the note say?"

"Good choice."

I laughed. "She's right."

He made a pft noise. "Penny, she's the goddess of wisdom. Of course she's right. And now you have to tell me about your bracelet."

I nervously twisted it around my wrist. "There's this thing in Greek Mythology where Hecate is depicted as having three bodies..."

You, my friend the reader, know the rest. Blue sparks, bracelets, Pearl Jackson, everything. I don't want to give you a play-by-play here, okay?

We kept talking, and soon I became tired. Alex pulled me towards him and I closed my eyes, listening to his heartbeat, blissfully unaware of the stars flickering out to be replaced by leaping shadows.

When I awoke, it was to a laugh. It was a sharp laugh, cold and harsh. The clicking of metal toed boots. The movement of a sword sheath. I opened my eyes to see the person I most expected leering over me.

"Welcome, demigods." Isabelle's black eyes were shining with malevolence.

"I don't like you." I muttered. Hey, I was half asleep and my comebacks are generally bad. What did you expect?

There was something cold around both of my wrists. I couldn't see anything but the evil pixie standing over me and the room behind her. My heart rate rose. Where's Hunter? Where's Alex?

"The feeling is mutual, Penelope." Isabelle clapped her hands. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

I didn't like the sound of that.

A/N What does Isabelle mean by 'get down to business?' Where is everyone else? And-most importantly- what day is today because JULY 30=THE MIDSUMMER STATION ACOUSTIC AND THE MIDSUMMER STATION ACOUSTIC=BEAUTIFULNESS! Please read and review!