Thank you, thank you, for all of those lovely reviews. Since the majority of you said that you wanted a sequel, then I will work on one as soon as this one is over with.

I do not own Percy Jackson. Never have, never will.

It was by far the most awful week ever. In just the span of around one week, I've discovered that my father is Kronos, nearly gotten killed and eaten some really nasty food. The worse thing? Seeing Nico go out hand in hand with my cousin, who shot me a look of supreme confidence.

"Bye," She said brightly. Nico looked at me as though he wanted to say something. I stared at the stain covering the rug to hide my expression. It hurt me to see Nico dressed up so amazingly with my cousin. He had changed into clean black jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket. It made him look amazing but it was wasted on Sasha who liked her men to wear polos and have a hundred dollars ready to give her.

"Bye, Nico," I said acidly. Saying the next words left a bitter acid taste in my mouth, "Have a good time with Sasha. You two deserve each other." All right, maybe I was being too mean but, for some weird reason, it hurt me to see him with Sasha. He frowned and stared at me with his dark eyes.

'Bye," He said gruffly and left without looking back. Only when he was gone did I sniffle and wipe something from under my eyes. It wasn't fair. Why did Sasha need to like Nico? Why couldn't she develop a crush on Percy instead?

I reached for the cup that Annabeth had just refilled and chugged it down in several quick mouthfuls. My hand was on the arm of the chair and right now, it was shaking. I clutched my hands against my chest. Next to me, Percy coughed slightly.

"Well, this is awkward," Percy said, "I'm going to go…see if there's another dead rat in my bed." Alarmed, Thalia lurched to her feet as well.

"Ugh, you're kidding, right?" She asked. She and Percy took the stairs three at a time, with Clarisse bringing up the rear. Grover started chewing on his shirt.

"You should go," Annabeth said. She seemed to sense that I wanted to stay by myself. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a twenty, which she handed to Grover. "There's an enchilada place a few streets down." His eyes lit up and he stopped chewing on the napkin he had been nibbling on for the past few minutes.

He left and Tyson, somewhat confused, went with him.

"Enchilada? What enchiladas?" He asked, his one calf brown eye shining with curiosity. The door slammed shut and one of the hinges snapped in half. I sighed, placing a hand against my forehead,.

"Hey, are you okay?" Annabeth asked, her brow wrinkling with concern. "You look really pale." I brought a hand to my cheek, clammy with sweat.

"I'm fine," I said but I could tell that she wasn't so sure. Hastily, I changed the topic. "When, exactly, does Atlas's mountain open again?"

"Tomorrow," She said and I stared at her with shock. "Tomorrow at twelve noon. That's why we came here. We were actually a couple hours early but we need all the rest we can against what we have to face."

"Do you mean the Titans that may be waiting for us?" I asked. I stared at her, suddenly seeing the brilliant girl everyone else saw.

"No, I know that they'll be waiting for us," She said darkly, "I meant Luke and the other demigods. We can't kill them like the Titans. But if we don't, they do."

"Luke…," I trailed off as I looked at her face. "Annabeth, have you ever liked Luke?" She looked so surprised, her elbow slipped off and spilled my drink to the ground. It shattered in thousands of little shards on the ground.

"Sorry," She apologized, "I'll get you another drink." She left, a little unsteady, and I stared morosely at the drink spilled on the ground. There was something pressing against my temple, a deep throbbing headache that made me wish I could crack my head open, like Zeus. The headache hurt so much, I swear that I saw a white substance glistening with the liquid pooled on the ground.

Annabeth came back with a new cup, which she pressed into my hand. It was cold and icy. I started lifting it to my mouth but my stomach lurched.

"I don't think that it's such a good idea," I said, handing it back to her, "My stomach can't take much more." Annabeth smiled, but it was brittle.

"Liquids can help calm down your stomach, since you won't take nectar or ambrosia." She pressed it back in my hands and I took a small, shaky sip. At once, my stomach bubbled over.

"Are you ever going to tell me if you like Luke or not?" I asked. I watched as her face turned bright pink..

"I did," She confessed, which surprised me because I was sure that she wouldn't even answer me, "Once upon a time, I did. But now, I don't."

"Yeah, because you like Percy," I said, nodding wisely. She nodded too, then caught her mistake, and swatted me on the arm. I laughed at her and stopped as the headache came roaring back.

"Well, what about you?" She shot back. "I seem to recall you getting all weak kneed around a certain son of Hades."

I tried my best not to look flushed but I could feel the heat rushing to my face.

"Oh, shut up," I muttered as Annabeth laughed, "I don't even know how I feel about him, to be honest."

"Why not?" Annabeth leaned against the arm of the chair, watching intently as I lifted the cup to take another drink. "You two would be perfect for each other." Okay, I know how weird this sounded, me and Annabeth talking about something as simple as boys but it was more difficult for me than facing the dragon. Really.

"He's too good for me," I said bluntly and watched her eyebrows go up in surprise. "You said so yourself, Annabeth. I really am a spawn of Tartarus and Nico deserves better. Besides, he's all soft on Sasha now." I watched Annabeth's face contort in…what, regret?

"I didn't think…," She trailed off, staring at the ground. "Don't put yourself down too much, Jaime. You are a good person." I stared at the ground, wishing it would swallow me whole.

"Okay, different topic," I said and Annabeth grinned in response to my childish outburst, "When I was…gone today, I met up with Luke. But I also met Rowan." I watched Annabeth bite her lip. "Do you know her?" She shrugged.

"Back then, Rowan Cresta was one of our best friends. She came just a year before Percy came to camp, and she was….only a year younger than Luke. Nobody but her knew who her godly parent was, and she refused to tell anyone and was sent to the Hermes cabin. She already had a reputation for being rough and withdrawn, but it didn't take long for Luke to draw her out of her shell. But then…that quest happened…," She trailed off again, drawing a picture on the couch.

"What quest?" I leaned forward. "I thought Luke was the last one to go on a quest?" She nodded.

"Yes and no," She said, "It was….Rowan snuck in to see the Oracle and it gave her a prophecy."

I stared at her without speaking. That wasn't possible, was it? Annabeth seemed to notice my expression and she smiled wryly.

"She didn't go on the quest, did she?" I asked quietly. I took another quick sip to get rid of the acid feeling in my mouth. Annabeth's eyes got cloudy, like she was thinking about some pretty bad memories.

"She did," She whispered, "It was about this dream that she was having about a giant, Chrysaor, who was starting to stir. Her mother wanted her to get rid of him before he full awake and tried to get revenge on the Gods. She took me and Luke with her and…along the way, she almost died before realizing that Chrysaor had been summoned by her father in a desperate attempt to get Hecate back. Rowan had to give him a drink from the river Lethe to get him to forget about his obsession but, in the end, he forgot her as well. She was crushed. She was never the same after that, and the gods seemed to forget about her. That's why she went with Luke so willingly."

"That's horrible," I croaked. I thought back to how I saw Rowan just this morning. With her long black hair and beautiful face, I couldn't see her suffering that much. But she had suffered, much more than I'd known.

"I know," Annabeth glanced down, "I didn't even know she was a daughter of Hecate until she saved me during the quest." I stared at a spot on the couch.

"You won't be able to fight her, will you?" I asked. Wordlessly, she shook her head, twisting her hands.

"She was like a sister to me," Annabeth said glumly, "I can't even think of fighting her."

I stared down at my hands, wishing that there was something I could do to help Annabeth. She was being to sincere about this; I couldn't believe I'd ever thought she was so evil. I reached out and patted her arm awkwardly.

I opened my mouth to say something when the door opened and my aunt walked in. She was the same as I remembered. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a bun with loose tendrils framing her hard face. Her eyes were hazel and slightly unfocused and red rimmed. In her hands was a pack of cigarettes and a bag of groceries.

"You," She turned one of her eyes toward me, "I thought you'd gone for good when you first left here. How come you come'd back?" Her words were so hard to understand because she was slurring them.

"It's just for the night," I said patiently. Standing, I knew, I would be at the ideal place to smack her in the face.

"Best be leavin' soon," She grunted, dropping the bag of groceries on the floor with a heavy thud. "There'd be monsters outside of ma house because of you." My pulse slowed and then sped up.

"Really, they managed to find us?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was grim, like she had been expecting this but didn't like it. My aunt nodded. My heart sped up rapidly.

"Got guns," Auntie grunted and I stared at her. I couldn't process this. It was almost too much to believe.

"Since when do monsters use guns?" I asked Annabeth weakly, even as my stomach did nervous flip flops.

"I don't think that it's monsters," Annabeth said slowly, "I think that there are demigods out there." She cursed under her breath. "I should've seen this coming. Gods, I'm so stupid."

As she spoke, there was something that shattered the window and imbedded itself against the wall. I flinched and stared at the peeling panel of wood.

Auntie cursed and stuck her middle finger out the window.

"What are they doing?" I asked Annabeth. She shook her head, her eyes looking wild.

"They must really not want us to rescue Artemis," She frowned, biting her lip and staring at my aunt. "Why don't you put the groceries away and stay in the kitchen. There are no windows there so they can't get you." Auntie cussed at her too but did as she was told.

"I…I don't feel so good," The anticipation of the upcoming battle became too much for my stomach to bear. My stomach turned over…and suddenly there was a fire licking up the sides of my stomach. I gasped and doubled over, staring at my hands. My vision blurred, distorting the shapes of my fingers into ghastly figures. I screamed and clutched my head, which was ready to break apart.

"Jaime, are you okay?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was bleak and emotionless; she didn't even offer to help me up. I reached a hand out and it slammed against the table before I could reach for my cup.

"I think that I'm dying," I choked, trying to make a joke out of it. Out of the sides of my eyes, I could see figures twisting in the air, reaching for me blindly.

"That wouldn't be a surprise," Annabeth said and I stared at her. Her face pulsed with weird colors but the expression was clear enough to see. "After all, you just drank about six ounces of deadly poison."

"What are you talking about?" My voice sounded off to me, more distant and off. Annabeth's expression contorted into something of pure madness.

"I'm sorry, Jaime," She said sincerely, "But you're too dangerous to have around. Besides, Kronos is trying to lure you to his side and I can't have that. I'm protecting my friends."

"By killing me?" I choked as a sudden choking sensation entered my lungs. "You're crazy, Annabeth!" She looked genuinely hurt.

"No, I'm not," She told me, "Once you're no longer breathing, I'll go tell Thalia and the rest that you died. Nico's not here to save you so…there will be no second chance for you, Jaime." I believed her. I believed that she really would do this. How could I have been so stupid as to think that she could change?

I stared to rise and nearly fell again. I turned and placed my hands around her throat. She sputtered and tried to shake me off, her facing going blue.

"If I'm going down, you're going down with me," I snarled. Her foot connected with my shin and I stumbled and fell. A few more gunshots sounded near the wall. I almost wished that one of them would hit Annabeth in the heart.

At that moment, I got the strangest sensation ever. It was like I could fell somebody stepping over me while I was dying. Weird, right? I spun around, too late, to see the bullet coming toward me. I gasped and blood exploded in front of my face. I glanced down, expecting to see a gaping bullet wound. There was none.

And in front of me, was my aunt. A gaping wound had been blow on her neck, painting her elegant black nails into a red mess. She stared at me, and her expression softened as she fell. I let go of Annabeth and forgot about me for a second. I caught her as she fell, supporting her with my forearms.

"Why?" I whispered. There was a low ringing sound in my ear. "Why did you do it?" Her eyes got misty and she started to twitch in my arms.

"Tell….tell her…Ciara….I….protected….kept me word," She trailed off and stared at something I couldn't see. Her body jerked to the side and didn't move again. Tears stung at my vision. All these years, she'd actually cared about me. Behind me, I heard Annabeth catch her breath. The quiet sound brought back my anger and I lunged at her again.

I fell against something and the next thing I knew, I was staring at Annabeth's shoe. I took a breath and found that I couldn't exhale. I started to panic.

"You…murderer," I gasped and glanced down. Annabeth didn't thaw out as she stared at me. The last thing I saw was her figure headed up the stairs, slowly, waiting for me to die.

Rowan P.O.V

She didn't know why Luke was pacing back and forth. His loafers were going to burn a hole in the ground if he didn't stop soon. Ethan looked at Luke without any interest.

"Luke," She said, "Why don't you stop? Wearing out the carpet won't help whatever it is you're hoping to do."

He spun around, turning to glare at her with his amazing blue eyes. Rowan had forgotten had mad he could get.

"Something's about to happen," Luke spat, "If anything happens to Jaime, then all of Kronos's plans are going down the drain. One of those demigods should have contacted me by now." Rowan sighed, weaving her fingers together. Ever since Luke had been told to take care of Jamie, she was all he would talk about. Rowan secretly wondered if it would be too bad of somebody slapped her across the face, just once.

"Rowan's shooting sparks from her eyes," Ethan chuckled and Rowan glared at him, flipping him off. It was irritating, being one of the only girl demigods there. She had to endure all of the teasing just to survive long enough to help Luke. And he didn't even care.

"Ethan's rolling his e-e-yye," Rowan shot back, emphasizing the last word. Ethan growled and flipped her off. Luke pinched his nose.

"Enough," He growled at both of them. Rowan felt offended then sad. "In a week's time, Kronos will need my body. We have a week to somehow convince the most irritating girl in the world to come join us." Rowan stared at the floor. In a week, Luke would no longer be Luke.

He would be Kronos. Life wasn't fair.

"It won't take that long," Rowan said. She knew that her voice sounded irritated but there was no help for it. "Just corner her friends and she'll surrender. That's why Kronos gave them that phony prophecy, right?" Luke ground his teeth together and spun around to tell her off. His phone began to ring and he picked it up, still looking annoyed.

"What?" He snapped and his expression changed. His face went bone white and he staggered. "Are you sure?" He croaked, then snapped, "Yeah, I get that you weren't good enough to take her out…that's your problem, not mine…yeah, screw you too." He flipped the phone off.

"What is it?" Rowan asked, although she was sure that she already knew. Luke looked at her.

"Jamie's dead. She was killed just a few minutes ago."

Nico PO.V

"And that's the Huntress, right over there…," Nico said, pointing to the constellation he was currently describing. Sasha pointed at the wrong one, seeming confused and Nico redirected her hand so it was pointing to the right one,

"Oh. Oops," She said and laughed. Nico looked away, his heart contracting painfully. Sasha looked so much like Jaime, it was almost funny. They had the same red hair and the same face structure.

"Are you sure that you don't want to go back home?" Nico asked her. "We've been out here for a while now."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Sasha waved a hand then pouted, "Awww, do you want to ditch me? This may be my last time seeing you. I'm not in any hurry to have it end." Nico leaned back against the rock, feeling his stomach flip over. He wished that she would say they could go home so he could confront Jaime about earlier.

Grin and bear it, he though, it's not that bad. And it wasn't. Sasha was seriously cool and seemed to be genuinely interested in astronomy. But she was clingy and was insistent in getting her way. But then again, what girl didn't want to get her way?

Nico raised a hand to point to the sky again and felt something press against the side of his skull. He winced, placing a hand over his temple. Close to him, he could see a ghostly imprint of a human begin to materialize.

That was strange. Normally, ghosts didn't come unless he summoned them. Why was this one here? Did it have a connection with him?

Was it Bianca? He didn't have anything to do the sacrifice with to summon it but then, to his amazement, the ghost began to form by itself.

He felt a moment of pure disappointment: It wasn't his sister. He knew because this ghost had red hair and eyes that were usually bright but were now dulled. She looked at him sadly and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

"Is that Jamie?" Sasha gasped. "Why does she look so pale?" Nico knew and he had a good idea why Sasha wanted them to stay out there so long.

"Jamie's dead," Nico spat and glared at Sasha, who cringed on the ground, "And I know you know who did it. So you're going to tell me or…,"

"Or what?" She sneered, "You can't hit a girl."

"No," Nico agreed, "I won't hit a girl. But if I tell Thalia what you did, she'll be more than happy to hit you." Sasha paled. "So, tell me what you know on the way back."

Yeah, another update!

I'm so excited that so many people are reviewing. You can be expecting a sequel right after the end of this story...which should be in about three to five chapters.

Remember to read and review!