A/N: Chapter 21 time! As per tradition this is a future chapter. We've got a fun cameo this chapter, I can't wait for you guys to read it! Anyways I'm sorry for the long wait last chapter, that one was a beast and a half to write. We should be back to regular uploads now that the finale' chapter is finished.

With Annabeth, Spring 2011

"THE LAST JEDI IS A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE!"

"YOUTUBE WILL ALWAYS BE A FAIR COMPANY!"

"TELL JASON TO WATCH HIS BACK LOL!"

By the gods dealing with cursed insane campers sucks. I've been helping Will with Cabin Nine while I wait for an older camper to meet me again.

Percy and Nico have been complaining like babies while we wait. Like Mom told me once, 'Knowing as much as you can will only benefit you. Always know what you can before a journey, knowledge is the greatest ally a demigod can have.'

Will pats my shoulder, "I've got it handled, Annabeth. You don't have to worry about them, they eat, sleep and do... other things. Why don't you go help Percy and Nico out? They've been complaining all day and I'm sure they'll be getting into trouble without you there."

I snort distastefully, "They get into trouble even if I am there. If you say you can handle then I guess I'll go, I probably should be there when Sam arrives."

"So Sam's coming back, is it for the quest? As far as I know he's been away from camp for a while now, never thought he'd be back any time soon."

"Sam's father was friends with my brother from the journal. He might know more about this quest, or at least things related to it. I want to know as much as I can before heading out, you never know how handy some beforehand information can be until you need it."

He nods appreciatively, "Makes sense. Guess I know why Percy's pet name for you is 'wise girl'. Geez, you two have no shame whatsoever! Flirting like that in public, whatever will the children think!"

I blush and punch him in the arm, "IT'S NOT FLIRTING."

I smooth out my shirt and get my cool back. I have a reputation to uphold, Annabeth Chase doesn't lose her shit easily!

"It's only a nickname, nothing more."

He rolls his eyes at my weak-I MEAN totally well thought out answer.

"Whatever you say." He peeks out the window, "Looks like Sam's here if the squealing girls are anything to go off of."

Good, now that he's here this quest is one step closer to getting truly started.

A horde of girls crowd around someone when I step outside from the Big House. They squeal and shriek like they're at a concert or something.

My younger half-sister walks over and squints at the man as he desperately tries to fight off the fangirls.

"…Is that Andrew Garfield?"

I shake my head and ruffle her hair. She swipes at me and does a tiny little glare. Daww, she's adorable!

"He's not Andrew Garfield, I did think the same thing when I first saw him though. That's Samuel Strife, Child of Eris and well know psychopath. One of the strongest demigods I know of, and that's saying something since I know all of the children of the big three!"

She looks curious, "Could he take on Percy?"

"Fuck no, Percy would kick his ass!"

"Are you just saying that because he's your boyfriend?"

"…I don't have to answer that."

She better wipe that coy smile off her face before I throw her into the lake!

"Well what about Thalia?"

"I'd say it's a good match. Thalia hasn't really been relevant since book three."

"…What?"

I wave her off, "Nothing, nothing. Just a fourth wall break, nothing to worry about."

She just stares at me dumbly, "…What?"

We're quiet for a second, her stormy grey eyes staring at me like I'm a crazy person. Huh, now that I think about it she looks EXACTLY like I did when I was twelve. What did Percy say my hair looked like, princess curls?

Yup, princess curls.

"Shouldn't you be archery practice right now?"

She looks away sheepishly, "I'm not good with a bow. I miss a lot and the Apollo girls always make fun of me."

I make note of that, I'll have Will talk with his younger cabin members later.

"Well, who cares what they think? There's things you're good at, and things you aren't great with, don't beat yourself up because someone's better than you at something. There's things you can do that those girls could never imagine, so cheer up, you'll get better in time."

She gives me a big grin, "Thanks Annabeth, you're the best!"

You're damn right I am.

She waves at me as she runs off, and I get a little nostalgic. I remember being that little and helping Percy prove his innocence by finding Lord Dickheads thunderbolt.

Gods that was less than six years ago, so much shit has happened in between then. I shake my head free of my morose thoughts, I don't want to get caught up in the past and start crying (again.).

I look over and Sam's still being assaulted by a bunch of little preteens.

"Andrew you're sooooo cute!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

"FOR FUCKS SAKE, I'M NOT ANDREW GARFIELD!"

Okay I better go help him out before his fans tear his clothes off or something.

"Alright, clear off girls! Leave him alone and get back to your activities, him and I need to have a chat privately!"

"…Does that mean I can have Percy then?"

I glare at her and she yelps and runs off, the posse of preteens following suit.

Sam dusts off his leather trench coat, "Thanks for the assist, those things are like piranha's or something, they kept trying to take my coat off!"

I haven't seen Sam in a while, but he hasn't changed a huge amount since we'd last seen each other. His hair is a shade of black, Onyx if I'd guess, and like all children of Eris, his eyes are a startling red color.

Huh, he pretty much is Andrew Garfield. Gods I really do see why people thought he was a Child of Aphrodite when he first came to camp, he's gorgeous.

"Okay, now why the fuck am I here? I'm busy planning with Hylla and she doesn't like me going anywhere alone. Something about property damage and self-harm I think."

Aaand there's the part of Sam that really makes people worry, his incredible ability to get into trouble literally anywhere he goes. If you think Percy's bad about it, then you should just listen to Sam's stories. You'd change your tune quickly.

"I need your help with a quest."

I hand him my brothers journal and he raises an eyebrow.

"The hell is this?"

"It's a journal, usually you read them… You can read, right?"

He glares at me, "YES I can read! What I meant is why the hell am I reading this?!"

I roll my eyes and smile, messing with Sam has always been pretty fun.

"Just read it, you'll understand why I want you to by the end of it."

He snatches it from my hand and starts skimming though the pages, mumbling grumpily about IM's, asshole women and reading.

The journal snaps shut as Sam finishes reading it. He closes his eyes, likely lost in his thoughts. From what I know, Sam's relationship with his father was complicated. He told me once he never really knew much about him, that Max never told him about his past. Learning these things about his dad must be fairly shocking.

Sam opens his eyes and looks at me, his gaze is hard and focused.

"Why didn't we IM about this? Making me come back here is really unnecessary."

…Okay so he's just annoyed. Great.

"Have you seen the video quality of IM's recently? I'm not reading out a book to you because the feed is too grainy!"

"Hey! I'm doing my best!"

We jump and look around. A shimmering image of a woman with olive skin, black hair and brown eyes glares at me through an IM.

Oh fuck, "Oh, um, sorry Lady Iris, I meant your IM's are top quality, never been better."

Sam snickers as I blush in embarrassment, Gods why can't I catch a break?! I hope I don't piss off Iris, if she refuses to do IM's for me anymore that would be a huge problem!

Iris waves her hand and huffs, "Whatever, look I'm just passing a message along. Athena wants you to meet her before you leave. She said to call her after you're done preparing for the quest."

"Thank you, Lady Iris. Um, I'm still okay to use IM's later, right?"

She looks up and taps her chin with her finger, "…I guess you can. I'm making a good profit from the amount of calls you send to your boyfriend, it would be bad for business if I cut you off!"

Iris laughs as my face flushes even more and cuts the message before I can yell at her.

I avoid looking at Sam, but I can practically feel the shit eating grin on his face.

"So, Annabeth is a bad girl now and insults gods right to their face? I thought that was my job!"

"…Shut up. Anyways you've read the journal, can you tell me anything about 'Samson'? He's important to the quest I'm about to go on!"

He rubs his stubble as he idly plays with the journal in his hand.

"Yeah, I've got nothing. Dad never told me anything about himself when he was young. Though Mori is… vaguely familiar. I feel like I've heard it before, but I can't really remember. It's kind of… hard for some reason."

I raise my eyebrow as Sam rubs his temple in confusion, 'hard to remember'? Percy described a familiar feeling during the time Hera took his memories and he thought he was a Roman demigod. Has someone taken memories from Sam then? Who would though? It can't be a god because they have no reason to, heck no one has a reason to.

I huff in annoyance, "Great, then I still don't know any more about him! Gods why does any information about demigods from the past have to be so hard to come by!?"

Sam looks off in the distance, his eyes seem a little glazed over. I go to shake his shoulder, but he jolts and his eyes clear up. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small picture. The picture is of a man holding a small infant in his arms.

I take in the details more. The man looks short, he's dressed in a nice suit and his darker hair is turning grey. He looks fairly stressed, yet still happy. The baby is wrapped up in a blanket, but I can see that their eyes are a deep red color.

Is this… Sam and his father?

He flips the picture around and runs his thumb along the back of the paper, and a strange feeling flows through my gut. The last time I felt something like that was when I was on Circe's island, it feels like… magic?

Wait, that is magic! Where's Lou?!

Lou Ellen's face is hard and focused as she stares intently at the back of the picture Sam handed to her. She rubs her chin as she finds some meaning in the back of the paper.

Lou runs her finger along the back of the paper, small sparks sizzle and pop as they follow her fingers path.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing!" Sam voices his complaint, it must look like Lou is lighting his picture on fire or something.

She angles the picture so he can see that it's not burning. Sam calms down a little, but still seems on edge. This picture must mean a lot to him if he's getting this possessive.

After a second of running her finer along the back, the sparkles stop and Lou leans back onto the steps of the Big House.

She rubs her forehead and groans.

"Gods that took a lot out of me! I don't know who casted that spell, but It took all of my mana to reveal the message. Whomever put that spell there must be obscenely powerful. I've only felt a few spells that strong before, and that magic came from my mother!"

She hands me the photo and I read out the message on the back, "It's in safe hands Samson. Always. 8472."

We all share a look, what's the significance of this message? What's in safe hands, and what's with the numbers?

I hand the picture back to Sam who puts it back in his jacket. Lou looks over at Sam and squints at him, "Hey Sam? You might want to investigate into your memories. I can feel lingering traces of magic that took memories from you a long time ago, maybe Mnemosyne would help you?"

Sam reels back a little, clearly shocked by the revelation, "Someone took memories from me? Ah fuck, that sounds like something important to look into. Dammit, I'm getting married and now this shit pops up!"

I look at him surprised, "Oh my gods you're getting married! Sam I'm so happy for you!"

He turns away sheepishly, "It's not that big a deal!"

Before I could get any more out of him, the door to the Big House opens and Mr. D walks out with a bunch of random things in his arms. He looks down at us and scowls.

"Great, now they're squatting on my footsteps. Shoo, shoo! Shouldn't you be on your quest miss Annabelle?"

He looks at Sam and his eyes narrow dangerously. Sam gulps and rubs his neck unconsciously.

"And why are you back Mr. Cowboy? I thought you were off running around in your underwear with those Gargarean a-holes Ares always boasts about. Finally get tired of killing women because they wouldn't date you?"

Sam scowls fiercely and stands from the stairs. Unfortunately, it's not that intimidating since he's at the bottom step while Dionysus is the top.

It's almost like when a teacup dog is trying to size up a larger dog like a pit bull or something.

He points a finger at Mr. D who raises an amused eyebrow.

"Alright listen here you immortal piece of…!"

Lou taps the side of his head and Sam crumples to the ground unceremoniously.

Mr. D snorts and I groan into my hands. Lou looks at him as he snores loudly on the ground. She looks at me and back to Sam.

"I'll just… bye."

She grabs his back legs and starts dragging him away, his face scrapping against the pathway as she does.

Ouch, that's gonna hurt when he wakes up!

Mr. D laughs as Lou drags Sam's face across the dirt, "Ha! Drop him again on the way out for me!"

"Mr. D!" I scold him, "That's inappropriate for a Camp Director to say!"

He waves a hand at me dismissively, "Bah! No one cares, he's an ass hole anyway."

Sam snores loudly, "…You're… an asshole…"

Mr. D and I stare dumbly at Sam as he insults the Wine God in his sleep.

He points a thumb at Sam, "Is this guy for real?"

I just shake my head in response, "I don't even know anymore with him."

"Oh!" I suddenly exclaim and Mr. D jumps in surprise, "Mr. D, does the number 8472 mean anything to you?"

He tilts his head to the side and thinks back on his memories, "Oh right, that's probably what she meant."

"Wait, who meant what?"

He waves me off again. Gods I'm getting sick of him doing that!

"Nothing, nothing. Go look in the attic, there should be a safe in the corner somewhere. If aqua-lad cleaned up right in there like I told him, you should find it no problem."

I perk up, a safe in the attic? This might be the information I'm looking for!

Gods, this place stinks. Percy was right, this place smells like a corpse. No wonder the oracle left this place and took over Rachel as a new host, she smells infinitely better than this place!

Percy's 'good job' cleaning the attic really isn't as good a job as thought he did. This place is as still disorganized as the lines for souls in the underworld.

It took me about ten minutes of digging around boxes and other trophies of war, but I finally found what I'm looking for.

Buried under a mountain of boxes is a small celestial bronze number combination safe, no bigger than a throw pillow.

I pull it from the pile and set it on the floor. I punch in the number code from Sam's picture and the safe clicks open.

Excitement fills my chest as I grin like a child in a candy store, I love opening loot up like this! I probably get it from playing Legend of Zelda so much when I was a kid. Gods, Percy would call me such a nerd if he knew that!

I reach into the safe and pull out a small leather bound book. I flip through the pages and my excitement falls completely, it's a bunch of notes and symbols about stuff that I have no clue about.

Magical light conversion? Liminal chrono spheres?

What the Hades are those?

Huh, a ring that turns into a flaming cutlass? Dude, that sounds sweet. I flip through the pages some more and I think I understand what this is.

It's a note book. Similar to Daedalus's laptop, this notebook is full of blueprints for inventions and other mystical items.

What's this? I read the title of one of the pages, "Seeing Stones, Orbs of Dodona Sap."

Dodona trees? Haven't those been lost for ages? I flip over to another page, and something slips out and drops to the floor.

I pick it up and turn it around in my hands, it's another picture. Looking in the picture I see a young man and a woman holding hands and smiling into the camera.

The picture is old, the color on it has warped and faded severely, but the basic color is still there.

The man looks around eighteen years old, same as the woman, his hair is black and wild like a bird's feathers. He almost looks like a girl since his face is smooth and rounded, his features aren't very defined like most boys are.

His eyes are what gets my attention most, they're a very light color of grey. No mistaking it, he's a Child of Athena.

I shift my gaze and look at his companion, she's a very beautiful young woman. Her face is long and smooth, her hair is so blonde it's almost white. Like the boy, her eyes draw the most attention. They're a shade of emerald so bright and vivid you'd think they're actual gem stones.

Hazel would love this woman's eyes, she's always had a thing for precious gems.

It looks like they're standing in front of the Athena cabin, but it looks nothing like how it did when I first came to camp. The steps and the front design are totally different, I only know it's moms cabin because of the shining number '6' above the door.

A strange feeling wells up in my gut, I feel almost sad looking at this. Here's a picture of one of my brothers I've never met before, and likely never will.

I sigh in frustration, why can't Camp Halfblood have a place like New Rome for Greek demigods? I could meet elder demigods and learn so much from them if there was a safe place they could live in peace!

This poor boy and girl were probably killed only a few years after this picture was taken, Camp kicks you out after you get to a certain age and from there they have no truly safe place to be.

There's nothing to stop a monster from breaking into their home and killing them while they sleep.

I slam the book closed, Gods why does this have to be so frustrating! I know Luke was wrong in starting a war against Olympus, but there are somethings I agree with him on, no matter how against the gods they are.

Does Olympus actually care about? Or are Demigods handy expendable things that you let die young so they never get to the age where they're wise enough to know how shitty it is to serve Olympus?

"You know, when I asked Iris to send a message to you, I thought you would try and respond to me just a bit quicker."

I yelp and spin around, tripping over the safe and landing on my butt hard.

My mother just raises an eyebrow and looks down at me neutrally. I flush for what must be the millionth time, gods why do I keep embarrassing myself today?

She makes no attempts to help me back to my feet, "Hello mother, sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I was caught up in the mystery of this quest, time just flew by I guess."

I laugh a little, hoping to break the tense mood. She doesn't laugh with me.

"Yes, history is quite a fun thing. I don't come to Camp often, but this quest of yours is quite personal to me."

I blink my eyes at the revelation, how in the world is this quest personal to mom, why is it personal? She has a stake in this quest, so what's the significance of these inventions my brother created?

Mom seems to know my thoughts by just reading my face, "I won't get into the specifics of this quest, all I want is for you to come back to me after it is finished. Samson was my favorite child, there's much I'd like to know considering this quest is related to him."

Huh, that's kind of… surprising. As far as I've known mother has never chosen favorites, heck she's barely involved with us at all!

Other gods find sneaky ways to meet their children, be it through poor disguises or Hermes showing up at camp to make a delivery and signing paper work for fifteen minutes, and having his children be around him while he does his business.

I cough awkwardly into my fist, "Soooo… What sort of things should I be looking out for? Is it just, report back? Or should I be aware of specifics?"

"I trust you'll use your judgment and find things of importance, Annabeth. You're one of my smartest children, I have faith in you to succeed the most in this quest."

We stand there staring at each other awkwardly, it's always hard to know how you should act when talking with mother, let alone actually standing face to face with her!

Athena raises an eyebrow at me, "Usually a smart demigod would make use of the opportunity of meeting their godly parent in the flesh by asking for something. Most ask for a hug."

"…Can I have a hug."

"No."

Fuck, this is really awkward.

"Why's Samson your favorite child?"

I'm just throwing something out there, I don't have anything super important to ask her that she would actually tell me.

Athena's gaze softens just slightly as she seems to be lost in fond memories.

"Ah, that's a good question. He was an individual of many talents and was acquainted with many gods, even Artemis liked him. She considered him family, I dare say she thought of him as a friend. She'd deny it though, Artemis is obsessed with her image, but she's far more accepting of men then you'd ever realize."

Her eyes focus on me and for a second, she seems… unimpressed?

"I really wish he had been here for the wars, he is by far the most versatile child I've born. He would have been an even greater asset than you, likely would've handled events far more effectively too."

My whole body seems to freeze, mom has always been a straight forward woman. Her thoughts are her own and she has no qualms about raising them.

Still, it doesn't make it hurt less when she compares you to someone else and tells you they're just a better version of you.

Mom looks at the watch on her wrist, "Ah, time's up. I must be off, be sure to contact me as soon as you can when this quest is complete."

She shimmers and vanishes into thin air.

I sit down on the safe and run a hand through my hair. I just need a few minutes, that's all.

No one needs to know my mom made me feel worthless and cry.

Gods, Medusa's statue garden shop gives me the creep even six years after we killed her.

The petrified expression of horror are immortalized for eternity as her victims are decorated all about the grounds.

I feel sick to my stomach as I finally appreciate the true tragedy that is this woman's work. I pass by a statue and I stop and look at it sadly.

It's a young boy, only three-years-old.

He must've gotten lost and Medusa brought him into her home, promising him food and love only to murder him and display his corpse as a statue.

Percy and Nico are quiet as we move through the rows and rows of statues. Gods, how did I not notice how many there were when we were kids?

The air feels heavy here, almost as though it were sick. I spot Grover's uncle Ferdinand who's now covered in graffiti and missing an arm.

I scowl at the treatment these people have been given, it seems when Kronos's army camped here some of his monsters had the time of their life desecrating the last memories of these poor people.

Nico looks around the garden, "This place is sick with death, so many souls met their end here."

Percy looks to Nico and asks hopefully, "Are their souls still trapped here?"

Nico smiles sadly, "No one has the power to keep souls trapped like that without drawing my father's attention. These people passed into the underworld long ago, they're in their appropriate afterlives by now."

Percy and I smile softly with knowledge, at least these people are dead and not trapped within a stone prison forever.

We walk through the garden more when we suddenly here something grunting. I get low to the ground and sneak along the wall.

I look back at Percy and Nico who stand there confused, I point an angry finger at the ground behind me and thankfully they know what I want.

They squat behind me and we sneak along the wall and peek around the corner.

Looking around the corner we spot the source of the grunting. A young man with fluffy black hair and pale skin is tugging on a strange red sphere a statue is grasping in their arms.

I raise an eyebrow as the man grunts and groans, cartoonishly trying to free the orb from the statues iron grip.

With a loud crunch, the fingers on the orb break off and drop into the grass.

The strange man takes the orb and looks dumbly at his handiwork, "…Whoop, sorry man."

He grabs the digits and tries putting them in the statutes palm, a couple drop so he stacks them loosely as best as he can.

"Just, uh… sorry…man."

Percy and Nico start snickering behind me. I turn around and glare at them, smacking Percy's shoulder to make him shut up.

"Boys, this isn't funny! That's someone's corpse!"

Nico grins cheekily at me and Percy, "You're right, it's not funny. IT'S HILARIOUS!"

I glare at them, but it's ineffective and they burst out laughing loudly.

I yell at them to shut up, but these stupid boys just keep laughing like Hyena's! A couple punches to their arms shut them, and we look back around at the boy.

The boy… who is now looking at us with wide eyes.

Wide, grey eyes.

Something about him is uncanny, and oddly familiar. I think back and suddenly it clicks.

The picture in the safe, Mom's interest in this quest, the line from the prophecy; 'With the help of the creator you will find one,'

This man, this young boy who only looks like he's twenty is the source of the problem back at camp.

This is my brother from fifty years ago, my brother Samson.