HAPPY BIRTHDAY to SEA SWIMMER's SISTER!

Annabeth's POV

I didn't feel like going to see Rachel. We weren't in the best of terms last time we spoke. And honestly I didn't want to see her right now. I felt hurt, betrayed and angry. This wasn't the time to go see Ms. Fortune. Yep, that's what she called herself. She owned a little shop where she would dress up like a gypsy and tell people their future. She had the gift of prophecy and she used it wrongly, telling the mortals things they shouldn't hear. The future was a delicate thing. What was going to happen would happen. Trying to change it was incredibly dangerous, and I know this because I am doing it right now. I wouldn't let Luke give life to the spirits of the dead. The world would destroy itself and it would be Luke's fault.

Being dragged by Nico isn't fun either. Despite my cousin's appearance, he was strong. His focus was on reaching Rachel's store and nothing would stop him. He was really determined, which is one of the things I like about Nico. But sometimes it would get us in big trouble.

"We're almost there. Think you can walk by yourself?" Nico said as he turned to face me.

I glared at him and took my arm out of his grasp.

"Yes, Nico. Don't you remember? I learned to walk before you."

"I know. It haunts me."

I forced myself not to laugh as Nico grinned at me. His eyes didn't reflect his expression though. They were darker than usual.

We weaved ourselves out of the crowded sidewalk and crossed the street. We passed the Mc Donald's in Times Square and turned on the next block. At the end of that block was a little green store. On the glass windows it had pictures of the stars and different zodiac symbols. There was a drawing of Rachel, which she painted herself. The drawing was a tall girl with frizzy red hair holding a crystal ball. Her green eyes gave off smoke and she was dressed in bright colored clothes, with golden bells all over here.

We walked inside the store and was greeted by Rachel's friends, the other fortune tellers. Jamie Alex; was the girl with long black hair. She always wore purple gypsy clothes that exposed her flat stomach. Christy Watson; a girl with short dirty blonde hair tied back in a green bandana. She wore a green and yellow gypsy outfit and her long nails were painted forest green. The last girl that worked with Rachel was a quite one. Her name was Athalia Lakes. Her hair was dyed different colors and her outfits were always a sunset orange color.

"Nico! Are you finally coming to get your palms read?" Christy said as she took Nico's hand and stroked it with her long green nails.

"No." Nico said as he took back possession of his hand. "We just want to see Rachel."

Athalia shyly walked up to us and pointed to a dark room covered by a green curtain.

"That's Rachel's dark room. You can go in it, but be careful. It is pitch black. You can barely see where you're going." Athalia said.

"Thank you." I told her with a soft smile. "Come on, Nico, the sooner we talk to her the better."

Nico nodded at the girls and followed me inside what was called 'the dark room'. It really wasn't that dark. The walls were filled with those little plastic stars that glow in the dark. Those little ones you buy at the dollar store or at Wal-Mart.

When we reached the end of the corridor, Rachel was sitting on a red leather sofa, watching Psych on ION. She turned to me and Nico and smiled.

She was wearing a red shirt with jeans covered in paint. Her hair was held back with a pony tail.

"You came? Wow. I didn't expect that." She said as she turned the TV off.

"Tell us what you wanted to say, Rachel. I have more important things to do." Like get the book back from Luke. I added in my mind.

"Sit. Relax. I'll go get us something to drink." She said as she walked off somewhere.

Nico and I reluctantly sat down in a sofa and waited for Rachel to come back. She came back with three cans of Coca-Cola and handed two of them to Nico. Nico gave one to me and he cracked his open and took a long sip. I barely even touched mine.

"Alright, I know what has happened between you two and your little ghost/human friends. I had a dream that that would happen, but I didn't say anything. Every time I try to warn you, both of you give me a huge speech about-" But Nico cut her off.

"Alright. We get it. What did you want to tell us? We're kind of on a tight schedule."

Rachel sighed and set her soda can on the floor next to her feet. She turned to look at me.

"Percy gave Luke a fake book. It was a cook book on how to make cookies to be transported to the Bifrost." Rachel said.

"The Bifrost? The rainbow bridge to Asgard, you know how dangerous-"

"It's a cook book! Listen to me. Luke hasn't opened the book yet, but when he does, he is going to be mad. For Percy and Thalia's sake, you two need to stay away from them." Rachel said as she gestured with her hands.

It was quiet for a second and we all looked at one other. We had to be separate from Percy and Thalia to save them from Luke's wrath. They had given Luke a cook book, disguised as the actual Egyptian book of life and death, which told the reader how to make magical asgardian cookies…that's just great.

"Alright, then tell me one thing Rachel…Where is Luke?" I asked her.

I leaned forward a bit and folded my arms over my chest. Rachel looked at me with her light green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. She smiled at me, stood up, and then walked over to a little table that was covered by a piece of cloth. When she took the cloth off, it revealed a crystal ball.

"Rachel, we know you're not a fortune teller. You don't have to-"

"No. I want you to see what I see. Come." She said.

We walked over and sat around the table. She put her hands on it and slowly images started to show up.

Luke was sitting down in a warehouse of some sort, and there were many see-through people around him. Those people were spirits. He was sitting down in a chair, which represented his throne, and the fake book of life and death was in his lap, radiating with power.

How did they manage to get it to do that? Was that book really a fake?

"My people!" Luke callout. "Welcome! I see you have traveled long and hard to come here. In less than 72 hours, we will all be alive again! We will dominate the mortal world!"

The spirits cheered as Luke raised the book up into the air…like a trophy.

The crystal ball turned white and the image disappeared. Rachel stumbled backward and Nico caught her before she hit the floor. I stared into the crystal ball in shock. What broke me out of my trance was Nico when he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, Annabeth, we have to go." He said as he helped me up.

"What about Rachel?"

"I put her in sofa. She's sleeping…I think?" He said as he looked over his shoulder and towards the red sofas.

We walked out of the dark room and waved to the girls as they said bye. We were walking back to my apartment when I stopped Nico.

"What?" He said.

"We can't go back there. We have to stay away from Thalia and…and Percy." I told him.

I had no idea that it would hurt that much to say those words. But it did. I thought about myself being away from him and it felt wrong. It would only be three days, Annabeth. You can do that. I told myself.

"You're right…let's go to my apartment then. We need to call up…uh…we need to call our family."

As soon as Nico said family, I smile slowly grew on my face. We didn't really get along with them, but they had all the abilities we did. They lived all over the world. From Africa, to India, to China, to Australia, to Hawaii, to Canada, Russia, Europe, Brazil, everywhere! It was always fun to see them, even if we did argue a lot.

"I guess we do…Come on." I said as I sprinted towards his apartment.

We didn't have time to waste. Luke would be opening the book in three days. He must not know it's a fake. I also needed to get the real book back from Percy and Thalia…but I couldn't see them. I would leave that up to one of my relatives.

As soon as we got to Nico's apartment, we started calling all of our family members through all the means possible. Skype, IM, E-mail, texting, calling, etc.

We got in contact with most of them and they promised to be here in less than three hours. Now, I know what you're thinking…how can a person from Russia get to New York in three hours.

That's the Chase family way. We were all full of secrets…which Nico and I fear will be revealed soon.

So you all might be wondering why the heck I made Rachel a fortune teller.

Well…what day is it today? October 31st! I wanted to make it weird and stuff!

I hope you liked the chapter and a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY from me to Sea Swimmers Sister!

Thanks for reading!

Review!