"Erm, Acacia?" I turned around, glancing at Annabeth expectantly and trying to shake the feeling I was being watched.

"What's up Annabeth?" She glanced at Percy and Grover uncertainly, but the two were absorbed in their conversation, a few yards ahead of us. Her face was paler than usual and she kept fiddling with the beads on her leather necklace from Camp.

"Well... err... you might already know, since you've been acting really weird lately, but Percy was talking about this dream he had."

I felt my chest tighten and my heart hammer against my ribs uncomfortably, but I kept my face straight and raised a single eyebrow. "What sort of dream?" I asked carefully.

Annabeth chewed at her lip for a moment. "Well, what are you dreaming about?" she asked, sighing heavily. I could tell she didn't want to say whatever it was out loud, just like I could tell it scared her. But there was no way I was spilling my guts about dreaming about Apollo and my dead sister. And why would Percy be dreaming about them anyway?

I tried to cast my mind back and was immediately hit with a sinking feeling as I remembered the worrying dreams stood in front of a chasm. "Oh! You mean that voice? At the bottom of a pit?"

She shuddered violently, nodding. "D-Do you know what that means?" she muttered at me.

I blinked, totally confused as I shook my head at her. "Erm, I can tell you it's annoying if that helps," I shrugged. Annabeth gawped slightly. "I don't know what you want me to say, Annabeth. Why? What's wrong this time?"

"Percy thought it was down in the Underworld," she said slowly.

I raised my eyebrows. "You mean Hades?" She stared, her eyes wide and hopeful. I didn't quite understand why she'd be hopeful about creepy dreams involving Hades, but I shook my head with a frown. "That's not Hades, Annabeth. Granted, Hades isn't a god you want to upset, but that's not him. It's not a god's voice. It sounded . . . older, almost, if that makes any sense."

Apparently it did, because she let out a strange whimpering noise and snapped her gaze away from me quickly. I raised an eyebrow. "Annabeth, I've been having those dreams since I was old enough to remember. Nothing's ever happened. Sure, it's creepy and nothing it says is good, but the most it's ever done was disturb my sleep."

She stared at me, her jaw hanging slightly. "You really have no idea, do you?" she breathed.

"Hey, there is absolutely no need to insult my intelligence," I scowled at her. She blinked, muttering something I couldn't catch under her breath and shaking her head in exasperation. "Annabeth, if there's something you want to say, just say it, okay? But seriously, it's not that bad."

"Yes, Acacia, it is," she frowned. "Anyway, I'm sure I'm wrong."

I scoffed, halting on the spot and staring at her in surprise. "Hang on, I want to remember this moment exactly right."

"What? Why?" Annabeth frowned, glancing around her.

"One of Athena's children, as in, Athena the goddess of wisdom, just hoped she was wrong." Annabeth scowled at me, pulling herself free and stalking toward Percy. "Aw, come on! You have got to admit that never happens!"

"What is with you?" she snapped angrily at me. My face fell and I shrugged, all humour lost. I knew exactly what was coming. "Do you have multiple personality disorder or something? You're usually so calm and... sensible and now that it matters, you're no better than him." She pointed at Percy as though he was the cause of some horrible plague.

"Annabeth, breath," I said. She glowered at me, but I kept my face straight. "I just don't understand what's so scary about a nightmare. Like I said, I've been having them since I was about five, and-"

"That doesn't make it better, Acacia!" she hissed at me. "That's worse! A lot worse!"

"Annabeth," I frowned, suddenly dropping my voice until it was stern and irritated. "Either spit it out, or change the tune."

Her eyes widened a fraction, but she took a deep breath and straightened out. "I think... I think the pit in your dreams is Tartarus," she mumbled. I frowned for a second, staring ahead with my hands deep in my pockets. It took me a moment to realise what she meant.

My mind raced back to my school in Scotland, with my history teacher, Mr Graham. I remembered he used to test me on the simpler facts, like who the world had been divided between. But then I remembered when he had asked about how the gods had come to power, who they had defeated.

Before I could stop myself, I scoffed weakly. "You're kidding me? Annabeth, that's insane. Why on Earth would K-" She slapped a hand around my mouth and held it there, flinching as a shock of electricity rushed through my skin but refusing to move away.

"It was just a theory," she insisted quietly. "You're probably right, but don't . . . don't say his name. Ever."

Slowly, I lifted a hand and pushed her arm away, stretching out my jaw cautiously. "Okay," I nodded. "But next time to smack me-"

"Stick to the point, would you?" Annabeth pleaded.

I held my hands up in surrender, glancing curiously in Percy's direction. He was still absorbed in conversation with Grover, Sasha plodding along between them with her tail between her legs and her ears back to keep tabs on us. "Fine. But I still don't understand. Have you ever . . . you know . . ."

Annabeth stared at me, startled. "Had that dream? No. No, I haven't, thank the gods." I pursed my lips tightly, flicking my eyes back to Percy.

"Why us?" I asked, only realising I had said it out loud when Annabeth flinched beside me. She knew. I knew she knew. She probably knew I knew she knew. Maybe that was why she suddenly became very interested in her necklace. "What Annabeth?"

"N-Nothing," she stammered.

"You are a terrible liar," I groaned. "And I lived with Thalia for a long time. I know a lie when I hear one. Spill."

"I can't," she mumbled at me.

"Why?" I demanded, my annoyance rushing back with a vengeance. "Why won't anyone tell me anything? Acacia, you're being moved to Scotland. Why? Oh, we can't tell you that. Look, now you're being hunted by Furies. Why? Put it to the back of your mind. Next, you're being tested by twelve gods, one of which wants very badly to kill you. Why? You'll know when the time's right. And to top it off, you'll have really weird dreams, that seem to make sense to everyone else but you. Oh and of course, we can't bloody tell you!"

I breathed heavily, scowling into the distance. Annabeth had her teeth dug into her bottom lip and her eyes were glistening, like she was about to cry. I cursed under my breath.

"You know you weren't supposed to be born?" she said, her voice shaking.

"Thanks for that Annabeth," I sighed sarcastically, massaging my temples. "Nice to know I'm loved."

"You know what I mean," she frowned. "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades took an oath never to sire demigod children."

"Yeap, I remember," I gulped sourly, my face setting.

"Well, most people think it was because of World War II," she continued.

I opened my mouth, but stopped, frowning across at her. "Think?" I repeated curiously. She paled slightly, but gulped and nodded. "Why do I know I'm not going to like the next thing that comes out of your mouth?" Annabeth grimaced at me, but before she could say anything, Sasha barked loudly.

"Erm, guys!" Percy called. "We have a little problem."

"Little? There's the understatement for the century," I muttered sourly, shooting Annabeth a knowing look. "But what now?" I turned and felt my eyes widen. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Maybe we should..." Grover stammered nervously.

"Right behind you," I agreed.

At the end of the street, heading right toward us, were at least eight hellhounds. The four of us turned to legged it back the way we had come. As we ran, Percy pulled out his pen and uncapped Riptide, while I fumbled with my locket. Percy, Annabeth and Grover hurried around the corner, but I skidded to a halt. Muttering a prayer to my father, I pulled the bow over my head and took out an arrow.

"Acacia! Hurry up!" Annabeth cried out.

"Keep going, I'll catch up!" The hellhounds were closing in, faster than I could have ran without the wind. And I wasn't going anywhere that fast if the other's couldn't follow. I pulled the bow back as far as I could and aimed carefully, yet quickly. It sliced through the air, flying straight for the first hellhound. It shrieked out as lightning cracked, causing it to explode in a cloud of yellow dust, knocking the nearest two off their feet.

"ACACIA!"

"KEEP RUNNING!" I hung my bow back over my shoulder hurriedly and turned. Percy, Annabeth and Grover were out of sight and the hellhounds were too close to chase after them. Then my eyes fell on a ladder running up the side of the nearest building.

I bolted, hauling myself up as quickly as I managed the rock climbing wall at the Lotus Hotel. The hellhounds missed me by inches. But they weren't my biggest worry. I took a deep breath as I made it to the roof, just as a figure dropped from the sky. I glanced up.

"Gods, you can't take the hint, can you?" I groaned wryly.

Tisiphone smiled evilly at me. "You cannot be allowed to return to Perseus Jackson," she told me simply, watching me as I stood up straight.

"Oh, okay then. I'll just forget everything I have had to do to bloody get here and give up, shall I? I don't think so."

"You have more than enough to worry about yourself, Acacia Grace," she scowled. "How many gods have you proved yourself to at the moment?"

My face set and I pulled my eyebrows together. "Zeus sent me to help Percy. Even if I wanted to stay away, I don't have a choice." Tisiphone sighed, as though it pained her to have to tell me what she thought.

"If you won't quit yourself, I shall have to stop you," she grimaced. There was a crack and suddenly, there was a fiery whip in her hands. Before I could even move, she had flicked it, the end wrapping around my bow and quiver like something off an Indiana Jones movie. I winced as it was torn off my body, the golden locket clattering to the floor at Tisiphone's feet. "Aww, what a lovely necklace. Shame really."

She stamped on it.

An anger so unknown to me, so overwhelming, gripped my stomach tightly. The temperature dropped a hundred degrees and lightning cracked overhead. Tisiphone, the stupid bat, looked up in surprise, just as I pulled out my right sword. I bolted for her. She gasped and just managed to flick her whip out again. It wrapped tightly around my sword and she pulled, making me stumble toward her. But she didn't see my hand fly to my other belt. She could do absolutely nothing as I pulled out my other sword and ran her through with it.

With a loud shriek, she burst into dust.

I stood, breathing heavily for a moment, staring at the spot my old science teacher had disappeared from. But my right hand felt like it was on fire. Wincing, I slowly let go of my sword and let it clash to the floor. Around the middle of it, where Tisiphone's whip had wrapped around it, the metal had melted and been misshapen. It only made the jagged end more terrifying. My hand was burned pretty badly too, but the air around me was still that cold, I could barely feel my fingers, let alone a burn.

At my feet, my locket lay unharmed and whole. Still, the anger burned in the pit of my stomach as I bent down and picked it up. I would kill that bat a hundred times if she ever did that again. Stupid, good for nothing-

"Shouldn't you get going?" I whipped around, my uninjured hand tightening around my sword. "Whoa! Relax would you?"

Apollo was smirking at me slightly as he lifted his hands in surrender. It felt odd, to see him again. At the camp, talking to him had been like talking to Dionysus. Basically, like talking to a god. But now, after all the strange dreams I had seen, I felt incredibly nervous. The locket seemed to send small electrical shots up my arm as I tightened my hand around it and slipped it into my pocket absent-mindedly. Luckily, Apollo didn't seem to notice.

"Going where?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Remember Percy? Your thieving cousin?"

I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes. "He isn't a thief," I protested. "We wouldn't be here if he was."

Apollo didn't look convinced, but he shrugged and peered over the edge of the roof. "The wolf's pacing down there," he muttered.

"She's called Sasha," I replied, frowning slightly as I followed his gaze. Sasha stopped pacing and sat down, staring up at me. Her head tilted to the side as she glanced between Apollo and I, her voice slightly confused in my head. I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but suddenly, she became very focused on finding Percy, Annabeth and Grover, snapping her gaze away from us. "That's odd."

"What?" Apollo asked, yawning loudly as though he couldn't care less.

"She never usually hides her thoughts from me," I answered, speaking more to myself than I was to him. He stiffened slightly, peering back down at the wolf. I frowned, but he just snorted and turned away. "I don't mean to be rude..."

"If you don't mean to be rude, you wouldn't say whatever it is that's going to be rude, would you?" Apollo smirked.

I frowned again. "Why are you here?" I asked bluntly.

Apollo stared for a moment. "Your test will be soon," he mumbled. "Like I said, you should really go find Percy."

"What has my test got to do with Percy?" I frowned. He met my gaze, waiting expectantly. I felt an uncomfortable fear settle in my chest. "Why?" I completely forgot I was talking to a god, my voice becoming protective and harsh.

Apollo's eyes widened slightly and he held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't do or cause anything, I swear," he said hurriedly. "But you have to help him. Manage it and you've passed. Easy. Well–"

"I get the idea," I muttered, bolting for the ladder. I had just stepped onto the top step when Apollo caught my wrist in his hand. I froze, glancing up at him and meeting his gaze. He didn't say anything for a moment or two, instead just staring at me as though I might suddenly tell him the answers to the universe.

"You really shouldn't keep it in your pocket Acacia," he mumbled carefully. I felt my breath catch in my throat and only just managed to stop myself choking loudly. "It will only work when it's around your neck." I hesitated.

"Sure," I finally managed to mutter. Apollo blinked, turning away and walking to the other edge of the roof. When his form started to glow golden, I hurried down the stairs and dropped down beside Sasha.

Was that Lord Apollo, my lady? she asked, almost hesitantly.

"Sasha, if you have something to say," I said, pulling the locket out of my pocket and wrapping it around my neck hastily.

There is nothing my lady, she sighed. Would you like me to lead you to your friends?

"Yes, and quickly," I breathed, nodding. She barked once, then broke into a run in the direction Percy, Annabeth and Grover had run. I followed her, pulling the locket open as I went. If this was my test from Apollo, archery wouldn't go a miss.