THE PROPHECY COMES TRUE

We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everybody treated us as if we'd won some reality-TV contest. According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful—gray silk with embroidered owls—I told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched me and told me to shut up.

Being the children of Poseidon, we didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make our shrouds. They'd taken an old bed sheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border and the words LOSER painted really big in the middle.

It was fun to burn.

When Cammie walked up to Chiron for the first time in weeks, he looked slightly angry. Then his expression softened. He sighed, smiling. "I should have known you would have run away. Why else would you have volunteered to stay behind."

"We needed all four of us on this quest, sir," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "I don't regret tricking you."

"I didn't think you would." And that was the end of the discussion.

As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores, we were surrounded by our old Hermes cabin mates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest "Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past."

The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabin mates, whose poisonous looks told me they'd never forgive us for disgracing their dad.

That was okay with me.

Cammie was chatting and laughing with two kids from Hermes' cabin, Josh and Roe. She told them all the stories from our quest, and he listened eagerly. One of the Aphrodite girls came over half-way through and started listening too. I think her name was Fee-Fee, or possibly Dee-Dee. The four of them laughed and talk for a good portion of the night. I kind of just stood there, adding things in when necessary, and giving Cam a look every time she tried to make the quest sound like a piece of cake.

Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen my spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brats didn't get themselves killed and now the they'll have even bigger heads. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday…"

Once again, we were back in cabin three. Yet this time, it didn't feel so lonely. We had friends to train with, to talk to, to be…friendly with. Not a normal occurrence for us. I'd stay up late at night, and listen to the sea, knowing my father was out there. Maybe he wasn't quite sure about us yet, maybe he hadn't even wanted us to be born, but he was watching. And so far, he was proud. And while Cammie might hate him, I was happy to have that. No matter how little it was.

As for our mom, she had a chance at a new life. her letter arrived a week after we got back to camp. She told us Gabe had left mysteriously—disappeared off the face of the planet, in fact. She'd reported him missing to the police, but she had a funny feeling they would never find him.

On a completely unrelated subject, she'd sold her first life-size concrete sculpture, entitled The Poker Player, to a collector, though an art gallery in Soho. She'd gotten so much money for it, she'd made payment on her first semester's tuition at NYU. The Soho gallery was clamoring for more of her work, which they'd called "a huge step forward in super-ugly neorealism."

But don't worry, mom wrote. I'm done with sculpture. I've disposed of that box of tools you left me. It's time for me to turn to writing.

At the bottom, she wrote a P.S.: Percy, Cammie, I've found a good private school here in the city. I've put a deposit down to hold you both a spot, in case you want to enroll for seventh grade. You could live at home. But if you two want to go year-round at Half-Blood Hill, I'll understand.

It sat neatly folded on our shared bedside table. Every night, we'd take turns reading it out loud to each other before going to sleep. There was no easy way to answer her, and the decision wasn't easy.

On the fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'd seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, then explode into a million colors.

As Annabeth, Cammie, and I were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to tell us good-bye. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and sneakers, but in the last few weeks he'd started to look older, almost high school age. His goatee had gotten thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human.

"I'm off," he said. "I just came to say…well, you know."

I tried to feel happy for him. After all, it wasn't every day a satyr got permission to go look for the great god Pan. But it was hard saying good-bye. I'd only known Grover a year, yet he was one of my oldest friends, next to Cam.

Annabeth gave him a hug, followed by Cammie.

"Now you keep your fake feet on, okay," Annabeth told him sternly. "At all times."

"Obviously," Grover chuckled.

"Where are you going to search first," I asked him.

"Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you guys could come with me, but humans and Pan…"

"We understand," Annabeth nodded.

"You have enough tin cans for the trip," Cammie asked.

"Yes."

"And your reed pipes?" Annabeth said.

"Yes."

"And money, you know for when you get hungry, or get into some trouble? 'Cause you can be very accident prone."

"Yes, Cammie."

"And..."

"Gosh," Grover grumbled. "You two sound like two old mamma goats."

He wasn't actually annoyed.

"And you know you can come and visit anytime you want," Cammie said, hugging him again. "In fact, it's encouraged."

Grover blushed as she gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek.

He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. he looked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway—nothing like the little runty boy I used to defend from bullies at Yancy Academy.

"Well," he said, "wish me luck."

He gave Annabeth another hug. He clapped me on the shoulder, then headed back through the dunes.

Roe joined us, sitting next to Cammie, as fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son Athena) crossing the Delaware.

"Hey, Grover!" I called.

He turned at edge of the woods.

"Wherever you're going—I hope they make good enchiladas."

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

Cammie swiped a tear from her eyes. "I'm not crying," she hissed when I questioned her. "He just looks so grown up now."

I laughed. "You really are an old mamma goat."

"That's right, and don't you say anything bad about my kid."

Annabeth patted me on the shoulder. "Well see him again," she said.

I tried to believe it. The fact that no searcher had ever come back in two thousand years…well, I decided not to think about that. Grover would be the first. He had to be.

July passed.

Me and Cam started spending the days a little differently. I worked on devising new strategies for capture-the-flag and making alliances with other cabins to keep the banner out of Ares's hands. I got to the top of the climbing wall for the first time without getting scorched by lava. Cammie hung out with Roe whenever she wasn't with me. Then there were days she would go to play pinochle with Mr. D, keeping tabs on how much they owed each other, seeing as Chiron wouldn't allow them to gamble with real money. She made her own alliances, making friends with Josh, Dee-Dee, and really anyone willing to talk to her. She was thoroughly enjoying being a demigod at a camp full of her own kind of people.

We became known as the camp's most famous twins, always together, always doing something worth talking about.

From time to time, I'd go grab Cammie from her pinochle games, and galance up at the attic windows, and think about the Oracle. I tried to convince myself that its prophecy had come to completion.

You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

Been there, done that—even though the traitor god have turned out to be Ares rather than Hades.

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safe returned.

Check. One master bold delivered. One helm of darkness back on Hades' oily head.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

This line still bothered me. Ares had pretended to be my friend, then betrayed me. That must be what the Oracle meant…

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

I had failed to save my mom, but only because I'd let her save herself, and I knew that was the right thing.

So why was I still uneasy?

It was a couple days before the end of summer. I got to the sword-fighters arena and found Luke there. Cam was off with Roe and Annabeth, doing who knows what. Something girly, I determined. Girly exploits. Gross. His gym bag was plopped at the edge of the stage. He was working solo, whaling on battle dummies with a sword I'd never seen before. It must've been a regular steel blade, because he was slashing the dummies' heads right off, stabbing though their straw-stuffed guts. His orange counselor's shirt was dripping with sweat. His expression was so intense, his life might've been in danger. I watched, fascinated, as he disemboweled the whole row of dummies, hacking off limbs and basically reducing them to a pile of straw and armor.

They were dummies, but I still couldn't help being awed by Luke's skill. The guy was an incredible fighter. It made me wonder, again, how he possibly could've failed at his quest.

Finally, he saw me stopped mid-swing. "Percy."

"Um, sorry," I said, embarrassed, "I just—"

"It's okay,' he said, lowering his sword. "Just doing some last-minute practice."

"Those dummies won't be bothering anybody anymore."

Luke shrugged. "We build new ones every summer."

Now that his sword wasn't swirling around, I could see something odd about it. The blade was two different types of metal—one edge bronze, the other steel.

Luke noticed me looking at it. "Oh, this? New toy. This is Backbiter."

"Backbiter?"

Luke turned the blade in the light so it glinted wickedly. "One side is celestial bronze. The other is tempered steel. Works on mortals and immortals both."

I thought about what Chiron had told me when I started my quest—that a hero should never harm mortals unless absolutely necessary.

"I didn't know they could make weapons like that."

"They probably can't," Luke agreed. "It's a one of a kind."

He gave me a tiny smile, then slid the sword into its scabbard. "Where's Cammie?"

I shrugged. "Off with the girls."

"Oh…Listen, I was going to come looking for you. What do you say we go down to the woods one last time, look for something to fight?"

I don't know why I hesitated. I should've felt relieved that Luke was being so friendly. Ever since we'd gotten back from the quest, he'd been acting a little distant. I was afraid he might resent us for all the attention we were receiving.

"You think it's a good idea?" I asked. "I mean—"

"Aw, come on." He rummaged in his gym bag and pulled out a six-pack of Cokes. "Drinks are one me."

I stared at the Cokes, wondering where the heck he'd gotten them. There were no regular mortal sodas at the camp store. No way to smuggle them in unless you talked to a satyr, maybe.

Of course, the magic dinner goblets would fill with anything you want, but it just didn't taste the same as a real Coke, straight out of the can.

Sugar and caffeine. My willpower crumbled.

"Sure," I decided. "Why not?"

We walked down to the woods and kicked around for some kind of monster to fight, but it was too hot. All the monsters with any sense must've been taking siestas in their nice cool caves.

We found a shady spot by the creek where I'd broken Clarisse's pear during our first capture the flag game, when Cammie almost drowned, though now I was happy to know that could never actually happen. It also reminded me of how we were set up as bait. I had determined a long time ago that it had to have been Luke's idea. I wanted to bring it up then, but I stopped, feeling I'd sound petty and stupid. Instead, I took the Coke Luke offered me, and watched the sunlight in the woods.

After a while Luke said, "You miss being on a quest?"

"With monsters attacking me every three feet? Are you kidding?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, you met your dad, didn't you?"

I nodded.

"What did you feel, you know, when you met him?"

"Not really sure. It was kind of a mix of feelings, really. I'm not mad at him really, but not all to happy either."

"And I'm sure Cammie feels the same."

I laughed. "Nope. No Cam hates him. Made that real clear when she started ranting at him about how much she hates him."

Luke was shocked. "Oh."

"Yeah, what people fail to realize that while me and Cammie are very close, we're not the same people."

Luke nodded. "I guess. It's just you two are so alike, I guess I just assumed you have the same feelings about your father."

We sat silently for a while. "You know what," I said. "I do miss it. How about you?"

A shadow passed over his face.

I was used to hearing from the girls how good-looking Luke was, but at that moment, he looked weary, and angry, and not at all handsome. His blond hair was gray in the sunlight. The scar on his face looked deeper than usual. I could imagine him as an old man.

"I've lived at Half-Blood Hill year-round since I was fourteen," he told me. "Ever since Thalia…well, you know. I trained, and trained, and trained. I never got to be a normal teenager, out there in the real world. Then they threw me one quest, and when I came back, it was like 'Okay, ride's over. Have a nice life'."

He crumpled his Coke can and threw it into the creek which really shocked me. One of the first rules you learn at Camp Half-Blood is: Don't litter. You'll hear from the nymphs and the naiads. They'll get even. You'll crawl into bed one night and find your sheets filled with centipedes and mud.

"The heck with laurel wreaths," Luke said. "I'm not going to end up like those dusty trophies in Big House attic."

"You make it sound like you're leaving."

Luke gave me a twisted smile. "Oh, I'm leaving, all right, Percy. I brought you down here to say good-bye."

He snapped his fingers. A small fire burned a hole in the ground at my feet. Out crawled something glistening black, about the size of my hand. A scorpion.

I started to go for my pen.

"I wouldn't," Luke cautioned. "Pit scorpions can jump up to fifteen feet. Its stinger can pierce right through your clothes. You'll be dead in sixty seconds."

"Luke, what—"

Then it hit me.

You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

"You," I said.

He stood calmly and brushed off his jeans.

The scorpion paid him no attention. It kept its beady black eyes on me, blamping its pincers as it crawled onto my shoe.

"I saw a lot out there in the world, Percy," Luke said. "Didn't you feel it—the darkness gathering, the monsters growing stronger? Didn't you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics—being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods."

I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Luke…you're talking about our parents," I said.

He laughed. "That's supposed to make me love them? According to you, that doesn't make Cammie love your father. Their precious 'Western civilizations' is a disease, Percy. It's killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start over with something more honest."

"You're as crazy as Ares."

His eyes
flared. "Ares is a fool. He never realized the true master he was serving. If I had time, Percy, I could explain. But I'm afraid you won't live that long." He seemed to ponder something for a moment. "If Cammie really does hate your father, maybe she could help me."

I glowered at him. "Cammie would never help you burn the world down." By now the scorpion crawled onto my pants leg. There had to be a way out of this.

"Right as usual, Percy," a voice said from the woods behind Luke.

And there was my way out.

"Cammie," Luke said, sounding just friendly he made us believe he was.

"You serve Kronos," she said, stepping out of the woods.

The air got colder.

"You should be careful with names," Luke warned.

"So I've been told. Kronos got you to steal the master bold and the helm. He spoke to you in your dreams."

Luke's eye twitched. "He spoke to you too. Both of you. But you didn't listen. You were scared of what he showed you."

Cammie flinched. "He's brainwashing you, Luke," she said.

"You're wrong. He showed me that my talents are being wasted. You know what my quest was two years ago, Cammie? My father, Hermes, wanted me to steal a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. After all the training I'd done, that was the best he could think up."

"That's not an easy quest," I said. "Hercules did it."

"Exactly," Luke said. "Where's the glory in repeating what others have done? All the gods know how to do is replay their pasts. My heart wasn't in it. The dragon in the garden gave me this"—he pointed angrily at his scar—"and when I came back, all I got was pity. I wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone right then, but I bided my time. I began to dream of Kronos. He convinced me to steal something worthwhile, something no hero had ever had the courage to take. When we went on that winter-solstice field trip, while the other campers were asleep, I snuck into the throne room and took Zeus's master bold right from his chair. Hades' helm of darkness, too. You wouldn't believe how easy it was. The Olympians are so arrogant; they never dreamed someone would dare steal from them. Their security is horrible. I was halfway across New Jersey before I heard the storms rumbling, and I knew they'd discovered my theft."

The scorpion was sitting on my knee now, staring at me with its glittering eyes. Cammie kept glancing between the scorpion, me and Luke.

"So why didn't you bring the items to Kronos?" she asked.

Luke's smile wavered. "I…I got overconfident. Zeus sent out his sons and daughters to find the stolen bolt—Artemis, Apollo, my father, Hermes. But it was Ares who caught me. I could have beaten him, but I wasn't careful enough. He disarmed me, took the items of power, threatened to return them to Olympus and burn me alive. then Kronos's voice came to me and told me what to say. I put the idea into Ares's head about a great war between the gods. I said all he had to do was hide the items away for a while and watch the others fight. Ares got a wicked gleam in his eyes. I knew he was hooked. He let me go, and I returned to Olympus before anyone noticed my absence." Luke drew his new sword. He ran his thumb down the flat of the blade, as if he were hypnotized by its beauty. "Afterward, the Lord of the Titans…h-he punished me with nightmares. I swore not to fail again. Back at Camp Half-Blood, in my dreams, I was told two heroes would arrive, those who could be tricked into taking the bolt and the helm the rest of the way—from Ares down to Tartarus."

"You summoned the hellhound, that night in the forest," I hissed.

"We had to make Chiron think the camp wasn't safe for you, so he would start you on your quest. We had to confirm his fears that Hades was after you. And it worked."

"The flying shoes were cursed. They were supposed to drag one of us to Tartarus."

"How did you know the one wearing the shoes would be carrying the backpack?" Cammie asked.

Luke laughed. "I knew if one of you was wearing the shoes and was being pulled down to that pit, the other was sure to follow. But, then you threw in a curveball. Neither of you were wearing the shoes. You gave them to that satyr. Not part of the plan. Grover messes up everything he touches. He even confused the curse."

Luke looked down at the scorpion, which was no sitting on my thigh. "You should have died in Tartarus, Percy. But don't worry, I'll leave you with my little friend to set things right."

Cammie smiled, but I could hear the rage under her voice. "So is this a normal Tuesday for you? Try and murder off peoples brothers?"

He shook his head. "Special occasion."

"Oh, and we're a part of it? Now I feel special."

"As you should, because you are, Cammie." Luke took a step toward her. She then brandished her sword, pointing it at him. The way he showed us. "Come on, Cammie. You see things the way I do. You hate your father. He was never there, and you hate that. You know that the way things are going now is unfair; it's wrong. But we can change that. I can see that Percy doesn't believe that, but you, Cammie, you might actually understand."

For a terrifying second, Cammie lowered her sword. I tried to reach out to her, yelling at her not to listen through our bond, but she chose to ignore me, never letting her eyes waver from Luke's.

"Yes," she finally said. It, along with the sound of the creek, was the only sound in the forest. "Yes, I do hate my father. He wasn't there when we needed him. He doesn't care about us. And, yeah, I want to see him pay for that."

Cammie? I thought at her. Cammie, come on, you know this is wrong!

"What's wrong is how they ignore us." I felt like she was saying it to me, straight at me, though she kept looking at Luke.

"Exactly," Luke nodded. "So you'll help."

"You never let me finish," Cam snapped, sounding like herself again. "I hate him, yes, but that does not mean I want to see the world burn." Cammie shook her head in rage. "And Thalia…Thalia gave her life to save yours. And now you're going to take that favor and use it to destroy the world."

"Don't speak of Thalia!" he shouted. "The gods let her die! That's one of the many things they will pay for." Luke sighed, trying to calm down. "I can see we're not going to be able to work together. It's kind of disappointing, seeing how I'm going to have to kill you now."

Cammie lifted her sword, holding it fiercely. Luke just laughed. "Remember what I told you two that first day of sword fighting? How we found something you're good at? I said you were good at sword fighting together." He glanced over at me. "It seems that your partner is a bit distracted at the moment."

Still, Cammie stood strong, not even flinching.

"You see, Cammie, Kronos has no use for you anymore. He warned you, showed you your future, what would happen if didn't join us. He didn't believe you ever would, but I told him, that maybe you'd be smart and see that there is a way out of the fate you've chosen for yourself. So just remember, Cammie, you didn't have to die."

He made his move then, swinging for her head. Cammie blocked it, quickly recovering and making her own strike. Luke ducked, swinging for her.

"Cammie!" I screamed, forgetting the scorpion on my leg, and lunging forward. It jumped at me, and I swatted at it, flinging it behind Cammie.

Cammie, scorpion coming right behind you! spin around, it's near your shoulder.

She swung upward at Luke, causing him to scream from the cut she made on his hand, then continued that swing, spinning on her heals and sliced downward at the scorpion.

Yes! I screamed. Then I looked down. on my palm there was a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck.

Cammie saw too, and stood there shocked. Luke recovered and raised his sword.

Cammie, spin, behind you!

She did, but was too late.

Luke brought the sword down.

Cammie didn't scream. She didn't wail, or cuss or anything other than gasped, falling to her knees, holding the wounded area.

No…

I don't know which one of us thought it, but suddenly, it seemed we were both going to die. The part of our dreams that Kronos sent us, the part where Cammie started bleeding to death made sense. He was showing us the future. She was showing us how she died.

"Good-bye, Jacksons," Luke said triumphantly. "There is a new age coming, the Golden Age. Sadly, you won't be a part of it."

He slashed his sword in an arc and disappeared in a ripple of darkness.

I dragged myself as far as I could over to Cammie. Hooking my arm around her, I tried dragging her over to the water. My legs felt like lead, my forehead was burning, but I had to get us to the water.

I could just reach the water with my hand. I submerged it, thinking if I healed I could easily drag her in, and heal her too. But nothing happened.

We're going to die, I thought.

Always the pessimist. I could tell it was Cammie, but her voice was just so weak, and she hadn't moved since Luke cut her.

My eyelid grew heavy. My sixty seconds were up. I wanted to stay, to wait for Cammie.

"Help."

The world went dark.

I didn't expect death to be like this.

Death tasted like liquid chocolate-chip cookies.

Nope, that's not quite right, I thought, opening my eyes.

I was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, my right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead.

"You idiot," she sighed, which is how I knew she was overjoyed to see me conscious. "You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing…"

"Cammie," I said, sitting farther up.

"You know it's no fun repeating the things we've done in the past," a voice said from the other side of me.

Cammie smiled at me, her arms folded across her chest. She sat on the bed beside me, against the wall, leaning against the headboard, her legs stretched out and crossed. "Really, you have to stop getting sent here, it's getting repetitive. I'm sure Annabeth would feed you if you asked real nice."

Annabeth gave me a look that said no.

"A guy can try," I joked, pulling her into my side.

"No he can't," Annabeth said sternly.

Cammie waved off Argos and Annabeth. "I think he can hold his own glass now, and I'm sure I can protect him," she said, jumping over me, and pushing them out the door. "Now somebody retrieve Chiron so we can have a nice chat."

They left, Annabeth giving me a hug before leaving. "try not to die while I'm gone."

"No guarantees," I said. "What can I say, life of a demi-god."

She just scowled.

When the room was empty, Cam jumped back into her place, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well now it's my turn to sleep," she said, not opening her eyes.

"I thought you might like to tell me exactly what happened."

"What? And make you miss out on all the suspense the rest of us have been feeling? I think not."

"How'd we survive," I asked. "We were going to die."

"Yes, well, as you were blacking out, a few nymphs showed up after I kindly asked for their help, they dragged us as far as they could till a counselor saw us, and yelled for someone to get Chiron. We were saved."

"Luke cut you."

She nodded. She pulled down the collar of her shirt just the tinniest bit to show white bandages. "Probably won't even leave a scar," she said. "It bled a lot though, which I guess convinced Luke I was going to die."

"Did you fake it?"

"Of course. I knew I wasn't going to be able to take him on, not known that you could die any second."

I sighed, leaning back. Neither of us mentioned how the cut was in the wrong place. In the dreams Kronos sent us, the cut was on her side, and she was older. Luke said he was showing us her future, and he thought he was delivering it. But it wasn't the truth. We both knew it. And it didn't need to be said, or thought.

"But really," she said, breaking the silence. "You swatted at it with your hand?"

Laughing, I pushed her into the wall. "Shut up, I know it wasn't my brightest move."

"No, your least brightest idea was when told the officer that, and I quote, 'I don't have the baseball bat that was used to hit that poor teacher in the back in my locker'."

"I don't think you used proper English in that sentence."

"Yes, I did."

"No, I don't think so."

"I always use properish English."

"Properish isn't a word."

"Yes it is. It's in the dictionary."

"Really? Is it right next to superamazingness."

"First off, I'm sure that those are supposed to be two words, and second, no it wouldn't. Obviously it would be next to a word that started with P, or possibly O or Q. Dictionaries are alphabetical."

"Good to see you're both better again," Chiron said, wheeling in in his wheelchair, Annabeth following him. "How are you feeling Percy?"

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."

"Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

"Hasn't Cammie told you already?"

"No, sadly. She didn't see everything, and wanted to wait for you to wake up before saying much more."

So I told him what happened, between sips of nectar.

The room was quiet for a long time.

"I can't believe that Luke…" Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him…He was never the same after his quest."

"This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once."

"Luke is out there right now," I said. "We have to go after him."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy, the gods—"

"Won't even talk about Kronos," I snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"

"Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready. Neither of you are."

I didn't like it, but part of me suspected Chiron was right. One look at my hand, and I knew I wasn't going to be sword fighting any time soon. "Chiron…your prophecy from the Oracle…it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Were we in it? And Annabeth?"

Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Percy, it isn't my place—"

"You've been ordered not to talk about it to us, haven't you?"

His eyes were sympathetic, but sad. "You will be great heroes. I will do my best to prepare you, but if I'm right about the path ahead of you…"

Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.

"All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine."

He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing."

"Like knowing how you're going to die," Cammie blurted.

Chiron looked startled. "Cammie, what have you—"

"Just an example."

He seemed to calm down a bit. "Yes, that would be bad."

"We can't just sit back and do nothing," I said, trying to draw attention away.

"We won't," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your lives disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come.

"For now, let your only worry be whether or not you're staying year round or not." Chiron patted my ankle. "When I return from Olympus, you must tell me your decision."

Of course we still had questions. That seemed to be all we had lately. But the look on his face told me now was not the time.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Chiron promised. "Argus will watch over you."

"That won't be too hard, he has eyes everywhere," Cammie quipped good naturedly.

"You slid past him on your way out of camp, didn't you?"

"You see, I'm different. I'm a new breed of demigod. Stealth runs through our veins, sarcasm is the fuel to our brains, and amazingness what makes our hearts beat. He didn't stand a chance."

Chiron shook his head. "You definitely are something else."

Second to last chapter. Next one should be up by next Monday, seeing how I'm kind of a day behind. The next chapter will be written mainly by me, with few parts from the actual book. And finally, you'll see how Gallagher ties into this story. Which it does. If you've read any of my other stories, you'll have seen that I'd been planning this for a while. First I was going to go ahead with my free written story, not a rewrite, about Cammie and Percy (obviously twins) and their lives after the war. But I was having a hard time trying to build a sibling relationship when they were that old. So I said I was going to rewrite the first book just to give people an idea on how their life would be. Then it all blew up into a gigantic plot bunny that multiplied into several, and now I have a farm of plot bunnies. A bit of an inconvenience. So yeah, the plan is to rewrite the entire series, then end it with my original idea.

After next week, once the chapter is posted, I'll be taking a little break. Less than a month, I swear. I just want to finish up my other story, seeing how I haven't posted in about four months, and to work on my original stories. Just wanted to give you all a warning. I'll post a warning when the next story is up.

So that's all for this week. Hope you enjoyed.