I haven't pointed it out in a while, but my eternal disclaimer is on my profile :)

I looked around me. We were standing in front of the cage, and this part of the room was narrow enough only a few could come within range at a time. I got an idea. This is what Artemis was referring to, I thought. "Guys, work on that cage. I'll cover you."

Malcolm's eyebrows furrowed. "But—"

I winked at him, changing the pistol to a sword. "Trust me."

"So you'll sacrifice yourself?" Lycaon sneered. "Too bad it won't save your friends! Your sword won't work any better than his spear."

"Oh, this?" I asked innocently. "This is going on the ground, to show you that I can kill you without my sword."

He laughed again. "And how do you plan to do that? Choke us to death? The rest of us would kill you before you killed one of us."

I grinned wickedly. "Like this!" My bow appeared in my hand. In the blink of an eye, I flipped it sideways and notched three arrows. The three lead wolves dissolved into dust. He stood there in shock, for a good three seconds. In those three seconds, I managed to kill at least six more wolves. Then, coming out of his shock, he did exactly what I expected him to. Growling to his remaining wolves, they ran, while I fired off more arrows and killed three more.

He fixed me with a hard glare. "This isn't over. Gaea will rule!" I hit him in the shoulder, and he yelled in pain. He glared at me once more before he disappeared into the tunnel.

With that menace out of sight for the moment, I turned my attention to the cage. "Any luck?" I asked.

They shook their head. "There's no way to dissolve it. It's like Gaea thrust her hand out of the ground and wrapped around them. Lou Ellen's tried every dissolve and open spell she knows, nothing works, and if she does many more, she'll pass out."

I tried to think. Knowing Lycaon, he would be back in a few minutes with a larger army. We had to release the Fates and be out of here before then. I didn't know half as many spells as Lou Ellen did, which meant she had probably tried all I knew. When Leo had to free Hera, he had used a saw and Piper's charmspeak. I had neither, relying solely on what I knew. The cage was made of rock, as opposed to the surrounding earth, so there was no way my sword could cut through it. We could use trial and error, but that would take time—time we didn't have. I was out of luck, almost out of time, and we were going to die in a few minutes, because this was a problem I could not solve.

A problem you cannot solve. Nemesis had warned me about this moment. I took the cookie out of my pocket. True success requires sacrifice, she's also said. I wondered what the price would be if I opened it. But if I didn't open it, we'd all die. I didn't have a choice. I just prayed that the sacrifice would not be one of my other friends.

I took a deep breath. "I need the way to open the Fates' prison," and I broke open the cookie. Unfurling the little paper inside, I read: "That's your request? Really? I thought you knew that answer. (over)" On the back, the paper said "You're lucky number is Ha-di, magician. (Wreak vengeance upon Gaea, Grace Noland!)"

I mentally kicked myself. I never thought to use Egyptian magic against a Greek goddess. Against a kitchen? Of course. That's mortal domain. But in Greek territory? Never crossed my mind. I handed the note to Lou Ellen.

"Focus on the cage, and say this, like you would with your other spells. It is pronounces with a tall a and the i is a long e. Malcolm back up a little. If this works, the cage will explode." And it better work, I think, or I'm hunting Nemesis down.

All three of us back up a step, with Malcolm and me a half a step behind Lou Ellen. She looked at me and I nodded.

She focused, "Ha-di!" and the cage exploded. I breathed a sigh of relief. Looking where the cage used to be, the three shapes became fully visible, and the Fates threw off their cloaks. Instead of the old ladies I was expecting to see, being described as such in The Lightning Thief and appearing that way after the battle last August, I saw three young women. I'm sure I looked stunned, but they didn't say anything. They looked us in the eye and nodded thanks. Then the world turned upside down and I almost blacked out.

When my eyes refocused, I found myself outside next to the cave entrance. The sky was clear, and by the starlight I could see Malcolm and Lou Ellen next to me. I gulped, my stomach churning. "You two alright?" Malcolm simply nodded. I looked to Lou Ellen, only to see her leaning heavily on a tree.

"Lou?" Malcolm asked. "You ok?"

"Yes," she said in barely more than a whisper. "I did too many spells. I'm having trouble staying awake."

I nodded, thinking. "Can you walk a short distance? We can't camp here. We need to get down the hill a little so we're not so exposed."

"A short ways, yeah," came the reply.

We stumbled our way down the hill, all of us exhausted from the multiple battles. Finally, about halfway down the hill, we stopped to set up camp in the cover of some trees. None of us bothered about food. We just crashed. I was out before I hit the pillow.

We woke up around mid-morning and packed up the tents.

"Do you want to eat first or just head straight to camp?" I asked them.

"Food," they said in unison.

"I agree. You search for plants. I'll hunt down a rabbit or three."

Fifteen minutes later, we gathered at the campsite to show what we found. Lou Ellen had found a mulberry bush and had brought back handfuls of the berries. Malcolm had found a bunch of blueberries. Those, plus the two rabbits I had killed made a great breakfast.

When we finished eating, we cleaned up, and I called Jellybean.

Hey, Jellybean?

There you are, Grace! Are you guys ok? We couldn't find you anywhere!

We're fine. We were underground freeing the Fates. We're about half-way down the hill now. Can you three come get us? Our quest is done and we'd like to go home.

We're on our way.

A minute later, three Pegasi landed in front of us. We mounted and headed back to camp.

During the ride, I sat lost in thoughts, thinking about the choices I had made and wondering if I could have done anything differently.

Grace? Jellybean said.

I jumped a bit, startled from my thoughts. Yeah?

You ok? You look sad about something. I thought the quest was a success.

I sighed. It was. But we met Nemesis when we were following Leo and Hazel. She offered us help, for a price. She told me I would face a problem I could not solve and that if I broke this fortune cookie open, the answer would be there, but also told us that true success requires sacrifice. I didn't want to, but I unfortunately had to use the cookie to free the Fates. I'm worried about what the price will be. I did it to save Malcolm and Lou Ellen, because an army would be coming in a few minutes to stop us, but what if by saving them, I doomed someone else?

Jellybean was silent a moment. Whatever happens, Grace, it doesn't sound like you had a choice. Not accepting that help would have failed the quest and killed you all. Don't guilt yourself for something that hasn't happened.

I nodded and we spent the rest of the ride in silence.