Layton / December 3rd

What if I told you, everything you know, is a lie. Ok, maybe not everything, but some things. If you've taken a high school English class, you might know me as an unreliable narrator.

Escobar? Didn't do down like that. In reality, he had been my latest target and I was forced to seek him out and eliminate him. The information he offered me on Vibranium had been him trying to beg for mercy and bargain his way out. The scroll I had found in his truck after seeing he had some interesting stuff. Why did I lie? Because we're not rated R.

The cave with the hydra didn't happen either. That had just been a dream I saw after passing out following the fight with Kuzmos. My powers weren't weaker either, I just was trying to conceal it and see if it would do anything. You know how Superman wore a kryptonite ring to try and live like a normal man? I kind of tried doing that.

By extension, everything you know thus far about me and Ava was a lie also. An illusion by my own mist that I casted on all of you. The way we met and our relationship was much more complex. We had met at the age of eight, say, a week after I had met Annabeth. Though the base of the story was real - talking to the frog, flower picking, the conversation (except for the end).

Neither of us had anywhere to go, no one to return to, and no purpose in life. We teamed up to face the challenges of the demigod world, and things were finally alright for some time.

In Egypt, Ava had gone a different route and we agreed to meet up at the end of the day. And then, I died only an hour in. The process had only been about ten minutes in real life time, so she had been confused when I returned with a full suit of armor.

At the age of thirteen, we started dating. Usually that's pretty young, but when you're a demigod, you don't exactly know how much time you have or if you'll see the sun tomorrow. It was all good until everything went down to Hades with that cursed mission where I had been sent to retrieve Luke. I became more distant, speaking less, doing less, and eventually I had shut her out.

We didn't exactly end on good terms, and the last time I had seen her before yesterday was around four years ago. If anything, I was surprised she agreed to help.

On the bright side, the full truth is out.

"And then, I kicked her in the head!" Coach Hedge finished

I told Percy about how we had seen Captiva sea creatures at the aquarium we had gone to.

"That's terrible" Annabeth said. "We should help them"

"I know" Percy agreed

"First, we have to deal with this bounty on our head" Frank said

"How ironic" Ava muttered, quickly glancing at me and I squinted my eyes in return

"It's as if we didn't already attract enough attention" Annabeth said, gripping the hilt of her dagger

"Wow. Do we get wanted posters? And do they have us broken down on a price list? I must be worth a million-"

"What are you talking about?" Hazel questioned

"I just want to know how much I'm worth these days, you know?" Leo answered. "I can understand being lesser priced than say Percy, but I should be worth like... two or three Franks"

"Hey!" Frank protested

"Knock it off" Annabeth ordered. "At least we know what to do next. We go to Charleston and find this map. Quickly"

"A map of what?" Piper inquired

"The Mark of Athena" I said. "Whatever that's about"

"We know it leads to something important in Rome, and it has to do with the rivalry between the Romans and Greeks" Percy added

"The giants' bane" Hazel recited

"The twin giants did say something about a statue in my dream" Percy said

"Phorcys said we would have to be insane to try and look for it. But what is it anyways?" Frank asked

Everyone turned to Annabeth and she look uncomfortable, as if she was still working together an answer herself.

"I'm close to answer, but if we find this map, I'll know more" Annabeth replied

Jason then explained how he had been to Charleston before on a quest with Reyna to search for salvaged Imperial Gold.

"At this park, we saw some kind of ghost or spirit. We tried to approach it but it disappeared every time we got close. Then, Reyna said she should try it alone. Sure enough, it worked when she did" Jason finished

"What did it say?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow

"Reyna wouldn't tell" Jason shook his head. "But it had to have been important. She seemed... shaken. Like a dark prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never really acted the same around me ever again"

"So it's a girls adventure then" Annabeth said. "Piper and Hazel, you're with me"

"And you're going back to gardening" I told Ava

"Fine by me" She muttered

"Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us. They're far, still not in sight, but they're definitely there. Maybe we should turn around and fight?" Leo said

"That would be a bad idea" Jason disagreed. "It would basically prove we're enemies of Rome"

"Then again, us Greeks were never really allies either, so long as Octavian has a loud and obnoxious mouth" I stated

"He's right" Percy said. "But we should still keep going"

"We could just send out some kind of decoy to try and trick the eagles" Leo suggested. "Take the long way to Charleston, and take a detour"

"No long ways" I said. "But we definitely need those eagles off us, so we should go with the decoy"

"We've only got three days until Nico dies" Hazel said

"And three days until all of Rome dies. Then, the rest of the world, country by country" I added

Annabeth

"We'll only have barely enough time" Leo said as he tapped some of the buttons on the console.

"Not that we aren't use to that or anything" Percy pointed out

"Buford, report for duty" Leo instructed

"Who's Buford?" Frank asked

From the stairwell, a puff of steam shout out as automatic table climbed on deck. It was three-legged table with a bronze base that had several drawers, gears, and vents. He toted a bag on one of his legs and he clattered over to the helm.

"More like what's Buford" Layton said

"Um, you named your furniture?" Frank questioned

"Buford, begin Operation End Table" Leo ordered

Buford spewed out steam and stepped over to the railing where he split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. They spun, and like that, Buford was gone.

"Cool, a helicopter-table" Percy said. "What was in the bag though?"

"Just some dirty demigod laundry. Should be enough to get the eagles off our scent" Leo answered

I sat on my bunk as I used Daedalus's laptop to do some 3-D rendering to study a model of the Parthenon in Athens. Percy had gone back to sleep, so it left me with nothing do. I always wanted to visit the Parthenon, especially when we had gone to Greece, but our priorities were elsewhere.

Maybe if we lived past this, I could go with Percy to Greece and see it. But the statue only reminded about the Mark of Athena, the old Roman legend Reyna had talked about. I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't help but remember the argument I had with my mom.

It all started one day on a subway ride back from the Upper East Side where I gone to visit Sally during the days Percy had been missing. I made the trip at least one a week, because in truth, me and Sally needed each other to comfort the other.

I'd spent all of my resources, and everything I could fine, to look for him. I had talked to nature spirits, read legends on Rome, searched through Daedalus's laptop and spent hundreds of golden drachmas on Iris-messages to everyone I knew, all to no avail.

Even Rachel had tried to read the future, but there wasn't much there. All she knew was that we needed the Argo II before contacting the Romans.

And then, there had been the day where I knew Percy was alive. Layton had finally tracked him down using Instant Movement, but he had also said that he wasn't allowed to interfere with the gods' plans. That only made me angry, but after he promised he would keep Percy alive, I thought that a few more days couldn't hurt.

When I last talked to Athena, I had passed by here on the subway, where she was studying the map on the wall.

"Mother!" I called out.

It had been the first time I'd seen here ever since Zeus closed the gates of Olympus and forbid all communication with demigods. I had tried everyday possible to contact my mom, but nothing seemed to work.

"I must return home" Athena muttered, continuing to look at the map. "The way is difficult. I wish Odysseus was here... he would understand"

"Mom!" I said, but still nothing. "Athena!"

She finally turned and she looked at me as if she didn't recognize me. "That use to be my name, before they sacked my city, stole my identity and made me this... I have to return home"

I stepped back. "Y-You're Minerva?"

"Do not call me that!" The goddess ordered. "I once carried a spear and shield, and held victory in the palm of my hand. I was so much more than this, but they took it from me"

"Mom... it's Annabeth, your daughter"

"Yes... my children will avenge me" Athena said. "The Romans must be destroyed for what they have done. Horrible, dishonorable, copycat Romans. Hera said we should keep the camps apart. I wanted to let them fight, so my children could spill their blood"

"Why would you want that? You're suppose to be wise. You understand war better than anyone"

"I once did..." Athena murmured. "Replaced... sacked... looted like a trophy and carried away from my beloved homeland. I lost so much, and I swore to never forgive. Neither would my children"

There was a slight pause.

"You are my daughter?" Athena asked

"Yeah"

"Follow the Mark of Athena, and avenge me" Athena instructed as she pressed an old token into my hand

Back then, I had no idea what it meant, or why my mom was acting like this. Now, I had a much better idea.

"Mom, Percy's missing. I need your help" I said, and explained Hera's plan to bring the camps together and battle Gaea and the giants.

"Never!" She denied. "Anyone who helps Rome must perish! If you join them, then you are no child of mine. You have already failed me!"

"Mother, please!"

"I care nothing for this Percy. If he has gone over to the Romans, let him die along with them. Find the Mark, follow it, and witness how Rome has disgraced me"

"Athena isn't the goddess of revenge, and Percy is everything to me!" I replied

"And revenge is everything to me. Do you see what they have done? They made a Roman of me. They want me to be their goddess? Then let them taste their own evil. Kill them, my child"

"I won't!"

"Then you're nothing to me" Athena turned back to the subway map. "Avenge me, or leave me. You're not my child"

Multiple times, I had tried to throw away the silver coin, but it just magically reappeared in my pocket each time, just like Riptide did for Percy. I even had Layton try to cast it into something called the Mirror Dimension, but that didn't work either.

And the coin itself had no powers. The only thing it did was give me nightmares. However, I managed to sleep without them for once.

December 4th

Leo docked the ship in Charleston Harbor, where tall mansions, palm trees and iron fences were along the shore. By the time I had made it to the deck, Jason along with Frank and Leo had already left to the museum.

Piper and Hazel were ready to go also, but first I walked over to Percy who was leaning on the rail, gazing over the bay.

"So, what are you going to do while I'm gone?" I asked as I took his hand

He shrugged. "Probably jump into the harbor. I want to try to communicate with the Nereids and see if they can give me any advice on freeing those captives back in Atlanta that Frank told me about"

Percy's hair was tangled as usual, but what I thought about was that one streak of gray that he used to have on one side. When we were fourteen, we had been forced to take turns holding up the weight of the sky. The strain had left us both with some gray hair, which made me a bit sad when it disappeared. It felt like I had lost some kind of symbolic bond with Percy.

"Good luck. Just make sure to come back to me, alright?" I said and kissed him

"I will" He smiled. "And you do the same too"

Heavy footsteps approached us from behind and Layton joined us, wearing his normal clothes but also equipped with his titanium gloves. No... not titanium... it was nothing that ended with anium, but I couldn't remember.

"And what are you going to do in the mean time?" I inquired

"I'm going to find Xander and see if I can stop him from opening the lamp. It would save us a lot of trouble, but I doubt I can pull it off" Layton said

"So if everything goes well, we'll meet you in Rome" Percy said and he nodded

"If everything goes well" I repeated quietly