Annabeth Chase and The Age of Monsters

by THEPERCYJACKSONMAN

A continuation of the Percy Jackson/Hero's of Olympus series. The sense takes place four years after the dearest of garage I am sorry if it does not make entirely sense we will be fixing some small things along the way

Annabeth Chase and the Age of MonstersEPILOGUE

Nobody steals my pegasus. Not even Rachel. I wasn't sure if I was more angry or amazed or worried.

"What was she thinking?" Annabeth said as we ran for the river. Unfortunately, I had a pretty good idea,

and it filled me with dread.

The traffic was horrible. Everybody was out on the streets gawking at the war zone damage. Police

sirens wailed on every block. There was no possibility of catching a cab, and the pegasi had flown away.

I would've settled for some Party Ponies, but they had disappeared along with most of the root beer in Midtown. So we ran, pushing through mobs of dazed mortals that clogged the sidewalks.

"She'll never get through the defenses," Annabeth said. "Peleus will eat her."

I hadn't considered that. The Mist wouldn't fool Rachel like it would most people. She'd be able to find

the camp no problem, but I'd been hoping the magical boundaries would just keep her out like a force

field. It hadn't occurred to me that Peleus might attack.

"We've got to hurry." I glanced at Nico. "I don't suppose you could conjure up some skeleton horses."

He wheezed as he ran. "So tired . . . '' couldn't summon a dog bone."

Finally we scrambled over the embankment to the shore, and I let out a loud whistle. I hated doing it.

Even with the sand dollar I'd given the East River for a magic cleaning, the water here was pretty polluted. I didn't want to make any sea animals sick, but they came to my call.

Three wake lines appeared in the gray water, and a pod of hippocampi broke the surface. They Whinnied unhappily, shaking the river muck from their manes. They were beautiful creatures, with

multicolored fish tails, and the heads and forelegs of white stallions. The hippocampus in front was much

bigger than the others—a ride fit for a Cyclops.

"Rainbow!" I called. "How's it going, buddy?"

He made a complaint.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," I said. "But it's an emergency. We need to get to camp."

He snorted.

"Tyson?" I said, "Tyson is fine! I'm sorry he's not here. He's a big general now in the Cyclops army."

"EEEE GGGG!"

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll still bring you apples. Now, about that ride . . ."

In no time, Annabeth, Nico, and I were zipping up the East River faster than Jet Skis. We sped under

the Throgs Neck Bridge and headed for Long Island Sound.

It seemed like forever until we saw the beach at camp. We thanked the hippocampi and waded ashore,

only to find Argus waiting for us. He stood in the sand with his arms crossed, his hundred eyes glaring at

us.

"Is she here?" I asked.

He nodded grimly.

"Is everything okay?" Annabeth said.

Argus shook his head.

We followed him up the trail. It was surreal being back at camp, because everything looked so peaceful:

no burning buildings, no wounded fighters. The cabins were bright in the sunshine, and the fields glittered

with dew. But the place was mostly empty.

Up at the Big House, something was definitely wrong. Green light was shooting out all the windows, just

like I'd seen in my dream about May Castellan. Mist—the magical kind—swirled around the yard.

Chiron lay on a horse-size stretcher by the volleyball pit, a bunch of satyrs standing around him.

Blackjack cantered nervously in the grass.

Don't blame me, boss! he pleaded when he saw me. The weird girl made me do it!

Rachel Elizabeth Dare stood at the bottom of the porch steps. Her arms were raised like she was waiting for someone inside the house to throw her a ball.

"What's she doing?" Annabeth demanded. "How did she get past the barriers?"

"She flew," one of the satyrs said, looking accusingly at Blackjack."Right past the dragon, right through

the magic boundaries."

"Rachel!" I called, but the satyrs stopped me when I tried to go any closer.

"Percy, don't," Chiron warned. He winced as he tried to move. His left arm was in a sling, his two back

legs were in splints, and his head was wrapped in bandages. "You can't interrupt."

"I thought you explained things to her!"

"I did. And I invited her here."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You said you'd never let anyone try again! You said—"

"I know what I said, Percy. But I was wrong. Rachel had a vision about the curse of Hades. She

believes it may be lifted now. She convinced me she deserves a chance."

"And if the curse isn't lifted? If Hades hasn't gotten to that yet, she'll go crazy!"

The Mist swirled around Rachel. She shivered like she was going into shock.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Stop!"

I ran toward her, ignoring the satyrs. I got within ten feet and hit something like an invisible beach ball. I

bounced back and landed in the grass.

Rachel opened her eyes and turned. She looked like she was sleepwalking—like she could see me, but

only in a dream.

"It's all right." Her voice sounded far away. "This is why I've come."

"You'll be destroyed!"

She shook her head. "This is where I belong, Percy. I finally understand why."

It sounded too much like what May Castellan had said. I had to stop her, but I couldn't even get to my

feet.

The house rumbled. The door flew open and green light poured out. I recognized the warm musty smell

of snakes.

Mist curled into a hundred smoky serpents, slithering up the porch columns, curling around the house.

Then the Oracle appeared in the doorway.

The withered mummy shuffled forward in her rainbow dress. She looked even worse than usual, which is

saying a lot. Her hair was falling out in clumps. Her leathery skin was cracking like the seat of a worn-out

bus. Her glassy eyes stared blankly into space, but I got the creepiest feeling she was being drawn

straight toward Rachel.

Rachel held out her arms. She didn't look scared.

"You've waited too long," Rachel said. "But I'm here now."

The sun blazed more brightly. A man appeared above the porch, floating in the air—a blond dude in a

white toga, with sunglasses and a cocky smile.

"Apollo," I said.

He winked at me but held up his finger to his lips.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he said. "You have the gift of prophecy. But it is also a curse. Are you sure you want this?"

Rachel nodded. "It's my destiny."

"Do you accept the risks?"

"I do."

"Then proceed," the god said.

Rachel closed her eyes. "I accept this role. I pledge myself to Apollo, God of Oracles. I open my eyes

to the future and embrace the past. I accept the spirit of Delphi, Voice of the Gods, Speaker of Riddles,

Seer of Fate."

I didn't know where she was getting the words, but they flowed out of her as the Mist thickened. A

green column of smoke, like a huge python, uncoiled from the mummy's mouth and slithered down the

stairs, curling affectionately around Rachel's feet. The Oracle's mummy crumbled, falling away until it was

nothing but a pile of dust in an old tie-dyed dress. Mist enveloped Rachel in a column.

For a moment I couldn't see her at all. Then the smoke cleared.

Rachel collapsed and curled into the fetal position. Annabeth, Nico, and I rushed forward, but Apollo

said, "Stop! This is the most delicate part."

"What's going on?" I demanded. "What do you mean?"

Apollo studied Rachel with concern. "Either the spirit takes hold, or it doesn't."

"And if it doesn't?" Annabeth asked.

"Five syllables," Apollo said, counting them on his fin-gers."That would be really bad."

Despite Apollo's warning, I ran forward and knelt over Rachel. The smell of the attic was gone. The

Mist sank into the ground and the green light faded. But Rachel was still pale. She was barely breathing.

Then her eyes fluttered open. She focused on me with difficulty. "Percy."

"Are you okay?"

She tried to sit up. "Ow." She pressed her hands to her temples.

"Rachel," Nico said, "your life aura almost faded completely. I could see you dying."

"I'm all right," she murmured. "Please, help me up. The visions—they're a little disorienting."

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

Apollo drifted down from the porch. "Ladies and gen-tlemen, may I introduce the new Oracle of

Delphi."

"You're kidding," Annabeth said.

Rachel managed a weak smile. "It's a little surprising to me too, but this is my fate. I saw it when I was in New York. I know why I was born with true sight. I was meant to become the Oracle."

I blinked. "You mean you can tell the future now?"

"Not all the time," she said. "But there are visions, images, words in my mind. When someone asks me a

question, I . . . Oh no—"

"It's starting," Apollo announced.

Rachel doubled over like someone had punched her. Then she stood up straight and her eyes glowed

serpent green.

When she spoke, her voice sounded tripled—like three Rachels were talking at once:

"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

At the last word, Rachel collapsed. Nico and I caught her and helped her to the porch. Her skin was

feverish.

"I'm all right," she said, her voice returning to normal.

"What was that?" I asked.

She shook her head, confused. "What was what?"

"I believe," Apollo said, "that we just heard the next Great Prophecy."

"What does it mean?" I demanded.

Rachel frowned. "I don't even remember what I said."

"No," Apollo mused. "The spirit will only speak through you occasionally. The rest of the time, our

Rachel will be much as she's always been. There's no point in grilling her, even if she has just issued the

next big prediction for the future of the world."

"What?" I said, "But—"

"Percy," Apollo said, "I wouldn't worry too much. The last Great Prophecy about you took almost

seventy years to complete. This one may not even happen in your lifetime."

I thought about the lines Rachel had spoken in that creepy voice: about storm and fire and the Doors of

Death. "Maybe," I said, "but it didn't sound so good."

"No," said Apollo cheerfully. "It certainly didn't. She's going to make a wonderful Oracle!"

It was hard to drop the subject, but Apollo insisted that Rachel needed to rest, and she did look pretty

disoriented.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said. "Back on Olympus, I didn't explain everything to you, but the calling

frightened me. I didn't think you'd understand."

"I still don't," I admitted. "But I guess I'm happy for you."

Rachel smiled. "Happy probably isn't the right word. Seeing the future isn't going to be easy, but it's my

destiny. I only hope for my family . . ."

She didn't finish her thought.

"Will you still go to Clarion Academy?" I asked.

"I made a promise to my father. I guess I'll try to be a normal kid during the school year, but—"

"But right now you need sleep," Apollo scolded. "Chiron, I don't think the attic is the proper place for

our new Oracle, do you?"

"No, indeed." Chiron looked a lot better now that Apollo had worked some medical magic on him.

"Rachel may use a guest room in the Big House for now, until we give the matter more thought."

"I'm thinking of a cave in the hills," Apollo mused. "With torches and a big purple curtain over the entrance .

. . really mysterious. But inside, a totally decked-out pad with a game room and one of those home

theater systems."

Chiron cleared his throat loudly.

"What?" Apollo demanded.

Rachel kissed me on the cheek. "Good-bye, Percy," she whispered. "And I don't have to see the future

to tell you what to do now, do I?"

Her eyes seemed more piercing than before.

I blushed. "No."

"Good," she said. Then she turned and followed Apollo into the Big House.

The rest of the day was as strange as the beginning. Campers trickled in from New York by car, pegasus

and chariot. The wounded were cared for. The dead were given proper funeral rites at the campfire.

Silena's shroud was hot pink, but embroidered with an electric spear. The Ares and Aphrodite cabins

both claimed her as a hero, and lit the shroud together. No one men-tioned the word spy. That secret burned to ashes as the designer perfume smoke drifted into the sky.

Even Ethan Nakamura was given a shroud—black silk with a logo of swords crossed under a set of

scales. As his shroud went up in flames, I hoped Ethan knew he had made a difference in the end. He'd paid a lot more than an eye, but the minor gods would finally get the respect they deserved.

Dinner at the pavilion was low-key. The only highlight was Juniper the tree nymph, who screamed,

"Grover!" and gave her boyfriend a flying tackle hug, making everybody cheer. They went down to the beach to take a moonlit walk, and I was happy for them, though the scene reminded me of Silena and

Beckendorf, which made me sad.

Mrs. O'Leary romped around happily, eating every-body's table scraps. Nico sat at the main table with

Chiron and Mr. D, and nobody seemed to think this was out of place. Everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids seemed to think he was pretty cool.

Hey, show up with an army of undead warriors to save the day, and suddenly you're every-body's best friend.

Slowly, the dinner crowd trickled away. Some went to the campfire for a sing-along. Others went to

bed. I sat at the Poseidon table by myself and watched the moonlight on Long Island Sound. I could see

Grover and Juniper at the beach, holding hands and talking. It was peaceful.

"Hey." Annabeth slid next to me on the bench. "Happy birthday."

She was holding a huge misshapen cupcake with blue icing.

I stared at her. "What?"

"It's August 18th," she said. "Your birthday, right?"

I was stunned. It hadn't even occurred to me, but she was right. I had turned sixteen this morning—the same morning I'd made the choice to give Luke the knife. The prophecy had come true right on schedule,

and I hadn't even thought about the fact that it was my birthday.

"Make a wish," she said.

"Did you bake this yourself?" I asked.

"Tyson helped."

"That explains why it looks like a chocolate brick," I said. "With extra blue cement."

Annabeth laughed.

I thought for a second, then blew out the candle.

We cut it in half and shared, eating with our fingers. Annabeth sat next to me, and we watched the

ocean. Crickets and monsters were making noise in the woods, but otherwise it was quiet.

"You saved the world," she said.

"We saved the world."

"And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody."

"You don't sound disappointed," I noticed.

Annabeth shrugged. "Oh, I don't care."

"Uh-huh."

She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?"

"You'd probably kick my butt."

"You know I'd kick your butt."

I brushed the cake off my hands. "When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."

Annabeth kept her eyes on the horizon."Yeah?"

"Then up on Olympus," I said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—"

"Oh, you so wanted to."

"Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity,

because things could always get better. And I was thinking . . ." My throat felt really dry.

"Anyone in particular?" Annabeth asked, her voice soft.

I looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile.

"You're laughing at me," I complained.

"I am not!"

"You are so not making this easy."

Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands around my neck. "I am never, ever going to make things

easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."

When she kissed me, I had the feeling my brain was melting right through my body.

I could've stayed that way forever, except a voice behind us growled, "Well, it's about time!"

Suddenly the pavilion was filled with torchlight and campers. Clarisse led the way as the eavesdroppers

charged and hoisted us both onto their shoulders.

"Oh, come on!" I complained. "Is there no privacy?"r

"The lovebirds need to cool off!" Clarisse said with glee.

"The canoe lake!" Connor Stoll shouted.

With a huge cheer, they carried us down the hill, but they kept us close enough to hold hands. Annabeth

I was laughing, and I couldn't help laughing too, even though my face was completely red.

We held hands right up to the moment they dumped us in the water.

Afterward, I had the last laugh. I made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake. Our friends kept waiting

for us to come up, but hey—when you're the son of Poseidon, you don't have to hurry.

And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time.

Chapter I I Pay a little Visit

I loaded the trunk with my heart racing. I have not been in camp in forever a couple times - once actually but that was for a restalk of imperial gold (because the camp uses it now). Once, I saw my true home, once in a whole school year; and I am finally going back. Back home, to Camp Half-Blood. It had been a Many of years since the calamity with Kronos, and two or three years since our battle with Gaea. Both experiences changed my life. But I have spent the whole long boring summer trying to forget the worst. Tarturus, the death of luke. It's not that my summer was bad. It's just that last year I turned 19, which kicked off my college spree with Percy. We actually tried to lead a normal life. For a demigod surviving means you're an adult sort of. Most don't make it. I'm one of the lucky ones. Most demigods try to start a life. I can imagine a house with my family and Percy. A life leading and guiding my children to be wise like me, and powerful like Percy. But even if I want that, I know deep down that this can't be the case. There will be more enemies like Kronos, Gaea, Polyphemus, Atlas, and even Luke. More and more monsters to take on. That's the problem with being wise. The more you know the more monsters reveal themselves. When you are a demigod you have power but you also bear a curse.. You live your life in fear. I nudged those thoughts aside and decided to get going. It was nearly three o'clock.

I was standing in the backyard of the Chase house. It was a sunny day and the black roof of my house absorbed the heat. In front of me was a yellow plane called the Sopwith Camel. I started the engine and took off. As I was on my way, I realized the sun had an unusual red glow to it. I forced myself not to think of it. I want to be normal, I said to myself, and all I have to do is forget!

Chapter II

Dragons and Snakes

I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES. I double checked my longitude and latitude to be sure. I was correct. This was Camp Half Blood. It felt out of place: Pillars were knocked down, statues lay smashed among the ground, and it had an unusual kind of quietness. Then I realized the issue for the first time: There were no campers. Normally, camp would be inhabited by a hundred or so frolicking demigods, sword fighting, playing ball, practicing their archery. But no. Not today, at least. Maybe Chiron will know, I thought. He can usually explain what's going on at camp. That is, if he is at camp, of course. I landed the Sopwith Camel by the ship dock, which was empty and deserted. Strange - the dock was normally full. Usually we would have to park our other ships by the swamp, which, well, you know… was a great place for ships.

I hopped off and walked along the shore. Nobody (and I mean nobody) was there, nor anywhere else to be seen. If camp really was left unattended, for any reason, whatever that might be, then that must mean… I suddenly stopped in my tracks. But somebody - something - else's tracks continued. I stumbled backward, mystified. They led up to the Big House, where all the important stuff went on. By now I didn't know what to do. Maybe the tracks were just Mrs. O'Leary's, our camp's - the world's - only friendly hellhound. There was only one way to find out. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to take that way just yet. Then something caught my eye; Something scary. I looked to my left where the statues were covered in them: Scratches big enough to scare an empousa. They were likely made by something big, like a dragon. Fortunately, that couldn't have been the case. The camp was surrounded by a magical dome-like barrier, keeping itself rid of monsters and unwanted humans. It was weather-protected, too; when it rained, the clouds just passed right around Camp Half-Blood.

Just then a voice called from behind me. It sounded like it came from the arena.

"Percy," I saw a figure wave a hundred feet away. "Percy!" I ran like a child of Hermes, almost tripping over myself. Then we hugged, and I could feel my fear melting away.

"Missed you," he said. Then I judo-flipped him over. I couldn't control myself. "NEVER LEAVE MY SIGHT AGAIN, AND CONTACT ME BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID. AM I CLEAR?" Percy had the nerve to laugh.

"Something stupid? What?" he said innocently. I stood there, looking at him like he was born yesterday. "Seaweed Brain," And then I planted a kiss on his cheek. I quickly shielded my eyes and frowned.

"What is it?"

"Where… Where are the others?" I asked, hopefully.

"Well, about that…" He looked strangely worried. "They… they're fighting in the war right now. They won't be back till… July 12, I think. We kept a strike team placed around camp, but I haven't heard a word of them in a while."

Suddenly an ear-splitting noise rang through my ears. Percy pushed me behind a bush and jumped beside me. "What was that fo-" I stopped. About three-hundred yards from us a colossal beast flapped it's two blue, leathery wings, and landed straight in the camp's strawberry field. Okay, I take it back, so maybe it is possible. Somehow, one way or another (and honestly, I still don't know how), the dragon had made its way through the camp's invisible boundaries and into camp. My eyes widened. Last time I saw a dragon was last summer, and that was not a pretty sight. If you've ever lived near a mountain inhabited by a hundred-headed dragon, you'd know what I mean.

The dragon twisted and turned, looking for the source of a scent that had caught its attention. It took me a second to realize that was us. Great. Never knew what it felt like to be a monster chow I thought to myself.

"Stay low and don't make a sound." Percy motioned for me to crawl behind a nearby tree. I didn't know what to do. Just then a large firework went up and I knew we were doomed. Percy said it was just a Stoll brothers' prank, but I knew better. I kept my hand clasped around my blade the whole time, just in case. Then I realized the dragon wasn't our only visitor. A hellhound leapt from the stable in front of us; but this was no Mrs. O'Leary. We turned in the other direction, andfound a Dracanae hissing at us. Percy immediately unsheathed Riptide from his pen and thrust it at the hellhound. He missed, but purposefully. Percy would never hurt a hellhound. But it turned out to be a very effective scare tactic.

You see, monsters are killed using celestial bronze, and Percy's sword happens to be made from it. So were most of the camp's weapons, because they were our best options. Celestial bronze can't kill mortals, only monsters and that sort of thing. I racked my brain: how do you kill a dragon, again? While I did this Percy threw another swipe at the dracanae. It sliced straight through her, then to my surprise the monster began reforming. I realized how dumb I was. The dragon captured Thanatos. So he controlled who died. Just then it was hit by a member of our remaining strike team which had snuck up behind it. It died and didn't reform right away, which bought us some time. . "Yes!"Percy explained. "Our strike team saved us."

"I called to inform the strike team to meet us ten minutes after I landed." I admitted.

"This is the part where you thank me."

Percy laughed.

"I guess so."

We hugged and walked to our cabins, which were completely vacant.

"Right… The campers." Percy said.

"What? Why are you so upset?"

"Nothing. Just… um, nothing," he said, but I had a feeling he was hiding something from me, And I Wanted to know what it was.

Chapter III

A Fool and a Sword

Ever wondered what happened to Ethan Nakamura? Well, today we found out. Walking past the Big House, we noticed an arrow with a note on it.o

"What's this?" Percy asked.

"Dunno," I said. I immediately noticed how dumb I sounded.

Percy plucked it from the ground and read it aloud:

The Nakamura that saved your lives

Still lives among you, survived

Awaiting you by Zeus' Fist

He will see you through the mist.

I admired the well-printed letter. Its golden writing must have meant the situation was important and urgent. We made our way to the big pile of stone and clay called Zeus' Fist, only to find another letter. This time I snatched it up and read it to myself:

Getting closer

Just wait your turn

The camp's history will soon be over

And all the land will burn.

I stared at the note in silence. It must have been a bit awkward for Percy, because he took it from my hands, too. Once he was finished, his jaw dropped. He crumpled the paper into a ball and pelted a tree with it.

"What does he mean by 'wait your turn'?!" he said, in rage.

"Or that this camp will 'burn'?" I noted.

"I couldn't have been a bit more specific," The voice echoed from behind the rocks.

I immediately recognized the voice: Ethan Nakamura. I gripped my dagger from behind my back, tight.

"Good to see you guys again, really," Ethan continued. "I've waited for this moment since, what, I almost died from a fall of around 80,000 feet, is that right?"

I could see Percy with Riptide in his hand, opened. Then I noticed Nakamura had also taken out his sword.

"Nakamura, we don't want to hurt you. I thought you had changed for the better. We can take care of you. We even have a cabin for Nemesis now, your mother. I don't feel like-"

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this. This has nothing to do with revenge. I came here to warn you. Well, I more or less was sent." He stepped to the side, revealing a mysterious black figure cloaking in black. I held my breath and bit my tongue. It couldn't be.

"Ethan, how could you…" I said,

"No worries. Alecto here won't bite. Show 'em, Alec."

The fury raised her bony fingers and released a huge blast of power that sent us flying back.

"No, Alecto! I told you not to hurt them. Show them the prisoner." he rolled his eyes. Alecto snapped, making visible a big, many-handed creature.

"Briares!" I threw myself forward to hug him, but Alecto just flicked her hand and I fell to the ground again.

"No touch," she crackled. I stood up and dusted off my shoulders and jeans.

"What do you want? How did you survive? And why the heck did you drag yourself all the way over here to warn us?"

Suddenly an arrow pierced the air and hit Nakamura right in the foot. His face turned pale. His eyes went blank. All the blood in his hands began to turn black. It was probably one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen (and believe me, that's saying a lot).

"Mast-master… why… he sent his archers…" Ethan faltered. Then he collapsed.

Chapter IV

Attack of the Archers

Thalia jumped - no... flew out of the tree next to me wearing her silver garment. I looked around and sure enough, I saw Thalia Grace in her archer stance, bow in hand. I also saw several other hunters in trees across the woods. A smile crossed my face as I ran to her.

"Why did you shoot Nakamura? Is he dead?" Percy asked.

"You don't understand. He wasn't there to warn you. He was there to imprison you. And no, he's not dead. Nothing like a little scythian blood to get him to take a nap."

I hugged her, still shocked.

"Why did he need us?" I asked.

"For a sacrifice to his master Echidna. She was infuriated that we killed her husband last spring and has sent her monsters after you two."

"But won't Typhon come back? He's probably in Tartarus right now, regenerating. Isn't that the home of Echidna, too?" I protested.

"No, because the door to the gods has been closed and that means Thanatos cannot open the Doors of Death. Also, Echidna wants Typhon never to die again, so she is going to get igor and half blood to make him stronger. So she sent her monsters to open the Doors of Death in Greece."

"Wow, that is complicated, I must say. Where do you know all this, Thalia?" questioned Percy. "You can't have possibly found it in a message. What have you been up to?"

"You don't understand it, Seaweed Brain" Annabeth asked.

"I think I do, I just think we should wait and talk about it in the morning. After all, it is getting late, and we can get other opinions in the morning by holding a war council at the Big House," Percy said.

Most of the huntresses nodded their heads and murmured some "Sounds good"s and "Makes sense"s. Percy even noted what a good idea it was. "I mean, you could've said the same thing, it sounds so much smarter coming from you," Percy noted.

"I know," I said, and laughed.

Chapter V

Hay talk

I snuck out of bed and crept into the stables. I saw Percy laying on a bale of hay, and I aroused him with a shake. "Gods of Olympus, Annabeth, don't do that!"

"Sorry." I said. I figured we should talk - after all it has been awhile.

"So did you study warfare and battle strategy over the summer, Seaweed Brain? After all, you were acting so smart earlier."

"Nah, All I did was swim at my lake house and think of you. How about you, Annabeth?"

"Ya know, I planned at Olympus. Lots of architecture and construction going on. Ya know I was thinking about making a statue of you. After all, you are a hero." We were silent for a while.

"Do you think we can do it?" I looked at him, puzzled. "Ya know, the quest about all that Echidna's revenge and stuff? It seems like a lot of work compared to some of the others," Percy said.

"We can do it" I said, "We always have and always will."

Percy seemed quiet, not as subdued.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked. I felt instant regret. I guess Percy did, too, because he looked pale as a pigeon. He must've thought I found out about something I shouldn't have.

" I would want to know that Annabeth Chase was going to marry me if I was going to die. It's not a proposal or anything. Just wanted to know."

"Yes!" I said surprising myself even, "if you mean it that way."

"I mean, yeah, I guess." But I knew it was something that had been on his mind for a while.

"Enough talk. Now we eat. Oh, and you should probably get back before Malcolm notices."

I turned to leave, but Percy stopped me. "But if you want to, I brought blue food." Percy exclaimed.

"He's a doof," I whispered under my breath. Our hands clasped together and we headed to the dining pavilion.

Chapter VI

Infested Breakfast

We arrived at the dining pavilion. A half-destroyed dining pavilion, that is. After all, it was only five in the morning . Percy grabbed two goblets that allow you to have any drink you want in them, and warmed up some blue waffles. I usually love Sally's waffles, but today they did not smell right or look right so we decided to pass and wait for the hunters to arrive with fresh gain. However, not eating the waffles brought a frown to Percy's face. I went over to comfort him, but it was a trick on Percy's side. He took a blue waffle from the table and smashed it in my face. I grabbed one, too, but he hit it out of my hand before I could do the same to him.

But then I saw something slip behind the pillar on the stage… something rather… green? Percy hopped from his chair. I guess he noticed it too, and we rushed over to investigate. Suddenly, a greenish-blue figure stepped out, but when we neared it we realized it was just a green shadow.

"What?" I stepped closer and found that the shadow came from someone with glowing green skin covered in scales. It had a dark red hood and… A gorgon! I jumped back and so did Percy, and together we drew our weapons in defense. The gorgon lifted her hands, signaling that she was not here to bring harm. But we left our weapons open, standing in silence, until the gorgon finally pulled out a sword and attempted her first blow. She knocked Percy's sword from his grip and kicked him down. He sat up, dazed.

Then I struck her with my knife, but it was no use. I only cut off a piece of her cape, and she fought back with an offensive strike. She thrust her sword upon me, but I rolled away just in time. Then Percy snuck from behind, and I gave him a quick wink and kept fighting. She almost had me when Percy came up from behind a stuffed waffle - a blue waffle - in her face. She struggled, trying to figure out what had happened, but eventually I tied a rope around her wrists.

"Let's take her where we kept Alecto." I suggested.

"Wait," Percy said. He cut open a small cut in her index and middle finger grabbing it from the side that could not kill you.

"We should stop by the infirmary. This could be useful."

"I never thought seeing a gorgon was a good sign."

We locked her up for further questioning in the Big House Game Room, but for now, it was time for breakfast.

Chapter VII

Rotten Prophecy

My stomach growled, and I started thinking about food again. Just then, I saw silver streaks like arrows darting out of the woods. I caught a glimpse of Thalia's troubled face, and it made me forget all about my next meal.

"The gain… it's all rotten. Almost everything is dead except for... him. The hunters made a gap to reveal a centaur. "His name is Sam, or at least that's what he says." one of the hunters murmured, "He's bossy" and another murmured, "We must find the oracle. Maybe she could help us with one of her weird prophecy things."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Where was this going? I asked myself.

"We need to act now. We only have two months until Greece meets its fate and the children of Athena and Poseidon's son will be too late" said Sam.

I scratched my head and stared at Sam. "Where did you get all that from?" I asked.

"Just a bit of info I picked up while on a top-secret rescue mission." He said humbly, lifting his head up high.

"If what you say is true, then that means…" I turned to look at Percy. He looked back, and a feeling of fear passed between us. It was interrupted by Sam saying, "Isn't anybody gonna ask who this 'top-secret rescue' subject is? Seriously?"

Thalia gave me a look. "Sam, I don't think we have time for tha-'' I quickly interrupted her out of curiosity. "What Thalia is trying to say is that we would love to know who this mysterious person is that you were here to find," Sam smiled. "He's more or less a person… he kinda, you know… he's actually a hyperborean giant."

I froze. Did he just say… hyperborean giant? Well that seemed to get everyone more interested. With the war going on and all, we could use some extra firepower - or should I say icepower, am I right? Sorry about that. What I'm saying is that if we could manage to get our hands on one of those guys, then that could majorly improve our army.

"We're in," I said, before Thalia and her Huntress friends could say anything else. Thalia shot me a look, saying, You're gonna pay for this. Let's just say I didn't want to stick around to find out what she was trying to say. I excused myself and hurried out the door, Percy following behind.

"What's up, Annabeth?" he said, trying to cheer me up.

I turned to face him, a twinkle in my eye. "Do understand what a golden opportunity this is, Percy? With one of those things, we could win the war… or it could mean the end of this camp once and for all. I mean, what if he's here right now, and is waiting for the right moment to strike?"

A troubled look crossed Percy's face. "Didn't really think about that. Looks like you didn't either… you just agreed to help Sam find his icy friend."

My eyes shrunk. What was I thinking? The curious part of me wanted to go out and look for him, and maybe even befriend him; but the logical side (which was the majority) recommended it safer for all of us to stay put and not trust mysterious Sam and his smelly horse butt.

Suddenly, a large, monstrous creature arose from the forest. "Fe, fi, fo, fum. My name Bumbleduff and and I'm really dumb." I jumped backwards. This had to be the hyperborean giant. Sam rushed out, the huntresses trailing behind. Sam whistled. Bumbleduff froze - like, literally. Sam tied a chain around his neck and snapped. The giant unfroze, shivering.

"Meet Bumbleduff, my trusted pet." Sam said with enthusiasm.

…

I stopped at the cave entrance. I performed a secret knock on the stone slab covering the way in. I looked back at Percy. "Ready?" I asked.

"Ready," he said in response. The door to the cavern opened. A young, hooded girl stepped out. I rejoiced. "Rachel!" I hugged her.

"I'm guessing you want me to tell the future," she said.

"No, just here for fresh air." I joked.

We sat down and discussed the problem with her. "Mmmm… looks like you've got a big one on your hands." She nodded. Then she went into a chanting fit and began to ramble on about rotten meat and stuff. Don't know what that all was about. But here's the part that caught my attention:

"You shall meet a great giant, tall and strong

A traitor to Typhon, the one dead for so long

You will sense his presence, sooner or later

And you will fight the King of Monsters, with the aid of the traitor."

"You shall meet the long-forgotten satyr

With his mind wiped for the greater

You must meet him in Greece, the land of the gods

And beat the Monster King's unbeatable odds."

Chapter VIII

The Council

We gathered around the ping pong table, eating Cheese Whiz and drinking from the camp's magical goblets. I chose warm Blue Cranberry juice (much to Percy's appeal).

"So what are you planning on doing with all our prisoners?" I asked, curiosity taking the better of me.

"How about… OFF TO TARTARUS WITH THEM!" Thalia suggested

"I could drown them in a lake," Percy noted. "The water pressure will SQUEEZE. THEM TO DEATH."

"Or maybe we could ask whoever these prisoners you're talking about some questions. Like an interrogation." Sam said.

Honestly, this new Sam dude had been making pretty smart comments lately, so I guess that made up for him eating up half our vending machine snacks and emergency food supply.

"Maybe after that we can kill them," another hunter murmured.

"Let's see… We've currently got Ethan Nakamura, the demon fury lady, and gorgon girl all locked up. Not mentioning the two super powerful giants we've got in the barracks right now. So that makes five DEAD." Sam said.

"Briares is not a prisoner," I pointed out, just to make that clear.

"Who wants to bet that I can kill all of them with my bare hands?" Thalia looked around the room.

"This is getting way too dark,'' I said firmly. "Enough about the prisoners already."

I was mad that Sam was so wise and that everybody was following him. I know I sound a bit jealous right now, but I'm serious. This made me mad and I tried my best to not show it. "We should send a scouting team to Greece to follow the prophecy." I said, ``Then we can send a strike team to kill the monsters." We heard the noise of a can spraying cheese everywhere. We looked around. Sam was making a mess of himself with the Cheese Whiz. I smirked. Score. I knew it was a good idea to bring that stuff. Now Sam had made a total fool of himself.

"Boys, am I right?"

Thalia and her huntresses agreed. "Indeed," they said.

I should not be thinking this way, I said to myself, but I could not help laughing. And I could tell the others couldn't keep it in, either. Sam's eyes widened. He clearly couldn't tell why everybody was

Laughing at him "Um… want some?" he asked, dumbly.

"Anyway," I said, "Me and Percy should go to Greece after all that's what Sam said, Right?"

Although Sam was embarrassed, He nodded "My uncle, Chiron had great faith in you two. But he;s with the Party Ponies right now, for vacation. I'm in charge while he is gone, so you'd better listen carefully. But I will not argue with my uncle. Afterall he is my elder and one of the first Centaurs ever to live. "

"Why should me or anybody in this room trust you?" Percy said. "You could be lying. Chiron loves us. He would never take a break, right? Plus, where is Dionysus off to?"

"His time is over, he is with the gods and his wife, Ariadne," Sam said. "and you can Iris message Chiron for all I care. Just to ask for his confirmation."

"Okay, but I am a little poor since the attack. Afterall it is kinda hard to save, while saving the world when you might die in the process." Percy explained. Sam flipped him a coin.
"Here, it's not cursed."

"Why would you bring 'cursed' up, if it had nothing to do with the coin?" I pointed it out, but nobody noticed.

Then he slided an Oreo to Percy.

"I will give you my sword as well, for I am much better with my bow. It's kind of like Riptide." Percy looked convinced, but was also trying hard not to eat it at the same time. On one side instead of saying "Oreo" it said "Anaklusmos, 2.0."

"Cool." Percy said. "May I flip it?" he looked to me for confirmation. I nodded. It was weird when he flipped it for the first time. It molded into Percy's perfect sword size. The blade extended nearly to the ceiling. But that was mostly because Percy was five foot ten. It was about 3 feet long, just like Riptide. It was split into three parts, one being celestial bronze, the other steel, and the final, stygian iron( for killing Werewolves). Sam later noted its ability to morph into multiple different weapon types, such as a mace, javelin, and dagger. It could also become a scythe, a swiss army knife, axe, a knife, a halberd, nunchucks, katana, shurikens, a crowbar, spear, sickle, a lightning powered hammer (yes, like Thor's), and a pistol (we all stood back when we saw the last two).

"But only sometimes a gun." Sam explained. "Maybe even a rifle, but I would not try that." The weird part was that Sam was not sad when he gave away his most prized weapon. But the most interesting thing about the oreo was that it was magnetic. "That could come in handy sometime," Percy said. It did seem pretty useful. He just seemed a little happier that he was able to use a bow. But it made me wonder what use the bow served if the sword did all that.

"The oreo will also reappear in your hand whenever you say the right words. They can be your choice - when you set it up it will have that option, but I usually say 'Eláte, óplo', because it signifies as Greek for 'Come, o weapon'."

"All you have to do is think about the name and it will be that," I realized that Percy was staring at me . Was he going to make him call my name? His eyes twinkled, but then his face hardened.

I whispered, "That could be confusing,"

But he just kept thinking. "Maybe… Annabeth #2?" He told me.

I gave him a stern look. "I'm the only Annabeth you'll ever need." I wanted to judo-flip him again, but I hesitated and muttered "Boys." and rolled my eyes.

"I was talking about the oreo." Percy noted as relaxed as a demigod could be.

"We leave at four AM tomorrow," I proposed. He nodded. "All is done, then," Percy said, then he ran off, yelled "Catch me if you can!" and plunged into the lake.

Chapter IX

Sincere Change

Percy was waiting for me in the lake. It took me a minute until I found him, so it was good when he made a bubble. "Follow me," he said, not even looking at me. He took us so deep I was surprised we were not crushed by the pressure. When we reached our destination I realized my mouth was gaping. He had built a large underwater cabin that was probably the size of three of our camp cabins. The only downside to it was that there was a large area that said 'UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR BETTER ARCHITECTURE'. "That part is for you to build," he said. I grinned. Another cool part of it was that it was surrounded by an air bubble. "Who built this?" I asked. "Me and the Naiads."

"Since I graduated earlier, I came to camp early. I built this in my spare time just in case."

"I also trained really hard because... no summer is normal." After that he darkened a little bit. " Are you sure you weren't trying to show off for me?" I teased. We laughed. "The Naidas did most of the work, to be honest, " Percy said. He showed me inside the lounging area - it was a boy's dream. A large flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall, with a series of cables plugged into various gaming systems. There were bean bag chairs, a mini fridge, a small cupboard full of junk food, and a large doorway at the end of it. It was labeled "Library" in Greek. I kissed Percy quickly and ran in.

I stared in awe. It looked twice the size of the actual cabin (must have been Naiadmagic). It was stacked with shelves of books, and a ladder extended from one of the bookcases to my right. The library was split up into two parts. The first side was labeled "Inscribed in English". The other side had a beautiful plaque in calligraphy: "Inscribed with Greek."

"Would you mind if I spent all my time here?" I said,

"Like I built this for me," he said smugly. After I got over the library he showed me the rest of the house. There was a game room with ping pong, (not for having meetings, of course) foosball, a pool table, a table for playing cards, a checkerboard, chess board, a dart board, an air hockey table, and a closet filled with trivia games, board games card games etc. There were two master bedrooms, one for Percy and a so-called guest room. A training room could be found at the end of the grand hallway, which, of course, had magnificent paintings and sculptures lining the walls. a kitchen (with an assortment of blue candies and blue food) on nearly every floor (yes, there were multiple floors - three to four at the least), and a main back door leading to a large field, which must've been the backyard. "This was supposed to be just in case, but for now I'm sleeping in here."

"Sam can sleep in the stables. After all, he is a horse."

"Oh and I almost forgot to show you something," Percy exclaimed. He took me back to the library, turned into the greek section, and took me to the back wall of the library where he pulled out a book called "The Car Garage" in ancient Greek. The bookshelf swung open, revealing a car garage - and more rooms that Percy never showed me. "Welcome to the car garage," Percy said, excitedly. There were at least four cars and one or two chariots. They were really nice cars. "How… did you-'"

"Tyson gave me some unwanted scrap gold that remained from the forges that weren't good enough for the projects, even though they looked fine to me. He handed me a magical box full of 'em, which was light as a feather since it was enchanted with magic. The car dealership went crazy when I showed up with the gold and told me to pick a few." Percy said this like it was no big deal. "Oh, and there are four more e on the floor below. They're not as nice though."

"Why do you have cars? You're at the bottom of a lake." I pointed out. "The Naiads found a way for this part to take us to land. They're masters of magic."

"I can tell," I said.

"Well, it's about lunch time. We should go ahead and head to the 'real world'. Also, you can stay in the guest room if you want." We headed back up in silence, except for the faint rumblings of our stomachs.

It was early morning, maybe about two AM. I woke up early because I was nervous about the adventure. I explored the library because there was nothing to do. I read a couple of architecture books about Greek columns and which ones were the most stable. Most of the columns were from Athens (much to my appeal). Afterwards, I set out to explore the parts of the house Percy never bothered to show me. Was he hiding something? Was he planning our future? I tried to push that thought aside and focus on what was in front of me. I turned right to the Greek side of the library and headed to the back wall. I did not realize how hard it was to navigate until now. It took me another fifteen minutes to find the designated bookcase. I found the book that said "Car Garage" and was about to pull the book when I heard a voice behind me.

"Couldn't sleep too?" Percy said.

I jumped.

"Yeah, I was too nervous."

"By the way, I'm holding the prisoners in the dungeon downstairs." He had a dungeon?

"Oh good, you caught me at the right time. 'Bout to check out the car garage again. What about some breakfast?"

We headed to the kitchen (okay, one of the kitchens) in silence.

"I brought some blue food for us to ration during our quest." Percy said/

At least it isn't rotten, I thought.

Percy held up a platter with an assortment of blue cookies, blue cheese, blue bread, blue nachos, blue fruit, and even blue spaghetti. I was ready to dig in when the doorbell rang. I trudged over to the doorway when Percy said, "Stop! If whoever rang the doorbell found a way to get to our secret underwater house, then that means trouble. Hide." I turned and ran. I saw Percy's TV flash with the words EMERGENCY WATER MISSLE INITIATED. I decided the library was a good hiding spot, since I could stay occupied. But no. Percy had to build a secret bunker. I found the bunker when I looked at the book next to the Car Garage and pulled the book that said JUST IN CASE in ancient greek. The doors slid open with a mechanical whir. I went down the steps to the underground bunker, where I found a small set of books lining a shelf. I was about to take a book down and start reading when a huge Boom! shook the building, knocking several books off the shelf. It was followed by a Crash and a Help!, which sounded strangely like Percy's voice from above. I had to help. I know he wanted me to be safe, but this was also my fight. I pulled out my dagger and said, "Let's do this " really confidently. I rushed up the stairs and looked in horror at the library where a portion of the ceiling had collapsed. Some of it was even burning, too… wait, burning? I yelled to Percy, "We've got to destroy the bubble!" Percy lowered his head to look at me. "What!?" he called back.

"I said, we've got to destroy the bubble! The one surrounding this place!"

"But that would destroy it," he said, and I didn't know if that was sarcastic or not.

"It's the only way. Without the water, the fires will continue. It's our only chance."

He wiped away a tear. "I hope I don't regret this," he muttered, and jumped off the roof colliding with the bubble, sword in hand. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for what was about to come. Then it happened like a flash. I couldn't breathe. Was this the end? Apparently, no. Percy had formed a bubble around us, and we were saved. I hugged him.

Percy looked as if he remembered something. "Wait... the house can be reformed magically."

I looked at him as if I had misunderstood. "What did you say?""I said, "the house can reform. With magic. The Naiads made it that way because a demigod's life is never perfect."

I looked like the dumbest girl in the world. "Oops." After the Sea monster (the one that nearly caused our deaths) went away, Percy reformed the bubble and the house began to reform. It was a big relief and trust me I have held the weight of the world on my back.

"So… what did that monster want with us?" I asked.

"Probably a gift from Echidna." he said.

"How lovely. Wait, can't your dad, like… control stuff like that? How come Echidna can summon monsters underwater?"

"As far as I know," Percy said, "Echidna sent it from the Depths. It's like an underwater trench that connects to Tartarus. Hard to explain."

"Oh, probably sniffed us out then."

We emerged from the surface. Once we made it to the shore, Percy popped the bubble.

"We should probably get back to our cabins. It's 3:10 AM." Percy walked me to my cabin. "Ya know you really don't have to walk me to my cabin anymore. I'm almost twenty."

"Yeah, but I wanted to give this to you in private." He pulled something from behind his back. It looked like a sort of pocket… no, a sheath…

"For my dagger!" I reached for it and tested it on my dagger. It fit perfectly. However, inside the sheath was a note. I looked up to thank him, but he was gone. I read the note to myself

This is for you because I wasn't really sure whether I would be alive to witness your 20th birthday. I asked your mom to lend me some Leather from Olympus. She gave it to me with a frown, obviously; but at least she appreciated me coming to her. I made this for you out of love and because I do not want your hand to get cut while you are running with it.

P.S. We are flying Blackjack on the way to Greece, And yes I promised him blue powdered donuts on the way. Also feel free to take one of the cars… . a boy can't have it all.

Sincerely, Seaweed Brain

Chapter X

Takeoff

I held on to Percy tightly as we took to the skys. According to Percy, Blackjack can move faster than the speed of sound when well-fed with powdered donuts. Percy had suggested we both wear black - that way we would look nearly invisible during the night, and blend in with Blackjacks fur coat during the day. "We'll be there in one day," he said with excitement. "Or two if we take a detour to Rome and visit some famous monuments and look at some architecture."

I got as happy as Blackjack eating donuts. "Will we get to visit Athens? I hear it was named after my mother!" "No, it's not on the schedule, and we don't have the time." he said. I frowned. "Just jokin' with ya. Sure, but it'll be brief because we only have till August 18th."

I seemed okay with that. But Percy… he acted a bit worried.

We were silent for a little bit. My eyes grew heavy and with the soft flap of Blackjacks wings I soon fell asleep. When I woke up it was mid morning.

I noticed Percy's expression was grim.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's just, um… well, we're almost in Greece, and… well, did I ever tell you how much I hate olives?"Percy said. I laughed.

Then a thought struck me: Sightseeing trip with Percy. This quest is just getting better and better.

Then the birds came. Not just any birds: Stymphalian Pigeons. Percy noticed them first. "Been awhile, pigeon friends," he said, and then did a maneuver that dodged most of them. Unfortunately, for Percy, he got hit - more like carried - away by them, and then… then they dropped him. I quickly took control of the reins, and somehow - I still don't know how - dove down toward him, and caught him in a perfect swoop. He looked at me in awe. "How did you-"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Looks like you found another skill you're good at," he said, and I climbed over him and let him fly again. For the rest of the ride, we were mostly quiet, except for a few moments. The main thing I heard was the constant slap of the oreo in Percy's hand while he flipped it. I had a feeling he was gonna be using that thing more often - maybe more than Riptide even.

We looked down and saw beautiful scenery stretching across the horizon. The stars were fading and the day had begun; the sun was slowly waking. It glowed a maroonish red and the moon shifted across the Earth. But wait - the sun began to glow a more and more intense scarlet color - and then something popped out of it. Like, actually popped out of the sun. It was a chariot - a chariot of gold with flames etched on the rims. It landed right in front of us, and a man with golden blonde hair and flip flops stepped out. "'Sup, guys." he said. He wore a dark velvet three-piece suit with a black tie, a velvet coat, and a white shirt. He also was wearing a pair of beach sunglasses that covered his eyes.

"Apollo!" We greeted him joyfully.

Apollo seemed worried and tired but it seemed as if he had pasted a fake smile on his face "What brings you here?" he asked.

Percy gave me his suspicious face, telling me, don't tell this guy the truth. He could be some monster in disguise. I somehow understood him, and went with: "We're here for some… inspiration. I'm working on this architectural project on Olympus, and… well, you know, what better place to go for inspiration than Greece, am I right?" I smiled at him. He eyed me suspiciously but seemed satisfied. It got kind of awkward after that, so I decided to go on. "We're also here for sightseeing, and we're planning to go to Athens and Rome and-" I stopped. Percy did the 'cut' signal with his fingers, which indicated that I've said too much. Apollo - or monster Apollo - also looked like he had had enough. "A man should never let a woman only speak for him. So what are you really here for?" He said with such intensity it made me shiver. Percy gulped.

"We're on a quest, sir. We have to get to Greece quickly. So that's why we're here. Period." Apollo seemed satisfied with this. He tucked his tie into his gleaming tuxedo and boarded his chariot. He gave one last look, then said, "Farewell," and hopped into his chariot.

Afterward, Percy contemplated their interaction. "The tux? The quick come and go? And the 'Farewell'? I don't think that was Apollo. He didn't even say any horrible poems." We laughed.

"But seriously, we should be more careful next time - and more prepared. Apollo - no offense, dude - but he doesn't have manners like that. Anybody we meet could be some kind of monster."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Guess I got a bit lost in my excitement there. Looks like I got a little bit too close to the truth… and I think I made Apollo a little angry. Sorry."

Percy shifted on his feet. "I don't feel comfortable here. Let's move on."

Together, we hopped on Blackjack and took off.

I thought about the quest and what lay ahead. I recited Rachel's prophecy with a checklist in my head: "You shall meet a great giant, tall and strong."

I thought about that one - we met a hyperborean giant earlier, but he wasn't with us right now. Maybe that line referred to the final battle?

A traitor to Typhon, the one dead for so long

You will sense his presence, sooner or later - it seemed like we would find out later.

And you will fight the King of Monsters, with the help of the traitor." - I already knew that.

"You shall meet the long-forgotten satyr -Huh, I wonder who that is... I said to myself, although a part of me nagged that I should already know.

With his mind wiped for the greater

You must meet him in Greece, the land of the gods. That's where we were- at least I got that one right.

And beat the Monster King's unbeatable odds."- At least we would win.

How we were going to win I don't know. I guess I needed to devise a plan, and fast. We only had a month and a half.

Chapter XI

A Sunset for Donuts

The breeze hit my face at a high speed. It felt good, and I stretched my arms out as our pegasus glided through the air. I felt as if we were getting hit with fifteen fans, all on max. The fields and crops spread out beneath us. We could see hundreds of tourists; and even though it was too high up to read their expressions, we could tell they were happy - taking photos and selfies, buying souvenirs and postcards, eating food from Greece…

"Ugh. Olives" Percy said in disgust.

"Next stop: Greece. Insert a dozen powdered donuts to continue." Percy translated-Blackjack sounded like an automated intercom on a train. I gave him my remaining donuts. "C'mon, big guy. We're almost there."

We dove straight toward a gift shop, high speed. "What are we doing?" I asked.

"Picking up a souvenir. I can't just stop by Greece and not buy a souvenir. Plus, the only other thing here to buy would be olives."

"And, the shop beside it has magical souvenirs or a magical bathroom for all I know...and it also kinda serves as a portal to the Doors of Death. That's where we're going right after-."

"Your little shopping trip," I finished. We landed in the last available parking spot and hopped off. Won't this look a bit weird to humans? I mean, yeah, they were tricked by the mist, but… won't they see, like, two kids jumping off the top of a car?" I asked

"We're in Greece, Annabeth. It's weird like that. Besides, what would they do, anyway?" He said as we walked inside. I scratched my arm nervously. "How did you like my letter?" I didn't know how to respond to his letter. I've looked at him differently ever since, I just wasn't sure what had changed. I was about to answer when something struck me as odd. I looked at the label of the store we were in.

"Look, Percy. A Monster Donut shop." It was one of the biggest I had ever seen. "That's not good..." I scratched my arm again and pushed that thought aside. It would only be a quick trip - in and out.

My stomach rumbled. I realized I hadn't eaten since… since the blue breakfast at Percy's mansion. I scanned the aisles for a snack that both filled my stomach and tasted good. But, unfortunately, there's not much of anything good in a donut shop. I hated donuts as much as Percy hated olives. I met Percy by the cashier. We were the only ones in line… strange. Looks like the monster had already eaten. He wiped a little jelly from a jelly donut off his chin - or at least I think and hope it was jelly - and said, "Welcome to Monster Donut. How can I help you?"

Percy stood in front of me. "We're looking for the restroom. Where is it?"

Was this some kind of joke from his side? I didn't know, but he walked over to the door and opened it. A glowing portal was behind it. He stepped in first, and disappeared into the swirling blue and green. It was just like a portal that would be in a child's coloring book. I hesitated before I hopped in. I grabbed my dagger out of its sheath and then threw it at him. The man disintegrated, and I retrieved my dagger. I hoped Percy had a plan. I told myself, 'Here goes nothing,'" and then I dove in.

We looked at our surroundings. It was kind of scary - being in the Underworld again and all. Percy checked his watch. It was only ten o'clock. We hadn't slept in a while. The Underworld seemed to be running as usual: large creepy towers, lava falls, a bunch of people checking into their eternal hotels.

It was pretty hot here, but we still shivered. Last time we both were here, we barely made it out alive. If we die here, I thought, then we wouldn't leave. We would just go straight to the check-in. I wondered if we would be granted passage to Elysium if we died. I mean, Hades didn't really enjoy our visits.

We strolled along the black sand that dotted the bay. The sand was more like ashes and it burned my feet. Well, the bay to a pool of lava, that is. Percy pointed to a red river that streamed across the entire Underworld. The river Styx. "Bathed in that last summer," he said.

I shook. It was kind of a scary thought, that Percy was now mostly invincible.

"Do you still have the curse?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Nah, I gave it up because I wanted my life to be normal - our life to be as normal as can be. Plus, it made me tired all the time. I wanna live my life, not sleep through it. If I still bore the curse I might be dead, and I'm not facing any more Titans, so I'll be fine." He slipped his hand in mine and we kept going.

We heard a whistle from above. A small figure rode atop a winged fury. They landed right in front of us, almost crushing us under it's huge claws. A kid - about my age, maybe two or three years younger - stepped off. It was Nico. "Turn back." he said with such sadness we felt bad for him.

"What?!" Percy asked.

"I said turn back. This place isn't safe for you." he pointed at a skeletal archer mounted on the palace wall. More of these lined the entire perimeter of the wall, and a large drawbridge was being lowered. A dozen knights in dark armor on horses galloped out hastily. Behind them, a man in a black cloak rode a skeletal horse with silver horns coming out of its nostrils. I clenched my teeth and balled my fists. "Hades," I said. Suddenly a dark presence came over me.. My knees buckled, and I fell in the sand. Percy and Nico grabbed my arms and hauled me up. "What was that?" Nico asked. Even he looked surprised. "I dunno," I said weakly, spitting sand out of my mouth.

"We have to move on. Nico, I came here for some Stygian Iron. I could use it to… well, you'll see. Happen to have any?"

"Percy, you can't just go around asking for Stygian Iron like it's a toy. That stuff is scarce nowadays."

Percy frowned. I hated when that happened. "Um, we can repay you." I said quickly, keeping the conversation going. "Like, how about… a laptop containing ancient wonders and ideas?" I took my laptop from my backpack and showed it to him. Daedelus had given it to me two summers ago, and it was still full of ideas that I had not read but I didn't need it that much. Its drive was stored in Olympus' blueprint system.

"Wait," Percy said. "I'm not gonna let you give up your favorite computer. This is my job."

"Percy, I'm the leader of this quest. It's my responsibility, and… and it must be done." A tear rolled down my cheek as I said it. Nico looked fine with that. He took the computer and opened it. Sure enough, it was flooded with ideas and masterpieces. "I'll take it." he said.

"Nico, don't do this." Percy said angrily.

But Nico ignored him. He left and came back five minutes later with an ingot of Stygian Iron. He held it up. "It may look small, but it multiplies each day for 28 days - one cycle of the moon." He said,

I trusted Nico, but Percy… not as much. They've had a bumpy history, and I didn't wanna get involved. "We should just get going," I said, and we left the way we came.

"Where are we going?" I asked Percy.

"My dad's house," he snorted. "The underwater forges."

Chapter XII

Big but Delicate Hands

The palace was even more impressive than Percy's underwater mansion. The castle was surrounded by a more stable air bubble, more like glass. The castle reached halfway up to sea level and there was a separate section for the cyclops that almost towered the castle. It looked like a gigantic cabin. And actual smoke came out of the forges. It was spectacular.

We met Tyson by the entrance of the palace. He was working on some big project - but he hid it from us as soon as he saw us. "Percy?" he said in disbelief. We greeted him and told him what we needed help with. He led us inside and I popped the bubble we were in with my dagger.

Tyson showed us around, but we weren't in the mood for a mini-tour. Or at least Percy wasn't. I was interested in all the strange architectural wonders. The pillars were literally made of coral, and later we ran into a castle butler… who was a dolphin in a tuxedo! I loved Percy's house and all, but this… was just plain beautiful. Percy suggested I go on with the tour while he visited with his father, half mom, and his immortal half-brother.

I didn't want to leave him but I also didn't want to miss the amazing tour, so I reluctantly let go of his hand and followed Tyson.

"The forges are underwater partly because fires can be extinguished easier," Tyson explained. He also told me about the bronze arches that were scattered around the palace. "Been there two-thousand years," he would say. Apparently, they were the remains of some ancient Grecian city that was built on an iceberg that… well, melted.

Tyson asked why me and Percy were here. "Are you on your honeymoon?" he asked.

I quickly responded, "No, no. No, definitely no. No, never."

Tyson frowned. "Oh, so you don't ever want to marry Percy." Tyson said.

"No." I said "Wait, yes. No to I don't wanna-" I stopped myself. "Let's just move on. This is getting awkward." Tyson moved on to the next area enthusiastically. "This is an old palace," he pointed out the window. A palace similar to the one we were in, just this one was destroyed. "It was destroyed in the big battle of Oceanus," he said firmly and solemnly. Eventually we got to the forges. He said that he would be right back, and rushed in. Two minutes later, he came out with a few of his 'brothers'. "Attention all cyclopes!" he called. His voice rang throughout the palace. "We need to help Percy and his girlfriend. They need something, and quick! So I say, get on your forge face and get to work!" They all cheered. Were they this excited all the time? I thought. I decided to take a walk in the palace garden, which was protected by a large bubble that could only be popped using magic.

I took up a flower and inhaled it's essence. It smelled amazing.

"Seabloom." a voice said from behind me. "They grow all over the ocean floor, but will die if taken out of the water." A girl revealed herself. She looked about 18. She had glowing blonde hair that was perfectly brushed ( which I envied because I can never make my hair that way).

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Poseidon's immortal wife, Amphrite." she responded. I wasn't surprised. Immortal beings can change their appearance so that they may look young; or old, if they would want to deceive somebody or whatever.

"I am guessing you are my 'Sort of Son's' girlfriend. After all, Poseidon is a pretty loyal husband who has had only one Son in 70 years. That makes Percy my son if you know what I mean."

"I'm sorry, but I know Percy's mom pretty well."

"So Why are you here, if that is the case?"

"Well we need to make a Stygian Iron chain to keep Typhon from being reborn. That's a demigod's job after all. And we don't want him to nearly end the world again, so…" I got up and headed back inside. I wasn't expecting a talk from the queen of the sea, but, when you're a demigod, it's normal.

When I got back inside, Tyson and his buddies were already halfway finished. The chain was about two-hundred feet long (the ingot had already quintupled). "We'll see if it's big enough," I joked. I watched as Tyson worked hard on interlocking the chains, then sealing them again. His hands went at it like it was the easiest thing ever, not even breaking a sweat (however I was sweating because it was hotter than Tartarus in there, literally). One eye, huge hands, but a great blacksmith. Pretty impressive, I thought. "We could use some of you guys in Olympus. It would be really useful, don't you think?" Amphrite nodded. "I am fine with that, it is my husband's choice to make, after all he does make them. But I am pretty overwhelmed by their work myself. If you can convince Poseidon to lend them a few, I'm sure Zeus will be happy."

Just then Percy, Posiedon, and his half brother walked in the room. Although I thought Percy would be arguing with his brother they were actually getting along. I caught them mid-conversation. "You should come to Camp Half-Blood sometime," Percy suggested.

"I count on going someday. But until then, I think I'll live it out here, probably. Can I go, dad?" Triton asked.

Poseidon nodded.

"Maybe sometime after Percy and Annabeth succeed on their quest, Triton, my son." If we do, I thought but I did not say it outloud.

"Don't worry, Annabeth. The quest will be completed soon. " he said, as if reading my mind. I smiled. I had hardly ever seen Percy this happy before. A part of me wondered if he would want to be immortal and stay here forever.

Percy was about to leave when Poseidon called out to him, "Remember my offer. Ponder it Percy, I trust you will make the right choice."

And then we said our goodbyes to each other and Percy had a small conversation with Tyson who nodded very happily in reply, and we were off.

Chapter XIII

A Midsummer's Nightmare

On our way to the Grecian Arch (our passage to the Doors of Death), we came upon a Zaxby's. We walked in and ordered two drinks, and I ordered a Kiddie Cheese. Eating my grilled cheese sandwich, I thought of the adventure that was left. I was excited, but at the same time I was scared. I didn't want this quest to end so soon; but also, my plan was guaranteed to succeed. We exited through the entrance and got caught by a waiter that stopped us. A waiter? They didn't have waiters at Zaxby's… then we ran. He followed us, and asked us how we would rate our experience.

"Indescribable," I said jokingly.

"This… is… no time for jokes…" Percy said after he leaped over the curb. He whistled and not even ten seconds later, Blackjack appeared in the sky. We boarded him and took off.

Then the monster worker shot his long, forked tongue at me. "Yo, boss, I think-"

"I know, Blackjack." Percy said. He flipped his oreo and when it fell, he caught a long broadsword. The celestial bronze cut straight through the monster's tongue like a hot cleave. The waiter cried out in pain and two seconds later disintegrated, black dust drifting off into the wind like a stray plastic bag.

"Well," Percy said, his eyes wide, "that was great service."

"For sure," I said sarcastically. We arrived at an old motel, and Percy was the first to get off.

"We'll stay here for the night," he told us. Blackjack settled in the alley, and to mortals he would probably look like an alley cat. He turned in a full circle and lay down, his head resting on a trash bag.

The Motel was booked up and there was only one room available. I flipped a golden coin I snuck from the forges scrap box to the check-in guy and he showed us to our room like we were royalty. He said he had a top-class room open for us, but we were fine with the standard room with a couch, TV, two master bedrooms, and a small kitchen in the corner. He unlocked the mini fridge and said to feel free to take whatever we needed. After he left, I settled on the couch and switched on the TV. The only channels were nature programs and golfing, so I decided to rest instead. It was the faint, constant sound of the air conditioner that finally got me to fall asleep.

The next morning began with the sound of people waking up and exiting their rooms. We thought it was best to get up, too, so we could eat breakfast. We walked downstairs to the motel's dining area, but from what we saw the food consisted of cold croissants and cheap burgers. We were about to leave when the check-in guy from the day before hurried up to us and served us a delicious meal: Scrambled eggs, french toast, spaghetti and meatballs, pancakes, breakfast muffins and even offered us food from the salad bar. I filled my plate with lettuce and croutons, but Percy stayed back.

"I thought you loved croutons," I said.

Percy nodded and said "But I hate olives even more than I love croutons,"

"Seaweed Brain." I said, and we were off.

The next day went by a lot quicker than the rest. We didn't run into any monsters; but it was still pretty hard. I took inventory on our resources: We had thirty bucks leftover and a few coins that could pay for a bus ride or two, two fresh changes of clothes, our weapons, a few Fruit Snack gummies, and one long, cold Stygian Iron chain that took up half our backpack (it was enchanted, so it only was a fraction of its actual length and weight when put in my backpack). But something just didn't seem right. Like we had missed something important… "Sightseeing!" I exclaimed. Percy hit his head.

"Oh, yeah… How 'bout we visit Santorini first?" he said, looking at me.

"That seems fine to me," I said. But I guess Percy noticed that I wanted to go to Athens, because he quickly changed his mind. "I meant to say Athens. I've always wanted to visit the Acropolis, and the Parthenon, and…" he had run out of ideas. "Point is, I would love to go."

I smiled. The train rolled up to pick us up. "C'mon. Next stop, Museum of Cycladic Art."

Chapter XIV

A Tribute to the Cyclades

I skipped the whole way to the museum. I had wanted to visit this place since I was four, and now, my dream is coming true. I rushed to the ticket booth and demanded two tickets. I slid him a coin.

"P-pure g-gold?" the man asked, the coin shaking in his hand. The man motioned us to go in, speechless. We stepped through the rotating doors and into the lobby. I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. The entrance was a modern, white area, about four-hundred feet across, half that in length. It was modern, but still ancient; small pedestals containing wooden figurines in upright poses, old, framed stone slabs depicted with various symbols and characters, small glass domes covering vases and clay jugs. And that was just the beginning. What I was most interested in was the sculpting exhibition. It held dozens of abstract, life-size figures that were set on circular platforms. They were like mannequins; lacking in movement, yet still lifelike. Even Percy seemed interested. Not like it was a bad thing that he usually wasn't too hyped about museums, it's just… he and I like a lot of different things. And that was good. That way we could learn from one another.

But our fun was interrupted by the intercom speaker. "In ten minutes we will be closing the exhibitions. Please exit the building. Thank you. *BEEP* -end of message-" I lowered my head. "We should've come earlier. We only got through eight out of eleven exhibits of the museum." I said, disappointed. "Don't worry, Annabeth," Percy caught up to me. "There are plenty more places to visit. This was just one of hundreds of awesome sights we'll see."

"I guess you're right…" I said, I was still a bit sad, but I didn't want to show it.

That night, on our train to the beach (Percy's idea), I slept using my backpack as a pillow, stretching my body across multiple empty seats. The only others with us were a mom and her kids, some 17-19-year-old girl, and the train's designated supervisor. I don't know why, but he kept giving us weird looks every time I saw him. Then I realized why. "Percy, empty your pockets." I said quickly. Percy hesitated for a second, but did it anyway. All he could get out of it was a few nickels and quarters, amounting to about $0.85. We looked for some more loose change or leftover gold coins, but we could only find a nickel and an old marshmallow. I felt irresponsible. We hadn't paid. I didn't realize that we just got on the train. I was probably so excited for the beach that I was lost in my exuberance. Apparently Percy had thought I paid, so he didn't bring it up. "I know this is wrong," Percy said, "But we might have to sneak outta this one. We're on an important mission, and the world's fate could depend on it. They may be suspicious of us now, but later they'll be thanking us everyday for 'saving the world' and how they would be glad to give us free bus rides whenever."

I bit my lip. "I dunno, Percy. You might be right, but… what if this gets us somewhere like… prison?"

That seemed to snap Percy back to reality. "Didn't think about that," he said. "But I would rather save the world and go to jail than be a regular citizen who witnessed the end of the world and put billions of mortals' lives in danger. I am willing to take that kind of risk."

"Percy," I said. "That was the bravest, wisest, most heroic talk I've heard in awhile."

A grin crossed Percy's face. "I know. I'm so awesome."

"Now you're just talking like Apollo. The real Apollo."

We laughed, something I hadn't done in a while.

We walked up to our beach house. It was nothing like Percy's beach house in Montauk, but almost as nice. I held the keys in my hands and unlocked the door. It creaked open, and a long hallway was behind it. The beach house had three rooms, two TVs, two bathrooms, and a porch displaying the view on the beach. Percy stepped in the sand and hauled in the small two-seater canoe that came with the beach house. We had rented the beach house with a gold bar I found in my backpack. I guess I hadn't felt it's weight since my pack had been enchanted.

"Ladies first," Percy said. I looked in his direction. He had readied the kayak, and it sat by his feet. I jumped on, and he came right behind me. We drifted off, the currents increasing every second. We stayed by the shoreline, so we wouldn't get lost or something. Percy began to look worried, and I noticed why soon. The currents were pulling the boat farther and farther from the shore, and Percy started to row the oars more intensively. Then I noticed today's monster: Baby Charybdis. Our new friend was pulling us in like the original Charydis, sucking all the water in a certain radius and getting stray ships to fall into the whirlpool. But this one was only about as big as a helipad.

Percy tried to control the water around it, but it was useless. We were doomed. But then - something incredible happened. A few hippocampi beneath the surface had noticed us, and they began to lift us out of the water, our canoe sitting on top of their heads. They carried us straight over the whirlpool, and we came out on the other side. "Thanks," Percy told them. Percy has a way with horses, and other than seahorses, Hippocampi were basically the horses of the sea. They set us down, we waved and we continued our ride in silence. And then our next obstacle confronted us - literally. Two large, mossy clashing rocks moved toward our boat. "Wait… are those-"

"The Symplegades, yes." Percy finished off.

The moving stones came at us at gaining speed, and began to splash water in our eyes. They were about five yards away when Percy grabbed me and jumped off of the boat, leaving the canoe to be crushed between its hold. "It smashed the boat like a walnut," I said, shocked. The rocks passed us, and we swam to the shore… well, more like floated to the shore. Percy's bubble exited the surface of the water and we were airborne, which was one thing I didn't know Percy had the ability to do.

We fell onto the cold, grainy sand, panting, like we just ran in an Olympics race.

"That… was… awesome!" Percy exclaimed once we made it to the beach house steps. That was pretty cool, I thought, but didn't say it out loud. Two baby monsters in one morning. Whoa. We ate brunch and then headed back onto the beach. I expected a giant monster crab to rise from the sand and try to kill us, but this time, the water and beach was peaceful. The sunset shone a rosy red, and the sand felt… sandy beneath our feet. "Ya know, we should've picked this time to go on a canoe ride." I said thoughtfully. "Yeah, good idea. Wanna go out there again?" he asked.

"Sure, let me just get our spare canoe and we'll be off," I laughed.

On our way home, I noticed Percy was wearing a necklace, etched with weird engravings on it. "What's that?" I asked, pointing at the piece of jewelry. Percy looked at his necklace and looked the other way. "Um, no-nothing," he said, tucking it under his shirt. "Say, the moon is already starting to rise. We should hurry."

Once we made it back inside, I warmed up some dumplings and we ate them with some microwave ramen noodles. The whole meal cost me about three bucks, a little something we got in change from the gold we turned in (which, did I mention, sold handsomely?).

We packed for the coming day and fell asleep, each of us unaware what was about to come…

Chapter XV

The Door(s) of Death

I rubbed my eyes and checked the alarm clock. I overslept! I ran to awake Percy, and we hurried out the door to the bus stop. I hope we didn't miss it, I thought, but the bus was usually late. With a little hope in our hearts, we made it just in the nick of time. The bus had already begun accepting passengers, and we filed in. This time, I paid the driver up front.

We took two seats in the back to avoid any trouble. And, I also noticed that the emergency Exit was at the back of the bus, just in case things got a little… dangerous. We mostly talked about camp on the ride, and about what kind of things were going on there. "Maybe the hunters and Sam already left to join the rest of the campers in the war with their new giant." I said. I could tell by Percy's expression that I had stumbled upon a touchy subject. A lot of his friends had died in the war, and I tried to steer the direction of the conversation into a more happy topic. And that just worked out perfectly for me. "You excited to get to the doors of death?" I asked, suffering instant regret. After that I shut my mouth, and cupped my hands over it.

Once we had got off at our stop, I said, "Look out!" and we both ducked as a giant goose flew overhead. Wait… not a goose. It was Alecto, our Fury friend. We rushed into the nearest indoor zone which happened to be an ice cream shop. Percy slapped himself, saying, "Of course, I locked 'em up in the chambers in our underwater house, which were probably destroyed during the big underwater fight. Probably made it out before it reformed, or… or escaped through the Depths. Didn't think that through till now." He dodged a stray fireball. "They probably all went their separate ways, so-" a black pointy dart caught him in the chest. Normally something that would kill thirty mortals, Percy proved that he was different. He removed it from his chest and spilled a glass of water that sat on the table we were under. The water crawled up his legs and healed him, like it was no big deal that a poison dart just hit near his heart. He rolled over to the other table ninja-style, just in time to escape the table that was flipped over right next to us. Luckily, I had followed, and didn't become a victim of the Underworld. I told Hades ``Not today!" and charged, dagger in hand. Somehow, I managed to dodge every single one of Alecto's fiery treats and jump high enough to stab her right down the middle. "Go to Tartarus," I said. Letting out a horrible shriek, she flapped her leathery wings once more and was gone, faded into ash.

I stepped in triumphantly, a shocked Percy staring at me, wide eyes and all. I walked over to him. "What? Surprised I took down a monster all by myself? You're not the only cool one."

We caught a trolley and took it to the plaza, or marketplace, somewhere where I had always wanted to see. And it was better than I believed to be; which was surprising, since the other things I had seen so far set the bar pretty high. Doves and pigeons dotted the walkways, people throwing pieces of bread crumbs on the ground for them to enjoy. I checked my pockets for anything to feed them with, and was surprised to find a piece of waffle cone that stuck to my pants during the event with Alecto. I passed a piece to them, and they all fought over it. Hopefully these weren't Stymphalian Pigeons, but those odds weren't likely. We continued and came upon a large arch, part of it coming out of a wall, the other held up by a pillar.

Percy flicked a golden drachma, and it disappeared once it crossed the arch's starting point. "Don't tell me-" I looked at the archway.

"Were here." he said, a smirk taking over him. He walked through it, and, reluctantly, I tossed my head and stepped in.

Chapter XVI

Lava Party!

I found myself falling. Percy could catch a quick glimpse of me, but then he twisted again. We were at least a thousand feet in the air, falling straight for our deaths. I saw Percy flip his coin in mid air, but then he missed his chance to catch it again and we were falling, now almost in a pool of lava, without any weapons (except for my dagger, which would be of no use in this situation). I plummeted, the lava's heat scorching me from a distance, and then… then I saw the oreo fall right in my grasp, and I reached out and caught it, fear coursing through my veins. And about fifty feet from impact, I dove down, passed a frightened Percy, and put on my determined face, which looked a little like a confused gopher. I'll have to work on my expressions later, I thought to myself. But now, it's time to save me and my boyfriend. I flipped the oreo and caught in my left palm, and thought of something that could get us out of this mess. I opened my eyes and found a hang glider sturdy enough for two, and the speed we were falling at had built up momentum, and I steered all that power upward, and we were almost there when an ash flake caught hold of the glider and set it to fire. We hardly grabbed onto the ledge before I threw the glider down to prevent any further burning (us burning). We hauled ourselves over the edge of the black canyon, and found ourselves standing in front of a large, scaly creature, fat and lizard-eyed. "Echidna," I said in disgust.

"Children," she hissed. "Welcome to my marvelous home. Feel free to drown in the lava at any time." she said, making a joke as bad as her black teeth. Percy and "Annabeth!" and his oreo jumped over the canyon and into his hands. "I don't think so," he said, confidently. Echidna laughed (more like choked, or whatever a lizard does when it laughs). "Oh no, Perseus Jackson and his flying oreo have come to avenge me! Ahhhh!" she said. "Oh, grow up. Down in Tartarus, we use weapons like these." She said, A sword as big as her materialized in her hands. "And up on Olympus, we used weapons like these," Percy rushed over to my backpack and took out the Stygian Iron chain.

"But I thought that was fo-"

"Watch this," Percy said as he swung it like a lasso and wrapped it around her. He pulled, squeezed her, and she coughed. He undid the chain, and sent her twirling in circles, dizzy, and that sent her falling off the edge. "Did we kill her?" I asked. Percy shook his head. "Don't think so, but we're not sticking around to find out." We walked down some old corridor that was filled with the skeletal remains of so-called "brave" soldiers that ventured down here and immediately got mauled by one Echidna's pets. We came to a large, circular panel, and all around were inscriptions of words written in the ancient tongue. After a few lessons with Tyson, I could make out a few: 'Turn back' - no, 'turn back', 'If you are reading this, you are crazy to be down here', and...

"Percy!" I ran over to him. He seemed to be checking out some sort of control panel. "Percy, press the blue button, then push the yellow lever up."

He shrugged, and did what I said. We immediately shot upwards, and at the top, we saw…

Chapter XVII

A Gift from Echidna

"Typhon!" I screamed, my voice ringing through the giant room. It had lava falls, Death blooms, and was about ten miles across and half a mile wide. The ceiling was hard to see; it had stalactites hanging from it, and stalagmites numbered on the surface where we were. Percy cupped his hands around my mouth. "Got it," I whispered. "Quiet." We strolled alongside the mossy floor, away from Typhon of course. He was taking his daily nap. Only a bit of him was left, so he wasn't completely reformed. Monsters as big as him (not like there where many others) have to sleep while they reform, in order to keep a sustainable amount of energy to do so. We hadn't expected to run into Typhon this early, but I had a feeling this wasn't the end. Then a thought hit me: Can we kill him in his sleep? I thought about it, but then I was proved wrong when I spotted a guard standing by Typhon who hadn't noticed our coming.

Typhon snored, and the whole place shook. He took up about one tenth of it, which was pretty scary since that wasn't even his full self yet. We decided to crawl along the ground and find an efficient way to get past him for now. We weren't ready for him yet. Not until he completely reformed would we fight him. Then it happened, for the second time. I felt a dark, unwanted presence come upon me. This time, I breathed heavily, and my eyelids grew heavy. I could feel my whole body shutting down, my brain tiring. My heart came to a stop. I was in a dark hallway, purple torches flaming all around me. I walked down it, and a man in a cloak approached. His voice was calm, yet scratchy and evil. "You bring great honor to your camp with such bravery," he said coldly. "But you must understand that you are no match for me and my army." I stepped back. "Ha, you already fret and flee. Remember, daughter of Athena, that you mustn't underestimate me…" His voice grew fainter and fainter, until I couldn't hear him anymore. Then I heard the sound of my breath coming back to me, my heart kicking back to life. I sat up, weak. Percy was kneeling beside me. "You were out for a minute." Percy said, worried. "You okay?"

"I'm-I'm fine. Let's go." We stood together, this time holding hands, and we walked along the tall grass so that we were partially hidden from insiders. "Percy," I said, "while I was unconscious I had a vision, " I confessed. I was tired of hiding my feelings from him. After all, we were close. "Typhon - he came to me, and warned me. He said that he should not be underestimated, and…" I told him the whole thing, leaving nothing out.

Percy was not the least bit surprised. In fact, he looked more determined than scared. He looked as if he were saying Nobody threatens my girlfriend. "We should retreat, Gather the others. We still have a bit of time before he reforms. Afterall we were only scouts. Once we get the others, we bring the fight to him! We might be small in numbers but good people will fight if we lead them. People are dying just to make a change, even fellow campers, like Beckendorf. There is no point in standing down, not now, not ever. We made it this far. Now it is only a battle of wit. Typhon might have an army, but we have our friends. We never failed before without making up for it, and we will not ever fall. So Annabeth is with you ." I stood. I could feel a new energy coursing through my veins; not sadness, but anger. The rage filled me with the desire to strike Typhon down just then, but I held it in.

"Yes." I said fearlessly. Percy's speech had filled me with energy I did not think was there. "But there is a problem, How are we going to get the others here?" I said with a grimace. I hated to let Percy down. Instead of frowning, he closed his eyes and concentrated. At first I thought he was thinking. He was like this for about three minutes until I started to notice water forming on the floor. It started to collect and began to morph into the form of people.

I started to understand what Percy was doing. He was summoning the water in our friend's bodies. He was summoning them just like he did water in the ocean. I looked around me. There was Sam, the Hunters, Clarisse, the Stoll brothers, Malcolm, and others. They all looked confused but happy to see us. We filled them in but none of their expressions faltered. They were all just, or even more determined than Percy. I gaped at Percy, "You should've told me you could do that. It was amazing," he grinned. "I have alot of tricks up my sleeve." Then Percy repeated the pep-talk, but this time I was not listening - because somebody else walked in the chamber. Echidna, of course, did not die. Because in Tartarus nobody can die... Well, unless you are of mortal soul (that meant we could). I waited for Percy to finish his Pep-talk, then scowled.

"Did I miss the party?" she said with a horrible voice crack.

I realized everyone was staring at me. "Don't worry. I have a plan."

I started to arrange people in positions that would fit. Children of Apollo on the right, Ares and Hephaestus on the left. They would be the second line. The first consisted of the Athena campers, Aphrodite and Demeter. Hermes kids stood on top of small mountains (only about ten feet high), while Percy and I hid behind the tall grass.

Then Echidna took her first strike, snatching up two Apollo campers with her tongue. Clarisse jumped up and sliced the tongue with her sword, and the two campers sat up in disgust. The other Apollo campers shot up a wave of flaming arrows from the second line and Echidna got nailed with about twenty of them. But it didn't hurt her; in fact, it seemed to give her a new source of power. She began to launch fireballs at us from her hands, and Percy shot a blast of water at her, hitting her directly in the face, drenching her from head to toe. It weakened her, and gave the Hermes cabin a chance to strike. They hurled mini caduceuses at her and she cried out in pain. That gave the Demeter kids the opportunity to release a bunch of vines at her, enough to fill a vineyard. Now Echidna was wrapped in vines and thorns, soaking wet, and a few caduceuses were sticking out of her feet and waist. We high-fived triumphantly, but that wasn't the end.

We all heard the sound of a great monster awakening, and, of course, Typhon had arisen from his deep slumber. "B-but-" I said, stuttering.

"I know," Percy said. "He's a few hours off. Looks like a monster storm here didn't decide to sleep in."

Chapter XVII

The Horse Awakens

Typhon was even scarier than I thought. Now that I saw him up close, I trembled in fear. He stood up, almost making a nearby canyon collapse. Luckily, we weren't so close, so we weren't a victim of splashing lava. I wiped my forehead with my handkerchief, half out sweat from the heat, half out of fear. Typhon hadn't noticed us yet, but I knew he had a keen sense of smell. Will Solace had a good idea to save us some time. He shot an arrow (he shot pretty far, If you ask me). He had covered the tip in Cheez Whiz, which annoyed Sam. The arrow flew past Typhon without him noticing, and it stuck in the grass. Typhon sniffed, and wandered in the direction of the Cheez. He may have a decent sense of smell, but he can't tell it apart from humans and cheese. I thought.

We ducked beneath the grass so we were out of his sight, and Echidna kept quiet with the help of a bandana tied around her mouth.

Suddenly, a big, black mass glided past us. On it rode a dazed satyr.

"Is that… Grover?" I said in awe. Our friend landed in the grass with us, which was a mistake. Typhon lumbered toward where he saw the pegasus, which reminded me of Blackjack. Grover stepped off, shocked. "H-heights… scary… goat legs…" he said, biting his nails. "Wh-where am I? Why am I here? And who… who are you people?" he demanded.

Percy and I looked at each other. Had he lost his memory? He looked at me like I've been through this before. Let me handle it. He walked over to Grover and placed his hand on his shoulder, which was shaking. Grover's teeth chattered. He looked at Percy. "I know what this is like. You'll get over it soon, I promise. We just have to get you to recover so we can work things out."

Grover didn't look better, just more confused. He had a traumatized look as he looked at his goat hooves. "Why do I have…" he said, scared. "Donkey legs?"

Percy said, "Goat legs. I remember the first day I found out you had goat legs and said the same thing.s"

By then Typhon had gotten about three hundred yards closer than before. But then a noise filled the area. A green-looking woman slid down from a ledge, sword in hand. She let out a battlecry, and sped toward us. Great. Now two enemies were coming from both sides. To make matters even better, Echidna Broke loose from her holds and began to go on another fireball frenzy again. But then we gained hope when Ethan Nakamura jumped down from hiding and stabbed the green woman through the stomach. "Gorgons. Hate 'em." he said. Then I had an idea. It was gross and probably wouldn't work, but I hurried over to the dead gorgon and cupped some of the blood in my hand. With a disgusted look on my face, I went over to meet Grover by the pile of rocks. I showed Percy, and he nodded in understanding. He took it and poured it in his water bottle. He offered Grover a sip of water, and Grover accepted, for he was sweating like crazy. "Thanks," he said in appreciation. He drank it, and then his eyes grew blank. He fell, and I know it had worked. When he wakes up, he'll remember everything, I thought.

Then a conch horn blew, and the sound of a thousand hooves made Typhon step back. "Centaurs," he said with a villainous voice. He stomped in our direction, and Percy handed me an oreo. Our plan was all coming through. I flipped it, and it turned into a grappling ok. I threw it at Typhon, and I grabbed tightly as the steel band wrapped itself around his left leg. I released the mechanism and flew toward him at high speed, and then flipped the oreo again and I was holding a sword. I stabbed the blade into his thigh, and then jumped down his leg.

Everybody cheered, but Typhon didn't even seem to notice a thing. Did that not hurt him? I cut him again. He nearly even grimaced - he was reforming and fast. All I needed was for Sam to keep his promise. Just then a hole tore through the ceiling. The sun beamed down, blinding us all. I was yanked out from Typhon's grasp. I felt hazy, but I looked up to see Typhon climbing (with no legs that is) up towards the sun. Right on schedule, Bumbleduff smacked into Typhon with his ice brass knuckles. Suddenly, they were raised up with the power of Jason and Thalia with great speed. Hazel continually smacked Typhon with large chunks of rocks while they were moving up. Leo was working on the chain dropper for Typhon's demise. While Piper was charmspeaking the monster army to wait, while Nico formed a skeleton army. Even Percy was helping even though there was no water around by giving Bumbleduff Strength by controlling the constant flowing water in his body. "Move faster" he said as if talking to the water. He looked drained. He had done a lot of power moves today. Transporting our friends here, sword fighting Echidna, and now giving Bumbleduff Bill of his energy. "Go," He said. "I can not do this forever... fight for me will you… oh, I almost forgot, and don't die." "

I kissed him and flipped the oreo. It turned into a flaming sword "cool" I said in awe. Then I gave Piper the order and then for the first time the fight actually began

The party ponies leashed out arrows that nailed the monsters in the head. Some threw root beer bombs that fizzed like acid when they were thrown. The hunters fought with god speed. Piper confused a monster then stabbed him. I swung the flaming sword and killed a monster without touching him. Then I got an idea. I threw the sword and it instantly turned into a spiked boomerang. "I love this weapon". Then I turned it into a bladed whip and I whipped it out and knocked out ten monsters flat. Then it turned into a pistol and I shot out 20 monsters without looking. Then it turned into a Gatorade bottle. I realized that the battle was over, well at least mine was. Percy was sweating and he looked like he was going to die of exhaustion. I gave him the Gatorade and then it refilled and Percy drank it again. I looked back to the fight between Bumbleduff and Typhon. It was going great. At least for us. Percy was doing a great job. Bumbleduff's fists were moving faster than Hermès himself Typhon's snakes tried to dodge but they were soon knocked down. Everyone was contributing Leo, Piper, Clarisse, Hazel, The Party Ponies, The Hunters.

The battle however needed to end quickly. So without thinking I lashed out at Typhon and flipped the oreo.

it landed in my hand as an ice pick. I grabbed hold of Typhon's leg, which was now half-reformed already, and clung onto him with my pick. I swung repeatedly, moving a few feet up with every hit. They were about as big as axes, yet still worked perfectly. Once I had reached his shoulder (which was a real struggle) I flipped the ice picks and the oreo fell back into my hand. I was about to transform it into a sword when Typhon shook, and that sent my oreo hurling to the ground.

I stood there, unarmed. Typhon was almost completely reformed, and he was already starting to grow. See, when monsters reform, they reform and then begin to grow, so they are most vulnerable when in the reforming process. Typhon was about a hundred feet high when we first saw him, but now he had grown twice in size. Typhon was half asleep, since being so huge and powerful used so much energy. He lumbered across the horizon, and I knew I was doomed. He stomped, and I tripped over his shoulder and was sent tumbling down. I managed to grab hold of a small spear sticking from his arm that Thalia had thrown. I ran along his arm with all my strength, and picked the spear from his arm. He twitched. I thrust it into his head, and he didn't react as much as to blink. Then I looked back, and I saw Percy and Leo loading the turret with an arrow… and an oreo? I suddenly understood what they were trying to do. When they shot it, I calculated about twenty seconds ahead of time. I jumped on a nearby tree, which was slightly taller than Typhon, and, kicking with my sneakers against the tree, I caught the arrow in mid-air, doing a double flip and detaching the oreo. I flipped the oreo, and right before colliding with the giant monster, caught it as a Stygian Iron blade and thrust it threw his skull. He cried out, partially tripping over himself in pain, which was impressive for an oreo.

Then, Percy shot the ballista and a chain uncoiled from a spoil adjacent to the turret. It caught around his waist, but Typhon broke loose of the coil's hold, and dragged it behind him. In an attempt to continue our now foiled plan, I slipped and fell, this time nothing to grasp onto. I gasped. Was this the end? I didn't wait to find out. I used the oreo to form a jousting stick in my hand, and I stuck it into his side. I ran across, and , with all the energy left in me, grabbed the chain. I turned the oreo into a crossbow, and used it to shoot the chain around his waist again. Then I jumped off the huge mass, and clasped the nearest pole. I struggled to keep myself from being strained, and without giving in, stretched my whole body length to connect the pole and the chain. At first it seemed hopeless, but then I felt a surge of newfound energy within me; it was determination. I used all the power I now had and pulled myself inwards, causing the chain to pull Typhon the opposite direction. The pole tilted and churned, meaning it was almost loose and was about to give way to the ground. If that happened anytime soon, I would be forced backward and squished by pressure. So I decided to not let that happen. I used the oreo as rope and lassoed it at Typhon. It worked perfectly, and I had the upper hand. I used the oreo as a holster, and with my advantage ziplined toward Typhon at full speed. Then I cut the chain with my dagger, which was enchanted with lavactos, a substance only found in Tartarus. I had recently dipped the knife in just to see if it would work, and now was my time to test it. Then it occured to me that if the chain unraveled, Typhon would be forced to fall backward, and I did just that.

Typhon looked confused as he tripped back, and then, with a large cry, collapsed. In fact, the fall was so big it probably came in the form of an earthquake through the mist. After all, Typhon was always a sort of natural disaster according to humans. We all gathered round to study the damage. Typhon was badly injured, all right, but not exactly dead.

Percy looked over at me. He grabbed his hand and held it up, "All hail Annabeth Chase, our hero!" he said. Everybody cheered. Nico threw me his sword. "Enchanted with the blood of Parthenos," he said. I had no idea what that was, but I just went with it. "Go ahead, Annabeth. Do the honours." he said. I scratched my head, confused. "Finish him off, Annabeth!" They called out. Then without looking back I thrust the sword into Typhon's heart, leaving him forever dead.

Chapter VIII

Godly Opportunities

Percy fell to the floor after Typhon was dead. I was going to tell him that the others need to get back. But I did not worry about that. Instead I said "Great job out there, Seaweed Brain." "Oh, please. You killed him. And you looked awesome doing it as well." Percy said with as much energy that he could muster. "Where you staring at me Seaweed Brain" I said slyly. " Um .. No" He said, turning red. I was about to kiss him when a man with a horse for a body galloped up. "Chiron!" I yelped, forgetting about percy.

"Indeed." he said, happy to see us as well. "You have brought restoration and peace to the realm. Thanks to you, the Olympians shall never face that great threat ever again." he said, but this time, frowned. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's just… you two have done so much. I don't know how to repay you. You've saved humanity and Olympus at least five times." We laughed, and everyone else did, too.

"Let me know when you need anything, children. I will see you at camp… that is, if you come back… After all Percy only has till his birthday to accept the gods' 2nd offer..."

I looked at Percy and he gulped. "Annabeth, I have been given another offer to become a god. However this time Zeus believes you have also been proven worthy. This is kinda his way of saying thank you in some way or another. I haven't been able to make up my mind yet, but if I had some time to think without almost getting killed I am sure I could make the right decision."

I didn't know what to say, nonetheless.

Chiron waited for a response, from any of us. He noticed we didn't have anything to say, so he said, "About camp… will you be there? I must arrange the camp plan for this month,Also i need more camp Directors"

I looked at Percy. "Sir, we would love to …join you, but… but it might have to wait a week or two,"

Percy chimed in, "Annabeth and I are going sightseeing, and maybe becoming major gods." He sounded excited, which made me happy.

"Wait," I said, "We might become major gods? I thought it was just you,"

"No Ma'am. I told you, Zeus offered us both a spot. Plus we are the best heroes to ever scrape the face of the earth. Like we would become minor gods,"

"What would we represent, then?"

"You know, I've been thinking that, too… perhaps we could choose from the remaining spots?" he suggested.

"Okay… let's see… we have, earth, void, perception… animals, maybe…" I thought of more, but couldn't come up with any. Most of the big positions had already been taken.

"How about… Architecture?" he said.

That was perfect. "Yes!" I exclaimed.

"And I can be God of dumb people," he said, stating the truth.

Or I could be the god of nothing, of blackness And void."

"Yeah, I've really got to think about that…"

"What about space," I said, eager for him to find his fit.

"What do you me-"

Chiron looked irritated. "You two can discuss this on your little trip. For now, we say our farewells." He pulled out a pack of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes out of his satch, and handed them to us. "Lemme guess.. A magic weapon to ward off evil?"

"Nope. Just a little gift from me to you. Enjoy." With that, the centaur and his Party Ponies rode off across the horizon. I spent the moment watching the beautiful sunset, setting across the pink sky.

Unlike me, Percy had already eaten half the Zebra Cakes and was already working on another. "Percy," I took the package from him. When I reached in to grab one, the pack was full again. "Chiron," I said. "Everything has to be some magical enchanted item with Chiron."

"I wuv Chiron," he said. "Hiwf gifs are alwrays da beft." he said, stuffing his mouth with Debbie cakes.

"Boys," I said, one last time.

Then a big cloud whirled up ahead, and Typhons' voice echoed throughout the sky. "I will return…" "Good luck Typhon We will be gods Next time You see us." Percy said and then we headed toward Camp Half Blood knowing it would be Only 1 month until we were no longer a half blood.

Chapter VXI

We Become Gods

Our last month as a half blood was amazing. We had played capture the flag eight times, and we won all of them thanks to the guidance of - well... me. We also built our own cabins for honorary purposes only (however, I'm not sure about that). Also, we informed Chiron that we would be happy to be camp directors later in the future. We said our goodbyes and ate one more meal at the dining pavilion. Chiron allowed us to sit wherever so I slid next to Percy. We were joined by Grover (who had successfully regained his memory), Jason, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Leo, And Reyna who was just visiting. I never thought leaving this place would be so hard as it was - we wept and cried as we said our last goodbyes and flew off taking our last flight at Camp Half Blood.

When we arrived at Olympus. We had both made up our minds on what major gods we wanted to be. I would be Annabeth Chase: God of Modern Knowledge, Natural Care, Technology, and Inspiration.

Percy's was harder to figure out, but we got to the conclusion of Percy Jackson: God of Heroism, Water, Swordplay, Questions, and Humanity.

Oh, and let me make one thing clear: We weren't technically considered major gods, but we were higher up than the minor gods, so we were in the middle. We would still get a throne on Olympus, but… the council would still consist of the twelve higher ones, as so to say, and we wouldn't add to the "Twelve Olympians". I mean, we would still be the second highest rank, but we wouldn't exactly be major gods, if you know what I mean.

We bowed when we reached Zeus' throne, and he stood on his feet. He towered over us, and, to my surprise, he bowed to us. For a while, Zeus and Hera weren't exactly our best friends, and we didn't act like them, either. But this… this was really strange, having the king of the gods bow down to you.

Percy stood upright, and I followed. "Heroes," his voice echoed through the room. Then he reached for his sword, and before I could think of how I felt about that, he said, "I dub thee Warrior, Hero, and God." he did the thing with the sword and it hovered over our shoulders.

Suddenly, Nico, Jason, and their bronze dragon, Fetus, burst into the room. "Come. Quick." Nico said, a troubled look on his face. Zeus belched.

"Who dares enter the throne room during a ceremony like this? Who granted you allowance?"

Jason and Nico turned pale. "So-sorry, heh heh. Zeus, can we take, um… borrow Percy and Annabeth for a sec? It's kind of urgent…"

"Very well, then… if it is necessary. But this was not an appropriate time. And, please, never interrupt a council held like this again. Just for your own safety."

Jason pulled me and Percy out the doors and hurried us down the steps.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked.

Jason kept quiet. Nico also didn't open his mouth, but looked like he wanted to. Once we reached the edge of the mountain, Jason talked.

"We brought you here to show you what is about to happen." he put a quarter in the viewer by the rail. He gestured to me to look, and I put my face to the binoculars. Immediately, I stepped back in horror, shocked by what I saw.

A thousand feet below, an army of warriors formed on the street. Manhattan was still as usual, buzzing with pedestrians; shopping, talking, eating. I looked back into the scope. But to them it probably looked like a bunch of geese flocking around, begging for food. A man dressed in blue shifted his head up to look at me, and I froze. His face was a dark shade of gray, with a red gash on his right eye that covered most of his face down to his chin. Even though I didn't recognize the scar, I could make out the face: Hades, god of the Underworld.

Hades pointed up in my direction, and I hoped it wasn't me. I stepped back, breathing heavily. Percy must've read my expression, because he looked, too. A minute later the time on the mounted viewer ran out. I turned to Jason and Nico. We knew what to do. We rushed to the elevator and hopped in. Once we were at the bottom, we got out and went outside.

"Hades," I said. "What brings you to such a place?

Hades laughed. "Do you think I want to be here? Gods, no. But I know what I want. I want revenge, revenge on you two."

Percy and I were confused. "What?" I said in disbelief. "Last time I saw you, you helped us in the Titan War."

Hades' face hardened. He motioned some hand signal thing, and his troops began to circle us, drawing their weapons. Hades laughed. "That was for the Underworld. I didn't want anything to happen to it. But you two, you have messed up my plan to overthrow Olympus…"

"Overthrow Olympus?" Percy asked.

"That's right," he said.

Hades pulled out his own sword, and it was shown with Imperial Gold. His skeleton guards, which measured twenty feet, were armed with Bone Steel, and one stood next to Hades with a bow, an arrow knocked, ready to fire. "Are you gonna kill us?" I questioned. Hades laughed. "Of course not," he pointed at the skeleton giants. "They are."

Then he dissolved into ash and returned to the Underworld. The first skeleton giant made his first strike. He missed by about two feet. Percy was fighting some of the smaller troops, and I had to help him. I slid past the first guy, and that's when the second giant made his strike, almost nailing me in the arm. I took down a few skeleton troops before Percy forced some water out of a nearby fountain, and boosted me up so I was face-to-face with a skeleton giant. He scowled, and I pulled my dagger and cast it into his skull, literally. He roared and fell back, then came to the ground with a huge crash, squishing half the troops. I jumped from there to the next giant, this time sticking my knife into his leg. He couldn't stand after that, and fell to the ground, colliding with the asphalt. His bone scattered over the road, sending cars spinning off the road and hitting skelly-troops spinning to the ground. "Time to go back to the Underworld," I said confidently. Then I retrieved mh dagger and threw it at a skeleton fighter. The knife hit him in the forehead, and he fell backward to the ground. Behind him, Jason stood with his sword resting on his shoulders, staring.

"What?" I asked him. Then I looked around me, noticing all the bad guys I'd taken down. "Whoa."

A skeleton tried to get up again, but I kicked him down. Jason put his sword back into his sheath. "Guess I won't be needing that," he said.

Percy also looked surprised. "Good job." he said, disappointed. "You know I also wanted to fight some skeletons," Percy lowered his head.

"Don't worry, buddy," I said. "There's still one over there." I stuck out my finger, showing him a remaining troop. But when he spotted me pointing at him, he ran away. Percy shook his head. "Whatever. C'mon, guys. We've gotta get to Olympus…" he sounded like there was something more to it, but he stopped himself.

Once we arrived at the gates of Olympus, I saw that Zeus was annoyed. "What took you so long, demigods?" he said crossly.

"Just destroyed Hades' army before he took over Olympus," I said casually.

Zeus' face changed. "What?"

"Don't believe me?"

"Don't doubt it. My older brother has been out to get me and Olypus for millennia. The Underworld has really changed him."

Nico said, "My dad is just angry that you and Poseidon stuck him down in that old pit. Being underground for ages and inhaling dust and dealing with dead spirits gives you a sense of revenge."

Zeus' eyes blazed, and I could see thunder bolts emerging from the clouds in his dark pupils. He turned, and started for the council room. "Meet me in the throne room. I am not tolerating any more waiting."

Percy and I ran to the council with haste. This may be the biggest moment of our lives, I thought.

We sprinted up the steps to the doors, and Percy nodded. "Ready?" He said,

"Ready," I said with pride. We threw the doors open and caught Zeus mid-conversation.

"Ah, I see you have arrived. I don't blame you for being late… it just gave me more time to talk to your parents." he stepped away and Athena and Poseidon were sitting in their thrones. "Athena!" I yelled, and hugged her. "I haven't seen you since… since last Summer."

Athena frowned. "Yes… I see that you are still deastated from the experience in tartarus a couple summers ago"

"No, no. Not that. It's Percy… he's been acting strange ever since."

Athena changed the subject. "I got you something." She handed me a box-like toy that emitted a faint purple light. "You'll need this."

"What is it?" I demanded.

"It is a vial of nectar and a little bit of wine from Dionysus but no-need to use that. Only to be used under certain circumstances, and um... well big celebrations" She made the amount for 'only a little' with her fingers.

"Oh, yeah. I'm becoming a god, about that…" Athena saw that I was struggling.

"What is it?" She pressed.

"I've decided that I want to be God of Modern Knowledge, Natural Care, Technology, and Inspiration. Does that sound cool? Or is it kind've laim?"

Athena said, "Sounds perfect. Now go,"

I looked back. Everyone was waiting on me.

"Now for the official ceremony. Let's just get on with it already." Everybody looked at Zeus. "What? I haven't taken my daily nap yet."

Percy knelt down, and so did I. "I wonder what it feels like to be a god," I whispered in his ear. "Looks like we're about to find out." he said.

We held our head facing the ground, and Zeus dubbed us with his lightning bolt. When it was finished, I felt a surge go down my spine. Then I shook it off and stood there. "So… what can we do now? Zap stuff and say wise things?" I asked, confused.

"It'll take some time for your godly instincts to kick in. Now, when I'm done with my nap, I think you'll have adjusted. Good day - zz - zzzzz…" his face sagged, and he fell asleep, right there, right then.

Athena smiled. "I'm sure you two will make great gods. But for now, I'll give you a tour of Olympus."

During the tour, I noticed my mom looked really happy. Usually when I saw her - well, I don't mean to be rude - but she kinda looked dull. Poseidon tagged along with us, too, and showed Percy all the cool monuments dedicated to him. Percy was intrigued, and so was I. One of the temples was made of glass, and you could see all the little fish swimming about in the water that filled the structure. It was like an aquarium - it was an aquarium - built to form the shape of a temple. "Won't all the fish get bored with so little space to swim around in? It's so narrow." Percy asked.

"It's made in a way that the fish can breathe and swim freely. It's connected to the ocean." I explained, pointing out the pillars that went past the clouds.

"Wait, so the pillars reach all the way down to the ocean? That's insane." Percy responded.

We continued our tour on Olympus, but after that things got boring. Nearly everything there was either magic or awesome or unusual, and after a while it got kind of normal. For example, the trees could speak and shed magical silver apples that could enhance all of your senses for a couple of minutes. And there was also a library with books that could fly, and even a stable for flying cows and pigs.

Halfway through our tour, we ran into Hermes. "Excuse me," he said, in a hurry.

Poseidon held him back. "Whoa, slow down, nephew. What's the hurry?"

"Gotta get these letters to queen Hera. She's been expecting them for months,"

Athena took the letters. "I can get them to her. You four go on with your tour." She looked back and smiled at me, then winked. Winked? Why? How come everyone is acting so mysterious? Then we stopped. "Why'd we stop here?" I asked.

"Just for a quick break. Take a seat." Percy said.

I rested my legs on a nearby log and leaned my back against a tree. I threw my arms around my head and relaxed. I could see the beautiful horizon stretching beneath Olympus, depicting various statues and trees. But I was still filled with questions beyond comprehension. I wanted to say them all at once, yet I knew they were left unanswered for a reason. Just then I peered over at Olympus' street, and it was bustling with people - all directed at us. I looked to Percy and his dad, but they had vanished. I hoped the crowd would take a turn at the intersection before they got to me; but I sensed that wasn't going to happen.

They quickly advanced, and I managed to make out some of their faces. One was… Rachel? Another looked like Will Solace… Clarrise marched in with her siblings. Was the whole camp coming to greet me? How nice, and how strange. Maybe it's because I'm a god now, I thought. But that didn't seem to be the case. In fact, they actually stopped twenty feet away from me and parted. Behind them stood a man - boy - in a tuxedo, etched with symbols of fish and the sea. He wore a ballpoint pen clipped to his waist, and his hair was neatly combed. Could it be…

The boy, who I know recognized as a kid nearing the end of his teens, possibly twenty, came up to me. Then I finally realized who it was: Percy. I guess I didn't notice him in a tuxedo, and his hair which was usually disheveled.

"What's with the suit and hair?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

But he didn't respond. Instead, he knelt down on one knee. He reached into the inside of his tuxedo and removed a shiny, polished clam. It was rimmed with golden waves and the clam beamed as if the sun itself was in it. It was a Golden ring, the perfect fit for my ring finger. It was intricately woven with lines and patterns with a small gap that was filled with flowing energy. On the side of the ring corresponding to the stone owl carved in the middle, was a button. I was so eager to press it I didn't even notice what was really happening.

"Annabeth Chase, will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me."

I stumbled and almost fainted. Was I dreaming? Was that why everybody was acting so weird? No time to think I said say something

"Um…" I fumbled for the right words. " Are you pranking me seaweed brain?"

"No ma'am" he said, breaking a sweat. I smiled. He would not be sweating for long.

"Yes", I said confidently.

Percy beamed relieved. "They make it look so easy in the movies. When really it is so scary-"

"Oh shut up" I said and then I kissed him.

The whole city seemed to erupt in cheers. "Never knew you could be so sly, Seaweed brain," I said blushing. "Whatever, smart girl," Percy said and we ran off forgetting all about the troubles we have been through in the past nine years.

Chapter XX

So what

"We have a lot of big decisions to make Percy." I said to him, hating to ruin the mood. It had been a couple days since the proposal up on olympus. Now it was august 17th only one day until Percy's decision on whether or not to live in Olympus , Posiedons castle, Or to serve at Camp Half Blood as camp directors. Plus because of Percy's stunt the other day We have to have a whole well… wedding funded and planned. But also if I decide to leave New York then I will no-longer be an Architect for the Olympus. Also Zeus was right about this whole power thing. It was growing by the day and it was hard to contain it all.
"Your right." Percy said. "What are your thoughts?' I was actually surprised he did not immediately take action or just shrug it off. He was merely considering my thoughts before his. Percy was running very well with this whole marriage thing. He also Did the actual proposal pretty well too. The ring had its own magical aspect to it. The ring formed a bubble around me that way I can stay underwater, unharmed.

"I think we should stay in New York. That way I can still be an architect of Olympus. So that kinda marks off your father's castle." I replied. "Makes sense. All The options we have now are Staying at Olympus or going to Camp Half Blood to be camp directors. This is just my opinion but I think we should go to Camp Half Blood and be directors. We can take shifts because there are two of us, and you have a job you need to do up at Olympus. We can stay in our cabins and practice with the others. After all, we do have different powers in some way or another. Does this sound like an okay plan?" Percy said surprising himself

"Yeah that does sound good, I will call for hermes to deliver the message to the gods. Oh and good thinking."

***
The night later was spent planning the event (wedding ceremony). After half an hour, we settled on the fact that our main course would be pizza, though I secretly wanted it to be sushi (which Percy wasn't happy about). We also made the hard decision of whether or not to invite the whole camp or just people we knew. We didn't want random people there. We went a list, and this is what we came up with:

Clarisse, Malcolm, Jason, Leo, Piper, Will, Hazel, Frank, Sally, Mr Blofis, Triton (Who was going to join us at camp After the honeymoon), Nico, Calypso, Grover, Juniper, The stoll brothers, Reyna, Rachel, Magnus, Estelle Blofis (she is sooooo cute), Chiron and no others in the moment.

"That is a very small list..." Percy noted.

"Actually, it is pretty big compared to some other ones. Also, It is hard to plan a wedding in one day. But that's also what you get when you are so famous that you want a private wedding." I said, almost surprising myself.

"True that. Where is the wedding gonna be at? I mean we could have it in New Rome next to the statue and overlook that that would be nice. But I know how stressed you get around that place You always think about when Gaea possesed Leo. But if that is not an option, then we could do it by the colosseum. But you'll think about the Mark of Athena so... no." Percy seemed stressed and eager to find the right fit.

"We don't need to stress out…" I said reassuringly. "All we need to do is take it step by step and go through it with precision and accuracy. Weddings do not get planned in one day. In fact, I need to take a cooldown myself. What about some ice cream down at that new store on Wall Street?"

Percy lightened. "Yeah, sure thing . But for right now I have to sadly get studying. College isn't gonna do itself. It'll never stop piling down on me. That is, until I graduate."

I nodded. "I'll help if necessary?"

"Sure thing. One hundred pages of homework coming right up!" Percy said, definitely exaggerating. I laughed and then switched gears.

"C'mon. I'll race you to the ice cream shop."

We spent the rest of the night studying to the best of our ability. Our homework was in Latin and Greek (it was sort of a class for special people… Percy told the professor that he was an exchange student from Greece, and he fell for it). I urged Percy to focus and I constantly tried to help him, but he kept eating his ice cream like he had all the time in the world. He appreciated my help, because there were no dormitories and well he had to do most of the work on his own, without help. He had As and Bs in each class just because he spent restless nights studying. He even turned down one of our weekly meetups because he had a calc. test to study up on. I on the other hand was nearly breaking a sweat. This school was made for demigods and well I was acing every class. I had time to run, hangout, and take hikes. One time I even went over to Olympus and worked on my statutes and all. I felt bad that Percy was struggling. I wanted to help him but I could not. The school refused us to be even in the same room. "But things will change, we're gods." Percy said as we finished up his first stack of homework.

However it wasn't so simple we were gods which meant no College at all. It might sound great to Percy, but I was actually looking forward to finishing it. It would be an academic achievement plus Percy worked so hard to get in and now we are throwing it away. "Why are you doing your homework?" I asked Percy. He began to laugh as it was a joke but stopped himself. "What do you mean I have to get good grades to get a job and stuff." Percy seemed confused. I sighed and then explained what was on my mind. "Percy, we're gods, we have responsibilities to do. I have to solve problems in the world like preventing pollution and giving inventors of this world inspiration. And you have to ask and answer questions, control swordplay, and even overlook all the humans and future heros in the world. We have the weight of the world on our shoulders...there is no point in college...we'll have to drop out-t-t" I started to cry. This was not a wise decision. I have failed. Percy put his arm around me. " We should talk to your mom about this, she'll know what to do." He stopped and then looked me in the eyes. " Just because you're a daughter of Athena does not mean you're right all the time. Even the smartest make mistakes, and if you get knocked down. you just have to keep moving on and show the world you're tougher than you look."

THE END SO FAR...