A/N (I recommend reading this): I'm going to MAKE THIS CLEAR. Just like I mention on my bio page about every other fanfiction I done: I DON'T OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIAN SERIES or AND THE KANE CHRONICLES OR IT'S CHARACTERS as the rights goes to Rick Riordan. Also I suggest you guys start paying attention to the Author notes and my warnings that I left on EVERY chapter of EVERY story.

Sorry if this chapter is too much like the book.

This is a The Tales of version of the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles crossover and takes place after 'The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus part of the series. So if you haven't read them yet read before reading this story as stuff that happened in them will be mentioned:

The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Early Adventures
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Lightning Thief
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Sea of Monsters
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Titan's Curse
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Magical Labyrinth
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Stolen Chariot
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Sword of Hades
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Bronze Dragon
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: The Last Olympian
The Tales of the Son of Poseidon: the Staff of Hermes
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Quest for Buford
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades
The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Son of Sobek
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Staff of Serapis
The Tales of Magicians and Demigods: The Crown of Ptolemy

Also if you haven't got the chance feel free to read:

The Tales of Classical Mythology

A crossover with The Tales of series with my dictionary on Greek/Roman Mythology where The Tales of Percy Jackson tells his version of stories behind famous names in Greek and Roman Mythology.

And if you are a fan of Stephen King:

The Tales of the Heroes of the Stand

Which is basically a crossover of The Tales of series with one of Stephen King's best novels The Stand.

Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed as long as you inform me about it.

Grove of Dodona Tells Meg the Heart Crushing Truth

Meg's resolve may have been wavering, but Peaches's was not. But just as Meg had Peaches protecting her, I have Alabaster to back me up.

When I hesitated to follow Meg's orders, the grain spirit bared his fangs and hissed, "Peaches," as if that were a new torture technique, but Alabaster match him with a glare of his own as he held out—five golden cards.

Seriously?

But as much as I want to fight it, truth was, I have no choice. I could feel Meg's command sinking into my muscles, compelling me to obey.

"Alabaster, it's fine," I told him.

"What?" Alabaster responded.

"Just focus on Nero's goons," I told him. "Make sure they don't attack the groove when the gates are open."

Alabaster growled. "Fine!"

He backed off.

I faced the fused oaks and put my hands against their trunks. I felt no oracular power within. I heard no voices—just heavy stubborn silence. The only message the trees seemed to be sending was: GO AWAY.

"If we do this," I told Meg. "Nero will destroy the grove."

"He won't."

"He has to. He cannot control Dodona. Its power is too ancient. He can't let anyone else use it."

Meg placed her hands against the trees, just below mine. "Concentrate. Open them. Please. You don't want to anger the Beast."

She said this in a deep voice—again speaking as if the Beast was someone, I had not yet met… a boogeyman lurking under the bed, not a man in a purple suit standing a few feet away.

I could not refuse Meg's orders, but with the Grove of Dodona's help I can convince her otherwise. I do not often pray to other immortal beings, since I was a god, but I pray to Rhea that her sacred grove can help Meg see the truth.

I closed my eyes. I sensed the trees' implacable resistance, their mistrust of outsiders. I knew that if I forced open these gates, the Grove could be destroyed. Yet I reached out with all my willpower and sought the voice of prophecy, drawing it to me.

I thought of Rhea, Queen of the Titans, who had first planted this grove. Despite being a child of Gaea and Ouranos, despite being married to the cannibal king Kronos, Rhea had managed to cultivate wisdom and kindness. She had given birth to a new, better breed of immortals (if I say so myself). She stood for the best of the ancient times.

True, the Olympians might have not turned out the rulers Rhea hoped, and she was withdrawn from the world and started a pottery studio in Woodstock, but we could not have been that bad if she stayed in hiding when Kronos was gathering forces from Titans that had originally betrayed him. We could not be that bad for her to turn her back while Gaea was wakening once more stirring up trouble with other nature spirits. I could not have been that bad for her to turn to me and entrusted me to save her Grove.

I realize she did not want Alabaster here to help keep Dodona closed. Rhea still cared about Dodona. She wants me here to open the grove, to share its power once more. She was not the kind of goddess who believed in close games or NO TRESPASSING signs. No. Alabaster here was to make sure Nero fails once Meg and I succeeded.

I began to hum softly "This Land Is Your Land."

The bark grew warm under my fingertips. The tree roots trembled.

I glanced at Meg. She was deep in concentration, leaning against the trunks as if trying to push them open. Everything about her was familiar: her ratty pageboy hair, her glittering cat-eyeglasses, her runny nose and chewed cuticles and faint scent of apple pie.

But she was someone I did not know at all: stepdaughter to the immortal crazy Nero. A member of the Imperial Household. What did that even mean? I pictured the Brady Bunch in purple togas, lined up on the family staircase with Nero at the bottom in Alice's maid uniform. Having a vivid imagination is a terrible curse.

Unfortunately for the grove, Meg was also the daughter of Demeter. The trees responded to her power. The twin oaks rumbled. Their trunks began to move.

Even if I change my mind and wanted to stop this, it was too late. The grove seemed to be drawing on my power now. My hands stuck to the trees. The gates opened wider, forcibly spreading my arms. For a terrifying moment, I thought the trees might keep moving and rip me limb from limb. Then they stopped. The roots settled. The bark cooled and released me.

I stumbled back, exhausted. Meg remained, transfixed, in the newly opened gateway.

On the other side were… well, more trees. Despite the winter cold, the young oaks rose tall and green, growing in concentric circles around a slightly larger specimen in the center. Littering the ground were acorns glowing with faint amber light. Around the grove stood a protective wall of trees even more formidable than the one in the antechamber. Above, another tightly woven dome of branches guarded the place from aerial intruders.

Before I could warn her, Meg stepped across the threshold. The voices exploded. Imagine forty nail guns firing into your brain from all directions at once. The words were babble, but they tore at my sanity, demanding my attention. I covered my ears. The noise just got louder and more persistent.

Peaches clawed frantically at the dirt, trying to bury his head. Alabaster dropped to the ground covering his ears. Vince and Garry writhed on the ground. Even the unconscious demigods thrashed and moaned on their stakes.

Nero reeled; his hand raised as if to block an intense light. "Megs control the voices! Do it now!"

Meg did not appear hurt by the noise, but she looked bewildered. "They're saying something…" She swept her hand through the air, pulling at invisible threads to untangle the pandemonium. "They're agitated. I can't—Wait…"

Suddenly the voices shut off, as if they had made their point.

Meg turned toward Nero, her eyes wide. "It's true. The trees told me you mean to burn them."

Oh, thank gods, Rhea answered my prayer. Dodona did what I could not. I would be cheering if I were not recovering from Dodona's voices.

The Germani groaned, half-conscious on the ground. Nero recovered more quickly. He raised his finger, admonishing, guiding. "Listen to me, Meg. I had hoped the grove could be useful, but obviously it is fractured and confused. You cannot believe what it says. It is the mouthpiece of a senile Titan queen. The grove must be razed. It is the only way, Meg. You understand that don't you?"

He kicked Gary over onto his back and rifled through the bodyguard's pouches. Then Nero stood, triumphantly holding a box of matches.

"After the fire, we'll rebuild," he said. "It will be glorious!"

Meg stared at him as if noticing his horrendous neck beard for the first time. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

"He's going to burn and level Long Island," I said. "Then he'll make it his private domain, just like he did with Rome."

Nero laughed in exasperation. "Long Island is a mess anyway! No one will miss it. My new imperial complex will extend from Manhattan to Montauk—the greatest palace ever built! We will have private rivers and lakes, one hundred miles of beachfront property, gardens big enough for their own zip codes. I will build each member of my household a private skyscraper. Oh, Meg, imagine the parties we will have in our new Domus Aurea!"

The truth was a heavy thing. Meg's knees buckled under its weight.

"You can't." Her voice shook. "The woods—I'm the daughter of Demeter."

"You're my daughter," Nero corrected. "And I care for you deeply. Which is why you need to move aside. Quickly."

I turned to Alabaster who was still crouching on the ground, as if unconscious. What did Dodona do to him?

Nero set a match to the striking surface of the box. "As soon as I light these stakes, our human torches will send a wave of fire straight through that gateway. Nothing will be able to stop it. The entire forest will burn."

"Please!" Meg cried.

"Come along, dearest." Nero's frown hardened. "Apollo is of no use to us anymore. His protector is incapacitated. You don't want to wake the Beast, do you?"

He lit his match and dropped it.

A/N: Alabaster's part will be made clear in the next chapter.