Let's go. Percy has been missing for maybe a week. I know in the book Annabeth arrives at the Grand Canyon and says Percy's been gone three days, but I'm extending it to fit this chapter in. He's missing, and Thalia and Fayden will help find him after their date. Second one.

"Dodge! Roll! Swipe up and…good!"

I swung my sword down my side. It was slightly humiliating that Athena could idly chat while fighting, while I was sweating my balls off, but she was a war goddess. I raised my sword again, very aware of the bead of sweat trickling down my forehead.

Where was I? Oh, it was awesome. I was right on the peak of Olympus. The throne room is the top, but there is maybe twenty metres or so above that to get to the top top. It was a small rocky flat area, and perfect for arena fighting, considering the fact that if you stepped over the line, you fell hundreds of metres down a mountain. There was a massive bubble of atmosphere around Olympus, because I was currently at the height where I'd need an oxygen tank, and yet it wasn't even cold, let alone difficult to breathe in.

Athena was facing me, a wicked but elegant double-edged Xiphos in her hands. It was shorter than my sword, but holy…She could use it. I mentally nicknamed her elegant and wicked, so yeah. Instead of her usual toga, she was dressed in celestial bronze battle gear. It looked like standard Athenian armour, except the chest plate had various scenes carved onto them, like Athena's birth, or during a fight with some god or another. Her helmet was shaped like a metal owl, the beak curving down between her eyes. It may have looked slightly comical if anyone else was wearing it.

"Come one! Attack! Your time isn't up yet!"

She ran at me, and I desperately raised my sword. But I was too tired. Athena hadn't even swung and I lowered my guard, slumping into a sitting position. Athena froze, her sword millimetres from my head. The first few times this happened (I collapsed a lot), I nearly had a panic attack, the sword was so near. But after seeing the ridiculous amount of control she had over her weapon, I would've let her throw her sword at me to cut a rice grain in half if it was sitting on my head. Which she had done, to get me over my terror. When I asked to try, she reluctantly agreed, then made me do extreme workout exercises for almost three hours…after she had pulled my sword out of her forehead and got Apollo to heal her. I'm fairly certain she's still getting me back for that.

After an annoyed huff, she let me rest, and sat down gracefully next to me. Everything she did was graceful! Flipping stumble for once! As if she could read my mind, which she probably was, she smirked silently. Then looked over. I could see her switch from 'Criticism only', to 'Compliment time'. I liked this switch.

"You did good. We need to work on your endurance, but overall, your performance is pretty excellent. But you need to use the advantage of having a long sword. You can thrust a lot better once you realise that."

Now, in my tired, hysteric mind, this was too much. I burst out laughing, clutching my sides and howling on the ground. Athena had leaned away as if I was diseased, her nose crinkled.

"What?"

I just kept giggling on the floor.

"What? What did I…?"

Athena trailed off, then glared at my shuddering form, laughter still escaping.

"Seriously?! How old are you?!"

I drew in a deep breath, and tried to talk, then pictured Athena's voice in my head saying 'Having a long sword lets you thrust better' and I went through another round of fits. Athena, thoroughly unimpressed, suddenly snapped,

"Oh shut up!"

And snapped her fingers. Instantly, I stopped laughing, and I felt refreshed. Why didn't she do this so I didn't rest? Because the rests were important. It let me grow used to the extensive pressure of her lessons, while being magically refreshed made you instantly feel like you've had a good night's sleep, and have done nothing all day…including warm up.

Athena sprang up, and her lesson began again. Yes…I was still on the floor. One of her first lessons was about defending yourself from different positions…ok only Athena's magic made me not start laughing again. Although, the blunted bronze sword swinging at my head made me sober quite quickly as well. I rolled, swinging my sword up. On my knees, I managed to successfully block the goddess's attack. She raised an eyebrow, and I knew she was impressed, however, was back in 'Only criticism' mode. I stood, sliding her sword away, and swung three fast blows at her waist, head, then back down to her legs.

At least, I thought they were fast. Athena blocked them effortlessly, and I was instantly on the defence, being forced back towards the edge of the small rocky plain we were on. I rolled aside as she struck, hoping she'd tumbled to stop herself falling, but, as always…perfect balance.

Have you ever seen the movie Troy? The scene where Achilles fights Hector. Every move Achilles makes is well planned, well struck, and connect well. He fights calmy, smoothly, in complete confidence he's the superior fighter. He doesn't move unless he has to, saving his energy…and has perfect balance, being proved the multiple times Hector fell over, and Achilles didn't even stumble.

Yeah, you can see where I'm going with this. Achilles, or should I say, Athena, attacked me again in that composed stance. Four actually fast strikes in rapid succession. Only my constant use of the 'slow down quick moves in my head' thing, I would have been bruised all over. Athena deliberately used a blunted weapon, but I still spent a fair amount of time knocked cold. I obviously couldn't kill her, so used Astyfilaka. Speaking of that, I couldn't fucking hit her, let alone kill her.

I decided to go the powers route, which Athena forbid, but also said a warrior should use all weapons at his disposal, when they're at his disposal. So, my legs and hands glowed gold, something I hadn't tried before, and I ran at Athena. Closing the distance in a quarter of a second, I managed to realise twelve attacks in the space of a second and a half. I even saw Athena glow slightly in an effort to block or dodge. She only ever had to move away from my attacks twice. This time, she blocked the first four, then had to twist away from the fifth, still keeping that insufferable balance, blocked the six and seventh, backed away from the nine and tenth. In a final burst that I knew she would get revenge for, I slashed at both her arms, and hit twice.

A small trickle of ichor dribbled out of small, thin cuts on both arms. It seemed like everything stopped. Athena lowered her sword, staring at the first two cuts I'd ever given her. Then, in a half impressed, half deadly cool voice, said,

"I thought I said…no powers?"

Instantly, I replied,

"You also said a warrior should use all their weapons, whenever they can use them."

Athena raised an eyebrow, and I could tell that she was impressed, and also about to kick my ass.

"Well then. If that is true for you, it must be true for me?"

Before my eyes could even widen, she had sped at me, glowing silver and white, and kicked, punched cut and all-round abused me at least a hundred times in a second. She retreated almost to fast for me to see, and I could only make a small, "uhhhhh…" noise, before keeling over.

When I woke, the first thing I realised was I was still on the peak. My lesson wasn't over. Curse you, Athena. The second thing, was the owl on my chest. I stared at, blinking. It gazed at me reproachfully, then flapped it wings and took off, careful to hit me in the head with a wing as it did so. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, and glanced around. Athena was kneeling on the other side of the flat area, flipping her sword over while watching me. When she saw me awake, the glint in her eyes told me exactly what she was about to do. I rushed for my keyring, and pulled as she said,

"Begin,"

And ran at me. I flipped up, something I still felt awesome about being able to do, and only had time to deflect away the goddess' strike.

"Good. You're quicker. This fight, I want you to switch grip every time I say now, or I'll toss you down the mountain."

Now, this wasn't an empty threat. Sure, Apollo was there to catch me, but he had appeared right before I hit the ground, so I still screamed my head off, thinking I was about to get squashed. Athena attacked again, and managed to block them. She backed off, then said,

"Now."

Grumbling, I grabbed my hand with my left hand. Athena smiled, and came at me again. I very rarely used my left hand, so I guess I knew the purpose of this lesson. She pressed, and I barely blocked the attacks, deflecting the penultimate one, and rolling out of the way of the final thrust. I had barely come out of the roll when I heard,

"Now."

Still flipping, I tried to grab the sword with my right hand, and it resulted in me rolling into an undignified heap. Athena's smirk was so loud I didn't even need to see it. I knew she was smirking. I stood up, shaking as if that never happened, and ran at her. I swung my sword, but as I brought it down,

"Now."

My eyes widened as I pulled my left hand up to grab the sword. Athena grabbed my left arm, and judo flipped me over her shoulder. I lay groaning as she leaned over me and said,

"Why do you keep grabbing the sword? Throw it into the other hand. Be creative. This is your only tip."

She grabbed my collar and hauled me to my feet. I raised my sword shakily, and decided to listen. She stepped forward in a thrust/head strike/leg stab combo I recognised. I saw her mouth open and got ready. She had only said,

"N…"

And I flipped the sword from my left over her sword's thrust, catching it in the right hand.

"…ow."

Unfortunately, I slipped slightly, so instead of spearing the deserving goddess in the ribs, I slid slightly into the splits, and fell backwards, again, completely undignified. Athena raised an eyebrow. I saw she was impressed, and genuinely happy I was learning, but…you know. Criticism mode. I rolled backwards and on to my feet, ready this time.

Athena came at me, and I blocked every attack. We were locked in a block when she smirked. Knowing what she was about to do, I pushed in, sliding my sword down, then flipping my sword over into my left hand. However, it was knocked out of the air, and I had moved into Athena's outstretched leg, tripping over it. The goddess sighed, saying,

"You're trying to anticipate when I say now. Don't. You wield a katana; I would think you know one of the most important Japanese fighting tactics. Mushin. No mind. Do not anticipate anything. Wait for it to happen, and act in the split second after. No mind. Think of nothing. Not my sword. Not yours. Nothing."

I frowned, sort of getting her idea. Not really. Still, I said,

"Sure. Ok."

Athena rolled her eyes, and I reminded myself I was training with someone who could read minds.

"You don't get it at all. I smirked, making you think I would make you switch grip, so I set up an attack to counter. A smirk was not the signal. The word now was. So…wait for me to say it. Don't try and guess when I will. Don't guess anything. Wait, and act accordingly."

Ok, now I got it. I would see a suspicious flick and think she was about to say now, when she really tricked me. It could be anything. Don't think. Just act. If I see her shift from side to side, don't guess she'll go right, because there's a very real chance she'll go left. Wait, and see for yourself. Mushin. I like it. Athena seemed to think I understood, and raised her sword. I raised mine in my right hand and she immediately said,

"Now."

I glared, before preparing to fight with my left hand. She came at me, and I spun away, striking back. We were locked in a battle of wills, and I won't even pretend I was equal. I was hopelessly outmatched; it was just a matter of time. So…end it quickly. I rushed, swinging well placed attacks everywhere I could find. I was determined to focus on my stance, making sure every attack was followed by a firm base. I countered Athena's style, attacking every time she paused. We were parrying back and forth when she suddenly shouted,

"Now!"

Without wasting a second, I threw my sword into the air, jumping. Athena's weapon came up to try and knock the katana out of the air, but I kicked, and knocked it aside. Now in the air, I grabbed Astyfilaka in my right hand, and swung down on the goddess of wisdom's head. Only being Athens stopped her head being split open. In this case, being Athena, she stepped back in block, then immediately rushed forward to sweep my usually weak stance after moves like this. However, I had deliberately landed in a strong, wide stance, and Athena's eyes widened slightly in surprise and pride as I met her sweep with my own. She was forced to push away, and obviously to get back at me, said,

"Now."

A simple throw and I was left-handed, coming at the goddess. After a minute or so, she smirked, and opened her mouth to speak. I was about to switch when I saw her left leg shift into a weak and odd position, perfect for sweeping me if I switched. In this half second, a ignored her face and rushed in, elbowing her shifted centre of gravity. Her eyes widened properly above me, and she stumbled back.

I got a little overconfident, hoping to catch her unsteady, but her stance was as strong as ever, and she pushed me back. It kept going like this, both of us witching between attack and defence, me switching between attack left attack right and defence left defence right. Now, Athena had almost limitless energy, but for my training, she said she would bring it down and weaken herself to above average demigod stamina. And she was tiring. Not as much as me, but, she. Was. Tiring!

"Now."

I had rushed her, and was caught off guard. Switching between grips allowed Athena to start on attack, forcing me back into blocking and dodging. I swerved, twisted, met strikes head on, let them glance off my blade, everything. All the while, I kept my mind clear and my legs strong. I could tell by the gleam in Athena's eyes that she was very pleased I had learnt so quickly. We met in another head on block, pushing against each other's weapon. I saw Athena open her mouth and watched her eyes glint, but did nothing, right up until I heard,

"Now."

Instantaneously, I pulled back, and threw my sword at her. Everyone, no matter how good, is always surprised when a swordsman gives up his weapon, even if they know it travels back to me. Athena seemed shocked, but pressed. I let my clothes melt into armour (I fought her in clothes for the speed, god help me I need it), and pressed my now armoured hand against the side of her blunt blade. Pushing it away, she wasn't expecting me to block the attack with my hands, from the side, so didn't adjust in time. I caught my sword in my other hand to previously, like I had to, and swung at her neck. She righted herself as I did this, and performed the same attack, not seeing my sword.

We both froze, feeling the other's blade on their necks. We were both breathing heavily, but Athena glowed slightly, and was suddenly perfectly refreshed. She was smiling broadly. [1].

"Well done! You are a fast learner."

I felt massive amounts of pride at being told by the war goddess 'well done'. Athena's training sword disappeared and she clapped her hands. I felt instantly rejuvenated and Athena was back in her usual white and silver toga.

"That will be all for now. You have progressed massively, Fayden."

This was the first time she'd used my name, so I knew we had achieved a knew level of trust, or…something. She held me in higher regard, that was for sure.

"I'll see you soon."

Then my world dissolved and I appeared outside one of the public shower/toilet blocks on Olympus. I laughed to myself. While you feel magically refreshed, the sweaty armpit smell of being tire doesn't go. And I had a date later today. I walked into one of the showers, and properly refreshed myself.

"Look, I've already told you I was wrong! Stop rubbing it in."

Thalia was fake glaring at me from across the picnic blanket. After our first date, which she had loved, I'd relentlessly teased her for being wrong. Because, you know. Boyfriend material.

"You know I'm not dropping that for at least a few days."

She mumbled a few choice insults under her breath, but she couldn't hide her grin. We were sitting in the last ebbs of sun over Central Park. It was the October 1st, and Central Park's trees had just started turning yellow and brown. At least a 1/6 or so where the colour of Autumn. I was surprised Thalia would want to come out here in the October cold, but we wore warm clothes. We were lying by the same lake, that, last summer, hosted a battle. I fought the Titan Koios roughly 12-15 metres away from where we were picnicking. She had just finished stuffing her face with a Walkers Ready Salted crisps sandwich, which, in my opinion, is one of the great inventions of man. When Prometheus offered us a new innovative evolutionary jump for surrender during the war, a new crisp sandwich flavour would have been invented. And a new Audi sportscar.

Anyway, I found it just one of the many things I adored about Thalia that, one, she inhaled food like a chipmunk, her cheeks full, and two, she didn't give a crap about it. In fact, her not giving a crap, period, was one of her most endearing traits. I tried not to burst out laughing as her cheeks bulged, and I just said this, exactly like a chipmunk or squirrel. She saw me staring, and quickly swallowed, saying,

"What?"

I grinned.

"Nothing. It's just the way your cheeks bulge adorably when you eat."

She blushed, always ready to become self-conscious when I said things like this.

"Do you think everything I do is adorable?"

I put on a fake thinking face. Tapping my chin, I said,

"Hmm. Probably. Let me think…hang on! Nope, that's cute."

Thalia laughed and reached over, swatting my shoulder, muttering,

"Doofus."

I grinned again and settled back down, picking up my own crisp sandwich. Like I said, godly inventions. I'll stop fanboying over crisp sandwiches. I was still eating, occasionally making jokes that would cause Thalia to choke, when she suddenly breathed in sharply, then exhaled more steadily. I frowned. That was never a good sign.

"What?"

She was looking right at me, a look of mild disgust on her face. Either I had a picture of Aphrodite on my face, or someone else equally annoying was standing behind me. Thalia glared, and said,

"Aphrodite."

I frowned, hand going to my head. Did I have a picture of Aphrodite on my face? Then a woman spoke, and I mentally smacked myself for being an idiot. Lady Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, all-round annoyance, and most definitely not the bearer of good news right now, was standing behind me.

"You two! Oh, how perfect! I need your help!"

Thalia had opened her mouth, frowning, but I scowled at the goddess and spoke first.

"No. I don't care if you've lost your hairbrush again, you can beat it."

She glared at me, then huffed.

"That happened one time…"

I scoffed, knowing that was a downright lie, as she continued,

"…And no. I'm in need of a different thing tracked down."

Before I could refuse again, Thalia said,

"What are you missing?"

I glared at her for encouraging the goddess, and she stuck out her tongue. Aphrodite clapped her hands, giggling.

"Oh, you two are perfect together. A pity really…never mind. Thalia…"

I had held up my hand.

"Woah, woah. What do you mean, 'A pity'?!"

Aphrodite's enchanted face flickered slightly, as if moving out of focus, then she said,

"I cannot say. However, what I came here to say, was my son, Eros, is missing his…bow."

I stared at her. I heard a thud, and turned. Thalia had dropped a sandwich onto her lap, mouth wide. She spluttered, then said,

"Eros'…his…bow?!"

She half shrieked the last word, and Aphrodite hurriedly put a finger to her lips.

"Shh! He doesn't want anyone to know! I promised him I'd find it."

I raised my arms in a 'well, there you go then' sort of way.

"Sorted. You go and find it, while we go back to…"

"Fay."

My eye twitched in annoyance. I recognised Thalia's voice. Turning to look at her, she appeared worried.

"We have to help. If Eros is missing his bow, well. Humans can't feel love. No one will get together. No new kids will be born. No one will get married."

I stared for a few seconds, then sighed, defeated.

"Fine. But you…!"

I had rounded on the goddess.

"Don't do this again! Pick on someone else!"

Aphrodite glared at me, this time looking truly angry. Her face easily twisted from beautiful to terrifying.

"I put up with your jibes, Fayden Thatch, but I am still, a goddess. Do not tell me what to do!"

I looked at her, not even remotely scared, or impressed.

"Uh huh. You done?"

She instantly frowned, and was back to looking like a gorgeous teen, pouting.

"What the…?"

"Aphrodite, you're adorable. You think you're so pretty, and so scary, but really? You're not exactly either. I've said this. Stop trying to intimidate me."

Her face was showing true surprise and shock. Thalia was watching with mild amusement. Then, with a last swish, Aphrodite vanished into a swirl of white roses. On the ground was a letter. Thalia went forward to pick it up, and read it out loud.

You two heroes. You have been tasked with finding my son, Eros', magical bow.

Good Luck!

He last saw it when he used it on a young couple over in LA. Oh, were they adorable! And the guy! Gorgeous! The way they got at it after my son struck them with a love dart. Hmm!

I glanced at Thalia, a mixture of disgust and amusement on my face. She looked up, mirth in her eyes.

"Could you stop reading this in her voice? It makes this worse."

She let out a cheeky laugh, and continued.

Anyway, he said you should check on his wife's sisters. They were turned immortal after their death, and like nothing more than disturbing the perfect marriage my son and Psyche has.

They were last spotted by Hermes hanging out in Manhattan.

Have fun!

Thalia finished reading the letter, and I sighed. Goddamn it, Aphrodite. Thalia was looking at me with worry.

"Manhattan? She couldn't have been a tad more specific!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Come now. You know how annoying her almighty sluttiness is! Let's go find that stupid bow."

Thalia snorted at my nickname of her, but nodded. We packed up the picnic, and left it there. Some random homeless person can munch on the amazing crisp san…sorry.

We decided to stick around in Central Park, at least until we narrowed down Manhattan to a smaller area. I had climbed up into a tree, and was hanging upside down. My powers let me stay there without blood rushing to my head, as I just made it reverse back again. Why reversing my blood flow didn't instantly kill me, I have no idea, but I guess mortal doctors don't usually deal with SonOfKronos-itus. A rare and awesome disease. Thalia was sitting below me, occasionally looking up and rolling her eyes, also because I kept flicking her hair.

Then, suddenly, I had a lightbulb moment.

It lasted about half a second, because I fell out of the tree, and had to focus on not crushing my girlfriend. I froze just above her, twisted in a really awkward position as Thalia yelled in shock and rolled out of the way. She rolled up and spun, the glared at me.

"Fay!"

From my weird upside-down twisted position, my stupid grin must've looked weird as I replied,

"Sorry!"

Then fell to the floor. Instantly, I sprang up and said,

"Anyway. Did you see the news of the new restaurant opening up on Centre Street, near Chinatown?"

Thalia frowned.

"What? No, of course not. Where did you learn that?"

I rolled my eyes and replied,

"My phone, but that's irrelevant. It's called…Calanthe and Zona's!"

Thalia gasped.

"Her…Psyche's sisters?!"

"Yeah! They started up a…wait a minute. There's a pair of evil women running a restaurant in Chinatown."

My eyebrows were raised. Thalia was grinning, and said,

"The world of a demigod. Let's go."

So, as I always, had my car on me, we sped down various roads and streets, until the atmosphere very suddenly altered. Everything became a lot more oriental, and a lot more Chinese takeaway places cropped up. One such place, halfway down Centre Street, as I said, was labelled, 'Calanthe and Zona's'. The text was rather fancy and curly, in a neon red. It was quite obviously new. Inside, the place had only a few customers, and everything was sparkling clean. It was wedged between shops on either side, and had pure black walls, with a Chinese style red curtain cover thing (I have no idea what their called) covering the door. A side in red on black card red, 'Open'. I looked over at Thalia, and she nodded, pulling out her mace canister. I noticed her silver bracelet was, as always, on her wrist.

I myself had merely pulled my hoodie over the top of my shirt, having worn my magical jeans anyway. With trusty Astyfilaka at my waist, we strolled inside. It was a small shop. There were four tables, all different sizes. The matching wood chairs were all occupied, and a few people looked up as we walked in. Above us, a single bauble-shaped paper lantern lit the place in a calm, red glow. There were a few paintings of what looked like excerpts from Chinese Mythology on the wall. I could see a small path where the floor turned to tile as it disappeared round a corner, the path to the kitchens. Noise and amazing oriental flavours were echoing out of it. Directly ahead, the wall opposite was the same as every other; a creamy yellow-white, except a dark brown door was hiding in the corner, a small sign saying something in Chinese, then underneath, in English, 'Manager's Office'. I nodded to it, saying,

"There."

But Thalia was looking around.

"Thals?"

She frowned, then said,

"How are we going to do this? Their all mortals."

She got one strange look, but no one else heard. I shrugged, and speaking a little louder, hoping a few more heard.

"I don't know. Hopefully, while we're arresting the killers, they'll scoot."

A few more heads turned, and some started looking worried. I nodded in a business-like tone, and unsheathed my sword. I guess the Mist showed some kind of rifle, as everyone started panicking and muttering, collecting their bags and leaving. But the chefs were still in the kitchen. So, I raised my voice, and called,

"Official government business! Clear out, now!"

This got their attention. About five people in white aprons jogged out of the kitchen into the restaurant, saw me with what they thought was a gun, and quickly ran out. I glanced at Thalia.

"There you go."

She nodded, looking relieved, then nodded at the Manager's Office door.

"Let's go."

Her spear appeared and we marched forward. However, I had nearly reached the door when it opened rather fast, and a woman stepped out. She was middle aged, and had that sort of 'used to be pretty but grew old' look. She was wearing expertly placed makeup, and held herself like someone used to being given things for being pretty. She frowned at us, and said,

"Who are you? Where did our custom…"

She had glanced down and seen our weapons. I knew she saw weapons, as she grew pale, and started shifting, but was obviously pretending to be fooled by the Mist. She finished the sentence,

"…ers?"

Thalia stepped forward.

"They left, Ma'am. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you bring your sister out."

The woman flicked her eyes at Thalia's spear, licked her lips, then smiled worriedly.

"Sure honey!"

Then she turned and called,

"Zona!"

But I had barely heard. I was staring at her back. I don't know how the Mist covered this up, but her back was almost split in half. A massive split ran down her spine, and in some places, I could actually see the bone. There was no blood, and had that red colour that small cuts get when they heal over. It looked unmistakeably like she'd fallen from a height onto something. Something sharp. Thalia had gone pale with disgust, and we glanced at each other. The first woman turned, completely oblivious to the fact he had a mortal wound and a half in her back. A loud shuffle, and then a second woman appeared.

She held herself the same way as her sister, with that 'beauty gone to seed' look. But her hair was shoulder length and bottle blonder, instead of her sister's longer brown.

"Yes, Calanthe?"

"These people want to talk to us."

Zona looked at us, and saw our weapons. Her eyes widened, and this time Thalia saw. Her grip on her spear tightened as the first woman, Calanthe, said,

"Dearest sister?"

Zona looked up innocently, saying,

"Yes?"

I watched Calanthe stare at Zona, and then they turned back to us. I knew what was about to happen. Quite literally. My grip had also tightened over my katana, and I saw Calanthe's fingernails lengthen, before she leaped at Thalia. She raked her claws across the surprised demigod, leaving four nasty cuts across her eyes, and they looked deep enough to reach her brain. Meanwhile, Zona rushed me, swiping her long fingernails at me chest, slashing straight through my hoodie, and into my heart. Back to the present, the sisters were still in a silent standoff, but my breathing hitched. Two killing blows in two moves. Both me and Thalia would be dead in less an a few seconds without my intervention. These sisters were powerful. I focused on Calanthe, because she meant to kill Thalia. Call me old fashioned, but I feel like stopping your girl from having her head sliced open is a gentlemanly task.

Calanthe's smile played her hand. I lunged as her fingernails lengthened. My sword came up as she raised her arm at lighting speed, but I managed to sever a long fleshy thing from her hand. Without having enough time to even register Calanthe backing away, screaming and clutching her hand, pain exploded in my back. I had forgotten to put my armour, and Zona's attack and slashed into my shoulder. Thalia had leaped away, her shield Aegis coming up as well, and she looked conflicted. I was stumbling away, clutching my shoulder. My armour had appeared, but the damage was done. On the other hand, Calanthe had recovered and was glaring viciously at Thalia. Zona leaped at me again, and Thalia chose. I couldn't raise my sword, but Zona's claws clanged off Aegis, then Thalia twisted, and Calanthe backed off whimpering, trying to hide from the terrifying sight of Medusa's head.

I thought back to my first two lessons with the Goddess of Wisdom. The first was learning to fight in my weak hand, and the other was switching grip in battle situations. So, remembering her tips, I flipped my sword into my left hand, and charged Zona. My sword flashed up, still very fast for someone's weak hand, and the evil sister had a hard time deflecting the strikes off her unnaturally durable nails. I just noticed, that Zona had a similar cut to her sister, but on her head. As she turned, I saw a cut so deep the skull was visible on the back of her head. It looked recently clotted, as if the blood had just stopped flowing, and, like Calanthe, it looked like she'd fallen on something heavy and sharp, like a rock.

Speaking of Calanthe, the woman had managed to push Thalia back against me, limiting both of our movements. These sisters were good. I yelled, and a golden explosion rocked the shop. The chairs and tables blew aside, but froze in mid-air. It looked like someone had paused an action movie. Unfortunately, the wicked witches of the…Chinatown, weren't magically frozen. They did, however, pause as they stared at me. A small amount of panic showed in Zona's eyes. She spoke in a 'trying not to sound scared' voice.

"That. You're the son of Kronos…Fadden?"

Calanthe cut in, looking equally scared.

"Fayden."

I grinned, spreading my arms, and letting my fingers spark gold.

"You've heard of me?! Amazing! So, you know what I do to monsters like you. Just give me Eros' bow."

At the mention of the bow, both women snarled, their dread gone.

"Never!" They said simultaneously, then lunged again.

I thrust my sword as Thalia spun her spear. Both attacks were dodged, but Thalia kept spinning her spear. The tip was crackling slightly. Inwardly grinning, I rushed both sisters, trying to distract them. I swung at Calanthe's head, and she ducked, slashing at my waist. My powers flared up and her arm froze. I swiped down, and finished off the job I started earlier. Her hand was severed from her arm, but at the odd twist, I cried out, the cut on my shoulder being pulled, and bleeding more extensively. Thalia's spear was now glowing slightly blue, and I saw her gauntlet, in the form of a leather wristband (She had cut off the finger sections, and it surprisingly still worked), also glow blue. I loved her intelligence. Sure, a lightning bolt is powerful, but that gauntlet was designed to absorb, amplify and rebound energy. So, a lightning bolt absorbed by the thing would probably burn this place to the ground.

I struggled up and attacked Zona. Calanthe was still whining on the ground, clutching her bloody stump. It proved they were technically human. They had blood, and felt pain without exploding into dust. However, nothing survived those wounds. They had been resurrected. Zona backed off lightly, and glanced at her sister. It was all I needed. I didn't attack, no. I needed the time to see into the future. Zona lunged at me, smacking my sword aside, then slashed at my neck. Then a diagonal attack across my chest, before finishing by diving forward further, spinning into a cut down the head.

The real Zona, did as predicted. She jumped forward, and I jumped back, slashing down. She twisted away, however, and proceeded to slash at my chest, a move that fell out of range. Now, in a rare occasion, she completed the combo exactly as I saw it, without change. She dived at me, claws out like a lion. A frozen chair was in the way, but she batted it out of the air, still lunging. I dropped to the floor as she rolled over me, quickly spinning, reversing my grip like Athena taught me, and stabbing Zona's calf. The woman screamed, and even I winced in sympathy. Thalia was now glowing, and she called over,

"We need to leave!"

I nodded, and suddenly, all the furniture dropped to the floor again, finishing their path as if they'd been thrown. A table smashed against a wall, the pieces clattering over Zona, along with a chair breaking over her head. A long groan sounded out. Unlucky Calanthe had been flattened by a table, the wooden fixture breaking on her back. Another table, smashed against the ceiling rained down on her head. I sprinted to the door and heard Thalia follow me. The moment I ran out onto the street, I looked up.

The sky above the Chinese restaurant had darkened, looking like night compared to the surrounding blue sky. I looked at Thalia, grinning in support. She was wreathed in sparks, and grunted slightly, lips upturned in a smile. The pedestrians that walked on the street had cried out in alarm as we left the store, and then every mortal made a wide arc around Thalia. I had no idea what they saw.

My girlfriend grunted again, and then yelled in anger. A lightning bolt sped down to the ground, and, being me, I saw its path, speeding down towards Thals, acting as a conduit. It struck her, and sped along her arm, into her leather armband, which suddenly glowed painfully, sparking. Everyone on Centre Street had run panicking. I guess a lightning bolt striking the pavement was a decent reason to panic. Suddenly able to speak again, Thalia looked at me and said,

"Ready?"

I grinned at her, and grabbed her hand.

"Do it. It's awesome to watch."

She shook her head in amusement, but aimed her arm at the building. Inside, I saw a shape slowly rising, before…

BOOM!

Pure, blue energy sped from Thalia's arm and smashed through the wood of the door. The building exploded into splinters, and a massive bloom of smoke sped over the street. When it cleared, I saw the remains. The classy little restaurant was now a pile of ash and burnt wood. A massive floor of ash layered the ground, maybe half a foot deep, and blowing around in the gentle wind. The tables and chairs, if not instantly incinerated, were now burning or charred black. I saw a small pile of melted metal glooping in the corner. The remnants of the kitchen. The only thing that remained was the restaurant name. A rectangular piece of wood, charred and burning could still be read as, 'Calanthe and Zona's'.

Said women were just noticeable. Two bulges showed poke out of the ash, buried. They were both, definitely, dead. In fact, the only thing untouched…was a small stand standing alone in the destruction, positioned so it was probably in the Manager's Office if that wasn't burning around it. It looked like one of those small shrines, where you might put a bowl of fragrances to pray. Instead, upon golden hooks, a bow hung from it.

But not just a bow. It was beautiful. About the normal length for a long bow, it was a pale blue and gold, both colours curling up the wood in unrecognisable patterns. Over the handle was a guard, which I'd seen before. It was to stop a sword or other weapon incapacitating the archer's bow hand. The string seemed to glisten gold, blue and pink at the same time. I seemed in a trance as I walked over, grasping the handle.

Instantly, a warm feeling filled me. Pure, unfiltered love filled through me. It was amazing, but at the same time, unbearably painful, but I didn't cry out. They cancelled each other out, leaving a dull sense that made me want to scream and gurgle in happiness at the same time. Thalia looked entranced as well, blushing as she walked over. Strangely, touching the bow had cleared my head, and I held it out of her arms reach. She let out a pained whine, like a hungry dog, and reached up for it.

I didn't even have time to laugh when a pink glow appeared in the ash beside us. Aphrodite suddenly appeared and opened her mouth. Then frowned, and looked down. Letting out a girly shriek, she disappeared, and appeared on the street, shaking her high-heeled shoes.

"Honestly. Ash," I heard her mutter. "It does not compliment these colours."

Then she looked up at us. Thalia had shaken her head upon the arrival of the goddess, and now looked embarrassed. Aphrodite beamed at us.

"Well done! I honestly didn't expect you to succeed…"

"Thanks," I muttered.

Aphrodite heard.

"Oh no! It wasn't you. I'm sure your amazing! In fact,"

She was staring at me, and biting her bottom lip. I rolled my eyes. A loud cough sounded out, and I saw a no longer embarrassed Thalia glaring…not daggers, but lightning charged spears at Aphrodite.

"He's taken," she spat. Then paused. "Your sluttiness."

She suddenly glared at Thalia, and my girlfriend started glowing pink, so I raised the bow.

"Woah! Eros' bow! Here!"

I jogged over to where the goddess stood, thrusting it out. Aphrodite looked disgruntled at having a weapon shoved in her face, but took it.

"Thank you."

Having completely forgotten Thalia (she had the attention span of a goldfish, as I had discovered beforehand), she gripped it, then it disappeared with a pink flash and a loud 'pop'. Then she turned back to us, Thalia having marched over, still scowling. Ignoring her, Aphrodite said to me,

"As reward…I'll deal with the mortals about to turn up…and send you back to camp."

I frowned.

"What mort…"

But in the distance, I suddenly heard the sound of a police siren. Now, for the effort it took us, this was a rubbish reward, but I really wasn't in the mood to deal with the American police, so nodded. Thalia said nothing, still glaring at the goddess. I felt reality twist, and my eyesight tinted pink, before I was standing outside the Big House. A second later, Thalia appeared, stumbled, and I caught her. She decided resting in my arms was comfy, and lay there, my arms already shaking.

"Really?"

She grinned, and leaned up, laughing. It was cut off instantly as she looked over my shoulder. I turned, and saw a panicked Annabeth run over from the Athena cabin. She had tears in her eyes, and looked exhausted.

"Annabeth?! What's…"

"Percy! He's…Grand Canyon…on shoe…ah!"

Thalia grabbed her friends' shoulder, gently rubbing them.

"Annabeth."

Thalia's firm but soft tone seemed to calm the stressed girl out. She took a deep breath and said,

"Hera gave me a vision. The answer to Percy's whereabouts is at the Grand Canyon. She said to look for the guy with one shoe."

I decided to ignore the obvious question about the pointless cryptic hint, and said,

"Well then. What are we waiting for?"

A relieved smile broke across Annabeth's face as she rushed out,

"You'll come? Both of you?"

I frowned as Thalia said,

"Yes!"

"Hang on, Thals."

She frowned at me, but I turned back to Annabeth.

"We're using the flying chariot, right?"

She nodded, and I turned back to Thalia, the unspoken question obvious. Even the name 'Flying chariot', had made her turn pale. But, being the brave, amazing, gorgeous, amazing, brave…*cough*

She muttered,

"I'll still go."

I shook my head.

"Thals. You don't have to. Me and Annabeth will be enough. And someone for the pegasi. You don't need to fly."

She opened her mouth to argue, but saw that I was giving her a free pass from heights, not saying she was weak, so nodded.

"Yeah, ok. You better come back in one piece."

I grinned, and kissed her cheek, saying,

"Is two acceptable?"

She grinned and hugged me. Whispering in my ear, she said,

"Three is the breaking point."

I laughed, then saw Annabeth. This short display of affection had almost made her start crying, obviously missing Percy. Thalia immediately backed off, saying,

"Well, see ya. Good luck!"

I waved her off, then said,

"So, Annabeth. When?"

She snapped her gaze to me and said,

"Now. I'll go get Butch, and we can go now."

I nodded, shifting my shoulder, before realising it was completely healed. At least Aphrodite had done that much. I prepared myself to fly over to the Grand Canyon, and hopefully find, then beat the crap out of, Percy Jackson.

This is the last chapter, and also happens to be my favourite, because it's completely original, and combines the perfect amount of Faylia and Fayden being a badass. However, all good things must end. This is the last chapter.

The sequel will be called 'Fayden Thatch in Heroes of Olympus'. I know, not particularly original, but look out for it on my account. I'll start right away, so it won't be a long wait. I might take a small break to just breathe before another month and half of writing, but I might not. Hope you enjoy.

[1]: In the movie The Last Samurai (Starring Tom Cruise), this happens. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise), is training with a professional samurai (It's set when the Samurai were still a thing). Algren is told to think of nothing. No mind. And then he proceeds to draw with this pro warrior, both hitting the other at the same time on the neck with their bokken. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's amazing and seriously underrated.