Percy was told by Chiron that the Hellhound would stay in Percy's cabin as his cabin was empty. That was a little problematic as the door was a little tight for Mrs. O'Leary. Once onside, he picked a bed near the back of the cabin. As he laid down, Mrs. O'Leary ran up to him looking like she wanted to lay on the bed with him. He imagined her smaller as a random thought when she suddenly shrank.

Percy stayed up late talking to Mrs. O'Leary that night. He found out that he apparently ruled all Hellhounds for some reason that Mrs. O'Leary wouldn't tell him. That was why he could control her size and why she bowed to him.

Once all his questions were answered they fell asleep.

In Percy's dream, he found himself on a beach. The wind was going just barely under mach-1. Rain splattered against his face as he ran towards the ocean. Just on the edge where the water met the sand, there were two people in chitons fighting fist to fist.

The wind got faster as Percy got closer to the fighting people. As he neared he was able to make out voices. "GIVE IT BACK!" The one in the blue chiton screamed. "I DIDN'T FUCKING TAKE THE BOLT!" The one in green screamed back. They sounded like toddlers fighting over a toy.

"WOULD BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Percy screamed at the two in the same voice he used earlier at the creek while unfurling his wings. The two men stopped to look at the insignificant person to interrupt them. Until they saw the Heavenly light emitted from the wings of an angel. "YOU ARE GODS, PAGAN GODS SURE, BUT STILL GODS. SO FUCKING ACT LIKE IT!" Percy yelled. He didn't know how he knew they were gods, he just did.

Just as the brothers were about to ask Percy questions, the dream changed. He watched as he saw the older Perseus once again. This time they seemed to be in a gray wasteland with a bunch of pillars made of Dark Gray, almost Black, pillars with doors embedded in them. Ash was falling from the sky in an eerie twist of snow.

He watched as Perseus picked himself off from the floor. It seemed like this dream came right after the previous dream about Perseus ended. Perseus unfurled his wings. That made Percy get suspicious as the wings looked like a bigger version of his.

Perseus flew up and somehow, Percy was able to follow. He watched as Perseus found a very tall spire that had a seat that looked more like a throne on top. He watched as Perseus sat on the throne, crossing his legs and resting his arms on the armrest.

All of the doors opened at once and humanoid looking people with half of their faces looking like a zombie walked up to the bottom of the spire and kneeled. After millennia, the demons of Hell finally had a king.

Percy woke up due to someone knocking on the door. He got up without disturbing Mrs. O'Leary and walked over to the door. Grover was there. "Come on man, you're going to miss breakfast. Percy sighed as another week of training had just begun.

Over the course of this week, Percy got better at wielding a sword, no matter how unbalanced it was. He did manage to sneak a practice dummy into his cabin so he could train with Riptide, but he only did it at night.

Ancient Greek with Annabeth pretty much stayed the same except for the fact that she seemed to be pissed off anytime she saw him, which in his opinion, was perfectly fine. Anyone who judges people based on their parents was not someone he wanted to be friends with.

Everyone kept away from him like he had Covid-19 (which was another instance of Percy being able to see small things about the future.) They were talking about how he 'tamed' a Hellhound and how he was a cursed demi-god. He was fine with it. He figured that if his theory was true, he had been alone for most of his life. He was used to it. Grover stayed with him though. Percy learned that Grover wanted a searching license and to do that, he had to get a half-blood to camp. Apparently Percy didn't count as Grover was unconscious and Percy carried him to camp.

That was until he had another dream. It was of an Eagle and Horse fighting. Percy woke up before he got to see the winner.

He had once again woken up due to Grover knocking at his door. This time Grover was shaking, like he was nervous. "H-h-hey, Mr. D-d wants to s-s-ee-e yo-u." Grover stuttered out.

Percy followed Grover to the big house where Chiron and Dionysus were playing pinochle. As he made his way up the steps to the porch he felt Chiron and Dionysus' eyes on him.

"Sit down Percy." Chiron said with a smile.

"And don't expect us to bow to you just because Barnacle Beard is your father."

Percy sat down across from Chiron, next to Dionysus. Grover sat on his other side. He watched as the two immortals played pinochle. Dionysus lost and like a toddler summoned an elevator pass and disappeared with the smell of grapes as the only reminder that he was there.

"Mr. D was always a sore loser." Chiron said. "Back to the reason you are here."

"Which is?" Percy asked. "I need some more details."

"The details are hard. Have you noticed something wrong with the weather?"

"It seems like the sea and sky are fighting."

"Exactly. Zeus and Poseidon are fighting. Over something powerful. A lightning bolt. Zeus' master bolt to be precise."

Percy started to laugh, causing Chiron to narrow his eyes. "This is not funny. This isn't a cardboard cutout wrapped in tin-foil. This is a nuclear weapon shaped in a rod capped off with celestial bronze. Capable of wiping out entire cities."

"So why are they fighting over it. They shouldn't be unless... My dad stole it?"

"That is what he is being accused of." Chiron said.

"But he didn't, did he?"

"The other gods would agree, thievery isn't Poseidon's style, but Zeus isn't listening to reason."

"So where do I fit in in all of this?"

"Zeus thinks you stole it."

"Me?" Percy said. You could hear anger start to seep into his voice. With this anger, his usually dark eyes started to glow red, unknown to Percy.

"So, what do I have to do?" Percy asked.

"That I can't tell you right now. You have to go meet with the oracle. The oracle is in the attic. We'll talk when you're back. Assuming you're still sane."

Percy headed up to the attic of the big house. The attic smelled like a snake had iced and died up there. It had a bunch of monster trophies. It reminded him of the minotaur horn that he hung up in his cabin.

The worst thing up there probably had to be the dead woman. She was a shriveled up corpse that was wearing a bunch of clothes that looked like they came from the 70's. He walked up to the corpse and asked "Who stole Zeus' bolt?"

Green smoke started to fill the room until it resembled a man with wings. An angel. Suddenly a raspy voice sounded through the room.

You shall go west and faced the god who turned

You shall find what you seek and see it safely returned

You will be betrayed by the one you call a friend

A fail to save what matters most, in the end

Throughout the telling of the prophecy, Percy saw the angel fall from a cloud and then sit on a throne. A 2nd figure of smoke formed and started cuddling with the angel. When the prophecy was finished, the smoke disappeared.

Percy made his way downstairs back to the porch. He told Chiron the prophecy. "Well, looks like you got a quest." Chiron said.

"So, I know I go west, but where in the west?" Percy asked.

"Think about it, if the gods go to war, who would stand to gain?" Chiron countered.

"Ares?" Percy answered.

"I was gonna say Hades but that is good too." Chiron said thoughtfully. "Well, keep Ares in mind, but go to Hades, see if he knows anything."

"And where is Hades? The Underworld in general?"

"Where else? L.A. of course."

"The City of Angels. Isn't that ironic?" Percy muttered to himself. "So, do I have 'questmates'?"

"Yes, I believe Grover would like to go as this would be a 2nd chance after what happened. As for your 3rd member, I believe someone had already volunteered." Chiron said.

Annabeth appeared behind Chiron with her hat in her hands. "Well Seaweed Brain, I'm gonna have to keep you from screwing up."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Well, you're a stupid son of Poseidon, I'm a smart daughter of Athena. It's obvious."

"I'll take you along, but you better tone down that hubris." Percy said. His eyes glowing red again, showing that Percy was getting pissed off.

LINE BREAK

They met up on the hill by the tree that housed the almost dead daughter of Zeus. Chiron came up to them to send them off. Luke followed a couple of minutes afterward. He had a shoebox under his arm. Annabeth instantly started blushing.

"Hey, guys. Glad I caught up to you. Percy, these are flying shoes, they helped me with my quest, they could help you." Luke said, while opening the box and handing Percy the shoes.

"Thanks... man." Percy said. He didn't know why, but his instincts told him not to trust the shoes. Luke then excused himself by saying he had a class to teach. As soon as he was gone, Percy offered the shoes to Grover, who eagerly took them.

"Now Percy, I think you should take a weapon, no matter how unbalanced." Chiron said.

"Don't worry about it, I've got it covered." Percy said.

"What do you mean?" Chiron asked.

Percy brought out his pen and handed it to Chiron who studied it. The body of the pen was a kind of transparent red, with a black cap. "And how does this pen help you?" Chiron asked.

"Just uncap it." Percy said.

Chiron did. Riptide sprung into existence, the demonic blade that instantly felt heavy in Chiron's hand, to the point where the centaur dropped it. "How heavy is that?" He asked.

"What do you mean, it's light, and perfectly balanced." Percy said, confused while picking up the sword. And putting the cap back on, transforming the sword back into a put it in his pocket.

LINE BREAK

The drive to the bus station was filled with tension so thick, Percy could cut it with his demonic blade and it wouldn't do anything. As the trio waited for the bus, they played a game Hacky Sack with an apple... until Grover ate it. Luckily, the bus had arrived 30 seconds later.

For some reason they decided to sit in thievery back, like they were on a school trip and they wanted to feel cool. About halfway out of the city, 3 elderly ladies walked onto the bus. The one leading the trio saw Percy and paled slightly.

Once they had sat down, the other 2 ladies crossed legs in the aisle, sending a clear message, No one leaves. Annabeth grasped Percy's knee. "We have to go." She said.

As the 3 tried to leave at the next bus stop, the elderly ladies stopped them. Battle ensued, causing the rest of the mortals to scream and leave the bus. The bus driver was the first one off. Selfish bastard.

Percy slashed his sword at one of the ladies turned Furies, turning her to dust. He turned to see Annabeth piggybacking another one of them. She slit its throat with her knife when suddenly they smelt ozone. "Get out." She screamed. They ran out of the bus as lightning ran down from the sky, effectively blowing the bus up.

They ran into the first, with no goal in mind.

After about 2 hours of walking through dense forest, they started smelling burgers. It seemed to put Annabeth in a trance. Grover and Percy shared a look. Annabeth led the way to a run down looking warehouse. In neon red, Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium was displayed above the door. Stone statues could be seen all over the front lawn.

As they walked into the "emporium", Grover and Percy shared a look. It seemed like Annabeth was an entirely different person. In the back of the warehouse there was a snack bar. In the middle of it was a woman that at one point could've been called beautiful.

She treated them to burgers that tasted weird to Percy but he didn't say anything. Auntie Em led them back into the main part of the warehouse to take a picture. As she started to take off her shawl, Percy yelled out for them to close their eyes.

Sadly it was too late for him. He stared at her. But then they both realized that Percy was not turning to stone. Percy then got an idea. He looked into her eyes and asked "What do you desire?"

"To- to- to get rid of this unfair curse." Medusa said.

"Why were you cursed?" Percy asked.

"Why do you ask? You should 'know'?" She asked.

"Sure, but what is your side of the story?" He asked while sitting down.

"I was being raped by your father then cursed because he did it in Athena's temple." She said bitterly.

"Well. I know punishment and you didn't deserve that. I have an idea." Percy said. He scooted closer to Medusa and put his hands on her head and concentrated. White light started to emit from his hands. On the walls of the warehouse, you could see his shadow and it seemed to have wings.

After a couple of minutes the white light died down and a beautiful lady stood there. She walked over to a mirror in her office and squealed.

The trio walked out of the warehouse and back into the woods. The entire time, Annabeth looked pissed off the entire time. Percy however didn't care. They made their way to a clearing.

Night had fallen, and they still weren't out of New York.