Happy Pride Month! If you would like to, please leave a review so I know what to keep doing right! Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Gryffindork923 - Thank you for your feedback! Unfortunately, because of the fact that the books do not belong to me, I can't really make the experts much longer. I will try to do that in this chapter, though, so tell me if it's better!

WiseGirlDivergence46 - Thank you for your feedback! How'd you like this chapter?

When the demigods started to wander into the throne room after a small breakfast, looking like they hadn't slept at all, Hestia frowned.. None of the other gods seemed to notice.

Once everyone had gathered in the throne room, Hera cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. She began to read.

"THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH" Hera readout.

"What is it with the vague and weird chapter titles?" Annabeth murmured rhetorically.

All the gods, Chiron, and Annabeth had stopped and paled.

Zeus looked pleased. Maybe this sea-brat wouldn't be the prophecies child.

Poseidon looked seasick, which is quite ironic. His son was destined to die. He knew that Percy was always going to die someday, of course, but at the age of twelve...

Chiron looked down at his hands, feeling grim. Another one of his students was going to die a painful death. He made a mental note to change this. If he had to, he would train him harder than any demigod before.

Hestia, stirring the coals in her hearth, looked horrified.

Annabeth looked at her boyfriend in barely contained horror. He had known he was going to die??

"How are you still alive?" Apollo breathed.

"I ask myself that question every day," Percy winked, but he only got a few dry chuckles from the Future demigods.

Hera steeled herself. This was a half-blood they were talking about. Why should she care if he lived or died? She read on.

"I was used to the occasional ... playing some kind of trick on me."

"No," Annabeth said sharply when the Stolls eye's lit up.

"The students acted as if they ... Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho."

"You are a psycho," Most demigods answered. Percy rolled his eyes at them.

"So is it almost everyone here," He responded deadpan, arm thrown around Annabeth.

"It got so I almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost."

"Grover?" Thalia guessed.

"Obviously," Luke smiled genuinely for the first time in a while, thinking back to his old friend.

"But Grover couldn't fool me. ... claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying."

"Right," Travis sighed dejectedly. "we'll have to schedule lessons then. I think we have an opening on Tuesday, five o'clock?"

Connor nodded firmly in agreement. "Goat boy is not getting out of this one."

"Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum."

"No, really?" Younger Annabeth mumbled sarcastically. She didn't understand the chapter title, nor did she understand how she was dating a child of Poseidon, both of which pissed her off.

"I didn't have much time to think about it ... leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat."

Poseidon shot Hades a death glare. Hades had the decency to look a little guilty about it.

Most demigods shuddered - while they had been through worse nightmares during the wars, they couldn't deny that was terrifying.

"The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. ... in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year."

Eyes turned to Zeus and Poseidon, who shrugged in unison.

Luke's hands curled into fists. They were punishing mortals for their own stupidity, Luke knew he was right to be against them, and plenty of others saw that. Soon enough, he would unravel this dumb hierarchy and demigods would be at the top.

Percy saw this, and made a mental note to talk to to the son of Hermes during their next brake.

"I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs."

"You're a child of Poseidon," Athena sneered. "it's implied."

Poseidon glared at her, all snarky remarks gone once they read the title, but Percy had no such qualms.

"I'm a demigod," Percy stressed. "it's implied. Hello, ADHD and dyslexia."

"I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. ... I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good."

Mr D looked up from his magazine. Several people were laughing.

"The headmaster sent my mom a ... Just fine. I was homesick."

Aphrodite cooed. She loved all types of love, not just romantic.

"I wanted to be with my mom in ... stepfather and his stupid poker parties.

Thalia and Nico frowned. "But Paul-"

"Not Paul." Percy cut them off, stone-faced.

Hera continued reading.

"And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. ... the smell of pine trees."

"Awww," Thalia grinned wickedly, making several demigods inch away from her.

"I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me."

Hestia gave Percy a bright smile. She was happy to see such a kind soul. Not many existed today. But something told Hestia that Percy had changed. He wasn't as pure anymore. The world was a hard place. She didn't like that thought.

"I'd miss Latin class, too - Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well."

Chiron sent Percy a sad smile, one he returned.

"As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for."

Athena was once again brought back to the question, how could her daughter stand dating someone like that? A slacker and a son of Poseidon.

"I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him."

"Good," Ares said approvingly. It was best to be prepared for any situation. And plus, this would provide more action and enjoyment for him.

Percy looked to Future-Annabeth surprised. Ares was approving of him.

Clarisse felt a sting of jealousy that she tried to push down. Why couldn't her father be like that with her, not some random of demigod?

"The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room."

Athena glared so fiercely at Percy, people were afraid he might catch on fire.

"Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards."

"I hate dyslexia." Beckendorf muttered. It was very annoying when trying to read a manual or instructions. That was one reason he was such a good builder, he usually had to do it himself.

Other demigods nodded along with Beckendorf.

"There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces."

"I know them now," Percy declared. "I've learnt that I learn better hands-on."

"Chiron and Charon," Annabeth mused. There was another bit of prophetic knowledge that Percy had thought. She didn't think Percy had ever come across Polydictes and Polydeuces before. Although, the story of Polydictes did remind her of what happened to Gabe with the original Perseus. And Pollux was the nickname for Polydeuces, like the sons of Dionysus, and Castor died in the modern day version too. Annabeth made a mental note to refresh her knowledge rare Greek myths.

"And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it."

"I can do that now too," Percy said brightly. "Lupa taught me a lot of it."

That caused the gods to freeze. Jason coughed.

"I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt."

"Oh, I know," Piper sympathised.

"How do you know what that feels like?" Beckendorf asked curiously.

Piper shook her head, glaring at Leo who was fiddling with a piece of wire. As if sensing Piper's gaze, he looked up. "What?"

"I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.

I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book."

"Determined," Hephaestus murmured.

"I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried."

Percy's face redened. Aphrodite cooed.

"I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir.""

Everybody but Percy and Annabeth leaned forward in interest.

"I froze.

I'm not usually an eavesdropper,"

"I call bullshit," Annabeth declared.

"but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult."

"Fair enough," Hermes sighed.

"I inched closer.

"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more.""

"You'd still be waiting," Annabeth sniggered, breaking the tension slightly. Percy pouted.

""But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-""

Athena mentally filed that information away. Okay, something needs to happen before the summer solstice of 2006. It's got to happen between now and then.

""Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"Sir, he saw her... ."

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."

"Sir, I-I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean.""

"You didn't fail!" Both Annabeths protested.

Luke remained silent. He would be lying if he said he didn't resent Grover a little bit for what happened to Thalia. He knew it wasn't his fault, she made her own decision, but Luke couldn't help but think of what-ifs from time-to-time. Really, it was the gods' fault. She should've never been in that position in the first place.

Zeus scowled. The satyr did fail. He was supposed to protect his daughter, and his daughter alone. He should've sacrificed himself for her, that way she would have got to camp, and the son of Poseidon would probably end up dying along the way.

""You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"

The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud."

"No! Rule one, never draw attention!" Leo shouted.

"Mr. Brunner went silent.

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall."

"At least you're following rules three and four," Travis exhaled.

"Which are?" Jason rubbed his face warily. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like this.

"Rule three: Evacuate the crime scene as quickly as possible. Rule four: Never leave evidence," Luke counted off.

Hermes beamed proudly at his children, but Luke's mood didn't improve like his brothers.

"A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow."

"Chiron!" Connor whined. "At least follow rule two, always stay in disguise. That's child play!"

"What were you doing out of your wheelchair?" Thalia asked curiously, ignoring the son of Hermes.

"I most likely needed to stretch my legs." Chiron answered calmly. His heart was pounding. What was happening on the summer solstice and how did it put his students in danger?

"I opened the nearest door and slipped inside."

"Good, rule five: remain hidden," Connor sighed.

"How many rules are there?" Clarisse demanded.

"Five," Percy, Travis, Connor, Luke, Hermes, and Apollo all answered automatically.

"And how would you know that?" Future-Annabeth questioned suspiciously.

Percy paled, realising his mistake. "N-no reason. Read on please!"

"A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me.""

Piper winced. "Poor satyrs have to take exams so many times just to help us half-bloods."

"Finally," Hermes grumbled. "someone appreciates satyrs."

"They have to take two times the exams of a normal human," Dionysus sighed.

"The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever."

"Good," Hermes said approvingly. "patience is key."

"Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night."

"So he can't lie but he can act," Artemis thought out loud.

""Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"

I didn't answer.

"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Just... tired."

I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed."

"That won't work," Athena said pompously.

"Yeah, but he didn't know Grover was a satyr then," Annabeth pointed out, defending her apparently future boyfriend. Athena frowned. Why wasn't her daughter on her side?

"Besides," Percy said conversationally. "I'm a child of Poseidon. Grover told me later that he usually finds my emotions too complicated to read."

"I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing. But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger."

"You're a demigod," Clarisse said slowly.

"The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,"

"Chiron!" Most of the demigods whined.

"That's torture!" Connor groaned.

"You of all people should know how bad that is," Katie protested.

"It was a test," Chiron replied easily.

"Yeah, obviously," Travis rolled his eyes. "It's an exam," He stressed.

Chiron chuckled. "No, I mean, it was a test of emotional strength. I wanted to see if he could take it. I do that every time I make a house call."

"Oh," Travis slumped down, cheeks flushed, looking quite embarrassed.

"my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's... it's for the best.""

Jason winced. "No offense, Chiron, but you're really not that great with words."

"His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips."

"Brat," Beckendorf grunted.

"I mumbled, "Okay, sir."

"I mean..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time.""

Luke flinched. Ouch. Poor kid. He looked at Percy appraisingly. He was always surprised when a demigod came out alright after so much childhood trauma.

"My eyes stung.

Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out."

"Oh," Chiron realised. "I'm sorry, child. That was not my-"

"It's fine Chiron," Percy interrupted. "I now know what you meant."

""Right," I said, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"

"Thanks," I blurted out. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.

"Percy-"

But I was already gone."

The other demigods gave Percy pitying looks but he ignored them. He didn't want to be pitied. He wanted to be respected. Big difference.

"On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities."

Piper and Rachel groaned.

"Hey!" Piper protested.

Percy sighed. "Uh.. Sorry?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "You better be," she threatened.

"I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies."

"Rude," Poseidon joked before Zeus or Hera could start spewing insults.

"They asked me what I'd be doing this summer"

"That's nice of them," Hestia smiled.

"and I told them I was going back to the city.

What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.

"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."

They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed."

"I stand corrected," Hestia muttered.

Thalia growled. He was her cousin, after all, no matter how thick headed.

"The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,"

"Stalker," Hazel mumbled.

"so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?""

Percy snickered to himself. "I probably gave him a heart-attack."

"Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam."

"No! Rule zero!" Hermes screeched.

"The most important rule!" Apollo moaned.

"Zero?!" Annabeth cried.

"Why zero?" Annabeth questioned.

"'Cos it's supposed to be a given," Percy grinned. Annabeth frowned at him. Hermes smirked, sitting up.

Poseidon narrowed his eyes. "Don't corrupt my son, Hermes."

Piper asked. "What's rule ten?"

"Never ever EVER confess!" Leo shouted, loud enough for Piper (who was sitting next to him) to regret asking as her ears almost rang.

"Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?""

"So, just about all of it." Ares snickered.

"He winced. "Look, Percy... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..."

"Grover-"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and..."

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."

His ears turned pink."

Annabeth snickered

"From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes,"

"Why is it like that?" Demeter asked Dionysus, who rolled his eyes.

"If I'm stuck in that place, I need small victories for my entertainment," He grunted.

Zeus frowned. Dionysus was supposed to build up the youth, not tear them down (though, Zeus could see why, what with the sea brat running around. Thank the gods there are no children of Hades).

"but I finally made out something like:

'Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009'

"What's Half-"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um... summer address."

My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy."

Future-Annabeth hit Percy over the head.

"Sorry!"

""Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."

He nodded. "Or... or if you need me."

"Why would I need you?""

"Percy!" Future-Annabeth scolded.

"I'm sorry alright! Jealousy's a bitch," Percy yelped.

"It came out harsher than I meant it to."

"Good," Hestia sighed. At least he regretted it.

"Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."

I stared at him.

All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me."

Hestia smiled at Percy.

"What an adorable bromance!" Aphrodite squealed.

Artemis stared at Percy. He was...different to any man she had come across. She vowed to keep a closer eye on him. Although, this was when he was only a child. Now he was a man. A lot can change in eight years.

"And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.

"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway."

"That can't be a coincidence," Hades mumbled.

"After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand."

"Monsters always have some form of business," Annabeth said casually.

"Like a donut shop! Or a stall in Bargain Mart! Or a Garden Emporium!" Percy said brightly, earning some chuckles and breaking the tension.

"The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen."

The gods, most of the demigods, and Chiron stared in horror at Percy, who was tugging with a loose string in his shirt to avoid looking at Annabeth. The rest of the demigods frowned in confusion.

"I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn."

Annabeth sucked in a breath sharply. Luke tried to get her to look at him but she just shook her head, staring at Hera as if to will her to read.

"All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses."

It slowly dawned on the rest of the demigods who these people were, and one-by-one, they all froze.

"The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me."

Poseidon started to chant in ancient Greek. Future-Annabeth was gripping Percy's hand so tight, her nail beginning to dig into his skin.

"I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?""

"That's not funny!" Surprisingly, it was Ares would snapped this.

""Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath."

Everyone was silent, shallow breathing echoing in the large throne room.

""We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."

"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there.""

"GET ON THE BUS!" Everyone screamed.

""Come on!'"

He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back."

"Idiot."

"Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn,"

Annabeth could swear her heart stopped at that. She looked ready to run out the room, but Percy was gripping her hand to keep her grounded.

He's fine, he's fine, he's fine...

"and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic."

Poseidon's chanting stopped and you could see the shear pain on his face.

"Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for - Sasquatch or Godzilla."

No one even smiled.

"At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life."

"Not a coincidence." Percy mumbled.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu."

Annabeth's shoulders tightened. She let out a broken sob.

"Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you not telling me?""

"Everything," Clarisse winced.

"He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost - older."

"Observant," Athena muttered.

"He said, "You saw her snip the cord."

"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal."

"Probably because of all the mythology we'd learnt," Percy explained.

""This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time.""

Luke looked down at the mention.

""What happened last time?"

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."

This seemed like a strange request to me,"

"Just promise it." Poseidon groaned.

"but I promised he could."

"Thank the gods."

""Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.

No answer.

"Grover - that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin."

"I wonder what he chose," Percy joked. No one laughed. "Oh come on! I'm right here! I'm obviously not dead and I'm not gonna die anytime soon!"

"Your cord got snipped!" Annabeth told him quietly. "You should know...what with..," She trailed off, glancing out at Beckendorf and Luke.

"It's not mine!" Percy insisted.

"Well the only way that would by if..." Annabeth stopped talking, searching Percy's face. "if their string was entwined with yours," She finished, relieved.

"That would work, if Percy had the power to determine someone's death..." Hazel nodded.

"Exactly! One or the other. And I'm damn lucky the fates chose the other!"

The demigods let out a breath of air they hadn't realised they had been holding - even Luke.

Artemis let out a sigh. "I can read next," She offered. Hera handed her the book, frowning as the goddess of the hunt read out the strange chapter title.

"3 - GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS"