Coach scowled. "Yeah, then finally we get a good war going with the Titans, and do they put me on the front lines? No! They send me as far away as possible—the Canadian frontier, can you believe it? Then after the war, they put me out to pasture. The Wilderness School. Bah! Like I'm too old to be helpful just because I like playing offense. All those flower-pickers on the Council—talking about nature. "

"I thought satyrs liked nature," Piper ventured.

"Shoot, I love nature," Hedge said. "Nature means big things killing and eating little things! And when you're a —you know—vertically challenged satyr like me, you get in good shape, you carry a big stick, and you don't take nothing from no one! That's nature. " Hedge snorted indignantly. "Flower-pickers. Anyway, I hope you got something vegetarian cooking, Valdez. I don't do flesh. "

"Yeah, Coach. Don't eat your cudgel. I got some tofu patties here. Piper's a vegetarian too. I'll throw them on in a second."

The smell of frying burgers filled the air. I usually loved the smell of cooking meat, but my head hurt like it needed to remember something that wasn't there.

I'm losing it, I thought. Maybe being turned to gold disagreed with me more than I thought.

My head wasn't the only thing rebelling. Lying by the fire, with my friends in a circle along side me, and Jason opposite me, my conscience felt like a hot bullet slowing working its way toward my heart. All the guilt I'd been holding in since I first realised Jason's identity, and the fact I was keeping who he was from him was about to kill me.

And moreover, I was worried about Percy. Even the girl with the bright hair, I barely knew her, yet I was rooting for her too.

For all I knew, they could be languishing in an under ground cave, while we were huddled around our miniature came fire.

Leo put tofu patties on the skillet. The wind kept raging. I pulled the blanket around me, and closed my eyes. Everything played before me.


*Two days before Leo, Piper and Jason arrived*

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

"Hold on!" she cried out. She brought the chariot lower down, and reached out her arm. As I was free falling downward, I grasped Annabeth's fingers. She attempted to pull me up, but I was gaining speed.

"Follow me down to the ground!" I screamed, wind whistling in my ears. My hair lashed out, whipping my face. I needed to get it cut.

Then I crashed into a billboard that said 'Have a Warm Winter in Arizona this Christmas!'. Yes. That's right. We were looking for Percy as far as the FREAKIN' Arizona desert. As I landed with a thud on some grassland, Annabeth swooped in.

"Sorry I was late." She said sheepishly. I rolled my eyes, and then gestured for her to help me up. As she did this, I heard a voice. I looked behind me, to see some sand unsettle. I turned, dismissing it for a cactus dryad, but there it was again.

'Alex...'

"Y-you go on," I told Annabeth uneasily. "I need to check something out."

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at me weirdly.

"Yeah."

Annabeth nodded, and walked away. I jogged over to the place where the sand had stirred.

"Hello Dirt face."

The face of the sleeping lady rose out of the ground. She lay there, so still, that it seemed someone had just carved her out of sand, but her voice rang in my head, loud and clear.

"Why, my little hero, it has been many months..."

"Many months of peace and quiet, more like," I spat out disgustedly.

"I understand that you have found a way to defeat, and have as a consequent action, defeated my son, Kronos. However, I hope that I will provide a greater challenge."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!" I cried hopelessly. But the face sunk back into the sand. As I scooped up a handful, and let each grain on it's own dribble back through my slightly parted fingers, I found something. A coin. No bigger than my thumb nail, but it radiated with power. On one side, a capital gamma was printed, and on the other side, was the message,

'Ακολουθήστε την καθοδήγησή μου, και θα είστε σίγουροι' (Follow my guidance, and you shall be spared).

That was the first time I had an idea of who the sleeping lady was.


I pulled the coin out, and played with it, turning it from one hand to the other. Suddenly, Piper stirred.

"We need to talk." She sat up, facing Jason. "I don't want to hide anything from you guys anymore. "

We looked at her with our mouths full of burger. Piper swallowed like she was regretting this.

"Three nights before the Grand Canyon trip," she said, "I had a dream vision—a giant, telling me my father had been taken hostage. He told me I had to cooperate, or my dad would be killed. "

The flames crackled.

Finally, I said, "Enceladus? You mentioned that name before. "

Coach Hedge whistled. "Big giant. Breathes fire. Not somebody I'd want barbecuing my daddy goat. "

Jason and I both gave him a shut up look. "Piper, go on. What happened next?"

"I—I tried to reach my dad, but all I got was his personal assistant, and she told me not to worry. "

"Jane?" Leo remembered. "Didn't Medea say something about controlling her?"

Piper nodded. "To get my dad back, I had to sabotage this quest. I didn't realize it would be with us. Then after we started the quest, Enceladus sent me another warning: He told me he wanted you three dead. He wants me to lead you to a mountain. I don't know exactly which one, but it's in the Bay Area—I could see the Golden Gate Bridge from the summit. I have to be there by noon on the solstice, tomorrow. An exchange. "

She didn't meet our eyes. She closed them and swallowed, like she expected us to ram her through.

Instead, Jason scooted next to her and put his arm around her again. "God, Piper. I'm so sorry. "

Leo nodded. "No kidding. You've been carrying this around for a week? Piper, we could help you. "

Piper glared at us. "Why don't you yell at me or something? I was ordered to kill you!"

"Aw, come on," Jason said. "You've saved all three of us on this quest. I'd put my life in your hands any day. "

"Same," I said. "Can I have a hug too?"

"You don't get it!" Piper said. "I've probably just killed my dad, telling you this. "

"I doubt it. " Coach Hedge belched. He was eating his tofu burger folded inside the paper plate, chewing it all like a taco. "Giant hasn't gotten what he wants yet, so he still needs your dad for leverage. He'll wait until the deadline passes, see if you show up. He wants you to divert the quest to this mountain, right?"

Piper nodded uncertainly.

"So that means Hera is being kept somewhere else," Hedge reasoned. "And she has to be saved by the same day. So you have to choose—rescue your dad, or rescue Hera. If you go after Hera, then Enceladus takes care of your dad. Besides, Enceladus would never let you go even if you cooperated. You're obviously one of the eight in the Great Prophecy. "

One of the eight. The words darkened the cave, bringing a chill in the air. We'd talked about it, but it wasn't a happy prospect.

"So we have no choice," she said miserably. "We have to save Hera, or the giant king gets unleashed. That's our quest. The world depends on it. And Enceladus seems to have ways of watching me. He isn't stupid. He'll know if we change course and go the wrong way. He'll kill my dad. "

"He's not going to kill your dad," Leo said. "We'll save him. "

"We don't have time!" Piper cried. "Besides, it's a trap. "

"We're your friends, beauty queen," Leo said. "We're not going to let your dad die. We just gotta figure out a plan. "

Coach Hedge grumbled. "Would help if we knew where this mountain was. Maybe Aeolus can tell you that. The Bay Area has a bad reputation for demigods. Old home of the Titans, Mount Othrys, sits over Mount Tam, where Atlas holds up the sky. Maxwell, kid, you saw that. Bloody hell, you lifted up the sky too, you and Jackson. You felt the power around it.I hope that's not the mountain you saw. "

Jason and Leo gave me appreciative looks, making me huddle down into my blankets, and tug my grey strand of hair.

However, Piper looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. This was inland."

Jason frowned at the fire, like he was trying to remember something.

"Bad reputation … that doesn't seem right. The Bay Area …"

"You think you've been there?" I asked.

"I …" He looked like he was almost on the edge of a breakthrough. Then the anguish came back into his eyes. "I don't know. Hedge, what happened to Mount Othrys?"


SpartanBoy-Glad to hear you thought the story was good! Yea, I know it was a little rushed, but I 've been trying to work on it, and I hope it's good now. Also, thanks for your suggestions, I really appreciate them!

Yours,

MilkandCheez