As always, thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. Sorry for the long delay.

Chapter 13: Annabeth Plays Super Spy

The next morning, we all got an early start. Qui-Gon went ahead to the arena before the rest of us. He said he had to settle some business, whatever that meant. He took Jar-Jar with him to keep the Gungan out of trouble. The rest of us helped Anakin get his pod ready to move to the arena. Since I still wasn't allowed near the pod, I was stuck watching the animals that would pull the racer to the arena. Anakin called them Eopies. They looked like a cross between a camel and an elephant with the coloring of a hairless baby mouse. I'm not sure what they ate, but their farts smelled worse than the breath of Laden, the Dragon of Eternally Bad Breath.

We managed to arrive at the arena without incident and entered a preparation area below the stadium seating that reminded me a little too much of the hypogeum beneath the Colosseum. As we approached Qui-Gon, the blue Muppet shouted at the Jedi, and then flew towards us. Watto spoke to Anakin in Huttese before flying away. Even though I didn't understand a word Watto had said, I knew by Anakin's frown that it wasn't flattering.

"What'd he mean by that?" Anakin asked Qui-Gon when the Jedi reached us.

"I took Annabeth's advice and used Watto's weakness for gambling to ask for more." He replied with his typical cryptic answer.

While the others wished Anakin luck or in Padme's case glared daggers at Qui-Gon for doing more gambling, Annabeth and I sized up the competition. All of the other pod racers were much bigger than Anakin's, and Anakin seemed to be the only human pilot. I noticed my buddy, the Chinese dragon-monkey, that sent those aliens to beat me up. I started to head over there, but Annabeth grabbed my arm and dragged me back over to Anakin. "No, you don't, Seaweed Brain. Now is not the time for confrontation."

"But he tried to have us beat up," I whined. "Plus, I wasn't going to do anything, just talk."

Annabeth ignored me and turned her attention towards Anakin. "Now, Ani remember your pod is built for speed, so you need to strategize accordingly. Most of these other racers are much larger than yours so don't let them ram you. With the modifications we made, your controls should be able to keep up with the extra thrust so there should be minimal lag time. Also, you remember the new start sequence?"

"How could I forget," Anakin huffed. "It's only two switches and a button now, so there should be no stalling."

I could tell Annabeth was starting to make the kid nervous. I stepped in before she could say anymore. "It's okay Ani. Annabeth wishes all her friends good luck by reminding them of strategies and nagging them about lots of little details. What she means to say is you got this, just trust your gut. I would wish you luck, but I know you don't need it." I gave him a wink.

"Thanks Percy!" He headed out towards the starting line with his pod while Padmé, Annabeth, and I found our designated, fancy seating lift.

The stadium was huge. I had only been to the MetLife stadium once when Paul took me to see a Giants game for some guy bonding time, but this looked like it held more spectators than even that NFL stadium. All the seats were full, and there was a two headed announcer guy introducing all the racers in Huttese and Basic. Then, a trumpet fanfare rang throughout the stadium. The announcer cried out, "Jabba the Hutt."

I looked up towards the large dome at the center of the stands and got my first look at a Hutt. Now, I've literally seen pigs fly, but Jabba was definitely in the top five weirdest beings I'd ever seen. The mobster was a giant upright slug with arms and too many chins to count. I saw another smaller slug behind him and assumed it must be the other one, Gardenia or something like that.

Annabeth gasped, "They are both here! And it looks like they brought most of their retinues."

"Umm, Annabeth why do you have that I'm-planning-something look again?" I asked slightly worried.

"I was just thinking that practically everyone in the city including both Jabba and Gardulla are here, with what looks like their best guards and advisors because they were trying to one-up each other. Now would be a good time to sneak into their town houses that Anakin mentioned last night at dinner. We could get some information on them and maybe plant some recording devices. If we are going to take down these Hutts one day, we need to know who their enemies and allies are and what they are planning. I need a lot more information before I can come up with a good offensive strategy against them"

"Umm not to point out the obvious, but we don't even know where these houses are. Plus, how are you going to get that information?" I asked.

"Daedalus 2.0 should be able to splice into their network with a combination of hacking methods from back home and some astromech technology I integrated into the computer months ago, back when I wanted easier access to architecture archives on Naboo. As for locating the houses, I've got that covered, or I guess you actually will."

I've always been amazed at how quickly Annabeth could come up with a plan. "I guess if you think we can pull off this super spy thing, Wise Girl, then we better get going before the race starts."

Annabeth muttered a quick, "We have to do something" to Shmi and Padmé. Jar-Jar was too busy covering his eyes to even notice our departure. However, Qui-Gon came just as we were leaving the seating lift.

"Do I even want to know where you two are heading off to?" the Jedi asked.

"Nope, probably not," I replied.

Qui-Gon just sighed and seemed to look weary, "Just try to come back in one piece."

"I always try my best when it comes to that!"

Annabeth and I sprinted to the nearest arena exit. We just got outside when I heard a beep and the roar of the crowd. As we ran back to the main street of the city, I asked Annabeth, "Now how exactly am I supposed to find these Hutt houses?" If I wasn't running, I'm sure I would have been laughing at the idea of a hut house, but even I knew how small our window was to pull this off without getting caught.

"All you need to do is find the place with the largest amount of water in the city," she replied barely winded.

It took me a moment to work out her genius. But, I realized on a desert planet like this, water would be a luxury. The Hutts were probably the wealthiest guys in the city, so they should have the most water. I stretched out my senses looking for water and felt practically two Olympic sized pools three blocks down right next to each other. I stopped Annabeth when we were a block away and pulled her down an alley. We both peered around the corner, and I pointed out two huge, tower-like structures that were literally across the road from each other. "I guess those are them. Each one has more water than the rest of the city combined."

Annabeth examined both buildings before reporting, "Okay, Jabba's is the larger one on the right. His is the one we need to infiltrate."

"How do you know that?"

She just shrugged, "Based on what we learned last night, Jabba is the new power in town so to speak. He built his town house after Gardulla, so he made sure to build it just a little bit bigger. Judging by his popularity at the race, Jabba is definitely the one to watch. He will probably have the whole planet under his control soon."

"Yeah sure, I totally knew that. What about the guards? It looks like there are two at each door front. Plus, I don't see a door knob or a control panel on that door."

"Hmm, we will have to act quickly. We probably have about 30 minutes for the race and award presentation before Jabba's people could start coming back. You need to figure out how to distract the guards. I'll do a quick invisible scan of the door with the laptop. When I come back, you will distract the guards, and I'll sneak in grab the data, place some of Leo's bugs, and come right back out."

I had one huge problem with that plan. "You are not going in alone."

"Now is not the time to be overprotective, Percy," Annabeth hissed. "I've got the invisibility cap."

"We don't even know if it will work on aliens, plus whatever other security Jabba has. I'm coming with you."

I guess she could tell I wasn't going to change my mind because she groaned, "Fine, but put your hoodie on from home and pull the hood all the way down. Hopefully, that will stop people from being able to see your face clearly. I'll do the same under the hat just in case because for once in your life, Seaweed Brain, you do make a good point. We need to make sure that Jabba knows nothing about us so that we have the element of surprise when we come back."

We both pulled our hoodies out from our demigod emergency packs that we brought with us just in case things went badly during the race. When Annabeth pulled out her cap, I muttered, "Why couldn't your mom have given you an invisibility cloak or something like that Harry Potter dude. Then we both could be invisible right now."

Annabeth just smiled, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and literally disappeared. I focused on the guards. All four seemed to be the same species as the big talkative alien that attacked me two nights ago. They were armed with some futuristic axe weapon. Both sets of sentries seemed bored and glared at their rivals across the street. Thinking back to my fight and my attacker's greedy eyes when he saw Riptide, I got an idea for our distraction.

Annabeth reappeared holding Daedalus 2.0 in tablet form. "The door seems to be managed by some gatekeeper droid, a TT-8L, that probably can see me even with my cap on when it's activated. Daedalus did a scan for weaknesses and our best option is to attach this to it." She pulled out a cable and plugged one end into the tablet. "Daedalus is constructing a virus that should be able to override the droid's protocol and open the door. We are relying on the fact that our computer viruses back home seem to use a different methodology, so hopefully it will slide right through the cyber defenses. What about the guards?"

"I think I have an idea," I replied with my trouble-maker smirk. Annabeth of course added her own ancient Greek twist to my distraction plan.

With 25 minutes to go, we started our plan. I watched from my hidden alley as Riptide suddenly appeared from thin air in the middle of the street. Its bronze blade thrusted halfway into the sandy road gleamed temptingly in the light of the two suns. A clear robotic voice said a phrase in Huttese that I knew must have been Daedalus 2.0's translation of 'For the strongest.'

The four guards jumped and then started speaking in Huttese. One of Gardulla's guards started walking towards Riptide. Jabba's guard made a weird growling noise and headed to Riptide as well. I guess he must have thought he was the strongest and not the other guard. Soon, all four of them were arguing heatedly. One started to reach for Riptide's hilt, and another punched him in the jaw. In less than two minutes an all-out brawl started between the guards.

I quickly snuck over to the front of Jabba's door. I knew Annabeth should be standing right next to the doorframe. I was about a yard away when a retractable orange glowing eye thing popped out of the door and spoke to me in Huttese. A few seconds later the droid-eye gave a shutter blinked twice with its metal lids and retracted as the door slid open. I glanced back and saw the guards still fighting and headed into the massive townhouse. I only wished I could see the looks on their faces when Riptide just vanished and returned to my pocket.

"Glad that worked," Annabeth said next to me in the modernized version of ancient Greek that demigods used. I mean we had to adapt and add a few words. It wasn't like the ancient Greeks had words for important 21st century demigod gear like duct tape or hamburgers. I seriously don't know how all those ancient heroes survived without hamburgers. We decided to use the strange language while we were in the house, just in case we were overheard.

"What now, Wise Girl?"

"We have less than 20 minutes to find the computer system for this house," she replied.

We walked up a steep incline and entered a huge round room with a large block on one side and a grate floor in the middle.

I saw a few black dots appear from nowhere and fly off. "Where those Leo's bugs?"

"Yep, this looked like an important room, so I figured I would drop a few."

Sometime while he was at Camp Half-Blood, Leo had designed bugs to overhear his opponents' strategies for capture the flag. Since it was Leo, his bugs were shaped and behaved like actual bugs. I guess he must have given some to Annabeth. We reached a staircase that spiral around the tower structure. "Up, or down?"

Annabeth thought for a second before responding, "Up."

We could hear wild cheering and cursing from an opening in the second floor, so we kept climbing. I guess the rest of Jabba's security were watching the race in there. On the third floor, we just found lots of empty rooms that looked like living quarters. Annabeth released another bug. On the fourth floor, I sensed lots of water. Sure enough, there was a huge tank filled with water and lots of smaller amphibian creatures. "This must be Jabba's food source," Annabeth whispered quietly. Gross, some of the creatures looked pretty slimy. But, then again so did the giant slug, himself.

On the fifth floor, we struck gold. Annabeth made quick work with the locked door and control panel. All I saw were things randomly disappearing and reappearing and wires moving as she grabbed and let go of certain parts. I stopped questioning how Annabeth knew to do things after she managed to land a helicopter with no previous experience. Sometimes I think Annabeth didn't even know herself, and the trade skill just popped up in her head. Inside was a wall of computer consoles, keypads, and monitors.

"We're lucky," Annabeth said. "I think Jabba must be staying at his suite in the arena. Otherwise, there would be a lot more security even with the race." She kept her Yankee's cap on just in case and got to work downloading data and doing computery stuff. "Okay, I've got as much as I could and left a spy virus in their network. It's really good Daedalus equipped this laptop with his customized computer espionage programming. On my own, it would have taken me months at least to develop the malware. Everything is packed up now. Let's get out of here."

We headed back down the stairs as quickly as we could. I heard lots of grumbling and coins clanking from the second floor. The race must be over. I wanted to poke my head in to see if Anakin won, but I felt a tug on my arm from Annabeth. We made it back to the big round room, and I had the very dangerous thought that we might actually pull off this whole spy mission without a problem. That's exactly when everything went wrong.

The two guards from the front door limped in from the entrance hall looking bloody and angry. They saw me immediately and snarled. One said something in Huttese, probably "Hey! You're not supposed to be in here." The other pressed a button on the wall that caused a gate to fall down, blocking the way out, and a loud alarm went off. I heard shouting from upstairs and figured we would have even more company soon.

Both guards approached me holding out their axe weapons and stepping on the grate in the floor. My hand was already in my pocket reaching for Riptide on instinct before I remembered it wouldn't be able to do much. I doubted that these guys were Force-sensitives. Before I could go for my hidden blaster, one and then the other crumbled over. I guess Annabeth must have knocked them out with her sword hilt or something. I ran to the flashing button by the gate and pressed it, but nothing happened. "Any ideas?"

"Only to hope this lever is a secret passage," Annabeth replied from across the room. The lever by the raised platform moved to the down position, and the metal grate in the middle of the floor opened. The two unconscious guards fell through. The footsteps from the stairs were getting closer. "Jump in. It seems like a short drop. I'll push the lever up and slide in before the grate closes." Well, there's no way this hole in the ground could be worse than the last one I fell through, so I jumped. I landed in a soft sand pit from about a ten-foot drop, so luckily, I didn't break anything. The grate above me started to close. I heard a soft thump as an invisible Annabeth landed next to me.

"Percy, we each need to grab one of the guards and drag them to the sides," Annabeth whispered. "Hopefully, they won't look down here too closely." I pressed myself against the back of a stone wall and foolishly hoped for some luck. Angry voices shouted above. More guards stepped over the grate. A few looked down, but they didn't look close enough to see us. Someone must have shut off the alarm, and soon the voices faded as well.

"That was a close one," Annabeth said. "Now let's figure out how to get out of here." I'm not sure what tipped me off. Maybe, it was the way the sand moved slightly around me as I walked or this Force thing, but my senses screamed danger. I heard Annabeth gasp next to me. Her demigod senses were probably tingling as well. I jumped towards her knocking her over and rolled us several yards away.

The sand exploded where we were standing only seconds before. A seven-foot tall, yellow-brown, spider-thing leapt to the surface. Annabeth made a yipping noise and froze. Her Yankee's cap must have fallen off during my tackle because I could see her now. As I struggled to my feet in the thick sand, the creature used its front legs to latch onto one of the unconscious guards. It lowered its sucker mouth until the guard's head was inside of it. There was a loud squelch and then a slurping noise like when you're trying to get the last bit of your soda with a straw.

I was as paralyzed as Annabeth for a few seconds as I slowly realized what the spider was doing. If you've never seen instant mummification as a body is drained of all fluids, well then lucky for you. You can continue to use it in your future Never Have I Ever games when it's your turn to say something. I, however, will have to come up with a new one.

I could barely keep my breakfast down. My stomach twisted as the guard became a dry, shriveled up husk right before my eyes. Some dark part of me recognized that with my growing control over my powers I could potentially do exactly what the spider was doing. I'm not going to lie, that freaked me out. When the spider moved away, the now unrecognizable body looked worse than our old oracle. The creature swung its head towards us as if to make sure we hadn't moved. Then it started working on the other guard. That got me moving again. I drew Riptide, ready to charge, but Annabeth was as still as one of Medusa's statues.

Now, Annabeth was one of the bravest people I know, but unfortunately, spiders were sort of her kryptonite. Her thoughts had probably flashed back to another giant spider, and some very unpleasant memories. I knew I had to get her out of shock mode if we were going to survive. I shook her shoulders gently. "Come on Wise Girl, I need you to help me figure out how to kill this thing. It's just one more monster. We can take it together. You are not alone this time." Just for good measure I gave her a quick kiss. That seemed to jog her back.

She shook her head like she could shake out the bad memories. "It's fast so we should do a two-pronged attack. Watch out for its front legs. Try to go for its underside or the legs because that back armor looks pretty thick. Use your blaster as a last resort. We don't want to risk drawing any more attention from the guards." She rattled all this off in a detached manner as she pulled out her drakon-bone sword from her bag. "Unfortunately," she winced, "we are too late for the guards. It probably went after them first because they were unconscious."

I glanced back towards the second guard and couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt. Given the opportunity, I knew the guards probably would have happily pushed Annabeth and I down here in a heart-beat for Count Spidula to suck dry. But, it just felt wrong for them to die without even a chance to defend themselves. My pity party for my conscious and the guards ended abruptly when the spider lashed out at us.

Annabeth dove to the side. I raised Riptide and blocked its two front legs, stopping them from wrapping around me. With the amount of force the spider used, it felt like blocking two broadswords at the same time. I was a little surprised that Riptide even stopped the blow at all since it just passed through normal humans, maybe animals were different?

Annabeth tried to sneak under the spider from the other side to reach its soft belly, but the spider quickly turned and lashed out another leg that Annabeth dodged. While it was distracted, I swung Riptide as hard as I could at the nearest leg joint. It cut through the exoskeleton causing the spider to squeal in pain. Unfortunately, I misjudged the force needed to cut the leg, and the extra momentum of the swing left me unbalanced and my back vulnerable. Before I could fully complete the turn, one of the spider's razor-sharp front legs cut into my back. The spider lunged at me with its sucker mouth, but this was the opportunity Annabeth needed to slash its underside. It let out another awful screech and then collapsed in on itself making a spider ball and rolling towards Annabeth. She jumped out of the way, and the vampire spider buried itself deep in the sand pit.

"Are you okay? How bad are you hurt?" Annabeth asked as she rushed towards me.

"Eh, I've had worse," I replied with a shrug that stretched the gash on my back and made me wince slightly.

She frowned, "That's not a very reassuring statement coming from you, Seaweed Brain. Let me take a look." I turned around, so she could see the cut. "It doesn't look too bad. Hopefully some ambrosia will stop most of the bleeding, but try not to do anything to open it back up."

She rummaged through her pack and handed me an ambrosia square. I slowly ate the godly food and groaned as a wave of homesickness crashed into me. The ambrosia tasted like my mom's chocolate chip cookies. I knew we needed to save our ambrosia and nectar, and if I had another piece, I might literally explode. But, that still didn't stop me from wanting more just for another taste of home.

Annabeth looked at me with concern, "Better?" I just nodded, too wrapped up in memories to speak. The cut on my back did hurt less. It had probably scabbed over though not completely healed. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze. That simple gesture was a reminder that I wasn't alone and at the same time a promise that we would get back someday. "I know it might hurt, but I need you to take off your clothes," Annabeth stated.

"I'm sure most boyfriends would love to hear their girlfriends say that, but I really don't think now is a good time," I said. "You know with the whole Count Spidula beneath us and being stuck in a mobster's monster pit."

Annabeth blushed, "I didn't mean it like that. But, I would like you to change clothes with one of the guards. That way, when they check down here, Jabba's men will find a completely unrecognizable corpse in the same clothes as the person who broke in. No doubt they will check the security cameras now that they suspect a break in and see you. They will probably think that the thief put up a good fight and injured the spider, but in the end the spider managed to kill him. With a body as our scapegoat, Jabba has no reason to go looking for you. At the very least it will confuse them for awhile."

I had to admit, it was a pretty good plan. "Are there any cameras down here? And what about the other guard?"

"I haven't seen any cameras down here though I noticed several in the main room and upper areas, but I'll double check as you change. As for the guard, we will just have to take him with us and bury him somewhere," Annabeth said grimly.

I turned to one of the dead guards. "Sorry dude, but this is going to really suck for both of us."

After I changed into the guard's very stinky armor, we dragged the other guard to a large metal barred window that separated us from outside. In that moment, I realized just how cruel Jabba truly was. I could imagine the giant slug sitting up there watching his victims try to get through this window before the spider pounced on them, giving them just a little bit of hope, so they would fight harder before they died. Riptide made quick work of the steal-like bars, and Annabeth and I slipped through to freedom in an alley behind the main entrance, pulling the mummified guard with us.

Annabeth whipped out some kind of pen-thing and quickly welded the bars back. "Umm, where did you get a mini-welding torch?" I asked her.

She just shrugged, "Anakin had an extra one, figured it might come in handy." To avoid everyone seeing us walk down the street carrying a mummy, we decided that Annabeth would hide the guard since she and any object she was holding could turn invisible. It was morbid, but the body was an object now and no longer a person. I still didn't like the idea of splitting up, but it's not like I could follow her when I couldn't see her. Meanwhile, I would try to find the others, and we would meet back at the Skywalker's apartment.

As I headed back towards the arena, I caught snatches of conversation from spectators of the race.

"I still can't believe it!"

". . .a human boy setting the track record."

"That slave trounced Sebulba in the final lap!"

I couldn't help it. I fist pumped the air and let out a whoop. He did it! Though I wish I could have seen him trounce Sebulba. I found our group minus Qui-Gon in the hypogeum all gathered around Anakin. "Congratulations man!" I said, "You are all anyone's talking about on the streets. That must have been some impressive racing! Sorry Annabeth and I had to miss it." I held out my hand for a high-five, but Anakin just looked confused. "Oh, where I'm from people slap hands when someone's done something really cool."

Anakin got a big grin on his face and slapped my hand, "Like this?"

"Yep!"

Then the boy frowned, "Percy, why are wearing the armor of a Hutt guard and where did you and Annabeth go during the race?" He looked around, "Where is Annabeth?"

"She's finishing up something." I tried not to think about the mummified corpse my girlfriend had to bury by herself. Life was so much easier when your opponents just turned into dust when you defeated them. "As for where we went, well that's a bit of a long story that I'll tell you when we get back to your place." The last thing I needed was someone over-hearing that I super spied myself into one of Jabba's residencies.

When Qui-Gon came back, he informed us that Watto would hold his end of the bargain, so we would get the parts. "I am glad to see you made it back, Percy," the old Jedi said with a small smile. "Annabeth?"

"She's going to meet us back at the Skywalker's place."

"Very well then, let us get back to the Skywalker's residence, so we can pack up our things and get these parts over to the ship," Qui-Gon instructed.

By the time we reached Anakin and Shmi's apartment, Annabeth was waiting for us. She congratulated Anakin, and once we were safely in the apartment Annabeth and I explained where we went.

"You infiltrated Jabba's townhouse on Mos Espa Way!" Anakin exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

Annabeth gave him a small smile. "I doubt we stole any really important information though since it was pretty easy, but even the tiniest detail could be useful."

Qui-Gon, of course, was less than pleased. He lectured us about being reckless, risking our safety, and endangering the mission. Padmé, Jar-Jar, and Blue the droid went with Qui-Gon to get the parts and deliver them to the ship while Annabeth and I were put on house arrest until the ship was ready. "I'm not taking any chances," Qui-Gon said. "If Jabba's forces spot you, I want to be ready to make a quick getaway." He rushed out before I could point out that Jabba didn't even know it was us that had broken into his place. I mean he most likely thought it was the dead guy with my hoody.

Anakin ran off to meet with some friends, so I changed out of the smelly dead guard's clothes and helped Annabeth clean up the mess of five extra people living in the Skywalker's home. Shmi worked on some electronic stuff for Watto in an alcove. After working in relative silence, Annabeth used her smooth speaking skills to bring up a delicate subject. "Shmi, Percy and I have a good bit of money from our home world that we think could be very valuable on Tatooine. We've been saving it because I thought that we could use it to get back to our original home somehow. But now, it looks like we aren't going home soon no matter how much money we have." She glanced at me, and I nodded in encouragement. "If things went badly today, we would have used it to get our group off the planet, but since Anakin won, I would like to use it instead to help you and Anakin out."

"Thank you for the offer, but I cannot accept your money," Shmi replied softly.

"Look, I know I promised to free the slaves here, but as Annabeth said that could take years." I tried to make her understand that we were offering more than just some charity donation. "I would feel a lot better if you guys were freed as soon as possible, especially now that Anakin has drawn so much attention to himself by winning the race. I've only been here for three days, but even I can tell that attention is the last thing you want on a planet like this between the Hutts and street thugs."

Shmi frowned as she considered my words. "You would use your own money to free us?"

I winced as Annabeth replied, "Unfortunately, with out funds alone, I think we can only free one of you, though maybe if Watto is really desperate and with the extra money if you sold the pod. . ." She trailed off as she considered the possibility.

"Then you must free Anakin," Shmi said firmly. "He deserves so much more than the life of a slave. If you take him with you, he would be out of Hutt territory. He could have a future."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I had personally experienced the pain of a son forced to leave his mother behind. I wished I could prevent Anakin from sharing that particular experience.

"Yes, if you can only free one of us, then it must be him."

A few hours after everyone had left, Anakin excitedly rushed into the apartment. "Mom! Look at all the money we got from selling the pod!"

"Oh my goodness Ani, that's great!" Shmi exclaimed and gave him a long hug, like she was already counting down the number of times she would be able to hug her son.

"And he has been freed," Qui-Gon added.

"What?" Anakin and I asked at the same time. The boy looked so shocked and hopeful while I was just confused. Annabeth and I hadn't freed him yet, and as far as I knew, Qui-Gon didn't know that we were. How was he freed?

"You are no longer a slave," Qui-Gon told the boy.

Annabeth's eyes lit up with understanding. "So that was the extra gamble you made this morning before the race!"

Qui-Gon nodded. Anakin turned to his mom, "Can you believe that?"

"Now you are free, Ani," Shmi replied with a smile. "You can make your dreams come true." She focused on Qui-Gon, "Will you take him with you? Is he to become a Jedi?"

"Yes," the Jedi replied. "Our meeting was no accident. I believe the Force has led me to Anakin. It is his destiny to become a Jedi."

"Wait, does Anakin even want to be a Jedi?" I had a sinking feeling in my gut as the beginning of a suspicion formed. Qui-Gon might have only freed Anakin because he believed Ani was this 'Chosen One' of the prophecy with his super high amount of midi-chlorines or whatever those microbes were called. This reminded me too much of when Poseidon initially claimed me only because he needed me to clear his name. Sure, my dad and I had developed a better relationship after that. But, sometimes I still wondered where I would be if my dad hadn't needed me six years ago. Would he have just continued to ignore me?

"Yes!" Anakin said immediately, "It's what I dreamed of doing."

I frowned at that. So far, I couldn't say I was too impressed with this Jedi Order. They seemed far too strict, traditional, and closed-minded just based on what I've learned from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan though those laser swords were really cool.

"Anakin, becoming a Jedi will be challenging, and even after the training, it's a hard life," Qui-Gon warned. At least the man was honest about it and not just trying to convince the kid to join up with the space police cult just to be their 'Chosen One.'

"I know I will have to work hard, but it's what I always wanted," Anakin stated a little wistfully.

"And no matter what happens Ani," I added, "you and your mom are always welcome to stay with Annabeth and I on Naboo. I just want to make sure you know you have a choice. Something I never really had." No one had asked me, 'hey Percy, you want to be a demigod and risk your life like all the time?'

"Mom, are you free too?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon frowned, "Unfortunately, I was unable to free your mother as well. I offered Watto the money from selling the pod, but he would have none of it and asked for twice as much."

Anakin looked devastated. "Mom, I can't just leave you here."

"Do you still want to go?" Shmi asked her son.

"Yes, but–"

"Then go pack your things. I'm sure I will be fine, and everything will work out." Mother and son shared another hug before Anakin ran off to his room.

Shmi looked at Annabeth and I with a desperate question in her eyes. I locked eyes with Annabeth. She nodded and said, "Bring the money from the pod, I have a feeling we might need it."

"Where are you planning on going now?" Qui-Gon asked sternly, "We need to leave immediately."

Annabeth looked quickly in the direction Anakin had gone, "We just really need to show Shmi something she should buy with this money." I guess Annabeth didn't want to get Anakin's hopes up just yet.

"I told you, Watto will not free her," Qui-Gon whispered back.

"He won't let you free her," Annabeth explained. "He feels like he has lost twice to you and probably blames you for knowing Anakin would win somehow. His pride won't let you take anything else from him. But, we luckily aren't you and might be able to provide some additional motivation."

Qui-Gon sighed, "Very well. The ship should be ready by now. That way if you do run into trouble with the Hutts, we should be able to make a quick getaway. Just promise me you will go straight to the shop and straight back. Do not do anything that will draw attention to yourselves, and if Watto refuses, you will not engage him." He said that last part looking directly at me.

"Hey, I don't cause all the trouble around here. The Mission Impossible stuff was all her idea. But yes, I promise to not do anything too stupid."

As we got close to the Muppet's shop, Annabeth turned to me, but before she could tell me anything I said, "Leave the talking to you, Wise Girl, got it."

"Maybe there's hope for that seaweed brain after all," she replied and with that Shmi, Annabeth, and I entered the shop to barter for freedom.

Part of me hated the idea of giving a slave owner like Watto any money. But Annabeth had convinced me the day before that it was the best and quickest way to free Shmi and Ani. "What do you want now," Watto barked out. "Oh, you are not that annoying, cheating, outlander." He studied us more closely before adding, "But, you are his friends. I want nothing to do with you."

"Look, I know Qui-Gon can seem pretty smug, with that all knowing look of his," Annabeth sympathized, "But as you shrewdly noticed we are not Qui-Gon, so maybe you should at least here us out. It could be quite profitable for you." Annabeth pulled out the money from the pod, and Watto perked up.

"Hmm, you say you have money?" The blue Muppet asked.

"Yes, for Shmi." Annabeth gave the woman an apologetic look at having to barter for her. Shmi just nodded in understanding.

The Muppet frowned, "The foolish outlander thinks he can fool me. He knew I would not deal with him, so he sent you. I'll tell you the same thing, 700 peggats, and don't you dare bring up Republic credits."

Annabeth frowned, "That is a ridiculous amount of money. Here is 350 peggats." She put the money on the counter. "But, we are willing to offer more if you can convince us, though this should be more than enough to pay off your debts. Would you really let some grudge against Qui-Gon stop you from making money? I thought Toydarians were thriftier and cleverer than that."

"More you say?" I could see the greedy Muppet rubbing his hands together in my mind. "But, I need Shmi. She is a good worker and runs the shop well. After that race, I've lost everything. The shop is all I have left."

Annabeth reached into her bag. She pulled out three drachmas and placed them on the counter. I swear she purposely maneuvered the coins to maximize their sparkle in the dim light of the shop. "This is the purest gold you will find. By my estimate one of these coins is the equivalent to 37 peggats. Over 460 peggats should be more than enough to handle your debts from the race and fix up this shop some."

The Muppet's eyes widened at the drachmas. He picked one up and bit it. Guess even in another universe, people still bite gold. He examined the bite mark he made in the soft metal. "Ahh, this is good stuff. Where did you get it? I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for this?"

"Where we got it is not relevant to this exchange, but just so you don't get suspicious, it is from my home planet far from here." Annabeth replied. "Now do we have a deal?"

Watto's eyes narrowed as he examined the pile of money. Then he shook his head, "No, finding good help to replace Shmi will cost too much and since I've lost the boy I need people that know how to work with the parts and machines."

Annabeth just sighed and pulled out two more drachmas. She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "This is it. By my math, that puts us at 535 peggats. You could probably buy your own ship and get off this planet for that much. It is definitely enough to hire good help, and by the way droids are probably way cheaper than slaves."

The Muppet hesitated and looked at Shmi. "Well, if it's still not enough, I guess that's too bad," Annabeth stated as she started reaching for the pile of money to dump back in her bag. "We are leaving today, and I wouldn't recommend trying to get any of your friends to rob us. Sebulba's friends tried to teach us a lesson a few nights ago. It didn't turn out too well for them."

"Wait!" Watto cried out frantically before Annabeth could touch the money. "I'll take it. It's a deal. Shmi, you are free to go." He waved his hand out the door.

Annabeth held out her hand, "And the controller for the slave transmitter?"

Watto huffed and unbuckled a slim rod-thing from one of his belts and handed it to Annabeth.

"Great bartering, Wise Girl!" I congratulated Annabeth as soon as we were far enough away from the shop. "We even have six drachmas left, just in case, and that bluff at the end was incredible."

She smiled, "It's all about strategy and reading people, knowing their weakness."

Shmi looked like she was in a daze. Finally, she looked at us and asked, "I am really free?"

"Yes," Annabeth replied. "I'm so sorry we had to do that in front of you, but I thought having you there might help some. All things considered, Watto doesn't seem like too bad of a guy and maybe even feels a little guilty at owning slaves since he didn't actually buy you but won a bet against Gardulla. She's the one that decided to pay him in slaves. I think the fact that he never purchased anymore could support that theory." She wrinkled her brow, "Or he could just be really lazy or too broke to afford more."

Shmi just nodded, "It's just so hard to believe after almost twenty-five years."

"Oh, by the way, this is officially yours." Annabeth handed Shmi the rod controller thing. The older woman took it reverently and placed it in her pocket. "If you decide to come with us, I'm sure we can get it removed once we get on one of the Core or Mid Rim planets. Though I'm hoping you will let me examine the transmitter and controller one day. If I could figure out a way to block the signal between the two or maybe deactivate the transmitter, it would really help with freeing other slaves."

"Of course," Shmi replied. Then she stopped suddenly and hugged Annabeth and then me. "Thank you so much, the both of you. I had given up hope that this day would ever come."

To say Anakin was happy that his mother was free as well, would be an understatement. There were lots of hugs all around and tears of happiness from Shmi. Qui-Gon was impressed, "I have to admit that I did not think Watto would agree to free Shmi at any price we could afford."

"Wise Girl, here, is a pretty good negotiator," I informed him.

"You're coming with us in the spaceship, right mom?" Anakin asked.

We all looked to Qui-Gon, and he nodded. "Of course, she is welcomed to come with us."

"Yippee!"

"But," Qui-Gon added, "if you truly wish to be a Jedi, perhaps your mother should settle on Naboo with Percy and Annabeth or another planet if she wishes. It would probably be best if she did not remain on Coruscant where the Jedi Temple is."

"But, why?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon seemed to almost space out for a minute. When his eyes focused again, he looked worried. "That, my young friend, is an explanation I will have to give later."

I groaned quietly and muttered, "I hate it when he says that."

Qui-Gon must have heard my comment because he looked at me and the corners of his mouth curled up in a small smile despite his worry. The smile quickly vanished though when he said, "We must leave immediately. I fear we may have stayed too long."

Shmi quickly threw somethings in a bag, deciding to come with us even if she would have to live on a separate planet from her son. Starting over on some unknown planet would be better than here. Anyplace was better than here, except maybe for Tartarus. We rushed out of the door and started the long trek back to the ship. Neither Anakin nor Shmi looked back once.

Author's Note: Yes, I forced Percy and Annabeth into a convenient side adventure just so I didn't have to write about a race that we all know what happens in. Next chapter should be up in the next few days.