The fact that they couldn't avoid the Shrimpzilla attack really ticked Percy off. Really, the fact that they couldn't avoid anything they should have been able to avoid.

Leo did not fire on the Romans, but still there were problems with the ship causing them to have to stop to repair the ship. Leo and Hazel ran into Nemesis and Narcissus still. Okay. Percy could roll with that. Nothing too bad. At least Nico's threat held good with the eidolons and Percy hadn't been forced to fight Jason to the death.

Instead, they reached Atlanta and still had to deal with Keto and Phorcys. Plus, Frank decided to swipe the Chinese Handcuff and upon seeing them Annabeth just about cut Frank's head off much to the alarm of everyone on the Argo II (though, Coach Hedge might have been please, Percy thought privately). The only reason they ended up going was because some people couldn't accept that the map they needed was in Charleston. Yes, he was looking at Jason and Frank. But he was hoping to escape before Phorcys captured them. No such luck.

"I told you it was in Charleston!" Percy gasped for breath as he, Frank, and Coach Hedge made it back to the Argo II. "I told you guys, but no!"

Jason and Frank winced and rubbed their necks. "Sorry, Percy."

"Sorry, Percy," Percy mimicked. He grumbled. "This whole thing sucks!"

Okay, so it wasn't really that bad, Percy had to admit. Things like the nymphaeum or Tartarus were bad things Percy really wanted to avoid.

Much to Annabeth's and probably Piper's relief, the two girls and Hazel did not have to visit Aphrodite. Instead, Annabeth went alone to Fort Sumter to retrieve the map. Percy was not happy with this having been told Annabeth first was surrounded by spiders.

The third day of this ridiculous quest, Annabeth enlisted Jason to carry Nico to the infirmary where Will Solace would undoubtedly fix up the son of Hades. Percy complained that even unconscious he still wasn't Nico's type. Annabeth just laughed and left with Jason.

Only hours later, Will freaking Solace pops out of the shadows courtesy of Nico, and lays it on them that Nico has been captured by the twins. Again. So that was cool. Not.

As if that wasn't enough, the very next day, Shrimpzilla had to attack. Leo, Hazel, and Frank visited Camp Fish-Blood and brought back those delicious brownies. And of course a letter of intro to the Tiber River god.

"The fish-centaurs said Nico has less than two days!" Hazel finally blurted. "They said we had to rescue him because he's essential to the quest."

Will froze. Percy could help but grin. They just couldn't help but fall into the awkward will they won't they phase apparently.

"Right," Percy said, trying to keep a level voice. "Okay, so I know where the twins are keeping Nico. When we get to Rome, Annabeth can go off to find the statue, I'll take Jason and Piper to get Nico, and then Frank, Hazel, and Leo will go get all Leo's Archemides stuff. Will… I dunno where you'll go yet."

Leo's jaw dropped. "Archemides? You never said anything about that!"

"Well now I am," Percy shrugged. "Okay, so we have one day till we absolutely have to know what the prophecy means."

"Twins snuff out the angel's light," Piper recited. She glanced at Will. "I think Will being the angel's light makes sense. He should go with us when we rescue Nico."

Will nodded fervently. "I am absolutely going to help save Nico. Besides, obviously Percy knows what kind of a state he was in and judging by that grimace I just saw, it was bad. Nico will need his doctor there."

"You're a doctor?" Hazel asked with surprise.

Will gave her a sheepish grin. "Kinda? I'm working on getting certified. I mean, I do an online class every few months and stuff." He shrugged. "I'm a son of Apollo. I just naturally have a healing talent. Like, I just know how to fix a broken arm or treat an ear infection and stuff." His smile widened. "If I wanted to, I could totally give flu shots blindfolded!"

"Remind me not to see you during flu shot season," Leo muttered.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Okay. So Will's the light. Great. Why is he being snuffed out?"

"No use speculating," Jason said, shaking his head. "It could mean a number of things. We need to focus on the other line. Who holds the key to saviors' plight. We know that the saviors are Percy and Annabeth and their plight is their fall into Tartarus to close the Doors of Death."

Frank frowned. "By this logic, Will should know what they need to do." He peered at Will. "Do you?"

"Not really," Will said quietly. "I'm really sorry. I wish I could help more, but… I'm not a hero like you guys. I'm the guy that makes sure the heroes are healthy and healing from all the injuries."

"And if you put any of us in front of a bleeding body, we would panic," Annabeth said, crossing her arms. "You remain calm and fix it in no time flat. You are a hero, Will. Not all heroes wear capes. Or," she laughed, "in this case, have magic pen or coin swords. Not all heroes can use their voice as a weapon. Not all heroes can look at their troops and formulate a battle plan. Not all heroes can shift into different animals. But all heroes save lives. We could stand here all day comparing ourselves to other heroes and make claims about how they're better than us, but that would be a waste of time. We are all important and we all have a part to play, yeah? So let's get to Rome and save our friend."

"We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning," Leo said. He fiddled with the controls. "Then spend the rest of the day sailing to Rome."

Jason stopped eating his brownie. "Which puts us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. I mean, I know Percy knows where Nico is, but still. That makes me nervous. We have exactly twenty-four hours to find and save him. Not good. No room for error."

"We can do it," Percy assured him with a nervous smile.

Hazel shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not really liking that we know you and Annabeth are supposed to fall into Tartarus if we don't figure out another way. We shouldn't give up. Tartarus, well, you two obviously know more than I do, but there is a reason it's where all the tormented souls and monsters go."

"I don't like it either," Jason agreed. "Someone else could do it. I'll go in your place."

"Not happening," Annabeth said firmly. "Like we said. Percy and I know the way. Besides, if we do end up going, Percy's the only one who knows Bob."

"And we're on much better terms than the first time," Percy agreed. "Nico took me to visit Bob a few times before I disappeared." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, we need to focus on what we're facing tomorrow. Hercules and Chrysaor."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "Chrysaor. Is there any way we can avoid him?"

"I don't think so," Will said shaking his head. "So far, you haven't been able to avoid anything, right? That's probably because time wills it to happen." He looked at Annabeth. "Surely you must know this."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Time travel paradoxes. Of course! We can't change certain events because they're fixed points, right? So far, all we've managed to stop was the Roman's declaring war on the Greeks. But we almost didn't. Despite Nico's suggestion to use iron, Leo still got possessed by the eidolon. It's the predestination paradox."

"So basically what you're saying is that everything is going to happen because it has to happen?" Piper asked, raised eyebrows.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. There was a Twilight Zone episode about this one. A girl went back in time to kill Hitler, but she ended up being the reason he exists in the first place." A pause. Then the realization sunk in. "Oh my gods. If we came back to stop Gaea, are we going to be the reason she doesn't… oh gods." Annabeth's hands flew to her mouth.

"The prophecy wouldn't have changed if that was the case," Percy said shaking his head.

Leo raised a hand. "Uh, there was a different prophecy?"

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone / The Mark of Athena burns through Rome / Twins snuff out the angel's breath / Who holds the key to endless death / The giants' bane stands gold and pale / Won through pain from a woven jail," Percy recited. "Last time, the prophecy talked about Nico's death trance which was the endless death thing."

"So some events are predetermined to happen," Frank noted. "Some we can stop."

Percy tried not to think too hard about what events might be unavoidable. Ever since the muck in Alaska, well, Percy was kinda terrified of water. The fact that he almost drowned in the muck twice didn't help. And if certain things were unavoidable, Percy sincerely hoped the nymphaeum was avoidable.

.

Percy didn't feel very apologetic when he voluntold Jason and Piper for the job of talking to Hercules. When Jason gave him a dirty look, Percy shrugged and said, "You two did it before."

Of course, when Jason and Piper returned to the ship as they fled as fast as Leo could steer the ship, Jason was still giving him a dirty look.

"You never said not to mention Hera!" Jason snapped.

Percy blinked. "Huh? What does the bovine goddess have to do with anything?"

"Bovine-"

"She who shall not be named."

"Female Volde-"

"You know who."

"Volde-"

"Shut up!" Piper shouted. She must have put a ton of charmspeak into her words because Percy found himself unable to speak. She looked at Percy and Annabeth. "What next?"

"Monsters will probably be attacking nonstop," Annabeth shrugged. "No biggie, right?"

It was actually a biggie in Percy's humble opinion. Several times an hour, something attacked the ship. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and Jason blasted them with lightning. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.

"What was that for?" the coach demanded.

Finally around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Jason turned to him. "How about you get some sleep? I'll keep blasting stuff out of the sky as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for a while, and you can take point."

Percy mumbled something about that being what they did last time, but he did wander off down to his bunk. Unfortunately, his dreams were nightmares and they were anything but restful.

.

He dreamed he was in a dark cavern. He could only see a few feet in front of him, but the space must have been vast. Water dripped from somewhere nearby, and the sound echoed off distant walls. He gulped in realization. Arachne's lair .

He heard heavy footsteps, and the twin giants Ephialtes and Otis shuffled out of the gloom. The giants stood in front of Percy, but they paid him no attention. Instead, they gazed up into the darkness.

"We're here," Ephialtes announced. Despite his booming voice, his words dissipated in the cavern, echoing until they sounded small and insignificant.

Far above, something answered, "Yes. I can see that. Those outfits are hard to miss."

The voice made Percy's stomach drop about six inches. It was definitely the monstrous spider his girlfriend was going to head off to fight soon.

"Of course, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said. "We bring news of—"

"Why are you dressed like that?" asked Arachne.

Ephialtes shot his brother an irritated look. "My brother was supposed to wear something different. Unfortunately—"

"You said I was the knife thrower today," Otis protested.

"I said I was the knife thrower! You were supposed to be the magician! Ah, forgive me, Your Ladyship. You don't want to hear us arguing. We came as you requested, to bring you news. The ship is approaching."

"How long?" she asked.

"They should land in Rome shortly after daybreak, I think," Ephialtes said. "Of course, they'll have to get past the golden boy." He sneered.

Chrysaor, Percy recalled.

"I hope they arrive safely," Her Ladyship said. "It would spoil our fun to have them captured too soon. Are your preparations made?"

"Yes, Your Ladyship." Otis stepped forward, and the cavern trembled. A crack appeared under Otis's left snake.

"Careful, you dolt!" Her Ladyship snarled. "Do you want to return to Tartarus the hard way?"

Otis scrambled back, his face slack with terror. Percy's heart beat rapidly. He remembered the chasm in Arachne's lair. He was glad he weighed nothing in his dreams.

"There is little left holding this place together," Her Ladyship cautioned. "Except, of course, my own skill. Centuries of Athena's rage can only be contained so well, and the great Earth Mother churns below us in her sleep. Between those two forces, well…my nest has quite eroded. We must hope this child of Athena proves to be a worthy victim. She may be my last plaything."

Ephialtes gulped. He kept his eyes on the crack in the floor. "Soon it will not matter, Your Ladyship. Gaea will rise, and we all will be rewarded. You will no longer have to guard this place, or keep your works hidden."

"Perhaps," said the voice in the dark. "But I will miss the sweetness of my revenge. We have worked well together over the centuries, have we not?"

The twins bowed.

"Uh, Your Ladyship," Ephialtes said nervously. "I would remind you that Gaea wishes the girl to be taken alive. You can torment her. Drive her insane. Whatever you wish, of course. But her blood must be spilt on the ancient stones."

Her Ladyship hissed. "Others could be used for that purpose."

"Y-yes," Ephialtes said. "But this girl is preferred. And the boy—the son of Poseidon. You can see why those two would be most suited for the task."

Percy winced. Stupid nosebleed. This time, he hoped Gaea would not spill his blood, but there was no way to guarantee it.

"We will see," Her Ladyship grumbled. "Leave me now. Tend to your own preparations. You will have your spectacle. And I…I will work in darkness."

.

The dream dissolved, and Percy woke with a start. Jason was knocking at his open doorway.

"We've set down in the water," he said, looking utterly exhausted. "Your turn."

"No, no!" Percy yelped, jumping to his feet. "Chrysaor! This is when we meet him! Pull up!" he shouted, running out onto the deck. "Leo, pull up!"

Leo jumped. He looked back at Percy in confusion. "What?"

"Pull up!" Percy screamed.

Leo wasted no time. He yanked the controls and the ship tilted upwards at a steep angle. Shouts of confusion and shock came from below. When Leo finally leveled the ship, he raised an eyebrow at Percy.

Percy ignored him. "We're not far from the Italian coast. Maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the Tiber? I can't tell for sure anymore since we're not in the water."

"Chrysaor?" Jason managed to ask. He looked like he had been holding onto the railing for dear life. Percy doubted the guy had any strength left in him after fighting the monsters off all night. "Who's that again?"

"My half-brother," Percy answered. "You aren't the only one with a horrible one."

Jason managed a grimace. Then he stumbled as the ship hit something.

"Oh man," Percy sighed.

A/N: Gotta love those time travel paradoxes.

This was my lil explanation on how this time travel thingy works. Hope ya like and understand.