Yeah, I have no words right now for how long I've gone without updating. I had a lot of stuff on my mind, but that's no excuse. My big apology is coming… After the chapter though. This is really LONG overdue.

Disclaimer : I own Percy Jackson. Wait, no I don't.

Chapter 6 : Rick's Wrong For Once. I Mess Things Up. Alex Gets Mad At Me. All In All, A Normal Day In A Quest.

Percy was furious. I had no idea why, really. It wasn't my fault Frank wanted to have a private talk but apparently, since I was the all knowing Robbie, I was supposed to have prevented this.

Percy made this very clear to me. With considerably more cursing.

"Damn you Robbie! I go to the ship for a few minutes and everything goes to shit. Care to explain why?" His hands ran through his hair in frustration.

He seemed to get frustrated with me a lot lately.

Frank tried to stand up for me. "It's my fault Percy. I wanted him to go away."

Percy turned to him and with a calmer voice, he said, "Robbie should have known better then to leave you alone." He glared at me.

"Percy," I managed through gritted teeth. "A word?"

"What?" We were a few feet away from Frank and he respectfully gave us some privacy.

"You can't expect me to remember everything from the damn book! I don't remember all of the details and if you want me to do that well then sorry, but I'm useless!" I all but exploded. "And I know you're mad at me. Gods, I'm mad at myself too but right now we work together to get Hazel back!"

Percy still looked mad but he grudgingly said, "You have a point."

Five minutes later, we were combing through the fields, looking for any trace of Hazel, when Percy stopped us. "What is that?" He pointed to a small pile dead ahead of us. "I heard someone."

"A big pile of schist. And That was probably Hazel." I answered.

"What?" Frank looked confused.

"Nothing." Percy looked at me and I could tell he was thinking, See that wasn't too hard, was it? "Come on guys, let's go."

We made it to the big stone. And I promptly stopped in surprise, causing Frank to bump into me. When I thought karpoi, I thought of the book's description, evil Cupids, green eyes, etc. What I got was totally different. I mean, they had no wings. They weren't really solid. The way they moved was disconcerting, to say the least. As they walked, pieces of grain flew up, making it hard to see, and it was like they were made of grain. Like Sandman actually. Maybe Sandman was based off of Greek Mythology? Like my dad went into the creator's head and said, "Hey. Make a guy that's like an evil grain dude in your comics." I'd have to look into that.

My thoughts were abruptly cut off when Percy elbowed me. "Hey! What are you doing? We have to go."

"Right, right." I winced. I guess sharp elbows ran in the family.

We sneaked up onto what seemd to be Wheat. I wasn't really sure. And Percy wasn't either. "Ok, I'll get Grain Guy #1, you get Grain Guy #2, and Frank, get Grain Guy #3. After that, just kill whatever."

"Great plan, Percy. As always, I bow before your wisdom." I shook my head.

Percy ignored me. "All right. In 3… 2… 1… Now!"

He stabbed the one in front of us, while Frank and I shot arrows at everything we could see. The grain started to get back togethert, but Percy got a lighter out of his pack and lit it. "I'll burn this whole thing down if I have to." Frank winced. I raised my bow and shouted. "He'll do it! He's a certified psychopath!" Everything scattered.

Hazel grinned. "My knights in shining armor."

"More like sweaty t-shirts, but whatever floats your boat." Frank began to climb the schist. "Plus, you're not a damsel in distress. You were doing just fine."

"Oh, it was just the schist." Hazel moved over to make room for Frank. "The karpoi don't like it."

"Still…" His voice trailed off. "Robbie? Percy? You have to see this."

We quickly climbed the rock and looked over the edge. "Schist." Percy breathed.

The army was bigger than I thought it would be. It seemed like it would never end. I saw centaurs and Cyclopes and I was hit with the wrongness of it all. But whatever that feeling was to me, it was worse for Percy. He held his head, muttering about how centaurs were the good guys. Frank looked at me and mouthed, "Is he okay?"

I shrugged and focused my attention on the army. Then, the giant appeared. Alex had told me about Enceladus, but now I could tell why he was the small one among his brothers. I felt like throwing up.

Hazel spoke, her voice hushed. "That's not Alcyoneus. Maybe Polybotes?"

The army moved forward. Then, there was a blinding light, a rainbow. I shielded my eyes. The monsters shrieked in outrage. They charged, only to be brought back when blisters appeared on their body. "Horrible goddess!" The female Cyclops said, probably Ma Gasket. The army wasn't that smart, because their next step was to throw weapons into the rainbow, burning them up. Polybotes roared, "Stop, you buffoons!" I thought I heard Ma Gasket complain about snacks. He bashed a few heads and I saw Frank wince. He stepped in front and spread his arms. "Surrender and I will kill you quickly!"

The goddess wasn't too impressed as a Ding Dong hurtled to his head. Polybotes caught it and growled. "You dare insult me? You…" He trailed off. "I smell the sea god."

Ma Gasket snorted. "You don't let me have snacks, so you don't get any sea god. Plus the sea's right there." She pointed.

Polybotes rounded on her. "Am I the commander or not? It doesn't hurt to check it out." He stalked toward us.

My mind went blank. I was pretty sure this wasn't supposed to happen. No, this definitely wasn't supposed to happen. "Uh, guys?" I jumped off the rock. "He's coming this way. Any plans?"

Percy wasn't much help, shaking and muttering. Frank followed me down the rock along with Hazel. "How about we make a run for it?"

I gave him a look. Frank turned defensive. "It's all we've got. You can go and get Percy inside that building with Hazel and I'll cover you."

Hazel protested. "Frank, I'll be fighting with you. You need all the help you can get. We'll be out in the open and everything."

I glanced back and Polybotes was nearly at our hiding spot. "Guys, hate to rush you, but…"

Hazel got into a fighting position while I put Percy's arm around my neck. "Go!"

I took off running as fast as I could, which wasn't that fast, with me supporting Percy and all. Polybotes made a grunt of surprise. "Son of the sea god! And friends!" I looked behind me as he gestured toward us. "Destroy them!"

The army roared in pleasure and charged. Hazel blocked some arrows and Frank took out a few monsters of his own. We were nearly at the rainbow. I prayed to Iris. Don't burn us. Let us pass through. Please. I opened my eyes as we passed through, me dragging Percy along. Throwing open the door, I burst through, making a hiker girl with white hair shriek in surprise. "What happened to you?" My mind whirled, trying to figure out her name. Sheepy? Wooly? It was something to do with sheep, that was for sure.

I held up a hand, too out of breath to speak. "Later." A voice drifted through the shop. "Fleecy, let me see the customers."

Oh, her name was Fleecy. Hazel gawked. "Your name is Fleecy"

She smiled. "Well, no. It's actually _" The only way to describe that was gibberish. "But Fleecy's good too. Come on. My boss wants to meet you."

She led us to Iris, who at first glance seemed liked the definition of a hippie. Then, I remembered she was a goddess. She looked at us. "Hello, I'm Iris."

Hazel gawked again. "The rainbow goddess?"

Her face soured. "Well, yes, but I don't like to be defined by my job. I prefer head of ROFL, a place for healthy and alternative lifestyles." She gestured behind her. "This took a lot of work."

"You thorw Ding Dongs." Frank phrased that like a question.

Iris looked horrified. "Of course not. These are gluten free, no sugar added, vitamin enriched, soy free, goat milk and seaweed based cupcake simulations." Looking at our disgusted faces, she added, "They're very tasty"

Hazel sounded hesitant. "I'm sure they are. But, we need help. There was the army of monsters heading to Camp Jupiter. Can't you stop them?"

Iris shook her head. "Sorry dear. I practice strict nonviolence. No more of the typical Olympic aggression. I prefer Buddhism. Or Taoism."

"But you're Greek." Hazel said bluntly.

"That changes nothing, little demigod."

"Right." I cut in. "Percy's a bit sick right now so let's discuss the benefits of a nonviolent set of beliefs later. Do you know if…"

Percy looked straight at Iris. "I need to send an Iris message. Can you help me?"

Silence.

Percy shook. "Isn't that something you do?"

Iris looked at him closer. "Interesting." And then, to my horror, her eyes landed on me. "You're in Camp Jupiter and yet…" She gave out a short laugh. "Well, how about both of you go and try to send an Iris message. I daresay you know how to send one, yes?" She looked at me, her brows raised.

I managed a nod.

"Good. Fleecy, go with Hazel to pick out some supplies for their little quest. Frank, come with me. We need to have a little chat."

She led Frank away as he asked, "Wait. What's an Iris message?"

I took Percy to the office. Looking for a fountain, I finally found one at the back. Thankfully, it still worked and I could see a rainbow through the mist. Taking a golden drachma out of my pack, I threw it in, saying "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Alex at Camp Half Blood." The mist shimmered to show her reading a book in her cabin. I cleared my throat. "Alex."

She flinched and looked at me. And then she jumped up. "Robbie! What are you… Is that… Why exactly…." She put down her book. "What in the name of Tartarus are you doing? Why is Percy with you?"

"Things kind of got messed up."

She sighed. "Tell me about it. Annabeth knows. She got pretty much the whole series and now she's really pissed at me."

Percy cocked his head. "You… look familiar."

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I should hope so." Her attention went back to me. "Please tell me you didn't royally mess up."

"Would you be mad at me if I said yes?"

"What happened?"

"He knows I know about the future. He knows I'm Greek. He knows he's Greek. He knows I'm dating you." I rattled off in one big breath.

"Wow. You really did screw up. But then, so did I." She lay down again. "So, why'd you call?"

"Things aren't going the way they should be. They're deviating, little by little, and well you're the person who knows the books inside out. So, I was hoping…"

Percy looked between me and Alex like he was watching a tennis match. Then a lightbulb went off in his head. "You're my sister. You… Annabeth. She's my… my girlfriend. I…"

Alex sounded like she was going to cry. "I've been looking for you a long time, even though I knew it was hopeless, that I wouldn't find you until later. Now that I've found you, I want to tell you everything, but I can't, okay Perce? I just can't."

He looked bewildered. "I… I need to go and ask Fleecy for some tea. My head hurts." He all but bolted from the room.

Alex put her head in her hands. I tried to have a comforting voice. "Lex, maybe…"

Her voice was a forced calm, which was scarier than if she yelled at me. "I told you to look after him. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Everything was supposed to go by the book and everything would be fine. And I'm really pissed at you and I know I shouldn't be, but I am, and it's like I've lost control of all rational thought. So tell me Robbie, what were you thinking?" She looked up at me, her eyes red.

"I know." There was nothing else for me to say. "Look, I know you feel stressed out right now, but we'll figure it out. You said it yourself remember? Go with the flow."

"Yeah well the flow is taking us places that I never wanted to be."

I opened my mouth to say more but the Iris message beeped. "Please insert another drachma for an additional 5 minutes or hang up."

Alex raised her hand to slash through the image. "It's fine Robbie. Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'll see you later." And she was gone.

I walked out of the office, only to be tackled by Percy. "We need to go help Frank."

"What?"

"He's fighting these basilisk things. Thank god he has his bow." Then taking a look outside the window, he winced. "Maybe not. Come on! We'll talk about my sister later. Believe me, I have a lot of questions."

I followed him out the door.

I'm sorry. There's really nothing else I can say. Things just got so busy that I couldn't deal with everything at once. Now that things have settled down, I guess I'll be able to update. But really. I am so sorry.