Hello readers! Thank you for all the reviews, and behold the next chapter! It doesn't have any real action in it, but I drop a bombshell that might be obvious to you, but maybe not to Percy…

I was unconscious. I had a weird dream about Internet slang causing the downfall of Western civilization. At least it wasn't Kronos. I opened my eyes to Thalia pacing impatiently. Grover and Tyson were nowhere to be seen.

I got up. "Where's Luke?" I asked.

Thalia pointed toward a tree. Luke was leaning on the tree.

"What?" I exclaimed angrily. "You didn't tie him up?"

"There was no need to," Thalia said. "He's paralyzed from the shoulders down."

I decided not to answer to that. "What are you going to do with him?" I asked.

Her brow furrowed. "I don't know." She said. "I don't think we should kill him."

"Why?" I asked. "He's tried to kill us plenty of times."

"It's just that…that…" Thalia couldn't finish.

Luke spoke up. Apparently his voice was not broken. "I know why," he croaked. "I know why."

I didn't look at him. Thalia's eyes were silently pleading with me not to ask him.

I couldn't help myself. "Why?"

Thalia looked murderous. Luke started, "A long time ago, Thalia loved me. She could never accept that I had turned against her. This morning, she was trying to bring me back."

I was shocked. How was this possible? I had seen hints of it on Mount Tam, but I never took it all into play.

Just then, Grover walked out from the trees, fruits piled in his arms. I couldn't have imagined a more convenient time. "Grover, is this true?" I asked him.

He looked sadly at Luke, dropped the fruit, and nodded. "Yes, it is true. And what's more-"

He stopped himself. "Thalia would massacre me if I told you."

I turned to Thalia. "Would you?"

Electricity crackled in the air. "If he's talking about what I think he is, I would do worse than that." Thalia said angrily. "Don't tell him!"

"You owe me," I said to Thalia. "I told you Annabeth's last words."

Luke spoke again, "What were they?"

I didn't answer. Thalia had a furious look in her eyes, plainly telling me, if you find out what it was, you are DEAD. I didn't mess with her evil looks.

Well, sometimes I did. This was one of those times.

"Come on Grover, tell me. I'll make sure Thalia doesn't kill you." Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

"Um..um..she…" Grover started. Thalia silenced him with a murderous look.

"It doesn't matter," she said roughly.

I decided to drop it. Not because Thalia persuaded me to, but because it probably didn't matter.

"So, how are we going to decide what to do with him?" I asked her.

She bit her lip. "I told you, I don't know."

A familiar voice behind me boomed, "We can help you with that." I spun around and found myself faced by all the major Olympians, except for Hades. Zeus had addressed his daughter in a friendly voice. "Sorry about the lightning, it was temporarily out of my control."

I was slightly unnerved. "So, what are you going to do with Luke?" I asked, addressing all the Olympians in general.

No one answered. Finally, Aphrodite spoke out, "Percy, can I have a private word with you?"

Oh great. I should have seen this coming. The last time Aphrodite had chatted with me, her conversation had wreaked havoc on my brain for weeks. But I couldn't refuse a goddess.

Now she looked a lot like an older version of Annabeth. "Percy, I wanted to tell you that the we have already held council on this matter. We decided to spare him…because of me."

I shuddered inwardly. What a manipulative witch. She was probably going over in her head how "tragic" my story was.

"Originally, I would have wanted to kill him," she continued. "For interrupting on you and Annabeth! If I were there, I would have told him to wait a couple of minutes, then fight to the death with you. Unfortunately, I wasn't."

I wanted to say something, to deny what she had said. But I couldn't.

"Which brings us back to the present," she went on. "I do not want to kill him, because there is another epic coming into play."

"And what would that be?" I asked cautiously. If this was what I thought it was…

"Percy, think." She said patronizingly. "Your friend Thalia is a Hunter of Artemis." She pronounced Artemis with a mocking air. She hated Artemis.

"You know, the Hunters beat the members of Camp Half-Blood with ease several hundred times in a row." She said slowly, as if I couldn't comprehend her. "Thalia could've easily overpowered Luke, right?"

If she was implying what I thought she was…I decided not to think about it.

"Yes," I said.

"So, obviously, she is losing her Hunter's strength. Could you think of any possible ways she could?" She seemed touchy about discussing "Hunter's strength".

"She has fallen in love," I said hollowly. She was implying what I thought she was.

"Exactly!" she said happily. "And do you know who the object of her affection is?"

I must not have been thinking straight, because I answered, "M-me?"

"No, silly! If it was you, why would I want to spare him?"

Oh great. This was even worse than I thought it was.

"It's Luke," Aphrodite said with a grin.

For me, if it isn't a cliffie, it's a major bombshell (for Percy at least). You might be able to guess now what Thalia did that she didn't want to tell Percy. I'll want at least three signed reviews before I start the next chapter.