So here's Chapter 3.

NO FLAMES PEOPLE!

Disclaimer: …

Percy POV

A very long story short, we defeated the thingys.

The thing was that they were harder to defeat than the monsters Kronos had summoned, like dracanae and giants. Chiron had to shoot 15 arrows in a monster before it disintegrated (I'm not kidding).

After the battle, Chiron told me to consult Rachel for info about how to save Annabeth. "You need a quest, so pick 2 people to go with you," Chiron said.

I picked Thalia and Nico. Grover couldn't go because he had some hugely important biannual satyr meeting. Just like Annabeth, he had to go to some hugely important thing. I sighed. Tyson couldn't go either because I didn't want my brother to get hurt. Those monsters were sure tough.

So off we went, but I still couldn't stop thinking about the prophecy Rachel gave me.

It was bad, of course. Very bad.

Meanwhile…

Annabeth POV

"Mm-mff!" I tried to talk but couldn't. Stupid monsters, I thought.

Of course, the second I landed in San Francisco, all pumped up for learning more on architecture, and not pumped up because Percy couldn't go, as he would be bored as heck, I was attacked by monsters.

Well, I'd never seen them before, so yeah. I was defeated pretty quickly. They were pretty tough.

So now I sat, tied to this titanium and steel chair, bound by ropes, with a gag on my mouth. At least they didn't blindfold me.

Suddenly I felt myself being dragged. "Do you think she is of further use?" a slithery voice asked.

"Yes, she will lure the others. Grover has been taken care of, as he cannot resist the meeting, of course. It is a very important ceremony, is it not?" another voice said. "Of course, he shall be eliminated the second he gets there." The monster laughed.

"So I take it the Big Three kids are coming?"

"Yes, Luke, all three are coming."

"Great." Luke smiled. "Now take Annabeth away!"

Oh no, I thought. Luke? He's evil again! I turned around in my chair as far as possible and I strained my eyes. Yep, it's Luke alright.

"Good job, Joe," Luke said. "For your reward, you shall get to eat the one called Thalia."

Joe licked his lips.

This is not good, I thought.

Then they dragged me towards a dark pit.

"This pit has a gravitational force," Luke said. "Which means in 30 minutes you shall meet your doom. Muahaha!"

Okay, this is even worse.

Percy POV

"Can't we travel any faster?" I asked Nico and Thalia. "Anyone?" We were in a car, driving through rush hour with Argus at the wheel.

In response, Nico pulled out a dog whistle. "Argus probably won't like this," Nico said aloud.

Argus overheard this. "What's this about-" but Nico had already blown the whistle.

In an instant, something big crashed the car, and Argus was knocked unconscious.

"Sorry, Argus," Nico said. "But we really need to hurry." And with that, we all climbed on to Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-traveled away.

Annabeth POV

"5 minutes, Annabeth," Luke called out.

Now doom seemed inevitable. So as my last resort, I slashed through the ropes with my knife. Of course, no one had noticed I had my trusty knife in my back pocket. I took off my gag and started to run, but of course Luke was one step ahead of me. Luke whistled. Immediately an army of monsters surrounded me.

"You can't run, Annabeth, and you can't hide," Luke chided.