A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner. I was busy with school :(

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series!

Percy's POV

My initial reaction after hearing the prophecy was to scream and pull all my hair out, but that would be really undignified (why the heck would I use this word? Annabeth's human dictionary tendencies must be rubbing off on me.)

"Alright," Chiron said. "So you guys know what's happening, and our camp director Lord Perseus," I winced. "Will be taking a short break to go on a quest with Lady Annabeth. I will take over his duties for the time being." After that he made other announcements about Capture the Flag, which would be held later that day. The campers resumed their activities like nothing had happened. Except Annabeth. And me.

The mood was way too depressing. I put my arm around her shoulders as we walked to the pier. "So? What have you come up with?"

Annabeth started. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Come on, I know you. You started analysing the prophecy the moment you heard it."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That is true, but you don't need to point it out. Ok, so we obviously have to find something Thetis treasures. To seek that which Thetis holds dear. Any clues on what a bitter sea goddess wants?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm sure some of the sea creatures would."

"Well, whatever it is, it definitely has something to do with pearls. The prophecy mentions that 'the silver pearl is present'. I was thinking," she took out her necklace. "That it had something to do with this."

We both stared at the shiny silver pearl at the center of her necklace. The ones surrounding it were beautiful, sure, but that pearl outshone all the others with its brilliance and bewitching beauty. It almost seemed to call out to us, to sing a siren song. I was drawn it by it, entranced by it, yet…

It made me slightly uneasy.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." I tried not to show my discomfort.

Annabeth swallowed hard as she slipped the necklace back under her shirt. We had reached the pier, but she looked away from the sea.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Annabeth sighed. "It's just, I thought that after we had won two wars, we could have some time for ourselves instead of running around to do another god's bidding. I don't mean to sound downbeat, but this sucks."

"It does," I concurred. "But hey," I held her face gently in my hands. "We leave tomorrow. We still have the rest of today to ourselves. From now on, no more thinking about the quest."

"Alright," she agreed. I leaned forward and kissed her.

The plan to put the quest out of our minds quickly went to crash and burn when a certain goddess with an intense dislike for me showed up.

"Ahem."

We jumped apart.

"It is generally known that I do not approve of your relationship with the sea spawn, but oh well, young gods these days, they have absolutely no respect." The Goddess of Wisdom declared. Annabeth crossed her arms, making clear the fact that there was no love lost between them. "What do you want?"

"Annabeth dear, you're my favorite, and since you have been so unfortunately cursed, I feel obliged to provide you with some advice to start you on your journey."

Annabeth raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Do you now?"

I could see that even though Annabeth wasn't happy about her mother's intrusion, her help was quite welcome. As to where we would even begin going to, I was completely clueless about.

"The items that you should find will be revealed in the folklore of Talora. To find that, you'll need to travel to the west coast – to California."

"Great," I muttered. "The other side of the country."

Athena glared. "I think, Perseus, that you'll find travelling quite convenient now that you can simply zap yourself to wherever you want.

"Anyway, I think that armed with that piece of information, you should be able to carry on with the rest of your quest."

And she left in a beam of light, which, had we still been mortal, would have incinerated us because we had not looked away.

"That's it?" Annabeth screeched. "She shows up all gallant and heroic to help us and that's it?"

"Well, I guess I don't need to ask you what you made of that then."

Annabeth continued her rant. "And did you hear the way she called me 'dear'? She's never done that before. I think she has something to gain from us succeeding in this quest—other than the fact that my curse will be broken. Mark my words, this is going to end up with us cleaning up the mess of the other gods."

And with that happy thought, we went to our cabins to get some sleep in.

I waited for Annabeth outside of her cabin the next morning. She came out holding her gray backpack with the owl design. It was stuffed to the brim, and looked as though extra manpower was required to close it. "Traveling light?" I asked sarcastically.

Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism is welcome! Seriously I want to improve :)

~ Nataliya118