Here we go. *rubs hands* Get ready for awesomeness.

6/

Tony's POV

I stared at the screen of my phone.

From: Nico di Angelo

Percy's alredy talkd 2 me bout it. Ddnt he tell u?

Received: Sun, June 2, 1:23 AM

I made sure Percy and Annabeth weren't looking before I looked back down; they weren't, just sleeping. I typed back. WAT?

His answer came back quick. ya. thats the whole reason u guys even went on a quest; cuz percy saw it long b4 u did.

My brain felt kind of frozen. Thanx, nico, I typed. Appreciate it.

Sure. Just dnt do anythng stupid, k?

Watevr. I turned off my phone, slipping it back into my pocket. I rolled over. Percy knew? Why didn't he say anything? I had a right to know, right?

I looked around. Nope, no ghosts. I settled against the tree, feeling bitter. No Jasie. I glared at my best friend, who was snuggling with Annabeth. Normally I would've taken pictures and sold them to Travis and Connor Stoll . But I wasn't in the mood. I didn't really wanna get near them, but I checked Percy's watch. I sighed. An hour left, then I could wake him up for his shift.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out, confused. I was sure I turned it off. Didn't I? But there it was, blinking.

New Text Message

Unknown

I didn't know what else to do. I pressed View Now. I frowned at the words. Don't get pissed at Percy, Tony.

I hesitated. I felt that itch coming over me again—that twitch to know. So I finally gave in. Hu is this?

The text came almost as soon as my phone blinked Message Sent: I thought you were smarter than that, you dingdong.

There were only two people that would ever call me that. I decided to pick the less dangerous choice. Is this Travis? I guessed.

Please.

My heart felt swollen. But I found my fingers texting back: Jasie.

Bingo.

Ur dead.

Yes, I know that. Don't have to remind me.

How r u doin this?

No idea. Look, it's true. A hole's opening up in the Underworld. I barely got through, and you're lucky I'm the only one that did. You have to plug it up.

Y r u telling me this? Dnt u think I alredy no?

Duh. I'm telling you to get a move on, jackass. Because that hole's getting bigger, and if it doesn't get plugged, ghosts won't be the only things getting out.

Y cnt I see u? I got completely off topic. I couldn't help asking. But I swear I could feel her frowning.

I don't know.

Percy saw u.

Yeah, I think he did. I'm pretty sure I made him crap his pants, too.

I smiled at that thought, but it felt wrong to smile when she couldn't smile back. I stopped. Y ddnt he tell me?

Because he's a good guy, Tony. I'm dead and even I can see that. I think he didn't want to hurt you. He's your best friend. I think you can forgive him. Besides, you're overreacting. He didn't do anything.

Yes he did, I argued.

Oh yeah? What? She had me there. Exactly, her message came before I could begin to type back. Gods, I'm fading. Tony, you have to finish this. Get to DC and CLOSE THE DAMN HOLE! Then my phone shut off. Just like that.

I sat staring at the screen for who-knows-how-long, until Annabeth rolled over, opening one gray eye to peer at me. "What are you doing?" She focused on my hands. "Is that a phone?"

"No," I faked a grin, hiding my phone in my pocket. Annabeth looked like she would've said more, but Percy rolled over on her back, distracting her. She shoved him off with her elbow. He kept rolling. He went all the way down the hill, only waking up after a bird flew through his hair.

"Ha-ha!" I shouted after him.

"OW!" he crashed into a tree.

"Percy, stop messing around and get your butt back up here," Annabeth called.

"Wow, caring girlfriend," I muttered. She punched me without looking.

"So caring!" Percy called back. He hiked up the hill, shaking leaves out of his black hair like a dog. He glared at Annabeth. "Thanks."

"Whatever, Seaweed Brain."

"Whatever, Wise Girl."

"Why are we awake?" I said warily.

"Yeah," Percy agreed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "We have to get moving, that's why."

Percy checked his watch. "It's like two in the morning!"

I stared at her. "Youse crazy, girl."

"I'm with Tony," Percy said. "It's not even daylight."

She pursed her lips. "It's only a few hours until daybreak. We should start walking now, so nothing catches up with us later, when we're tired and can't run."

Percy thought about it. So did I. "Makes sense," he finally caved.

"Guess so," I sighed. Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand (no surprise there) and we started walking. Again.

I couldn't help but stare at my best friends. They swung their twined hands, Percy told stupid jokes, Annabeth laughed… You could almost see doves flying above their heads. Aphrodite must've been happy. I found myself thinking back, when Jasie and me used to do that teenager-dating stuff.

Our routine was a little different though. I remember the time when we blew up the principal's office, and when we covered every desk in the room with honey except Lois Almarez's, getting her in trouble.

Good times…

Gone times.

Lost-forever times. I'll never forget them. My mind started drifting again (stupid ADHD), this time to Penelope. Her white smile, wheat-colored hair, she was so different from Jasie. But—I almost stopped walking—why was I comparing them? Jasie's dead. I'm a free man… Right?

Percy's POV

I barely noticed Tony hanging back while Annabeth and me were holding hands. Of course, I was the one who had to take her hand first. I didn't mind. She squeezed my hand, turning to look at me.

"Percy, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" I came back to Earth. "Nothing. I zoned."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "You're such a—"

"Seaweed Brain," I finished. "I know." She shook her head, smiling. It was days like these that I liked the most. When she laughed at my bad jokes, when she let me hold her hand, when she'd kiss me (after making sure no one was around). I didn't even care that we were in the middle of nowhere, walking toward more nowhere, with even more nowhere behind us.

"Guys, do you even know where we're going?" Tony's voice interrupted my moment.

"No," Annabeth said, turning around to look at him. Her hand slipped out of mine. My palm felt cold without hers there. She scooted to the left, letting Tony between us. "Judging from the stars, south."

We were quiet for a while after that, but then Tony nudged me. "Percy, man, I don't wanna sound weird, but I gotta ask you something."

I looked past him, at Annabeth. She nodded at me without looking. She veered off, obviously trying not to eavesdrop. I smiled. Good girl. "What's up?" I asked.

"Are you happy?"

The question jarred me. Was I happy? I was the son of Poseidon, with cool powers almost no one else has. I had an awesome girlfriend, a hilarious best friend, a kind-of sister, and I lived at a magical camp for demigods. "Yeah," I decided. "Yeah, I'm happy." I thought I saw Annabeth smile. So much for not eavesdropping. I looked at Tony. "Aren't you?" As soon as I said it I knew it was a stupid question. My best friend's face fell, throwing his features into shadow. Suddenly he wasn't the happy-go-lucky, joker Tony I knew—he was dark, solemn, grim. Sad.

"No," he said very quietly. "No, I'm not." His eyes were pain and anger at the same time when he looked at me. "Why didn't you tell me you saw her?" I could tell he was really hurt.

Annabeth's head tilted slightly toward us. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. "I wanted to," I admitted to Tony, ducking my head a little. "I wasn't sure—"

"If you'd do something stupid," Annabeth jumped in suddenly. I gave her a look, but the one she shot back was like: What? Kelp Head needed obvious help. I had to agree silently. She went on, "If you knew, we figured you'd do something crazy—like resurrection, or trying to ask Hades to bring her back to life for you, even. We thought it would be better if you didn't know. For your own good."

Tony didn't look convinced. With a dark "'My own good' my ass" he ran up ahead of us.

I immediately felt guilty. "I can't believe us," I mumbled. "We should've told him."

Annabeth stared after Tony with a strange expression on her face. "How did he even find out?"

"I talk in my sleep," I reminded her, embarrassed. "Maybe I guilt-tripped myself."

Her gray eyes were lost in thought. "Maybe." But I could tell she didn't think that.

I don't know how long we walked. Like I said, nowhereness was everywhere. It was almost like we were walking through a deserted desert… If that makes any sense. In case you didn't know, we'd been walking on a highway to literally nowhere (even though I figured Annabeth knew). I think the last sign I saw said something like Parkville. Oh well.

Annabeth elbowed me suddenly. "Percy, look." I snapped out of my zone. I followed her finger to the sign in front of us: Baltimore.

I glanced at her. "So?" It wasn't D.C. Unless that changed in the last couple hours.

She rolled her eyes. "Baltimore is the next big city. Which means we can probably buy ourselves a bus to D.C.?"

"Another one?" I groaned.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain. At least we have something." She smiled at me. She laughed, then ran up ahead. I let her leave, slowing down to match steps with Tony.

He gave me a dark look out the corners of his eyes. "What?"

"Look, I didn't think you cared that much," I started. "She's a ghost."

"Don't you think I know that?" his voice was bitter. "I…loved her. I think." He ran a hand through his hair. "I wish I saw her."

"I did," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything."

"No, no." He breathed out in a sigh, looking tired. "You're probably right."

"I know I am!" Annabeth called back, grinning.

"Eavesdropping is a sin!" Tony and me yelled at the same time.

I grinned at him. "So, we cool?"

He smiled wryly after a minute. "Sure, Perce. We're cool." We stopped to do that one-fisted-shoulder-bump/hug thing.

I felt considerably (whatever that means) lighter as we walked down the street into Baltimore. Annabeth got over her seeing-new-architecture high, and slowed to walk with us, shooting me a questioning look. I nodded. Her smile returned.

"I'm starving!" Tony groaned. "Burger King hunt!" Our eyes sharpened immediately.

Baltimore was pretty awesome. It was like another side of New York: busy, bustling, dangerous, expensive cars, people in business suits rushing down the streets, cabs, skyscrapers, super-tall office buildings. For a second I felt homesick, even though we'd only been away like three days. Still.

"Burger King!" Tony screamed. "YES!"

"That's not a Burger King, dumbass!" Annabeth shoved him. "That's not even a restaurant!"

I was looking all over the place. A place like Baltimore, and no Burger King to be seen? Plenty of banks and stuff, though… I stopped, staring. Annabeth and Tony noticed within twenty seconds that I wasn't walking with them.

"Percy, what's up?" Tony said. "Do you see a Burger King?"

They both followed my eyes. A bunch of guys in black were hopping out of a big van, going for the doors of a fancy bank. Annabeth knew what I was thinking instantly.

"No, Percy," she said. "We can't go around doing that. Mortals hate us, remember?"

"They don't know what we are yet," I said.

"Seriously, man," Tony jumped in. "The last thing we need is to fail at stopping a bank robbery and getting—" I ran off before he could finish his sentence.

Annabeth's POV

"Aw, now we have to help him," Tony groaned.

I scowled. "Sometimes I think you idiots plan these scenarios just to get me to do what you want." But we ran after Percy.

When we got there, the idiot was already fighting one of the bank robbers. Bystanders were lying on the floor, hands over their heads, peeking up at the fight in front of them. Percy.

He punched the guy in the face, then kicked another one in the groin. My heart did a backflip when I saw him like that. He was so heroic, so loyal, so ready to help people, so… stupid.

I stabbed one of the bank robbers with my knife—went right through him, but distracted him long enough for me to grab the nearest suitcase and slam him across the face with it. He went down. Choking arms wrapped around me, lifting me up higher and higher, squeezing me so hard I couldn't breathe.

I heard a "Get OFF her!" and a crunch, then I was face-down on the floor, coughing my lungs out. Hands were there, pulling me up. Percy. I recovered quickly, but got pushed down in a forced duck as Percy blocked a fist that was trying to come down on my head; he grabbed the guy by the ears and head-bashed him. They both went down.

"Idiot," I muttered. I dodged a flying in-tray, then grabbed a random object and smashed it over the nearest burglar's back.

"This is so fake!" Tony yelled from somewhere to my left. I wanted to tell him how much that didn't make sense when—

"Annabeth! Here!" A woman with blonde hair in a ponytail and dark sunglasses was holding something out to me—an umbrella? I took it without thinking, nailing Tony's opponent in the head. Tony gave him a good kick as he went down.

I turned back, to thank the woman, but she was gone. How did she know my name?

"Annabeth! Cops!" Tony screamed.

I whirled around. He was right. Flashing blue-and-red lights, wailing sirens, typical cop-shouts. "Tony, come on!" I yelled, whipping on my hat. I grabbed Percy's armpits; Tony grabbed his feet, and we carried him as fast as we could to the back.

"Do you know where you're going?" Tony hissed.

I looked around. "Well, buildings with this type of 18th-century architecture tend to have—"

"Okay, okay! Just go!"

I found the back door easily. We dragged Percy outside and into a dark alley, huddling in a corner, hoping we wouldn't be found by the police. I stuffed my hat in my pocket. I slapped Percy's face gently-ish. "Percy, wake up!"

He didn't. Tony looked at me questioningly. "How'd he get knocked out?"

I rolled my eyes. "He did it himself; he tried to head-bash."

Tony nodded appreciatively. "I understand."

I gave him a weird look. "How—? You know what? I don't want to know." I went back to trying to wake up Percy. "Percy. Wake up."

He finally came to. "Wha? What happened?"

"You're an idiot," I told him, flicking him in the forehead.

"Ow!" he rubbed the spot, looking up at me with those mesmerizing green, but dazed, eyes. "What?"

"You tried to head-bash," Tony said to him.

He blinked. "I did? Was it worse than when you—"

"No," Tony interrupted quickly.

I looked around cautiously. "Come on. We have to get moving." Tony and I pulled Percy to his feet, and the three of us hurried away, back into Baltimore's streets.

"Do you think we got out a little too easy?" Tony asked as we quickly crossed to the other side of the street.

"No," Percy said.

"Shut up, you weren't even awake," I said, glaring at a driver who had to slam on the brakes to not hit me. It was quiet for a few moments, then—

"BURGER KING!" Tony screamed suddenly. "YES! UP YOURS, PERCE! I WIN THIS TIME! YES!" He was gone in seconds.

I looked at Percy questioningly. He shook his head. "Long story. Come on." He grabbed my hand. I couldn't help but blush, feeling his fingers twined with mine that way. If we were back at camp, we would've had to practically hide from everyone else, or we would've been giggled and pointed at 24/7. Gods, I missed those days. I wanted to be there when I was here, wanted to be here when I was there. Couldn't win.

Thank gods Burger King was air conditioned. A whoosh of cold air hit me in the face as Percy and I walked through the door. Tony was already in line. We swung our hands between us and started toward him, but—

"Jackson! Chase!" I whirled around at the sound of my name. Percy stiffened. Crap, I knew that voice way too well.

Our eyes raked through the Burger King. There he was, sitting in a booth in a back corner, watching us from behind pitch-black sunglasses. His mere presence pulled us to the booth; we had no choice but to walk over. We bowed reluctantly, then sat across from him.

"Ares," Percy hissed.

"Lord Ares," I corrected. I elbowed him sharply, but it didn't seem to make a difference except to give me a bruise. He and Ares weren't on the best of terms. Not since Percy stabbed him through the foot and beat him at his own game.

Percy looked at me darkly, but I knew he understood. There was no pissing off this god. "Why are you here?" he ground out.

The war god leaned back, looking amused. "I need another favor, kid."

Percy and I exchanged surprised glances at the words. "No way," Percy said immediately. "We all know what happened last time."

I looked away, anywhere but there. My eyes landed on Tony, still jumping up and down like crazy in line. Mortals stared at him like he was a mental patient. Of course, he was, but not the point. Lucky weirdo.

Ares frowned at Percy's answer. "Not like I like asking you," he growled. "I'm just giving you demigods what you live on: adventure, right?"

We ignored that. "Percy, you can't say no to a god," I muttered in his ear. "Especially this god."

Seaweed Brain scowled. "Fine," he snapped at Ares. "We'll do your godsdamn favor."

Ares's cruel mouth lifted in a kind of smile. "Good. Now," he leaned forward, "one of my spirits went rogue. I need you three to lure it back. Just steal its prized possession; it'll come crawling back to me." He looked at me suddenly. "You know which one, girl. You should know where to find her." He waved his hand: three trays heaped with food appeared on the table, along with a new, navy-colored Hurly backpack.

The god grinned maliciously, then disappeared in a whirl of hot, dry air. Tony drifted over form the line, gaping. "Where've you guys been? I haven't even ordered."

Percy scowled again. I gave him a look. "We just got a visit from Ares," I told Tony. "This" I waved a hand at the table "is from him."

He blinked. "What? I thought you guys would never trust him again."

"Trust me, we don't," Percy grumbled. Tony slid across from us, immediately shoving a cheeseburger in his mouth.

A thought hit me. I leaned a little closer to Percy. "Do you think Ares poisoned it?"

Tony heard, though I didn't mean him to. He executed a perfect spit-take all over the table. "WHAT?"

Percy and I watched him, waiting for him to catch on fire or turn inside out or something. When nothing happened, I sighed dramatically. "Oh well. Go ahead." Tony grinned, then scooped everything he'd just spat out back in his mouth.

"Ew," I remarked.

Tony paused, a French fry half-way to his mouth. "Okay," he said very seriously. Then he kept on eating, only stopping to laugh when I poked a second French fry up Percy's nose.

I don't know how long we sat there, eating and laughing, but the entire time I couldn't shake the feeling Ares's words left behind, even when we were walking out the exit.

What did he mean I would know? What spirit would have enough guts to go rogue on Ares? And why—

"Hey." Percy's hand wrapped itself around mine, twisting our fingers together. "Stop thinking so hard. I can see the gears turning and it's really creeping me out."

I managed a smile. "You always say that."

"'Cause it makes you smile." When he smiled, my heart did a backflip.

I tried to smile for him again, but I failed miserably, feeling my own mouth lapsing into a frown. "I'm just…wondering."

His smile faded too. "What did he mean you would know?"

I shook my head. "Exactly. There are only so many spirits that follow Ares on his rampages. Pain, Panic, Famine, Oblivion, Adrestia, Enyo, Eris, Phobos, Deimos."

He looked at me blankly. "Who are the last ones?"

I rolled my eyes. "Adrestia is Ares's daughter by Aphrodite. She's usually the one who accompanies him into war. Enyo, you've met her. She's supposed to be the spirit of war, but nowadays she only stays with her sisters, Pemphredo and Deino, in the cab."

He shuddered. "And?"

"Eris, goddess of discord, Phobos, god of fear, Deimos, god of terror," I confirmed. "Eris is Ares's sister, and Phobos and Deimos are his sons."

We watched Tony hop around the parking lot on a sugar high. "So…" Percy began. "Which one would mess with Ares, though?"

I thought about it. "My best bet would be Eris. She's one of the only servants of Ares who has a mind of her own. She'd be the one to have the guts to mess with him."

"So she'd defy Ares?"

I smiled. "Aw, you know what 'defy' means," I teased. "I'm so proud."

"Shut up and answer the question."

"That's an oxymoron."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It makes sense, you just don't know it."

"I, um…"

"Exactly. I win."

"Guys!" Tony yelled. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked up to him.

"No idea," he said happily. "Where are we going?"

"D.C.," Percy reminded us.

"I know that," I said. "I mean, how are we getting there?"

"We could just take a cab," Tony suggested, his sugar high wearing off.

"Not that cab," Percy added.

"Of course not," I said. I rummaged around in the backpack Ares had given us. "We have…" I blinked. "Three thousand dollars."

"What?" Tony asked. "I think I just heard you say three thousand dollars."

I counted again. And again. "Yeah. Three thousand dollars."

"I thought Ares hated you," Tony directed at Percy.

"The feeling is mutual," he grimaced. "I don't think we should use the backpack. You remember what happened last time we accepted something from him."

"But this time you-know-who isn't rising," I reminded him. "He's asleep."

"You never know," he said.

"Well, we're in the middle of Baltimore, with only one option to get to D.C., and Ares drops three thousand dollars in our laps," I argued. "We might as well use whatever we have, no matter who gave it to us."

"I'm on Annie's side," Tony said immediately. "Percy, man, three thousand big ones? Come on."

Percy looked disgruntled, but he nodded finally. We hailed a cab. When we told the driver we wanted to get to D.C., he didn't look so happy, but we showed him our money and he slammed on the gas.

Within an hour we were halfway to Washington D.C.

Ah, don't you just love the playful banter? I know I do. Anyway, be patient, more is definitely coming up. Whenever I get super bored, basically (which will be often), plus a few bonus chapters on Christmas Eve/Day.

Hope all you writers out there have an awesome holiday season.

Keep writing.

~ Alice ~