Chiron rose from his wheelchair and quickly strode over to where Clarisse and Will were, "First of all," he said, "calm down. Then explain exactly what you saw."

I noticed their face was full of terror, as if they were to burst into tears, which made me even more curious; Clarisse never cries.

"It was horrible!" she said.

Will then interrupted, "His face! So dark!"

"He was huge, and he was in this enormous cavern. Full of evil darkness, as if it has never seen light."

"She was hung from the ceiling, ropes attached to her arms and legs. Unconscious."

"And he said, 'You mess with us? We take your Artemis!'"

They both sat down, and breathed heavily. I think talking about what they saw made them feel better, but not by much.

"Oh, dear," said Chiron, putting his head on his forehead, "this is not good."

Annabeth walked up to him, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she said, her eyes full of terror shown on Clarisse and Will's faces, "the giant?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I think it is the doing of Apollo and Artemis's old foe."

As soon as he said that, a flash of silver and gold light exploded across the room. Everyone immediately hid their eyes from the brightness. When it passed, I saw two figures standing at the entrance of the room. The two twin gods; Apollo and Artemis.

"All you had to do was keep her safe!" Apollo yelled toward Chiron.

"She was here for barely two days before she disappeared," joined Artemis. I was still amazed how young, yet so beautiful she was; simply enchanting. I looked at the crowd of boys and saw by their faces that I wasn't the only one who thought that. "She was my hope, my beloved niece." I saw her face wasn't full of anger; it was full of sadness and bitterness, as if Lucy was her own child.

"Do you think I would have been any good against Otus?" yelled Chiron. Who was Otus? "If you knew this might have happened, you shouldn't have sent her here in the first place. This place is meant to train warriors, not protect them."

"Well it doesn't matter now does it?" said Apollo, "She is still gone."

"We must find her then," Artemis reassured her twin, "we will defeat Otus once again, I vow you that."

"The only way to defeat a giant is the combined force of a god and a demigod," said Annabeth, as she stepped in front of Chiron, "you must take two of us to help you on your quest."

"And I will be one of them," said Clarisse, "after all I had the dream."

"So did I!" Will jumped up next to her, "We will escort you."

"It is settled then!" yelled Apollo, "we will take this daughter of Ares and the son of mine with us. Your consent, Chiron?"

"You have it, "said Chiron, "just watch out; Otus is no fool."

In a flash they were gone; Clarisse and Will with them.

"What do you think will happen?" Said Trip, the same guy who helped Lucy get around during her first day here.

"They will rescue her," replied Annabeth, with such determination she would make Artemis proud, "nothing can stand in the way of the twin gods."

After lunch I went to the beach to think. It was overwhelming. I mean, I have been through worst things, but never involving such a young girl; only nine years old and already inside this horrible life of a demigod. She reminded me of Annabeth; well at least how people told me she was. Annabeth was one of the youngest demigods ever to be in Camp Half Blood. She was only seven years old when she got here for the first time. At the beginning she was all by herself; ran away from home at the aid of her mother, and then she met with Thalia and Luke who helped her get to safety.

At least Lucy has the gods by her side. I don't think many half-bloods ever got so much attention from their godly parent; especially their siblings. Maybe there is a bigger reason why Artemis was so determined to rescue Lucy.

I heard footsteps behind me, and saw Annabeth walk out of the woods toward me.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she smiled at me, "I knew I would find you here."

"Hi," I said, and gestured for her to sit next to me, "I was just thinking about Lucy, and how life was so unfair that it would drag such a young girl to such a horrible situation."

"I know what you mean," she said, her eyes looking far off to her childhood memories, "At least she has the gods on her side."

"That's exactly what I was thinking! Are you sure we don't have an empathy link?" I winked at her and poked her stomach.

She giggled and said, "Yeah, if we did have how could you still be such a Seaweed Brain?"

I put my arm around her and tugged her closer, "I'm a natural," I said and smiled.

She looked at me and her smile faltered, "Percy," she said, "what if there really is another reason Artemis is so over protective of Lucy? You heard how she said 'she was my hope'."

I thought for a moment. What does Artemis really need from a little girl? Yes, she is powerful, probably going to be an amazing warrior if she is related to both Ares and Apollo, but why is she Artemis's hope? The only use is for Lucy to join her hunt, but that doesn't seem big enough. Plus she already has her lieutenant; Thalia.

"Annabeth," I said, "I think that Artemis may want Lucy to join the Hunt, but it just doesn't seem like its big enough for her to go to such lengths to save Lucy. But," I continued, "what if she will need a new lieutenant? What if she knows something will happen to Thalia and she will need a new one?"

"How would she know that?"

"Well," I said, "her brother is the god of prophecies."

She rolled her eyes at me, "That doesn't mean anything. She can't see the future. Maybe she can get hints from a prophecy, but that has to mean that Rachel told her a prophecy that we don't know of."

We both stayed silent for a minute; thinking. Could have Rachel given Artemis, or anyone, a prophecy without us knowing? We are her friends; maybe she hid something from us in order to protect us. I held Annabeth close to me, hugging her tightly, resting my chin on the top of her head.

"You wanna go ask her, don't you?" I asked.

"I do."

We walked toward Rachel's cabin cave through the woods. It was starting to get dark outside, cooler. I put my arm around Annabeth as we walked, keeping her close so she won't get chilly.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked her as we reached the entrance.

"I am sure," she replied calmly.

"Rachel? Are you here?" I said, poking my head inside the cave.

"Yes," I heard her shout, "I'll be out in a sec."

She came out a minute later, dressed in a pink, flowery dress. Her fiery red hair was starting to get longer; about an inch below her shoulders.

"What's up?" she asked us, smiling.

"We have something to ask you," said Annabeth, her voice less steady now.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Did you give a prophecy to someone without informing us?" Annabeth asked.

Rachel stayed silent for a minute and then said," What if I did?"

"I would like to know what it was," Annabeth replied," maybe it involves us."

"You don't have to know everything," exclaimed Rachel, her voice getting louder, "not everything involves you."

"Well does it involve any of my friends?" Annabeth mimicked Rachel's volume.

"It does, and that is why you shouldn't hear it."

"Rachel," I said," maybe we could change things. We must hear the prophecy to help our friend."

"I don't know, Percy. I am not supposed to tell anyone of this prophecy."

"Can you just tell us who the prophecy was given to?" Asked Annabeth.

"Artemis."

"I knew it!" I exclaimed.

"Well it doesn't matter what you thought, it just means that Thalia is in trouble. Please, Rachel," Annabeth turned toward her, pleading," tell us the prophecy so I can save her." Her eyes were getting watery now.

"Fine, I will tell you on one condition."

"Anything." Said Annabeth without even thinking about it.

"You are not to tell anyone else about what you will hear."

"Alright," I said.

"Me too," said Annabeth.

"The prophecy was:

The right hand of the maiden shall turn,

Either silver or gold a girl will earn.

Betrayal will end in death,

Unless the sacrifice will take their final breath.

Annabeth's mouth was wide open, her eyes full of terror. "The right hand of the maiden is Thalia; the lieutenant of Artemis the maiden goddess." I said.

"And silver or gold, that is Artemis and Apollo; sun and moon," Annabeth continued. "The Two last lines are awful!"

Now is the sentence I feared, "betrayal will end in death, unless the sacrifice will take their final breath."