A/N: This is where things get complicated! Other Gods have to get involved too, right? It wouldn't be as fun if they didn't. Enjoy!

Thalia POV

It's been days since Artemis lost her bow. None of the Hunters have a clue where the bow is, but we've been searching for it since the very second it was misplaced. Of course you can't blame us for being worried. The last time a precious heirloom was stolen from a God, a war started. Because of this little investigation, we have to end our visit to Camp earlier than expected. Great.

That party was awesome though. I was searching for Artemis' Bow early this morning, and heard of a fire at camp! Everyone's cabins were torched, but I hear Kelp Head, my friend Percy Jackson, lifted part of the Atlantic Ocean to douse the flame. Gods, I'm so proud of him.

Around the Hunter's camp, girls were running all over, back and forth, trying to search in places they had already searched. I had to report back to Artemis, being her lieutenant, about our progress and/or the whereabouts of her prized weapon. Slowly, I eased into the tent, where I saw the Goddess flustered and ready to have her head explode.

"My lady?" I said carefully. "There hasn't been much luck. We've searched over the entire area with no luck. But I promise, we will keep looking—"

"THAT SPAWN OF THE SEA HAS IT! I CAN TRACK MY OWN BOW, THALIA. AND THAT INSUFFERABLE PRETTY BOY…PERSEUS JACKSON…HAS TAKEN IT!"

Oh Gods. Percy's screwed. But why would he take it? What would he have to gain? After all, he just got onto Artemis' good side…why would he want to mess that up?

"Lady Artemis," I eased, "with all due respect, Percy is an old friend and is one of the most trustworthy people I know. There's a very little chance that he would do something like this."

"Then how do you explain it? Why can I sense that it is in his possession?"

"He was set up once…I don't doubt that he could've been set up again. Either that or the mist is fooling us."

"The MIST does not fool a Goddess such as me, Thalia."

I dropped my head. Why would someone try and sabotage Percy again? He's been good to everyone…even some of his enemies.

"So what should we do, my Lady?" I asked. "I can't harm a friend. Not again."

Artemis thought long and hard about what she wanted to do. Hopefully my words struck her and she would spare the obviously innocent Percy. Besides, the guy is nowhere near smart enough to pull off something like this. As soon as he took it, he'd wimp out and put it back where he found it.

Unfortunately, the Maiden Goddess wasn't convinced.

"I believe he's your friend, Thalia. I do not believe in his innocence. Starting tomorrow, the Hunt will be the predator and the prey will be Perseus Jackson."

Percy POV

I hate my life. I hate the guy who's responsible for why my life is like this. But all of this is my fault anyways, so I guess I hate myself and my life. Here I am, tasting victory, barely, and Ares dicks around and puts Artemis' Bow in the Chariot that I was supposed to find. Obviously someone wants me dead.

I could've sworn I had heard sirens in the distance. If there were any, they'd be the Hunters coming for me. There was only one option. I had to get out of there. Out of camp, out of New York, and above all, off the map.

"I have to go," I told Tim, "and I have to go fast. Take care, I'll be back. Hopefully."

"I'm coming with you," Tim demanded, grabbing my arm in the process. "This is my chance to prove myself to the camp. I can help you. Magic tends to come in handy."

"No. You can't. I won't risk the life of an inexperienced first-year camper."

"It's my choice, not yours. Please."

I thought long and hard about this. If he died, it would be blood on my hands and guilt on my shoulders. I couldn't do that to him. But if we had each other's backs, we might not have to even worry about any deaths. All I needed to do was talk to Ares, return the bow, and somehow get Athena's shield.

Wait. Athena's Shield. Tim could help me get my hands on that…it would just be an in-and-out situation. After all, everyone deserves their moment to shine. Maybe this was his.

"OK, Tim. You can come with me."

It wasn't long after that little skirmish that Tim and I were airborne in Ares' Chariot. The horses must have been told to listen to my orders, because normally they would have tried to kill me. Tim was sitting beside me, reading a To-Do List that he had made for our "trip."

"OK, so first things first. Talk to Ares. Think that'll go over smoothly?"

"I don't care. I need to know what he wants me to do."

We sat in an uncomfortable silence. I should've apologized for my rudeness, since I was sitting in the driver seat, holding the reigns, thinking of what I would say to Ares. I'll probably ask him why he wants me dead.

Tim looked out of the side of the chariot and his face grew with confusion. I was headed for the Empire State Building.

"Um, Percy? This entrance to Olympus is closed off."

"I know. So I'm going to fly upwards above the building and hopefully Olympus shows up."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Heh. That's the beauty of it."

A 50/50 chance. Either we end up in the Home of the Gods, or we make it to space and die from lack of oxygen. Both are perfectly possible when you're a demigod. Of course, both were also extremely dangerous. Flying is a no-go when you're Percy Jackson. They say lightning never strikes the same place twice…and I broke that rule.

"I'm scared Percy!" Tim yelled as I rose higher into the sky. I ignored the air as it thundered and grayed, soon followed by violent bolts of lighting. My eyes squinted at the amount of air pressure as I flew up, slowly growing as I passed the oxygen layers. So far my plan looked retarded.

Then I forgot that my boss was a God. So stupid.

Lord Ares, oh how I art angry with—thee, I guess—but I ask of thee to grant me entrance into your—abode, so that I may yell at you. Thank you.

In an instant, the sky cleared and I could see a golden light. For a second, it looked like Elysium, but then I saw the God's Temple and immediately flicked the reigns, forcing the two fire-breathing horses to fly up faster. Soon I would know everything I wanted to. One way or another.

Making my way up to the temple, I walked inside with a sense of proudness that I probably didn't deserve. The guards let me through, obviously, since I was here for business only. I burst open the throne room doors loudly with a meek, fearful Tim hiding behind me and curling up so that the Gods could not see his face. The Gods were having a meeting, as usual, and they all immediately silenced each other and looked at me, shocked.

"ARES. WE NEED TO TALK." I snarled. The God of War simply smirked and straightened up in his throne, eyeing me murderously.

"Talk, kid."

"What was Artemis' Bow doing in your chariot?"

"A test. For you, obviously. You passed, just so you know…coming to me was exactly what I wanted you to do."

I growled, trying to hold myself back from doing the stupidest thing I could have ever done: lunging at an immortal with full force.

"Why are you trying to get me killed? I still haven't gotten you-know-who's item yet. I'm not ready for death threats."

The war God simply stared at me, daring me to continue with my lame, wimpy excuse for hiding and not acting like a man. And he was right. I shouldn't be complaining. I've dealt with worse. A lot worse.

"Well, as you can see, the owner of the weapon isn't with us at the moment. She's too busy hunting the wrong guy."

"The wrong guy?" I asked, confused. "I have the bow."

The Gods sat up, staring at me. I had just admitted to taking Artemis' Bow. Admitted to stealing from a Goddess.

"You didn't take it, though. I did."

The Gods burst up in a frenzy of conversation, causing Tim to jump. They all sat up to look at Ares, evidently pissed off that he would do something so reckless.

"You took it?" Athena yelled. "And you tried to blame Perseus? AGAIN?"

Ares sat triumphantly in his chair, ignoring the frenzy of bashings he was getting form his family. He stared at me and rolled his shoulders, as if he was saying, "Can you believe these people?"

I stood there trying to collect myself. Although I'm glad no one had truly addressed Tim or I, mainly because demigods weren't supposed to be allowed on Olympus in the first place. The rule wasn't really holding up all too well, if I do say so myself.

The throne room doors burst open again, to reveal my worst fears come to life: Artemis and her Hunters, armed and ready to kill me at any given second.

"Give me. The bow. NOW." Artemis grunted, obviously exhausted from following me to camp and then to Olympus.

"What is the meaning of this, daughter?" Zeus bellowed, genuinely confused.

"I am charging Perseus Jackson with theft and the murder of a Deity."

They can charge you for defending yourself form a murderous God? Wait, she said "murder"…

The bow suddenly appeared in my hands, and the Hunters, Artemis, and Athena gasped. Naturally, I just sat there with my half-deformed thinking face.

"What the?—" I inquired. Artemis looked at her bow, then at me, with awe.

"I-it answers…y-you?" she stammered. The bow gleamed and hummed gracefully while clutched in my hands. Never had I thought that her bow had a "worthiness enchantment." I stood still, waiting to be killed on the spot.

"I didn't do it...I mean, I did it, but I didn't do it—" I rambled. I was too scared for my life to come up with an intelligent response.

Artemis summoned her bow to her hand, and it immediately teleported there at her will.

"Just because it has deemed you worthy does not make you fit to weild it," she snapped at me. "Girls, hold your fire."

Immediately, the girls exchanged reassuring glares to each other and lowered their bows.

"Percy Jackson," she began, "Son of Poseidon, Savior of Olympus. Though I have trusted you for a short while and deemed you different from other men, you have failed me as all others have. Though disappointed, I will do what I must."

Tim still stood behind me, grabbing my shirt and looking up at me as if I was supposed to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, I was speechless as Artemis whispered orders top her Hunters, one of them being…Thalia.

Before I could even think of a story or an excuse, Thalia and another hunter, Mallory, walked over, clutching Tim and I with great force.

Artemis walked over slowly, staring at me with daggers.

"I wanted to believe you were different, Perseus. I wanted to believe that we could even work together on some level. Maybe, just maybe, I thought you were one of the only sensible, acceptable men left. And like all before you, you have chosen the low road over the one less traveled on. Not unlike your father, you have betrayed the ones who loved, trusted, and respected you for your own personal gain. Zoë would be ashamed of you."

My gut clenched. I didn't even do anything. And yet those words struck me like Zeus' Master Bolt.

"If you must act like a criminal, choosing harming another and stealing over virtue, then you will be treated as such. Take him to the Jails to be…executed."

Thalia, almost reluctantly, lowered her head so she couldn't meet my gaze and dragged me towards the exit. I had to say something.

"Wait! I didn't take your bow! I saved the camp, and—it just, appeared! In Ares' Chariot! Please! Artemis, I am different! I have to complete the mission! I have to stop Gaea! Don't do this!"

But the Gods just sat silently and watched on. The only sympathy I got was a saddened Aphrodite, a regrettable Apollo, and a pitying Hephaestus. All others judged me by what I looked like, and not by what truly happened. Even my father, who stood by me through everything, sat in disbelief and disappointment. I held on, desperately trying to shrug Thalia off.

"Dad! Dad, LOOK AT ME! I didn't do this! Please, you know who I am! It's me, it's Percy, please! Deimos attacked the camp! THREE of Aphrodite's daughters' shrouds are being burnt! They'll KILL me Gods dammit!"

He stayed still, forsaking his child.

Thalia grunted as she thrust me in the opposite direction. I used my free hand to turn her head, her electric eyes meeting my own sea green ones.

"Thalia…Thals, look at me! I didn't kill anyone. You know who I am. Look at me!"

I placed her hand over my chest.

"This is me. This right here. I wouldn't do this. I would kill someone…look at me!"

With her eyes now damp from mini-tears, she jerked her jaw out of my hand and pushed me towards the exit. A scared Tim glared at me expectantly, still waiting for me to jump up and tell him "surprise! It was all a prank that the Gods play on the new campers!"

Sadly, that wasn't the truth. We were being arrested and we were going to be killed, Timothy. That's what's happening. And as I was dragged away, out of the throne room, being abandoned by my technical family, only one word swam through my head. Revenge.

The God of War had tricked me again.

A/N: Either I just wrote it or Percy was just arrested. Oh. He was. But don't worry, things get pretty darn thrilling in the next couple chapters! Read and Review!

— Chris