AN: This will be my last update for a while. I'm going on vacation, but worry not, I will continue this story when I get back. Just don't worry if I don't answer your reviews or post another chapter during the next few weeks. I haven't abandoned it or you.

I woke up. It was time for my watch. Maria was shaking my shoulders and cursing at me in some weird language to wake up. I yawned and stretched, nearly hitting her in the face, and ambled to the edge of the clearing. Nothing eventful happened, unless you count Abigail's zombie-like sleep-walking. Isis tapped my back, signaling that since she was up I could stop kneeling in the cold mud. It was dawn, the sun barely peeking above the edge of the gorge. Since Scott and Julian still slept, and Abigail had settled back down, I left Maria and Isis to go get some privacy.

I stood at the edge of the river in the cool morning mist, with the sun just showing over the horizon, thinking about the events of the past two days. Had it only been two? As I bent over to wash my face in the river water, I felt the prism in my pocket. Holding it up to the rising sun, I threw a drachma into the light and said, "Great goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Camp Half-Blood." In the rainbow, I saw what I recognized as the dining pavilion, but something was wrong. Tables were overturned, food splattered the floor, and smoldering piles of ash dotted the area. Beyond, there was even more destruction. Patches of grass had been burned away. Farther away, where the cabins were, people were fighting in large disorganized mobs. Parts of roofs were missing and small explosion punctuated the roar of weapon strikes, battle cries, curses, and what sounded like heated debates. A haze of multicolored smoke hung over the chaos. My voice shook as I asked a question that no one was around to answer: "What happened here?"

Since everyone at camp was otherwise engaged, I figured no one would be answering me. Time for Plan B. I tossed another drachma into the light, this time asking for Annabeth. She appeared, tired and worried, dark circles under her eyes, wearing the same clothes as when I'd last spoken to her. "Yes? This'd better be important. I have to stop Percy from charging Zeus with his sword."

"Have you seen what's happened at camp?!"

"Unfortunately. Everyone's been taking sides. The Big Three kids are being evacuated and hidden from Zeus's wrath. It's been really tense, and Chiron couldn't control everyone. The Ares and Athena cabins have been at each other's throats for days. They only started fighting last night, though. The Hephaestus kids have been busy, supplying weapons to both sides. It's getting bloody. No one's died yet, thank the gods, though they haven't been helping matters. Zeus is offering big rewards to anyone who joins his side, and our only hope for a mostly peaceful outcome is you. You need to hurry." And then she disappeared.

After that, I woke the others and we decided on what to do next. Short of flying, there was no way to get to Colorado quickly enough. Even the train wouldn't cut it. And flying was out, because of Zeus's lovely temper recently. Unfortunately, no one had a special power that allowed them to appear in a completely different place, taking other people with them, so we were stuck using the train, anxiously chewing off our fingernails, wishing it would go faster.

But two days later, when we were going through Kansas, all Hades broke loose. The lights flickered out, and even though it was mid afternoon, the pitch black sky made it seem like midnight. Then the train slowed down and stopped. People screamed and ran back and forth from window to window, trying to grasp what was going on. I set down the newspaper, still thinking about a disturbing article involving widespread earthquakes across the U.S and small tsunamis swamping Florida. Wildfires had spread to the whole southwest, caused mostly by lightning strikes and volcanoes where there had never been volcanoes before. And although it was devastating, it was nothing compared to what would happen if we didn't succeed in our quest. The train rocked, tipping precariously off the track. "What do we do?" moaned Abigail, panicked. "Are we going to die here?"

"If you die your father will put you in Elysium. I won't be so lucky with mine," snapped Maria.

"Shut up, all of you. This is no time to bicker. We need to get out of here," shouted Isis, trying to maintain her authority. Amazingly, we all listened to her. Even Scott, who had been celebrating his return to consciousness by telling jokes and insulting people at the tops of his lungs, was silent. "Run for the exit, and STAY TOGETHER!" The door was jammed, and Maria had to kick it down. The cars were still swaying as the rumbling grew louder. "We'll have to jump. Ready... now!"

We jumped off, narrowly avoiding being squashed by the train car, which had tipped past the point of no return and fell on its side. People inside screamed louder. "Shouldn't we help them?" asked Julian hesitantly. "They're trapped in there."

"We need to help ourselves first. The employee people are trained to deal with stuff like this. Not us. Get moving." Isis tugged his hand, which tugged my heart, and he followed reluctantly. We had hardly gotten anywhere when the rumbling ended its great crescendo in a large crack in the earth right in front of the stopped train. When we looked back, we saw a large fireball streak down from the sky and hit the spot where we had just been. Zeus was trying to kill us, and what Poseidon's motives for that earthquake were I could only guess. "Run. Now."

We ran, through the pouring rain and growing thunder, chased by flames spreading rapidly across the prairie. The wind whipped in our faces, slowing us down. The rain driving at our eyes was mixed with hail. Despite the raging fire, the temperature had dropped enough to make us freezing cold. A couple times one of us slipped on the wet grass, but the sheets of rain were so thick I couldn't see who. I heard Scott say that he was tired, and Isis snapped back, "D'you want to die here? That's what will happen if you stop and rest." He kept running, but he wouldn't be able to keep up for long. He hadn't fully recovered yet. None of us could keep running indefinitely. The wildfire was gaining, and the wind grew stronger until the rain wasn't falling; it was being blown vertically. The ground became a slick of mud, made slicker by the grass plastered flat by the wind and water. It was impossible. We were doomed.

A rabbit hole, long since abandoned, caught my foot, twisting my ankle. It may have broken, but I wasn't sure over the roaring of the elements. I could feel the heat of the blaze on my back. It felt like a good break from the sleet and hail until sparks began jumping onto my back, singeing my shirt. The rain pinged off the ground, tossing mud in my eyes and mouth. I could hardly see, could barely breathe, and in about a second I was gonna be a pile of ashes. Abigail slipped, and her foot shot behind her, into my head. I tasted blood, saw stars before my eyes. Everything went blurry and out of focus. Time seemed to slow down. Abigail's fall looked like it took an eternity or two. I never saw it end. There was a flash of gold light, then everything went black. For the second time that week, I was certain that the end was nigh. They call me a pessimist, but how would you feel if you were in my place, cheery and optimistic?

Anyway, a series of visions and voices ran through my head: a fierce, familiar-looking woman arguing with a bearded surfer; the same woman, hugely pregnant, pleading with the man, who responded angrily ("That child will be no son of mine. I curse you... and him!"); the woman talking to a little girl ("Hope you never meet another child of Poseidon. They have his favor and you do not."); and Maria with her bag, waving goodbye to the woman, who looked like her. ("I have to go. Maybe I'll find him and convince him to forgive you.") A golden glow seeped into my eyelids. 'What is this?' I thought. 'Hades is supposed to be dark and gloomy.'

I heard the vague sound of raised voices and swords being drawn, along with the sensation of flying, and pain from somewhere near my foot. I shivered and tried to move my hand. It worked. I felt something warm; a hand, an arm. Next I tried blinking, and saw a geometric patterned carpet moving beneath me. To my left was an arm, muscular and dripping wet, with a strange golden watch around its wrist. To my right was a mass of sodden dark hair. A strong hand held my shoulder and a smaller hand grasped my ankle. "Let's put them on the bed." I didn't recognize the voice. I closed my eyes, and felt myself being lowered onto a soft blanket, face up. I concentrated on ignoring the pain and thinking about what had happened. I had just been struck unconscious for the second time in a week, and both times someone else had to save me. Why couldn't I just stay awake, for Athena's sake! The moment I asked, I knew why: the gods wanted to show me stuff in dreams, and for dreams I had to be not awake. But why would they want me to see people's pasts? I'd figure it out later. For now I would find out why people were fighting.

I sat up and saw Isis, Maria, Julian, Scott, and the stranger with the golden watch debating about something with swords drawn and practically at each other's throats. "What's happening?"

"He," Isis shook her sword in the direction of watch-boy, "shows up and expects to come with us, just like that. No questions asked. I can't allow that."

"You did for me," I reminded her.

"But I knew you. I knew I could trust you. I don't him, and he refuses to tell us anything." She threw him a dirty look before glaring at me. "And I may be starting to regret the decision to include you."

"Maybe you're just asking the wrong questions," added Maria logically. We swung around to gape at her. "Look at it this way: I wouldn't answer, either, with the things you've been asking. And the way you act like you're interrogating terrorists isn't exactly the most encouraging."

"Could we stop talking about him like he can't understand us. Because I think he actually can," remarked watch-boy, dry humor in his voice. "Why don't we try with asking him his name? It happens to be Crius, in case you were wondering. He is also one of the half-bloods mentioned in the Great Prophecy and has his own prophecy for this quest, one of the parts of which mentions him traveling with you."

"We know who he is now. Just let him come with us. And anyway, if it comes to a fight, the six of us can beat one of him," Julian reasoned. "C'mon."

"Fine," sighed Isis, defeated. "One more question: who is your immortal parent?"

"You won't like it."

"Just tell me."

"Okay."

"Well... who is it?"

"You're really not going to like it." I had a sneaking suspicion I knew who it was, I did not like it. I prayed to every god who didn't hate me that I was wrong.

"I don't care. I need to know," she said impatiently.

"Who my immortal parent is?

"Yes. Hurry up and tell me," she snapped, exasperated.

"You asked for it." He shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, I am Crius L'Hora, son of Cronus." The silence that fell was thicker then the storm clouds outside. I was right.

AN: Heyo. I tried to answer some of my own complaints about this story in this chappie, and I also used one of Tamora Pierce's (SHE IS AN AMAZING AUTHOR) tips for getting over writer's block: write a scene with a new character that forces the others to react. Crius was originally supposed to some in later, but I used him now. For those writer's block tips, go to Tamora Pierce's website, and go to the FAQ page. Somewhere along there is "How do you deael with writer's block?" Hope it helps some of you fellow writers out there.

Also, a few moments in this chapter were based off other books. The part when the train stops was inspired by the scene is HP: Prisoner of Azkaban when the dementors board the train to look for Sirius Black and Harry passes out. The conversation between Crius and Isis. (You're really not going to like it) is from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when the people are trying to get Deep Thought to tell them the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. (They didn't like it either) I changed some of the words but it's basically the same thing.