A/N: I'm going to be perfectly honest here; I didn't take much time to review this. I managed to catch some mistakes. Most of the mistakes I do make are only due to the fact that I tend to think a little faster than I type. So, if there are any grammatical and/or spelling mistakes present, feel free to point it out. I'm not the kind of person to jump all over someone like that. I favor constructive criticism.

Moving on from that pointless topic, here is chapter four. Excuse the ridiculous name. I was actually seriously considering using "Destination is in the Beholder of the Eye," but I try and direct myself away from being too lame. So, I settled for one I thought of in matter of two or three seconds.

Hope you enjoy reading. Reviews are appreciated, and questions of any sort are always welcomed.

Disclaimer: I'm not a forty-year-old male residing in Texas (no offense to Rick), so I can not honestly say that I own PJO.

An Eye for a Tooth

Percy was used to unusual days. Being a demigod, it was almost expected that a monster or two show up. But it wasn't everyday that another child of the Big Three—one of his best friends, in fact—showed up, along with Annabeth, who somehow knew he would be in trouble. The son of Poseidon trusted his friends with his life. He just couldn't help but find it a little bit creepy that they happened to pop in and fight alongside him.

He followed Thalia down the roads, feeling Tyson running along with them. Eventually, they found themselves pulled into an alley. His first reaction was to scream and thrash his arms, but he saw it was Annabeth who snatched them. He was thankful that he hadn't released a high-pitched scream. He knew the girls would never let him live it down.

A fire truck wailed in the distance, and Percy surmised it was heading towards his burning school.

Annabeth pointed at Tyson, wrinkling her nose. "Where'd you find him?"

Thalia grimaced at the mention of Tyson. Percy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Why were both of his closest friends acting as if his new friend disgusted them? It was obvious that Tyson wasn't the most charming person in the world, but he was really friendly.

Why were Thalia and Annabeth acting this way? They didn't even know him, so who were they to judge? After Tyson had saved their lives, the least Thalia could do was say a thanks. But no, she was appearing just as disgruntled as the daughter of Athena. Frankly, the demigod didn't get it.

"He's my friend," Percy said, glancing at the uncomfortable girls. "Why does it matter?"

"Is he homeless?" the daughter of Athena questioned again, ignoring his inquiry.

"What does that have to do with anything?" the son of Poseidon snapped. "He can hear, you know. Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Thalia looked to Annabeth, cutting off whatever the blonde had been about to say. "Yeah," she said. "He can talk. You shouldn't look so surprised. You, of all people, should remember—"

Annabeth raised a hand to silence the daughter of Zeus. The dark-haired demigoddess looked angered, but chose not to say anything more. Percy thought the affronted look on her face was a little cute, and he had always liked the way her nose twitched. It kind of reminded him of a bunny.

The blonde looked to Tyson reluctantly. "Can you talk?" she asked him cautiously.

He nodded, flashing his goofy smile. "I can talk," he affirmed. "You are pretty." He looked to Thalia next. "You are Percy's girlfriend."

The son of Poseidon gaped. He and Thalia had gone on a date, but they weren't dating. He couldn't believe Tyson had just said that in front of Annabeth. Now she was going to get the wrong idea and tell everyone at camp—namely, the children of Aphrodite.

"Ah! Gross!" the daughter of Athena exclaimed, flushing a violent red. Her head snapped towards Thalia, and she scowled. "So, you two are dating now?"

The children of the Big Three had the gall to blush. No matter what either of them said now, she wasn't going to believe them. But, he had to say something. He told her no, and the daughter of Zeus flashed him a strange, unintelligible look. He couldn't figure out for the life of him what it meant, but he chose not to focus too long on it.

Percy suddenly remembered his friend's possible injuries, and glanced down at Tyson's hands. They were grimy, dirty, and huge—no different than they usually were. How had he not been hurt? His hands looked unaffected from the various flaming cannonballs.

"Tyson," the son of Poseidon said in disbelief. "You aren't even hurt?"

"No duh," the brunette muttered in response, kicking the alley wall with the toe of her boot.

"I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the nerve to attack you with him around," the daughter of Athena remarked with a sneer marring her pretty features. She flinched away and smacked Tyson on the hand when he tried to touch her beautiful blond hair.

Percy didn't know why she was getting so defensive. She was a pretty girl—anyone with eyes would know that much—and Tyson had obviously taken a liking to her. It was completely normal, but she didn't have to be so snippy about it. Even if he wasn't the best looking guy, Tyson still had feelings.

"Annabeth," the daughter of Zeus said. "He's never heard of Laistrygonads before. This is the first he's seen them."

"Did you just say gonads?" the blonde inquired with a sassy raise of her eyebrows.

Percy laughed aloud. Even though Tyson obviously didn't get the joke, he found himself chuckling as well. It was childlike, and the other three looked at him strangely. The son of Poseidon had never had the fortune of hearing his friend laugh. In a way, he sort of liked it. He knew Tyson didn't have the best life. He deserved happiness.

"Never mind that," Thalia replied, a little embarrassed. Percy smiled. It was actually kind of endearing. "He doesn't know what they are."

Annabeth sighed, looking to the son of Poseidon. "Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who mostly reside up north. Do you remember them from the tales of Odysseus?"

Percy nodded slowly. "Lasitry—forget it, I can't say that. What would you call them in English?"

The daughter of Athena pondered the idea for a moment. "Canadians," she decided with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."

Thalia grew a stern expression, and it reminded him of Zeus when he received his master bolt. It was a sign that she was ready to get down to business and didn't care whom she would have to drag around in order to do so.

"What about the police?" she questioned, placing her hands on her hips. "You know they have to be after us…again."

Percy instantly caught on to what she was referring to. Just the summer before, police officials had chased them all across America. They had been involved in a national manhunt. He wasn't looking forward to that all over again.

"That's the least of our problems," Annabeth answered distractedly. She glanced to the daughter of Zeus, concern evident in her eyes. "Have you…heard?"

Heard about what? Percy wondered. He certainly hadn't heard. He really hoped she didn't do the whole "the bird is the word" thing.

Thalia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Like…have you been having the dreams?" the blonde clarified, wringing the bill of her baseball cap almost nervously.

The daughter of Zeus paled before swallowing thickly. She nodded carefully, not willing to meet the other girl's knowing eyes. "Yeah," she answered. "I was worried it was true. Now I guess I know that it is."

The son of Poseidon stared quietly. So, had they been having the dreams about Grover as well? Why was Thalia acting so anxious, then? She and Grover had never been particularly close, even though they were friends. She wouldn't be this freaked about his disappearance, would she?

"Dreams?" he asked. "You've been having the ones about Grover, too?"

The girls shot him identical looks of surprise. Annabeth shook her head slowly. "No," she said. "What about Grover? What's happened to him?"

"Yeah," the daughter of Zeus joined in. "What's going on with him? Is he still searching for Pamela?"

"Pan," Annabeth corrected without blinking an eyelash.

Percy had always admired that about her. Even if he sometimes found it annoying, he felt as if her personality balanced out the recklessness of Thalia and him.

"Tell us about your dream," the daughter of Athena said, cutting off his line of thought. "And hurry. We don't have forever."

The son of Poseidon obliged. "I was in some beach town, and there was a bad storm. It was Florida, I'm pretty sure. I thought it was a normal dream at first, but then I turned and saw Grover trotting away for all that he was worth."

"He was running from something," the daughter of Zeus surmised, her dark eyebrows strewn together in thought.

"He looked like he had escaped from some island or something, I don't know," Percy continued. "I heard some kind of large beast yelling. It was hard to hear over the storm, but it was pretty distinct. Then I saw its shadow."

"What was it?" Tyson asked, intrigued, even though he obviously had no idea who or what Grover was.

From the corner of his eye, Percy saw Thalia briefly smile and it was enough to send a strange sense of warmth through him. For a second, she hadn't been hostile to Tyson. Unfortunately, the smile dissipated quickly and she regained her stern composure.

"I—I'm not totally sure. But, it was big enough to knock aside a street lamp."

Thalia and Annabeth shared a look.

"That could be a lot of monsters," the daughter of Zeus said, as if waiting for the blonde to say exactly what it had been.

Annabeth looked just as lost, which was unusual. "Keep describing the dream."

"It shook the ground, and Grover kept trying to get away," the son of Poseidon began again. "He ran into a bridal boutique to hide. He ducked behind a rack of wedding dresses, but the monster—whatever it was—found him. Lightning flashed, and then it yelled once it spotted him. But, I didn't get a look at what it was."

Annabeth nodded. "That's very…puzzling."

"Why? What did you two dream about?" Percy asked.

Thalia released a tired breath of air. "It's my tree."

Sea green eyes widened. "What's wrong with your tree? And, what does that have to do with anything?"

"I've been…I've been feeling everything," the daughter of Zeus answered timidly, hoping the two demigods wouldn't be too stunned. "There's trouble at camp. The tree was supposed to protect the borders…"

"But something has happened to it," Annabeth said. Her gray eyes grew stormy and wild as she turned to look at her tallest friend. "Thalia, what do you mean you've been feeling everything?"

"There's no time to explain," she said in response. "I don't even know how to explain in the first place. We have to get to camp and see what's going on."

To say the least, Percy was concerned. All of his friends at camp were in danger, and that was like a second home to him. If anything bad happened to it, he didn't know what he'd do.

Something occurred to him as he glanced to the daughter of Zeus. She had told him of something unfortunate that had happened on her birthday. She had claimed Hera, the Queen of the Gods, marked her and she had sent him a picture of it. Even though the picture was obviously real, it was still a lot to take in.

"What about the tattoo?" he asked suddenly, taking the brunette by surprise.

She rolled up the sleeve of her jacket and showed the black symbol to him. It was a landing eagle, and he found it slightly suspicious that it was also a sign of her father. Wouldn't Hera mark her with a symbol or animal of her own? After all, a tattoo of a peacock would really irritate the daughter of Zeus.

"Wow," Annabeth said. "You weren't kidding."

"Cool," Tyson murmured immaturely, finding it absolutely fascinating. He reached out to run his fingers along her wrist, but Thalia quickly jerked back and rolled her sleeve back down.

He appeared hurt, and Percy flashed the daughter of Zeus an annoyed glance. Honestly, he didn't see why people had to be so judgmental. Being a runaway and from the streets, Thalia should sympathize with Tyson.

"We'll get to the bottom of that later," the daughter of Athena said. "I feel like that can wait. Have monsters been trying to prevent you from nearing camp? I had to fight my way through Virginia."

Percy shook his head. "I haven't gotten attacked…with the exception of today."

"I got attacked a couple times," Thalia admitted. "Some creature named Lamia a day or two ago, and a hellhound this morning."

"Lamia?" Annabeth gasped in surprise. "Oh, gods. It's worse than I thought."

"Lamia?" Percy asked. "Who the hell is that?"

The daughter of Zeus shrugged. "She looked like a vampire."

The blonde demigoddess shot them both a look that managed to shut them up. "It's not safe to discuss until we get to camp." She looked to Tyson. "He's been keeping the monsters away from you all year, Percy. He better come, too."

Tyson raised his hand, as if he thought he was talking to a staff of teachers. "Canadians called Percy something…Son of the Sea God?"

Thalia ran her tongue slowly over her teeth, and her body tensed up. The son of Poseidon frowned. She usually did that when she was preparing herself for a fight. But, why would she feel that way around his homeless friend? It was frankly becoming ridiculous.

"Big guy," Percy said. "You ever hear those stories of the Greek gods. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena—"

"Yes," Tyson answered immediately.

Percy was slightly taken back, but he decided to continue. "Well, the gods still exist today. They follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries. And, sometimes the gods have mortal children. The kids are called half-bloods."

"Yes," Tyson repeated again, as if he were waiting for Percy to hurry up and get to whatever his point was.

"Uh, Thalia, Annabeth, and I are half-bloods. H.I.T."

"H.I.T?" the daughter of Zeus cut in. "We're hoes-in-training?"

Annabeth snorted, flashing Thalia an incredulous smile. "He totally meant heroes-in-training. Keep with the terms, Ozone."

Percy rolled his eyes, ignoring their comments. "When monsters pick up our scents, they track us and try to kill us. That's what those giants were in the gym. Monsters."

"Yes."

The son of Poseidon stared at the tall boy in confusion. "So…you believe me?"

Tyson nodded. "But…you are Son of the Sea God?"

Why was he still hung up on that?

"Yeah," Percy answered. "My father is Poseidon."

Finally, the boy looked confused. "But…"

A siren wailed. Not a second too late, a police patrol car raced past the alley.

"We don't have time for this," the daughter of Athena said. "We'll talk in the freaking taxi. This is pointless."

"A taxi all the way to camp?" Percy asked, raising his eyebrows. For a daughter of Athena, she wasn't thinking too clearly. "You know how much money that will cost us?"

Thalia's sparkling eyes widened, and Percy had to force himself to look away from them. "No," she said, intimidated by Annabeth's plan. The son of Poseidon grew suspicious. Not much intimidated her. "You're not seriously considering—"

"Trust me," the daughter of Athena said.

"You know about children of Zeus and the Graeae," the brunette responded heatedly. "Perseus—"

"Yes, I know," Annabeth interrupted her again. "Thalia, just trust me. They aren't going to be pissed to see you or anything. We'll pay them. They'll take us where we need to be without any trouble."

Graeae? Where had Percy heard that before?

The four of them snuck through the side streets of downtown as the school smoked behind them. Annabeth stopped them on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She dug through her dirty backpack until she found a drachma.

Before she could do anything with it, the daughter of Zeus reached out and gently grabbed onto her arm. The blonde sent her friend a look of confusion, to which Thalia answered, "I'm worried about you. Are you all right?"

Annabeth flushed. "I'm fine," she threw out shyly, shrugging the other girl off. "I've just had a really hard time getting here."

Thalia breathed in sharply, shooting the son of Poseidon an expression of concern. For one of the first times ever, he understood how she was feeling. She cared for Annabeth greatly, and Wise Girl wasn't looking all too good. There were claw marks in her clothing and she was cut in several places. Percy wanted to hunt down the monsters that dare harm her and teach them a lesson, but he suspected she would have already killed them.

Despite his better instincts, the son of Poseidon couldn't restrain his ADHD. "Annabeth, New York taxi drivers won't take that."

"Stêthi," she shouted in Ancient Greek. Thalia gulped, tugging the hem of her bleached jean hoodie nervously. "Ô hárma diabolês!"

Stop, Chariot of Damnation! Percy recognized. That certainly didn't sound good. He kind of got why Thalia was looking so unnerved.

Annabeth threw the coin to the asphalt, and it sank through and disappeared. The spot where the drachma had sunken darkened remarkably. A dark burgundy pool formed and bubbled like saliva out of a toddler's mouth. Erupting from the blood red puddle, a car appeared.

Percy had never seen a taxi like that before, as it was so unlike any in New York. It was a bland gray. He kind of expected more extravagance from a car that formed from a pool of blood. He felt like it should have had horns or flames painted on it—something that either screamed badass or white trash.

Instead, it looked almost transparent. Along the side of the vehicle, distinct script was displayed. It took Percy a while, but he eventually deciphered it.

GRAY SISTERS

The son of Poseidon stared aghast at the vehicle. There was no way.

The passenger window rolled down and an old woman popped her head out. She had a greasy mop of gray hair, masking a majority of her face. Her voice resembled that of a slurring drunk, or maybe a delusional dental patient.

"Passage?" she said. "Passage?"

"Four to Camp Half-Blood," the daughter of Athena replied. She opened the back car door and ushered Thalia in. The daughter of Zeus obliged hesitantly, watching where she stepped in a paranoid manner.

"Ach!" the woman screamed, pointing at Tyson. "We don't take his kind!"

"Three more coins upon arrival," Annabeth bargained.

"Done!"

The son of Poseidon made a move to get in, and the blonde demigoddess sneered spitefully. "We may not have enough room. You'd better hurry up and crawl in your girlfriend's lap."

Percy glared. He wasn't angered by the idea of Thalia being his girlfriend, but Annabeth's attitude about it pissed him off. Even if they were dating, why would she be so hateful towards it? She had tried to do the same thing while they were at camp during the summer. He didn't know why she was doing it, but he didn't like it.

"Listen—" he began, but the daughter of Zeus cut him off.

"Get in the damn car."

"Listen to your girlfriend," Annabeth whispered, her cheeks heated.

He slipped in beside Thalia, pressing his body firmly against hers. "We have to make room," he answered her look of irritation. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "It's cool."

Her scent filled his nostrils and frankly, it was pretty damn distracting. Even if she had traveled all the way from Boston, she didn't smell sweaty. She smelled almost like cool peppermint. He didn't know if she was wearing any perfume, or if that was the way she had always smelled. He hadn't paid much attention to it before.

The daughter of Athena sat next to him, squishing him even further into Thalia. "Why did I pick the window seat?" he heard the brunette mutter. "I'm going to be the first to fly out."

"Fly out?" he asked, catching her off guard. "What do you mean, fly out? I'm sure we won't be going fast enough for that to happen."

"You'll see," she promised grimly with a scoff.

Tyson got in last, shutting the door behind him.

Eventually, Percy's eyes drifted to the front seat. What he saw didn't shock him too much, seeing as he already expected three women to be there. The Gray Sisters. They all looked similar, with the same mop-like hair and identical bony fingers. The three of them were crammed together uncomfortably, much like the four in the backseat.

The sister directly behind the wheel shrieked in delight. "Ha, Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus!"

Without warning, she floored the accelerator, sending the demigods and their acquaintance flying forward. Percy and Thalia conked heads, and Annabeth slammed into the headrest. Tyson hit the window, but he seemed perfectly undeterred.

A prerecorded voice—kind of like an advertisement on a radio station—played through the speakers: Hi, this Ganymede, cupbearer to Zeus, and when I'm out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!

Percy thought he would lighten up the situation and mumbled to Thalia, "I think your dad may be an alcoholic."

Thalia fixed him with narrowed ice blue eyes, and he regretted saying anything at all. He should've suspected that it was a touchy subject for her. He muttered his apology before steadying himself and glancing straight ahead.

The cab raced around a corner and the lady in the middle screamed, "Watch out! Go left!"

The driver growled. "Well, if you gave me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!"

Give her the eye?

Percy hadn't suspected the entirety of the old myths to be true. If they only had one eye, then that meant they only had one—

"Wasp!" the third lady yelled at the driver. "Give me the girl's coin! I want to bite it."

"You bit it last time, Anger!" said the driver—or Wasp, as her sisters had called her. "It's my turn!"

"Is not!" replied Anger.

Tempest, the one in the middle, screeched, "Red light!"

"Brake!" yelled Anger.

Rather than stop, the driver slammed down on the accelerator and drove up on the curb, steered quickly around another corner, and managed to knock into several mailboxes and newspaper stands. Percy felt as if he were about to lose his lunch.

Thalia was pale and clutching the seat, and Annabeth didn't look much better. Tyson looked about ready to wet his pants, and part of Percy feared he would.

"Excuse me," the son of Poseidon said hesitantly. "Can you…see?"

"No!" screamed Wasp.

"No!" echoed Tempest.

The one on the far right, Anger, yelled, "Of course!"

Tyson groaned loudly—a sound that caught the attention of the demigods—and gripped the seat until his hands paled. "Don't feel so good," he panted out.

Percy made a face of disgust. It was never a desired thing for Tyson to throw up. It was horrible. He couldn't count how many times he had been unfortunate enough to see it during a field trip.

"Oh man," the son of Poseidon said. "Hang in there, Big Guy. Anyone have a garbage bag or something?"

The sisters were too busy arguing with one another to bother glancing back. The daughter of Zeus closed her eyes tightly, and Percy had the urge to soothe her. He managed to convince himself not to, as he realized he didn't wish to anger her even further. She was probably still angry about his thoughtless jibe.

Percy glanced to Annabeth. "What made you think this would be a good idea?"

"This is the fastest way to camp!" the girl defended.

"We have had famous people in this cab!" Anger said proudly. "Jason! You remember him? Oh, and Perseus. That dirty, rotten—"

Thalia flinched at the names (although it appeared to be because of the former rather than the latter), sinking even further against his side.

"Don't remind me!" Wasp yelled. "And, we didn't have a car back then, you old bat! That was three thousand years ago."

"Give me the tooth!" Anger exclaimed and reached out to Wasp, but she was swatted away.

"Only if Tempest gives me the eye!"

"No!" Tempest screeched. "You had it yesterday."

"I'm the one driving!"

"Excuses! Turn! That was your turn!"

Wasp swerved onto a street, causing Percy's head to collide with Thalia's shoulder. He realized, inappropriately, that he was beginning to catch up to her height. He was nearly to her chin now.

Wasp slammed on the gas, and the car sailed onto Williamsburg Bridge. Unluckily for the demigods, the three sisters were now participating in an all-out brawl with each other. Anger grasped for Wasp, and Tempest attempted to shield the eye from her sisters. Eventually, Anger managed to grab onto the tooth and yanked it out of her sister's mouth.

Wasp swerved towards the edge of the bridge, yelling, "Give it back, you knucklehead!"

Tyson groaned again, and Percy swore that the whole cab shook.

The son of Poseidon cleared his throat loudly. "Uh, if anyone is interested," he said sarcastically. "We're going to die!"

Thalia shook her head wildly, as if trying to convince herself. "We'll be fine!" she screamed. "Oh, who am I kidding? We're not making it out of this alive!"

"Drama queens!" the daughter of Athena snapped, although she didn't look confident either. "They know what they're doing. They're really wise."

"I'm not so convinced," the daughter of Zeus muttered.

Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, his mossy yellow incisor gleaming. "Yes, wise! We know things!"

"Every street in Manhattan!" Wasp gloated. "The capital of Nepal."

Tempest added, "The location you seek!"

Her sisters nudged her roughly. "Shut up!" they screamed at her. "Be quiet! They didn't even ask yet!"

Thalia leaned forward with newfound interest, the color almost instantly returning to her face. "The location we seek?" she repeated. "Tell us!"

"Children of Zeus, so pushy! So pushy!" Anger reprimanded. "We shall not tell! Would not be so wise of the wise ones, eh?"

"Stop beating around the bush," Thalia commanded, adopting her infamous 'daughter of Zeus' tone. "Tell me!"

"No!" Tempest squealed. "Last time we told…horrible, horrible! Eye lost in the water. It took forever to find! No, no. We will not tell you what you desire!"

"Speaking of the eye," Wasp began. "Give it back!"

"No!"

Wasp started to pummel her sister. She hit her on the back of the head, causing the eye to pop from her face with a sickening plop!

The sisters fumbled for it, but only managed to incidentally knock it into the back seat. It landed on Percy's lap, and he threw himself into Annabeth, watching as the eye rolled beside Thalia's foot.

"I can't see!" all of the sisters yelled.

"Give me the eye!" Wasp screamed.

The daughter of Zeus stared down in utter repulsed shock. "I'm not getting near that…that thing!"

"Give her the eye!" Annabeth repeated.

The cab slammed against the guardrail and screeched along. Smoke billowed out of the nearly transparent vehicle, as if the car were about to explode.

"Going to be sick!" Tyson warned, his voice surprisingly high.

"Annabeth!" Percy said. "Let Tyson use your backpack!"

"Are you out of your mind? Use Thalia's bag!" the daughter of Athena cried. "And, Thalia, get the freaking eye!"

Wasp yanked on the wheel without warning, causing the car to spin away from the guardrail. They shot towards Brooklyn at the speed of light. The Gray Sisters continued to bully one another, crying out for their eye.

Thalia's mouth twisted in humiliation, before she ripped off a piece of Percy's shirt and leaned down to pick up the eye.

"My nipple!" he cried in protest, and she would've laughed if she weren't already busy trying not to recoil.

The daughter of Zeus picked up the eyeball, and Anger called out nervously, "Good little hero! Now, give it back!"

Thalia made a move to hand it forward, but found herself halted by the son of Poseidon. At her look of confusion, he said, "Gimme, gimme never gets. First, you three are going to explain something to us. What did you mean, the location we seek?"

"No time!" Tempest argued. "Accelerating!"

Sure enough, a glance out of the window affirmed her statement. Everything around them was a gray blur. They had exited Brooklyn, and were now shooting towards the middle of Long Island.

"They can't find our destination without the eye," Annabeth said. "Guys, just give it to them."

"Annie," Thalia said, her voice firm and leaving no room for argument. "We need to know what they're talking about. Percy is right."

"Of course you two would agree with each other," the daughter of Athena mumbled bitterly. "Out of all the things you could possibly choose to agree on…"

"Tell us what we need to know," Percy threatened, ignoring Annabeth's comments, "or Thalia will throw the eye out into traffic."

"No!" one of the sisters—Percy wasn't sure which one—yelled. "Too dangerous!"

"Thalia, roll down the window."

"Wait!" the Gray Sisters screamed together. "30, 31, 75, 12!"

The numbers seemed to click in Thalia's brain, and she extended her arm to hand Wasp the eye. "Hold on!" Percy said. "What does that mean?"

"That's all we can say! Hand it over!"

Camp was within sight. Percy spotted Thalia's tree at the top of the hill. He remembered what the girls had said earlier. Something bad had happened to it. He couldn't wait to find out what it was.

Thalia let the eye drop into the driving sister's lap. Wasp snatched it up and popped it into her eye socket and blinked.

"Whoa!" she shouted, and slammed on the brakes.

The taxi spun rapidly a good number of times and screeched on the farm road. It came to a halt eventually, and Percy noticed that they were now directly downhill from Camp Half-Blood.

Tyson burped loudly, and the daughter of Zeus made a fake gagging motion. Percy recalled something she had mentioned the summer before about hating belching. He didn't necessarily share her hatred, but even he had to agree that Tyson's burp had been pretty gross.

"All right," the son of Poseidon cleared the silence. "Now, tell me what those numbers mean."

"We don't have time for that!" the blonde demigoddess announced. "We have to get out now!"

Percy was about to ask why, but then he heard Thalia throw open the cab door. She slung her duffel bag about ten feet into the grass and pulled him out. Tyson and Annabeth piled out after them, and the cap dissipated back into the ground.

"What was the big rush?" Percy asked. "I don't—"

"Kelp Head, look, would you?" the daughter of Zeus asked, pointing towards her tree.

The dark-haired demigod let his attention be directed, and his eyes widened. His fingers tensed around Riptide, before he swiftly uncapped it. It shimmered into his trusted bronze sword, and he stared grimly about the crest of the hill.

Fire-breathing bulls were attempting to fight their way past the camp's boundaries, and few campers were fighting to hold them back.