So here is the 3rd chapter.

Hope you like it.

Annabeth's POV

Monsters were invading camp. Hellhounds were running at us and attacking the campers. Dracanae slithered along. Laistrygonian giants were bounding down from the hill, throwing giants boulders at the campers. Telkhines were biting and scratching at the campers. Empousa attacked the demigods as well. In short, all the monsters who were invading were attacking us.

But this is impossible. How can the monsters get through the camp's borders?

The fleece still hung on Thalia's tree. Nothing's even wrong with it. It looked as new as ever. It shone brightly as it reflected the sun's light.

Beside the tree was Peleus. He was standing on all fours and was looking everywhere around him. He was curled around Thalia's pine tree like a snake. He was doing all he can to protect the fleece. So far, no monsters were daring to come near him.

Thalia was stabbing and hacking every monster she comes across to. Sometimes, she would call down lightning and scorch several monsters. Occasionally, she would give a yell or a battle cry. Sometimes, she would throw her spear at a monster. She would also use Aegis as a frisbee, throwing it at the monster's faces.

Nico was summoning a few skeletons. Some carried machine guns. Others wielded a sword or a bow and arrow. Nico would bark a few orders at the skeletons. They would sometimes nod. Sometimes, do a salute. Nico was adding a great deal of warriors to our numbers. Ever since the battle against Kronos, Nico's stamina has greatly increased, allowing him to use his powers more often.

Grover was using his reed pipes, summoning vines and using the vines to wrap around some monsters and then pull them underground. Sometimes, the vines just squeezed the life out of a certain monster. Or the vines would go inside the monster through the mouth then just mess with the monsters insides, killing it. That was pretty disgusting if you ask me.

There were archers, hidden in the trees and bushes, notching arrows at the enemy. Some demigods were setting traps like Greek fire in front of a line of archers.

I also noticed that the campers have formed ranks. Clarisse barked orders at the campers and kills any monsters near her. So far, there were campers on the front line, battling with the monsters. Behind them, were ranks of archers and swordsmen and those with long, pointy spears. I figured that when the demigods in the front line have fallen, the archers would launch a volley of arrows.

That's exactly what happened, the moment the demigods on the front line fell to the ground dead, the archers fired a volley of arrows at the monsters.

I estimate that about thirty monsters were hit and have exploded into dust. The others remaining just charged at the archers at a great speed. The archers launched another volley, killing the charging monsters.

But everytime a hoarde of monsters would disintegrate, many more would replace them. Even with the archers launching volley after volley, the monsters were getting closer to the well formed ranks of defense.

Then the monsters got too close. The traps laid by the demigods were trigerred and the monsters in front caught on Greek fire. The others in the back stopped running. Some made a few steps back. They waited until the fires died. Then they charged. Some hesitated and just growled and snarled.

The archers in front of the rank made their way to the back. Some joined the archers hidden in the trees and bushes.

Now, those in the rank's front were armed with spears. They laid the spears in front of them. Some monsters ran straight into the spears and disintegrated. Some who weren't hit ran bumped those in front of the rank and knocked them to the ground. Some of the demigods were trampled and walked on.

This battle was starting to look like those of the movie "The Lord of the Rings."

Those in the middle of the rank drew their swords and attacked. As the rank was destroyed, the fight spread throughout camp.

I spotted Rachel riding Chiron and Chiron was galloping towards the Big House. He must be trying to find a safe place to keep her. She coudn't fight after all.

Right then, I felt so stupid and useless just standing in the doorway of the Athena cabin watching the battle go on. I ran back to my bunk and grabbed my invisibility cap.

I put it on and vanished. Then I ran outside to help the others.

I did what I usually do in a battle. Sneak quietly to a monster then stab it before it could react. My problem was the monsters won't stay still. I can't get close enough to stab them without being hit by a swinging tail.

So what I did is I throw my knife at them. Then I'd just run to my knife (while invisible of course) and pick it up. Then I'd just throw it at the monster nearest to me. I kept this up for at least 10 minutes. I think I was able to kill 18 monsters, although I sometimes miss because like I said earlier, they wouldn't stay still. I usually targeted draecanae and hellhounds.

I killed another hellhound then picked up my knife from the ground. I prepared myself for my next kill.

I was looking for an empousa but instead, I spotted a telkhine sneaking up on Grover. Grover was too busy with the fight to notice.

I tightened the cap on my head then ran to him, evading swinging swords. I also avoided bumping into monsters because my cap might fall off or I might trip. I kept one hand on my knife, the other on my cap.

The telkhine was getting closer to Grover, who was still busy with his reed pipes. I put on a burst of speed. And that's when my problem came. I was running so fast that I barely had time to react when a hellhound slammed into me. It just appeared in front of me. So it must've been shadow travelling.

The hellhound looked dazed. It shook it's head a couple of times then trotted away.

Then I realized that I lost both of my things. I could no longer feel my cap on my head and my other hand wasn't holding my knife. I frantically searched for them on the ground. I looked like someone whose glasses just fell off and couldn't see a thing.

I glanced at Grover. It may be too late!

But what I saw relieved me.

Grover was looking down at the telkhine who was stuck on quicksand. I didn't notice it before but Grover has surrounded himself with quicksand. The telkhine was angrily snarling at him. But it was soon buried in the quicksand from head to toe.

I sighed in relief.

Grover played a new tune and stones appeared on the quicksand. He slung his reed pipes on his waist and hopped from rock to rock until he got across. He drew his reed pipes again and played a new melody. Around 8 small leaves sprouted out of the ground and slowly grew. Their growth sped up as Grover intensified his playing. The leaves grew and grew until their bodies turned into that of a tree's and were as big as him.

Arms and feet grew out of the plants' bodies. The arms and feet looked exactly like that of a human's. Except they were green. Grover added a new tune to the melody and heads appeared in the plants. I recognized the heads as that of a Venus Flytrap's. Grover has summoned 8 hybrid plants. He said something to them and then proceeded to join the battle, the hybrid plants right behind him.

Grover played a different melody while the hybrid plants bit the monsters with their heads. Sometimes, the plants' arms would morph into a sharp spike and they would use it to stab at the enemy.

If a monster manages to cut the plants, vines would sprout out of the cut body parts and reconnect them. It was amazing!

Grover did an excellent job on the plants.

I decided to continue looking for my knife and cap. I'll need them if I'm planning to help around.

I was looking all over the ground until I felt strong hands grab me by the shoulders. I looked up to face a giant. It's angry eyes pierced through mine before it tossed me away like an old toy. I landed on the side of my right arm which, I guessed, will soon have a bruise.

I turned my head and spotted the giant coming closer to me. I also caught a glimpse of something shining. I shielded my eyes to protect them from the blinding light. I scooted over to the left to get a better view of the shiny object.

It was my knife!

The sun was shining directly on it and it reflected the light towards my eyes. But before I could stand to get it, I heard a roar in front of me.

I turned my head and saw the giant. His two big arms were raised above it's head. I rolled to the side as his arms smashed the ground where I was. The place where the giant smashed his hands created a big crack.

I stood up and ran as fast as I can to my knife. The giant, on the other hand, roared then chased after me.

Occasionally, I would look behind me and see the giant closing in. I put on a burst of speed and didn't notice the tree root in my way.

My foot got caugh so I tripped and landed on my elbows, which immediately had wounds. The blood trickled down and dripped all the way to my fingers. The skin was deeply cut. I noticed that the skin rubbed hard against a jagged rock.

I turned again and saw that the giant has stopped. But I realized that he only stopped to pick up a boulder. It was a big boulder. The giant had a little difficulty lifting it up.

I looked in front of me. My knife was only a few feet away.

I crawled towards it, grabbed it then faced back. The giant was so close now. He roared then raised the boulder over his head, struggling under its weight. I aimed for his head then threw my knife with all my remaining strength. But the giant threw the boulder at me at the exact same time.

The boulder almost blocked the knife's way as they passed each other. But it missed by a few inches. The giant's eyes widened as the knife pierced through his head. He cursed in anger before he exploded into dust.

But I had another problem. The boulder was hurtling toward me. I just laid there in shock. I'm too late to roll over to the side and evade the boulder. I'm gonna be squashed like a tomato anytime now.

But it never happened. I felt myself being lifted up and I also heard the boulder crash. I was laid down on the ground carefully. I was still in shock. I've been so close to death and suddenly someone comes out of nowhere and saves me.

I was quaking in shock as I looked up. I expected to see Thalia or Nico or maybe even Grover.

But what I saw was a man wearing a stylish black jacket. The jacket's hood was on and the man's face was covered in shadow. Except from his mouth down to his neck.

"You're safe now.", the man said, crouched down. "Try to stay out of trouble."

He stood up and reached for a pocket in his jacket.

And he took out my invisibility cap!

"I believe this is yours.", he said, tossing the cap on my thigh. "It must've fallen from your head when you slammed into that hellhound."

"You think?", I replied weakly.

The man said nothing. He stepped back, turned around and ran into the woods. I sat up and stayed where I was.

I felt like an idiot sitting there while everyone else was fighting a war. So I stood up, put my cap back on and ran to the aid of the campers.

But I couldn't shake the man out of my thoughts. His voice sounded so familiar. I felt like he was someone I knew.

I spotted Chiron notching arrow after arrow at the enemy. Every arrow that he launched hit a monster. One arrow, one monster. He fired arrows with ease. He just used one hand to hold his bow and used the other to reach behind his back, pull an arrow from the quiver then use that arm to launch the arrow at a monster

So he didn't look like he needed my help.

I also saw Thalia killing monsters with ease. She sliced and stabbed and hacked at every monster in her way like a little kid popping bubbles. She was also doing her daughter of Zeus thing. Calling down bolts of thunder and scorching the monsters.

So she didn't look like she needed my help.

Nico was mostly summoning skeletons to back him up. The barked orders at them. Then the skeletons spread out into different directions. I noticed that the weapons they were carrying were sniper rifles. They must have been sent to hide and shoot down monsters. Or give Nico some cover fire. Either one.

Nico charged at the enemy, his stygian iron sword drawn. He did as Thalia did. He killed every monster in his way with ease. He made killing bloodthirsty, vicious monsters look so easy. He sliced through the monsters' battle armor like paper.

Sometimes, a monster would sneak up on him then I'd just hear a gunshot and the next thing I knew, the monster woud be replaced by a mound of yellow dust. It was probably the sniper skeletons doing that.

So Nico didn't look like he needed my help.

Grover was doing something different now. He wasn't making vines burst out of the ground. Now he was manipulating the trees. Using their branches to swing at the monsters. Using their roots to trip the monsters. He also used the roots to enter the monsters body through the mouth then kills them from the inside.

I realized that almost every tree near Grover was moving and attacking the monsters.

Grover has surrounded himself with quicksand again.

And speaking of quicksand, Grover was using that to his advantage as well.

Sometimes, he would add a different tune to the current melody he's playing and quicksand would appear out of nowhere beneath a monster's feet.

Grover's woodland magic has greatly improved ever since the battle against Kronos. I also assumed that he'll be taking a long nap after this battle.

But he didn't look like he needed my help.

I felt like an idiot standing there and watching the battle like it's some game. Some sick and bloody game.

I decided that I'll just do what my friends are doing. Attack every monster you come across to. I kept one hand on my cap the other, holding my knife. Like I did before. I just hope that I don't bump into anything or trip on something.

I suddenly saw a dark figure run across the battlefield. I concentrated on the figure. It was wearing a stylish black jacket. I soon recognized the dark figure as the man who had saved my life earlier. Every monster he passed disintegrated. He was killing every monster he passed. Literally. He runs towards a monster then quickly runs his sword through.

His speed was remarkably fast. And the way he wielded his sword was impressive.

It's like I could make up a slogan for him.

You know the slogan they have at most schools? C.L.A.Y.G.O. As in "CLean As You GO."

For this guy, it could be K.L.A.Y.G.O. As in "Kill As You Go."

I know that sounds a little vicious but it fits him. I shook my head. How does these things go to my mind?

I looked behind me to check if a monster was following me or was at least sneaking up on me.

So far, none. Wait? I'm getting paranoid. I'm wearing my cap. So no monster can possibly be sneaking up on me.

But when I faced front, the man was gone. There was no trace of him. Nothing. I decided to stop looking for him and just fight some monsters already.

It's just that, there's something about him that makes me want to know who he is. It's like I know him from somewhere.

The next thing that happened is I was pushed out of the way. I fell on my chest this time. I turned around. It was a dracanae who ran into me. She glared at me like I was some sort of disease. The her glare turned into a confusion. She must be wondering where I came from.

I felt my head for my cap. It wasn't there...again. I sighed in irritation. The next time I wear my cap, I'll be super careful not to lose it again.

I heard a snarl. The draecanae was slithering fast towards me just like a snake. She dragged her sword behind her then she swung at my head.

I raised my knife to try and block the blow. But it never came. Another sword blocked the dracanae's blade. The blades' clash made a loud clanging sound that seemed to echo allthroughout the battlefield. I looked at the sword. It looked so familiar. Like it was something I have seen before but just can't remember.

Next, I looked at the owner of the sword. I noticed that the dracanae was doing the same thing. It was the man wearing the black jacket. He seemed to be looking me straight in the eyes. But I can't be sure because I couldn't see his eyes that were clouded in darkness.

How can that be? The sun is shining directly at him so I his face should be seen.

The dracanae snarled then swung at his waist. He brought his sword down and parried the blow. The dracanae hissed then swug at his head. He raised his sword and blocked it. Then he made a few steps back, he spun around and swung his sword at the dracanae's weapon. He put such force into the blow that the dracanae's weapon flew out of her hands and was sent piercing through the air.

The man spun again and drove his weapon through her body. The dracanae wailed and hissed in pain then slowly turned into monster dust.

The man straightened up and slung his sword on his right side. He walked towards me in a menacing manner.

I was still breathing hard from what just happened. Then I heard a growling sound coming from the woods. A hellhound burst out of the nearby bush and pounced on the man. He just sidestepped and the hellhoud missed him. The man drew his sword then jumped high and sliced at the hellhound in mid air.

My eyes widened at that move. It was very impressive. It seemed like the man was planning his every move.

He landed on his feet and without wasting a second, threw his sword in my direction. I was so confused. He saves my life twice then tries to kill me.

The sword missed me my face by a few inches and I heard something behind me make a whimpering noise. I turned around and saw the man's sword through a telkhine's mouth. Only the sword's hilt, which looked strangely familiar, can be seen. The sword's blade went inside the telkhine's mouth. So the man wasn't trying to kill me. He saved my life again!

The telkhine must've opened its mouth to bite me. It wanted to bite me in the head. That's why the man's sword went in the telkhine's mouth. Because its mouth was wide open.

The telkhine whimpered once more then disintegrated.

I faced front and the man was right in front of me. He looked down at me like I was some sort of beggar. Then he held out his hand to help me up. I hesitated at first but I still took it. He pulled me up then he ran back into the woods.

I saw my cap a few feet away. I grunted and stood up then walked over to get the cap. I picked it up and brushed the dust on it.

I heard a loud crash behind me. The crash came from boulders. Three giants were throwing boulders at the campers and at the cabins. I put my cap back on and ran to the giants before they do massive damage.

This time, I became extra careful not to bump into monsters. I did what I did before. One hand on my cap and the other, holding my knife. I also checked the ground for any tree roots that might trip me again. Like I said earlier, super careful.

I (finally) got to the giants. I walked quietly behind the one nearest to me then I raised my knife and stabbed him in the butt. The giants beside him noticed that their fellow giant just disintegrated. They looked around them to check if there was anyone near. Thank the gods for my cap. If it weren't for the cap, I'd be squashed like a bug right now.

"Uh, how did that just happen?", said the giant on my left.

The one on my right shrugged. "I dunno", he said. "Just keep throwing rocks at them and we'll win this battle in no time."

"Right.", said the giant on my left. Then he turned around and picked up another boulder behind him and threw it at the Athena cabin. The boulder crashed on the rooftop. The bad thing was that it crashed near my bunk.

Realization dawned on me.

My picture with Percy!

The Ipod he gave me!(If you read the story before this one, you'll know about the Ipod.)

That made me want to kill the giant on my left first. I forgot all about being quiet and sneaky. I yelled fiercely and charged at the giant who threw the boulder. The two giants looked around them, searching for the noise's source. I stabbed the giant's back with all my might and anger.

He bellowed in pain then exploded into dust. Now the remaining giant was looking everywhere. He lifted the rocks in his inventory to check if someone was hiding there. Before he throws a boulder, he looks behind him.

I was still mad about what happened to my cabin and what might have happened to my bunk. But what the remaining giant did filled me with rage and anger. He threw a big boulder at the Poseidon cabin. It destroyed the front of the cabin.

I yelled as I threw my knife at the giant with deadly accuracy. It pierced his stomach just as he was about to throw another massive boulder. He lost aim and tossed the boulder in a different direction because he was already disintegrating when he threw it.

That was very fortunate. The boulder he threw rolled and squashed an entire hoarde of monsters. All of them disintegrated before they could even say "Styx".

I saw that our numbers have greatly decreased. The camp looked like it's just been bombed by war planes. Some trees were burning and Grover was too busy with monsters to play a rain song. Our archers hidden in the trees were jumping down and running from the fire. Chiron was running out of arrows. Nico's sniper skeletons were burned and he was too exhausted to summon more.

I figured that we'll stand a chance if we reform the ranks. The monsters were formed like one big square. If we form several ranks, we could slowly destroy the monsters.

I figured that it could be the only way to win the battle.

I approached Chiron who was still firing arrows. He only had two reserve quivers left and both of them didn't have plenty of arrows. I took off my cap and appeared right beside him. He didn't notice me and just kept firing arrow after arrow. I tapped him on his horse body and he immediately stiffened and pointed an arrow at my face.

"Woah!", I said, my arms raised in surrender. "Easy Chiron. It's me."

He sighed and pointed the arrow at the monsters. "You are like Nico.", he said, releasing the arrow. "You like sneaking up on people."

"Sorry."

"Now what is it?", he said reaching behind his back for his quiver. He pulled out his last arrow and pulled at his bow's string.

"I have a way for us to win this battle.", I said.

He released the tension in his bow and faced me. Then he nodded for me to continue.

"We can reform our ranks.", I started. "The monsters are formed like a square. So if we position at least three ranks, we can beat them. But we must put a big distance between the ranks."

"Hmm.", he said scratching his chin. So I knew that he's thinking.

Finally he replied. "We can do that.", he said. Then, without wasting a second, he barked orders at the campers. They ran frantically, finding their positions.

"Nico! Nico!", Chiron called.

He appeared from the wave of campers. He was breathing heavily and has his sword drawn.

"What?", he asked/yelled so that Chiron can hear him through the noise.

"Do you think you can summon skeletons to keep the monsters busy while we form ranks?", said Chiron.

"What?", he replied.

Chiron just repeated what he said and again, Nico didn't hear him. I can see why. Camp was filled by the noise of the growling and roaring monsters and the yelling campers.

Chiron was about to yell his loudest, when Nico appeared out of nowhere right in front of him. Chiron jumped back in surprise and I had to bite my lip, to control my laughter.

Nico looked down sheepishly. "Sorry."

Chiron sighed then told him to summon skeletons to keep the monsters busy while the ranks are being formed.

"I'll try.", he said.

Then he faced the enemy and pointed his hand at the ground in front of him. So far, nothing happened. Then Nico pointed his other hand at the ground in front as well. A small crack appeared, then it got longer and longer.

The cracks slowly opened and revealed the skeletons. I think that about 50 skeletons came out of the cracks. Nico's eyes fluttered open and he collapsed on the spot. Chiron caught him and laid him on his back. I never saw Nico summon so many

"Annabeth, take charge. I'll be taking Nico to the Big House.", he said.

But before I could say anything he galloped away to the Big House. The campers stared at me like they expected me to do a backflip. So I explained to them what to do and before I knew it, the three ranks were formed.

The skeletons managed to kill at least 20 of the monsters.

But I noticed something wrong.

After the skeletons were defeated, the remainder of the monsters' giants went up the hill and the other monsters charge at us. The archers in the front of the first rank fired volley after volley. When the monsters got close the demigods with spears replaced the archers.

Then the ones in the middle of the first rank drew their swords then faced the monsters.

Once the campers in the first rank were overpowered they retreated and went to the back of the last rank.

That process continued until there was only one rank left. The last one. The archers picked their target and released a volley of arrows. And that's all it took. The last of the monsters were hit and have disintegrated.

But I we had one last problem. The giants who have separated from the group and were on top of the hill rolled boulders down the hill. There were at least 13 big boulders rolling to us at great speed. Panic spread through me. The boulders will crush the cabins and our well organized rank will be destroyed.

Just as I was about to order the campers to hide, a figure burst from the trees and landed in front of us. It was him. The man who saved my life many times earlier. He stretched his arm towards the lake and its water rose and flowed towards him.

The campers behind me took a few steps back in fear.

The giants on top of the hill stared in shock.

The man raised the arm stretched out and the thousand gallons of cold, icy water rose above his head.

The boulders were nearing us. Then the man brought down his hand and the water above him smashed into the boulders, stopping them from trashing camp.

He thrashed the water at the boulders. Once they were stopped, he made circular motions with both of his arms and the water made its way above the heads of the giants. They just stood there in shock, doing nothing but staring above them.

The the warrior lowered his arms and snapped his fingers. The sound of his snap seemed to echo throughout camp. And all the water fell on the giants. Some of them reacted and started to turn back but they were too late. He kept the water smashing and swirling around the giants until they drowned. He clapped his hands loudly and then all the water started flowing back to the lake.

The lake's water level returned to normal.

Everything was quiet for a while. No one spoke. It seemed like a simple clap of hands would create a loud noise. It was that quiet.

All of us just stood there staring at the man.

He turned and faced us like we were the ones that he'll drown next.

"Who are you", Chiron asked. I hadn't even realized that Chiron was back from taking Nico to the Big House. The campers stared at the man, expecting an answer.

The man said nothing. He just stared at us like we were long lost friends. He was wearing his jacket's hood just like when he saved me from death. I realized that the only parts of his face that we can see starts his mouth down to his neck. The rest was covered in shadow. He was wearing black pants and black rubber shoes.

All that he was wearing was black. A black long-sleeved jacket. Black pants. Black shoes.

Then, just as I thought he would speak, he hung his head down as if someone he loved just died.

Then he vanished. Right in front of us. Everyone gasped. Except me. I just stood there in shock, staring wide-eyed at the place where he was.

And only one question crossed my mind.

Who was he?

That was my longest chapter yet.

For those who are wondering, the mysterious man is Percy. Though I think most of you have already figured that out.

PLEASE REVIEW.

Suggestions are welcome. No flames please.

Until next time.

Peace!

I'm out

-E.B