A whole work week had passed. I had gotten my check for the week; $1010.00. I found it surprising for a starting architect. I would call Hazel once I was ready to return back to Camp Jupiter, but first I had to stop by the bank and deposit the check. The line was not too crowded so I only had to wait for a few minutes. I deposited the check and left the building. I went to the nearest back alley, dialed Hazel and waited for her to answer.
"Hey, I may not be able to answer, but leave your name, number and a message and I'll get back to you when I can." Hazel's preset voicemail greeting said.
I hung up. I wondered if I should call her again or if I should wait for her to call back. Then I got another vision. I saw Horatia's spirit, sleeping at the bottom of the sea. She was dragged along by some unseen force (or was it ocean currents?). Her spirit fell into the Marina Trench. A huge merman with bullhorns found her spirit and she fell into his hand. He put a blue light around her and she slowly opened her eyes.
"Welcome, young girl." the merman said.
"Who... who are you?" she asked.
"You need not be frightened, little lady. I won't hurt you."
Horatia looked at the environment around her, and then back at herself. "Why do I see myself at the bottom of the ocean?"
"That's because your spirit is here."
She looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm... I'm dead?"
"Unfortunately... Do you remember anything?"
"I... I remember..." She recalled her mother's home being set ablaze and running from wolves. "I remember everything. My mother's house was on fire, and then I ran away from wolves. I jumped into the ocean, seeing a vision of a strange man being beaten and cut into pieces by his three sons. Then, it seems, I had drowned. Who are you?"
"I'm Oceanus, titan of the ocean, and former ruler of the seven seas before Poseidon took over causing me to step down from power."
"Poseidon... That name sounds familiar..." she muttered to herself. "What am I doing here at the bottom of the ocean?"
"When you died, your spirit fell asleep, and you never found your way to the Underworld, ruled by Hades."
She looked at him curiously. "Oceanus, do you know... why my home was set on fire or even who sent these wolves after me?"
"I know the answers, but... be warned... you may not like hearing them."
She got down on her knees. "Please tell me."
"Two Titans, named Hyperion and Epimetheus, somehow knew you were incredibly powerful and had great potential. How they knew this I do not know. They didn't know of your existence until the near end of the Titan War. Towards the end of the war, Hyperion used his powers of fire and light to destroy your house, hoping to kill you in the process. When Epimetheus realized Hyperion missed his target, he summoned a pack of wolves to eat you alive."
"But how could I have power? I'm just a normal human."
"It doesn't make sense, especially because you have a faint gold aura around yourself. Then again, my daughter, who is your decreased mother Daphne, was an Oceanid who gave up her powers."
Horatia looked at him in amazement. "You're my grandfather?"
"I am, and Tethys is your grandmother."
"My mother always told me my grandparents were dead."
"I'm afraid that was a ruse." Horatia looked sad. "Do you have any special abilities or see things that others don't?"
"No." she answered. "Well, I take that back. I sometimes see visions."
"Visions?" He looked at her curiously. "Of the past, present or future?"
"All three." Oceanus gasped. "What's wrong?"
"I'm trying to figure out who your father is. How old are you?"
"I'm 11 years old."
"Your father might be Koios as he is the Titan of foresight, but that doesn't explain the visions of the past and present... Maybe Prometheus?" He sighed. "I really don't know."
She hung her head. "What does it matter anyway? I'm dead and my father never even knew of my existence."
"I think there might be a way to restore you back to life."
Her eyebrows widened. "Really? How?"
"It's been several centuries since the end of the Titan War, and your demise. None of the Olympian gods, minor or major, know of your existence. Find the Doors of Death in the Underworld. Once you go through them, you'll be restored to life and will have to take on a new alias to prevent people from finding out who you are. I shall have your aunt Eidyia guide you. Be warned, the journey may be dangerous and scary, but Eidyia won't let anything horrible happen to you. I promise."
"Thank you. I hope that I will find out the truth."
Eidyia appeared and teleported them away. Then the scene switched to Diana. She stood up from her throne and smiled. "Perfect. Not only do we have more allies, Atlas doesn't feel so lonely."
I saw all of her allies. Despite the loss of Phobos, Demios, Janus, Keto, Phorcys, and Eris, her army was bigger and stronger than ever. Clytius, Geryon and Chrysaor were all smirking in delight. Athena polished a spear while standing next to Queen Sess. Pasiphae and Hecuba were speaking about sorceresses they could recruit. Atlas was sitting on a sofa next to Koios. In a blue recliner chair, Prometheus smiled and drank wine. In the left corner, a goddess in a golden dress and empty black void eyes. Her name was Melinoe. Pheme wore a white dress and had long red curly hair that fell to her waistline. Her blue eyes briefly flashed gold, a sign that she was under control of the evil maiden. That was a lot of allies. And that wasn't even everyone.
"This meeting will now come to order." Hercules said.
"Why did I agree to be commanded by a young human lady?" Melinoe asked.
"She is no mere mortal. She is a rogue goddess, just like you are." Hercules stated.
She appeared skeptical. "You should be thankful, Melinoe. You will get what you want." Diana turned to the immortal sorceress. "Pasiphae, have you recruited Circe?"
"I tried to, but she refused. She was helping a young lady make some kind of potion."
Her eyes widened. "A potion? For what purpose?"
"I don't know. But it called for lavender petals, wild strawberries and a drop of magic."
Diana briefly thought to herself, then turned back to Pasiphae. "Describe the young lady."
"She had long black hair and green eyes. She wore a dress of two colors; one side being white, and the other being black. She also wore a black and white jeweled necklace."
Using her magic, she created an image of the culprit. "Gwendolyn! Curse that necromancer! Had it not been for her, Nathan would have taken over and launched a war on Camp Half-Blood, further dividing the Olympians."
"I'm surprised you haven't attempted to kill her." Atlas said.
"Let's see. If I go after Gwen, I could take the potion from her, prevent Reyna's resurrection, and once Percy and Frank are killed, I'll release Nathan from his prison. Yes, this will work! I have a plan to destroy them, and the rest of the seven. And a certain girl holds the key to it all."
A group of three lieutenants looked at her. "Are you still he's alive?" Cleander asked.
"If not, he could be resurrected like we were." Vortigern answered.
Diana glared at them. "What are you men talking about?"
"Antaeus, a giant that Percy defeated long ago." Alaric answered.
"The name sounds familiar." Diana commented.
"He's the son of Poseidon and Gaea." Marcus answered.
I gasped. Those men were all part of the Triumvirate Holdings! They had all been resurrected and willingly joined the evil maiden! Two other men, Cade and Mikey were alongside the four resurrected lieutenants. They were also part of the Triumvirate.
"I can't believe she actually hired these thugs." Enyo stated.
"Is that an insult?" Zethes asked.
"Calm down, Enyo. We may have willing human servants among us, but that doesn't make them any less qualified for the job of mercenary. I'll take what I can get." Diana said. "Pretty soon, the world will crumble at my feet and I'll be the one ruling the cosmos!"
She laughed like a wicked witch and the vision ended. Hazel appeared. "Sorry I'm late."
The demigoddess looked tired, but I shrugged it aside. "It's alright. Just take me home."
We were transported back to Camp Half-Blood. We found Grover, Nico and Thalia with the other heroes.
"Nico! You're back!" Hazel exclaimed.
She threw her arms around him. He was surprised but didn't protest.
"Why didn't you tell me about Artemis's abduction earlier?" Thalia asked, glaring at me.
"I wanted to, but I didn't want to dampen your spirit on your brother's special day." I answered.
"How was your first week on the job?" Nico asked me.
"It was alright. Wait, how do you...?"
"We informed them of the situation." Frank stated.
"What are they doing here?" Hazel asked.
"We asked for extra assistance in our war against the evil maiden. Prior to calling on Nico, Thalia and Grover, the six of us have searched for the evil maiden's lair. We've searched Mount Saint Helens, the San Andreas fault, and two different abandoned mansions over the last five days, but we had no luck. So we called for help. The trio agreed to aid us."
"This is good news." I said.
Percy noticed my nervous expression. "Annabeth, what's wrong?"
I was reluctant to answer. "The evil maiden's army is getting stronger. I fear we can't stop her."