It was sunset when Percy walked up onto the Big House porch. Mr. D glanced up from yet another card game. "Chiron!" he hollered from his chair. Rachel stuck her head out the door. "Percy!" she cried. She raced through the porch to give him a hug. When she stopped she asked, "Well? What did you dad want?" Percy nudged to the Big House.
"I'll explain later to everyone. But first, where's Annabeth?"
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Ugh, she's been moping around all day doing absolutely nothing. If you ask me, she's probably by the lake, where's she's been all day. I tried to talk to her, but she's all like 'NO! I have to be alone!' Seriously Perce, what did you do?"
Percy sighed. "I'll go talk to her, but can you bring Grover and Tyson to the Big House? Also get Will Solace from the Apollo cabin and from the Aphrodite cabin get──" Percy stopped himself. He was about to say Silena Beauregard, but had caught his tongue. His friend Silena died last summer during the battle in Manhattan. She had made her last stand there and died in battle as a hero from the Aphrodite cabin. Now Drew, an obnoxious teen, runs the cabin as head counselor in Silena's place.
"Get?" Rachel asked.
"Just them for now," Percy said. "I need to go talk to Annabeth."
Percy strode toward the lake behind the cabins. He saw Annabeth sitting on their rock crying in her lap. He walked up to her. "Go away!" She said without looking up. "Just leave me alone."
"Annabeth?" Percy said cautiously while touching her shoulder. Annabeth snapped up to his touch. "Percy?" she sniffled teary eyed.
"Percy just go away! I don't want to see you!" she turned around and faced the beach. Percy sighed and sat next to her.
"You know I can't do that." He said. "I won't do that."
She looked up again. "Do you realize how much you hurt me today? How could you?" she cried and her shoulders began to shake from crying. He placed his arm around her.
"I'm sorry Annabeth," he whispered. "I had a lot of things on my mind. Please forgive me."
She raised her head so he could see his face. She saw the worry and forgiveness in his green eyes. "Did you mean what you said at breakfast?" She asked; her grey eyes blurry with tears.
"No, of course not." He said. "I'm totally into you, and I want to stay that way."
She giggled and tears dripped down her cheeks. He took his thumb and wiped them away. He then lifted her chin and dipped his face down for a kiss, but was greeted not by her lips, but the humid summer air. "What's wrong?" he said. "I thought we're all good."
She winked. "I'll kiss you if you tell me what happened today at Olympus." Percy shook his head happily. "I'll tell you at the Big House with the others. Alright?"
She sighed. "Fine," she said. "But you're taking me with you wherever you're going, right?"
He helped her to her feet. "Of course."
Percy started the meeting. "Alright," he began. "I have gathered you guys tonight to talk about the mission my father are sending us on. Let's begin." He then explained what Poseidon told him and how that his sister was either in the Underground or Carnegie Hall in the city. He then explained that Poseidon had instructed him to take campers with him to assist bringing her to Olympus. Will was the first one to talk.
"Well, that's great and all that you're rescuing your 100 year old sister, but don't we need to be more on that some of Kronos' monsters are one by one coming back to the surface? I mean, the Underworld is the source of it, and we're heading straight for it… And what if Erebus is…you know, one of them?" he said uneasily, shifting in his chair.
Lindsey from the Aphrodite cabin chimed in. "I think it's great that Percy is rescuing his sister from the Underworld." She said. "And," she added. "It's soo romantic that Apollo wants her back after all these years."
Will shot back at her. "This isn't one of your soap operas. We're talking about wasting our time going to the Underworld to look for some girl who supposedly is my father's one true love and 'save' her from some god who've I never heard of that's probably going to have us killed by his daddy Hades." He grumbled. "I think this is a huge mistake." Percy grew angry.
"No one was asking you for you're opinion, Will. I'm doing what my father is asking me to do so you can just shut up. You can leave right now if you want to. The door is open."
There was a long silence. Will grumbled and muttered to himself but stayed put. Nico D'Angelo from the Hades cabin spoke up. "Percy, I think it's great that you want to do this for your dad, but think about this. My dad still has a bone to pick with you about you getting angry that he decided not to help last summer, and you're walking right back into his realm. Since Erebus is Hades' son, he can easily tell Hades about you and have you killed. Just putting it out there."
Percy answered. "Yes, I did consider that, but I'm going to take that risk. And, if you come, than you can reason with Erebus and your dad."
"I can open Orpheus' entrance." Grover said. "With my pipes, it'll open, so you don't have to go all the way to L.A."
"Thanks, G-man." Percy smiled. Chiron spoke. "All wanting to assist Percy on his quest raise your hand."
Annabeth raised her hand proudly and Grover shot his up right away. Nico and Lindsey raised their hands uneasily while Will just sat there, but stuck up his skinny arm. Percy grinned. "Me too!" a familiar voice cried. Percy spun around. Tyson came bounding through the door. "You forgot me!"
"I couldn't forget you Tyson!" Percy grinned and slapped him on the back. Tyson beamed and sat proudly on the nearest metal chair. Percy was about to end the meeting when the head counselor of the Ares' cabin Clarisse burst through the aluminum door.
"Wait!" she said.
"What is it, Clarisse?" Grover rolled his eyes.
"Watch it, goat boy." She snapped at him.
"What do you want Clarisse? We're already closing." Annabeth asked annoyed.
"I'm coming with you to the Underworld." She said affirmatively, as if she was the one telling them. "If the girl isn't at Carnegie Hall, which I suspect she isn't, then I'm going with you to the Underworld."
Will began to object, but Lindsey hushed him. Everyone knew why she wanted to go. She wanted to see if her friend Silena had made it to Elysium. She was something like a bodyguard to her, and they had a strange friendship. Silena had been a spy unknowingly to Kronos, and when she died some people thought she was sent to Tarturus for her evil deed.
"Alright," Percy said. "You can come with us, but Odette comes first, okay?"
"Yeah sure." She muttered but secretly did a little jump while no one was looking.
"It's final," Chiron confirmed. "You will go to Carnegie Hall in the morning and, if you find the girl, bring her to Olympus immediately. If she isn't there than go and use Orpheus' entrance in Central Park to seek passage to the Underworld. Now, return to your cabins and rest for the morning. I will see you at day break. Good night."
The campers were filing out of the Big House when Annabeth slipped her hands into Percy's. "Hey," she said,
"Hey," he said. They walked with Grover and Annabeth to the Athena cabin. "Night," he said giving Annabeth a kiss on the cheek. "Night," she smiled, and dazed into her bunk. Grover went into the forest while Percy and Tyson jogged to their bunk. As soon as Tyson hit the bed, he was snoring. Percy too. He had a long day.