Chapter Three: That's not how the saying goes, and we're in Malaysia

A/N: It's me! Another chapter! Oh. If any of you guys are wondering about the chapter titles... I wanted them to be weird and random like they are in the books, but I couldn't really come up with anything. So then I figured, why not make them random quotes from the chapter? So there you have it. :)

The fun part for me is that you don't know who says it until they say it. ;) Have fun reading!

Percy's POV

The next morning came too soon. As soon as I woke up, I remembered those lessons that my dad made me take from Ria. I groaned. I couldn't believe he made me take them. Not to mention that I had to be her teacher as well. I sighed. Well, it was dawn. So I couldn't be late. I got up and changed as quietly as I could without waking up Tyson, and headed out to the training grounds.

I found Ria meditating on a large rock. She was wearing a purple dress with flowers on it, a pale green scarf, and black flats. She didn't seem to hear me coming. A dress for training? Alright then...

"Are you going to stare at me all day, or start training?" she asked suddenly. I sighed and walked up to her. How did she do that? Sure, I might be a clumsy on land, but I wasn't stomping or out of breath. "You're late." said Ria. What? No I wasn't. I was on time... wasn't I? "No I'm not I was-"

"Look at the sun. It's high in the sky. It rose five minutes ago. Lessons start at dawn. Dawn was five minutes ago. You're late." said Ria. Man, was she a stickler for details. "Sit." said Ria. I looked around, and found nothing but grass. "On what?" I asked. Ria sighed. "Where do you think Perseus, the grass. Sit." she said. I rolled my eyes and sat down. "It's Percy. So what's the first lesson?" I asked. Ria hadn't even opened her eyes, or moved from her spot on the rock yet.

"You must be able to clear your mind." she said.

"I can. In the water." I said.

"You must be able to do it in any environment." said Ria.

"I've tried, and I can't. The water's the best place for me."

"You cannot do this lesson in water."

"Why not?"

This time Ria sighed and looked at me sternly. "This lesson focusses on breathing. You cannot breath under water Perseus." she said. Crap, she had a point. I crossed my legs and waited to be told what to do.

"Close your eyes." said Ria. I did so. "Good. Now clear your mind."

I focussed on my breathing. In... Out... In... But it was hard because I could feel her staring at me. Who could concentrate on anything when you're being stared at?

Suddenly I felt a hard stick smack against my back. "Ow! Why did you do that?" I asked. I felt her walk around and stand in front of me. "You aren't concentrating on your breathing." she said. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Well, I can't with you staring at me." I said. She rolled her eyes and sat down in front of me. "In order to move to the next lesson, you must be able to block out anything from your mind and focus on the task at hand. This one being breathing." she explained. She gave me an intense glare. I took in a deep breath. "Okay. Focus Percy." I said quietly to myself. In... Out...

After about five minutes of this, our class was interrupted. "I hate to interrupt dearies." said... an old lady? What? I opened my eyes and looked at who suddenly appeared here. Ria and I both stood up immediately. "Who are you?" I asked her. The woman gave us an innocent smile. As if she were innocent. I could just feel the darkness coming off of her. How the heck did she get into Half-Blood? This was way too weird.

The woman was in fact old. She had grey hair that was tied back into a braid, and she wore old clothing. A dark green dress, with a black- what was that a cloak? She was fairly tall for an old lady though. It was like she never shrunk. She stood tall and it almost seemed like she had authority. It was just... weird. There was definitely something very dark about this woman. Something untrustworthy.

"That is non of your concern. I am here to simply deliver a message from my master." she said. Master? Just who was this person? "What message?" asked Ria. We stood our ground and waited for the woman to speak. Then her eyes locked on Ria's. Suddenly Ria closed her eyes in pain and held her head. I felt anger rise within me. "What are you doing!" I yelled at her. The woman didn't stop staring at Ria. It was like she was causing pain with her mind. What was she a witch? "What are you doing?" I asked, a little more calmly. No answer. What was happening?

Instead of pestering the old woman, I decided to try and talk to Ria. I bent down and kneeled beside her. "What's happening? What is she doing to you?" I asked as calmly as I could. I still didn't get a reply.

"Percy! What's happening? Who's that?" I heard Grover's voice behind me. Well, the others seemed to be up now. I looked back to see him, Annabeth, and Chiron staring with concern. "I don't know. Neither of them will answer." I said. The three of them were about to walk up, when Ria stood up. I stood up as well, but kept a close eye on her. Something seemed- off. "Um, are you-" I never got to finish. Ria suddenly drew a silver sword from a hidden pocket inside her dress, and swung at me. I have to say, I did not see that one coming. Luckily I just barely dodged it. The tip of the blade only grazed my cheek. It still hurt a bit, but I was fine. "What- what are you doing?" I managed to ask. I got up from the ground quickly. "Stay back brother! It's not her! She's being controlled!" shouted Tyson.

I glanced at him, and looked Ria in the eyes. Tyson was right. It was the old woman controlling her. I was in serious trouble. Ria could probably easily kick my butt with her skills, and she was being controlled by darkness. I only had my training from last summer. I didn't even have a weapon to defend myself whenever she started attacking again! Ria looked at the other three who were still in shock. "Do not interfere." she said. Her voice was almost robotic. It was creepy. "Or there will be consequences." Wow. Again, creepy.

Her attention returned to me. Then she started attacking again. She swung her sword professionally. I did my best to dodge, but she moved way too fast. I was soon backed up against a tree with almost nowhere to go. Crap! I wish I had at least something to defend myself with. I didn't even have Riptide because when this craziness began, I realized I had left it back in my cabin. This was going to end badly, I knew it. "Percy look out!" shouted Grover. I looked to my left to see Clarisse, who had suddenly appeared, coming at me with her sword. I knew then she was being controlled also. I would have punched Ria to get her to snap out of it, but something willed me not to. That just made me confused. What was wrong with me?

"Idiot! Do something!"my brain shot at me. But it was too late. Clarisse stabbed me in the side, and I went down. However, that happened after Ria sliced my chest with her sword. I heard Chiron and the other two run over quickly. I can't even describe the pain I felt. My breathing was very off, and wheezy. It hurt so much! I looked up at the two girls that had struck me. What I saw scared me half to death. Their eyes held so much darkness and hatred. There was no light in them whatsoever. They showed no emotion either. It was like they were working for the underworld. Those two girls that I had known- were gone.

They still had their swords drawn, but they weren't attacking. I was very thankful for that. I'm not sure how much I would have been able to take. Then Clarisse spoke in the same robotic form that Ria did. "This is a message from our master." she said. Seriously. Who was this person? "In four days time, great power shall be mine." said Ria.

"If the heroes fail, then my plan prevails," said Clarisse. Oh great. Another prophecy. Oh the joys of being me. "To defeat me, find all three before me." said Ria.

Apparently there was one more line, but I didn't get it. Sadly I passed out from the blood loss before they said it. I did hear one thing though. "Die Perseus. Son of Poseidon." Those two sentences chilled me to my very core. It was Ria's robotic voice. I felt another sharp pain on my neck, but then I felt nothing. I was out.

Grover's POV

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man! How did this even happen? I knew that answer. That creepy witch-like lady. When we looked up from Percy, who had passed out, the woman was gone. Just like that. Ria and Clarisse fell to the ground, unconscious. This was bad. This was so very bad! Chiron lifted Percy up carefully. "You two must explain to those two girls what has happened once they awaken. But do me a favour, try not to sound too panicked." he said. Annabeth and I nodded. Great. I was quite sure that I wasn't going to be able to do it without sounding panicked. Maybe Annabeth could though. I'd just get her to explain, while I'd stand in the background.

It wasn't long before the two girls woke up. Clarisse was the first to speak. "Whoa. Where am I? Oh yeah. I was on my way over- whoa. Wait, what? Who's blood- OH MY GODS WHAT IN THE HADES HAPPENED!" she shouted. She surprisingly dropped her sword in shock. Percy's blood of course was on their swords, on the grass, a bit on them- yeah... It was kind of gross. I was never fond of the sight of blood. Oh boy, Annabeth soon had to explain to them what happened. Ria gasped at the sight and also dropped- well, threw her sword far away from her. She started to hyperventilate. Not good. Clarisse got her to look her right in the eyes. "It's okay. It's okay. Calm down." she said. Ria nodded and began to try and calm down. Wow. Who knew Clarisse could calm people down?

"Uh, so. Annabeth has something she needs to explain to you guys." I said. Annabeth gave me a look. "Thank you so much." she said sarcastically. I just shrugged. Hey, I wasn't great at explaining a desperate, serious situation. Especially if it involved one of my friends. Then Annabeth went on to explain the past event to them. Needless to say, the girls were incredibly shocked. I'm positive that they were thinking something along the lines of- "Holy Hades, we could have killed him!" or some such. Clarisse obviously didn't know what to say. It was clear to all of us that she was scared. Sure, she was the daughter of the God of war, but that didn't mean she could, or was ready to actually kill someone. "That son of a- when I get my hands on her she's gonna-"

"Try not to worry too much. It wasn't your fault. You were being controlled by someone. Someone... that wanted my brother- gone." said Tyson. I could tell he debated whether or not to say dead. Ria had calmed down, but she still looked worried and scared. In fact, so did Clarisse. She looked like she realized something big. "But what if- what if it was a threat to all of us? Not just him? But everyone here at camp? And the gods?" she asked quietly. Something big was right. When the girls were being controlled, they had mentioned "heroes." Not hero. That had to mean our little group right? So then, a lot more was at steak here! Oh my gosh! I didn't say anything though, because I did not trust my voice.

"We should probably see how he's doing." said Annabeth. Good idea. Oh wait. Bad idea. That might freak the girls out to see what they actually did. "Um, are you sure they should-" I started, but Annabeth interrupted me.

"Yes. I'm sure. It'll be fine Grover." said Annabeth. She led the other girls towards the infirmary. "Are you sure you didn't just let your non-wise part of your brain speak?" I asked. No answer. Just eye rolls. Girls. Sheesh. I followed them to where Percy was nonetheless.

It wasn't a very pretty sight. Yes, they had him all bandaged up and such, and the blood was cleaned up, but still- it just wasn't pretty. Ria and Clarisse didn't say anything. I'm not sure they could. No one did. The nurses and doctors were done fixing up Percy. I was surprised at how fast they moved. But then I wasn't surprised as much after hearing that they poured plenty of water on him. He must have subconsciously healed himself. Man, what a guy. I wish I had those powers. A doctor said he'd still be out for about a day or two. Or three. Or a week... Okay. They weren't exactly sure. His healing process was different then most campers. It made sense though, considering it was Percy.

We all sat around his bed and looked down at him. Annabeth, Tyson and I sat on his right, while the other two sat on his left. "I can't believe it." Clarisse said quietly. I almost didn't catch it, it was so quiet. She looked at the wound she'd caused that was close to his heart. "I could have stabbed his heart." she said. She looked ultimately depressed. "I mean, yeah I don't like the guy, but I don't like him enough to- to..." she couldn't finish. Ria looked even worse. Close to tears in fact. She didn't say a thing. I decided to try and lighten up the mood.

"Hey now. You two weren't yourselves. You were being controlled. You didn't know. He's alright. Healing faster than the doctors thought too." I said. They nodded and gave small smiles. "But man, if he keeps getting knocked out for days at a time, he won't get to see the summer solstice! Or the food festival in Manhattan that Chiron's letting us go to..." I sighed. Clarisse and Annabeth snorted at this. Ria gave another smile. "Thanks man..." came a tired voice. We all gasped as Percy tiredly gave us a smile. "Wow. That was fast." I commented. "Man these guys are good." I said in awe.

"Brother!" Tyson said quietly.

Percy chuckled. "Hey. So- so what happened after I uh-" he asked. He looked as though he'd fall back asleep at any moment. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was a still a bit pale from the loss of blood, but he looked better. "Perce man, we'll tell you when you can actually remember what we say. Okay? Just fall back asleep and rest. You need it." I said. Percy nodded. In less than three seconds, he was out. Just then Chiron walked in.

"You five, we need to talk." he said. He led us to the Big House. I couldn't help but wonder if this was about that creepy woman we saw earlier. We sat around the large desk as Chiron sat on the other side with Mr. D. "I'm sure you are well aware that because of the prophecy that we witnessed today- there will be a quest. I had a chat with all of the Gods, and they seem to think what the items are this mystery darkness is after. Three items." said Chiron. He handed me an inscription on a gem. Apparently, it wasn't just any type of gem. "Duh you idiot. It's not if someone evil is after it!" I instantly thought.

"This gem, brings those that have died- back to life. It was thought to be gone, destroyed by the gods. However there's a problem. The one that was suppose to destroy it- didn't." said Chiron. I thought on this for a moment. Although it wasn't hard to figure out which god it was. "It does sound like a Hades thing to do..." I commented. Chiron nodded. I sighed as another thought hit me. "We have to go to Hell again?" I asked. Chiron surprisingly shook his head no.

"Malaysia."

"Oh cool. They have great Laksa there." I said. I ignored the girl's shaking their heads, and Mr. D's snort. What? I love food. I'm a satyr. It's natural.

"Anyways. Yes. Malaysia. Singapore to be exact. Only two can go to this one. So, who will it be?" asked Chiron. I instantly rose my hand, as did Annabeth. Cool. Looked like it was us. "Nice." I said. Annabeth smiled.

"Very well. You two will head out tomorrow morning, at dawn. Understood?" said Chiron. We both nodded. Chiron nodded and handed Ria an inscription on...a feather? "This is no ordinary feather. It holds the power of the wind. It's very powerful. In the wrong hands it could spell disaster. It was last spotted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. You and Percy- once he is healed completely, will go out immediately." said Chiron. Ria nodded. She didn't look too please that she got paired with Percy. Oh man, I would love to see Percy's face when he sees who he's paired with. Too bad I have to leave before them.

"You my dear, will be going to go with Tyson in search of this." Chiron said to Clarisse. He handed her an inscription. "A pocket watch? Really?" said Clarisse. She didn't sound impressed. Chiron looked as though he wanted to sigh. "It's not an old forgotten pocket watch Clarisse, it has the power of time travel." Chiron said seriously. Clarisse looked up from the inscription. She shrugged. "Alright. That's cool." she said.

"It was also last spotted in Rome."

"Cool. I've always wanted to go to Rome." said Tyson.

"Not cool." said Clarisse. "Do you have any idea of what danger we'd find ourselves in if anyone found out about us? Not to mention who my dad is- God of War?"

"She does have a point sir." said Annabeth.

"That is exactly why we won't take the direct rout there. I'm not talking about the mortal way. We all have to take an indirect rout to our locations. It's much safer. Now, when the Gods travelled the world before residing here in New York, they left special portals that open at night, and close at dawn. They are very well hidden. Not even the Roman gods know of them. That, is what we'll use." said Chiron.

"Cool..." I said. Secret portals. I'll bet not many satyrs use them. Could I be the first? "So... how many satyrs use them?" I asked. Chiron looked at me. "A few." he said. Awe man. So much for that. "We have to have some searchers out there in the world of course. The Gods were thinking about doing an exchange program, but of course, after the Romans, well, that idea sort of bottomed out." said Chiron. I nodded.

Chiron handed Annabeth a couple of maps, one of the portals, and one of Singapore. "Keep them safe, and don't loose them. If you ever need to communicate with me, or Mr. D, or anyone else, you can use these." he said. He brought out seven pearls that were attached to either bracelets, or necklaces. "How do we use them?" asked Annabeth.

"It's simple really. All you have to do, is say the name of the person you want to communicate with. A holographic image will appear on the nearest flat surface. For instance. Clarisse, could you please?" asked Chiron. Clarisse took a bracelet and put it on. Chiron picked up one of the necklace ones. "Clarisse La Rue." he said.

No less than a second after, his image appeared on the desk from Clarisse's bracelet, and her's from his necklace. "Oh. Okay. So do you just talk normally then?" I asked. Chiron nodded.

"Yes, it really is that simple. But please, try not to loose these. We only have twenty left in the world. " he said. We all nodded.

"Well then. I'd say that it's time." said Chiron. We started to leave for the day.

"Oh, wait. How do we end a- call?" asked Annabeth. Oh yeah, good question. I guess we'll need to know that. Chiron smiled as we all left the Big House. "Oh, the pearls will know when you're finished. Now you must get going." he said. We all left to pack a backpack. We would only be gone for three or four days so we obviously didn't need much.

The next morning, right at dawn, I met Annabeth at her cabin. She opened the door and stepped out. "Ready?" she asked.

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" I asked. She rolled her eyes. "Oh please don't be such a smart donkey the during whole trip." she said. Donkey? Donkey! "I am not a donkey. I am part goat. So please do not call me that during the whole trip." I said, mocking her. We laughed. "So where are these portal things?" I asked. She brought out the portal map.

"Uh... the one to Singapore is..." she trailed off, and looked confused. That was not good when Annabeth was confused. "Uh oh. That's not a good sign. I know that look." I said. Annabeth shook her head as if she just wasn't understanding the map. "Let me look at it." I said.

Annabeth's POV

I gave Grover the map. This map... it didn't make any sense. It said that the portal to Singapore was beneath the camp. Beneath the camp! How are we suppose to get to it? "Beneath the camp? And how pre-tell does Chiron expect us to know how to get there?" asked Grover. I rolled my eyes. "I don't know. Maybe we should ask him." I said. I pulled out my necklace. "Chiron." I said. But, nothing happened. "What? Chiron." I said more clearly. Still, nothing. "What the heck? Did I get a faulty one? That's just gr-"

"Mr. Brunner!" said Grover. I rolled my eyes knowing it wouldn't work. I was surprisingly proven wrong. Grover laughed victoriously. "You called?" said Chiron. "I would have expected this to come much later. I have to say, I am surprised."

"Yeah, I can explain that. Our map says that the portal to Singapore is beneath the camp." said Grover.

"Yes."

"So... just how do we get there?"

"Well, the Gods always did like a challenge. This would be your first task. Good luck." said Chiron.

Then the hologram disappeared. The two of us sighed. "Well, that didn't work. Ooh, maybe Mr. D knows." said Grover. I shook my head. I didn't exactly trust that god. "Nah. He probably won't be much help. That and there's the fact that he'll be busy too." I said.

"Yeah busy drinking coke and playing cards-"

"Anyway, we're smart I'm sure we can figure it out." I suddenly regretted saying those words. Grover looked at me. "She finally says I'm her equal! I never thought the day would come!" he said happily. I rolled my eyes. I had the feeling that I'd be doing that a lot on this trip. Oh well. That's Grover for you.

Suddenly Clarisse's holographic image shot out from Grover's pearl. "Huh? Clarisse? Why are you calling?" he asked. Clarisse just looked at him. It almost looked like she was trying not to laugh at something. Weird. Then Tyson popped into view. "Uh, h-hey, guys. I guess it works when we say our names at any time, so I guess we'll just have to watch that when we're in amongst mortals huh?" he said. With that, they disappeared.

"Well. That was..." I said.

"Random." said Grover.

"Yeah. Okay. Beneath the camp. I wonder if there are any hidden tunnels- hidden tunnels of course! It must be underwater!" I said. Then I realized what I had just said.

"Underwater? Annabeth, we aren't Percy. But, it does make sense. I mean, how else would we access the area beneath the camp? But still... how do we get there? I don't know about you, but I'm not a great swimmer, and neither of us can hold our breath for very long." said Grover. He had good points there. I sighed. I had a feeling I'd be doing that a lot too. "Well, I don't know! Do you have a better idea?" I asked. If I sounded harsh, I didn't mean to. I just really don't like it when I don't know something. That's all. But I think Grover understands that so it's okay.

"Um, yeah no not exactly." was Grover's reply. So, we headed towards the lake to see if we can find anything out. The lake was so calm this morning. Not a ripple in sight. "I wonder how deep it is..." said Grover. "Man, I wish Percy was here. I'll bet anything, that he knows everything about this lake."

"I wonder if he's awake yet. Think we could go check?" I asked. I knew it might be pointless, but there was no harm in checking. Right? "I don't know... but-" Grover was interrupted by a nymph.

"Oh hello. I am Aba." said the nymph. We stared at her. "Aba? Weren't you created by Poseidon?" I asked. Aba nodded. She walked over to the lake. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about his son, Perseus. Oh, I guess I should say Percy. I heard he prefers that name over Perseus." Aba laughed. Grover and I looked at each other, and Grover shrugged. "Yeah actually. Um, we are trying to find the portal to Singapore? We were thinking that since the map says it's beneath the camp, it'd be somewhere around here. Oh! Do you know?" asked Grover. Aba looked at him and smiled. "Of course. All nymphs are aware of the portals. Hm. You two are on a quest, aren't you? You need to find the Gem of Life?" she asked. We nodded.

"Forgive me, I can sense these things. It's in people's auras. But the portal you are looking for isn't around here." said Aba. Grover and I looked at each other, confused. "It's not?" I asked. Aba shook her head no. "No dear. It's beneath the- what are you kids calling it nowadays? Oh yes. The Big House." said Aba. We stared at her in thought. I sighed realizing what she meant."Duh! You idiot!" I thought to myself.

"The basement of course! Duh! Come on Grover, and thank you Aba!" I said. We began to head to the Big House. "Don't mention it dear!" she called. Grover caught up to me. "Wait, hold on. The Big House has a basement?" he asked. I stopped for a second and looked at him. "How long have you been at this camp?" I asked. Grover shrugged.

"I guess I had no need to go down there, so I didn't pay attention." he said.

We walked passed Mr. D, who didn't even notice us by the way and was playing cards, and made our way to the basement door. It was no wonder we didn't think of it before. There was a sign that said: "Danger. If you know nothing about this, you are not permitted to go through this door." At first, the basement looked like, well, an ordinary office basement. Except for the fact that behind another door that said portals, there looked to be about twelve different hallways filled with doors. Just how many places did these gods go to in the world?

"Hm, so we have to find the door to Singapore. Which door is it? Which hallway?" I said. There were so many others to choose from. They all had their location above them, but I couldn't find Singapore. Where was it? There were so many hallways! So many doors! Where would we start?

Grover tapped me on the arm. He glanced at me and smiled. "You mean like that?" he asked. Oh, that was fast. I was just over thinking it. I do that sometimes. I try not to. I looked to our left, and saw a green painted door with an ancient looking doorknob, there were ancient Greek words above it. They flew off the wall and changed into English. "Singapore, Malaysia. Here it is." I said. Grover walked up to the door, and held onto the doorknob.

"Knock, knock." he said. I looked at him oddly. He gave me a look. "Knock, knock." he said. I then realized what he was getting at. "Oh. Who's there?" I asked.

"Singapore."

With that, he opened the door. There was a blinding light at first, but then we were able to see. "Okay yes, that was lame. But come on, I had to do a knock, knock joke." laughed Grover. I laughed with him. Only Grover would do that. Well, maybe Percy would too. Grover brought out the map of Singapore.

"Oh man, this place is huge. Mm- I can already smell the Laksa..." he said. I rolled my eyes. Food always distracted him. But I could also smell the food. Maybe we were near restaurants or something. "Great. How are we going to find this gem, in this huge city? It doesn't even say how big it is. Just the colour, green, and it's power. To bring the dead to life. We only have four days, what and Rome was built in a day!" Grover said, getting frustrated. I sighed.

"That's not how the saying goes, and we're in Malaysia." I corrected. I couldn't help it. It's who I am. "Whatever, you know what I mean." said Grover. We made our way through an ancient looking tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there were stairs. "Wow. Once we climb those stairs, we'll be in Singapore." I said.

Clarisse's POV

I woke up right on time at dawn. This was the day our quest began. I sighed as I got dressed. Ugh. My quest with- him. Prissy's brother, Tyson. I haven't come up with a name for him yet surprisingly. Actually, it just hit me that I haven't come up with a name for Grover yet either. Huh. I have to work on that. Anyways, moving on.

I did my usual things in the morning, and headed out. I just realized that we hadn't suggested any meeting place. So, I just went to Poseidon's cabin and banged on the door. "Yo cyclops it's dawn!" I shouted. Cyclops. I could do better than that. Ugh. I didn't care if I woke up someone else. I was impatient and I wanted to get this over with. At first I got no answer. "Hey, one-eyed fish! Hurry up!" I yelled. I tried the door knob, but since I wasn't any kid of fish king, the doorknob turned to water as soon as I touched it. When I moved my hand, it returned its shape as a doorknob. Huh. That's new. "Come on kelp eye!" I shouted.

"Chill, I'm here." said a voice behind me.

I quickly turned around to see the doofus I've been calling for the past minute or so. I glared at him. How dare he make a fool out of me! "Where the hell have you been!" I shouted- albeit, more quietly this time. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He tried to grab my hand and break free. "I'm sorry- I was taking a morning swim and-" he stuttered. I didn't listen to a word he said. He made look like an idiot for about a minute! No one, and I mean, no one, does that and gets away with it. I dragged him away from the cabins towards the Big House area. After a while, I stopped and pushed him to the ground.

On the way, I spotted Annabutt and Grover looking confused at their map. What brainy butt couldn't figure out a map?

I took out our map of the portals and looked at it. Although I wouldn't admit it, I realized why the other two were confused. The portal to Rome was beneath the camp. What the heck did that mean? "What's up?" asked Tyson. I glanced at him, still angry. I didn't need his help. Chiron would have a better answer.

"Chiron." I said to my pearl. Nothing happened. "Chi- ron." I said. Did I just get a faulty pearl? Oh hell no! I groaned and decided to forget about the centaur. "Jackass." I muttered.

Just then Grover's holographic image appeared from my pearl. "Huh? Clarisse? Why are you calling?" he asked. I just looked at him. I was trying not to laugh my head off. I think Tyson was trying to do the same thing and be nice to Grover."Uh, h-hey, guys. I guess it works when we say our names at any time, so I guess we'll just have to watch that when we're amongst mortals huh?" he said. With that, they disappeared. Then Tyson and I burst out laughing! I guess I found a new name for Grover.

"Can I see the map?" asked Tyson, after his laughter died down. I sighed, and gave it to him. It's not like he'll know wh-

"Oh. Beneath the camp. They mean the basement under the Big House." he said instantly. What? How did he do that? Wait, he figured out something before Annabutt daughter of Athena did! "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!" I said. I still didn't like the guy, but he beat Annabutt to it, so I'll give him that much. My only reward was that I didn't drag him by his shirt collar inside the Big House. I was sure that we weren't really allowed in there unless we were called by either Mr. D or Chiron, so we snuck our way around. If only Tyson didn't stomp his way around. I stopped in the middle of one of the hallways.

"Would you be quiet?" I whispered harshly.

"Sorry. I'm not use to sneaking around." he said. "I'll try to be more quiet."

We kept going and soon we found a door to an office. A door with a sign that said: "Danger. If you know nothing about this, you are not permitted to go through this door. "Huh. That'll spike any Hermes kid's curiosity." I said. "Well, I think this is it." I opened the door.

Inside was just a normal office- except for the door that said: Portals. "And there they are. Don't touch that." I said and smacked Tyson's hand away from a bottle of old wine. It was probably Mr. D's. Man, I just had to be stuck with this loser. What we saw inside the portal room, I didn't expect.

There were about twelve rows of doors. Which one was ours? Then I noticed that they had their locations printed above them. Okay, so all we had to do was find Rome, Italy. "Alright. Now we just have to find Rome." I said.

"Okay. Hey, maybe it's a red door." said Tyson. I looked at him. "What? For some reason every time I think of red, I think of Rome. Maybe it's because of their food. But that wouldn't make sense because the red sauce that we know of isn't actually Italian-"

I cut him off by walking away. "Hey wait for me!" he called. There was no time to waste. We had to find that door before the sun was all the way up, or it closed!

I walked fast through every hallway. Where was it? I couldn't find it anywhere! "They should think about arranging these alphabetically." said Tyson. I sighed, but tried to ignore him. Although, he did have a point. Not that I would admit it out loud for him to hear. I have a feeling he'd be like Prissy, and make jokes. That's really annoying. Not that it ever happened to me, no, no, with Annabutt. The know-it-all. She hates it when she has to say that he's right. That's the really the only good thing about their friendship that I like. Whenever he beats her at something. That's it. That's all. Besides that we're all enemies.

"Oh hey look there it- WHOA!" shouted Tyson. I turned and saw him back away from a- a hell hound? Huh? What is that doing up here? In the basement of the Big House! The thing barked a few times and then growled. Tyson stood in front of me with his arms out. "Look, we don't mean any harm- just trying to get to Rome. Through that door." he said, and gestured to a- huh. The door was red. Then the dog started attacking.

"Uh, stay? Sit! Down boy!" shouted Tyson as he tried to fight off the hell hound. We found ourselves moving away from the Rome door, and with one more leap from the hound, we fell through another.

A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun! Where are they? Any guesses? :)

R & R please! :)