V

PERCY

As soon as Ananke's diner had disappeared, we ran. We ran down the sidewalks, past people walking dogs and kids riding bikes. If a goddess had tried to kill us, other monsters wouldn't be far behind. I had been on the run before, but never so intense. I would never admit it, but I was starting to think this was all hopeless. That there was no way out. I mean, how could we fix this? How could a few demigods defeat a hundred gods. No. Don't think that way, you'll just run out of hope before lunch. I was breathing heavy, as we ran down the sidewalk, our feet thundering against the hard cement . We were turning a corner, when Panda skidded to a halt. I almost fell, as I stopped and whipped around. She was staring at a mural, painted with skyscrapers and stars. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the wall, at a thin paper taped to it. I came up beside her, trying to catch my breath as I followed her gaze.

"I'd never thought I'd see myself like that," Panda whispered, as she outstretched a hand and slid her fingers across a familiar face. It was hers; her green eyes, her black and blue hair. It was her face on a piece of parchment. At the bottom, in cursive black letters, it read: Wanted: Alive. Reward: 1,000,000,000 drachmas. Nico came up next to us and all he did was stare at the wanted poster.

"I knew they had a bounty on my head, but I didn't think… That means anyone will be after me," she said, turning her gaze on me.

"I'd never had a felon for sister," I said, trying to alleviate some of the tension, but failed miserably.

"This isn't a joke Percy!" she burst, ripping the poster down and shoving it in my face.

"Every monster in the goddamn world will be after me!" she said, balling up the poster and shoving it into a trash can. I sighed. Nico looked at me, his eyes saying: What were you thinking, before he walked towards Panda, who was storming away. I smacked my forehead. Normally, she would have continued my lame jokes, but this wasn't like old times. This was more death than life situation. I ran after her and caught her shoulder. She spun. Her eyes were angry and her messy hair falling into her face made her look scarier and dangerous.

"What?" she hissed. Then she shook her head and sighed. She looked away, her eyes turning to look at the ground.

"I'm sorry Panda. I know this isn't easy, but I'm with you in this," I looked at Nico, who was standing awkwardly behind her. "We're both in this with you."

She closed her eyes and squatted, her head falling into her hands. She wrapped her fingers in her hair and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Percy," she said softly, shaking her head in her hands. "I'm just…" she sighed, then stood up, pushing her hair out of her face and pulling over a poker face that was hard to decipher.

"Let's just go," she said, as she shoulder her bag and started walking. Nico and I followed behind her, but that's what we did. We stayed behind her. We didn't walk at her sides or try to comfort her. She didn't want it anymore, I could tell that much. She was breaking down on her own. It hurt me a little, to see her detaching herself from everyone and everything, but I knew I'd do the same if I were in her position.

If I looked at her too quickly, I'd see her clothes tattered, blood on her lips and ichor on her hands. I would see the anger, the hatred, the sorrow and the guilt in her eyes, as she stared at the dagger she'd brought Zeus's death with. I'd never thought I'd see her this way and it scares me, to be honest. On the outside, though sometimes shaky, she seemed almost sane, but I knew she was slowly losing it. I wasn't afraid of many things, but I am afraid of things I couldn't see; especially in my friends. I wanted to protect her and stay with her, offer her company, but I was waiting for the moment she would snap.

People have gone crazy for less and I was kind of proud that she hasn't gone on a murderous rampage, when so many others would've. She strode ahead of us, her hair bouncing and tangling itself against her back. She walked with a sense of confidence, but if you looked closer, the way her hands hung limp, and her head slightly tipped downwards, and her white knuckles as she held on to her bag harder than you'd need to, you'd realize it was a walk of someone broken. I glanced at Nico, who stared at her with the same thoughts I had.

He hadn't seemed too phased by Zeus's death. He was the first to recover from the shock and was the only reason we'd survived the first five minutes. But he had seemed confused when he couldn't find Zeus's soul in the Underworld. He had spent most of his time, trying to find Zeus, keeping a look out for monsters and gods, while trying to desperately find a fix to the problem, but so far, he had come up empty. Panda walked into the forest, farther down than we had been before and made her way through roots and bushes. I watched her carefully; trying to decipher her actions in advance. And I looked around, waiting for an attack behind every tree.

I'd been used to monsters disintegrating and powerful beings being cut into a million pieces or just disappearing for a long while, but not a god dying and staying dead. If I hadn't been there, seen the person who'd done it or why, I would've been scared beyond words. I'd be thinking about what could've caused such an impossible action. But it had been Panda. And I wasn't scared of her. I was scared of the dagger and the consequences of losing the god of the skies.

Panda jumped over a big root and before I knew it, she disappeared behind a bunch of bushes with a scream.

"PANDA!" Nico and I screamed as we ran forwards. Before us, was a good sized lake and Panda was nowhere to be seen.

"Panda!" I yelled, as I stood up and prepared to jump. Then, a head popped out of the water.

"I'm okay!" she yelled, as she turned around and looked up at us as we stood on a small mound. Nico sighed in relief.

"You must really be accident prone!" Nico yelled. Panda stuck her tongue out at him and Nico just chuckled.

"Come on!" Panda said, as she waved her hand for us to jump in. I looked at Nico.

"Come on dude," I said, as I dropped my bag and dove head first into the lake. It was cool and it was a sweet relief from the scorching sun. I let the water break through my personal barrier, and the water rushed over me, licking my skin. My head broke the surface and I shook my head, which ended up piling all my hair to one side. I fixed it, as Nico jumped in with a howl. He came up and shook his hair.

"Nice," he said, as he scratched his head.

"I told Spyridon to find us here," Panda said, swimming closer to me. "He was pretty far looking for food, so he'll be here in about twenty minutes."

"Well, until then…" Nico said, as he disappeared under the surface. Suddenly, Panda screamed as she was pulled under. She and Nico both resurfaced and Panda splashed water into his face.

"Very mature," she chided. But behind Nico, a wave lifted up about five feet above him. Panda smiled and Nico realized what was happening too late and a huge wave crashed on him. He came up sputtering water and glared at Panda.

"Not fair. You've got water powers!" he complained, as he shoved his hair out of his face.

"Come on guys, if you're gonna act like total idiots," I said, as I willed two spirals of water to wrap around their feet and pull them up about ten feet in the air. They hung upside as they flailed, both yelling some nasty insults at me. "Do it right," I said, as I let go of the water and they plummeted downwards; Nico landing in a pretty bad belly flop. Panda's expression, though shooting some daggers at me for dropping her, seemed to have changed slightly. Her hair was wet and pressed against her cheeks and she finally smiled. I was afraid she'd stay in a stink mood for the longest time, but if she wasn't thinking of monsters or Ryder, she was a completely different person.

We spent the next fifteen minutes splashing around and showing Nico the bottom of the lake for unlimited amounts of time, which he enjoyed and hated at the same time. Then, Panda pulled us up as Spyridon circled towards us and awkwardly landed, breaking a few trees in half.

"We must move quickly. An army of Kobalos are underway," he said, looking over the small mound for any signs they were nearing. Nico flinched at the mention of Kobalos, but he recovered and jumped out of the water. He frowned at his clothes that were soaking wet.

"I got ya," I said, as I willed the water to peel off of his skin and clothes and return to the lake, which left him as dry as a dead leaf.

"Thanks," he said, as he jogged up the hill for our bags. Panda dried herself, quickly trying to brush her hair with her fingers. Nico came back, and handed each of us our bags and we climbed up on Spyridon for a quick escape. I sat up front, Nico in the back, which left Panda in the middle. Spyridon unfolded his wings, crouched and then launched himself into the air. I was used to the jerk of taking off from Blackjack, but Spyridon was flawless. He took to the sky, holding out his wings firmly as he glided through the air.

As we relaxed on top of Spyridon, I pulled out my cell phone and called Annabeth. She quickly answered.

"Percy?" her voice echoed on the other line.

"Yeah, what's the status?" I asked, staring at the passing clouds.

"They sent out another troop to try and find you. Chiron is trying to stall, but he can only do so much. The gods won't have any of it. I tried to go with the troop, but they won't let me. You're on your own with them," Annabeth said. I sighed. The news wouldn't get any better.

"Don't worry Percy. It's going to get better," she said, but she didn't sound so sure.

"Okay, thanks, I'll call you later," I said. She mumbled a bye and hung up.

"Any good news?" Panda asked, leaning forward and placing her chin on my shoulder.

"No, not really."

Thanks Percy Waterblue and MysteryPerson for your reviews :) They really help me and push me forwards with this story. I hope you guys liked it and if you didn't, you know the drill! :) Thanks.