I do not own anything.

CHAPTER VII

Buster Gets Busted

Agathe was totally awesome. So far, it's only been ten minutes since we've met, but she's still pretty awesome. She tells me about another brother we have, named Chrysaor.

"I call him Gold Boy. He literally wears all gold," Agathe says.

"Does he know Blue Boy?" I ask her.

"Fauna, I'm pretty sure that's a painting..." Danny butts in. I scowl at him, but he just laughs at me. Agathe stares at him until he looks at her. Then he starts to turn to stone. I have no idea what happened other than him turning to stone, because I didn't look at Agathe. I looked back and saw a stone statue of a boy in mid laugh. I smiled at Agathe.

"Thanks, sis. That guy can be super..." I tried to think of a word.

"Annoying? Despicable? Stupid?" she suggested.

"All of them." She smiled brightly at me. "Okay, I guess you have to turn him back, now. I don't want to lug a life-sized statue all the way to Olympia." She rolled her eyes at me and turned Danny back. He gasped, as if he was holding his breath.

"Not...cool," he choked out. "So...not...cool." Agathe and I laughed at him, and I ended up running into an electric pole. Now the laughter was directed at me. I glared at them both, and they both shut up quickly. I turned back and started to walk, but realized that I had no idea where I was. I haven't had any kind of idea at all.

"I am such an idiot," I say, slapping my forehead.

"You just realized that, Kelp Breath?"

"Hey! I do not have kelp breath!" I said, offended.

"What about Brine Brain?" Agathe offers.

"Hey! Your part of the family too, so I'd keep my trap shut if I were you." She rolls her eyes at me. I walk on forwards until I see a little house. It was a yellow, but shone like gold in the sunset. Black panels were on the roof, an ranch of cows were in the fields behind the house. The sun made them look like they were red.

"Hey, Agathe, maybe you could do something about the snakes," I tell her. She nods, and her eyes start to glow. Her skin color changed to a dark tan, and her hair turned brown. It weaved itself so they were cornrow braids, but they were shaped like a snake was slithering. It was all put back into a bun. She was suddenly wearing a green summer dress and flip-flops. I nodded in approval.

"There are some perks to be a monster. I can't die, and I can change my appearance." She gives me a smile.

We all walked up to the door, and Danny knocked a little bit too loud. There was some rustling behind the closed door, and a man with golden blond hair and blue eyes opened the door. He looked pretty middle aged, but was pretty tall.

"Hi, we're sort of lost, do we were wondering if you could tell us with way leads to Olympia, Washington?" Danny asks. The man chuckled at us.

"That seems like a long way from here. Why don't you kids come on in? You look like you've been trampled by my cattle."

The guy's name was Buster. He all lets us clean up in the bathroom, and frankly, I really needed it. I don't think I've ever been as clean as I was now. I was just opening the bathroom door when I heard a shout. I ran downstairs, Agathe having a bewildered look on her face. I wondered what could have caused that.

"What's going on here? What'd I miss?" I say franticly. Agathe turns to me.

"Fauna, we need to talk. Now." Agathe rushed over to me, and dragged me outside to the back. "I need to tell you something important, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else-no, you have to swear on the River Styx."

"What sticks?" I ask her. "Why do I have to swear on a river made of sticks?"

"S-t-y-x, Styx. It's an ancient river, and if you break your promise when you swear upon it, the consequences aren't good. Swear it!"

"Okay! Well, I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone your secret."

"Good. Now, the thing is, I saw our brother a couple of days ago. I could tell because of the family resemblance. He was at Medusa's layer, with a blond girl and a satyr."

"Probably Annabeth, Grover, and of course, Percy," I butted in.

"Yeah. Something's been stolen, but I don't know what. But this isn't the point. I saw another girl following them, and she looked a lot like Percy. She was wearing a necklace with a scythe charm-the symbol of Kronos. Trust me, I've been to Tartarus before, and I've heard his voice. He can do a lot of things, even when he's stuck down there."

"Kronos was the king of gods-"

"Titans."

"Yeah, whatever. So, he was the king of the Titans. Didn't he eat his kids, the gods but then up-chucked them cause of Zeus fed Kronos something? Then, BAM! Titan War breaks out."

"Yes. I never thought someone could sum all of that up so fast," she said, amazed.

"Yes, I know, bask in my awesomeness later, but you mentioned a little girl before, and that she looked like Percy. I was just wondering, do you have any idea why she was there?" I asked, trying to make it sound casual. Sadly, it didn't work.

Agathe peered at me. "I think she was spying for Kronos. Why?" My eyes widened with fear. Little Phaedra, spying for Kronos? She wouldn't do that, would she? No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't betray us like that, right?

"Hey, you guys okay? Buster offered us to stay for the night," Danny yelled through the porch door.

"Sure! We'll be in in a second," I yelled back. He just nodded, disappearing behind the door. "We better go back inside. I don't like the darkness.

Buster led us up to the second story, giving us each our own room. I didn't feel very comfortable staying here, at a stranger's house, but I just felt like I could trust him.

I snuck downstairs, Buster strumming a guitar. He looked up when I cleared my throat. Buster gave me a smile, and patted the spot next to him. Timidly, I sat down next to him.

"Hey, down worry. I don't bite, but my sister might," Buster said, chuckling. He stopped, leaning close towards me. "So, how's the quest going?" he asked me in a whisper. I was so surprised, I almost him Buster in the gut when I jumped.

"H-how did you know?" I stuttered. He smiled his perfectly white smile, and began to glow. I had to shut my eyes at the brightness. When the blackness returned, I opened my eyes. Instead of a middle aged farmer, I saw a teenage boy. "Apollo?"

"Right-o! Apollo or Phoebus. Whichever you want to call me. Anyways, I couldn't just watch my lil' cousin get beat up by the world, could I?"

"I thought gods and goddesses couldn't interfere with quests," I said, puzzled.

"Oh, we can't. I just thought that this would help." He gave me another smile.

"It is very helpful, Lord Apollo. Thanks." Thunder rumbled in the clouds, and Apollo frowned.

"Uncle Zeus is calling me back," he said, looking up. Then he turned towards me. "Say hi to Danny for me and good luck on your quest." Apollo tapped me on the forehead, and suddenly, I felt sleepy. "You go to sleep. You'll need your rest for tomorrow." Then suddenly, I was.

"Fauna," a voice whispered to me. It was a woman's, and it sounded familiar. "Betray them. Betray them all. You belong to me, child. Betray them all," the voice urged me. It seemed to come from everywhere. I couldn't move, but my voice was still there.

"Who are you?" I asked out loud."

"I am the mother of all. Protect your true brethren, and the world will be yours. the sky will bow to your will, and mortals will worship you. Come, Fauna. Learn your true self." I felt myself falling into the spell. The ground shook, and I was engulfed in pain.

"Join me or die!" the voice screeched.

I woke to a loud groan. I remember that I had a dream, but couldn't seem to remember it. Just the voice of a woman… I rolled out of my bed, but defiantly not on my own will. I slide towards the wall and bonked my heads pretty hard. So hard, I thought mud was coming in through the window. When I heard Agathe scream, I started to guess this was reality. I jumped up and grabbed my backpack. I looked around the room, seeing it was the room Apollo gave me. Did he flash me here, or did he carry me? I don't know if I really want to find out. I took a quick peek outside the window, and saw the house coming near the ground. I looked further out and saw Apollo's cattle. Yesterday, it would have been understandable for the cattle to be red, but now I saw that they actually were red.

I slung the backpack over my shoulder, and started to make my way towards the door. Vases, dressers, and pictures slammed against the wall with a window or broke. I climbed my way towards the door, and entered into the hallway. Danny and Agathe were crouching on the walls, trying to avoid falling pictures coming from the other side of the hall. I made my way towards them, narrowly avoiding a picture of a brunette playing a grand piano.

"What are we going to do?" Agathe asked me, fear showing on her face. I looked around us. The end of the hallway leads to a closet. All of our rooms were probably in the ground, and I didn't want to go into any of the rooms above us. Their doors creaked as all of the stuff in the rooms was on the doors. I guess we had to go the way we came.

I gestured for them both to follow me. We ran to the stairs, the mud rising here quickly. Furniture was on the top of the mud, so I was guessing the mud was denser than most. Railing was on both sides of the stairs, but I'm guessing it wasn't made to hold two people and a monster.

What now, Fauna? You're trapped. Join my son's army, the woman's voice said in my head. No one can defeat me. Surrendering is the best option. Mother knows best.

Mother… I remember something Annabeth taught me. She and the rest of the Athena cabin had been my teachers, and they were pretty awesome at their jobs. Malcolm was my math teacher, Kendall my English/Greek/Latin teacher, Johan my Science and History (boring mortal history) teacher, and Annabeth was everything else. She taught me about the gods of Olympus, our history, how to fight monsters. All the wonderfully good stuff. Anyways, one of the things Annabeth taught me was the family tree. Gaea was mother earth, and if she was here…

I let out a couple of colorful curses, curtsy to Clarisse. I looked at the furniture. It was our best option. "Follow my lead," I told the others. I jumped down onto a couch. It wobbled, but it held me. I just hoped it would hold for the others too. I jumped onto the next piece of furniture, and then the next. I cast a quick glace behind me, and saw Danny and Agathe having no trouble at all.

We reached the entrance hall, the door not that far away. There wasn't any furniture left, but Danny's face lit up. He grabbed a table, not too big, but not too small, and heaved it out of the rising mud. It made a weird sucking sound, and I knew weird. I'm still a New Yorker, hobo or not. He tossed it in front of us, and I leaped onto it. The other hopped on too, almost knocking me off. The door wouldn't budge, but there was still an open window.

"Anyone know how to break a window?" I asked.

"If you wanted someone to break a window, you should have brought one of the kids from the Hermes cabin. Isn't breaking windows some sort of part in breaking and entering? Stealing?" Danny said. He sighed, taking off his jacket. He wrapped it around his right hand, and hit the window. A crack spread through it as his face twisted with pain. Reluctantly, he tried again and again until the window broke.

"Nice!" Agathe exclaimed, and I had to agree with her. I don't know if I would want to have punched a window. Danny climbed out first, then Agathe. By the time she was out, I could barley even fit through the hole. I had to lay on my stomach so I wouldn't get completely crushed by the ceiling. I heard Danny's and Agathe's shouts, but the mud was rising so fast that soon the window was gone too. I felt myself being crushed. I had no choice. I slipped into the mud and drew in a deep breath. I was being pulled down, but I reached out for the window. I felt a sharp pain in my hand, but all I could do was hold on.

Hey dad, I prayed, I could really use some help right now. At first, nothing happened. I was going to die, drowning in mud. A daughter of Poseidon, drowning. My lungs burned, and I felt myself losing it. Then I felt a weird sensation, like a tugging in my gut, and then water exploded around me, washing out the mud. I gasped, and pulled myself up with both arms. Pain shot through my arms, but it was dulled. I climbed up and saw Agathe and Danny waiting for me. I jumped off the still sinking house and ran over to them, the mud washed off of me.

"I almost forget that I have water powers," I said, weakly smiling at them. I swayed a bit, but they steadied me.

"You okay, Fauna? You look pale," Agathe said.

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Just a bit tired," I mumbled, and that's when I passed out.