Chapter Two: What Awaits In Portland

June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1600 hrs, Portland, Oregon, United States - Percy Jackson

"Phineas was talking to Gaea, she wasn't there herself of course, but he is a servant of hers," Percy explained his demigod dream quickly, "She promised him many things. Gaea seemed to be…disgusted by Phineas, but she enlisted his help none the less, with a heavy payment."

"Phineas must have something Gaea desperately wants," Zoë said, "The Mother Earth is a very prideful deity and she normally does not associate herself with filthy swine like Phineas. If Phineas tells Gaea the future, it could be decisive to the outcome of the war. She will know our every move before we make them, she will see New Rome's defenses and the Gods' plans."

"We will be crashed," Percy finished, "So we'd better make sure Gaea never finds out anything from Phineas."

"How are we going to do that?" Hazel asked, "I mean not to be obvious, but if he can see the future, there's no point trying to kill him. Besides, Thanatos is still trapped, he will just come right back from the Doors of Death."

An uncomfortable silence descended as the trio walked until Percy broke it. "I guess we'll just have to be diplomatic then."

"Percy Jackson? Diplomatic?" Zoë teased, "I didn't know these two could be put in the same sentence."

"Shut up," Percy muttered under his breathe while Hazel broke into a fit of laughter.

"Sorry Percy," Hazel managed to calm herself down, "But I thought it's your still to jump into battle with only a sword and screw everything else."

Percy blushed, looking embarrassed, "Athena must have rubbed off on me." He confessed.

"Let's just get this over with." Zoë's face hardened, her right hand reaching for her trustworthy hunting blade, "Remember, Phineas loves gambling, the bigger the bargain the better. It could be helpful."

Ahead of them, Phineas awaited their arrival.

"Ah demigods," Phineas greeted jovially, "I can always smell demigods."

"Are we really that smelly?" Hazel frowned.

"Of course not, darling!" Phineas laughed, "I might be blind, but I have sharp senses. My name is Phineas, but of course, you already know that. Let me see… A son of Neptune! Oh dear, another child of Pluto… A delegation from New Rome- To what do I own this pleasure?"

"You see-" Percy began diplomatically, but Phineas interrupted him.

"Yes, of course, Percy Jackson! The son of Neptune," Phineas was grinning now, "I can smell ocean on you… hearth as well! Remarkable, so the rumors are true, Vesta adopted you. You are here because you want my help."

"How-"

"Don't look so surprised, dear brother of mine," said Phineas lazily, "I can see the future, remember? I saw it myself. Now tell me, what is it you seek? I can tell you how to free Thanatos, I can tell you where Juno is being held, I can tell you how to unite Greece and Rome and end this Greek-Roman fiasco, I can even tell you how to stop Terra, temporarily and permanently. I can make you wealthier than Pluto himself, I can give you the power to stop death, I can teach you how to disappear, to drop out of the reach of the Gods. Or is it something more personal you seek? You want to know why your father ditched you like yesterday's trash, you want to know why your girlfriend stabbed you in the back or do you want to know what turned your friends, family against you, after throwing your life in the line for them so many times."

Percy clenched his fists, his face long reddened from anger. Zoë had to reach out a hand to grab him arm, holding him firmly in place while running it down the length of his forearm smoothly, calming his down a little, while the ex-huntress herself looked more than eager to blast Phineas into oblivion. Hazel wasn't any less angry than Percy or Zoë, her grasp had found the hilt of her Spatha, but being a trained legionnaire of the Twelfth Legion made her held her ground.

"Did I hit a sore spot?" Phineas smirked, his entire uncaring and lazy demeanor only made Zoë want to hurt him more, "My bad, how about you Nightshade? Had to crawl all the way to the Doors of Death? Just out of curiosity how did you do it? Terra's guarding those passages very carefully, perhaps you persuaded one of the guards to release you?"

Phineas led out a bemused laugh as the angry ex-huntress pulled out her silver hunting knife and lunged at the seer, only to be pulled back by Percy and Hazel as the son of Vesta snuck his arms around her torso and locked her in his iron embrace, while the daughter of Pluto tried and failed to calm her down with words.

"I will kill you! You disgusting swine!" Zoë swore, glaring daggers at Phineas while struggling against Percy's hold, "I will dig your tongue out and feed it to the wolves!"

"You will try to kill me and feed my tongue to the wolves," Phineas led out a bored yelp and reached for oily food on the table that Percy'd rather not touch in a million years, "I can see the future, remember? And right now, I see a thousand different futures, a thousand thing you will do, a thousand realities it will lead to. 67% you will try to strike me in the face… a textbook right hook, I'd say, oh, it has just gone up 73% now. Maybe you'd wipe out that dagger you have concealed in your boots… the one on your left side and throw it at me. Or you might miraculously show intelligence beyond your thick huntress skull and refrain yourself. You are conflicting, Zoë Nightshade, there is an infinity of possibilities in front of you, and an infinity of disastrous outcomes. You want to know how I know all this? Because I see everything."

By the time Phineas was done, the son of Neptune was smirking smugger than ever.

Percy was enraged, he was boiling inside and he knew it. His vision darkened, the only thing he could see were black dots, then they turned blood red. Percy was positively certain that his control was slipping because he could feel the ground shaking beneath him. His earth-shaking power had awakened. Wind was picking up, storm was forming in a distance but Percy didn't care. Zoë had long stopped struggling against him and looked at him with a look a concern, she placed a hand tentatively on his shoulder, but Percy didn't see her. He had his murderous glare fixed on Phineas.

But Phineas only continued as if nothing was happening, "And you, Hazel Levesque. I am quite surprised to see you here, you see, since your patron is Terra after all…"

"I have nothing to do with Terra!" Hazel snapped, she was grasping her Spatha so hard that her knuckles were cracking, her fingers were white and blood was drawn on her nails.

"Of course you do!" Phineas laughed, "A girl risen from death, you do not deny it, do you?" Hazel's Spatha was withdrawn with a sharp slash, but Phineas only looked more bemused than he already was, "How noble of you, Hazel Levesque, sticking with the losing side, but fine, that's your business. By the way, do you know your boyfriend's life is tied to a piece of stick? One spark and he's dead. But of course you do, you have it right there in your pocket. A beautiful thing, death is, absolutely beautiful. And now Terra has re-written the rules of death, I am alive once again! How much would your boyfriend still love if he finds out you are the reason Alcyoneus-"

It was the final straw. Hazel snapped and charged at Phineas with a cry, her Spatha raised. Percy reached for her arm, trying to pull the daughter of Pluto back, but he was too late. Hazel swung her blade and blinked. Phineas was gone.

A second later, the son of Neptune re-emerged behind her. Zoë led out a cry of warning while whipping out her silver blade and hurling it at the back of his skull with dead accuracy. Phineas moved with the speed of a wolf, locking Hazel's sword arm in a dead grip and bringing it back down while kneeing her hard at the back of her joint. The daughter of Pluto yelped in surprise as she was brought down her knees in one swift motion, her own blade turned against her as Phineas yanked her arm, still holding the Spatha, and pressing it against her neck, all in one swift motion carried out with deadly precision under a second.

Without sparing so much of a glance at the ex-huntress, Phineas' left hand shot up and snatched her hunting knife out of air, his impending doom merely an inch away. He brought it down without the slightest hesitation then, burying the blade deep into Hazel's shoulder as the daughter of Pluto led out an excruciating scream, the only thing left visible of the silver hunting knife was its gleaming hilt, covered by blood while the rest of its length found its way deep in the daughter of Pluto's shoulder, tearing her flesh apart as blood poured from the wound rapidly, the sharp tip of the blade glazing against her bone.

Phineas jerked his right arm, yanking the Spatha out of Hazel's hand and into his own hold while the daughter of Pluto collapsed, blacking out from the intense pain. Spinning, Phineas dove out of the way, narrowly missing the second silver hunting knife coming from Zoë, while twisting his body with a slight side jump, rendering the stab of Anaklusmos useless.

Phineas swung the Spatha baseball style, the hard blunt of the blade made contact with Percy's back not gently at all, the Imperial Gold shattering while Percy dropped from the impact. Had he not bore the Curse of Achilles, his spine would have snapped to pieces from the brute attack.

Not passing the opportunity while the son of Vesta fell, Phineas brought up the shattered Spatha and dove straight into Zoë's defense, much to the ex-huntress' shock. Before she could recover, however, Phineas knocked a silver dagger out of Zoë's hand with brute force. Then, he moved, his figure had turned into a blur too quick for the ex-huntress' eyes to catch as Phineas slammed what's left of Hazel's Spatha into Zoë's right thigh violently. The ex-huntress cried in pain while collapsing to a knee.

By the Percy had risen, his eyes burning with hatred, Anaklusmos gleaming a murderous light as the Celestial Bronze sword re-appeared in Percy's hand. Percy leaped, feinting a swing at Phineas's left shoulder while quickly turning the blade around, sending a jab at Phineas' left ribs wildly.

But the seer saw right through it. He might not know the first thing about swordsmanship to tell the move, it was one of the best Percy could muster, but he knew the future. He sidestepped Anaklusmos easily, and before Percy could strike again, he grabbed the son of Vesta's outstretched sword arm and swung it using their combined momentum, using it as a leverage as he lifted the son of Vesta over his shoulder and slammed him onto the ground hard, his already shattered back was burning as he crash landed painfully.

Phineas looked tempted for a moment to bring his feet up and crash Percy's thorax with his boots, but apparently thought better of it as he tensed, then spun wildly, missing a slash of silver blur as a certain ex-huntress moved again.

Now Percy wished Phineas had crashed every bone in his body instead. Zoë was standing, but panting hard. Her face was pale, her hunting pants were soaked crimson red, her blood. A silver cloth was tied around her pierced thigh roughly, evidently the rapid bleeding only stopped moments ago.

Zoë leaped off her feet again, her dagger risen, and Phineas slammed into her mid-air. Her small frame was crashed onto the ground as his large figure knocked her off her original course, sending her flying. Zoë struggled to get up, but Phineas already moved, his movement was a blur even in Percy's eyes. By the time his figure was solid again, Phineas had driven his fist onto Zoë's nose. Blood exploded from her face as she fell again, both her hands clutching her broken nose.

Percy felt his blood was boiling. A fiendish rage took over him as he found himself on his feet again, Anaklusmos ready with the full intention to kill. But he couldn't see the future.

Phineas leaned down and yanked her up from her lying position roughly, snatching her by her collar and swung her around. The two demigods collided into each other mid-air, Percy desperately jerking his blade away from Zoë.

They landed painfully. Percy's already damaged back taking most of the impact from the fall. Zoë was on top of him, her hunting blades long gone, blood still pouring from her nose, soaking his purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt wet.

In the corner of his vision, Percy could see Hazel pushing herself onto her feet. The silver hunting knife embedded into her shoulder blade was pulled out roughly with a groan, blood was shooting from her wound at a dangerous pace. The daughter of Pluto's eyes seemed to darken until they were pitch black, like Death itself. Phineas turned away from the fallen pair to face her, his expression bemused.

Percy gritted his teeth and gently rolled over, setting Zoë under him. He bolted up, his hand reaching for the pen form of Anaklusmos in his pocket. A small hand grabbed his arm and stopped him in the middle of his track, soft yet firm. He looked down to see Zoë, her long silky black hair was messy from the physical fighting and stained with blood, both her own and Percy's. Her nose had finally stopped bleeding, but the sight of the numerous bruises and cuts on her body almost made Percy jump at Phineas again.

Zoë only shook her head at him, Percy looked at her in disbelief.

"Stop," She whispered, "We can't win this fight."

Percy looked around, Phineas was approaching them painfully slow from a distance, Hazel had fallen again, her sword arm bent at an unnatural angle and bone was popping out of her left ankle, obviously broken. She wasn't moving.

Percy looked at Phineas then, the son of Neptune was yawning, not a trace of the fighting could be found on him. None of them had managed to land a blow on him, yet all of them were half way to Thanatos. Percy understood instantly, you don't fight an enemy who knows exactly what you are going to do.

He remembered what Zoë said to him, and a plan formed in his head. A crazy one that's probably going to get all of them killed, but a plan nonetheless.

Percy stood up and dropped his sword. For a moment, Phineas looked genuinely surprised, before his expression turned into one of amusement again.

"Finally given up I see," Phineas grinned, "All three of you all high of the Mother Earth's most wanted list, you in particular, Percy Jackson. How much Denarii is this going to earn me? Fifteen thousand? Twelve? I'll just settle for ten."

"I am not surrendering, Phineas," Percy stated calmly, Phineas turned even more bemused, "I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" Phineas raised an eyebrow, for the first time since their encounter, the son of Neptune looked interested.

"I heard you gamble, and I have one for you," Percy said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two vials which had already been enhanced to be unbreakable. "These are-"

"Gorgon blood!" Phineas exclaimed, looking impressed, "One if from the left side of a Gorgon, the other right, of course. One of them has the most excellent healing property while the other is the deadliest poison to be found, interesting!"

"What the Hades are you doing?" Zoë hissed, slowly rising to her feet. Both Percy and Phineas ignored her.

"The right one- If you choose right, the Gorgon blood will cure your blindness." Percy said, and judging by the greedy look on Phineas' face, the old man was hooked, "Here're the terms. You will choose one out of the two vials, and I will drink the other. If I die, well, congratulations, the cure's all yours. But if I don't, you will answer all questions I want to be answered truthfully. But, you can not use your ability to see the future, no uncorking, no sniffing. Do we have a deal?"

"No!" Zoë cried, the same time Phineas nodded without a hesitation.

"We have a deal." The son of Neptune said.

Percy closed his eyes, what he was about to do, was probably the most insane thing he'd ever done, crazier than all the disastrous plans he came up with, but it was a risk worth taking.

Gaea, Percy called out, stretching his senses deep into earth, Gaea.

The response was almost immediate, What, little half-breed? She sounded bemused.

You say I am your valuable pawn- You say you have plans for me, and I'm guessing whatever you have in mind, downing Gorgon poison my throat won't turn out well for you. So, decide now, who is more valuable to you, me or Phineas. Help me beat him, or you will never have me.

Gaea didn't respond, and for a moment, Percy almost lost his nerves, but he reminded himself he'd have no other choice. It was his dream, he insisted on coming to Portland, and now they were trapped.

Behind him, Zoë grabbed his arm and dragged him away from a bemused Phineas, who observed the pair with interest.

"Just what the Hades do you think you are doing?" She hissed angrily, "That's Gorgon blood! We have no idea which vial holds the cure- You are going to get yourself killed!"

Percy shook his head at her firmly, "I'm sorry Zoë, but I have to do this. Without Phineas' information, we are as blind as he is, and we don't have time to search the entire Alaska for Thanatos."

Zoë glared at him, but Percy held his gaze. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to both of them, Zoë's expression softened. "Oh, Percy," She whispered, tears were forming in her eyes now, "Why does it always have to be you?"

Percy only smiled at her sadly.

"You are a good man Percy Jackson," Zoë said, her voice cracked, "I-"

Zoë couldn't finish her sentence. She turned her head away as tears began streaking down her cheeks. Percy could her quite sobs and it was painful to watch. It felt like his heart was being torn apart, physical pain shot through him at the sight of Zoë. He almost turned his heels away then. But he didn't.

People called him brave, and Percy decided to act like it.

Without any warning, Percy reached forward, taking her arms in his hands as he spun Zoë around. Before Zoë could open her mouth, Percy grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her into a searing kiss.

June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1700 hrs, Portland, Oregon, United States - Zoë Nightshade

Time seemed to be frozen. Earth stopped spinning, people stopped moving, Zoë stopped breathing. She was frozen in her place.

All her fantasies, all her dreams, all her passions, in this moment, they had all come true, they were all satisfied. She felt content, she felt happy. She forgot her name, her Goddess, her sisters, her quest, the rest of the world had melted away.

There was one thing in her mind, and one thing only.

It was Percy Jackson.

Slowly, she hooked her arms around his neck and returned the pressure.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair, his long, jet black hair.

She pulled him closer, closer than before, closer than they have every been, closer than she thought possible.

Their bodies pressed together, their arms fitting perfectly around each other, their lips moving in perfect syncs.

She pulled him close, hardening the kiss, pouring as much emotion as she could muster, all her love, all her passion, all her blessing, everything she's ever felt for him, into that one searing kiss.

She hoped he understood, all the unspoken words. All the time stolen from them, all the things she wished she'd said, all the things she wished she'd done, all the time they should have had together, all her hopes, all her dreams, for the two of them.

The past she hoped they shared, the future she hoped they will have, the present slipping away from them.

Slowly, Percy pulled away, his eyes boring into hers.

She could see everything he had tried to convey to her, the unyielding love he felt for her. She knew he understood then, because she did herself.

Then he was gone.

June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1900 hrs, Bridge, Argo II - Washington, United States - Jason Grace

"Anything?" Leo asked as he walked into the Bridge, his stomach nowhere full from the few sandwiches he stuffed in his mouth just now, but the day of hard work was worth it. Argo II was already actively searching for Lycaon's pack, and they had reached as far as the border of Washington.

Jason shook his head, looking up at his friend, "I don't understand, we followed Lycaon's from California up to here, but that's just it. As soon as we sailed into Washington, their trace was gone, it's as if they vanished into thin air."

Leo opened his mouth, but a loud bang coming from outside the Bridge captured the attention of both demigods. It was as if a meteor had just struck.

Jason hurried outside, followed closely but Leo, who snatched his Imperial Gold hammer.

"What's going on?" Leo asked, his grip around his hammer tightened subconsciously.

Jason didn't answer. Instead, his stared dead ahead at a tall, bulky figure in front of him with mid-night black hair and blood red eyes. He wore a worn black motorcyclist black jacket and matching dark jeans with heavy, black boots, a black shirt with a bleeding skull was visible under his ragged jacket.

He held a gleaming dagger in his right hand, and pressed against the tip of the blade, was Piper's throat.

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, I hear you have been searching for me," He sent them a wicked grin, "Well, here I am."

"Curious, most curious indeed. Events are long in motion, the course of history has been set, yet the smallest change, the simplest disturbance that creates ripples… Ripples after ripples, until the lake is no longer calm." The dark figure said with interest, as the scene unfold him, where a young pair of blackheads was embracing and kissing each other, "Humans… They never cease to amaze me, do they? The entire world places their faith in you… very well Jackson, Nightshade, let's see if your love is strong enough to bring down Gaea, or poisonous enough to ruin you both. But first, can you face your worst nightmare, where your Gods are beyond reach?"

AN: I believe a moment all of us has been waiting for a long time has finally come. It wasn't exactly my plan, but it just happened, and I'm happy with it. I want to thank you for your reviews, they are wonderful. Percy is now off to face Phineas with his life as gamble while Jason is about to learn very dearly why you should always be careful what you wish for. Thanks for reading and until the next time!