Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

A/N Here's the next chapter. That's all. Enjoy and review if you enjoy it (if you want to) : )

"You were awesome Silena!" Annabeth said as she hugged her friend. Silena grinned and Annabeth could tell she was trying to be modest (which was weird for a daughter of Aphrodite) but she was really proud of herself.

"It was so fun! And it felt so great to carry the flag back to our side!" Silena gushed. Beckendorf grinned too and kissed Silena's forehead.

Annabeth was happy for Silena, but she was feeling pretty proud too. She had carefully mapped out every detail of their plan. Between Percy distracting Clarisse, to the Hephaestus cabin pretending they were going to lose, and the piece de resistance, the sneaky switch between Annabeth and Silena.

They all walked out of the forest together triumphantly, the red flag still waving in Silena's hand. They were all headed for the dining pavilion, to have a victory lunch, when somebody grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her back. There was a little dent between Percy's scrunched up eyebrows that he got when he was confused. He opened his mouth to ask something, but before he could get a word out Annabeth placed a kiss right on his O shaped mouth. He reacted immediately, tugging her forward by her t-shirt. A few seconds in though, he pulled away, seemingly remembering that he had meant to ask her something.

"Why am I always the last one to know about your clever plans?" He asked. He seemed confused, maybe a bit hurt.

"Because, Seaweed Brain, you're a terrible actor." She grinned at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? I'll have you know I did a marvellous performance as tree #2 in the 3rd grade thanksgiving pageant."

She laughed. "I'm sorry." She hugged him and he ran his fingers through her hair. "I just thought you would find it easier to fight Clarisse when you actually thought that it mattered."

He sighed and pulled back to look into her eyes. "What I just don't understand is how you kept this from me. We coordinated this plan together!" He had a puzzled look on his face.

"I'm very sneaky." She told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the victory lunch. They sat down together at a table, since it was a special occasion. There were Athena flags hung up on the walls, and it made Annabeth's pride swell to see them. Beckendorf, Silena and Nico were already sitting at the table. Nico seemed to be telling Silena about some video game or something, and she was pretending to be interested.

"...yeah, so you just shoot the guys and then you can get extra points depending on where you shoot them –oh hey guys!" Nico greeted them. Silena looked relieved to have a reason to end that conversation. Beckendorf just looked amused.

"Hey Nico, nice job with the ghosts dude." Percy told him kindly. Nico grinned at Percy.

"Thanks Perce, you know I think I might have passed out from bringing so many, but it was so worth it man!" He raised his fist to bump with Percy's so Percy complied. Annabeth noticed that Silena was smiling at her and Percy in a mushy sort of way.

"What now Silena?" Annabeth asked, raising her eyebrows at Silena's dreamy gaze.

"Oh nothing... Just that kiss you guys had by the creek was so cute!" She practically squealed. Annabeth stared at her.

"How do you know about that?" She asked. Silena shrugged and looked away, a small smile on her lips. Annabeth rolled her eyes at her and Beckendorf laughed. It almost looked like Percy was blushing. Nico looked a bit disgusted.

"Wow, you guys really pick the worst times to start making out, huh?" He asked, looking at them sceptically. Annabeth grinned and ruffled his hair. He quickly shook it back out and shot her an annoyed look. Annabeth heard a clip clopping sound like horse hooves and Chiron appeared at their table, followed by a reluctant looking Mr. D.

"Hello children, enjoying your victory?" Chiron asked cheerfully. They all nodded and he smiled. "Well, we have some, er, interesting news for Miss Beauregard. After careful deliberation, we have decided to award you with a quest. It is one we decided must go to a child of Aphrodite and you have unquestionably shown your worthiness in recent events, wouldn't you say Mr. D?"

Mr. D looked around like he hadn't really been listening. "Er, yeah, uh, good work Serena."

Annabeth was surprised Mr. D had gotten so close to actually getting Silena's name right.

"So," Chiron continued. "Do you accept the quest, child?"

Silena nodded without any hesitation. She had been waiting for a quest of her own for a long time. "What is the quest for?" She asked.

"Tragically, someone has stolen your mother, Aphrodite's, magical golden girdle, made for her by Hephaestus himself." Chiron replied. Silena gasped and Nico snickered at the word girdle. Everybody rolled their eyes at his immaturity.

"I accept." Silena said. Chiron nodded.

"You must go consult the oracle, then. Come see me when you have returned." Then, he trotted away, Mr. D opening a can of diet coke behind him. Annabeth noticed Silena looked a bit nervous and realized she had never visited the oracle before. It was not as scary an experience now that the oracle was living, and not a mummy, but hearing a prophecy could still be chilling. Especially one that is about you. Silena stood to leave, but not before her and Beckendorf shared a kiss that made Nico look like he was going to throw up. She strode confidently out the door, but a glance at her eyes told Annabeth she was anything but confident right now.

Percy, Annabeth and Beckendorf sat on the steps to the Aphrodite cabin, waiting for Silena to come back from seeing Rachel. Beckendorf looked nervous and Percy seemed to be trying to distract him by striking up a conversation about the newest shields that had been released from the forges this summer. Annabeth sat and listened to their conversation, mostly concentrating on the tiny braids she was making in Percy's hair. By the time Silena finally came back, he looked like a porcupine, with little braids sticking up on every part of his head.

Silena grinned at his hairdo appreciatively. "Nice." She told Annabeth. Beckendorf got up and hugged Silena tightly. Silena gave him a sweet, romantic kiss and then they sat down on the steps with Percy and Annabeth.

"So?" Percy asked. "What was the prophecy?"

Annabeth punched his arm. "She'll tell us when she's ready, Seaweed Brain."

"No it's fine I can tell you now." Silena said. She took a deep breath before reciting the prophecy she had been given.

"Three shall go on this quest for the goddess of love,

You may search below, you may search above,

However you choose, in the end you will find,

The one to retrieve it, shall be a child of the mind"