Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan. So I must not own PJO!


Well. . ." I said. "I've been offered an opportunity to go a quest."
"But, isn't that what you've been waiting for since you were seven?" asked Alex.
"But it's not that simple," I said. "It's to go on a quest with Percy Jackson."
I could've proclaimed that spiders were more superior than owls, for the reaction I received.
Minerva was on the edge of a panic attack. "Wha—WHAT?!?!?! The son of Poseidon? This is going to take all of us. But, are you crazy?"
"Gods, Minnie," said Alex. "Just calm down. It's not like Typhon is back. Annabeth, just think about it. It's what I you think."
I sat there, silent, for the rest of the night. At the end of dinner, we went back to the cabin. I slipped out for a moment, and went to the Big House.
I knocked on the door, and Chiron opened the door.

"Chiron," I said. "Count me in."


The Quest Begins

Chiron had told me to come to the Big House the next morning once I woke up. It had taken me about three hours to get to sleep.

I dreamt that a boar had come across Luke, and was accusing Luke of taking something. Luke was about to open his mouth, when I woke up and sat bolt upright. I decided to let that dream fade from my mind as I walked into the bathroom and washed my face. After taking a shower, I pulled on a plain gray tee and a pair of jeans. I folded up my Yankees cap and put it in my back pocket and eager as ever, I ran to the Big House.

When I got there, I saw Chiron and Grover sitting on the wraparound porch, but I saw no sign of Percy.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Percy is receiving his prophecy from the Oracle. He should be down in a moment," replied Chiron.

With that, the front door opened. I swiftly put my cap on and stood behind Chiron. Percy made his way over and dropped himself on the chair. "Well?" asked Chiron.

"She said I would retrive what was stolen." was Percy's reply.

Grover suddenly looked excited. "That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" said Chiron. "This is important."

Percy went on to say that he would go west to face a god who turned, and that he would return what was stolen.

"Anything else?" asked Chiron, noticing the short length of the prophecy.

"No, that's about it." he said. But I could sense that he was troubled. He was holding back from revealing the rest.

The conversation that ensued revealed everything that I had wanted to know since the winter solstice. Poseidon and Zeus had been fighting. Zeus's master bolt was missing, and he blamed Poseidon. Now that Poseidon had claimed Percy, Percy was accused of stealing. "Now, Chiron thaought that Hades was the only one who could've had a motive for taking the bolt. We were to travel to Los Angeles. More specifically, The Underworld.

"Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you accept her help." said Chiron, at the end of it all.

"Gee," he said. "Who else would be stupid enought to volunteer for a quest like this?"

I took off my cap and returned it to my back pocket. "I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain," I said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up." I said.

"If you do say so yourself," he replied. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"

I felt my cheeks grow hot at the mention of what seemed to be my new nickname. "So you want my help or not?"

"A trio," said Percy. "That'll work."

"Excellent." Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own. No time to waste. I think you should all get packing."

I ran back to the cabin, not stopping until I was standing in front of my bunk. I pulled a backpack from under my bed, and packed an extra change of clothes, some toiletries, and my Greek Architecture book. I kept my Yankees cap in my pocket. I took my special celestial bronze knife that Luke had given me, that I had cherished ever since, and hid it in my shirt sleeve. Percy was loaned some cash and drachmas, and we set off to say our good-byes.

I was tackle-hugged by Nike, who was followed by the rest of my siblings. "Oh. My. Gods. You're finally here! Getting a quest! Oh my gods!"

"Are you sure about this?" asked Minerva. "Because, you know. It's not exactly time to go at the moment now. . . "

I sighed. Minerva was only thirteen, but when she had a bad feeling about something, it took her forever to change her view. "Minnie, I am 90% sure that I am doing the right thing."

"Ha! Only 90% sure! See?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. I said my good-byes to everyone, to Alex, to Aleksis, and met up with Percy and Grover. We took a last look around camp, and then hiked to Thalia's pine. There we were met by Chiron and Argus.

After Argus was introduced to Percy, I heard footsteps and turned to see Luke running up the hill. I stopped breathing.

"Hey! Glad I caught you." He said. I could do nothing but stare at him. "Just wanted to say good luck," Luke continued. "And I thought. . . maybe you could use these." He handed Percy a pair of sneakers. "Maia!" He shouted, and the shoes grew wings and flapped around for a moment.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

"Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course,k I don't use them much these days. . . ."

"Hey, man," said Percy. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy. . . A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just. . . kill some monsters for me, ok?"

He shook Percy's hand and patted Grover's head. That's when he took me in his arms and hugged me. I felt like I was going to melt right into his arms. After what seemed like forever, he let go and left me at the top of the hill.

"You're hyperventilating," Percy told me. If I could turn any redder, I would have.

"Am not," I insisted.

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

"Oh. . . why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" I asked. Then I trudged down the hill and entered the SUV. I opened my book and read until Grover came in/crashed into the side of the car, because when he entered the car, I couldn't concentrate, because I had to repeatedly listen to a tune that sounded like "So Yesterday".


Soon we were out of the countryside, and found ourselves back in suburban New York. Percy would stare at everything in sight, as if he were in a dream.

"So far so good," he said. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Ugh. . . is he trying to get us killed already???? I looked at him, irked. I really wanted to get a long, but with my parentage, I just couldn't let that happen. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Remind me again—why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you," I told him. I was actually feeling like we were friends, but I really, really did not want anything else to happen.

"Could've fooled me."

"Look. . . we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals.

"Why?" he asked.

I sighed. Di Immortales, How many more times will I have to explain? "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives."

Gods, you're hopeless, Seaweed Brain. "Oh, forget it," I said.

"Now, if she'd invented pizza—that I could understand."

"I said, forget it!"

We were silent after that, and Argus dropped us off at the Greyhound Station. Percy was ripping something from a mailbox, which suspiciously looked like a Missing Child poster. I decided not to let it bother me. I took out my book as Grover and Percy had a conversation about marriage and something smelly, or whatever. Soon, after waiting for an hour, we played Hacky Sack with Grover's apple. I think I showed off a bit too much, bouncing the apple off of my arm, my elbow, everything else. I tossed the apple to Percy, who passed it to Grover. Then, the apple got too close to Grover's mouth, and he gulped the whole thing. Percy and started laughing hysterically, while Grover tried to apologize, but I didn't really care.

The bus arrived, and we found seats in the back of the bus. But then, I saw some familiar faces get on board the bus.

I clamped my hand onto Percy's knee. "Percy." I said.

The Furies had entered the bus.


woohoo!!!! I SURVIVED THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! I'M ACTUALLY WRITING FANFICTION PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE!!! I'M ALIVE!!!! (insert other random comments here)

haha i like the chapter name. creative, isn't it? XD

So. . . I'm working on my other fanfic (iPod shuffle thing), but it's going slow.

WOOOT!! I'm learning Greek. Isn't that kewl? My BFFE helped me. Now I can read the characters and pronounce the words. I just can't translate them. But I babelfish'd the Great Prophecy, wrote in in Greek, and put it on my binder!!!! I can read GREEK! Sorry, I'm just so kewl'd out. Thank you again for reading!!

I like the color Green. Why? It's the color of the review button! reviews are essential to my writing! Please! Flames not accepted. Constructive Criticism is.

Peace, Love, Fencing, and Pumpkin Pie,

~Sword-WieldingDemigod12697