Hey again, people! Long time, no see. I'm sorry I've kept you waiting. Like I said, I had a lot of school stuff. I'm not gonna start blabbering. Here's the 5th chapter for you!

Annabeth's POV

Oh, fuck.

We stood at the bus stop, waiting for a bus, which would take us back to Shawnee and we could save Olympus. That was the plan. But how could we possibly think we had such good luck, that we really could get back without any problems? Being a demigod always means bad luck. We should've known better. I should've known better AND made a plan B. Why am I talking about our bad luck? Because the damn bus drivers had arranged a strike. Apparently the bus we took from Shawnee was one of the last ones, that were still moving then. By the time we'd got out of the courthouse all busses were at a halt. We had stood at the bus stop for about half an hour, until we'd realized something was dead wrong. There was a little convenience store close by. Thalia and Grover had volunteered to go there and ask about the bus schedule. Nico, Percy and I had stayed at the bus stop with Lady Dike.

We had told Dike everything about our trip, my dreams and Briareios and we had everything planned. We were supposed to get back to Shawnee, run to the Garden of the Gods, Dike would do some judgemental magic and the prison of Kottos and Gyes would be sealed for good. Simple, huh? We'd thought so too. When Thalia and Grover had come from the convenience store and told us about the bus driver strike, we had to think again. How could we get there in time?

We were thinking. Hard. The busses would certainly not move until tomorrow and that would be too late for us. We only had twelve hours left. If anything (like another monster or something) came on our way now, we'd never get back in time. There were no trains going through Memphis. It was late in the evening, about 9.30 pm. The convenience store had been closed already. There were only the five of us, plus Dike and what we'd understood about her was, that se was kinda useless. The only thing she could do, was judge. She was a minor god with no super powers. She couldn't teleport us anywhere.

In other words, we were stuck at a bus stop with backpacks heavy as Zeus' thrown and a divine judge. So excuse me, when I repeat my first expression:

Oh, fuck.

"Hey! I've got and idea!" Nico said suddenly. We all glanced at him. Finally, some hope!

"Oh, no... It doesn't work", he said and his head fell in his hands. So did mine. What to do? What to do?

Mother, if you can, please give me a plan. A major one needed over here! I prayed to my mother.

I looked at the others. Thalia was fingering her bracelet. The one, that turned into Aegis. Grover tried to talk to her, but she wasn't communicating. Aww, Grover and Thalia would make a cute couple. I remembered the night on the beach with Percy, when we'd tried to predict the day when the two of them would get together. It had been a nice night. Just me and Percy talking and laughing. Those were times I loved the most. Being close to him, sharing thoughts and jokes with him...

"What if we'd just start walking? We could hitchhike", Percy asked, waking me up from my thoughts.

"That's a good idea!" said Grover enthusiastically.

"No, it isn't", Dike said.

"How come? I think that's a perfectly good idea", asked Percy.

"You forget there's six of us. We wouldn't fit in any car!" Dike explained and she was right. There was no way we could fit in a normal car. It had come quite clear, that we had no luck with transportation whatsoever and we wouldn't run into a limo on the way.

So we just continued sitting there, no one really saying anything. I was angry with myself now. I'd been offered a quest and now I'd dissapoint everyone. Olympus would be in big trouble in a good ten hours and we were stuck at a cold bus stop!

After a while, we started to go through the prophecy. We hadn't given it a thought after getting to Shawnee and putting up our camp.

"Tell us the prophecy again, Annabeth. Slowly", said Percy.

"Five will take the chariot on rails", I said. The others listened carefully.

"The train, that's obvious", said Nico. All nodded.

"And run into one of the ancient tales", I continued.

"The story about the titan brothers?" Grover asked.

"Must be. How many other tales we have run into lately?" said Thalia.

"Gods and titans shall be combined..."

"Briareios", both Nico and Percy said, nodding.

"When in the garden the words the heroes will find."

"Shit, I'm still really pissed about finding the damned place", Percy shook his head.

"One of the group will be betrayed by a friend. Now that's something I haven't noticed", I said.

"Yeah. What could it possibly mean?" Thalia thought. She glanced at me. I didn't know what she was thinking.

"I don't know. Maybe it's something really minor, but the Oracle just added it into the prophecy just to make it a bit spooky?" Nico guessed. "Like telling a secret or something. Someone just reveals a secret and that's it. It's sort of a betrayal, am I right?"

Uh-oh. If Thalia was thinking the same thing as I, I was screwed. We could actually fulfill that part of the prophecy if someone just revealed a secret. Thalia knew mine. She knew about my feelings towards Percy. Ooooh, no, she wouldn't! Besides, there wasn't a way to trick the prophecy. Something else would just happen and someone would betray one of us. I told the others about my last thoughts too. Thalia would have to keep her mouth shut.

"Go on, Annabeth. What's next?" Thalia said and I went on.

"And one in concern will meet his end", I said. I remembered my dream. The one I'd had after the Oracle had spoken to me. The one with a dead Percy. Then I remembered my last dream. The night Percy had sung me to sleep. I hadn't told the others about the details of the dream yet. Well, there wasn't much to tell. I had heard the noise of a battle again, but now I could see something too. I was standing in the middle of a battlefield. There were people in full greek armor fighting monsters, giants, other people, anything really. But there was one person I saw in particular: Percy was fighting this big giant with many heads and arms. In one hand the giant held a humongous sword, its blade almost 5 feet long. The giant flung his sword at Percy, who dodged, but lost his balance and fell at the giant's feet. I tried to run to help, but I couldn't. My feet wouldn't move. The giant had raised his sword and then let it fall.

Then I had yelled and Percy had woken me up. I shivered at the thought of my dream. Percy saw it and came to me. He probably thought I was afraid of this someone meeting his end. Well I kinda was, in a manner of speaking. I guess.

"Hey, don't you worry", he said. "I told you in the train already, that no one will get hurt, remember?"

"Yeah", I nodded, but wasn't quite convinced.

"Let's move on. There's still something, if I remember right", Grover said.

Yeah, there was still something. Something I hadn't given much thought, but it sounded like something we'd need to figure out.

"Listen, hero to the words of caution: always remember the temper of the ocean", I said.

"Hmm... That sounds like you, Percy", wondered Nico.

"Yeah, and I think the 'words of caution' were addressed to Annabeth", said Thalia. I said nothing. Why would the Oracle warn me about Percy? What could he do to me? He wouldn't hurt me.

Percy spoke my mind.

"I could never hurt Annabeth, that's for sure. I can't understand that part of the prophecy at all", he said and looked at me, his eyes warm. Warm, but still only friendly warm. During this trip I had truly realized how much I actually liked Percy. I guess I'd never let myself think about it before. I was a daughter of Athena, for crying out loud. I couldn't possibly like a son of Poseidon. My mother would tear her hair out for that. So there was no way I could ever like him more than just a friend. Not before now. I'd crossed the line. I liked Percy. There was no going back. But why was I even thinking about that? I was just a friend to Percy. Why was I worrying about my mother?

Dike, who had been quiet the whole time opened her mouth.

"You know, son of Poseidon, that you can hurt her in more ways than just one", she said and looked at Percy. "One can hurt people with swords and knives, but the wounds, that people leave on each others hearts and souls are more difficult to cure."

I glanced at Percy. His expression had gone glum.

"I still couldn't hurt her. Not on purpose at least. Friends don't do that. Especially best friends", he mumbled.

"I understand, but do remember what I said", Dike patted Percy's shoulder.

We sat in silence again. All hope had gone. There was no way we could get to the Garden of the Gods in time. After a while of moping, we decided to get some sleep. A couple of hours' sleep couldn't do any harm. Dike promised to keep an eye on things as we drifted to sleep one by one.

Percy's POV

After a few hours of sleep Dike woke us up. We had six hours left and she thought we should start thinking again. It was three am and we were starting to feel hungry. The convenience store wasn't open, obviously, so Thalia searched for something to eat from her backpack. Grover was perfectly happy. He was nibbling on the back of the bench.

"Satyrs", Annabeth mumbled and rolled her eyes. I was starting to get restless. What could the last two lines of the prophecy mean? What would I do to my Wise Girl?

"Earth calling Percy!" Thalia waved her hand in front of my face. She grinned at me.

"Still dreaming, huh?" she asked, glancing at Annabeth.

"No, just thinking", I answered. I couldn't let Thalia know about my feelings for Annabeth. Annabeth was her best friend and Thalia would tell her for sure if she knew. Thalia handed me a cracker. I stared at it.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"Yeah. We have nothing else right now", Thalia told me. "Just eat it."

We watched the Memphis skyline ahead. The sun would rise in an hour or so. The sun...

"I've got it!" I yelled triumphantly.

"What have you got, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked. The others were staring at me.

"You know, I think the stress has made him snap for good", Nico said.

"Ha ha, very funny, Nico. Seriously. I have an idea", I said.

"Well, tell us. What thoughts linger inside your brain, oh mighty Seaweed Brain?" Thalia grinned. Sleep had done her good.

"The sun rises in an hour, right?" I asked the others.

"Yeah, what about it?" Grover said.

"Who makes the sun rise? Who rides the sun chariot?" I prompted.

"That's it, Percy! Of course!" said Thalia. We had rode Apollo's sun chariot before. Annabeth and Nico looked dumbfound. They hadn't been with us. Annabeth had been held prisoner and Nico had been at camp, learning the lifestyle of the demigods.

"Apollo, the god of medicine and the sun rides the sun chariot every morning. It's this cool car, which can morph into any kind of vehicle there is", I told them.

"You mean, like a van, for example?" asked Annabeth.

"Yeah, I guess", I said.

"But how could he help us? I mean, he rides over the world and it would take too long for him to get us to Shawnee!" Nico asked.

"I know. We would be there way too late, but I wasn't thinking about going to Shawnee", I said.

"Where then?" Thalia wondered.

"Olympus! Of course!" said Annabeth. "Wow, Percy. I'm really impressed. You have finally learned to think!" She grinned at me. I smiled back. I couldn't help noticing how cute she was. Her hair was a wild blonde mess on top of her head, her clothes were torn, but it kinda suited her.

"But how can we get Apollo over here?" asked Grover.

Thalia had the answer.

"Artemis could help", she said. "I can summon her."

"You do that", said Dike.

"Wait a second, how are we going to convince Apollo to help us?" Annabeth asked. "I mean, the Olympians aren't allowed to help us with our quests."

Thalia smiled.

"I can think about one way", she said. "But you aren't gonna like it."

She shared her plan with us and she was completely right. We most certainly didn't like it, but that was the only way we could get Apollo to help us.

"Okay, but summon Artemis now, we don't have that much time", said Nico.

"O, Lady Artemis! Your lieutenant requests Your presence", Thalia prayed.

For a minute, nothing happened. Then the air shimmered and in two seconds, a young, astonishingly beautiful girl was standing before us. Artemis.

"Thalia, what's on your mind in this hour?" she asked.

"It's a long story, my lady, but we need to see Apollo", Thalia explained. "Would you please summon him?"

"I can't understand why you want to see my brother in the middle of the night, but sure", said Artemis. She lifted her face up and yelled at the sky:

"Apollo! You are needed here!"

Then she looked at us.

"My brother will be here in a minute. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to my hunters. Take care, all of you. Farewell!" she said and disappeared in a flash of divine light.

Soon in another flash, Apollo's sun chariot, a Maserati Spyder, was standing in front of us, with an annoyed God of the Sun sitting in the driver's seat.

I glanced at Annabeth and Nico. They hadn't seen Apollo before and I wanted to know how they reacted. They were both looking at him with their mouths open. Nico was staring at the car and it looked like he would start drooling any minute. Annabeth was ogling Apollo in a trance. I didn't know about it, but I guess Thalia had been right when she'd described Apollo as 'hot', because Annabeth sure agreed with her. I felt a twinge of jealousy, as I watched Annabeth stare that airhead of a god.

Apollo jumped out of his car and walked to us.

"I was just about to get on with my work and I get a message from my little sis. When I come around, she isn't there, but instead I find a bunch of godlings!" he snapped.

"Lord Apollo, if you would be so kind and listen", Thalia pleaded.

"Hmph, I guess I can listen. But make it quick, I have work to do", Apollo said and crossed his arms.

"We ask for a favor", said Annabeth. She had woken up from her trance.

"And what would that be?" asked Apollo. I could tell from his expression, that he wasn't going to help us. I really hoped he still would, because I really didn't want to put our plan B into action. That would be too much.

"Would you please, please, please give us a ride to Olympus?" Annabeth pleaded. She looked like she would fall on her knees and beg in any second now. "We need your help. We need to get there as soon as possible."

Apollo hesitated. Then he said:

"I'm afraid I can't help you. I have to get to work. I hope you'll find some other way to get there. Goodbye!" He turned to leave. The others looked at me. I knew we had no other choice, than our plan B. I felt really self-conscious as I cleared my throat and prepared myself for the most humiliating thing I'd ever done. Apollo was climbing back in his car, when I stood up and fulfilled my mission.

"Oh, Lord Apollo.
Please take us to Olympus.
We love your cool being."

Holy crap, I can't believe I just said that. The others were snickering. Apollo on the other hand turned on his heels.

"Percy Jackson. I never thought I'd hear a haiku coming from you, but there it was!" he mused.

"Please, Lord Apollo", I begged.

A smile came on his face.

"Because I loved the last line, I'm willing to make an exception", he said. He pushed the button on the dashboard of his Maserati and it turned into a van.

Apollo opened me the shotgun door and then went sitting on the driver's seat. The rest went to sit in the trunk.

"That was some awesome ass-licking haiku reading, Seaweed Brain", Thalia whispered in my ear.

"Shut up. You're the one who came up with the idea in the first place", I said back. I heard the others giggle.

"Alright now, buckle up!" Apollo ordered. "We'll have to take a detour, but we'll be in Olympus in about five hours. I still have to do my job."

Oh crap. By then, Kottos and Gyes would be free and invading Olympus. Well, I guess all of us had settled for that. We couldn't get to Shawnee in time either, so it was better for us to go straight to Olympus. Apollo accelerated and the sun chariot lunged forward.

"If you don't mind, Apollo, I'll go back there. We need to discuss the situation", I said to Apollo.

"It's okay. Off you go, Percy", he said and cranked up the volume of his iPod.

I climbed to the back and the others made me some space there. They were sitting on the floor of the big trunk of the sun van.

"So what shall we do when we arrive at Olympus?" Grover asked. "Is there going to be a fight?"

"I suppose. Kottos and Gyes will want a revenge", said Dike.

"But if we just go there and you'll do your hocus-pocus? They'll be prisoners again, right?" Nico asked.

"It's not that simple, son of Hades", said Dike. "You see, they need to be captured. That's how it goes in real litigations. The culprit will be taken to court and then the judge convicts him."

"So what you are saying is, that first we need to capture them?" I asked.

"Yes", said Dike.

"Yeah, we'll capture two giants with fifty heads and a hundred arms!" Thalia cried out.

"How do you know how many arms they have?" Annabeth asked.

"The plate said: 'Beware the Hundred-Handed Ones", Thalia explained.

"Oh", said Annabeth.

I could probably say, that our mission was beyond difficult. If Kottos and Gyes had managed to build a little army of giants like the last time, they would most certainly cause some damage at Olympus. And someone would get hurt.

Then I realized it. 'One will be betrayed by a friend.' How didn't I see it before? I was going to break my promise to Annabeth. I'd promised her no one would get hurt.

I didn't want to scare her, so I just decided to keep my mouth shut about it. The least I could do was to make sure the one who'd get hurt wouldn't be one of us.

Suddenly the van stopped. There weren't any seat belts in the back, so the six of us crashed on the front seats. I hit my head.

"Oh, Hades!" I cursed and then added: "Sorry, Nico."

"Don't worry. I was just about to say the same", Nico groaned. He had gotten under Dike and Grover and I could tell, that his posture wasn't quite comfortable.

"Okay, people! We have arrived at the Empire State Building!" Apollo called from the front.

"Thank you, Apollo", said Thalia, who had got up and opened the door.

We scrambled out of the car. Apollo pushed the button on his dashboard again and the chariot turned into a Maserati Spyder again.

"I'll see you around, Percy!" he called. "Keep making haikus!"

Then in a flash of light, he was gone.

We dashed in the Empire State Building and ran for the elevators. The security guy said nothing. I guess he knew us that well. He just gave us the key card. The elevator ride had never felt as long as it felt this time. We all were anxious and we just glanced up and down, shifting. Finally the doors opened with a 'ding' and we stormed out of the elevator. We couldn't see what was happening further up, but the stone path was peaceful. We didn't waste time. We started running along the path as fast as we could. Thalia opened Aegis and Nico drew his sword. I uncapped Riptide. I prayed to the gods, that we wouldn't need to use our weapons much. Soon enough we reached the top of Olympus.

We'd arrived in the middle of a raging riot.

That was it! Tell me what you think. Have an awesome day!

Peace, love, PJO!

AC