Hey guys! I'm about to attend high school here in Abu Dhabi and I'm going to an orientation tour in a few days. Hope I don't find any demonic cheerleaders :D My sad mission is to tell you, that my story will soon be at its end. I'd really like to write more, but hey, there's no idea in writing if no one reads it, so tell me: do you want to read some more from me? If you'd like to read something specific, review of PM me. I'd love to hear your ideas! But this isn't over yet. Here's the 18th chapter!

Thalia's POV

As morning started to dawn, we all went to sleep. The day had been tiring, full of emotion and preparation for the fight to come. A good party had been just what we'd needed.

I lay on my bed and watched the ceiling, where the crystals glimmered in the faint light of the rising sun.

"Goodnight, Thalia," Annabeth mumbled from the bed next to mine.

"Night, Annabeth," I whispered.

A moment later, I was asleep.

In my dream I was running in a forest. I knew I'd been there before, but I wasn't sure when exactly. I ran through the shrubbery and undergrowth, feeling free like a young bird, who spreads its wings for the first time. Suddenly a silvery figure shot past me, turned around and blocked my path. I stopped and stared at the creature in front of me.

"Milady?" I asked.

The silver deer nodded and a voice inside my head said:

"Yes, my dear lieutenant, it's me."

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I am here to remind you about a promise you have made," said Artemis' voice.

"You've done that already, lady Artemis. When I was at camp, remember?" I said. I shivered. I remembered that encounter too well.

"No, no, Thalia. The most recent promise you've made," Artemis said and the deer stepped on its place impatiently, shaking its head.

I tried to remember what Artemis meant. When had I promised something that would have anything to so with her?

"You don't remember," Artemis said. That wasn't a question, just a statement. I didn't like the way she sounded: disappointed. The deer hung its head.

"Well, maybe I'll have to show you, then," said Artemis' voice. The deer stomped its front feet to the ground and a picture, like an I-message formed onto the ground.

First it was hard to make anything of the dark picture, but the sound of waves reminded me of the night we'd almost drowned. I started to get a hang of the picture. There were huge waves, that swerved around something in the water. Or someone. The picture zoomed on the figure in the waves. A girl with short jet black hair wearing a life jacket.

I heard another voice in my head. A voice a thousand times more familiar than Artemis' saying:

"Artemis, please save us from here."

My pleading prayer to my lady.

oOoOoOoOo

I woke and jumped up from my bed. The sun had risen to the sky and the whole cave bathed in light. Annabeth sat on her bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Wow, I have never seen anyone, who's that agile first thing in the morning," she mused.

I felt like I should grin at the statement, but I had something else to think about. I had gotten the answer I needed. I knew what to do. It wouldn't be easy and it would hurt.

"Are the others still asleep?" I asked.

Annabeth motioned towards Percy's and Rachel's beds, where they were still fast asleep. Drool dribbled from Percy's mouth on his pillow. Annabeth saw it and giggled. I looked at her questioningly.

"May I hear the joke too?"

She jumped off her bed and started to change into her battle gear.

"Well, the first time I saw him, he was being dragged to the infirmary and there I fed him ambrosia and he was drooling all over the place. He hasn't changed a bit," she explained.

"Oh," I settled to say. I wasn't sure how I should've reacted. After all, they'd just broken up and everything. I didn't want to bother her before the fight.

"Should we wake them up?" Annabeth asked. "It would do them good to be awake when we leave for the battle."

She was already dressed up in her black camouflage. I couldn't help but wonder how it had gotten here. Well, Ogygia was magical. There was no questioning that.

"I suppose it would be the best," I said and started to change, too.

Annabeth walked to Percy's bed and looked at him softly. A single tear trickled down her cheek. She glanced at me and I turned my gaze quickly away from them. From the corner of my eye I saw Annabeth wipe the tear off her cheek and shake her head slightly. Then she shook Percy awake and went to wake Rachel up.

"Is it time already?" Percy asked.

He lifted his head off his pillow and peered at us through half opened eyes. I didn't have my shirt on and so I covered my upper body quickly with my pajama shirt.

"I'd be delighted if you'd lay your eyes somewhere else than here," I said.

Percy's eyes flew open.

"Oh, sorry Thalia!" he said and squished his eyes closed tight.

Rachel crawled out of her bed and changed to a yellow t-shirt and her breastplate. I put on a top and the silvery jacket of the Hunters. For a second, the color reminded me of my dream, but I pushed the bad thoughts away.

"Okay, Percy. You're allowed to look now," I said and Percy jumped up.

I'd noticed there was something different in the way he looked, but in the light of the flickering fire, I wasn't sure about what it was. Now in the sunlight, I could see.

His face was chalky and his eyes were cloudy. Under his eyes he had purple shadows. He looked sick as ever. I wondered what had happened to him. It couldn't be that only sadness could've turned him from a healthy guy into a sickly one. There had to be something more in it.

Sharing a room with a guy can be hilarious. Percy only had his black boxers on and as he started to tidy up his hair in front of the mirror next to his bed he got a long look from Rachel, who was surprised by his half-nakedness, that she completely forgot all her manners she'd been taught in Clarion Academy and stared straight at Percy's ass.

That was something she shouldn't have done. When Annabeth saw exactly where Rachel had laid her eyes, her grey eyes sparkled dangerously and she pulled her sleeves up, so that Rachel could see the knife, that was strapped to her arm. Just the look of her in her camouflage made Rachel jump and attend to her packing.

Annabeth walked to me.

"You shouldn't've done that," I whispered to her.

She glared at Rachel and said:

"Yes I should."

You just can't reason with Annabeth when she's up to something, so I just let the subject drop.

Then Calypso came in.

"Good morning heroes!" she called and was momentarily distracted by Percy, who had found a pair of shorts somewhere, but was still bare chested (even though I don't like him in that way, it doesn't mean I'm not allowed to admit, that he had some nice muscles there). But the distraction didn't hold for much more than two seconds. Then Calypso's eyes found back to me and Annabeth again (Rachel was still looking at her backpack, poor thing).

"Do you want some breakfast?" Calypso asked.

"It would be great. Thanks Calypso," I said and she went to prepare our breakfast outside.

"Are you done with packing, Annabeth?" I asked. No answer.

"Annabeth?"

I looked at her.

She was looking dreamily at Percy, who plodded along around the cave, gathering his stuff from the floor, still without a shirt.

I was amused. I'd never seen Annabeth like that. She'd always been the one with some kind of a problem showing her weakness, but when Percy was involved, she was soft as cotton. I couldn't do anything but marvel at the effect Percy had on Annabeth. Poor things. They deserved each other.

Annabeth jumped.

"Oh, did you say something, Thalia?" she asked, her face slightly pink.

I laughed and repeated my question.

The red on her face deepened and she answered:

"Yeah, I'm done. Wanna go grab some breakfast?"

"Sure," I said. "You coming, Rachel? Percy?"

"Of course," said Percy, pulled a white tank top on and walked to us.

Rachel finally tore her gaze off her backpack and followed us out of the cave.

Percy's POV

Outside, Calypso had set a super breakfast. There was anything you can ever imagine! I won't even tell you about all of it, because that would take way too much time.

We ate quickly, since we were all eager to get going. Everyone was looking forward to a good fight. A fare one, with everyone's powers restored and everything. It would've been much more fun if... My insides twisted. I couldn't think about her. If the Fates were cruel, the river Styx was way more evil. Every single thought of Annabeth hurt more than a stab of a knife. All my sadness made a white shade on my face, that made me look sick. I even felt sick. Chiron had been right. The river Styx didn't take a betrayal lightly.

After breakfast, when everyone had their stomach bulging, Calypso took us and our stuff to the beach, where she'd prepared a ferry for us.

"Just tell it where you want and it'll guide you safely there," she said.

"Thank you, Calypso. We couldn't've made it without you," I said from the bottom of my heart. She'd been so much of help, that I would be in eternal debt.

The others thanked her as well.

There was a moment of silence. No one really knew what to say. Calypso would be left alone again. She wouldn't get any visitors in a thousand years or so. I felt bad leaving her all alone on her island, but there was nothing I could do about it. Besides, I couldn't even think about staying with her, now that... No, I mustn't think about it.

Calypso gazed to the ocean.

"Funny," she said, "how only a little time ago I said goodbye to Percy."

I nodded.

"Yeah, it was only about two years ago," I mused.

"Oh, I didn't know anything back then," she said, still gazing to the sea.

I had no idea of what she was talking about.

I suppose my face was shaped like a question mark, because when Calypso looked at me she smiled and said:

"Then I thought the Fates were cruel."

"Yeah, they brought us back to you, I guess they aren't that bad after all," Thalia said, but Calypso shook her head.

"No, I didn't mean that," she said. "The Fates are still cruel. In fact, I think they're even more evil now."

"How come?" I asked. I hated the fact, that Calypso was completely at the mercy of the Fates.

To my surprise, Calypso blushed.

"Well, I'm not sure how to put it..." she said.

"How about just saying how things are. You've been such a warm hostess. We want to help," said Thalia.

Calypso sighed.

"Percy, does that ring any bells to you?" she asked.

Oh yeah, I remembered. I'd offered my help when I was here before. Calypso had said, that the only thing I could do was... But it couldn't be! Or?

"Yeah, errm... It sure does ring bells. You mean...?" I wasn't sure what to say.

"I don't understand. What's going on?" Rachel asked.

I glanced at her and I couldn't help but see Annabeth, who was standing next to her with a curious expression on her face. I assumed she had a clue of what was about to come. She had her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and her beautiful grey eyes sparkled in the sun.

'My darling Wise Girl. So smart, so beautiful," I thought and the pain in my stomach hit me – a yet another reminder from the Styx.

Calypso smiled at Rachel.

"I had almost forgotten you're basically a mortal," Calypso said. "You see, I get company from time to time. Usually they are men. You three -" she looked at Thalia, Annabeth and Rachel, "- are the first women who've ever laid their feet on Ogygia. Since my visitors have all been men, the Fates played a little joke on me. They would always send me a man, who could not stay and who I couldn't help falling in love with."

There was a little moment of silence. Calypso had turned her gaze down to her toes. Her face was scarlet.

"Since Percy has already been here once, the rules don't really apply on him," she said. "I suppose you can figure out the rest."

I took a glance at the girls. Thalia seemed to have gotten a hang of things. Her expression was a bit puzzled. I understood her. Or then again, I had never been in that kind of situation before. I just could imagine how uncomfortable that must be. Annabeth looked just like she'd been before – curious. I didn't know what was going on inside her head and was careful not to think about it too much. I wasn't necessarily into masochism.

Then there was Rachel, who, to my surprise, was looking at Calypso with compassion.

"You should go, heroes," Calypso said sadly and motioned towards the ferry.

No one moved.

Rachel was the first to speak her mind.

"This must be really hard to you," she said and took a step toward Calypso, who was still looking at her toes.

"I'm not sure what to think, to be honest. It's a bit disorienting, being the Fates' puppet," she said and slowly raised her head. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"Aww, girl, come here!" Thalia squealed and gave Calypso a hug. She seemed to take the situation pretty well.

"You don't hate me or anything?" Calypso asked. She sounded truly shocked.

"Why would we?" asked Rachel.

"Well, it's a bit unusual, isn't it?"

"Not in our world," Annabeth said. "I go to an all-girls school. I know."

Calypso smiled.

"I'm glad you didn't freak out," she said.

"No way! Well, I admit this is a new situation for me, but I don't care. I think the Fates are treating you really bad. They should give you some slack," Thalia said and smiled widely.

"Thank you, Thalia. You're a good friend. But now, really, you guys should get going. You have got some... what do the people say these days... 'monster ass-kicking' to do," said Calypso.

We all hugged her and stepped on board the ferry.

"You know, Rachel. This place would be great for an oracle like you," Calypso grinned.

"Errm... Thanks, but... Well, thanks," Rachel stuttered.

Calypso laughed.

"Sure, sure. Take care, all of you. You'll be alright," she said and waved and we were off. I got a feeling, that the last sentence was addressed to me and Annabeth.

Annabeth's POV

On the ferry, Percy tried to reach Grover with their empathy link.

"Grover!" he called for him a hundred times with no answer whatsoever.

Thalia looked miserable. We girls were sitting next to the mast. Thalia held her face in her hands.

"Don't worry, Thalia, he's okay," I told her after the hundredth time. "Percy would know if he was dead."

I turned around and saw Percy sitting near the edge. Poor thing. Grover was his best friend, after all. I knew what it was like, not knowing... When Percy had blown up Mount Saint Helens, I'd lived two weeks not knowing where he was and when Chiron convinced me to think he was dead... Gods, I couldn't think about it. About Percy. In my head I cursed the Fates. I hated all three of them.

Suddenly Percy jumped up.

"Grover?" he asked.

Thalia raised her head and Rachel turned to look at Percy.

"Can you hear him?" I asked hopefully.

Percy put his index finger on his lips. He concentrated, listened. Then:

"G-man! Gods, we were so worried..." Percy cried in triumph and relief.

Rachel, Thalia and I stood up and rushed to Percy. None of us said a thing, but we were curious as ever.

"How is the kid?" asked Percy.

Oh yeah, I had already forgotten the kid. I wondered who's kid he or she were.

Percy's brow puckered, like every time he was worried. Gods, he was so cute when he did that. I had told him that, when we were at war. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of emptiness. Being forced apart, but still being in daily contact was really hard. I missed his touch, his kisses...

"How many?" Percy asked, ruffling his hair. Then, he jumped.

"Gods, that's-" he cried out, but apparently Grover had interrupted him.

"Yeah, but-" he tried again, but Grover silenced him again.

Finally he nodded.

"Okay, Grover. We're on our way. I -" his face fell. "Yeah, I'll tell her that. Bye."

Percy turned to look at us.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"Is he alright?" asked Thalia.

"Who do you have to tell and what?" Rachel asked. The tactless git.

Percy sat down and we copied him.

"They are fine, Grover and the kid," he said, "but the whole island is infested with monsters. There are almost as many as there were on Princess Andromeda."

I shivered. Princess Andromeda, Luke's former monster infested cruise ship was something you really didn't want to see.

"What do we have to do?" Thalia asked.

"They are trapped in the little safe house of yours. They just need some distraction to get away from there."

That didn't sound too hard. We just needed to plan the situation thoroughly.

"But what was the thing he asked you to tell?" Rachel asked again.

Percy blinked twice.

"He's got something to say to you, Thalia. Something important," he said.

I felt Thalia stiffen next to me. She jumped up and walked to the other edge of the ferry.

"Should someone-" Rachel tried, but I silenced her with a meaningful look.

There was a short silence between Percy, me and Rachel.

"Well, I guess a decent plan of some sort would be in order..." Percy said. "Annabeth?"

I nodded.

"Already making one," I said and drifted into the world of strategy.

oOoOoOoOoOo

The ferry ride didn't take much time. Obviously, the ferry was magical, so it could move in incredible speed, take shortcuts and anything really in order to get in our destination real quick. In a few hours we could see the shores of the Monster Doughnut -island. I had made a plan and explained it to the others. The plan was waterproof. Nothing could go wrong. We were ready.

Percy jumped into the water, when we were close enough to the shore and pulled us to the ground. There was a small tree close by and he tied the ferry on it.

I was getting suspicious. There were no monsters in sight. Only an empty beach.

All of us looked at each other. We seemed to share the same thought.

"Well, Annabeth. You're the boss. Lead the way!" Rachel said. She was eager to get into a fight. Even without the battle gear, she had some spark in her, never to mention with a breastplate and a helmet. She was thrilled to really fight something. This was one of the rare occasions, when I could understand her.

"Okay, let's go," I said and we snuck further from the ocean.

There was a thick shrubbery a few meters from the shore. It couldn't be went around, so I decided to simply go through it. Easier said than done. After twenty minutes of 'ouch's and 'ah's and a million scratches, we made it to a clearing. And boy, what a clearing! The only thing I recognized was the Monster Doughnut -shop. All the surrounding area was full of monsters. It was just like the drawing Rachel had shown us in the boat before. We knelt behind the bushes.

"Percy," I said and turned to him. There was a bad cut on his face from a really aggressive shrub.

"Yup?" he asked.

"See those bushes there, across the field?" I asked and pointed at the shrubs there.

"Yeah, why?"

"Tell Grover to come there with the kid. We'll go around the field-" Rachel threw a nasty look at me. "Yeah, Rach, more bushes to come, sorry. But yeah, around the field and cause some distraction over there, so they can sneak over here. Got it?" I explained.

"Sure, sure," said Percy and called for Grover.

Luckily Grover heard him and answered immediately. This was going to work. I could feel it. Still, I had a bad feeling in my gut. I was thinking about the prophecy. About how this quest would end badly. But I couldn't see how. This would go just perfectly.

"Okay, just keep watch and when you see your chance, run and when you reach the ferry, contact me," Percy said and broke the connection.

"We're ready," he said.

Thalia took the lead and we started to crawl in the bushes. Crawling was a good idea. We got a lot less scratches, but we moved much slower.

"Why can't we just jump up and charge to battle?" Rachel asked impatiently behind me.

"Why won't we just tell Grover and the kid to walk in the clearing drenched in marinade with an apple in their mouth?" I snapped at her. Stupid questions. Rachel shut up.

We continued to crawl. The journey seemed to take aeons. I was sweating like a pig. My clothes clung to my skin and my hair was wet. A black camouflage wasn't necessarily the best item to wear today. Well, no use to regret it now. After all, it might keep me alive in the upcoming fight.

Finally Thalia stopped. I almost hit my nose on her shoes.

"Finally!" Rachel huffed.

"Okay," Thalia said. "When I say 'go'."

"Just a sec, Thals. I'll check on Grover," said Percy. "Grover, are you set?"

After two seconds, Percy motioned thumbs-up.

"They're ready to run," he said.

Thalia turned her head to look at us behind her.

"Rachel?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"Try not to get yourself killed, will you. Just defend yourself, okay?"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Just worry about yourselves. I'll be fine. Let's kill those creeps," she said.

"Alright, heroes! Let's do this!" Percy said.

"Ok... GO!" Thalia yelled and we charged, four vs. hundred.

Thalia pushed the button on her pepper spray can and it sprang into a spear. Percy uncapped Riptide. Rachel drew her sword. I was thrilled to see a good fight again. I pulled my knife out of my sleeve and glanced around, my demigod senses overdrive.

The monsters were pretty slow. They raised their heads to see who was making all the noise. No one made a motion toward us.

"Hey, nasties! Stand up and fight!" Rachel yelled. "We've got more important stuff to do here!"

Percy clapped his hand over her mouth. There was no need to make the monsters angry. We just needed to get their attention.

Then we heard a screeching voice:

"Why, isn't it Percy Jackson with his crew? You've got some nerve, coming here like that. Don't just stand there, you fools! Get them!"

I looked up. On the roof of the doughnut shop, stood Echidna, the mother of all monsters.

The monsters seemed to go along with the order, since they all drew their weapons and looked at us with murderous eyes.

I looked around, trying to find a quick way out, to be used when Grover would send a message to Percy. I saw a little hole in the bushes. We had to use it. Too bad there were a hundred monsters between us and that escape route...

Some telchines hissed and charged, flanked by a couple of centaurs and dracaenae. It was good we'd had much practice in killing telchines and dracaenae, since now it would come in handy.

A telchine and a centaur took me as their target. I quickly stabbed the telchine and turned it into dust. The centaur was huge! It was certainly not a member of the Party Ponies. It had a scar across its mean face. His eyes were black and beetle-like. He carried two daggers, both half bigger than mine. I put my invisibility cap on and charged at the centaur. It got confused when I'd disappeared so suddenly. I slashed its front legs as I ran past it. It wailed in pain and stomped its feet, but was still dumbfounded. The other monsters were moving toward us. A dracaene slashed at me with her sword. I ducked and quickly stabbed the centaur in the chest and I was done with it. Then I dealt with the dracaene.

"Guys! They're ready! Let's go!" Percy yelled. I saw him battling with three telchines at once.

"Right!" Thalia yelled back.

"Not yet, I'm still warming up!" Rachel whined and stabbed a leucrocote.

'Stupid little mortal,' I thought, but didn't start arguing. We just had to get out of there.

Thalia started to run toward the hole in the bushes. Thank the gods, she had seen it too!

We ran like hades, but the monsters kept coming. Don't get me wrong, it was a piece of cake, but it would've been much nicer if we could've just gotten away from there. A leucrocote blocked my path. I had never seen one for real, but I had heard about them a lot. They were skeletal horses, that could mimic human voices to lure their prey. I was just about to stab it, but then I heard a voice in my head. A voice I knew better than any other voice in the world.

"No need to swing that knife at me, honey. It's only me," said Percy's voice.

I knew it was only a trick from the leucrocote, but hearing his voice, as soft as ever, calling me 'honey' had a stunning effect on me.

"Annabeth!" Thalia yelled. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

The next few things happened so quickly I wasn't sure how everything had gone, but it was somewhat like this:

I woke up from the trance and stabbed the leucrocote. A millisecond later I heard Percy cry in pain behind me. I turned around and saw Percy lying on the ground in front of a monstrous centaur, who held his knife like he'd just stabbed someone.

Before I could react, Rachel slashed at the centaur and he turned to dust.

I looked at Percy, who lay on the ground. He had taken the knife and it had made a deep cut in his side.

"Help me, will you?" I said to Rachel and took a hold of Percy. Rachel was dumbfounded. I realized I still had my invisibility cap on and she couldn't see me. I took it off and Rachel jumped.

Thalia ran to us.

"No need to explain, cover us!" I said. Rachel took a hold of Percy's legs and we were off.

Note to self: do more push-ups! Percy was what someone would call 'heavy'. Sick of not, he still had that muscle on him.

Thalia had turned into a killing machine. The monsters charged at us, she blocked the way from them and stabbed them. We were so close to the exit, when Echidna walked on our way.

"You killed my army, girl," she snarled at Thalia, who stuck her tongue at her.

"Bite me," Thalia spat.

"You asked for it, girl!" Echidna growled and drew two swords.

Rachel and I put Percy down and went to flank Thalia.

"Watch out for the swords!" Thalia cried. "The blades are poisoned."

Just like Kampê's scimitar.

With a yell Echidna slashed at us. I dodged and maimed her arm. Thalia stabbed Echidna's shoulder with her spear. Rachel, the git had left her sword on the ground when she'd picked Percy's legs up. She found a hammer from a fallen telchine and swung it at Echidna, who wailed in pain as the hammer hit her knee.

"You little mortal! I will kill you the most painfully!" she screamed.

"Over my dead body you will!" Thalia yelled and swung her spear, hitting Echidna in the head.

While she was dizzy from the blow, I jabbed her in the stomach and she was gone.

Thalia helped me and Rachel to carry Percy to the ferry. Grover was waiting for us on the shore. I saw a little girl, about seven or so, sitting on the ferry, her back to us.

"How did it take you guys so long?" Grover asked as he walked to meet us. "I was getting worried!"

Then he spotted Percy.

"Uh-oh. He needs some healing."

"Percy, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked him.

"Bad," Percy groaned.

We carried him to the ferry and put him down. Percy's face was even paler than it had been. It was almost translucent. He was bleeding too much. Was this it? The quest will end in grief and mourning...

Grover pushed us away from the shore and told the ferry where we needed to go: to Camp Half-Blood. Home.

In times like these, it's hard not to lose hope. I looked at Percy. His breathing was feeble. He reminded me of the time when he'd almost died on Olympus.

"You silly Seaweed Brain. Why did you take that knife? You're not invincible, remember? Styx isn't on your side anymore," I said to Percy.

"You did the same for me," he said.

True. I'd taken Ethan Nakamura's dagger for him when we were at war against Kronos.

"How did you even know the centaur was about to stab me? I was invisible," I asked.

"I just felt like he was aiming at something too important," said Percy. I blushed slightly.

"Yeah. You rest now. It'll be okay," I said.

"Is he going to die?" came a small voice behind me.

I turned around to face the little girl Grover had rescued. She was small and she looked agile. Her blonde curly hair went on her shoulders. She was dressed in what I thought was a school uniform. Apparently they had left the school in a hurry.

"Is he?" she repeated.

She sounded sad. She was looking down at Percy, so I couldn't see her face properly.

"No, he isn't. Don't worry," I told her. I tried to sound convincing and calm. There was no need to scare the little one.

The girl lifted her head.

I was startled by her face. She was really cute. Her cheeks were plump and I could swear, that if she would smile, she would have the cutest dimples ever. But the most disorienting thing wasn't the cuteness of her – it were the eyes. Her eyes were almond shaped, framed by long dark lashes.

As for the color of them?

It was the most startling grey.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked and blinked.

I crouched down to her level.

"You have very pretty eyes, you know that?" I asked.

"Thanks. Yours are grey too!" she said and smiled. Like I'd guessed before, she had the cutest dimples I'd ever seen.

"You're a very nice girl. What's your name?" she asked.

"Annabeth. What's yours?"

"Pretty name. I'm Lucy Adams. Is he your boyfriend?" she asked and pointed at Percy..

I blushed. I hadn't talked to a kid as young as this one in a long time and I hadn't remembered how straightforward they could be.

"No," I said. "He's not my boyfriend."

Lucy looked back at Percy.

"Oh," she said and turned to Thalia.

"You've got weird hair."

Then, I got an idea.

'Mother,' I prayed. 'please come determine my sister. And bring Poseidon, will you?'

Wow, that was long! :) I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to answer my question: would you like to read something new from me?

Athena's cabin wishes you a lovely day!

Peace, love, PJO!

Luv,

AC