Sorry for the late update. School, softball, etc.

Thalico is still up in the air. I'm not sure how well I would be at writing it anyway. (This is the SUPREME RULER OVERLORD OF THE UNIVERSE…eh, not really, it's just me, Kayla, happily invading ArcherDaughter's editors note as I read this chapter and try and help her get past her temporary writers block, ANYWAYS. I contributed to this chapter…just wanted everyone to know…and the original intention of this AN invasion was to say that I am completely for Thalico, so you should be to.)Either way, there will definitely be tons of cousin moments between the two of them (and our beloved Seaweed Brain!). There will also be brother/sister moments with Thalia and Jason, and possibly brotherly moments with Percy and Nico (I've always pictured them as having a brotherly bond… at least after Nico got over wanted to kill Percy).(pahaha way to make them sound like loving brothers ArcherDaughter…)

Leo leaned his head up against the airplane window. He and Halley were on their way to Camp Jupiter, and somehow (Leo didn't want to know how) Halley had managed to get them first class tickets to San Francisco. They were halfway there- just had a quick stop to make a short stop at an airport in Missouri to switch planes- and Leo had been quiet almost the entire ride, except to ask the flight attendant for an enchilada. Hecouldn't hide the fact that he was scared, especially not from Halley.

"Leo, what are you worried about?" Halley asked. "I told you, Hazel and Frank are really cool kids. You should get along fine." She scratched the back of her head. "They are a little younger than us though. Frank's sixteen, I think… Hazel's thirteen."

"It's not that," Leo mumbled. He hesitated, and then added: "I'm worried about going up against Khione. I've fought her twice, and each time I've almost lost. I know you said Frank should be able to help me, but I don't want to put him in danger because of my problem. Khione stole my powers. There's no reason to get someone else involved, especially if that person doesn't know what they're up against."

Halley looked past Leo and out the window with a distant look in her eyes.

"Hazel and Frank won't have a problem going against Khione," she said softly. "Not many people know this, but when they went on their quest to Alaska, they had to fight one of the giants."

"One of the giants?" Leo asked. "Like… the Giants? The same ones we fought?"

Halley nodded. "Only, this one never went to Greece. The giant was Alcyoneus, the oldest giant. While the other giants were in Greece, Alcyoneus killed in Alaska. That was the real reason Hazel and Frank were sent to Alaska… not to get back Camp Jupiter's eagle. They got that by pure accident."

"You sent two inexperienced half-bloods to fight a giant?" Leo asked in disbelief. "Why didn't you and Jason go?"

"It would've raised too much suspicion. Jason, me, and a few others were the only ones that knew about Alcyoneus. We didn't want to alarm the camp, so we said that we were sending Hazel and Frank on a scouting mission north… nothing more."

"I'm still confused of why you picked them."

Halley sighed. "It's complicated… and not really my place to say why anyway. For now, let's just stick with the fact that Frank and Hazel both have experience up north."

Their conversation was interrupted by the pilot announcing that they would be landing shortly.

"Dakota's mom is meeting us with Maricel at the airport," Halley said, completely changing the subject. "She's going to come with us to Camp Jupiter, then I'm going to take her home on my trip back."

Leo frowned. He wasn't sure what he was confused about most… Halley's sudden change in subject or the fact that Marci was going to Camp Jupiter.

"Will she be allowed there?" he asked.

"I called ahead and cleared it. Normally, mortals aren't allowed at camp, but we're making an exception for her," Halley explained. "Especially after…" She stopped herself short. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay," Leo said. "It wasn't Marci's fault, and I would swear that on the Styx."

"I know Leo," Halley said. Then she sighed "You have no idea how badly I want to kick Khione's frozen you-know-what to the darkest part of Tartarus for what she did to you guys."

"Then why don't you come with us?" Leo asked.

"It's not my fight," Halley replied firmly. "It never was. I don't know what Reyna sees for Hazel and Frank in all of this, but I do know that they do have a part in the prophecy. I've known that since they returned from Alaska. If they weren't meant to play a role, then they would've been killed by Alcyoneus. They'll be more help against Khione than I ever would."

…

"Okay, Death Boy, where are we going?" Thalia asked from her seat in the back of Percy's car.

Nico, who was riding shotgun, didn't respond. He was too busy watching out the window.

"Turn there, Percy," was all he said.

"Fine, don't answer me," Thalia grumbled.

She leaned back in her seat and looked out the back window. The car that was behind them caught her eye and she frowned. It gave her a bad feeling. When Percy turned down the road Nico had pointed out, the car followed. Thalia turned to look out the front window, and saw that the road they'd turned on to was dirt; a middle-of-nowhere road. That wasn't suspicious at all.

"Percy… how long has that car been behind us?" Thalia asked.

Percy didn't even check his mirror. "Pretty much since we left the city," he said. "I don't think it's just a coincidence either. They've got to be tailing us."

Nico turned in his seat to see what they were talking about. His eyes widened when he recognized the car.

"I recognize that car," he said. "I saw it before while I was walking around the city. It was following me then too, so I had to shadow-travel away."

"I'm assuming these guys are bad news then," Thalia said, slowly pulling out her bow. "Well, this should slow them down. Nico, hold onto my legs. I don't want to fly out of the car."

"Wait?" Nico asked is shock. "What?"

Thalia ignored him as she rolled down her window and pushed her upper body out of it far enough to where she could sit in the window frame. Nico didn't really have any choice but to grab her legs. Thalia notched an arrow and pulled her bow back. With a flash of silver, her arrow imbedded itself in the front tire of the car behind them. As it stopped, Thalia slipped back into Percy's car.

"That might not slow them down long," she said. "You might want to pick up the pace Seaweed Brain."

Percy pressed the gas harder, and Nico turned back towards Thalia.

"Nice shooting Rex," Nico said with a grin.

Thalia smirked in reply. "Thank you. I try."

Percy rolled his eyes and then turned them back to the road. With no warning, he slammed on the brakes.

"Hey Nico?" he said skeptically. "Are those your caves?"

…

"And you're sure that Chiron will be able to help us?" Reyna asked as Annabeth turned into the dirt road that led to Camp Half-Blood.

"If anyone can, it's him," Annabeth replied. "He's thousands of years old, and he's pretty much seen everything there is to see. I don't know who else would be able to help us."

By that time, they had pulled into the camp driveway. Annabeth pulled her car up next to the Delphi Strawberry Service vans that were parked in front of the store. The two girls climbed out and looked around at Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth took a deep breath in a smiled.

"Gods I've missed this place," she said. "Come on. Chiron's either at the Big House or archery range."

As they walked up to the Big House, Reyna looked around at the scenery. She'd been here before, but never really during the winter season. The few times she had been during that time, she had only been over to visit Rachel in her cave, and she hadn't been to the main part of camp. Annabeth led them up the Big House stairs and didn't even knock before opening the door.

"Chiron? Are you in here?"

"Annabeth?" the centaur's voice came from the next room over. A few seconds later, he rolled out into the room where the two girls were. "What are you doing here child?"

Annabeth was about to respond, until she was attacked in a vicious hug by a familiar figure with furry hind-quarters.

"ANNABETH!" Grover shouted. "You're back!" He stepped backwards, holding Annabeth at an arms' length and studied her face. "Where's Percy?"

"On a scouting mission with Nico and Thalia," Annabeth responded. She looked past Grover to Chiron, who was looking at them curiously. "That's why we're here, Chiron. Reyna and I need some information, and we were hoping you could help."

Chiron nodded slowly. "Come into the living room girls."

As they started walking that way, the front door swung open and none other than Rachel Elizabeth Dare walked in.

"Reyna! Annabeth! I knew you two were coming!" she said, giving them each a hug. "How've things been? Oh my gods, Annabeth I've missed you! It's been forever! How are you and Percy? Have you even seen him since you went underground? Never mind, I'm sure you probably have…"

"Rachel," Chiron said firmly but kindly. "Annabeth and Reyna are here for important matters. If you don't mind…" he gestured towards the living room.

"Oh, sure," Rachel replied. Her smile faded as she looked at the two of them with a serious expression. "You two are here about the prophecy, right?"

They nodded.

"Good," Rachel said. "Because I have some new paintings you need to see."

…

Piper hated not being able to talk. She hated having to rely on Dakota to talk for her. When she found Drew, she was going to make that overgrown…. Piper was glad Dakota had made their connection to where he could only hear what she specifically said to him, not all of her thoughts, so she was free to use as many swear words in her mind as she wanted to. Not that Dakota would really care anyway… he had grown up with Halley.

They had no idea where to start, so they had decided to try and find out all they could about Drew. To do that, they decided to go ask someone who would know more about her.

Piper looked at the door in front of her. According to Thalia, this was apartment Silena Beauregard was staying while she took classes at NYU. According to Thalia, if anyone would be able to give them information on Drew, it would be Silena, since Drew's mother had died years ago.

After exchanging glances with Jason and Dakota, Piper knocked on the door. A few minutes later, Silena opened it.

"Hello?" she said. She frowned when she saw who it was. "Piper? Jason? What are you two doing here?"

"Hi Silena," Jason responded. "We need to talk to you. Can we come in?"

Silena nodded and moved to the side to let them in. Once they were sitting down in her living room, she didn't hesitate to jump straight to the point.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I heard you guys had gone underground, so why are you here?"

She looked at each of them, and when she saw Dakota she grinned. "I remember you! You're one of the sons of Mercury I met in Elysium."

"That's me," Dakota said, grinning slightly. It was still weird for him to talk about the few months he had spent in the Underworld, even though it had been almost two years since he'd come back.

Silena seemed to understand. "It's weird for me too," she said. "But Charlie and I are doing great. We're engaged! The wedding's in June, on the solstice if you guys want to come."

Piper grinned, and nodded. We'd be glad to, she told Dakota.

He relayed the message. When he said that was what Piper had said, Silena raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"What's wrong Piper?" she asked. "Do you have laryngitis?"

"Something like that," Jason muttered. With a deep breath, he continued. "That's actually why we're here. Piper went to Paris with her dad recently, and while she was there, someone slipped a potion into her drink that made her lose her voice."

Silena turned to Piper with a shocked expression. "Oh my gods, Piper, I'm sorry." She thought for a moment. "I've heard of a potion that can do that, but I can't remember what it's called, or how it's made. Do you know who poisoned you?"

"Drew," Jason answered. "She's sided with Gaea."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Silena grumbled.

"We were hoping you could tell us more about her," Dakota said. "Since no one at Camp Half-Blood knows all that much."

Silena sighed. "I don't know that much myself, to be honest. I know her dad didn't really want anything to do with her; that's why she was a year-rounder. Apparently, when Drew was younger, she made the mistake of using her charm-speaking powers on a guy her dad worked for. She talked him into giving her dad a raise. That worked out fine until the guy realized what he'd done. He fired Drew's dad, and her dad took it out on her."

Jason, Piper, and Dakota exchanged glances.

"Where does her dad live?" Dakota asked.

Silena pursed her lips. "I'm not positive, but I want to say that last I heard, he was living in Hawaii." She looked at each of them, and with a faint smile added "I hope you packed you grass skirts and surf boards."

This is the line break Kayla wanted to add after the first section, but I wouldn't let her….. I moved it here, because it fits better. (LINEBREAK…haha ArcherDaughter never does these…and I have a hilarious pun stuck in my head at the moment…are and of you Avatar TLA fans? If you are, you'll get this, Toph (word check tried to change Toph's name to Tophi) and Aang's relationship is a little bit Rocky…pahaha get it, rocky? Go ahead and laugh…I know you want to).

You'll have to forgive her. I made the mistake of giving her free reign on this chapter.

Anyways, review!