Sorry I haven't posted in like...I don't know, two months? Even I know that this chapter isn't that great, but I hope you can find some sort of enjoyment reading it.

Anyways, to make up for all the late updates, I posted a second chapter!

Not to this story, though. I made a quick one shot of a very awkward version of Percy Jackson. It's not that good but it's something to think about.

Chapter 12: Seeking Refuge

Winter POV

"Hello, Phaia," I said.

"I see. You know who I am," she rasped in Latin.

She sounded like she desperately needed some water. Every one of her words sounded like a cough that was auto-tuned to sound like words.

"Quite," I said, converting to Latin. "May I inquire why you are speaking in Latin?"

"You speak the old tongue quite well," she rasped.

"You haven't answered my question," I said.

I felt the tremors of the ground as Ash shifted on his cane. I sensed anxiety in his movements.

"I speak the old tongue because I have a feeling that your…friends, shouldn't know what we are speaking of."

"What would that be?" I asked.

"Your fatal flaw, of course, the god of the dead's son with visionless eyes."

I flinched at the line of prophecy. "How do you know of the prophecy?" I accused.

"Don't you already know?" she rasped.

Suddenly a memory flooded my thoughts.

"How are you?" I asked.

"Well, its not too bad being dead," he said. I felt the air shift as he turned towards the Fields of Punishment. "At least I didn't up end up there."

"Is it strange being alive?" he inquired, turning back, "Being in the Underworld and all."

"Not really," I said, "I've been here almost my entire life."

"If you could go back on earth, would you?"

I sighed, "I don't think I would. You think I would be accepted up there?"

He chuckled good-heartedly and replied, "Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't. The demigods up there are actually pretty nice but, you know, you're a son of Hades."

He paused and then said, "You know it's kind of strange not to feel any pain. I can see my cracked ribs but it doesn't hurt at all."

"Your mortal wound?" I asked.

"Yeah, from the Crommyonian Sow."

"I've heard stories about it."

"I bet you have, Winter. But ya know, I don't think the old lady actually wanted to kill me."

I paused to think about this. "Are you talking about Phaia?"

"Yeah."

"Why would you think that?"

He tapped his finger on his chin. "Well, for one, the old lady seemed to trying to hold the pig back from killing me. And another thing…"

He put his hand on my shoulder and steered me away from the other spirits.

"She said something to me before I died."

"What?"

"Well, I don't know how to interpret this, but I was thinking you could help me with it."

"How?"

He chuckled and wafts of wind disrupted the air as he shook his head, "You're good at interpreting speech, quit being modest."

I grunted and folded my arms together.

"She said, 'You don't deserve to die, but fate controls death. I may know what they know, but I can't change it.' What does that mean?"

"Fate controls death," I repeated.

"Yeah, do you know what that means?"

"I think I do," I said slowly.

"Really?" he said.

"When she says fate, I'm sure she's talking about the Three Fates. The Fates control death."

"So… 'I may know what they know' means that she knows what the Fates know?"

"I believe so," I replied.

"What does that mean?"

"She can read fate or destiny," I concluded.

"She's like a fortune teller then!"

"Perhaps, or alike to an oracle. 'I can't change it' means she can't alter the future."

"Wait, if she has the power to tell the future, why is she considered a monster?"

"If I'm the same as any demigod, why am I considered a curse?" I counteracted. I didn't carry an angry tone, I was simply pointing out a fact. I had never really minded what people had thought of me.

"Oh, I see what you're saying," he replied. "I wonder if monsters are always going to be considered monsters." I sensed his gaze fix on me. "Or if people are always gonna hate on Hades' kids."

"I didn't know your ability included recognizing prophecies," I said, frowning, "I thought only my father and the Furies knew of my prophecy."

"Oh, a few others know," she replied.

"Who?" I demanded.

"I can't tell you," she rasped, "but I believe we were talking about your fatal flaw?"

I clenched my teeth but knew that she had dropped the subject of my prophecy. Who knew of my prophecy? Not Zeus, or he wouldn't have let me on the quest.

My mind was still lingering on the subject when I asked my next question.

"Why would you tell me of my fatal flaw?" I asked.

"You have temporarily spared my pet of his curse," she said. "I feel I should thank you for that."

Even though Phaia was just known as an old lady who rode the Crommyanian Sow, she still possessed the care that all pet owners had. So much for being a heartless hag that destroyed anything that got in her way. I frowned as I thought of something else. Phaia also possessed the knowledge of seeing a few glimpses of the future. If she was so misunderstood, what about other monsters? Maybe Proteus himself wasn't really a monster. I shook the thought away. The gods wouldn't have come to mere mortals for help if they weren't sure of the demigod-wrath's status as an enemy of Olympus.

"Your fatal flaw is what may be your end, boy, not a curse," she said.

A fatal flaw, few heroes knew of their own fatal flaw.

"Your fatal flaw, son of Hades, is your blindness."

I shook my head doubtfully, "My blindness has strengthened my battle instincts, not weakened it.

The old lady chuckled a bit, "Not that type of blindness. You are blind to other's emotions and intentions. You cannot recognize who people are."

I frowned with confusion, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Have you ever tried to understand somebody's intentions?" she said.

"One's intention?" I asked.

"Yes."

"If somebody has a goal to achieve something, they shall only fulfill it if it is of their destiny. In truth, the purpose for any mortal is just to live and die."

"What is your intention for being on this quest?" she asked.

I faltered. Why had I taken this quest? If I hadn't taken the quest, whoever had taken it would've died…but why would I bother with that? If you die, you go to the Underworld and receive your rightful penalty. It was simply the way of life. But if the person died, Proteus and the other demigod wraths would overrun Olympus.

"I took this quest to maintain peace in this world. If Proteus isn't destroyed, Olympus will be, and humanity shall be of chaos."

"Are you sure?" she rasped.

"Yes," I said. I felt a light flutter in my throat.

"You do not acknowledge your fatal flaw," she said.

"I simply believe that what somebody wants or believes is not what makes a person."

"Then what does?" she asked.

"Fate," I replied automatically. I had been asked this question countless times in the Underworld. Agonized spirits who were confused and upset would immediately seek me out because I was alive. They would all ask the same question with soft twitters that a normal human wouldn't understand. 'Why am I dead?'

"Your fatal flaw…to be blind and oblivious to people's feelings and values, you believe it will not hinder you?"

"Of course not," I said. "Why would I have to acknowledge one's feelings? In battle, one's strength is all you have to understand."

"Do not try to defy your prophecy," she finally said. I felt the pressure on the ground change as the Crommyon Sow turned and lumbered away.

"Good day, son of Hades," she said in English.

"What was that all about?" Ash demanded.

"Nothing," I replied tensely. I was still thinking about what Phaia said about my prophecy.

I turned towards Josie. She was still on the ground.

"What's wrong, Josie?" I asked.

"My hands are…" she started.

What was wrong?

"What the - !" Ash exclaimed.

Ash rushed passed me and knelt besides Josie, "Her hands are crushed!"

He cursed quietly at the Crommyonian Sow.

I bent down and held out my hands. "Can you hold your arms up, Josie?"

She laid her hands in mine; they were sticky with blood.

"Yeah," she replied, "My arms are fine, but my hands…"

Gently, I probed different points of her hands. Thousands of fractures were present in her wound. Her hands quivered with pain. I lightly rested her hands down, reached into my bag, and pulled out some bandages.

"Josie, you can't heal your wound?" Ash said.

"No," she replied. "My healing centralizes in my hands. With it crushed…well its hard to explain."

"The magic core is interrupted," I explained, pulling my thoughts away from my prophecy, "Magic is either stored in a core or widely spread out. If the core is destroyed, then the magic cannot function. In Josie's case, her hands are the core of her healing magic. Her hands are crushed and therefore her healing magic cannot function."

"Is it from your collision with the crazy pig?" Ash inquired.

"Yeah," Josie answered.

Angrily, Ash slammed his fist into the ground. "What was up with that, anyways? Why did the fat pig attack us if it just left in the end?"

"The Crommyonian Sow possesses a curse, the Hunters' Curse," I said, wrapping the bandages carefully around Josie's hands.

"The Hunters' Curse?" Ash asked.

"The Hunters' Curse forces a being to attack or 'hunt' any living creature that shows hostility or fear," Neville, the satyr, explained. "The Crommyonian Sow is involuntarily attacking its victims."

"That's horrible," Josie whispered.

"Seriously," Ash muttered, "that curse is messed up."

I deftly knotted the end of the bindings. "Do the bandages feel alright?"

The weight of her hands left my hands.

"Yes they do, thank you," she said.

"Ash, your leg has a fracture, right?" I said.

"Yeah, in courtesy of the pig."

"You two have serious injuries," I said standing up. "We will have to find a place to stay and heal."

"I agree," Ash said.

Silently, I spread my senses across the land and examined our surroundings. Empty land, empty land, crashing waves…wait, a building?

"Ash, is there a building in front of us?"

"Yeah, but how can you see it?"

"I can sense the presence of things from the earth."

"Jeez."

Ash helped Josie to her feet and we started towards the building.

Once we had gotten closer, I could make out more of what the building resembled. Concluding from the weight, the building seemed to have about thirty stories.

"Is there a sign on the building?" I asked.

"Yes," Neville replied. "It says, 'Sea Stallions'."

"A stable?" I asked. How could it be? I couldn't smell any trace of horses…

"No," he said. "It looks like a hotel."

"Let's go inside," I said.

As we approached the building, I prayed that we didn't have to go to any of the upper floors.

Josie POV

My hands throbbed painfully as we walked towards the worn wooden door. Unconsciously, I lifted my hand to open the door. As I tried to hold the doorknob, my hand twitched noticeably from the unexpected pressure. I gasped with pain and held my hand. I sighed and told myself to get used to it. I wasn't comfortable with pain since I could normally just heal my wounds with a flick of my hand, literally.

"Be careful, Josie," Winter said, as he reached past me to open the door.

"You alright?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding, "I guess I'm just not used to having unusable hands."

Ash smiled and shrugged, "I'm sure you'll get better."

I nodded in agreement and followed Winter inside the hotel.

"Oh my gods," I gasped.

"This place is insane," Ash said in awe.

Pale clouds of cool colors swirled around the walls of multi-colored marble. The walls seemed to vibrate and glow with the dream-like colors. Pearly hued curtains floated around the stained glass windows. Expensive looking furniture made of sweeping pieces of ivory were scattered around the room. A woman sitting on a glass stool was playing a beautiful melody on a silver harp. A brilliantly crafted silver chandelier hung from the ceiling. Sparkling diamonds and pearls hung from the chandelier.

"Wow, I didn't know it looked like this from the outside. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover," Neville said.

Still staring at the room in admiration, I simply nodded.

"Let's see if we can get a room for a few nights," Winter said, apparently unaffected by the beauty of the room. "Do you know how quickly you two will be able to heal?"

"For me? Probably two weeks," Ash replied.

"Josie?"

"With some sea water, my hands can probably recover in three weeks," I lied. Actually, it would probably heal in six, but I couldn't hold my team back from completing their quest. I would just have to pray that the sea water would be able to heal my hands more quickly. Even though he couldn't see me, I quickly looked away from Winter's skeptical expression, uncomfortable with his ability to tell I was lying.

Ash approached a tall woman behind the counter. She had dark skin and curly short hair. Her shiny locks were intertwined with a large coral hibiscus.

"May I help you?" she inquired. Her voice was soft and sweet.

"Can we stay in a room for let's say, a month?" Ash asked.

"Do you children have money?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. "This hotel costs one hundred eighty dollars a night per person."

Considering the look of the hotel, that wasn't actually surprising. We probably should've considered the price. Ash had a "Wow, that was totally epic fail" expression on his face and he was stepping away.

"Yeah, um," he said, "I think that, uh, we'll be here, um, later? Maybe? Yeah, see ya later."

He turned to Winter and me.

"There is no way we are staying here," Ash said.

Winter shook his head and confronted the woman.

"I suspect you know who we are," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said slowly.

"Winter, you're gonna get us stuck in a psycho facility," Ash said under his breath.

"I believe you do, Centauride," Winter persisted.

Centauride? What was Winter…

"Ah, so you know who we are?" she said, stepping out from the counter. "As you know, we don't let anyone stay here if they aren't intelligent enough to recognize our species."

My eyes widened as she walked away from the counter. Her slim body was grafted on a sleek chestnut horse body.

"A girl relative of Chiron?" Ash asked.

The horse/lady shook her head and chuckled. "I guess you could say that."

"My friends are wounded," Winter said. "We only need to stay to heal. As he said, we might need to stay for a month."

"Of course," she said. "Come with me."

"Wait a second!" Ash said. "I have two questions. One, do we have to pay? Cause we have like no money. Two, this might sound a little rude but, um, what are you, exactly?"

The horse/lady smiled, "I'm a Centauride, honey-basically a female centaur."

"Oh!" Ash said. "That sort of explains things."

"And no," the Centauride said, "you don't have to pay. It's an honor to house heroes on a quest."

"Thanks," Ash said.

"It's no problem," the Centauride said, "Oh, and my name is Maria."

"Thank you, Maria," I said.

"Not intelligent enough to recognize our species," Neville muttered as he passed Ash.

"Ay, shut up, Neville, you didn't know either," he grumbled.

Neville shook his head and grinned.

I followed Maria to the back of the vast room to a glass elevator. The elevator was adorned with silver decorations. Soon we were swiftly descending up the floors. Ash pressed his nose against the glass and awed at the view. I was a bit nauseas from the increasing height, but the glimpses I caught of the many floors were amazing. The view from the elevator would've been breathtaking if I didn't have a fear of heights. Gradually, the elevator came to a stop. The glowing number in the screen indicated that we were on the eighteenth floor.

"How many stories is this building?" Ash asked.

"Thirty," Maria replied promptly. "Not all of the rooms are just bedrooms, though. We have nine deluxe spas, one floor just for our library, four gyms, a whole floor that's an arcade, a room for the spoils of war, and many more! In each hall, there's a map of Sea Stallions and I'm sure that you intelligent demigods will be able to find your way."

"Thanks, Maria," Ash said.

"No, problem!" she replied. "Here's the key to your room." She waved and stepped back into the elevator.

Ash examined the glowing blue card. The shimmering letters read 1859.

"Guess that's our room," he remarked. "Let's go! I want to see what it looks like!"

Percy POV

I stumbled through yet another clump of foliage and then paused. Breathing hard, I pressed my hands against my knees.

"Are you sure this is the island of Asclepius, Annabeth?" I asked. "This forest doesn't seem to end."

"I'm sure," she replied. "I just don't remember exactly where Asclepius lived." We had been trekking through the dark mess of trees and leaves for what seemed like hours and still hadn't spot a glimpse of Asclepius or civilization.

"Annabeth has a great memory," Grover said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mistake Asclepius' island for another."

But he sounded like he was reassuring himself more than reminding us of Annabeth's reputation.

"This island is apparently inhabited with a lot of monsters," Tria said, wiping sweat off her brow. "Asclepius might be in some really secluded area to avoid all of them."

"He's a god," I replied, my eyebrows raised. "He wouldn't need to avoid small-time monsters. It'd be simple enough for Asclepius to just destroy them."

Tria shrugged. "Maybe he's a nice god and doesn't want to kill them.

"Kill?" I asked. "You can't kill monsters."

Tria glanced at me hurriedly but then said, "Slip of the tongue, sorry." She looked at the sky, "I guess the heat is getting to me."

I sighed. Not only were my legs sore, no doubt everyone else was also tired, the sun was being relentless, beating on us insistently.

"Actually, Asclepius is just a minor healing god," Annabeth said. "He doesn't possess the physical prowess of a normal god of destroying monsters."

"So he is hiding somewhere?" I clarified.

"I didn't say that," Annabeth said. "I'm just pointing that out."

I sighed again.

"Look," Tyson said. "There's a house."

My head whipped towards the direction Tyson was pointing. Stepping closer, I peered more closely through the thick shrubbery. Two planks of wood stood out from natural surroundings.

"I see wooden boards or s–shoot!-," I yelled. I felt my foot catch behind a vine and I crashed to the ground.

Annabeth attempted to hold in her laughter as she helped me to my feet.

"Thanks for clearing the path, Percy," Grover said, grinning, looking at the flattened spot I had just gotten up from.

"You're welcome," I grumbled.

"Percy's right, though," Tria said. "I can see some sort of cabin from here."

"Let's go, then!" Annabeth said.

The only thing I can say about Asclepius was that he sucked at making first impressions.

"Freeze!" a voice yelled as we stepped into the clearing.

Startled, I jumped a bit.

The owner of the voice was dressed in a typical camouflage soldier outfit and he was holding a nasty looking rifle.

"Um, are you Asclep…" Grover started.

The scrawny figure suddenly dropped the rifle and he scrambled to pick it up.

"Darn technology these days," he muttered underneath his breath as we all stared at him.

"Are you Asclepius?" Grover tried again.

The man's head snapped up. "How did you know?"

He was actually quite small in stature. His army helmet looked too big and he constantly shoved it upright.

"I recognized this island from before," Annabeth said. "Hello, Asclepius."

"Annabeth!" the little man exclaimed. "Where are Luke and Thalia?"

Annabeth looked away. His face fell. "Oh, I heard about Luke…"

Annabeth shook her head and waved her hand, "Let's not dwell on that, Asclepius. I have an injured friend and…"

"Injured!" he exclaimed. "Who is…?"

"A hippocampus got scratched, badly," she said.

"How?" Asclepius asked, looking genuinely concerned.

She quickly glanced at me, "A sharp rock."

Luckily Asclepius didn't venture any further into the subject.

"Where is this hippocampus?" he asked.

"Near the shore," I said.

He looked at me and seemed to think about something. He shook his head, "We don't have time to make it there before night. We will go to the shore during the morning."

"No!" Tyson said. His expression was defiant.

"What?" Grover said. "Tyson, didn't you hear…"

"Buddy has to be healed," Tyson said with certain finality.

He picked up Asclepius and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Let's go!" Tyson said.

Tyson sprinted into the woods carrying a kicking and yelling Asclepius.

"Asclepius really is a weakling, isn't he?" I asked.

"He's not much of a fighter," Annabeth admitted.

"What was up with his outift?" I inquired.

"He needs to protect himself from enemies somehow," she replied.

I glanced towards the forest and realized Tyson and Asclepius had disappeared. My eyes widened. "Is Tyson seriously taking Asclepius to Buddy?"

"Oh no," Grover muttered, heading after them.

"Tyson!" I called. "Come back!"

Then an image of Buddy's wound flashed in my mind.

"On the second thought," I yelled, "run like an angry Annabeth is after you!"

"What?" Annabeth said.

Suddenly, I remembered that she was right next to me.

"Ah ha, well you see…" I said.

"Percy!" she yelled, grabbing for me.

Quickly, I twisted out of her reach and hightailed into the forest, hoping I would be able to find my way.