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Here's chapter 6:

For the rest of the school year, Piper and I pretended that nothing happened in the museum,and that Mrs. Kerr, a perky blonde woman whom Grover seemed to like much better than Mrs. Dodds, had been our pre- algebra teacher since Christmas.

I still visited Tartarus every once in a while at night. Kronos kept blabbering about how he'd win the war, how horrible the gods were, how they couldn't even refrain from fighting each other, and how I'd join him eventually. His cold, ancient voice scolded me for not helping my mother, and told me stories about how he was a good little Titan and listened to his (evil) mother, Gaia, and chopped up his father. Ugh.

My dreams and the weather were excellent proof that my dad and Zeus/ Jupiter were fighting. In my last life, they were always fighting. Guess some things haven't changed. Although for the weather to be this extreme, Zeus must be really angry about his master bolt getting stolen.

If that was what happened. I had no logical reason to believe Kronos would tell me the truth. But I had a terrible feeling he wasn't lying. I wondered what the Greek campers made of this weather. They were probably clueless about what was happening, completely oblivious to the inevitable approach of World War Three.

And what about Mr. Brunner aka Chiron? What was he doing to prevent this catastrophe? Was he organizing a quest? Or did he rely on the vain hope that one of the other gods would calm the quarreling brothers?

And there was something not quite right about this. I had a feeling I was missing a major fact, something that, when unveiled, would make sense of this messed up jumble of possibilities.

I just had to find the master bolt, which was probably with Kronos, therefore preventing World War Three. That would be a piece of cake. And then, of course, I would have to defeat Kronos and his evil minions. He must have some talented followers, to be able to steal such a precious weapon right from under the gods' noses.

Nah. I was thinking way too much. In my past life, and a major portion of this one, I relied on my instincts. I'd just have to find out where the current location of the entrance to the Underworld is and whip Kronos's ugly butt. I should have no problem with Hades once he finds out who I am, or used to be.

I tried to act normal, or at least not show exactly how distressed I was. I didn't do a very good job. Maybe I would have fooled Grover if he couldn't sense my emotions, but Piper was too perceptive (and knew me too well). Her multicolored eyes grew more and more alarmed each day, and I told her as much as I could without breaking my oath or telling her about Kronos and my past.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was the last day of the term. I wondered if Kronos was deliberetly making life harder for me.

Grover had booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as Piper and I had. No surprise there, although I wondered if Grover was taking this protector thing a little too far.

He looked really nervous during the whole bus ride, watching the other passengers like they could turn into monsters any second and try to kill us. Which, to tell the truth, might actually happen.

And naturally, there was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured in from the dashboard and the stench of rotten eggs filled the air.

The driver cursed and pulled over on the side of the highway.

After a while of clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd have to get off the bus. Grover, Piper, and I followed the other passengers outside.

We were on a stretch of country road. There was nothing but maple trees and litter on our side of the road. And on the other side, across four lanes of traffic, was something that almost made me faint. Just across the road was somebody, three somebodies, who were worse than Furies, and deadlier than Kronos. There were three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting a huge pair of socks with electric blue yarn. That made me a little more relaxed, the last time they appeared to cut my life string, it was a silvery green color. But this was another life, and my string's color could probably be different.

Grover was saying something nervously, but I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying.

The Fates were staring right at me, and the middle one took out a huge pair of scissors, gold and silver, and cut the yarn.

Oh, crap. The odds were that I'd just seen my string cut. Again.

But instead of fear, I felt determination. If I were to die, I would do as much as I could to help defeat Kronos, and return the master bolt. I would give my friends, Jason, Piper, Gwen, Grover a chance to survive. I wouldn't let my mother die in vain. I would do anything to make sure she was safe.

At the rear of the bus, the driver yanked out a big chunk of smoking metal from the engine compartment. The engine roared to life, and the passengers cheered.

Piper and Grover looked horrified by the time we got on the bus. I guess they figured out who those ladies were.

Piper murmured, "Percy?"

I smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

At least, I sincerely hoped so.