Here it is! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Kinda short, but oh well.

Chapter 15: Gaea

I was in a grassy field, full of flowers and trees. There was mud in the middle of the field, and it churned like bog.

I cautiously approached it, before I was the face of a woman in the mud.

Her eyes were closed and her body came off from the mud and she smiled at me. Her hair was long and brown, with flowers in it and she wore a white chiton.

Her eyes were still closed.

"Perseus Jackson," she said, her voice loud and shrill.

I stared at her. Who the heck was she?

"I understand your confusion, but the time when I come back will not be soon. I barely have the strength to speak to you..." the goddess murmured. "But I am the goddess of the earth, mother of the gods and the titans. Do you know my name?"

Her voice sounded like a void, loud and echoey, but soothing and placid.

"Uhhh," I said intelligently, before I remembered the name I had learned years ago. "Wasn't it like...Gonzo or Gaya?"

"Gaea," she didn't sound too amused. "Goddess of the earth and everything on the earth."

"Okay," I stated. "Why did you want to talk to me?"

"First off, I wanted to tell you that I will be rising soon. I'm just at my barely awake phase right now," she murmured, "I am in no power to fully rise as I need my sons to defeat the gods. I fear that the Titan's will not be enough even with you."

"You need the blessings of the gods to have much more potential," Gaea purred, her voice thick and lulling, "You must start with Achyls, am I right?"

"Umm yeah."

"You have great potential, Perseus," Gaea sniffed, "Despite your limited knowledge, you hold power and strength."

I thought of the phrase: All brawn, no brain.

"She will test your limits, see if you'll break...You must withstand her tests with ease, my cold-blooded warrior. You must pass," Gaea purred. "If this seems hard, this is just the beginning. And when I rise, assuming you are still loyal to the Titans, we shall talk soon, in Tartarus."

I bolted up in the infirmary with cold sweat. The sheets were thin and a bit wet. I shifted, blinking. My head hurt like Tartarus.

I hesitantly got up. I wobbled a bit, but I remembered how to walk in seconds.

"Guys?" I called out, but no one answered. I left the infirmary, and went into the main deck. I gasped.

On the ground, Bianca, Nico, Thalia, Luke, Willow, and Annabeth were dead. They were equally bloody, and they were limp and lifeless.

Luke was bent in an awkward position, with blood splattered on his chest. His pants were cut up and his arms were twisted up around his neck.

I choked back some food that I didn't think was there.

Annabeth had a gash on her stomach and there was lots of crusty blood on her body. It smelled horribly and I gagged.

Thalia had a knife in her heart, Nico had an arrow in his head, Willow had rope around her neck, and I had disgust and shock written on my face.

And Bianca...Bianca-

I dropped on my knees. Her silky hair was matted and splattered with blood. Her skinny frame was cut up, and there was a sword in her stomach.

Tears filled my eyes.

"Perseus Jackson," a creaky voice, and I stared at the hag that had just appeared.

I would've killed her immediately, but her appearance made me gag in disgust.

She had a hump on her back and she was bent over. Her hair was sparse, a lock of stringy gray on her bald head. She had a single tooth that was old and yellow, and her eyes were mismatched.

"E-eugh!" I exclaimed. "Who are you?!"

"Achlys," the hag cackled. "Personification of misery, pain, and sadness!"

"I need your blessing?" I cried incredulously.

Achyls coughed up a bog of muscus and I winced in disgust.

"My blessing, yes," Achyls smirked, "and yet you can only sacrifice this and barely handle it? Hero, you need more to lose if you want my blessing."

I remembered Gaea's words.

"Bring it," I said tauntingly, and Achyls growled.

"I'll bring all I got," Achyls snarled, and I burst out laughing. I never expected so much sass from a hag!

"Why did you kill my friends?" I asked, rage seeping into me, "Why'd you kill all of them?! Especially BIANCA!?"

"Still loyal to your traitor huh?" she asked as saliva began dribbling down the floor.

I looked away, disgusted.

"She wasn't in her right mind," I explained.

"You can't keep on giving a reason to spare the girl," she hissed, "Your loyalty will kill you one day. Only you can prevent it. Kill the girl the first chance you get and you can receive my blessing. You can't hesistate."

I stared at her.

"No!" I declared, "I can't do that! I-I love her! I don't want to kill her! I'd rather die or suffer for eternity than kill her!"

"Then that is what shall happen you!" she growled.

Immediately I doubled over in pain. I felt that my whole body was burning up. I smelled and tasted the rotting stench of my cooking flesh and entrails. I fell to my knees as I felt my eye sockets melting.

"S-stop," I weakly said, but I was powerless. I also heard a hissing sound.

"This is what will happen if your loyalty controls you!" she yelled, "You shall suffer like this if you don't kill her! Kill her now! Kill her or else it's going to be the end of you! Listen to me! Listen to me!"

The pain increased with each word she spoke. The curse wasn't protecting me. I felt...vulnerable. The light got brighter and brighter as the hissing sound got louder and louder.

"Percy?!" a woried feminine voice asked.

"Percy!" another firm voice yelled.

I bolted up, my hands around my throat as I saw the worried faces of Thalia, Willow, Luke, and Bob peering down at me.

It was a dream. A dream.

"W-what?" I choked, confused.

"You're not dead! What the fuck happened?! Why were you choking yourself?! Answer me! What the fuck happened?!" Thalia exclaimed, holding me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Thalia, let me explain later. Let me just...just get used to this reality." I said weakly.

Willow helped me sit up, and Luke handed me a glass of nectar. I remembered Annabeth and I smiled.

I drank it down, and at 3/4 of it. It tasted like mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies. It tasted as good as ever.

"What happened?" I muttered. "A-after I-"

Pain coursed throughout my body as I trembled.

"Thank goodness," Willow said, giving me a one-second hug.

"Yes," Bob answered, "We all were worried sick. You seemed to be in pain. Deep pain."

"They got away," Luke informed. "They escaped."

"Annabeth too?" I coughed.

"Unfortunately," Luke said, sounding disappointed.

"What are they d-doing now?" I spat. Bob got a drachma and opened an IM. I was in the throneroom of the gods.

Bianca, Annabeth, and Nico were being awarded. I bit my lip angrily.

I saw Bianca being rewarded as the lieutenant for Artemis. I hissed angrily. One by one, Annabeth and Nico were being called up.

"Curse the gods," Bob scowled. "Those imbeciles barely did anything!"

After "rewarding" the demigods, Annabeth spoke up about me. About how I was innocent. Immediately, pride began swelling in me. Then, I immediately dropped all the emotions. She had still betrayed me. Great. Just what I needed. A love triangle. Deep down, I knew I could never love Annabeth...or could I? Immediately, my head began hurting again as I squirmed in my seats and took deep breaths.

Then, the gods began to party. Party. Our eyes widened as we saw the gods shrinking and beginning to dance.

Aphrodite, dressed in a skimpy party dress, waved her hand and dressed Nico, Annabeth, and Bianca up.

My eyes widened as I saw Bianca in a red party dress.

Apollo, dressed in a tight white shirt and black pants, sauntered up to Bianca.

He said something to her, probably flirting.

Bianca, embarassed, burned red. She clenched her fists and told him off. I looked at Apollo with pure hatred as I saw the smirk of Thalia.

"Somebody jealous?" Thalia asked.

"I swear to the titans," I hissed, but I was cut off by everyone else.

"SHHHHHH!" they chorused.

Gagging, I swiped the IM.

"I can't believe they're partying," Willow said in disgust.

"They rescued Artemis," I replied, "What are they supposed to do? Grief and mourn?

Bob nodded.

"Anyways, I have news," Luke said loudly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"We found a new place to attack camp at," he said excitedly, "There's a direct chain to Camp Half-Blood, and we can attack them there. It's called the Labyrinth."

"You mean, the labyrinth? The one contructed by Dedalus and that held the minotaur?!" Thalia said.

"Yup. But we have an advantage," Luke grinned.

"What?" Bob asked.

"War counsel at 4:00," Luke said secretively. "Meet you guys there."

Luke sent me a look and patted my back. I grinned, and watched him leave. I looked at the clock. 3:30 p.m. Great, I was knocked out for over 8 hours. I left the bed, wobbled, then fell on the floor. Groaning, I got into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?" Thalia asked, walking towards me.

"No," I hissed, the pain returning. I clutched my head as the world spun round and round. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the infirmary bed...again with the worried faces of Bob, Luke, Willow, and Thalia.

"Jeeze Percy, you gotta stop doing that!" Luke exclaimed.

"Random intervals of pain," I replied woozily, "Throw me into the water please. I think that will help."

Luke carried me to the pool. I smelled the chlorine seconds before we got there. Luke threw me into the pool as I was greeted by water. Immediately, relief flooded into me and I could only sigh as pleasure began flooding into me. As my head rested on the bottom, I wanted to lie in that sleeping position for a long time. Relaxed, I fell asleep on the bottom of the pool.

My eyes immediately bolted open as again, I was lying on the infirmary bed.

"What?!" I angrily asked, the pain all gone.

I was met with a slap from Thalia as she winced and shook her hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Don't scare us like that!" Willow yelled as I saw faint traces of water dribbling under her chin. Was she crying?!

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, "I just fell asleep. It was pretty peaceful down there."

"We had to postpone the meeting because of you," Luke replied, dead serious, though I could see the twinkle in his eyes.

I groaned as I buried my face in the soft pillow.

"This place feels so comfortable," I moaned, "I wanna sleep."

"You have to get up," Thalia commanded.

"Let him have his sleep," Bob replied, "A human needs sleep as it is their fuel for a good day."

"Whatever," Thalia rolled her eyes, "I don't need knowledge. I'm out."

She walked out of the room, followed by everyone else as I crashed. Thankfully, I had no dreams when I was taking a nap. I must've slept for an hour or two before I got up. I got up groggily, as I'm sure everyone does when they wake up and poured water on my face to wake me up for the day. I looked at the clock. 8:00 p.m. Or the night.

I saw a table next to my bed and there was a note.

Percy,

We left you some dinner. Enjoy your dinner and take your time. Once your done, come to the meeting counsel to discuss about our next plan. Don't eat too fast though! You'll get indigestion! Well, that's what Bob said and I guess I trust him, him being a son of Athena and all. Anyways, gotta go!"

Luke

I sighed as I crumpled the piece of paper. I threw it at a wastebasket 5 feet away. Swish. I got up and began beating my chest shouting, "Who's the man? I'm the man!"

I calmed down and enjoyed hamburgers, fries, and sodas. I swear, this never gets old! I'll bet you mortals don't get this kind of dinner everyday. I pity you. After I finished eating, I went up to the meeting room and found everyone sitting down.

"Hello," I greeted as they nodded back.

"Sit Percy!" Luke gestured to a chair, "Now let's continue shall we?"

Luke got a ruler and pointed to an overhead projector. It was a powerpoint labelled The Labyrinth.

"So, this is the labyrinth," Luke explained as he flipped to the next slide, "A creation created by Daedalus which was used to trap the minotaur. Minos, the king of Crete demanded Athenian girls and boys to be sacrificed to the bulls. Unfortunately, all of them died, until Theseus came along. Theseus went in and killed the minotaur, effectively shutting down Minos' form of brutal murder. His father unfortunately died, but that's not an important matter and I'm sure you all know what happened to him. Anyways, this labyrinth is still alive and is growing bigger and bigger. The labyrinth entrance is near this sign."

He flipped the slide as I saw a weird mark on a wall.

"This is the Mark of Daedalus," Luke said, "Only a half blood can access this. If it was a mortal...good luck! They would never succeed. The labyrinth is basically a pathway to different places and I think there is one path that leads into the heart of the camp. We can launch a full attack there and wipe out the source of the gods...entertainment. And, Kronos will rise really really soon as his followers are growing. Kronos might be able to wake this month and when he does, Percy here will be hosting him."

Everyone looked at me with sympathy.

"The labyrinth is full of dangers," Luke continued, "Many people have gone insane and killed themselves. Even we could easily die in the labyrinth."

Well, that was a reasurring thought.

"Have you found the entrance yet Luke?" Thalia asked as Luke shook his head.

"Not yet, but I'm willing to bet there is an entrance near Los Angeles," Luke told us, "Kronos will talk to you today Percy about hosting and if you get a chance, ask him about the labyrinth. We'll need it. On this note, let us end this meeting. We will talk tomorrow."

We all got up and exited the meeting room. I went to my room and dressed up for night. I was deathly tired even though I fainted and took a nap.

I noticed this huge bookcase right next to me. I never remembered having a book shelf. I saw a note.

Percy,

Books=Knowledge

Even a dumbass like you could've figured that out. Just kidding. Haha.

Bob

I growled internally and then thought of dyslexia and how I couldn't read. At that time, I saw a P.S on the bottom of the note.

They are translated to Greek so you can read fluently. I always have a plan.

I decided to try out a book, even if I hate reading. These books reminded me of Annabeth. I sighed and picked out a random book. Maximum Ride. What the heck is Maximum Ride? Is that a name? If that is, it's a really weird name. I sighed and began reading, finally finding peace alone. I hadn't had this kind of peace in a while. I sighed at that thought and began peacefully reading.

No cliffhangers, unfortunately.