Author's Note: Hey, people! Thank you so much for your patience. School is keeping me from writing. And I have so many things that I want to write. So…yeah.

There's something I want to address. I saw lots of you like to try and guess what I'm thinking for this story, huh? Well, guess what? No one hit the nail on the head just yet. And no, I'm not saying who was close, or who was completely off. Really, all of you guys are off. So if you don't mind…stop guessing. Please. Thank you.

This chapter…hmm. I don't know. I beta-ed it as best as I could, but my betas are currently unavailable. School has them, too, unfortunately.

Anyway…cool. So. I'm not Rick Riordan. I haven't mastered the art of cliffhanging just yet.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11: We Meet an Old Enemy

Chiron frowned at Jessica and me, looking back and forth between us. He frowned, like he was trying to figure out my thoughts through my expression.

Finally I sighed. "Fine," I told Jessica, even though I was apprehensive about it.

Thalia smiled at me. "You know I'm coming with you, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Most powerful half-bloods? That's got to be Nico and me, too." Nico smirked and nodded.

Grover patted me on the shoulder. "I'm coming, too."

I couldn't help but smile. Grover came with me on my first quest. He's been my best friend since Yancy Academy. It only seemed right that he came along. "Good," I said. "So that's five."

Chiron still looked very concerned. "This will be a dangerous quest," he warned us. "The children of each of the Big Three will attract a lot of unwanted attention, from monsters as well as gods. And as awful as it sounds, it seems that the prophecy predicts at least two deaths on this quest."

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Annabeth turn to look at me. I couldn't look back at her, or else I might've had a panic attack. Annabeth can't die, I thought. She can't. She won't. I won't let that happen. But the more I tried to tell myself that, the more I saw that silver shroud with her initials on it.

Annabeth said, "It might not mean that both people die, Chiron. Maybe it means that he or she might die in the company of a friend." I felt her arm wrap around my shoulder. When I looked up, she gave me a reassuring smile. I tried to return it, but even I knew mine wasn't very convincing.

"How about that line, 'accompanied by five, betrayed by one'?" Nico asked. "Does that mean, one within the five, or one outside of the five?"

I shuddered to think that any one of these five would betray me. I was getting a little frustrated. "Well, instead of interpreting all of the depressing lines," I cut in, "why don't we focus something else, like, 'the land of midnight sun.' Where's that?"

Jessica raised an eyebrow at me. Annabeth did, too. That's when I knew I had asked another stupid question. Seriously, maybe I should start writing them down or something. Annabeth said, "The land of midnight sun? That would be Alaska."

Great. Alaska. Why couldn't there ever be a quest that went to, like, I don't know…Boston or something? Why did it always have to take us to the other side of the country? Or in this case, to the other side of the country, and through another country? Would I even make it all the way to Alaska in my condition? I shook that thought out of my head. I couldn't afford to think like that. There was too much at stake.

"What happens if…I don't make it to Alaska?" I asked anyway. "I mean, other than the obvious 'I'll die,' answer."

Chiron looked at Annabeth. Both of their expressions were so pained. Finally, after about ten full seconds of silence, Annabeth said, "They'll take over."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth took a deep breath. "From the looks of things, and from what you've said from your dream…it sounds like this family's going to freeze everything. Send the world into another Ice Age. And the only thing stopping them is you."

So there was even more at stake than I thought. If I didn't stop this…I would doom the entire planet. Excellent.

All of us just sat in silence for a few minutes, letting all of this sink in. I was starting to feel dizzy again, just when Chiron dismissed us. "You all leave at dawn tomorrow morning," he told us. "The sooner the better. Try to get a good night's rest."

When Jessica and I got back to our cabin, she immediately went off on me. "I told you to tell Chiron sooner!" she nearly yelled. "But no, you had to wait for it to get this bad. You do realize that you could die, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Gee, Jessica," I said sarcastically, "I didn't think about that." In spite of myself, I fell into another terrible coughing fit. In fact, this on was so bad, I ended up doubling over, trying to keep myself from vomiting.

Jessica rushed over to me. "Percy!" The irritation had disappeared from her tone and worry had quickly replaced it. "Can you talk?"

I took a very deep, shaky breath. There were dark spots dancing in front of my eyes. My ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, and I was sure my chest was caving in. Don't black out, Percy. Don't black out. I had to sit on my bed and bury my face in my hands to keep the room from spinning any faster.

Jessica murmured, "This isn't good, Percy. Maybe we should go tonight. The sooner the better, right?"

I shook my head, clearing my throat. "No," I said, my voice cracking. "Chiron's right; we need sleep. I can testify to that."

My little sister looked at me with an expression halfway between pity and panic. But she eventually nodded. "Alright," she said. "Good night."

"'Night," I whispered.

As I lay in my bunk that night, all I could see in my dreams was Annabeth's bloody figure wrapped in a silver shroud. I couldn't stop shivering all night.

I stood next to the van, shivering violently. Snow flurries stung my face. It was winter in June. Whoever was doing this was obviously super powerful; this was the power of an immortal. It had to have been that goddess of snow, Khione. She was doing this. But why? Gods do crazy things all the time…and usually it means they've got a bone to pick with someone.

Breathing in the cold air hurt my throat, and I began to cough. Argus looked at me, concern apparent in his one hundred eyes. I smiled briefly to let him know I was okay. He didn't look very convinced.

Jessica shifted her bracelet around her wrist. Thalia, Nico, and Grover walked down the hill together. Nico smiled at my half-sister, who smiled back. I stood there shivering and trying not to feel awkward.

Annabeth was the last to arrive. She was scowling in her gray North Face jacket, hands jammed into her pockets. She studied my face, and her expression turned to concern. Caressing my cheek, she murmured, "Percy, you look awful."

I sighed. "I know," I admitted. "I feel worse than I look, trust me."

A cold wind picked up, tossing our hair. Thalia tucked her hands under her arms to keep from shivering. I went into another painful fit of coughing, covering my mouth with my elbow. After I was able to breathe again, I looked up and noticed everyone giving me nervous looks. Thalia frowned. "You going to be okay?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I have to be, don't I?" With that, I got into the van with my friends, off to start another quest.

After we were dropped off at the bus terminal, we wondered what our next step would be. Annabeth, Grover, and I were a little reluctant to take a bus, after meeting the Furies on our very first quest together.

"What about going to Grand Central Station?" Thalia suggested.

That didn't sound like a bad idea to me, but Annabeth shook her head. "The tracks are frozen," she said.

"How is that possible?" I asked. "Trains are running all the time. The electricity would heat the ice and melt it."

"Check this out," Jessica said, pointing to a newspaper stand. My dyslexia prevented me from reading it properly, but I made out words eventually. The title read: FREAK WEATHER CAUSES DEADLY TRAIN WRECK. Grover read the article to us. Apparently, according to the mortal investigators, on the night of June eleventh, temperatures had mysteriously dropped below freezing. Sleet had fallen and frozen onto the train tracks. The Amtrak had slid and fallen its tracks, killing all but three passengers, who were in critical condition.

"Why would someone do something so awful?" Jessica muttered.

Thalia shrugged, readjusting her backpack on her shoulders. "Welcome to the world of the gods, Jessica," she replied. "Someone's upset, so they're taking out on the mortals." She shook her head in disgust.

Annabeth looked at me. "It has to be Khione and those girls," she said.

I nodded. She was definitely right. I could feel it. As a matter of fact, I was starting to get even colder. My fingertips were turning purple, so I clenched my fists and stuffed them in my pockets. "Well, then," I said, "we might as well try a bus. At least as far as New Jersey."

The roads were treacherous. Our bus driver refused to go faster than thirty-five, it was so icy. I watched the snow-covered trees roll by. I wondered what the mortals thought about this freak snowstorm. This was something way too big for the Mist to cover up. And snow in June could not be going well with the mortals.

My thoughts wandered until I suddenly felt a cold throb in my chest. Have you ever played in the snow without gloves, or run your hand under ice-cold water for a long time? Remember that throbbing pain, that feeling like your blood was freezing in your veins. Now imagine that pain not in your hands, but in your heart.

I gasped, momentarily seeing dark spots dance across my vision.

Annabeth looked at me, her eyes scared. "Percy? What is it?"

For a few seconds, I couldn't answer. Breathing was impossible without a stab of pain, but finally I was able to pull myself together.

"It's hurting, isn't it?" Annabeth murmured.

"I'm fine," I insisted.

"You are not fine, Percy," she said, glaring at me. "You're sick. And—"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by my half-sister doing something completely unexpected. She stood up and pulled the cable over her head.

The bus driver stopped and looked into the rearview mirror. "Someone need to get off?" he asked.

Jessica picked up her backpack and motioned for the rest of us to get up. "We do," she told the driver. Turning to the rest of us, she said, "Come on. We're leaving now."

Nico frowned. "Why?" he asked.

Jessica didn't answer. She just hurriedly left the bus, not even waiting to check if we were following or not.

Annabeth frowned and looked at me, her expression asking, What's with her? I shrugged, but I took her hand, and we followed Jessica outside. Grover, Thalia, and Nico did the same. What choice did we have? We couldn't just let her wander off by herself.

We were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and woods on one side, and a long road stretching for miles on the other.

"Why'd we get off?" I demanded.

Jessica said, "I thought I saw something." Her voice sounded nervous.

"What did you see?" I asked.

"Just…it might have been nothing…I just felt like we needed to get off." She glanced down the road where the bus had driven off.

A sharp wind blew, stinging my face. I exhaled slowly, and my breath fogged up. I tucked my hands under my arms to keep them warm; I could feel my fingers turning blue. I started coughing again, but quickly smothered it when I saw the worry on my friends' faces. "Well," I decided, "we can't just stand around in the cold like this. Let's find a place to warm up."

It turned out that we were near a small New Jersey town that was only a few miles away. Off of the exit, we found a gas station and a CVS. It was dusk, but all of the lights were off. I found that strange, and over the years, I'd learned to trust my gut instinct. But at the moment, I was more concerned about the lack of oxygen to my lungs due to the ice coating my windpipe.

Jessica studied me with concern. "You look ready to pass out," she said.

I felt ready to pass out, but I was managing to stay on my feet. "I'll be fine," I told her.

"Maybe we could get you some medicine or something?" she offered.

Nico frowned. "Would mortal medicine even work in a case like this?" he asked. I was thinking the same thing.

Annabeth shrugged. "It could only help," she said. "Might as well try."

"Come on, then." Jessica pulled me toward the CVS. "Be right back," she called over her shoulder."

I didn't think the door would be unlocked, but it was. As soon as we set foot inside the pharmacy, a light turned on near the cashier table. I kept a hand in my pocket in case I need Riptide. Jessica seemed a little more comfortable…or naïve.

A woman emerged from behind the counter. She wore the white coat of a pharmacist, but a headscarf and sunglasses. I tensed. Why would a pharmacist wear sunglasses indoors? At night? It didn't make sense to me, so I was wary. But my head felt clouded again. I tried to keep my vision straight…but right then, everything was curving, for some reason.

"Hello, children!" she called. Her voice sounded familiar…where had I heard it? "What can I help you with?"

Jessica pulled my over to her. "Um, hi," she started. "We were wondering if you had any medicine. My brother's pretty sick here."

The woman looked me over critically. "Yes," she murmured. "Yes, he doesn't look well at all, poor thing." She took my face in her hands and tilted my chin up. My skin tingled. Why was I super uncomfortable having this woman touching me? But I couldn't think on it too much, because I felt like my hearing was going again. Now I could here this weird hiss, almost like someone shushing harshly. The woman said, "Yes, I can see it in his eyes. Very dazed, like he has a fever."

I took a step away from her.

"So…" Jessica said, "can you fix him up with some medicine?"

The woman was looking back and forth between us. "Did you say you were brother and sister?" she asked.

We glanced at each other, and nodded carefully.

She smiled. "You two have the same beautiful eyes," she told us.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Uh, thanks? Now, the medicine?"

The pharmacist nodded. "Of course," she said. "But first, I must check his vision, to make sure this isn't something too serious."

Whoops, too late for that, I thought to myself. But when she came around the desk to look at me, I felt like the strange noise in my ears increased. I pressed a hand to my ear, just to determine whether the noise was real or part of the delirium I seemed to be currently suffering from.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked me. "Does your ear hurt?"

I put my hand down and shook my head.

"That's good." She came closer to me. "Your eyes…" she murmured. "I once knew a young man with eyes just like yours."

"Really?" Jessica piped up.

The woman nodded. "Yes. He was sweet, but his friends were not very nice at all. They hurt me, and convinced him to hurt me, too."

Jessica frowned. "That's terrible," she said.

The woman sighed. "Yes, it was. They stole from me afterward, to add insult to injury. I was devastated, of course. I never thought I'd see eyes like those again." She looked at me more closely, her hands on her sunglasses, as if she were about to lower them to get a better look. That noise was even louder now…almost like…

Wait. Hissing? Headscarf? Sunglasses? In New Jersey? And a kid with eyes just like mine? How familiar did that story sound? On an impulse I pulled Jessica's arm. "We should get out of here," I told her.

"Why?" she asked. "We need to get you medicine."

"We can get it somewhere else," I told her. "Now let's go!" Without waiting for her response I dragged to her to the exit. I pushed the door open, but it immediately slammed shut.

"Where are you going in such a terrible condition?" the pharmacist sneered behind us. "I can't let a sick child walk out into the cold like that."

The hissing was definitely louder now. Why did I have to be right this one time? I'm almost never right. But I had a hunch that all of the monsters I'd killed would want revenge sooner or later. I had been hoping she'd stay dead a few more years, or decades, or centuries. But of course not. Just my luck.

I whispered into Jessica's ear, "Whatever you do, do not look at her."

Her eyes widened with panic. She was still staring outside the door, like she longed to run outside and away from there. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" she whimpered.

I looked at where she was staring, but I couldn't see outside. It was dark now, and all I could see were our own reflections, as well as the monster in the background. Then I realized that that was exactly what she meant. "Are you seeing Medusa?" I asked quietly.

She nodded once.

"Then yes."

No more words, just more staring into the window.

I heard, "Come, Percy. You're not well. Let me care for you."

"Care for me how?" I answered.

"You're in pain," she murmured. "I can take it away—just like that." She snapped her fingers on the last word.

Medusa's voice was soothing, but I knew it only took a glance to for her to turn me to stone. I noticed Jessica tugging on her bracelet, like she was about to turn it into a bow and arrow. We glanced at each other, and there seemed to be some kind of understanding between us. But this was going to have to be perfectly timed, with a little bit of luck…or possibly all the luck in the world. We really would only have one shot at this. Literally. Otherwise…well, I decided not to think about that.

I could feel my legs starting to tremble. I felt really weak. My chest hurt, and my head felt like it was floating. It was pure adrenaline keeping me upright. Jessica seemed to notice how bad I looked, and she squeezed my hand reassuringly. We both looked at the monster's reflection in the glass door.

Medusa was walking slowly toward us, her arms outstretched invitingly. When she was close enough, Jessica mouthed, One, two…now! I closed my eyes and ducked. In the same second, I heard an arrow whiz over my head, and then came the sickening sound of the arrow hitting its target, and the monster disintegrating into dust. When the crumbling stopped, I opened my eyes slowly. Jessica looked pretty pale, and she was still holding the bow up as if she had an invisible arrow ready. Eventually she put her arm down and looked at me. "Wow," she muttered. "A monster on the first day."

I scoffed, getting to my feet. "Better get used to it," I told her. "We're Big Three kids. Monsters love to chase us all over the place." The dizziness was starting to return, and I felt like I was going to collapse. "Let's just find the others, okay?"

We found them exactly where we'd left them by the edge of the forest. When we told them about Medusa, Annabeth and Grover went pale. "She mentioned us?" Grover whimpered.

I nodded, the motion making me dizzier.

"Killed a monster on the first day, huh?" Thalia mused, smiling at Jessica. "Impressive, new girl."

I noticed Jessica had moved a little closer to Nico, who smiled at her.

I shivered as the harsh wind blew straight through my three layers of clothing. My throat felt like it was closing up, and the trees spun. White spots danced in front of my vision, and I grabbed Annabeth's arm to keep myself from face-planting into the snow.

"Percy?" Annabeth grasped my shoulders, studying face with concern.

I blinked, trying to clear up my eyesight, without success. "I'm fine," I lied. "I just…need to…sit down…" The world's spinning really fast, I thought to myself, dazed.

"Let's make camp and rest," Annabeth suggested to Thalia.

"Gotcha," Thalia replied. She dug through the pockets of her silver parka and brought out a small silver rectangle about the size as a pack of gum. I frowned. Nico asked, "What are you going to do with that?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Just watch, death boy." She threw the silver rectangle onto the ground. At first I thought I was going delirious as we watched as it expanded into a full-sized tent. "There we go," Thalia said.

She led us inside, and I remembered that the Hunters' tents were magic, seeming like normal camping tents on the outside, but like a cozy cabin on the inside. Jessica gasped. "It's bigger on the inside," she muttered.

"I know, right?" Thalia laughed.

A campfire was already burning in the middle of the floor. We all sat around it, trying to warm up. I sat as close to the fire as I could without burning myself, but I still couldn't help shivering violently. Then I realized that I wouldn't get warmer, because I was freezing from the inside, rather than the outside. I sighed in frustration.

I felt a blanket drape itself around my shoulders, and I looked up to see Annabeth take her place next to me, wrapping her arms around mine. I kissed her cheek to show her my thanks. This might sound cheesy, but I swear I felt a little warmer right then.

Jessica smirked. "Aww, regardez le mignon couple," she giggled. "You guys are adorable."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make fun of us just because you're jealous, little sister," I teased.

"Jealous?" Jessica laughed. "You're funny."

Nico coughed. "Guys, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we be focusing on what we do from here? Where we go? How we get there?"

Annabeth sighed. "We go to Alaska, obviously. As to how we get there…still working on it."

"Maybe we could find another bus?" Thalia proposed.

Grover scoffed. "If you haven't noticed, buses don't really work for us, Thalia."

"I'm just brainstorming!"

I found myself leaning on Annabeth's shoulder, trying to stop shivering. My hands felt stiff with cold. My chest stung, and I dissolved into more horrible coughing. When I could finally breathe again, I rested my head on her shoulder again, my chest throbbing like a hammer hitting my heart.

"Percy, you need to rest," Annabeth murmured.

That sounded like such a good idea that I didn't argue at all. I repositioned myself so I was using her lap as a pillow. "You don't mind this, do you?" I murmured sleepily, closing my eyes. I tried to be nonchalant about it, but I could totally feel myself blushing and my heart racing just a little more.

Annabeth laughed. "Be my guest, Seaweed Brain," she said. I could imagine an eye roll.

It didn't take too long for me to fall asleep and launch myself into another nightmare.

So just a little bit of what I want to do this month:

1. Read The Mark of Athena (YESSS! FINALLY!)

2. Rant about The Mark of Athena

3. Write my mom a birthday fanfic, and some other Sally stuff, 'cuz Sally's awesome and so is my mom :3

4. Get better at playing music

Just for the record, I'm going to completely avoid until I read MoA, because I know there are going to be 10 million fanfics called [insert Heroes of Olympus Book 4 title here]. So understandably, no fanfiction until I'm done with MoA.

Oh, and my weekend was so awesome and sad. I saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Logan, Emma, and Ezra deserve Oscars. I've never cried in a movie theatre before. And Doctor Who…well…for those of you who don't know him…he puts Riordan to shame in the art of trolling. *sigh*

Speaking of Doctor Who, anyone catch the reference? *wink*

Cool, leave a review telling me what you think!

Thanks so much! I love you all!

~Mandi2341