Author's Note: Yay, so finally we have a real update of this story! I know it's been...forever. And seriously, I apologize a million times for the wait. But I tried to make this chapter nice and awesome for you guys, and my good ol' awesome friend JP Lacey has beta-ed for me. She's the absolute best, you guys. I love you, JP!

So ta-da! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Nope, I'm not Riordan. Oops.

Chapter 14: I Sign My Life Away

I was immediately on guard. My hand went to my pocket and I brought out Riptide. Nico's fingers closed around the hilt of his sword. Jessica shifted her bracelet around her wrist. Grover brought out his pipes.

The British lady shook her head at us. "Tsk, tsk, children," she muttered. "Weapons in the hands of young kids like yourselves. Very naughty."

"What do you want?" Jessica growled. It threw me off-guard to hear her voice sound so...menacing. She definitely wasn't the same happy-go-lucky girl I met the first night of camp. This quest was changing her. And a part of me felt a little guilty for it.

Grover's eyes widened. "Mormo," he muttered. "I...I didn't think she was real."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Everything we didn't think was real turned out to be, I thought to myself. "What's Mormo?" I asked him.

"She's this goddess that supposedly bites you if you're 'naughty,'" Grover answered with air-quotes. "It's just supposed to be a story that ancient Greek mothers used to scare their children into behaving. Kind of like you mortals, and that story about how Santa Claus will bring you coal if you misbehave."

The lady gave my sister a cruel smile, revealing sharp fangs. "You, of all people, should fear us most, little Jessica." She cackled evilly. "You've done some very bad things, haven't you, my dear?"

Jessica responded by aiming an arrow at her head. "I haven't done anything," she answered firmly.

"Being a traitor?" she purred. "Lying to your brother?" She walked closer to my sister. "That girl, Annabeth? Her blood is on your hands, and you know it."

I'd had my fingers curled around the hilt of my sword, but Mormo's words made my skin feel icy, and it had nothing to do with the curse. Jessica was the traitor? When had she lied to me? About what? As I glance at my half-sister, I wondered if she'd lied to me about having nothing to do with Annabeth's...I couldn't even bring myself to think the word death.

Jessica's face paled, and her arrow dipped toward the ground. Nico ran to her side and protectively held his sword in front of her. "They're lying," he told her. "You're not a traitor, right?"

But she was looking right at me. A tear rolled down her cheek. "I...I didn't do anything to betray you," she called to me.

I wanted to nod and say yeah, that I believed her. But...now, I couldn't even be sure anymore. It had been suspicious when I'd seen her in the forest after Annabeth had been attacked. I wanted to believe her, but Mormo had placed this doubt in my mind - small, but significant enough to make me lower my sword arm just an inch.

The goddess at me with satisfaction. She must have seen the conflict on my face. "Isn't it horrible when you can't trust your own family?" she asked, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "But Percy, you're not off the hook, either." She wagged a finger at me, the way teachers did whenever I did something I wasn't supposed to have done. "Stealing cars, lying to adults, all of the years of lying and stealing you've done on other quests…"

She shook her head like she was disappointed in my behavior.

Without warning, she multiplied, until dozens of her encircled the four of us. One of them flew at me. I slashed with Riptide, but the next thing I knew, my right shoulder was stinging. I clapped my hand over the wound, and my fingers came away sticky and red. I frowned. There shouldn't have even been a wound. The curse of Achilles was failing me.

There was a sickening thud as an arrow hit its target, and Jessica appeared in my line of vision, another arrow nocked and ready to fire. Her face looked so sullen, it was hard to tell she was the girl I'd met a week or two ago.

Mormo growled at my sister and bared her teeth.

Jessica returned their sneer. "Leave him alone," she commanded. "I have lots more."

"Threats!" one of the clones hissed. "You spoiled little brat!" She lunged at Jessica and managed to tackle her. She landed hard with a yelp. Nico slashed off the Mormo's head, and it disintegrated into monster dust.

"You're a horrible sister!" Mormo screamed. One of her copies looked at me. "Ask her what she knows about this quest," she hissed. "Ask her about the trap to which she leads you!" Her dark eyes had an excited fire in them, like she couldn't wait to hear all of the juicy secrets Jessica had to tell me. Or maybe she just couldn't wait to see my reaction to them.

I was so sick of the conflicted feelings inside me that in one swift motion with my sword, I shut her up.

Jessica's wild scream made me jump a good thirty feet. She let loose with about five arrows before the remaining Mormo clones managed to bite her arm, right above the elbow. She yelled in pain as the sleeve of her blue jacket turned dark red.

Grover raised his pan pipes to his lips when a familiarly deep voice cut clearly through the cold air: "Excuse me."

I turned around, the scent of the ocean filling my nostrils. A tall man was walking toward us with a hand in his pocket. As he came closer, I made out his dark hair, deep green eyes, and Hawaiian T-shirt and khaki shorts, despite the freezing weather.

Grover straightened. "Lord Poseidon."

Nico bowed respectfully.

Jessica's expression slowly morphed from pained to disbelieving.

"Thank you, Mormo," the god addressed the monster. "You do a wonderful job, really, but I'd like to take over. I think I reserve the right to disciplining my own child."

Jessica's face went red. "What...discipline? Your right to -"

I managed to close the distance between us and cover her mouth before she ruined the one chance she was getting. After five years of getting to know Poseidon (which, granted, isn't a lot of time to know your parent), I've learned to look for hints. "Hi, Dad," I greeted.

Just in case I'd forgotten about my little illness, it reminded me with an excruciating throb in my chest. I resisted the urge to cry out, but Jessica noticed my obvious wince. Her green eyes flashed with concern. I gasped in pain, and my throat felt raw, like I'd swallowed steel wool.

Poseidon put a hand on Jessica's shoulder. "I'll only borrow her a minute," he promised, turning to his daughter. "Shall we?"

Without giving her a chance to answer, my father steered Jessica to the edge of the platform.

Mormo sneered, reverting back to one single form. "You got lucky, children," she growled. "And don't forget, Percy," she added turning to me. "You can't trust everyone. Not even your family."

After half an hour, neither my sister not my father had returned. Grover, Nico and I sat in the snow waiting for them. Stabs of pain shot through my chest every other heartbeat, though I tried my best to ignore it. I wasn't so sure that I'd be able to fight another monster without passing out. But the pain was in the back of my mind. I had way more to think about at the moment.

Jessica, a traitor? Lying to me? Annabeth's blood on her hands? How could all of that be possible? Mormo had to be lying. She wanted me off-guard so she could have a better chance at attacking me, or something. I wanted to think that everyone who'd come on this quest had done so to protect me, but the prophecy had said that someone would betray me. And as much as I hated to admit it, prophecies never lie.

"Why don't you just talk to her when she gets back?" Grover asked, as if reading my thoughts. He was probably reading my emotions, the way satyrs can. "Jessica, I mean," he continued. "Maybe she'll tell you the truth."

I sighed, wincing with another throb of pain. "Yeah," I muttered. "Maybe." I don't like maybes.

Nico glanced over at me with a worried expression. "They were lying," he reassured me.

I didn't answer.

After a few more minutes of silence, I began to worry, thinking maybe one of us should go and check on her...but the last time that happened, well...I tried not to think about. Grover piped up again. "So, what do you think your dad wanted with Jessica?" he asked.

I shrugged, just as mystified as my sister had been when Poseidon had shown up. "I have no idea."

"Well, why don't we ask her?" Nico got to his feet and brushed the snow off of his dark jeans before pointing to the end of the platform where Jessica was walking to meet us. Her jaw was set firmly, and her irises were ringed with red, like she'd been crying.

"Jessica, what happened?" I asked, standing up as well. A wave of vertigo hit me, but I managed not to topple over. "What did Dad want?"

The question seemed to startle her. "Uh…" she started, "um...he just, you know. Told me to, ah, be careful." The last word sounded like a question.

I frowned. "Poseidon, god of the sea, came here just to tell you to be careful?" I repeated skeptically.

Jessica flinched. "Basically," she muttered quietly. "You know, to like, watch my back and to, um, take care of...of you." She bit her lip nervously. Her voice was starting to shake.

I narrowed my eyes. "Take care of me," I repeated.

Jessica nodded. After taking a deep breath, she turned to the others. "Well, let's going," she said, in a forceful cheerful subject-changing voice. "This curse isn't going to wait for us."

Vancouver was a nice place and all, and maybe it would've been fun to tour if we hadn't had a fast-approaching deadline staring us in the face, but the four of had to get moving before anyone checked for passports and found out we didn't have any. Getting arrested – and worse, deported - wouldn't have been completely ideal at this point.

Jessica fell into step with me. "Can I ask you something personal?"

I gave her a wary glance. "Depends," I admitted.

"It's about Annabeth. Well...mostly," she added.

It felt like a nail was being hammered through my heart, but when I recovered, I managed, "What about her?" It came out harsher than I'd intended, and Jessica winced.

"It's about...about the curse of Achilles," she continued. "And what it has to do with Annabeth."

I tried to swallow down the tightness in my throat. "How do you even know the two are related?" I mutter, as casually as I can manage.

I apparently I hadn't hidden the panic on my face very well, because Jessica took one look at my expression and held my gaze. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Poseidon told me to take care of you. I can't do that if you don't tell me the truth. I want to be able to protect you, Percy. If you'll let me."

I want to be able to, I thought. I should be able to. If my own father trusted her with my life, then I shouldn't have much trouble doing the same, right? Then again, he wasn't putting his own life in this girl's hands. He was betting mine.

"Percy, come on," she pleaded. "Mormo...she's a liar. I won't hurt you. Just give me a chance. Please."

Just the thought of sharing my most personal secret made my spine tingle, and I shivered. "Jessica...this is something no one knows. No one. Except for...Annabeth."

A few more steps, and my chest tightened, forcing coughs rom my lungs. I doubled over, tasting the bitterness of blood in my mouth and watching small red dots pepper the snow beneath me. When I lifted my head again, the world spun. I hadn't realized I'd been about to fall until I felt Jessica's hand lock around my arm. "I've got you," she whispered. Nico and Grover glanced back at me with worried looks.

I sucked in a deep breath with difficulty. After Nico and Grover had turned around again, I dropped back even further, forcing Jessica to slow down with me. "If I were to tell you," I muttered under my breath, "you'd have to swear on the Styx not to tell anyone, or use it against me."

An inkling of hope entered her eyes. "I wouldn't tell anyone," she whispered. "I promise, I only want to help you. The only reason I'm on this quest is to protect you, like I said from the get-go. Percy, I…" She sighed, looking at her feet. "I've never had a sibling before. The closest thing I've ever had is Avery, and then she moved away. So even though we stayed pretty close, she was never physically there, you know? And besides, I've always wanted a big brother. Why else would I be on a trip that's basically considered a suicide mission?"

She had a point. But still, if anyone else asked me my deepest, darkest secret, would I tell them? I took a deep breath with difficulty. "Swear on the River Styx."
Jessica raised her right hand. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone your secret," she promised.

Thunder rumbled in the gray sky. Nico glanced back at the two of us, frowned, and slowly turned around again. Almost as if he could tell I was about to put my life in this girl's hands.

I sighed with a cough. The cold air was painful to breathe, scraping its way down my throat and into my lungs. "Okay, so last summer, we were in the midst of the Second Titan War, and in order to beat Kronos, I had to become invincible. So I bathed in the River Styx, like Achilles, and had to focus on one part of me that would remain mortal. In my case, it was…" I trailed off, and dropped my voice to a whisper. "The small of my back, right here." The gesture was casual enough; I moved my hand behind me and pressed my index and middle fingers to the part of my spine that connected me to my life.

Jessica gently pressed her fingers in the same spot, and I felt a familiar jolt of lightning course through me. "So if you're hit here...that's it? You're…" She made the motion of slicing her neck with her hand. "Done?"

"I try not to think about that," I muttered, "but yes. Which is why it's crucial that this stays between you and me, got it?"

She nodded vigorously.

I stared ahead of me, thinking of Annabeth's limp form in my arms. The memory hurt. "The thing is, when I was in the River Styx…I saw a vision of Annabeth, as well. She told me to remember my lifeline, and it was in my back, right where I showed you. But I don't think that was my only lifeline, if you know what I mean."

Jessica only looked at me expectantly.

I continued, "I think Annabeth is also my lifeline. She grounds me here, too."

I waited for Jessica to make some sarcastic remark about how cheesy that sounded, but the sassy comment never came. She just looked at the ground with her brow furrowed in thought. "So…you and Annabeth are tied together, and she keeps you tethered here," she reasoned.

I nodded, a little awkwardly.

She smirked. "That's so corny."

I laughed as much as my lungs would allow. "And just when I thought you weren't going to say anything," I muttered. But a part of me was a little relieved; she still had a sense of humor. That was hard to keep after a deadly quest like this one. "Now I want you to tell me something," I countered. "What did Poseidon really tell you back there?"

Jessica looked up at me, with a pained expression.

"Well?" I prompted her.

After a few more steps, Jessica shrugged. "He said to be careful, and to protect you," she answered. "Because 'family is important,' or something like that." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms indignantly. "Like I don't already know that," she muttered. "And he has the nerve to tell me that family is important? He ignored me for thirteen years, but he knows everything there is to know about family."

I understood the hurt and indignation she was feeling. I felt the same thing, almost every single day. All of that pain was written on her face as she walked, staring at the ground. It was hard to find something to say to comfort her. "Well," I muttered, "I get how you feel. I mean, it took twelve years for me to find out that I even still had a dad, let alone see him face-to-face. But I guess if anyone knows about family...they do. They've been having to deal with each other for the past two thousand years."

Jessica just rolled her eyes again. "Family," she muttered. Then she looked up at me. "Well, one good thing has come out of this whole thing. I got to meet another family member. A real one." She gave me a small smile.

I smiled back at her. "I guess you're not so bad yourself," I chuckled, nudging her with my shoulder.

Then a sharp pain coursed through my heart and spread to my fingertips and toes. I cried out, doubling over. My legs grew weak, and I collapsed to my knees. My breath came in short gasps.

"Percy!" Jessica gripped my shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Grover and Nico rushed to my side as well. "Percy!"

I coughed painfully, my mouth filling with the taste of iron. My whole chest felt like it was being eroded away with acid. Grover put a hand on my forehead as if checking for a fever. "This isn't good," he muttered. "Your temperature seems to be going down, now, instead of up. You're freezing cold."

I could feel myself trembling. I wheezed in as much air as I could. When I tried to stand, black spots danced in front of my vision, and my head felt light enough to float away. "Whoa," was all I could manage.

Nico and Jessica gripped my arms tighter to keep me upright. "We need to get to our destination fast," Nico murmured. "But is there a specific place we're supposed to go?"

Jessica's brow creased, but this time she seemed to find her resolve quickly. "I know. Prince William Sound. That's what - " She stopped herself short. "Well...that's what they said back in St. Paul. They said we'd never make it there, but if we wanted a challenge, that's where we'd meet them."

I felt a little better standing on my own, and I straightened myself. "Okay," I said. "How far?"

Nico grimaced. "Far. We're only in Vancouver, and Prince William Sound is near Valdez, Alaska," he explained. "It'd be hours and hours from here, even by plane."

I shuddered. "Ugh, no planes, please."

Jessica raised an eyebrow, wearing an impressed look directed to Nico. "Valdez, Alaska," she mused. "I'm pretty sure they mentioned that, too. How'd you know that?"

Nico blushed and scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Well...shadow-travelling, you know? When I was just learning it, I accidentally ended up in Alaska a couple of times."

In the city we found a small coffee shop to sit inside and warm ourselves up a little. I didn't tell anyone, but I was really starting to feel weaker. Every breath was painful, if I could even get a full breath of air into my lungs. All of my muscles ached like I'd just run two marathons in a row. Grover tried to get me to eat something, but my stomach felt too uneasy to put anything in my mouth.

"So where exactly is Valdez, Alaska?" I asked, picking at the corner of my napkin. "And how are we going to get there?"

Nico stared down at the table, looking conflicted. "Well…" he started reluctantly, "I could try shadow-travelling with all of you."

I'd only shadow-travelled once, and it was pretty cool. But now the idea made me feel a little more nauseous. "Can you even do that with all of us?"

He shrugged. "I've never done with with so many people before. But I can definitely try, in small jumps."

"Then let's do it." I get to my feet. "There's no time to waste."

The four of us had to hold hands with each other, tightly, according to Nico. So we stood in a line with the son of Hades at the front and followed as he sprinted at the shadowy back wall of the coffee shop.

The rush of shadow-travel would've been exhilarating, enjoyable, even, under different circumstances. But it only made me feel like my chest was imploding. And it took two tries to get anywhere near Valdez, Alaska. After the second jump, I couldn't breathe.

The panic of suffocating caught hold of me, and I pressed my hand against my chest, gasping. I could barely even cough, and when I did, dark red spots stained the white snow beneath me. My head spun, and Grover had to keep me upright. I glanced at him, and I noticed that he seemed a little run down, as well. His skin seemed paler than usual, and his breathing was heavier. His hands were cold.

"Grover, you don't look well," I noticed.

My friend shrugged. "I'll be okay," he assured me.

As I stared at him, it suddenly dawned on me that he was getting sick as well. Because of me. "The empathy link," I murmured, slightly horrified. How could I have not noticed this before? "Whatever happens to me…"

Grover shook his head. "Don't even think about that, Percy," he told me firmly. "Nothing is going to happen. To either of us. Okay?"

He held my arm to steady me. I nodded, trying to keep the black spots out of my eyes. I couldn't die. Not with so much riding on this quest. And especially not with the losses we've already suffered. I thought about Annabeth, about her pale face, and the deep gash in her side. Someone was going to pay for that. I took a deep breath and stood straighter, despite the biting ache in my chest.

"So where are we?" I asked Nico. Looking around, it seemed to be nothing but a bunch of forest with a bunch of snow. In the far distance, I could see the lights of a small town. Past it, I could see the sun starting to set over an iced-over bay of some sort.

"Valdez is right over there," Nico panted. He looked paler than usual. Shadow-traveling always took a lot out of him. "I'm sure we could just walk...if you're okay enough for that," he added with a quick glance at me.

I let my breath out slowly. "I'm okay," I assured him. I was running on ninety-percent willpower now, but it had to be enough. "Let's put an end to this once and for all."

Jessica looked at the ground in distress. "Before we do that," she finally interjected, "there's one thing I need to take care of. I'll be right back."

She took off running through the forest before any of us could say anything. After two seconds, I took off after her. My lungs screamed in protest, but I kept moving. The last time we left Jessica on her own, my girlfriend got stabbed looking for her. A pang of guilt, frustration, and irritation went through my heart at the memory and I poured on the speed.

I stopped short when I heard the harsh whisper of a familiar female voice: "You promised you'd help me!"

Jessica's voice responded, "You didn't tell me that I'd be responsible for people's deaths, Avery!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Avery? Jessica's friend? My hand went to Riptide, and I proceeded with extreme caution.

"You'll be responsible for even more deaths if we don't take care of this," Avery's voice snapped. "You swore on the Styx. You can't break that oath."

"But I also swore that I wouldn't –"

"You promised me first, remember?" Avery spoke over her friend. Then her voice took on a pleading, desperate tone. "Jess…please. You have to do this for me. I can't trust anyone to do this but you. You have to finish him off."

It was silent for a few seconds. "I…I can't believe you're asking me to do this," Jessica muttered, her voice choking up.

Avery sighed. "Jess, look. You've known Percy for all of a few weeks. We've been like sisters since we were kids. We'd do anything for each other." Her voice faded a little bit. Then she let out a grunt of frustration. "Well, speak of the devil…"

I tried to take a step back, but Avery emerged from the trees, without Jessica, in a white ski jacket, her light blond hair tied back in a loose ponytail. She had a sheath tied around her waist. Her ice-blue eyes glared at me, but I noticed that she had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been sleeping. "You know, it's a good thing you've joined the party, Percy," she sneered sarcastically. "We were just talking about you."

"Quit BS-ing around," I snapped irritably. "What are you doing here? Have you been here the whole time, or what?"

The daughter of Athena simply shrugged.

"Where's Jessica?" I demanded.

She shrugged again, and I wanted to wring her neck. "My turn for questions," she stated casually. "How in Hades's name are you still alive? I'm actually a little impressed. Oh well. You won't be for long, if I have anything to say about it." She drew her icy blade out of its sheath. "Let's have a little rematch, shall we?"

I drew Riptide immediately, and she slashed at me with all of her might. I blocked her first strike and dodged her second, but she came at me like a whirlwind. It took every ounce of my strength just to avoid getting hacked to pieces. She was a great fighter.

She sliced at my face again, and I leaped back to avoid her blade, but my heart pounded painfully. All of my muscles burned with exhaustion, and I coughed harshly, spitting more blood out of my mouth.

"Aww, you don't look too well," Avery murmured. "Poor thing. Let me end it. It'll be quick; I promise." She swung at me again, and in dodging her strike, I tripped over a tree root. Luckily I managed to roll to one side before her sword made contact with my neck, and I swiped her legs from under her.

Avery landed in the snow with a yelp. When she got up, a navy blue object fell to feet. I recognized the famous baseball logo immediately. It was a Yankees cap.

The image of Annabeth lying helplessly in the snow, with dark red pooling all around her, filled my mind. I didn't see her, she'd told me. Jessica was the last person to have the baseball cap, but what if she really hadn't been wearing it when the attack happened? And why did Avery have it now? "Where'd you get that?" I asked, my voice dangerously low. "What did you do to Annabeth?"

Avery glanced at the ground and picked up the baseball cap, brushing the snow from it. "You know, your wonderful little sister gave it to me," she answered matter-of-factly. "She's a great friend. But she's been pretty elusive lately. So naturally I had to send Sam and Amy to go get her to talk to me, otherwise how else would I have tracked her down? And you, too?" She gave me an evil grin when she saw my expression fall. "Don't feel too bad, Percy," she smirked. "She did really come on this quest for you."

"So you're the one who attacked Annabeth," I growled. "You stole her Yankees cap and attacked her, invisibly, like a coward."

Avery raised her hand defensively. "I just figured out the connection between you two. I had to get rid of you one way or another, Perseus." Her eyes narrowed. "You're like that pesky little bug that refuses to freaking die. Even Titans couldn't kill you, for gods' sakes."

"So what makes you think that you could?" I challenged her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Right now, I could blow on your face, and you'd fall over."

I didn't want to admit it, but she was right. My sword felt heavy in my hands. My arms were growing weak. A huge part of me wished that I could just collapse to the ground. My lungs were practically begging on their knees for more oxygen. I literally felt like a fish out of water. I coughed again, the taste of blood making my stomach turn.

"But luckily," she added, "I don't have to get my hands dirty. Lucky for you, I'm not going to kill you."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I don't believe you."

"Oh?" The daughter of Athena dropped her weapon, and it fell flat onto the snow. "See? And just for extra measure…" She dug through her jacket and brought out two knives, and let them fall to the ground as well. "No weapons at all."

I just stared at her. It looked like she was surrendering. But she couldn't be. I wasn't that stupid. I kept my weapon raised.

Avery glanced up behind me, and a smile slowly crossed her face. The expression was like a twisted version of gratitude. She nodded slightly, her eyes fixed on wherever she was staring. Then she smirked at me. "You don't learn, do you," she chided, shaking her head. "I did learn one thing from my stupid older sister Annabeth – not to let your opponent catch you off-guard."

"What are you talking about?" I nearly shouted. "You have my full attention!"

"And who said I was your enemy?" she asked me. "The person who stabs you in the back is always the one you'd least expect, isn't it?"

I only had enough time to process her words before a pain exploded into the back of my knee. I felt my knee hit the ground as I gasped in pain. As I glanced behind me, with a heavy heart I remembered the prophecy: You shall be accompanied by five, betrayed by one. In my mind I imagined Jessica hiding within the trees, crying.

I registered her turquoise arrow penetrating the back of my knee before another burst of pain, like lightning, arced through my spine, spreading all over my back, through my arms and legs and finally to my fingertips. I screamed as warm blood seeped through my jeans and my shirt, and my face hit the snow.

Avery's face came into my field of vision. "Doesn't that suck?" she asked sympathetically. "Annabeth had that same expression of disbelief on her face, too. Well, now you'll get to be together forever, just like you wanted." She walked away, seeming extremely satisfied.

I couldn't move. My limbs were paralyzed with pain. My mind tried to think coherently, but all I could do was lie there in agony. I heard footsteps running toward me, and Jessica's light blue Converses came into view. She knelt beside me and I could see tears in her eyes. "Percy…" she sobbed. "Oh mes dieux, qu'est-ce que j'ai fait? Je suis désolée, mon frère. S'il te plaît, ne meurs pas…" She leaned her head down onto my chest for a few seconds. I had no idea what she was saying. "Percy, please, please."

My vision started to grow dark around the edges, and the darkness was closing in, fast. I didn't even have the energy to feel angry with her.

"Percy?" a female's voice called.

Annabeth's voice. "Percy!" she called again, more firmly.

I manage to catch a glimpse of her blonde hair, and I knew that I had to be near Elysium, before the darkness completely swallowed me.

Huge cliffhanger. I know. Go on and hate me. But leave me a review telling me what you think!

Anyway, what's been going on in my life right now - I'm in college now! *insert cheering here* College is hard...which is part of why I haven't updated in a while. I haven't even been on FF for a while. Though there is this amazing, yet fantastically heartbreaking fic out there called The Strongest Demigod I've Ever Met by vovo611. It's phenomenally written, but it made me cry. Several times. Along those same lines...I read and watched The Fault in our Stars AND religiously watched a whole season of Chasing Life. (You may be sensing a theme here...) And a lot of people I know have been affected personally by this awful disease, and so have I - I lost my grandmother when I was 12. But everywhere I turn I feel like someone else I know has been affected. It came out in my writing (an original fic I've been working on), and the other night I actually had a nightmare that very much resembled the Chasing Life finale, before having seen the finale. Which freaked me out.

Okay, so I'm kind of ranting right now, but I've just been feeling kind of down for all of those people out there who have been touched, or went through it. My heart goes out to all of you! You guys are the strongest people ever, I couldn't imagine personally going through that. You're always in my prayers.

But anyway, other than all of that, I've been pretty awesome. Trying to keep writing whenever I can, but bear with me! My workload just got a lot harder. I'll try to write for quality instead of speed, is that okay? (Though if anyone feels like it's taking a ridiculously long time to update, PM me, like a polite nudge on the shoulder, okay? Heehee.)

Thanks so much for the love and especially for the patience, guys! I love you all!

~Mandi