I'm back with another chapter.

Review Responses

Sophia E. Anderson- of course I can leave a chapter ending like that. I'm the author.

Ancient Tide- Yeah, she does go to school in Brooklyn with Sadie and Lacy, but let's just pretend she hasn't been enrolled yet or she came to camp for winter break. Like why in the lost hero was she at camp?

kablamstar- I'm confused on what you are asking. This section of the story will follow the titan's curse quest closely, but not as closely as Rick RIordan does. I want to give you guys some time to learn about the characters before I throw in some big boom boom.

XxBanewolvesLiveAgainxX- I thought you were going to say that.

Torrent14- The pairing isn't Annabeth or Thalia- I have big plans for those two... Not together though.

xRinneandSharinx- The pairing is top secret classified information. However the story as a whole is not about romance, it's more about sibling love.

123percabeth- they will not find out who Jackson and Fern are for a long time. This chapter Zoe knows a little more, but not a lot.

daughterofjupiter27- yeah no, it doesn't work that way. Unless you have actually reviewed a recent installment of Storm Rising, there is no proof you have read it. So you could just be saying it to get more updates.

Disclaimer: All rights to respective owners.

Previously at Camp Half Blood,

Then the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as a statue, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

Chiron elected two campers that Jackson didn't know the names of to carry the mummy back upstairs to the attic before telling all of the camp counselors that there would be a meeting in the big house rec room in ten minutes. The campers and hunters dispersed, their mood considerably darkened from the weight of the prophecy over their heads.

"Bianca dear," Chiron pulled the girl aside. The children of Chaos waited for her nearby. "You should come to the meeting, too. It is your prophecy."

The daughter of Hades nodded before rejoining her friends, sighing. "These have been the craziest days of my life, these last three. I was supposed to be going back to a hotel with Nico for winter break, and now I found out that my math partner and the vice principal are monsters! Then Nico falls off a cliff and I realize that you guys are a part of this mythical world too. A twelve year old girl is a goddess, then we ride in the sun car! Of course on my first night of capture the flag, the mummy lady walks down here and gives me a prophecy to get myself killed! I don't even know how to fight!" She pauses to take a long breath. "Sorry, I was blabbing."

"It's okay," Jackson said. "I just always knew that this," He gestured around at the camp. "Was a part of my life. I never thought about what it would be like to learn about this messed up world through some messed up situations."

Bianca took a deep breath and exhaled. "Thanks guys," Pausing she looked at their faces carefully. "Would you mind coming to the meeting with me?"

"Are we allowed?" Fern asked.

"Screw the rules. She's the one with the prophecy, she can bring whoever she likes!" Jackson said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. The girls break into smiles as they climb the steps of the Big House Porch.

Inside, they can't find the rec room, didn't they ever think of getting a map? One of the boys who had to carry the oracle back up to the attic pointed down the hallway, showing them where it was. The council was held around a Ping-Pong table. The pudgy guy, Dionysus, waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Atlanta, who was Zoe's assistant, took the other end. Thalia, Jillian, Annabeth, Grover, and the Stoll brothers sat along the right, and the other head councilors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Katie Gardner, Michael Yew- sat on the left. Jackson took a seat next to Beckendorf with his sister and Bianca next to him. They didn't see an Ares representative, they were probably injured from capture the flag and this Clarisse person was away.

Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Atlanta said. She had golden blonde hair and blue eyes, a daughter of Apollo. "You heard the prophecy. Five shall go west to the captured in chains. We can get five hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia said. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your," Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be taken. One's fate shall be decided. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"Guys, you are forgetting that the prophecy was given to Bianca. The oracle approached HER and gave HER the prophecy," Katie Garner reminded them.

All eyes turned to Bianca. Suddenly, as though they had missed them when they had walked in, everyone noticed Jackson and Fern. Jackson waved at them and smiled a bit sarcastically.

"What is thee doing here?" Zoe asked. "This is a meeting for the head campers. Thou is not even claimed."

"Bianca isn't claimed and she was given a quest. As I remember, Zoe, you are not a head camper," Fern said.

Zoe's face tightened and her fist clenched. "I should c-"

"We must not delay," Chiron interrupted. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"The prophecy says Seeker, two siblings, lightning, owl, and huntress," Annabeth added. "The seeker is clearly Bianca, as the oracle said, Approach Seeker and Ask."

"The lightning is Thalia and the owl is Athena," Michael Yew finalized.

"I will go as head counselor of the Athena cabin," Annabeth volunteered.

"So far, Bianca, Annabeth, and Thalia are going," Chiron rephrased. "But the two siblings and the huntress?"

"Atlanta and I will go. Phoebe can lead the hunt until we return," Zoe said.

"Again Zoe, you forgot something. The prophecy said huntress, not hunters, or huntresses. Only one hunter can go," Thalia sounded annoyed.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Zoe stood up.

"Sure," Dionysus yawned.

Chiron stepped in before Zoe could kill anyone with the ping pong paddle she held. "We need to discuss who the two siblings are? Are they full blooded or related on the godly side?"

"Jackson and Fern will come with me," Bianca jumped in. "I trust them to cover my back."

Shouts of protest began before Zoe slammed the paddle on the table. "SILENCE!" The yelling stopped. "Lady Artemis is in trouble and thee are arguing like children? Bianca has chosen her companions and as much as I despise travelling with a boy, I will go. We have wasted enough time bickering. Every second is precious. Lady Artemis is in danger."

"Zoe is right," Chiron agreed. "Bianca, Jackson, Fern, Thalia, Annabeth, and Zoe will leave at first light tomorrow."

"We should leave sooner," Annabeth interjected. "Traffic will be bad on the highway tomorrow because it's winter break,assuming we are taking the camp van."

"We need to talk about this bane of Olympus,"Jillian put in.

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron continued "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail."

"This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be," Zoe looked desperate.

Everybody looked at Dionysus, he was the only god present and gods are supposed to know things. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent, he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," Beckendorf said, "You don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Jillian's father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"One shall be taken in the land without rain," Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement. Chiron and Zoe exchanged a nervous look. Mount Othyrs, where Zoe had grown up in the garden of the Hesperides was now home to Atlas holding the sky. Except he escaped from the burden.

"And one's fate shall be decided by a family hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "Whose family members would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table. Jillian and Thalia had matching looks of fear. On their godly side, many gods wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

"And chased by this worse than death," Silena looked grim.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Bianca, Jackson, Fern, Thalia, Annabeth, and Zoe will leave as soon as possible," Chiron concluded. "Meeting dismissed."

Jackson was leaving the room with Bianca and Fern when Chiron called him back. "Jackson, can I see you for a minute?"

"Go back to Hermes cabin," Jackson told his sister. "If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, throw some clothes into my hiking backpack."

Fern nodded before she and Bianca left the big house. He walked back into Chiron. "What did you need sir?"

Dionysus looked up and spat, "Heroes."

"Would you mind leaving us alone, Mr. D?" Chiron asked. The wine god sighed before leaving the rec room, grumbling about diet coke. "I saw you controlling the water tonight," Chiron stated, pausing to see Percy's reaction. "You are of the sea. I can tell that much. So I will give you a gift of the sea," Out of his pocket, Chiron pulled a ball point pen. "Uncap it."

Jackson uncapped it, already sensing the magic. The pen expanded into a three foot long blade of celestial bronze, with the words, Anaklumos, Riptide, engraved.

"The pen will always return to your pocket," Chiron said. "It is rightfully yours."

The son of Thalassa didn't get the same feeling, but he put it in his pocket anyways. "Thanks."

"Good luck on the quest," Chiron called as he left the room. Once outside, Jackson jogged in the darkness to the Hermes cabin where all the lights were still on. Everyone was still up, sitting around, half ready for bed. Fern and Bianca had already packed their stuff. Travis Stoll had loaned Bianca one of the backpacks Hermes had given him, designed to hold an endless amount of stuff. Using her hiking backpack, Fern was done packing. She had laid out his hiking backpack and his duffel bag on his bunk. Swiftly, Jackson packed a change of clothes and the other necessities into his magical backpack. The bag, made for hiking, already had a sleeping bag, granola bars, water bottles, etc. He checked that the stash of mortal money and the bag of drachmas were still inside. Patting his pockets for his weapons, he felt reassured that they were there.

The trio left the cabin as the others half hearted wished them good luck. They walked to the back of the Big House where a white van was parked in the driveway. A hundred eyed man, Argus, was standing by the driver's side door. He handed the keys to Percy before walking off, not saying a word. As the first ones there, they unlocked the van and put their stuff on the seats as they waited.

"Who's driving?" Bianca asked.

"We're not nearly old enough," Fern said. "And I wouldn't let Thalia drive after the sun bus experience."

"So Annabeth or Zoe?" Jackson summed up. "I think Annabeth. As a daughter of Athena, she would be the most knowledgeable on the road.

The said blonde walked up at that moment, a gray backpack slung over her shoulders. "Want to drive?" Fern offered her the keys.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Why me?"

"Well, you're the oldest at fourteen, asides from Zoe, and with your brain capacity you are most qualified to drive," Jackson reasoned.

The girl took is as a good enough answer and placed her bag in between the driver and passenger seats. "Where are Thalia and Zoe?"

"Here," Zoe stepped into the light coming off of the Big House. She walked to the other side of the car and hopped in the passenger seat, placing her bag in between her feet. "When can we leave?"

"As soon as Thalia get here," Annabeth replied, getting into the car. The others followed suit. Bianca and Fern climbed into the way back, leaving Jackson alone in the middle row for now. He didn't mind though, Fern and Bianca had done a lot together.

After waiting for a good fifteen minutes, Zoe pulled out her bow and began smoothing the wood. "Where is the daughter of Zeus?"

Thalia came running up, her backpack open and her eyes wide. "Sorry guys," She said as she climbed into the middle seat next to Jackson.

"Sorry?" Zoe spat. "What was thee doing? We could have been already on the road."

"Let it go Zoe," Annabeth said kindly. "She's here now. We need to get going though," She turned the key in the ignition and drove out on the big house driveway. "What we do need to talk about is our transportation west and where exactly are we going."

"We need to head for California," Fern reasoned. "It's one of the farthest points west in the United States, save Hawaii."

Zoe nodded stiffly. "We should take the van as far as we can."

"Any planes? They are the fastest way to get somewhere," Annabeth asked.

"No," Jackson, Fern, Bianca, and surprisingly Thalia said at the same time.

"Planes may be quick but they certainly aren't safe. Say we were on a plane with a monster. We would be trapped thousands of feet up in the air with mortals and monsters. Not a good combination," Jackson added.

"So we'll drive this van until we get to D.C.," Annabeth stated as she turned onto the highway.

"Why stop?" Zoe questioned.

"Let's face it, there is going to be a lot of monsters," Bianca explained. "We are five powerful halfbloods and one huntress. We are going to attract a ton of monsters."

"Exactly why we shouldn't stop!" Thalia argued.

"But we need rest to be able to fight better. Let's face it, none of us have gotten any sleep in almost the last twenty four hours. We aren't going to be much good in a fight," Fern said.

"I am a hunter. I do not sleep while my lady needs me or the monsters live," Zoe sounded like she rehearsed the line.

"How about a compromise, we drive to D.C. and rest there until eightish, then continue westward," Bianca formulated.

Zoe huffed before turning to stare out the window, but they know she won't argue anymore.

"Gets some rest," Annabeth instructs them. "I'll wake you guys up if anything happens."

Jackson leans his head against the car door and is soon asleep. Sleep only brings one thing: nightmares.

In his dream, he was somebody else. He was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals. A animal skin, some type of glittery lion was draped on his back like a cape. Jackson was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but fear was evident in her voice. "He will find us!"

It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. Tall grass swished around them as they ran, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was running through it as if her death chased her.

"I'm not afraid," The guy tried to tell her.

"You should be!" She said, pulling him along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.

Racing up the side of the hill, she pulled him behind a thorn bush. They collapsed, both breathing heavily. It was confusing why the girl was so scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. He was strong. Stronger than he had ever been before.

"There is no need to run, I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," The girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

"I don't trust your father."

"You should not," The girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die.'"

The man chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it," He stood up.

"Wait.'" the girl said. She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she told me. "And make of it a weapon."

"A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened his heart. He reached down and took the hairpin, and as he did, it grew longer and heavier in his hand, until he held a familiar bronze sword.

"Well balanced. Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

There was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"

The dream changed. Jackson was still in the same place, just hundreds of years into the future.

He was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above him. Nico was kneeling under the weight of the sky. He was too tired even to cry out. His legs trembled. Any second, he would run out of strength and the sky would crush him.

"How is our mortal guest?" A male voice voice was deep and low, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.

A sandy haired, blue eyed guy, presumably Luke, emerged from the shadows. He walked to Nico, knelt beside him, then looked back at the unseen man. "He's fading. We must hurry."

The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.

"You heard the boy," Said the man in the shadows. "Decide!"

Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. She glared at Nico, probably remembering how Bianca would have joined the hunt had she not been so close to her brother.

"I will not take the sky from a boy," She spat.

The man in the shadows, Atlas, made a growling noise. "Thorn!" He called out.

The vice principal stepped out of the shadows. "You called, cheneral?" He said in his french accent.

"You have failed us Thorn," Atlas' voice was calm, but the anger behind it was barely controlled.

"I can go get a girl now," Thorn tried to make up. "Zhey are headed to-"

"No!" Atlas' voice was firm. "Luke, take the goddess back to the dungeons. Then we have to leave."

The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.

Jackson awoke with a start. His dream was terrifying at the least. Nico had been holding the sky for over a day now. He would be fading. They had to hurry. And the disturbing dream about the girl and the hero. The hero had to be Hercules, he was the only one who would have done those things. The girl tugged at the corners of his mind, but he couldn't place her.

The van was in a parking lot in the Washington D.C. museum and monument area. The Washington Monument's point glinted in the morning sun. Nearby, the Museum of Natural History was letting some people in, but the sign said closed for private event. Across the capitol lawn, the air and space museum was opening up.

Opening his backpack, Jackson pulled out the jacket Chaos had given him. Tugging it on, he opened the car door silently and slipped out. After his nightmares, he needed some time to think and the cold air cleared his head.

A block away, the door of a black sedan opened. A man with gray hair and a military buzz cut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. Now, maybe in Washington, you'd expected guys like that to be everywhere. The guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of the Natural History Smithsonian. When he turned, his face was easily recognizable. It was Dr. Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall.

Ducking his head, Jackson pulled up his hood. The jacket shimmered for a second before his body turned invisible, one of the magical properties.

Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. He followed Dr. Thorn inside, through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and he had to sprint to get inside before they closed them again. Inside, the sight was so terrible, he almost gasped.

They was in a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters—reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs, Scythian dracaenae.

But that wasn't the worse of it. Standing between the snake women, was the Luke guy. He looked terrible. His skin was pale and his blond hair looked almost gray, as if he'd aged ten years in just a few months. The angry light in his eyes was still there, and so was the scar down the side of his face, where a dragon had once scratched him. But the scar was now ugly red, as though it had recently been reopened.

Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All that could be seen were his knuckles on the gilded arms of his chair, like a throne, but it was enough to know that Atlas was here.

"Well?" Asked the man in the chair. His voice filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.

Dr. Thorn took off his shades. His two-colored eyes, brown and blue, glittered with excitement. He made a stiff bow, then spoke in his weird French accent: "They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool," Boomed Atlas. "But where?"

"In ze place where ze cars park."

"The parking lot," Luke corrected irritably.

Dr. Thorn glared at Luke. "As you say, sir."

"How many?" Luke asked. Thorn pretended not to hear.

"How many?" the General demanded.

"Six, General," Thorn said. "The daughter of Athena, and the girl with the spiky black hair and the—how do you say—punk clothes and the horrible shield."

"Annabeth and Thalia," Luke said.

"The other half bloods, Bianca, Fern and Jackson. And one other girl, a hunter. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know," the General growled. Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me take them," Luke said to the General. "We have more than enough—"

"Patience," the General said. "They'll have their hands full already. We will send a little playmate to keep them occupied."

"But—"

"We cannot risk you, my boy."

"Yes, boy," Dr. Thorn said with a cruel smile. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off."

"No," The General rose from his chair, and Jackson saw him for the first time in real life.

He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone.

"You have already failed me, Thorn," he said.

"But, General—"

"No excuses! I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence," the General said. "I send you to capture a child of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny unclaimed male demigod who Artemis will not take the sky from!"

"But you promised me revenge," Thorn protested. "A command of my own!"

"I am Lord Kronos's senior commander," the General said. "And I will choose lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you."

Thorn's face turned purple with rage, but he just bowed awkwardly and left the room.

"Now, my boy." The General turned to Luke. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunter will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoe Nightshade—"

"Do not speak her name!"

Luke swallowed. "S—sorry, General. I just—"

The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."

He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them," he said.

In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt. Jackson watched nervously as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was dark red liquid. The soil began to bubble.

"Soon," the General said, "I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Luke clenched his fists. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the Princess Andromeda arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best—"

"Ha," the General said. "I don't deny your troops will make a fine honor guard for Lord Kronos. And you, of course, will have a role to play—"

Luke turned paler when the General said that.

"—but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines."

The soil erupted. In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said:

"Mew?"

It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt.

Everyone stared at them in disbelief. The General roared, "What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?"

The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger—"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those… those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."

The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.

"You.'" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the right teeth. NOW!"

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles,' muttered the General.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them."

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.

"Excellent," the General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet. Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."

"Another hot pad, sir?" A guard asked. "More Tylenol?"

"No! It will pass." The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself."

He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."

He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. Rise!

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.

The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yesssss, lord," one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as Jackson watched, turning into men, but men with dull gray skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes—gray muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images. One of the skeletons looked straight at Jackson, and though he knew Chaos' magic was too strong for the skeleton to see him, it could still sense him there.

The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct. Jackson ran for the scarf, but a voice in his head stopped him.

Percy! It was Imogene. We're at the Air and Space Museum! There are some super powerful monsters outside the museum! Get your butt over here!

In the split second that he had hesitated, the sparta had gotten the scarf. There was no time to waste. Now they had death machines and two major monsters to deal with. Jackson dissolved into water vapor and appeared, still invisible outside of the other smithsonian. He tore off the jacket and raced inside.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips. The families needed to leave, but Jackson already had enough problems without getting arrested for yelling at tourists. Any minute, the skeleton dudes were going to invade the museum.

He ran into Thalia—literally. Jackson was barreling up the ramp to the top-floor balcony and slammed into her, knocking her into an Apollo space capsule. Pulling her to her feet, he apologized.

"Jackson, what's wrong?" Thalia asked.

Zoe glared at the son of Chaos. "Why did thee leave the van?"

"No time. Luke," Jackson tried to explain quickly. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?"

He told them about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General.

"The General is here?" Zoe looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

Fern's eyes widened in fear. Jackson knew his sister sensed the monsters outside of the museum and knew how destructive sparta were. They had to get out of here. "How many?" She asked quietly.

"Twelve," He replied swiftly. "We need to leave now. The general, Thorn, Sparta, and more monsters, we can't fight that many."

"It cannot be the general!" Zoe snapped. "Jackson must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," He told her. Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

Thalia twisted her bracelet. "We need to leave now. Anything dead that can still fight is bad."

"That is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to decisions," Zoe growled. "You never could make the right one!"

Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoe. Then everyone froze, a growl so loud, a rocket might have been starting up, reverberated throughout the museum.

Below them, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.

"The Nemean Lion," Annabeth said. "Don't move."

The lion roared so loud it parted their hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Bianca asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!" Annabeth yelled, ducking to the right. Zoe leapt for a space capsule with the grace of a gazelle. Bianca ran to the escalator and slid down the railing, Fern and Jackson right behind her. Thalia followed Annabeth.

"The Nemean lion's coat is completely invulnerable!" Annabeth said as arrows whistled over her head, Zoe was trying to hit the big cat. "It has no external weaknesses. It's only weakness is it's mouth, more specifically the tongue."

The lion roared, showing off it's bright pink tongue but it snapped it's jaw shut before Zoe's arrow could find it's mark. Behind them, a hiss could be hear.

"Hydra!" Fern yelled. "Duck!"

The three on the floor hit the deck before the flames could hit them. A scaly green monster clambers over the burnt hole in the side of the museum. It's nine diamond shaped heads swivel around, scanning us.

"Crazy plan time!" Jackson called as he dodged a large kitty paw, avoiding becoming meow mix. "Thalia, Annabeth, Bianca, you guys attack the hydra. Thalia will burn the heads after you two cut them off. Fern and I will get the lion to open its mouth. Zoe will then shoot its mouth. Go!"

The plan wasn't perfect, not even close. There wasn't enough strength attacking the hydra, but it would have to do. The siblings exchanged looks, their attack already formed.

"Be ready to shoot!" Fern yelled to Zoe. The lieutenant nodded.

The siblings drew their weapons, Fern with her staff, Jackson his axe. They ran straight at the lion's front paws, yelling Ahhhhhhh! The nemean lion looked confused at this odd behavior and backed up. Just before they hit the metallic paws, they sidestepped inward, sprinting under the belly. Spinning one hundred and eighty degrees, they whammed the shaft of their weapons into the back of the kitty's legs. Weapons wouldn't damage the fur, but they could cause a lot of pain in the joints. The creature let out a huge roar, but it turned it's face away from Zoe so she couldn't get a clear shot. The siblings attacked with more ferocity, but the lion wouldn't open its mouth. They needed a new plan, but what would work?

From one of the exhibits, Jackson grabbed a coil of 'moon rope'. Attaching the rope to one end of his axe and the other to a metal bar, he whirled the axe to his sister. "Fern, catch!"

She caught the handle with her left hand and looped it around another bar. Throwing back to him, Jackson caught it over by the entrance. Soon they had woven a web of rope from throwing and hooking the rope.

The lion roared in frustration as it tripped over a rope. Zoe took the chance and shoot the monsters a barrage of arrows in the mouth. Without even watching the lion pelt shrink into a coat, they raced over to help the others with the hydra.

Annabeth was laying unconscious on the ground while Bianca tried to distract the heads and cut them off. Thalia was shocking the monster, but it wasn't helping much. They had destroyed two of the heads, two stumps were charred and smoking, and only seven were left. Bianca's leg was badly burned and Thalia had a long poisonous cut down her arm.

"Bianca and Zoe, protect Thalia while she burns the heads. Jackson, cut off the heads while I distract the monster!" Fern ordered as she charged the monster, her staff swinging. She stabbed at the monster while Jackson's axe whizzed over her head, effectively cutting off three of the seven remaining heads. He could have done better, but Thalia couldn't electrocute that many heads so quickly. Bianca parried away a claw with her dagger while Zoe pushed back a head with her hunting knife. Electricity sparked between Thalia's fingers, shooting out to cauterize the stump. Jackson's axe sliced off the remaining four heads. Thalia swiftly shocked three of the amputated necks, but she didn't get the fourth fast enough.

"Activate plan Sunglasses McDonalds!" Jackson yelled, mentally praying to Tartarus. When they had left the Void, Tartarus had been showing them how to summon hellfire, everyone could do it it, it was just the matter of being able to stand the pain long enough. The flames only ignited twice every ten tries. Tartarus had told them they had to yell, Activate plan Sunglasses McDonald's or else it wouldn't work.

Flames caught the edges of Jackson's axe and Fern's staff. Simultaneously, they swung their weapons at the two remaining necks. The black and blood red flames caught fire on the hydra's body. If the hydra's heads were still intact, it would be roaring in pain. The decapitated heads rolled on the floor before disintegrating with the rest of the body.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. Thalia limped to Annabeth's side.

"Anyone have any ambrosia?" Thalia asked hopefully. "The security guards are going to start asking questions soon. We need to get out of here."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoe said. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, I could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but their gaze aimed straight at the quest group.

Jackson ran over to Annabeth and picked her up. "Can you guys walk?" He asked Bianca and Thalia. They nodded and Fern helped support the limping Bianca. Zoe picked up a golden pelt from the floor, but there was no time to ask. Running across the capitol lawn, they attracted a few odd stares. Zoe hopped into the driver's seat and started up the car. Thalia jumped into the other front seat, while Jackson laid Annabeth in the middle with Fern helping. Then he and Bianca sat down into the back just as Zoe stepped onto the gas. The van screeched out of the parking lot. Several mortals hollered after them, but they were already gone.

After giving Annabeth some nectar, she began to wake up. Thalia cleaned the cut on her arm before bandaging it and eating some ambrosia. Bianca's pant leg was burned, but only to the mid thigh. Her skin was blistered, but after some cold water and ambrosia, the swelling died down.

They were crossing the Potomac when Thalia spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one we'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward them.

"They know the van," Annabeth said. "We have to ditch it."

Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining. "Maybe the military will shoot it down," Thalia said hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," Bianca said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Bianca asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than we were through D.C. traffic.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm. Jackson tried to thicken the storm using his water powers, but the aircraft was flying too low for it to be effective.

"There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped," Zoe said.

"Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We left the van and followed Bianca down some steps. "Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Annabeth let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

Thalia frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago…" Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," Jackson said. Zoe was beginning to catch onto Bianca's past. They couldn't let that happened. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all they thought about was getting away safely. They changed trains twice. After a while the sound of the helicopter went away. Unfortunately, when the group finally got off the train, they found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here.

They wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!'

We huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-g-great."

"Maybe we should contact camp," Annabeth said. "Chiron—"

"No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

Jackson gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Nico was holding the sky. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster, the ophiotaurus, was on the loose. And they were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a homeless persons fire.

"You know," The homeless man said. "You're never completely without friends," His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Fern said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand. Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those RV camper-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a double -deck of campers inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's… convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh…"

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

An hour later the train was rumbling west. Zoe crashed in a silver RV on the top deck while Jackson, Fern, and Bianca shared one of the XXL campers. Thalia hot wired one camper so she could pick up different rock stations from D.C. Annabeth found a stash of books someone had left in the back of another.

Fern and Bianca were in the back, talking, while Jackson made boiled some water for the instant hot cocoa when a knock resounded on the glass door. Zoe Nightshade stood outside of camper, her arms crossed over her chest. He pressed the button, opening the doors.

"Hey Zoe, Fern and Bianca are in the back," Jackson said, pouring hot water into mugs and mixing up the hot cocoa powder.

"I do not need to talk to them; I need to talk to thee," Zoe stubbed her shoe into the ground, looking uncomfortable.

Jackson almost dropped the mug he was carrying. "Me?"

Zoe sighed like she couldn't believe she was doing this. "Yes, I need to speak to thee," She paused glancing at the mug in his hands. "Is that hot chocolate?"

He looked up, his sea green eyes meeting her volcanic black ones. "Do you want some cocoa?"

A few minutes later the two of them were sitting in the camper next to the one where Fern and Bianca were, hot cocoa in hand. There was awkward silence between them for a few minutes.

"Thy is not a normal demigod," Zoe finally said.

Jackson lifted his head quickly. "What do you mean by a normal demigod?"

"Thy had weapons and knew about the gods before thee went to camp. I have hunted with Lady Artemis for centuries; the gods do not usually visit their children."

Sighing, Jackson tried to think of how he could keep Hades' secret and not make Zoe suspicious. "I don't know how to explain this without breaking any promises."

"Then thee doesn't have to tell me," Zoe told him. "I didn't bring thee here to talk about the abnormalities of being a half blood."

Jackson was temporarily stunned. He thought Zoe would press for the information, but here she was telling him she didn't have to know. But he felt this strong sense like he needed to tell her. "My sister and I were sent to Westover Hall by Bianca's godly parent to protect her and Nico."

In the darkness, he could see Zoe's eyes widening. "Then this god was angry when Nico fell?"

"Very, he gave us one last chance to keep both of them safe. I need to keep Bianca safe and rescue Nico."

"I will help thee," Zoe decided. "Bianca is kind and smart. She would have made a great hunter. I will protect Bianca with my life. I am going to die anyways. Why not die for a good cause?"

"What?" The wheels began to spin faster in his head. "You are one of the hesperides. We are going to Mount Tam, home to Mount Othyrs, where your father used to hold the sky. You think the last line of the prophecy refers to you?"

"Who else could it refer to? My father and sisters would gladly kill me for my betrayal," Zoe clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she had finished speaking.

Suddenly, it clicked. The girl from the dream, the way she spoke, it was Zoe Nightshade. He had known all along that Zoe had formerly been a hesperide, but he had never realized the deeper story.

"This is yours," He drew Riptide from his pocket, holding it out to her. She capped the pen and Ananklumos sprang to life. Almost as if she was in a trance, Zoe ran her fingers over the blade.

"Thank thee Jackson Last. Now I must give thee what is rightfully thine," From her bag, she pulled out a golden pelt. "Thy killed the nemean lion with thine plan. It is thine to keep."

With nothing for him to argue about how it was hers, he took the pelt. It shrunk into golden brown fleece jacket as he took it. "Zoe, is it okay with you if I give it to Bianca?"

Immediately, Zoe understood why he had wanted to. "Of course. Thy is nothing like I expected

thee to be. Thy is a great hero unlike Hercules."

Jackson stood up, sensing their conversation was over. "Don't worry, Zoe, I'm not going to let anyone on this quest die. I promise."

"That's a dangerous promise," Zoe commented.

"I don't intend to break it."

Bianca and Fern were asleep on the fold down beds in the back when Jackson returned to the camper. He sighed before drifting off to sleep on one of the couches up front.

"Jackson," A voice said, Fern. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!"

Trying to shake off his drowsiness, he climbed out of the camper. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. The rising sun hurt his eyes as he looked over a rocky mountain in front of them. Bianca walked up beside him.

"Bianca," Jackson handed her the nemean lion fleece.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Something for you," Bianca took that as an acceptable answer and slipped the coat on. Jackson knew it's magical properties of being able to block bullets, but he kept quiet.

Thalia joined them, looking drowsy. "Apollo visited me last night," She said, rubbing her eyes.

"What did he say?" Jackson asked.

"Dreams like a podcast, Downloading truth in my ears. They tell me cool stuff. And he called himself Fred," Thalia said.

"Anything worth knowing?" Jackson prompted.

"He told us to stop by old Nereus if we didn't know what the doomsday monster was by the time we got to San Francisco," Thalia said after thinking for a moment.

"Guys, come here!" Annabeth called. She and Zoe were kneeling on the floor of the train, staring at a map. We joined her, looking at the line filled map of America. "Based on the time the sun has been rising and the slant of the land, we are roughly a hundred some miles from Las Vegas."

"In english please?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth huffed. "We're in the deserts of Nevada Thalia."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Thalia threw up her hands.

Before Annabeth and Thalia could start arguing, Bianca cut in. "Wait, did you say Las Vegas?"

"Yes," Zoe answered. "There we should easily be able to find transportation to California."

"No," Bianca shook her head hard. "I can't go to Las Vegas."

Fern and Jackson exchanged nervous glances. It was a dangerous line they were walking right now.

"It doesn't matter what city we go to at this point. What Annabeth is saying is over these mountains, we can find transportation. Why are we fighting? Let's get a move on," Jackson said.

Bianca looked grateful as they began to climb through the rocky mountain pass. After almost a day of hiking, they reached the bottom of the other side of the mountain. In front of them stretched a desert, empty and bare asides from the occasional cacti.

"We should stop here for the night," Annabeth said, putting her bag on a near by large rock.

"Thalia, can light a fire with lightning?" Fern asked.

The daughter of Zeus looked up, a little stunned. "I've never tried before, but I think I can."

"Good," Fern replied. "There is an old house over there that we should be able to get some wood from for a fire."

Soon their camp was set up. Zoe and Bianca collected firewood and piled it so Thalia could easily zap it. Fern and Jackson moved a few large rocks so that their backs were to the mountain, a semi circle of boulders around them. Annabeth dug through her bag looking for some food.

As they were laying out their sleeping bags, they discussed who would take what watch. "I'll take first watch," Fern offered.

"And I'll take second," Annabeth added. "You'll wake me up when your shift ends, right?"

"Of course," Fern replied.

"The stars are out," Zoe said.

She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Annabeth said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee."

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you."

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

They all laughed before everyone, except Fern, drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later, Fern shook Annabeth awake. After making sure the daughter of Athena was awake, Fern crawled into her sleeping bag and fell asleep.

Annabeth sat with her back to a boulder, flashlight and knife in hand. The sky was still dark, not even a hint of the sun beginning to rise. The desert was cold at night, so she was glad she was still in her sleeping bag.

A figure walked across the desert. As he came closer, Annabeth began to recognize him. His sandy blonde hair is shorter than she last remembered, but his twinkling blue eyes have not changed.

"Luke," Annabeth said, half in a daze.

"Annabeth," He replied, his smile adorning his face as he came closer.

Climbing to her feet, Annabeth walked the distance in between them. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see my favorite Annie," Luke said.

She hugged him before responding. "I'm your only Annie."

"I know."

Annabeth's good mood was swept away. "Where have you been, Luke? We looked everywhere for you. I missed you so much, and the good times we spent together."

Luke ran his hand through Annabeth's curls as he looked down at her. "I want you to come with me, Annabeth."

"What?"

"I want you to come with me. You, me, and Thalia just like the good old times. No one will ever be able to hurt you again. I'll be able to protect you."

"I want to, but where would we go?"

"The titans promised us a piece of land when they overthrow Olympus. I'll build the house that you design, and we can live there together forever," Luke promised.

"No, I can't," Annabeth backed up. "The titans are evil, the gods are good."

"Annabeth, don't you see? The titans will give us what the gods were too selfish to give. The titans will protect us and we'll never have to worry about monsters again."

"No, I can't, Luke."

"Then good bye, Annabeth," Luke turned and walked away.

"No, wait Lu-" Annabeth's world went dark.

When Jackson awoke the next morning, he could immediately tell something was wrong. He drank part of his canteen to clear his head. The sun was just breaking the tip of the horizon, casting an eerie light over the mountains. Turning around, he saw Annabeth slumped on her sleeping bag. Guess we couldn't trust her to stay awake during the watch. Zoe was sleeping peacefully while Bianca and Thalia were cocooned in their sleeping bags, scrunched down to the bottom. Then he looked over to his sister's sleeping bag. It was empty. Jackson forced himself to try and stay calm. She's responsible, she probably just went to get some supplies. He tried their mental connection. Imogene, where are you? IMOGENE! But it was blocked like someone had thrust a barrier in between them.

The ground began to shake violently. Zoe shot up, feeling the beginning quake in the earth. "Get up, get up!" She called. The others began to scramble to their feet. Then she saw Jackson.

He was standing in the middle of a perfectly round circle. All around him, the ground was shaking violently.

"Jackson!" Zoe yelled as she stumbled towards him. "Calm down!"

He turned towards her, green eyes ablaze. "Calm down! I will not calm down! My sister is missing and it is all her fault!" He lunged for Annabeth, pinning her to the ground with his sword at her throat. "What did you do with my sister?" He growled.

"I didn't do anything," Annabeth stuttered.

"Then why you asleep on YOUR watch?"

"I was knocked out."

"Explain, right now," Jackson demanded.

"Well, Fern woke me up for my watch before falling asleep. I was sitting by the boulder when Luke came across the desert. He talked with me and offered me to come with him. I accepted until he meant come with him until the titans. He walked away and then, I was knocked out."

"See? It's not her fault," Thalia tried.

Jackson turned on her. "You're taking her side on this? She was talking with the enemy!"

"He's not the enemy!" Thalia protested.

"I'm on Jackson side," Bianca walked over to stand next to him. "Our siblings would still be here if the campers hadn't interfered."

Everyone looked to Zoe. She was the last one to pick a side, determining the vote. "Annabeth had no right to mix with the enemy, however, we have more serious problems. We need to keep moving."

Walking over to Fern's things, Jackson began to pack them up, his hands shaking. A note fluttered out of her sleeping bag. They die on the solstice. His knees went weak as he slumped to the ground.

"Thalia, Annabeth, go find a car," He could hear Bianca instructing the others.

A hand touched his shoulder. Bianca sat next to him, comforting him the way he did for her after Nico had fallen at Westover Hall. Zoe sat a little ways off, unsure of what to do. She hadn't had much experience with this sort of thing. Bianca gently took the note from his hand. When she had read the writing, her hand went to her mouth, stifling a sob. The they referred to Fern and Nico.

"We'll get them back," Bianca promised.

An engine sound filled the air. An old tow truck rumbled down the road. The color was indescribable, it was in that bad of a shape.

"It's got a full tank of gas," Thalia told them after she shocked the engine to get it started again.

"Shouldn't we look for Fern first?" Annabeth suggested.

"We won't find her," Jackson said sadly. "One shall be taken in the land without rain. We're in a desert, a land without rain."

Annabeth drove with Thalia sitting next to her. No one expected Jackson to sit with Annabeth after what she had done, so he climbed into the back. Zoe and Bianca wordlessly followed him into the pickup bed.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. They had money to buy more gas, but it was a dead end road with no gas stations around. Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Jackson scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path," Zoe said. "We could get to the river."

He tried to see what she was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a tiny path," Annabeth commented.

"What about this path?" Bianca stood by a wide path with plenty of space to walk that sloped slightly upward. The group walked along the path, though Bianca and Thalia steered far away from the edge.

Soon a huge dam the size of a football stadium appeared. "Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

"The dam is seven hundred feet tall and built in the 1930s. President Franklin Roosevelt had been the one to support the project, however it was name after President Herbert Hoover. The dam had five million cubic acres of water and the largest construction project in the United States at the time."

Zoe stared at her. "How do you know all that?"

"It's my favorite United States architecture piece," She said. "We have to go see it. Come on!"

Annabeth went racing off towards the dam. "Crazy," Zoe muttered.

"We don't need another detour," Jackson grumbled.

On top of the dam, Annabeth was intently reading the signs and listening to tour guides. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges.

Fern's capture had made Jackson's job so much harder. The sparta were close, he could sense that. Now only two people of the group could kill them, Bianca, because she was a daughter of Hades, and him, Chaotic steele killed anything. Even if the others could use his weapons, there still wasn't enough weapons for everyone that would kill the monsters.

"We have to leave soon. The others weapons, besides Bianca's and ours, won't do any good against them," Jackson agreed.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said as the others rejoined them.

"You've been here before?" Annabeth asked.

"Once. To see the guardians," She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" Bianca asked.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?"

Thalia's expression darkened. She had come for some connection to her dad, but none had came. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

Bianca cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing,"Annabeth said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

Zoe just looked at us as they all cracked up with laughter. "I do not understand."

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Bianca said.

"And…" Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

Jackson remained unmoving as the others busted up laughing. Something was very off. Suddenly the wind died. His eyes widened as he scanned the area. The approaching monsters were close.

"Guys, we need to leave now," Jackson pulled his concealed axe out of his pocket. The others stopped laughing.

Two men walking slowly toward them from the edge of the dam. They wore gray camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly plowing into some old people. The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. They were surrounded.

Yes, I know that I left out the wild boar, but without Grover, that scene is worthless. I know I discluded the scene with the junkyard of the gods and Aphrodite, but this story is a little different.

Some of you might be asking, why does Jackson have earth shaker powers when he is no longer a son of Poseidon? Simple. His connection to water is a lot stronger in this story. There was water under the desert floor so that was making the earthquake when Percy was angry.

One last thing, I put a poll on my profile to see who you guys like the best so far in the story. Percy is not on the voting list, but I'll add more characters as they are introduced.

Remember to review and vote!

Thanks!

~Snow Wolfe6631~

P.S. Storm Rising gets updated next.