Don't own Percy Jackson. Not much anyone can really do about that.


Chapter Nine: Lost and Found

It had been a long and arduous climb, even for Grover, who was half goat, but the three heroes had finally been able to reach the top of Mt. Herbert. They were so high up that even Zeus' storm clouds were below them, giving them a view of the blue sky for the first time in what felt like forever. Unfortunately, the sun was out with a vengeance, forcing the team to look at everything with irritated frowns.

In front of them lay the icy bridge between the surface and Aeolia, the legendary floating island. The island itself was huge, as big as a football stadium and at least twice as high. The sides were made up of polished cliff faces, and the surface was covered in gardens and trees. There were also several buildings poking out of the foliage, most notably the enormous bronze palace looming in the centre.

Percy tried shaking off the soreness of his legs, raising an eyebrow at the ice bridge. "No railings? Well, looks like we'll need to hold hands. C'mon guys." He held out both his hands, which were decidedly ignored.

Grover tried to cover his eyes from the sun, but ultimately gave up. "So how d-does this work?" he asked, gulping at the sight of their next challenge. "Do we just... g-go? Is there like a n-n-net or something for when we fall?"

To his disappointment, Annabeth shook her head. "All we have to do is cross the bridge without falling off," she told them. "Sure it's... a bit narrow... But I'm sure we can make it."

Percy gave her a questioning glance, turning to look back at the bridge. Narrow may have been a bit of an understatement, especially considering that it was only about as wide as his shoe. Even worse, the storm winds were blowing with much more intensity than at the foot of the mountain, and it was a wonder how anyone before them had reached Aeolia without getting blown off.

With a sigh, he held out his hands once more. "I wasn't kidding about the holding hands thing." He gestured with his fingers, and both his companions reluctantly complied after figuring that it was better than falling to their deaths. They began, Annabeth first, then Percy, and finally Grover.

As they crossed the bridge, Grover marveled at their steady progress. "How are we n-not even losing any b-b-balance? I thought at least one of us would b-be hanging off the side at this point."

Percy and Annabeth shared a glance, twin grins on their faces. It had only been a day since Percy revealed his abilities to the blonde, but during that time she had proposed several new ways to use his powers, one of which he was using to make sure none of them fell off.

After telling her about how he concentrated atoms to expel a repulsive force, the daughter of Athena had proposed to do the opposite, and use an attractive force to stick himself to other surfaces. Not that he could stand on ceilings upside-down yet, but something like steadying himself on ice was easy enough to do. "I dunno Grover, maybe it's your hooves," Percy told the satyr. "Those things look like they'd have a pretty good grip."

Grover didn't say anything, and when the young demigod looked at his friend, he held back a snort at the satyr's attempts to not look down. Annabeth seemed to be doing fine enough, whether because she wasn't particularly scared of heights or because she trusted his skills, he could only guess. As for Percy himself? Well...

"Woah, what is that!?"

Both Annabeth and Grover reflexively set their eyes to the long drop below, and Percy slightly loosened his grip on their hands. His two companions yelled out, desperately clinging to his arms. The psychokinetic laughed, ignoring Annabeth's stern glare and Grover's hyperventilation.


It hadn't taken too long to cross the ice bridge, but the real challenge began on the island of Aeolia itself. Once they passed under the extravagant opening archway, which was made of some strange purple marble, none of the quest-members knew where to go. The place was full of wind nymphs, some walking around normally, but most hastily flying off somewhere, making it look like the entire island was being haunted by ghosts.

There were also many harpies, and Percy made sure to watch them very carefully. He'd sneaked out of his cabin late at night to practice his water control, or hydrokinesis as his blonde quest-mate had termed it, and it was then that he found out why everyone was so scared of sneaking out late at night. Needless to say, harpies wouldn't ever be mentioned on his list of favorite creatures.

As they strolled along the purple path, Percy started to get a little frustrated. "This sucks. Why can't we just go to that big castle? If Aeolus is anywhere, it'll probably be there."

Annabeth slapped him on the back of the head, eliciting a protesting grunt. "You've got to start thinking about these things," she admonished. "Even if he was there, it doesn't mean that he wants to see us. We probably need to go through some office or something."

"He already knows we're here though," Percy stated, earning him a questioning gaze from his two companions. "Besides how gods know pretty much everything, he could've just dispersed the bridge if he didn't want us to find him. It's in one of the myths that I learned in class."

Grover seemed genuinely impressed, while Annabeth's eyes lit up in realization. "Oh yeah," she said, "I forgot about how good your memory is. It's kind of weird having you say something that shows you actually know about things."

"Hey!" Percy shouted, irritation seeping into his voice. "I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm stupid. Sure I don't know some stuff, but I got all A's on my report card!"

His teammates looked at each other, then at him, and then back at each other. "Huh, isn't that something? Sill an idiot," Annabeth said, and Grover silently nodded. The two continued walking down the path, heading to some big administration building. Meanwhile, the psychokinetic looked on incredulously, and began to follow after them, muttering silent curses along the way.

The three quest members reached their destination, and when they opened the door they were met with a small waiting room. The walls were blank, the only thing notable being how they were made of the same purple material that had been prevalent in the island. They made their way to the wind nymph working behind a desk, who was calmly playing a computer game.

"Uh, miss?"

The nymph ignored Annabeth, slowly carrying on with her game of solitaire. Percy nudged Grover, and the satyr stepped up. He made a big show of looking around the room, tapping his chin in exaggerated gesture.

"Huh, is that a cigarette I smell?"

The nymph immediately straightened up, frantically searching the room. "A cigarette!? Who!? Where!? Wh-"

When she set her eyes on the three grinning children on the other side of her desk, her panic stopped, and the nymph could only groan. "Ugh. Really, kids? That's not funny you know, and any other wind nymph would probably yell at you for half an hour."

"Why don't you?"

"Eh," the nymph shrugged, "I just don't have that kind of energy. Working in a place like this can really take it out of you, y'know? Anyway, if you're here for the tour you can sit down. The guide's coming in a few more minutes."

Percy scratched the back of his head. "There's a tour?" He turned to the empty room. "It doesn't look like you get a lot of visitors."

The nymph sighed. "Yeah, well you'd be surprised at how many demigods usually come up here. This room used to have at least a few people at any given time, but a few years back they just stopped coming. Sure, we've gotten a couple here and there, but it's pretty empty these days from what I've heard. I wouldn't really know though, I'm new."

Percy already knew what she was talking about. Who would've known that Chiron's ban on quests would affect tourism? The two demigods and satyr took their seats, still close enough that they could talk to the wind nymph. Already becoming bored, Percy decided to do just that. "So, how long have you been working here, miss...?"

"Jessica," said the nymph, and Percy could tell that she appreciated him giving her something else to do. It must've been a pretty boring job. "I actually just got hired yesterday."

Percy perked up. "Yesterday? You don't look like you're new."

She really didn't. They way she didn't seem to care about her job, or how she slumped in her seat like she'd been there for years, none of it screamed 'new job!'

"It happens all the time," Jessica told them. "Lord Aeolus is very... bipolar, I guess. He fires his employes all the time." The nymph smiled, covering her lips to hide a giggle. "What he doesn't know is that there haven't ever been any new nymphs coming in, so whenever he fires someone, he replaces them with someone else he's already fired. It's a pretty inconsistent career, but at least we've got great job security."

"Oh. Well, you know the tour right? Like, what they show us," Annabeth asked, and Percy held back his groan. The daughter of Athena was always on task, and that was okay, but he was trying to have a conversation.

"Of course I do," Jessica responded. "Lord Aeolus doesn't just hire anybody to do something." She paused at at that. "Well, he usually doesn't just hire anybody. You can never really tell what's going on in his head..."

"I can see that..." Grover muttered. "Why is everything made out of that purple stuff? What is that, anyway?"

Jessica leaned her cheek against her hand. "I guess I wasn't clear when I said Lord Aeolus was bipolar, because I'm telling you, he's really bipolar. That's a special kind of stone that can change color whenever he wants..."

The three conversed with the wind nymph for a few more minutes. It turned out that she was very friendly, at least after they got past her apathetic attitude. Even better, according to her the tour they were taking part in would take them straight to Aeolus' office, so all they had to do was wait.

"Here she is," Jessica stated as another wind nymph entered the room. She wore a purple hat, purple shorts, and a purple short-sleeved shirt that said 'Ask me if I've ever been to Aeolia!'

"Hi kids! My name is Beatrice, and I'll be your guide for today!" she said, her excited voice reverberating around the room. Jessica sighed at the cheery nymph, turning back to the three quest-mates.

"Good luck on your quest. Don't worry about Lord Aeolus, he might be a little..." she searched for the word, "eccentric... but I'm sure he'll help you guys out."

The quest members stood up and followed after Beatrice, who was already heading back outside. "See ya later Jessica! Hopefully you won't get fired again for at least another week!" Percy said, waving his hand in goodbye along with his two friends.


"As you can see, the Observation Deck has the best view in the entire island. Just be sure to watch your step!"

Beatrice giggled at her own joke, and the the two demigods rolled their eyes. There wasn't any point in watching their step, since the floor was all there, just made out of glass. The Observation Deck was just a big glass room bulging out of the side of the island, and it wasn't really any better of a view than they had on the ice bridge.

"G-Guys? Can we g-g-g-get out of here?"

Percy palmed his face. "Yeah G-man, let's keep going."

The group left the Observation Deck, Annabeth having to drag Grover and his wobbling legs out. They kept walking until they reached a hallway with a wall full of windows. Instead of looking outside, they revealed a gigantic room filled with... stuff. It was filled to the brim with things from all shapes and sizes, whether it be an acoustic guitar or a rolling chair. The three looked on in awe, Grover forgetting all about the treacherous height.

"What is that?" The psychokinetic asked, spotting an X-box lying on top of a bed mattress. "This room... Where'd you guys even get all this stuff?"

Beatrice beamed, a proud smile stretching across her face. "That, my little charges, is what we at Aeolia call the Lost & Found Room. As the legends say, everything lost eventually makes its way to our floating island, carried here by the wind. Isn't it wonderful?"

Grover pointed at something. "Is that a piano!? How can the wind carry a piano?"

Beatrice ignored him, and continued with her presentation. "As you can see," she said, pointing to something in the room. It took a few moments for Percy to find want she was pointing at, but he finally spotted the sizable square hole on the floor, right in the center of the room. "That is where everything comes in. There is a platform hanging below it, just in case anything falls off, but it is always inaccessible to the public."

Percy turned to their tour guide. "How do you go down that platform, anyway?"

Beatrice floated over to a door in the wall. "Behind this door is a ladder that leads down into the room, and from there anyone may jump down onto the platform. Of course, not you three."

Annabeth, tearing her gaze away from all the possible treasure, looked over at the nymph. "Wait a minute, why do you guys have a gaping hole under the island? There wouldn't need to be a platform under it if you just put the entrance in the side. That way there isn't any possible way for all the lost things to fall out."

Beatrice flashed her a strained smile. "That would be a good idea, honey, but I'm afraid that it wouldn't be very aerodynamic."

"Having a hole under a floating island doesn't seem very aerodynamic either."

"That's why Aeolia flies with the power of magic, child."

"Then why does it matter if it's aerodynamic or not?"

"Moving on," the wind nymph said, and she hurriedly continued on her way. Percy chuckled, holding out a fist in Annabeth's direction. With a roll of her eyes, the daughter of Athena bumped fists with him, though the smallest of smiles could be seen on her lips.

"C'mon Grover let's- Grover?" Percy sent a strange look to his satyr friend, who seemed lost in a trance. The two demigods looked to where Grover was looking, and both groaned in annoyance. "Grover, let's go man," the psychokinetic told his friend, grasping his shoulder.

"But... But it's just so beautiful," Grover muttered, and a bit of drool started forming on the edge of his mouth.

Annabeth grasped the satyr's other shoulder, and together the two demigods dragged their friend away from the window. "I know you like them Grover, but it's time to go," the blonde told him.

"But-But-But-"

"No."

"Can we at least come back later?"

"No."

Grover sighed, almost sounding like he was in pain. Annabeth could only shake her head. "Can you believe him?" she asked Percy.

The young demigod shrugged his shoulders. "No, but that's what we have to put up with." He looked back. "I didn't even know there were enchilada stands. I guess you learn something new every day."


"That concludes the end of our tour!" Beatrice exclaimed, sounding almost relieved. "Now be sure to stay respectful in Lord Aeolus's presence, especially you," she sent a glare at Annabeth, and the blonde scoffed. The wind nymph shook her head and left, muttering something about disrespectful kids.

The three quest members were left alone, facing the big bronze doors to Aeolus' office. With a gulp, Annabeth stepped forward, placing her hand on the handle, and after a deep breath, opened the door.

The room itself was big, but pretty empty. The walls were red, changed from purple, and several paintings were hanged asymmetrically. There was also a large window that almost covered the entire wall opposite of the door. The only furniture was a rainbow colored sofa facing a wooden desk, with a fancy executive chair behind said desk. Sitting on the chair was who the three could only guess was Aeolus.

He wore a blue suit that looked like the sky, with clouds somehow moving around its fabric. The god looked old with his slick white hair, but his face was smooth, making Percy guess that Aeolus as one of those old people that wanted to look thirty years younger than they really were. Like any other type of plastic surgery, it was a big failure, and just made him look like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

"Welcome, heroes!" the wind god exclaimed, flying out of his chair and landing right in front of them. He vigorously shook each of their hands, and then went back to take his seat. "Sit down, you three! Would any of you like something to eat?"

Sitting down on the sofa, all three quest-mates silently groaned. After Christian Peters, they had enough of overly excited old men offering them food. "Actually," Annabeth began, wanting to get straight to the point, "we were hoping you could do us a favor."

Suddenly, Aeolus' face twisted in rage. "You mean that the only reason you're here is to ask for a favor!? That's ALWAYS the reason people come! Why can't demigods ever just show up for a visit or something!? For the first time in ages I see three nice-looking kids and all they want is to ask me for things!?"

Percy's impatience had slowly been building up all day. First they had to slowly cross some stupid ice bridge, then they had gotten lost, then they had to go through some tour, and now this guy was going to get angry with them? "Yeah that's why we're here! What'd you expect, for us to come here for the view!? You better do what we ask you to, or else the whole world is pretty much screwed, ya hear me!?"

Annabeth and Grover could only look on in shock and panic. It was a really bad idea to snap at a god, much less demand something of them.

Unfortunately for them, Aeolus seemed to share their opinion. "LISTEN HERE KID, I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING YOU TELL ME TO DO! I COULD BLOW YOU THREE OFF THIS ISLAND WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT, SO YOU BETTER SHOW SOME DAMN RESPECT! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! FIRST ZEUS WITH HIS GODS DAMNED STORM AND NOW SOME PUNKS WHO THINK THEY CAN GO AROUND LIKE THEY OWN THE PLACE!?"

Annabeth desperately waved her hands, trying to calm down the wind god. "Lord Aeolus, we are so sorry, really! Please forgive him, he can get a little heated at times!"

Aeolus immediately sobered, but instead of a smile or a grimace, his face twisted into a sad frown. "It's not his fault, not really." The wind god set his tearful eyes on a perturbed Percy, who was counting his lucky stars that he hadn't been blown up. "I am sorry, child, but things in Aeolia haven't been going very well. It's hard enough to keep up with what weather all the other gods want, but now Zeus is hogging the entire schedule. I'd do something about it if I could, but Zeus is just too powerful."

Percy didn't know what to say. He'd been told that Aeolus was bipolar, but this was a bit much. "Uh... well, no problem... er, sir," he said, scratching his cheek.

Annabeth glared at Percy, who guiltily hanged his head. It's not like he was trying to make the guy sad, he just hadn't fought anyone all day, and he really needed to take his frustrations out on someone. "Percy," the blonde said sternly, "I'll try to make a deal with Lord Aeolus. How about you go wait outside?"

The psychokinetic wanted to protest, but all his arguments died in his throat when he caught Annabeth's look. With a grumble, he stood up and walked out of the door.

Closing the big bronze door, Percy wondered what he could do now. It would take a decent amount of time for Annabeth and Grover to finish, and there was no way he would spend it just waiting out there.

The psychokinetic then remembered about the Lost & Found Room. Technically, only employees were allowed in, but then again, there was an X-box just lying around. Percy went off with a grin, promising himself to not take too much free stuff.


When he reached the door leading down to the Lost & Found Room, Percy couldn't believe his luck. Aeolus must've been either too forgetful or too confident, because he hadn't encountered one guard the whole way there. He twisted the handle, climbed down the ladder, and the next thing he knew he was surrounded by free things.

The young demigod walked around, every once in a while plucking something cool out of the pile and stuffing it in the bag Ares gave to him. Most of it was just for fun, like a Gameboy Advance, black sunglasses, and the fake Indiana Jones hat he'd found, but Percy had managed to find some pretty useful things too, like a small celestial bronze knife, and a wooden, but strong slingshot.

Suddenly, he heard a clatter behind him. He turned around, reaching for his pocket, but sighed when it turned out to just be a few things falling onto the platform. The young demigod walked over and looked down the hole at the metal platform hanging a few feet below. It seemed sturdy enough, being held at the corners by four metallic ropes, and it wasn't really dangling around as much as he'd thought it would.

With those thoughts in mind, he leapt off the edge, landing solidly on the platform, which only moved forward a bit. He looked up, and sucked in a breath. 'Now this is a hell of a view,' he thought.

The whole underside of Aeolia was beautiful. Several of the strange, color-changing stones, now green, popped out of the rocky surface, but more importantly, it was covered by veins of a glowing blue material. 'I've never seen anything like that before,' he thought. 'It kinda looks like neon, but... different. I guess this is the floating magic that tour nymph was talking about.'

All of a sudden, there was another sound behind him. Unlike the last one, this was definitely a person, the footsteps told him that much. He turned around, Riptide in hand and shield equipped, and wasn't really surprised to see the hooded man from before staring back, Laelaps silently growling beside him.

"You again," Percy said, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. "I was wishing you'd just leave us alone, but I guess it was too much to hope for. How'd you cross the bridge? Aeolus wouldn't of let you up here."

The hooded man shrugged. "I've got my ways," he said. "Demigod powers and all that, though I'm sure you wouldn't know." He crossed his arms, cocking his head to the side in a way that reminded Percy of... well, himself. "You can stop trying to act impressive you know, it doesn't really suit you."

Percy scoffed, shifting his feet in a more open position in case the man tried anything. "Look who's talking. That hood might work for everyone else, but you aren't fooling me, Orion."

The man chuckled, removing his hood to reveal the young face that Percy remembered from his dream. "So you figured it out. I have to ask though, how could you possibly know who I was?"

Percy eyed Laelaps, who seemed to be growing impatient with the conversation, before setting his eyes on the sharp green that mirrored his own. "I had a dream about it. I didn't really get it at first, but when you showed up I could've sworn I saw that bow before."

Orion narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Damn that Morpheus. I could swear that the only reason he ever bothers to wake up is so that he can entertain himself with our dreams."

Percy stepped forward, but Laelaps gave a great bark, making him take a step back. "Why are you doing this Orion? I thought you were one of the great heroes. I get that you were kind of screwed over, but isn't this a little extreme?" asked the young demigod.

Orion's face darkened. "Why am I doing this? Simple. I hate the gods. Especially those two monsters, Apollo and... Artemis." The name was spat with much venom, more than Percy thought possible. "That bastard Apollo brought me to a deserted island, one I couldn't leave for eternity, no matter how good I got with my aquatic powers. I couldn't hunt, I couldn't eat, I couldn't do anything. I went mad, and I would've stayed that way of it wasn't for my master."

Percy gulped, never before hearing someone talk with so much anger, but he didn't miss that last comment. "What master?" he asked.

Orion chuckled, his previous fury disappearing. "Heh. That is the question isn't it? Who sent me to look for you? Well, I wouldn't be very good at what I do if I just told you, would I?" He chuckled again when Percy glared at him. "I will tell you this, child. Give me your bag, and I'll make the death of you and your companions less painful."

Percy gritted his teeth. "Ha ha, very funny. I'm kinda in the middle of saving the world though, so how 'bout we make this quick, 'kay? We fight, I beat you up, and me and my friends go on our way."

Orion gave a bellowing laugh, taking his bow in hand. "While your confidence is commendable, you and I both know that you aren't a match for me."

Percy dashed forward, but Orion didn't react. Instead, Laelaps leaped towards him, and the young demigod had to raise his shield to defend himself. Luckily, crashing into a bronze shield didn't seem to do the monster dog any good, and when it landed it wasted a few precious seconds trying to get itself back together, seconds which Percy took advantage of.

The psychokinetic landed lightly on his feet and threw his shield at the dog. Instead of just hitting it, Percy held his hand out and swished it through the air, directing his shield to literally push Larelaps off the platform. The last he heard of the legendary dog was a long whine that quickly faded away.

Orion merely stood there, watching on like if it was just a movie. Percy retrieved his shield, turning back to the legendary archer with a satisfied expression. "That was way too easy. If you're gonna send monsters out to fight for you then at least make 'em strong."

Orion shook his head. "Laelaps was more of a tracker than a fighter. Your friends must've been really weak to have as much trouble against him as they did."

Percy glared. "My friends are strong in their own ways! Now shut up so I can punch you in the face!"

Orion smiled. "Heh. As foolish as you are, you aren't one of those boring heroes, I'll give you that." His smile shifted into a frown. "You are strong though, much stronger than many of the demigods in your camp. Join us, and you'll surely get plentiful rewards."

Percy scoffed. "Like I'd ever do that. Don't even try, you're just wasting your time."

Orion glared at him, and Percy prepared himself to dodge, but the attack never came. "Why?" Orion asked. "Why side with the gods? Have you already been turned into a minion of Olympus?"

The question took him by surprise, but the young demigod wasn't about to let some guy call him a minion. "Hell no!" Percy shouted. "I'm doing this 'cause I want to!"

"Are you? That camp, it is merely used to turn you into mindless followers! Can't you see that? Have they already taken your free will?"

"They haven't taken anything! No one's controlling me!"

"Maybe not explicitly," Orion said, and Percy sent him a confused look. "Look at the evidence, child. You are forced to sacrifice food to the gods before every meal, correct?"

Percy shook his head, tightening the grip on his sword. "No one ordered me to do it. You don't know what you're talking about!" The psychokinetic charged at Orion, but the man leapt away, landing ten feet away.

Orion gave the young demigod a piercing stare. "Being ordered to do something is different than being forced. No one told you to do it, but what if you hadn't?"

Percy's response was silence, and Orion continued. "If you didn't sacrifice to the gods, you'd be perceived as different, as an outsider of some level. That is just one example of how you are being subconsciously turned into a pawn. Mere children being taught how to fight-"

"We have to learn! If we don't, we'll get killed by monsters!"

"The stronger a demigod gets, the more intense their scent gets. Wouldn't the best way to achieve survival be to keep every camper as weak as possible?"

The psychokinetic wanted to respond to that, but he didn't know how. As hard as he tried, he couldn't think of anything.

"In fact, isn't your camp being used as we speak to fight against Hades' forces? If the purpose was to survive, why must they pick sides in this conflict? Wouldn't the best way to stay alive be to stand back and let the gods fight it out amongst themselves?"

Percy didn't know what to say. On one hand, the young demigod really wanted to shut him up, preferably with a kick to the groin, but on the other hand, Orion had a point. Would he have gotten accepted if he didn't do as everyone else did? Why did no one in camp speak out against defending Olympus from Hades' monsters?

"Even with all we do for them, the gods still don't appreciate us demigods," Orion continued. "The Hermes cabin is a prime example of this. Another thing..." He searched Percy's eyes. "Have you been claimed, child?"

Percy looked away, glaring at the ground. "You haven't," Orion deduced, and Percy flinched at the reminder. "Don't you see? You're on a quest to save the gods, and yet your own godly parent hasn't even given you their support. They forgot you."

The psychokinetic looked up, glaring at Orion. The man took an unconscious step back, surprised at the sheer intensity of Percy's scowl. 'This... This guy...' thought the young demigod, bending his knees. 'He's wrong. He has to be! No matter how much sense he makes... No matter how much evidence he has... I can't believe anything he says! My gut tells me he's wrong, and that's all I need!'

Percy charged at Orion, and the older demigod sighed in disappointment. "Hmph. I suppose you are too far gone. So be it."

Percy reached Orion in record time, and attacked his enemy with a flurry of slashes. Like before, Orion deftly dodged them all, though with a bit more effort. It looked like his plan to recruit the young demigod had backfired, and now his anger fueled all of his attacks.

Orion attempted to kick Percy away, but in a surprising move, Percy parried his foot. The psychokinetic stepped forward with a downward slash, but Orion twisted out of the way. The legendary hero tried jumping away, but Percy soon caught up to him, and they went back to their violent dance. Seeing that he couldn't get any distance, Orion dropped his bow and took out a knife hidden in the sleeve of his hoody.

Percy slashed diagonally, but this time, Orion met Riptide with his own blade. The two began a dangerous close-range battle, and Orion cursed himself for not training with much other than his bow. As it was, the legendary archer's superior speed and strength was the only thing that kept him from getting shish-kabobed.

The young demigod slashed upwards, and Orion sidestepped. The man tried catching Percy in the side, but the psychokinetic blocked with his shield. He slashed horizontaly, but Orion front-flipped over Percy, and tried to roundhouse kick him in the head. Percy ducked his head and tried to cut the legendary man in between the legs. With a panicked yelp, Orion blocked with his knife and twisted over Riptide.

Suddenly, a wooden table flew in, being carried up to the Lost & Found Room by a turbulent current of wind. Percy held out his shield arm and took control of the table, sending it right at Orion, who jumped out of the way just before it smashed down on the ground, breaking it into pieces. Not giving up, the psychokinetic took control of all the broken pieces, getting them to orbit around his body with great speed. He engaged Orion again, and this time the legendary archer couldn't fight Percy and avoid all the sharp wooden pieces at the same time.

After receiving more than his fare share of shallow cuts, Orion grunted in annoyance. He held his free hand out, pointing it at Percy. The young demigod suddenly started getting tired and thirsty, and then realized that Orion was removing all the water from his body, the little droplets coming out of his skin and conjuring together in Orion's palm. He hastily constructed the wooden pieces into a ball and sent it at Orion, breaking the man's concentration and forcing him to drop whatever attack he was planning.

Unfortunately, Percy let himself open, and Orion kicked him, getting the young demigod right in the stomach. With a victorious grin, the ancient hero jumped away to the other end of the platform and raised his hands up. Above him, a ball of water formed, becoming bigger and bigger. Finally, when the ball of water was at least twice as big as himself, Orion swung his hands down and 'threw' the aquatic ball at Percy.

When the young demigod looked up, he was met with the sight of an extremely pressurized ball of water heading towards him at a dangerous speed. He quickly twisted his body around and threw Riptide straight at it, increasing the sword's velocity with his powers.

That wasn't all however, as he had also used his powers to coat it with many air molecules, sharpening it and increasing its length. 'I owe Annabeth so much right now,' he thought, gritting his teeth at the exhaustion brought by the new maneuver. Water molecules might've been difficult to control because of their unpredictable nature, but air molecules were downright chaotic.

Riptide cut straight through the water ball, splitting it in half and dispersing all the pressure built up, and the water fell on him as a light drizzle instead of a cannonball. Holding his hand out, Percy directed his sword to fly at Orion, intent on ending the fight. The legendary man, surprised at Percy's counter to his powers, barely dodged the spinning sword. The psychokinetic kept up his assault, moving the sword around in haphazard and random motions, but Orion avoided all of his attempts.

Finally, Orion seemed to get tired of dodging, and exaggeratedly clapped his hands together. Water exploded from his body, throwing Percy's sword out of his control and over the edge. The archer twisted his body around, arms stretched out, and all the water on the platform formed a ring around his body. He condensed the water and made the ring as thin as possible. Spinning his right arm in the air, the ring of water became smaller, until it formed a spinning disc above the palm of his hand.

"Do not get into a battle of powers with me, foolish child, for I have mastered my own!" Orion exclaimed, and then threw the water disc at Percy. The young demigod, not confident that his shield could block such an attack, dodged out of the way, and yelped in shock when the disc followed after him. Soon, their positions were reversed, with Orion trying to cut Percy up into little pieces, and Percy trying his hardest to avoid such an outcome.

"Percy!"

Both opponents looked up at the entrance to the Lost & Found Room, and Percy smiled when he saw his two friends, along with Aeolus himself. "Guys! A little help!"

Orion cursed when he saw then coming down. "Well, it looks like this will have to wait for later," he said to Percy, before being blown off the platform by a strong gust of wind.

The water disc fell to the ground, forming a puddle. Aeolus walked to the edge of the platform and looked over the distance. "Good riddance," the wind god said. "I hate intruders. They always have to make a ruckus. Speaking of which..." he turned to Percy, "what exactly are you doing in here? This area is restricted."

Percy chuckled nervously. "Uh... Y'know, just browsing.k"

Aeolus shook his head. "I suppose it doesn't matter, though I will expect this to count as another favor."

"Wait, what?" Percy asked. "Another favor? There's more than one favor?"

"Yeah, you can blame us for that one."

Percy turned to Annabeth, who was completely expressionless, save the mischievous sparkle in her eye. "What did you do," he asked, dreading the answer.

"Lord Aeolus agreed to grant us our request, as long as one of us fulfills a favor for him in the future. I discussed it with Grover, and we both agreed that you'd be the best one for the job."

"And now you owe me two!" Aeolus commented cheerily.

Percy groaned, then looked at a sheepish Grover. "Really man? How could you betray me like that?"

Grover held his hands out in surrender. "Sorry Percy, but you know... you weren't there..."

"Not my fault!"

Annabeth gave him a deadpan look. "Yes it was, Percy. You need to learn how to control your temper."

Percy sighed, but couldn't hold back his smile. Even if his friends had more or less gone behind his back, they had still saved his butt. Speaking of which...

He turned back to look down the edge of the platform, and groaned when he saw a small cloud floating off. It had a darker tone than the ones in the sky below, and Percy just knew that Orion was using it to get away. He turned around and sighed in disappointment when he saw that Orion's bow was gone, probably being carried away by the legend himself.

"Who was that guy anyway? I'm guessing he was a son of Poseidon because of all the water, but why would he attack you?"

The young demigod turned to Annabeth, who had stepped up next to him. Grover was still a few feet back, refusing to come anywhere near the edge. "It was that hooded guy from before," Percy said. For some reason, he couldn't make himself reveal the man's true identity, and it bothered him. Not that he'd let it show. "He got away, but I'm sure he'll be back later."

Annabeth sighed. "My quest is just getting more and more complicated," she complained. "When we get back, I'm going to need a long break. Preferably in a library. Or on a bed."

Percy chuckled. "C'mon, let's get off this island. I'm getting tired of being a few thousand feet too high."

"Hear hear!" Grover shouted.


Later that night, the three quest members found themselves heading straight to L.A. Karkinos was as comfortable to sleep on as ever, which is to say not at all, but Percy didn't think he could've slept anyway.

Have you already been turned into a minion of Olympus?

Percy rolled over, getting on his back. Maybe a different position would help him go to sleep.

The gods don't appreciate us demigods, the Hermes cabin is a prime example of this.

Percy grunted. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about it? Orion didn't know what he was talking about.

They forgot you.

"Shut up!" he screamed.

"Percy? What was that?" Grover's voice sounded.

Percy turned around, lying on his side. "Nothing G-man... It's nothing..."

The young demigod waited for the satyr to go back to sleep, and then tried to do the same thing himself. But no matter how long he closed his eyes, or how many sheep he counted, Orion's voice kept him up all night.


AN:

Well there you go, another chapter done. Actually, I'm pretty sure that the first part of this story is almost done, just a few more chapters left. Of course, who knows how many more parts there'll be after this one...

Anyway, the hardest part to write in this chapter was definitely Aeolia. I just didn't know how to describe it, because the wiki didn't say much about how it looked, but I eventually just decided to write it however I wanted it to look and there you go.

And yeah, I wasn't gonna drag out the hooded man's 'mystery' since it wasn't much of a mystery at all. There's enough to do with this character without his 'secret' identity.

Our heroes have struck a deal with Aeolus, and are now finally on the last leg of their quest! Will they make it into the Underworld? What of Percy? Will his doubts go away, or change him for the worse? Find out next time!