Sorry I haven't updated this and my other stories for a while. Writer's block.

I think this story will be ending in maybe at like thirty-something chapters, because I just want one battle, and I don't want to write two... Yeah.

But I have like two or three other stories planned (though I kinda want to do a collab on one of them), so hopefully there won't be a huge wait.

ICECREAMROCKS don't dis me- You are freaking awesome. That'd be pretty interesting, only I'm like thirteen. And this would need a whole lot of revising and reviews always make me smile, as creepy as that sounds. :)

Rhyolite56- Thanks so much for your review! I'm really glad you like it. :D

I'm still aiming for 100 reviews! And remember, I post my chapters a bit earlier on my Tumblr and sometimes post sneak peeks and other story ideas, so go check that out too.

"I see," Hestia hummed as she gave us plates of salad and chicken. "Are any of you vegan?"

"Nope," I said. "Can I ask how you know Nico?"

"Nico's a sweet boy," Hestia said when he was out of earshot. "He's been through a lot, and I can see where he's coming from. He's nice to talk to."

I thought about that for a second. Every time I tried to talk to Nico, it would always end up ending awkwardly or in a fight. Not the best talking buddy.

We had moved to the dining room and sat around a wooden table. It didn't really look like a hotel, but the food was definitely better than a five-star restaurants. The aura of the hotel just reminded me of home. Or maybe the home that almost everyone has that I had always wanted.

Hestia sat at the head of the table as we started digging in. The food was gone in seconds, but luckily Hestia brought some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I immediately grabbed one, and my heart ached when I ate it. It reminded me way too much of my mom.

"I never really liked Othrys," she sighed. "Even though I'm part of Olympus, I try to maintain good relationships with other companies. I'm usually sent out for meetings or negotiations. We knew what they were doing for quite some times now, but we couldn't make a move."

"Why couldn't you have just said it on the news?" I asked.

She smiled sadly. "I'm one of the least famous Olympians, and so people don't listen to me as often. They wouldn't take me seriously. And plus, since the famous twelve, known as the Council, got tested on too, it was cause a huge mess."

"We need to go back to the school," Annabeth said. "We need to save the others."

I nodded. "And Kronos might be there right now. There's no telling what he might do."

Hestia winced. "Actually, he arrived several days ago."

"What?" I said, and dropped my cookie.

"He didn't make a move as of now, but he will soon," she said.

"We need to leave right now," I said, and got up.

"Wait, but we don't even know where we'll bring them!" Nico said.

"Bring them here," Hestia said. "I'll close my hotel for the week. There are a lot of rooms, and they can room with each other."

"But is that okay with you?" Nico asked.

"Of course," she smiled. "I'll do anything to help."

"Thank you, Hestia," Annabeth said.

"Nico, maybe you should stay here," I said.

"No, I'm going," he said.

"We need you here."

"For what reason?" he shot back.

"We need to try to find Grover and Rachel and alert them," I said. "We don't know where they are and they're a part of this too."

Nico opened his mouth to think of an argument, and scowled. "Fine."

"Percy, here!" Annabeth said. She pressed her palm on a brick, and it clicked back into a tunnel.

"Stay safe," Hestia called.

"We'll try," I said, and we delved into the Labyrinth.

Annabeth unraveled the string and threw it in front of us. It started rolling away at rapid speed.

"Do you know where we'll pop out?" I asked as we ran.

She shook her head. "I'm hoping we'll come out somewhere inside the building near the dorm rooms. I'm not sure when we'll come out either. Hopefully not too long."

The string veered sharply to the left and I almost ran straight into a brick wall. Annabeth took the time to turn back and snicker.

"Shut up, Wise Girl," I said.

"Watch where you're going," she said.

We ducked as an axe swung over our heads. We took a few more turns and jumped into a chute like a slide. We slid out of the other end into a mucky sort of substance that I didn't want to know what it was.

I slid out first and Annabeth landed on my back.

"Ow," I said.

"Sorry," Annabeth said sheepishly.

"How much did you eat at Hestia's?"

She punched me in the subject. "Well, aren't you a gentleman?"

We were standing so close to each other, our faces only a few inches apart. My heart felt funny and it started racing faster.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Almost there. Don't give up now."

The words give up sounded sweet in my ears. Why was I doing this? I could just leave the others there and just live happily on my own. I don't have to risk my life for this.

But they were my friends, and I didn't want anyone's death on my conscience. I couldn't leave Annabeth behind either. Annabeth wasn't that different either, and she wasn't complaining.

Annabeth slammed the hilt of her dagger into the wall and it fell forward… only it wasn't Goode.

"What?" I said. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"I-I think so," she said. "I mean, I was thinking of Goode, but…" She trailed off. I never seen her so lost for words.

We were surrounded by clouds, and there was literally nothing around us. It was like a dream.

"Is it a mountain?" I asked.

Annabeth shook her head, mystified. "There are voices over there. Let's go check it out."

We crept quietly on the dirt road. I couldn't tell if we were on a really high mountain or if we were really floating in the sky. After all the things I've been through, it wouldn't be the craziest thing.

"Out of all the places, you just had to take me up to the sky!" a female voice said. "You know I'm scared of heights, Luke!"

Annabeth's eyes widened and she squeezed my hand.

I gritted my teeth. Luke was here? That traitor. I looked at Annabeth and wondered if she actually had Goode as her destination in mind when she let go of that string. Maybe she had been thinking of Luke? I clenched my fist.

"Whatever, Thalia," Luke snapped. "You're alive, and you should be happy that you are."

"I'd rather be dead right now," Thalia said in a deadly tone. "I mean, who'd want to be alive for like what—three or four years?—only to be experimented on?"

"Thalia," Annabeth breathed. A tear fell down her cheek. "Thalia's alive."

The voices grew farther and Annabeth pulled my arm. "Come on."

"Wait, what if we get caught?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Annabeth said.

We ran up the trail where it opened up to a bigger clearing with more nothingness. There was a fence blocking the other side, like what the heck? What's the point of that if things can come in through our way?

There were two people; Luke and a girl who looked like a mixture between punk and goth.

"Thanks to you, I've stopped aging physically, and I got these what, weird lightning things?" she yelled.

"You didn't age mentally either," Luke muttered. He took a deep breath. "Thalia, you have to help me. You're the only one I have."

"Right," she said sarcastically. "And I'm supposed to believe you. I remember you were there while they were injecting things into me, and you were just standing there all smug."

"I have monsters on the other side," he warned.

"Why, are you too weak to fight me by yourself?" Thalia said. "Let's see what you can do… besides hiding behind your army."

Luke glared at her and unsheathed a sword that I haven't noticed until now. "You're going to regret this."

"Ditto."

Thalia pulled out a Mace canister and flicked it. It expanded into a spear and she brandished it at Luke.

"You stole that from the lab," he said.

"After being stuck there for a few years, of course I did," she said. She pulled out a Yankees cap from her pocket. "And this too, though it's not for me."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "What is that?"

"Daedalus gave it to me while you were too preoccupied with your 'master,'" Thalia said. "He said to give it to Annabeth. You lied, Luke. You told me she was dead."

Annabeth started sobbing silently, and I hugged her tightly. I made sure we were hidden well behind the clouds.

Luke lunged at Thalia with his sword, but she quickly dodged it. She slammed her spear into his back and he fell face-first onto the ground. She was about to stab him, but Luke quickly retaliated with his sword. Thalia held her ground.

Electricity crackled from her spear.

"Yield! You'll never be able to beat me, Luke!" Thalia yelled. She pointed her spear at Luke and the electricity blast him in his chest.

Annabeth gasped.

"We'll see about that, Thalia," Luke said.

He raised his sword and the sky rumbled. It suddenly turned dark and I saw a dark shadow in the sky.

"It can't be," Thalia gasped.

Then it lightened again, and Thalia was pushed to the ground with Luke's sword at her throat.

"Are you ready to give up now?" he sneered.

"Never," she said.

"I tried," he sighed and raised his sword for the kill.

"No!" Annabeth said and ran out into the open.

"Annabeth, wait!" I said.

Annabeth shoved Luke out of the way, and Thalia jumped up to her feet.

"Annabeth," Luke said, and his expression hardened. He clapped his hands and the gate on the other side slid up slowly.

"Run!" I said.

Annabeth whirled around, kicking dust in Luke's face.

"Thalia, come on!" Annabeth said, and we ran for it. I turned around and saw the monsters pouring in.

"Back to the Labyrinth!" I said. "It's the only way. But where are we exactly?"

"It's a limbo part of the Labyrinth. Someone else usually stays here, but they kicked them out," Thalia narrowed her eyes. She looked even scarier up close. "So you're Annabeth's friend."

"Uh, yeah."

The monsters were right on our tails. It was like time was slowing down. One of them nocked an arrow and nearly hit me.

"We won't make it," I panted.

"We will," Annabeth said. "Just a little more."

I parried away a strike and stabbed one of the monsters. "I'll hold them."

"Percy, don't," Annabeth said.

I tried to push both of them away, but only managed in pushing Thalia. Or maybe she went on her own because she didn't care.

"Annabeth, you have to."

"You're going to die."

"If you stay, we're both going to die, and Thalia will be killed too," I said. I looked at her straight in the eye. "You don't want that, do you?"

"But…" Annabeth fingered the Yankees cap that Thalia had given her during our run, trying to think of a good excuse.

"Just trust me," I said as the monsters surrounded us. "You can do that much right?"

Annabeth looked like she was going to punch me, but instead she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain."

She put on her cap and disappeared, but it seemed completely normal compared to the kiss. I stood there motionless as the monsters closed in.

I shook myself out of the daze when an empousa jumped at me. I quickly uncapped Riptide and swung through her waist. I kept slashing at the monsters that came too close, but it seemed endless. I looked behind me. I hoped that they got out safely.

I knew I wouldn't be able to kill all these monsters—at least, without being killed myself. My powers, I thought. Water.

But where was the water? I looked around me, but only saw clouds. Clouds. They could count as water, right?

I concentrated on drawing the water from them, but resulted in nothing. A hellhound bit my sword arm. I yelled, dropping the sword, and I felt the familiar pull in my gut. Maybe I was hallucinating, but I could hear the sound of ocean waves. I let out another scream, and the water came to me. A huge waterfall came pounding on me and the monsters and I felt myself fall.

Please let Annabeth be safe, I thought, as I plummeted through the sky.