It's longer! Life is good and I got a poo load of homework over spring break. I would like to thank Privatepayne for the nice words about my stories :). It means a lot. Hmm, I think that's it. Remember to leave your thoughts in the form of a review. Oh wait! One last thing. Is there anything I can do to make the story better (a.k.a. any constructive criticism you'd like to give me)?

Disclaimer: Don't own PJO.

Percy POV

Well, life officially sucks. Annabeth has gone up to Olympus for an unspecified amount of time and my mother has gone who knows where. I was staring at the counter in the kitchen when I heard someone enter behind me.

"Hey Punk! What's up? You look-" She paused and examined my face. "Depressed."

I gave a huge sigh. "I suppose I am. Life just isn't going the way I wanted it to."

"Ah well, I suppose being dead is worse. Or is it Henry singing One Direction? Hmm, I have to consult this issue." She sat beside me with a bowl of peanuts. "Oh and Punk?" She flicked a peanut shell at my head. "Some girl was outside the cabin. She was asking for you."

I raised my head at this. "What girl? What did she look like?"

She shrugged. "I didn't take notes. She did look a little emo or something." She popped another peanut in her mouth and threw the shell across the room into the trashcan. "Oh! She had this weird crown like thing on her head. I have no idea what that thing is about. Is she like demigod royalty?"

At the mention of the tiara, I perked up. Thalia! I jumped off my stool. "Thanks Sam. Gotta go!"

"Hey, wait! Where're you going?"

"To find that girl. See you later!"

"You are so weird Punk." I heard Sam mutter under her breath as I exited the kitchen.

I ran out of the cabin and looked around for my cousin. "Thalia?" I called. No response. Just peachy. I set off at a quick pace and soon heard the distinct thud of arrows hitting a target somewhere off to my left; the arena.

"Percy!" A voice called as soon as I walked into the arena. "Finally!"

I turned and spotted Grover waving in the stands. "Hey G-man. What're you doing here?"

Without speaking, Grover pointed to the center of the arena where someone was shooting arrows two at a time into a target 9 feet away with precision. I knew that archer anywhere, but the silver tiara was a dead giveaway.

"Nice going Pinecone Face." I called, waving.

She turned and gave a very un- Thalia like squeal of delight. She dropped her bow and ran towards me, embracing me tightly. "Percy! You're not dead! Thank Artemis."

I patted her back slowly. "Yeah, not dead. Why would I be?"

"Haven't seen you since that day you and Annabeth defeated Circe. That was like-" She counted on her fingers. "Almost a month and a half ago. You and Anna promised to catch up with Death Breath and me."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, sorry about that Thals. Kind of got caught up with some stuff."

She nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. I heard about your mom. I'm so sorry Percy."

I looked down sadly. "Yeah. I just don't know what to do. She's out there somewhere and I can't do anything to help her. What is she's like- being tortured?"

"Percy-" Thalia placed a hand on my shoulder. "Your mom is a strong women. Artemis admires her even though she's a mortal. She'll be fine." Thalia stared off into the distance. "I wonder how Annabeth's dad is doing. Frederick is not exactly brave."

I snorted in disbelief. "Really? You sure about that?"

Thalia eyed my suspiciously. "Pretty sure. Why are you so doubtful?"

I slung an arm around my cousin and led her over to the nearest set of bleachers. "Let me tell you a story…" I spent the next half hour regaling her with my tale of my third quest. "Jeez Thals. You were on that quest remember?" I reminded her at the tale end of the story. "I would have like to think you'd remember Annabeth's dad leaning out of a plane blasting monsters with homemade ammunition. It was so freaking awesome!"

She gave me a funny look and rolled her eyes. "Well of course I remember I was on that quest. I was a little distracted at the fact that Zoe was in pain and about to die."

A sharp little stab of pain shot through me as I remembered the 3,000 year old huntress that died from a fatal blow from her dad. "Yeah, I almost forgot about that."

A look of concern graced her features. "Have you heard from Nico?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I think he usually has to help his dad."

"Actually, he's traveling." Said a voice behind us.

We both whipped around to find Hazel standing behind us. I stood and hugged her.

"Hey Hazel. What're you doing here? Last time I saw you we finished taking Gaia down."

She hugged back. "I just got here. We're combining camps remember? The Romans decided to send a couple of us ahead of time. It's just Frank, Reyna, and I for the time being. Jason and Piper decided to stay at Camp Jupiter to oversee to rest of the moving." She pulled away and placed her hands on her hips. "And really Percy? 300 years? You never call, you never write!"

I grinned sheepishly. "I was busy getting my butt kicked everyday by Sam. Sorry though."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Through a call would have been nice."

"So, you mentioned Nico was traveling?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah. Dad has him checking out major holes out of the underworld. But I haven't heard from him in a while. Maybe he's back. I can take you if you to dad's palace if you want."

Thalia nudged me with her elbow. "I would. I worry about the little emo."

I turned to Hazel. "Sure. When do we leave?"

She held out her hand and I took it. "Right now." She replied, dragging me sideways into the darkness.