Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Camp Half-Blood or mythology. Rick does. Well, at least the characters and Camp Half-Blood.

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Chapter 18

The war god was waiting for them in the diner parking lot.

"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap," Thalia said angrily.

Ares gave her a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

"Watch who you're calling stupid, you little—"

"Thalia, shut up," Percy growled. "Not worth it."

Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which Percy could only read because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

"You're kidding," Percy said.

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Thalia. Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos.

"Thanks," Thalia muttered.

Percy grabbed the bag from her and slung it over his shoulder. He could almost feel the master bolt's presence, but neither Annabeth nor Thalia knew. They couldn't know. Not yet.

He looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served them dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt them. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of them.

Percy turned back to Ares, who was giving them a smug look.

"Watch out, punks," he said. "Hades isn't forgiving of trespassers. Especially his brothers' children. You're never coming out of the Underworld alive."

Percy scowled. Ares was just a big bully. He was a coward. He wasn't a powerful god. "You're pretty smug, Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Percy felt a hot wind in his hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.

Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."

"Stupid gods," Percy snapped. "I wish they didn't exist. Treating us like tools."

He stormed off toward the truck.

Annabeth and Thalia weren't far behind, and after they climbed in the back of the big rig, they closed the doors behind them.

The first thing that hit him was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.

The trailer was dark inside until he uncapped Riptide. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals he'd ever seen: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some antelope he didn't know the name for.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!

Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

"Humane zoo transport?" Percy said stoically.

He felt like going outside to beat up the truckers, but just then the truck's engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit down or fall down.

They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Annabeth was in favour of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but he pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, the lion looked pretty hungry. He didn't feel like being eaten alive.

Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.

Annabeth and Thalia worked on cutting the balloon of the antelope's horn, and when they were done, the daughter of Athena wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but Thalia convinced her that it would be too risky with the truck bumping around.

Percy somehow managed to talk to the zebra—Annabeth suggested it was because the zebra was from the same family as horses were—and told the zebra to tell the antelope and the lion that they would help in the morning. The zebra told him the antelope would understand. The lion… not so much.

When he was done, he noticed Thalia and Annabeth settling in for the night.

Both of them decided to sleep on their backpacks. Thalia was actually lying down and was staring at the dark ceiling. Annabeth sat up and opened the bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly.

Percy wondered whether the gods were watching them now in this dark truck, like they had this whole way. He couldn't stop thinking about the Hephaestus trap. Even though he was only on tape for the end, he couldn't help but think the gods were still watching him invisibly or something. That was the part that worried him the most.

Chiron had always told him the gods probably didn't know his true intentions, but if someone like Hades knew about him from a young age, who knew how many gods watched him do all sorts of things. The gods could have been watching him and Luke as they discussed their plans against Olympus.

His thoughts were interrupted when Annabeth spoke: "Hey, Thalia. I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park."

"'S alright."

"It's just…" She shuddered. "Spiders."

"Because of the Arachne story," Percy said. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest. Ever since then, Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever side."

"Yeah. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you guys."

"Mhm," Thalia mumbled. "Good call on staying up there, Percy. We would've broken bones if you hadn't slowed the momentum."

"Luke made me swear to protect you guys," he shrugged. "I don't break promises if I can help it."

"You sure?" asked Annabeth.

"Well, I try my best."

"Well, thanks," she said appreciatively.

They rode in silence for a few minutes before Annabeth looked up from her Oreo and said, "Percy, can you… can you come over here for a moment?"

He crossed to the opposite side and sat down to make a triangle between the three of them. He placed Riptide in the middle to act as a source of light. Annabeth took a deep breath and sighed loudly. Percy gave her an expectant look. "What is it, Annabeth?"

"I didn't tell you everything I heard in the Iris-message," she said. "And what Luke said has been bothering me ever since."

"What did he say?" Thalia asked with interest. Apparently she didn't know either.

"It's just that…" Annabeth bit her lip. "How do I put this? Um, well, Luke said he trusts you with his life. But the way he spoke about you at the car wash didn't sound like he was complimenting you. He did say to me once that he hated quests and thought they were a waste of time, and I can't help but notice his tone was always a little hesitant around you. At first, I thought it had to do with him wanting you to trust him. But then there's something waiting for us in the Underworld you know about but can't tell us. It just makes me wonder…"

"Can you trust me?" Percy guessed. "It makes you wonder if you can trust me or not."

"You've saved our lives more than once, Percy, and I'll never forget that. But you can't deny that it is suspicious."

Percy looked down. Why was Luke trying to blow his cover?

"Actually, that is a fair point," Thalia said. "I mean, you can tell us something, Percy."

He sighed and stared at Anaklusmos. "You have absolutely no reason to trust me. In fact, you can abandon me any time you want. So far, you two have chosen to stay by me. Mainly because I threatened you, but I mean, you don't have to believe what I say, even if it is partially true. I'm the one most gods are after, because after all, I'm not a child of Zeus."

"What are you talking about?" she frowned. "That's not—"

He wasn't exactly sure what he was saying and why he was saying it, but the more he spoke, the more he realized he was revealing. He was pouring out his innermost thoughts, like wearing his heart upon his sleeve.

"People are more afraid to kill children of Zeus than children of Poseidon," he said. "I just… everything little that has happened since I was a kid hasn't turned out the way I want things to. I can still hear my step-father in my nightmares, like he's a tattoo burned into my flesh. My mom died, and all I could feel was guilt and anger. I wanted revenge for whoever did this, but at the same time I blamed myself for what happened. It feels like I'm just a toy… a puppet. I've trained at camp for six years, but I feel don't feel mentally prepared for the outside world. I feel like I'm six years old again. I ran away from camp because I was a coward. I let Grover die. And here I am, bringing you two to death."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "It's not your fault Grover died."

"Yes it was!" he cried out. His vision blurred. "I could have fought side-by-side with him. I could've helped him. But I stood there like the useless Seaweed Idiot I am and watched him die. Now, Hades is going to kill all of us and it's because of me and my stupid revenge."

"Percy!" Annabeth said. "Percy! Snap out of it! You're not going to kill us."

"I should've died instead of my mother," he croaked. "She didn't deserve death. I'm a traitor. I deserve death."

"Percy, what are you talking about?" Thalia said. "Why are you acting up?"

All of his emotions seemed to catch up to him. He was walking them into the trap. He could tell them right now. He could tell them the bolt must've been inside the bag. But something in his gut told him he needed to get to the Underworld. He needed to prove the threat. Percy wanted to tell them so bad. He was tired of hiding. He was tired of being alone. He was tired of dishonouring his mother.

Suddenly, the world tumbled into darkness, and he heard a loud thud! And then he slept and dreamless sleep.

When Percy woke, Annabeth was shaking his shoulder. "The truck stopped," she said. "They're coming to check on the animals. Hide!"

She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared.

He and Thalia had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped they looked like turnips.

The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his stupid nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

Percy tensed, but Thalia put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

The trucker threw the antelope a squashed Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? You like magic shows. You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looking straight at him.

Free me, lord, he said. Please.

There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.

The trucker inside yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice outside shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

Knock, knock, knock.

Eddie yelled, "What banging?"

Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.

A second later, Percy had his sword out and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.

The zebra burst out. It turned to him and bowed. Thank you, lord.

Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street.

There was yelling and screaming and cars honking.

There was no time to waste. As Maurice and Eddie ran after the zebra, Percy slashed the locks off the cages of the other two animals. They both bowed before him and then ran off into the streets of Las Vegas.

"Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

They stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay three dying kids much attention.

"We're not dying, Percy." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Seriously. Have you never been out in this heat before?"

"Well… have you?" Percy asked.

"No, but I'm not whiny."

He pouted.

They passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. They passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty.

They didn't really have a planned destination. Percy wasn't sure what they were looking for, but once they took a wrong turn, they found themselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers—lotus blossom, maybe. It would fit with the whole Lotus Casino theme.

The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

Percy knew to be suspicious, but Thalia nodded tiredly. "Anything to get out of the heat."

The moment he stepped inside, Percy's jaw dropped.

The whole lobby was a giant game room. And not just cheesy old Pac-Man games and slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food imaginable.

"Hey!" a guy in a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt greeted them. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

Annabeth stammered, "Um, but…"

"No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."

He handed each of them a green plastic credit card.

For some reason, Percy didn't think this was an explicit trap. The man was actually being genuinely nice. Percy took the card and said, "How much is on here?"

His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

They took the elevator upstairs and checked out the room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun to shoot clay pigeons over the Las Vegas skyline. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though with a room like this, Percy doubted they'd ever find time to look at view.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is…"

"Awesome," Thalia grinned. "Totally awesome."

There were clothes in the closet, and they fit Percy. He frowned, thinking that it was a little strange. But the thought quickly passed and he shrugged.

He took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. He changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than he had in a while. In the back of his mind, some small problem kept nagging him. There was something sad. He was supposed to be sad. But the harder he thought about it, the faster it slipped from his mind.

He came out the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Thalia had also showered and changed clothes. Thalia was drinking her fifth can of Coke, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel.

"All those stations," he told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting."

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," Thalia said suddenly. "Eh, whatever. It can wait."

"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"

Thalia smirked deviously. "I don't know about you guys, but for me it's play time." She held up their green plastic Lotus Cash cards.

Percy spent most of his time playing FBI sharpshooter and eating.

Annabeth was playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D Sim game where people could build their own city, and they could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. Percy smiled when he remembered how Annabeth wanted to become an architect.

The more he thought about it, the more he could visualize Annabeth running around a room using giant rulers and measuring tapes, making dozens of blueprints for an enormous building, like a skyscraper, with extreme precision, and the less he thought about her drawing quietly. After a while of staring, Percy decided to look for Thalia.

Chewing on a slice of pizza, he walked through giant rows of video games. It took him three slices of pizza to finally find her. She was having an argument with some guy in a weird looking tracksuit. He sighed. If he didn't stop her soon, she'd zap the guy with a lightning blast. It would get ugly really fast.

"You are a fiiiine lady," the guy said with a wink. He looked fifteen.

"Shut up and leave me alone," said Thalia with a scowl.

"So bodacious," he admired.

"What the hell does bodacious mean?"

"Oh come on, it's like, totally hip!"

"What?"

"Just relax." He stepped toward her. "I'll show you how to play the ball. I'll ease ya into first base. We'll get ya to second and then third. Then we'll finish off with a homerun. It'll be bitchin'."

"Get the hell away from me, pervert," Thalia snapped.

Percy stepped into the fray. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Thalia." Percy turned to the guy. "What do you want?"

"Back off, tard. She's mine."

"Tart? Isn't that like a dessert."

"Step off."

"Step off what?"

"Man, first fine girl here and she has a boyfriend."

Percy felt his face getting warm. "I'm not her boyfriend. Just lay off her. Clearly, she doesn't want to be bothered."

"Psh, your loss," snorted the guy. "Could've had the ace of the class of '89." Then he stalked off.

Percy turned to Thalia and asked, "You all right? Saw you getting harassed so I thought I'd help."

Her face was pale for some reason.

"Urn, Thalia?"

"Follow me," she ordered.

Percy followed her as she began to talk to people. It was harder, especially because most other people were addicted to whatever they were doing. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. The two of them found a guy who told them it was 1977. Another guy told them it was 1993. They claimed they hadn't been in there very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care.

"If there's one thing I know for sure," Thalia said numbly, "it's that this year is not 1993. Or '77."

"It's only been like a couple of hours but—" Percy remembered the Lotus on the front of the hotel. "Hey, isn't there a Greek myth involving a lotus or something?"

Thalia looked like she was racking her brain. "Well, there's the land of the Lotus-eaters. Odysseus ran into them. His crew ate the lotus plants and never wanted to leave… again. Oh my gods, we're in the modern day version of the land of the Lotus-eaters." She cursed in ancient Greek.

"Come on, we have to find Annabeth," Percy decided.

She nodded and they ran off.

As they jogged through the machines, Thalia said, "Thanks for, you know, helping me out back there. With that kid from the '80s."

"No problem."

"Urgh, you make it so hard for me to hate you."

"I feel flattered," he replied sarcastically.

"In the grand scheme of things, you seem untrustworthy," she admitted. "But with everything we go through, it seems like you're helping us every step of the way. Every ounce of doubt we're fed is washed away by, well, you. Ironic as that sounds."

"I see."

"I don't even know why that kid was hitting on me," she said. "I was just lining up for food."

"It's probably 'cause you look fifteen."

"What?"

"Well, he looked fifteen to me. You kind of look fifteen. Maybe fourteen. To be honest, you're the mature-looking one of our trio."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Yes, that's a compliment." He gave her a reassuring smile. "I guess he thought you were good-looking. Hope Luke won't be miffed by that when he asks us how our campaign went."

She rolled her eyes and slowed down to a speed walk. He slowed down to match her pace.

"Shut up, idiot," she muttered. "And, um, about the night in the truck. You—you kind of fainted. But you were muttering stuff all night. Annabeth and I were awake for a while, just listening. Whatever… whatever's happened that's doomed us all… if it comes down to sacrificing one of us for the sake of saving Olympus, I'm willing to do that for you, Percy."

He gave her a bitter smile. "I told myself I wouldn't put you in the position of the prophecy. Remember, I'm older than you. I told myself to claim the responsibility of the Great Prophecy. I don't think we've ever spoken about the Great Prophecy to each other. When it comes down to that, and if we're both still alive, I'm not letting you die to save or raze Olympus. That lies on me."

"Percy, I can handle myself—"

"The threat to Olympus is more than just a god thing, Thalia. I know Annabeth should be here to hear this, but the threat that is hitting us is greater than an Olympian. Have you ever heard the saying about how history is bound to repeat itself?"

"Yeah."

"What was the first great war that the gods fought?"

She thought about it. "The Titanomachy. The war between the gods and the… the Titans." She went wide-eyed. "Annabeth was—I mean…"

"What?"

She didn't answer.

"What?"

"It's… it's nothing."

"Okay..." Percy continued, "Well, like I was saying, the threat isn't an Olympian. Actually, it's not Hades at all. Sure, the gods fight amongst each other but they wouldn't steal each other's weapons. They aren't that desperate for power. What… what did you hear me mumble whilst you were stalking me in my sleep?"

She tensed and he could tell she was flustered. "Whatever," she snapped. "That's not the point. At first, we thought you were dreaming of Hades. But last night, you mentioned someone else. You spoke about Luke and other things of the sort. He knows who the enemy is, and he thinks you're working for the enemy, doesn't he? Now that I think about it, Annabeth is right. Despite the kind things he says about you and how much he insists, the tone doesn't reach his eyes."

"I thought you said I could go on the quest because Luke told me that I was good?" Percy asked.

Thalia flushed. "I was… blinded."

He thought hard. "Blinded by what?"

"I… I—it doesn't matter. What matters is that he's right. You do know the enemy. But if it isn't Hades, who could it be?"

"You're going to kill me now, aren't you?" he presumed. "You think that I'm the thief and that I lied to you about everything just so I could betray you in the end, just like all the hints point to."

"That's the thing, Percy." She bit her lip. "We don't think you stole the bolt."

"What?" He was surprised.

"Annabeth because she believes something about you I don't think I could ever understand. And I because I understand something about you she can never understand. For years, I thought I was alone. I thought I was the only one who knew what it was like. When I ran away from home, I admit I thought about revenge against the gods. Things happened to me and my family. The gods were the cause of everything. My dad left me. Other gods took things away from me I held dear. Hades tried killing me, and you saw what happened to Grover because of that. Hades killed your mother. My dad tried killing you. Your dad didn't send you a message until you were ten. That's what I understand: the feeling of being sought after to be killed or to be used as a weapon. Then Annabeth and I made it to Chesapeake."

"You made a recording," Percy recalled.

"You found it?" Thalia said, pleased.

He nodded.

"Well, then you know how I felt after it. You know my reasons. I know you can do the same, Percy. You don't have to choose the dark path. I'm not going to copy the gods and kill you because you've a threatening son of Poseidon. You've made bad moves, but you regret them, and that's enough for me to believe that you can change. Annabeth believes that too. Revenge isn't going to solve anything."

"I—I guess…" He suddenly realized something. "Haven't we wasted a day in real time talking?"

She nodded solemnly. "Come on. Annabeth's just over there."

Annabeth was still building her city.

Percy shook her. "Annabeth?"

She looked up, annoyed. "What?"

"We need to leave."

"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers—"

"This place is a trap," Thalia said.

She didn't respond until Percy shook her again. "What?"

"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"

"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes."

"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

"So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"

Percy grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game.

"Hey!" She screamed and hit him, but nobody else even bothered look at them. They were too busy.

Thalia helped him, but Annabeth was slippery.

Finally, Thalia managed to tangle their legs, which gave Percy the chance to grab Annabeth's cheeks and make her look directly in his eyes. He said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders."

That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we—" She went red. "Why are you so close to my face?"

His face felt hot. "Whatever. Come on, let's go!"

As they neared the exit, the Lotus bellhop hurried up to them. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Percy told him.

"Such a shame," he said, sounding like he meant it. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members."

He held out the cards, and Percy almost wanted one. But he knew there would be no escape. They had to leave now.

"No thanks," said Annabeth.

The three of them burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk.

It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day they'd gone into the casino, but something felt different. It felt drier and hotter, if that was possible.

Ares' backpack was slung over his shoulder, which was odd; because he was sure he didn't have a backpack on when he was roaming around in the lobby. And neither Annabeth nor Thalia had their backpacks on, like they'd left theirs up in their room, room 4001. But at the moment, he had other problems to worry about.

He ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods; it was the same year it had been when they went in. Then he noticed the date. It was the middle of May. They'd been gone for over a month.

The front headline on the newspaper read: NATURAL DISASTERS: HURRICANES AND THUNDERSTORMS WREAK HAVOC ON EAST COAST; EARTHQUAKES AND TREMORS IN THE WEST.

True, there was no deadline to get the bolt back, but it wasn't missing anymore, and Zeus would surely know that. He could return it and regain the gods' favour. So why did his instincts keep telling him to go west?

"Let's go," Thalia said darkly. "I'm going home: Los Angeles."

Wearing your heart upon your sleeve, just like Iago, eh, Percy? Difference is that you're kind of okay with that. Anyway, I'm not sure if there is anything I need to clear up about this chapter. Let's see... the reviews:

BridgeOfKhazadDum - Yes, you're helping boost my ego! Thank you very much!

The Budder Golem - Not yet...

percyjacksonfan14 - It's not called being smart. It's called reinforcing the fact that Percy is separate from the other two. He feels that way, which affected his decision.

Theon Azul - Updated one day after you reviewed, though if you're reading this, you're probably reading it a day or two after I've posted it.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews, even though there were only four. Despite the first three chapters having 12, 11 and 11 respectively, and a huge drop off from there aside from chapter 6 with 13 reviews, I'm glad you are all showing support just by reading this. You don't have to review. It's only to boost my ego if you feel like boosting some strange dude on the internet's ego. It's a good fresh start reminding me I have to work hard and think of something that will capture the reader's attention, even though the current chapters will be very generic.

DON'T FORGET! IF YOU HAVEN'T VOTED ON THE POLL, DO SO! Thanks to the 23 or 24 of you who have voted so far, and as expected, Idea #3 is winning by a landslide. Current results ****SPOILER*****NOT REALLY****:

Idea #1 = 2 votes (this was a short, sweet story... might turn it into a one-shot in the future)
Idea #2 = 1 vote (surprised; this was more popular in the last poll when it had about 30 votes out of 100)
Idea #3 = 15 votes (LANDSLIDE INCOMING!)
Idea #4 = 6 votes (this is most likely going to be the story I will write after "Rise of Time.")

*********REAL SPOILER**********
"Son of the Sea: Rise of Time" is the single and final entry of the series. Horrible plot twist, I'm afraid.

***************END OF SPOILER********************

If you read the spoiler, well, you probably shouldn't have because I might have ruined the story for you. If you didn't, I'm just making you more worried. :P

Thanks,
Sharky