About an hour later, the three of them were on a bus headed west. It been awhile since Percy had been on public transit, and he couldn't say he missed it. There was some creep staring at Annabeth, and some smelly bum who kept trying to sleep on the shoulder. Too many hours later, they got off in Indianapolis. The air was crisp, the ground was covered in a layer of white, and the Sun reflected like a mirror off the glassy surface of the snow.

Annabeth, who suddenly had a great idea, turned to the others and said, "Guys, we should totally get each other presents while we're here. It's going to be Christmas in a couple of days, we shouldn't give up getting each other gifts just because we're on a quest."

Percy replied, "That's a great idea, but I think, since I'm the only one with a credit card, and you two only have so much cash that we should each only get a gift for one other person. Like, Annabeth could shop for me, I could shop for Thalia, and Thalia could shop for Annabeth."

After looking at the contents of their wallets, the others agreed wholeheartedly, and they all rushed off in different directions to buy things. Percy just happened upon a place called the Mediterranean gift Emporium. Walking inside, he saw scaly green man behind the counter. Percy was a bit taken aback, but he didn't particularly smell like a monster, so he decided to have a look inside.

"Welcome to my shop, began manager, how may I best suit your needs. Maybe a snow globe, or porcelain angel, it is the Christmas season after all, and I can find a gift for any…" the man stopped, staring at Percy's t-shirt. "Well, my little demigod friend, if you'd like I have a special section for you in the back."

The man pushed open a door that read 'authorized personnel only' in big capital letters, and motion for Percy to go inside. As he moved around the counter, he could see the man was more than just a little scaly. His entire bottom half was snake... Percy became even more skeptical that this man or snakes intentions for him were entirely store related. That being said, he figured he'd might as well see what the man had to offer. Maybe if he bought something, he wouldn't be murdered.

Inside the door, Percy found a much larger storefront. They were racks and racks of weapons, scrolls, armor, potions, monsters in cages, and even in the back, cases of nectar and ambrosia. Percy was perusing the shop, when he saw something he thought would be perfect for Thalia. On a neck stand, was a small silver necklace, with a yellow diamond set in the middle shaped like a lightning bolt.

Percy called the man over, saying, I'd like to buy this, how much does it cost." The shopkeeper slithered over picked up the necklace, and placed it on a mannequin.

"I must tell you, sir, you have good taste in jewelry. This particular piece is quite special," he replied and tapping the small lightning bolt in the center of the amulet. As he did so the silver spread and darkened turning into a polished bronze chest plate with bountiful curves in the chest area. "Of course the necklace will accommodate any body type, so long as it is female. It is said Hephaestus crafted this piece himself once for a favored mortal warrior of Zeus's. I believe her Janice, or maybe John, no that's a man's name… Joan, that was it!"

"Joan of Arc?" asked Percy and the man's face lit up. He said that that was definitely the one. Impressed Percy pulled out his Lotus Card and handed it to the man. He feigned a smile, as though he didn't want to take his card, but had to because money was money. With one swift motion, the man put the necklace in a box, swiped the card, drew up the receipt, and placed the receipt in front of Percy to sign. Percy pulled out Riptide and put into pen mode so he could sign the bill, which, according to the receipt, was a hefty 849.99 drachmas, when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello? Anyone in here?" cried Annabeth as she wandered the mortal side of the shop.

The store owner called out, "We're in the back, come on in."

As Annabeth opened the door she jumped and bumped over a spear rack when she saw the man ringing up Percy. Annabeth motioned towards the snake saying, 'Onster-may ehind-bay ou-yay,' to which Percy glared back, 'I know, be cool...' When the shopkeeper saw Annabeth he nearly melted out of his scales. He slithered over to her, a pinkish hue in his olive scales.

"My dear demigod, you look so lovely, just like your mother. Never have I seen such beauty in a mortal since the age of heroes."

"Umm," began Annabeth, not sure whether to be more concerned that he thought she looked like her mother, or that he might've thought she was a child of, gods forbid, Aphrodite, "My mother is Athena, not Aphrodite," but she was cut short.

"But of course she is. Athena, my sweet Athena. So dearly did I love her, alas she was a physically chaste goddess, and my mind was not of par with hers. Ah, I'm droning on aren't I. Allow me to introduce myself. I am former King Cecrops I. Long long ago I founded a great city in the name of your mother, but as it was close to the sea, Poseidon believed he had claim to it as its patron."

Annabeth cut Cecrops off, "Wait, then you're saying YOU founded Athens?"

"But of course," replied the king, "Now my dear I will allow you, for your mother's sake, choose any one item from my selection of legendary and magical items, free of charge, just allow me to conclude this sale over here." Annabeth looked back at Percy as she began to wander the rows of clothes. He signed the receipt, Cecrops pulled out a large leather bound ledger and the snake wrote in the small box Percy had just bought. As he slithered back over to her, Annabeth spied a blue track jacket that looked like it would be just Percy's size. She took it off the rack and held it up. The color was so vivid. Annabeth knew Percy would love it.

"What can you tell me about this jacket," Annabeth asked.

"Ah, a fine gift for the winter months. It's made of…" began the king, but Annabeth cut him off.

"How did you know it was a gift?"

"Well, I assumed since your friend…'

"My friend? How did you know we knew each other?"

"My dear, my affection for your mother will only get you so far," hissed Cecrops," I am not on her level, but I am not daft. You both smell strongly of the same strawberry field, meaning either you are demigods who are day laborers from...," he took a breath of the air around Annabeth, "New York? or you are from Dionysus's camp on long island. Also, Mr. Jackson was wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt, and your bag has CHB monogrammed on it." hissed

"I'm sorry, I thought maybe you were like psychic and were gonna use my brain against me. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened." Annabeth apologized.

"As I was saying, it's made of borean giant fur, making it very warm and wind resistant in winter, entirely hydrophobic, and moderately cut resistant. I'm sure your friend would love it."

Annabeth blushed and walked back over to the register where Cecrops gave her the "Athenian Discount." Annabeth asked if CHB could be put on the back and with a swipe of his hand there it was. Apparently, Athena had gifted Cecrops with more than just an olive tree Cecrops wrapped the jacket in a nice box and even wrote up a card for it before wishing Annabeth a Merry Christmas.

Annabeth walked out onto the sidewalk to find the wind howling even more than before. She ran down the street and ducked into the first cafe she came across. She turned around only to find Thalia and Percy already waiting for her, sipping on some hot cocoa.

"Babe, we're over here!" called Percy motioning towards himself. When Annabeth sat down she saw the others had also finished their shopping. Percy had his small, square, hinged box and Thalia had one that was about the length of a shoe box, but not quite as wide.

"Hey," said Thalia, "since we've all gotten our gifts, why don't we just give them while it's convenient. Who knows where we'll be in six days."

"Yeah, and maybe on the quest if we have to, we can use the gifts we got each other."

The three of them each opened up their presents simultaneously. In the package that Thalia got for Anna Beth, the long bronze dagger. Thalia had remembered that Luke had originally gotten his knife in Indianapolis, and she had headed over to the store where he bought it in order to get one that was exactly the same as the one she lost in Tartarus.

When Percy opened his present, his eyes lit up. The blue monogrammed jacket Annabeth had bought from Cecrops was just perfect. Annabeth explained all the bonuses that came with it, like it being warm and protective, meanwhile Percy took off his old coat in order to put the new gift on. Next, Percy handed Thalia the box that container medallion. Percy insisted she put it on, even though it wasn't quite her style. However, when she put it on, it morphed into a black choker with the same lightning bolt in the middle. When Talia touch the lightning bolt, she was surprised defined it folded out into a full chest plate including arm guards

.

That night, they all got a motel room, and stayed up way past the camp curfew watching reruns of Friends and Full house. Percy couldn't remember the last time you had this much fun on a quest. Meanwhile, Thalia couldn't get the memory of her dream out of her head. Over and over again, she saw Percy's face go evil and stared in horror as Annabeth was torn to pieces.