It took only a few minutes for them to reach the highway, finally getting out of that infernal place.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods." She turned around to face the other members, "Where's the boy?"

Percy snapped backwards, "He was just behind me!"

At that moment, an ear splitting roar made them wince.

"The prophecy." Grover muttered, "One shall be lost in the land without rain."

Percy shook his head, "No, no, we need to look for him."

"Yes, if you think you can just abandon hi-"

"I agree." Zoe's words made Thalia stop, and stare.

She raised an eyebrow, "What? He's a member of the quest."

"We don't have time to waste," Percy said, walking back in the junkyard. "Let's go!"

It did not take them long to find him, the sounds of battle and the roaring mass of shadows guiding them straight towards him.

"Valen?" Percy said tensely, taking a single step forward.

Valen had both his weapons summoned and was surrounded by dozens upon dozens of half rotten skeletons. Only his blue eye was visible, swimming in misty darkness as it eerifly lighted that part of his face. But the most surprising part had to be his outfit. Which had changed to the toga he had gotten when he was claimed.

As he watched, Stormguard and his spear dematerialized into his ring and tattoo.

He turned towards them, making him flinch. He walked past him, past the other members of the quest and glanced back, "Let's move."

For once, no one argued, not even Zoe.

At the end of the junkyard, they found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so they decided to borrow it.

The car was silent as they drove, Valen sitting in the back and focusing on his breathing.

His rage had begun dying out, his mind clear once again. He remembered the line in the prophecy.

"One shall be lost in the land without rain." He said, startling the others. His eye had returned to normal now, but his toga remained. "It did not mean death, I see that now."

Thalia nodded from the driver's seat, "It was literal, someone would get lost but they would be found."

"Or lost in rage." He added, "Either way that's one less death to worry about."

"What happened to you back there?" Percy asked, turning back to face the boy, "I've never seen you that pissed."

Valen scoffed, even thinking about it made him angry, "Nothing important."

"It had to be important if it bothered you that much." Percy pointed out.

He wouldn't look them in the eye, instead staring out of the window, "It's personal."

Thankfully they didn't push it any further.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

Valen scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

"That's a goat path," Percy said.

"So?" he asked.

Valen glanced at his legs, "We don't got hooves buddy."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

Valen narrowed his eyes, "I could raise parts of the cliff to act as footholds, Thalia could use the winds to stabilise anyone who loses balance. Percy could keep a pool of water below just in case one of us fell."

They stared at him as if he had grown a second head, "What?"

"Are you sure you are not related to Athena?" Percy said said.

Valen frowned, "I'm pretty sure Hades is my pops."

"What about your mother? Could she have been a demigod?"

"She was one," Valen said, trusting theem with the information, "But I've yet to come across a child of Athena with red hair."

"Thy mother was not a daughter of Athena." Zoe said.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "You know something about her don't you."

"Emily Steensen was a Huntress." She said, "That's all I know."

It was not all she knew

Zoe wouldn't meet his gaze, "We should go."

Percy coughed awkwardly, "I, uh, think we should go farther upstream."

Grover said, "But—"

"Come on," I said. "A walk won't hurt us."

Valen kept staring at the Lieutenant of the Hunt, they would have that conversation again.

.

.

.

That confirms it, I'm surprised they let her go without any serious repercussions.

I couldn't help but think of how Artemis and Zoe knew about my mother. As we followed the river, I began thinking of theories as to who my mothers godly parent could be.

So far the only traits I had that differed from other children of Hades were the red streak of hair and the blue eye. That didn't really narrow it down much, not to mention they might have just been my mother's mortal traits.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said, breaking my line of thought, "The rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," Percy said. We put the canoes in the water.

I paled, I did not like being in water, I preferred solid land thank you very much. I sighed, there were no other way, I had to suck it up and keep going.

The naiads did help, however, stabilizing the canoes. If I closed my eyes, It almost felt like I was on land again, if said land was in the middle of a tornado.

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled.

A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.

"Whoa," Percy said. "They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?"

She slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

We sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us.

Suddenly Percy uncapped riptide. Zoe looked at the pen, and her expression was pained. I remained silent, this was meant to be a private conversation.

"You made this," Percy said.

"Who told thee?"

"I had a dream about it."

She sighed. "It was a gift. And a mistake."

"Who was the hero?" he asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."

"You act like I should know him."

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?"

Considering all their tales end in a tragedy? No, thanks.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it."

Hera's tree.

"Yes," Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."

"But weren't there only four sisters'?"

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?"

Zoe pointed to his pen. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

Ah, it makes some sense now, her attitude towards men. Although, condemning every male on the planet is a bit much. I sighed, I suppose even a few thousand years isn't enough to quell such deep hatred.

The canoe suddenly slowed down, and as I looked up I could see why. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in our path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.

"Seven hundred feet tall," Percy stated. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.

Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

"How the fuck?" I spat out, at the same time as Zoe said, "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," Percy said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

"Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she were here," Percy said longingly.

"You are mad," Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

We had to walk for almost an hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top.

On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but I knew he smelled monsters.

I furrowed my brows, spreading my shadow sense and geolocating abilities. There were only normal humans nearby, no empty soulless husks.

"How close are they?" Percy asked.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us… the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

"It's definitely nowhere close," I said, "We have some time to rest up before we have to leave."

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" Percy asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?"

Thalia's expression darkened. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

"Unlikely," I said, "Athena wouldn't gift Zeus statues without a function. She's the goddess of wisdom and strategy, she's always scheming."

Zoe narrowed her eyes, "You speak as if you have met her."

I shrugged, "I've heard enough stories from my mother to have a basic idea of some of the gods."

Zoe nodded, "Very well. Let us find the dam snack bar. We should eat while we can."

I snickered, and Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

I shook my head as the three cracked up laughing, the joke wasn't that funny.

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said.

"And…" Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

Percy opened his mouth to say something, but froze. "Did you guys just hear that?"

Grover had stopped laughing too, "Did I just hear a cow?"

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious."

Zoe listened. "I hear nothing."

I spread my senses again, and there it was, a body without a soul. "They're right, something is close."

Percy hesitated, conflict visible on his face. I raised an eyebrow, 'go on'.

He gulped, "Follow me." He bolted, to the northern edge.

"Wha-Wait, Percy!" Thalia followed, the rest of us not much behind.

As we peered down the edge, I saw something truly bizarre. A monster swam there, half bull half sea serpent. I could faintly recall something like this in the myths mom told me, but couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"Okay, when did the Minotaur and Kraken have a lovechild?"

Zoe's eyes widened, she knew what it was. A string of curses left her mouth, too fast and ancient for me to decipher.

"The ophiotaurus." Zoe said

I froze, my own eyes widening as the myth came back to me. "Oh crap."

"Ophio what now?" Percy asked, looking between us.

"I am a fool," Zoe said. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My… my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" he looked down at the bull serpent. "But… he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"That is how we were wrong," Zoe said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"MMMM," Bessie lowed.

"I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said.

"It is said that if you burn it's entrails and burn them, you'll receive the power to destroy Olympus." Valen said grimly.

"MMMMMM!"

"Um," Grover said. "Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too."

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods… how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.

"We have to protect him," Percy said. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's… that's huge."

"I could have the earth swallow it, push it deep enough that no one would ever find it." I suggested.

"No!" Percy stood up defensively, "We are not killing Bessie!"

I frowned, "But-"

"That's final."

I exhaled, frustrated, "Fine, what do you propose we do?"

"We need to keep it safe," he said, "At least until we can send it someplace secure."

"The most secure place would be Olympus." I said, Or tartarus.

He nodded, "I'm going to try and contact my father, you guys can go and get some rest, I'll be there soon."

"And leave you here alone?" Thalia said.

"I'm in my domain," He said, pointing at the water, "I can handle myself."

"I'll watch his back," I said, going over to him, "If anything happens, I'll shadow travel us away."

"And I'll stay to bless Bessie." Grover added.

Begrudgingly, they left. As soon as they were gone, Percy instantly turned to the river.

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

"Maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me" he said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I… I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

"What?" I nearly yelled.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

"Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"I don't think he'll do something like that for free Percy." I said, "It's a big favor, he expects an exchange."

"Valen's right, a prayer like that needs a sacrifice."

Percy nodded solemnly, taking off his nemean lion jacket.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin… that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

Percys eyes widened as if he just realized something. "If I'm going to survive," he said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

And then, he threw the jacket into the river. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

A breeze hit us, the smell of sea this deep in the mainland. Poseidon had answered.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Don't die on us, will you?" I said with a half grin.

"Be careful," Percy said.

"I'll try," Grover smiled weakly. "Okay, um… Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie said.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And… it's long. Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!" Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—" Glub!

"Let's just hope your dads blessing includes underwater breathing." I said

Percy nodded, relaxing, and immediately tensed.

"Spartoi," I said, glaring at the two skeletons, and summoned my sword, "I'll take care of them, go warn the others."

"But-"

"You can't kill them anyway, it's best you preserve your strength." I summoned my spear in my other hand, encasing the spearhead in hellfire.

"Fine, but you'd better come back!" He relented, sprinting away.

I grinned, as if these could kill me, and promptly hurled my spear. It hit the skeleton dead on, the flames consuming it in moments. And of course, the people choose that moment to freak out.

Recalling my spear, I began sprinting at the remaining monster, Stormguard wreathed in flames. It didn't respond, taking the hit directly. That's strange.

But then, it embraced me, grabbing me tightly, stronger than it had any right to. "Let, go of me!" I struggled, even half molten, it didn't release me.

I knew why soon enough. The breath left my mouth, a silent scream escaping. My back hurt more than it ever had, I could feel the metal ball dig deep inside my flesh.

I warped away, falling to my knees. I heard clacking, and I could only assume the thing was laughing at me.

I snarled, my hand extended out as I willed the shadows to my command. The ground split open, tendrils of misty darkness snapping up and binding the undead.

Forcing myself to stand up, I grinned at it, "You don't need to breathe, do you?"

Of course it was a rhetorical question.

The earth swallowed it, even as it thrashed around in defiance. It would remain there, never able to die, yet not quite alive. A perpeutal state of agony.

Without wasting another moment, I began shadow travelling away.

.

.

.

When I emerged, I found the others facing off against three Spartoi, standing beside the statues.

"Valen!" Percy cried out, "I was getting wor…ried." His eyes fell on my wound, and I flashed him a bloody grin. "What happened to you?!"

"I got shot, clearly." I said dryly.

"How-?"

"Save the talk for later!" Thalia warned, the skeletons had come closer.

"Three against five,," Zoe muttered. "And they cannot die."

Percy glanced back, "Whoa, their toes really are bright."

"Percy!" Thalia said. "This isn't the time."

"Thalia," Percy said. "Pray to your dad."

She glared at me. "He never answers."

"Just this once," he pleaded. "Ask for help. I think… I think the statues can give us some luck."

The three soldiers raised their guns. I raised my arm, wincing and trying to manipulate the metal. It didn't work.

"Do it!" Percy yelled.

"No!" Thalia said. "He won't answer me."

"This time is different!"

"Says who?"

He hesitated. "Athena, I think."

Thalia closed her eyes. Her lips moved in a silent prayer.

And nothing happened.

The skeletons closed in. Percy raised Riptide to defend myself. Thalia held up her shield. Zoe aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head, and I brandished my spear, hoping to look braver than I felt.

A shadow fell over us, and when I looked up, I almost fainted from relief, or maybe it was the bloodloss.

The other skeletons opened fire, but I could do nothing but watch. The bronze angels stepped in front of us and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded tinny and rusty, like he hadn't had a drink since he'd been built.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

"Probably had a foot fetish." I chuckled, "Good thing this is a public area, right?"

Yep, the bloodloss was definitely affecting me.

The first angel cracked a grin, "Hah, good one."

"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled.

The angels looked down at her. "Zeus' kid?"

"Yes!"

"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus's Kid?" an angel asked.

"Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

And the next thing I knew, one of them grabbed Thalia and Percy, and the other grabbed Zoe and me,, and we flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below us and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.

I barely managed to pull out the bullet and pop a cube of ambrosia in my mouth before losing consciousness.

.

.

.

"...can't statues have a sense of humor?"

I woke up to one of the statues talking, my wound having healed. Man, I really need to stop passing out so much.

The statues dropped us by the Embarcadero building, freaking out a homeless guy nearby. Hey, that's Ned.

I was surprised to have recognized the guy as he scuttered off, i had come across him once when I was running around aimlessly.

"Are you okay?" Was the first thing Percy asked me.

I nodded, "I managed to get the bullet out and eat an ambrosia cube earlier, I'm completely fine now."

I was not completely fine, the wound still hurt, a lot. But I'd live, it wasn't life threatening anymore, merely inconvenient.

Thalia sighed, "So, where to now?"

After a brief discussion, we agreed that we needed to figure out where Artemis was.

"The old man of the sea," Percy said. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked.

"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

I raised an eyebrow when we stopped in front of a Goodwill drop box. And when Percy came out, I couldn't help but crack a grin. He had been outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt, jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.

He looked like a hobo, in fact I think I had seen one with the exact same getup a few years ago.

Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

"Thanks a lot," he grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

"I told thee. To blend in."

She led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.

"He will be down there somewhere," Zoe said. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell… different."

"Great." Percy grumbled "And once I find him?"

"Signal me, I'll warp him closer to land." I said, "He cant run from all five of us.

He nodded, furrowing his brows a moment later, "Remind me again why I'm the one doing this, not you?"

I shrugged, "Apollo asked you, not me."

"But still, wouldn't you have more experience doing this stuff?"

"Okay first off, rude." I said, "And secondly, deal with it."

He grumbled something under his breath, heading towards the docks.

We watched as Percy stumbled around, like he was about to pass out. He walked past old Ned, who was still trying to convince the others about metal angels. Huh, didn't think he was a clear sighted mortal.

He stopped past an old, white bearded man who strangely reminded me of Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

He sat down beside him, the man cracking open one eye suspiciously, but closed it soon after.

Percy looked up, straight into my eyes, and very subtly pointed his head towards Hobo Santa.

I narrowed my eyes, so that was Nereus.

I flicked my fingers, and his shadow darkened. Nereus froze, suddenly alert, yet before he could move away, he had already fallen into his own shadow.

As he emerged in front of us, Thalia and I had our spears drawn, pointed right at his neck.

"I don't have any money!" He pleaded.

I scoffed, "We're not here for money Nereus."

"We're half-bloods. We want information." Percy said, walking up to us.

He grumbled, "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because you know everything."

Nereus sighed in defeat, "The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," Percy said.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

He hesitated for a minute, before sighing, "All right, Nereus. Tell me where exactly Artemis is located."

Nereus grinned, showing his moss green teeth, "Too easy, just ask her."

He pointed at Zoe, before running off into the sea.

Percy looked at Zoe. "What did he mean…You know where to go?"

Her face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

.

.

.

"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow."

"I don't get it," Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"I could hotwire one." I offered.

"Uh, I don't think we need to go that far." Percy said.

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" Percy asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

And that, was how we ended up on the front door of a complete stranger. Mr. Chase was dressed like an aviator with big goggles on his head.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

"Uh," I looked behind us, "Yeah, no."

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," Percy said, clearly confused. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"Except me, I haven't even met her." I added cheerfully.

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if I'd just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?"

None of us answered, but our faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, I guess, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. "Who are our guests?"

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is…"

He stared at us blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

We introduced ourselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if we were hungry. We admitted we were, and she told us she'd bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

I half expected her to object, I had heard many stories how step parents mistreated their step children. But she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at Percy. "Nice meeting you, Percy. I've heard a lot about you."

"Mr. Chase," I said once we were upstairs, "I'll be blunt. Your daughter has been kidnapped, and in enemy grounds right now."

"What?"

"We're on a quest right now, to rescue her and the goddess Artemis." I explained, telling him all he needed to know about the quest.

When I'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it immediately."

I was surprised to see Zoe call a male sir. I suppose she has become less annoying recently.

"I'll drive you. Hmm. it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" Percy said sounding amazed.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I… I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia, Percy and I inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but… apparently it's no place for mortals."

I raised an eyebrow, so Mrs. Chase was aware of the supernatural?

Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys…"

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said. Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now."

We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as we was leaving, "tell Annabeth… Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."

Percy took one last look at the room. "I'll tell her," he promised.

We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to save Annabeth and the goddess.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

"You both sound like my mother," Percy said. "Shut up!" they said in unison.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais. I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked.

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," Percy said.

"Your father." I said dryly.

Zoe almost crashed into the car in front of us. "How did you know?!"

I gulped, "Back in the museum, he made me an offer."

I proceeded to explain to them what the titan had told me.

"It wasn't hard to figure it out after that." I finished.

"Valen, you cannot accept his proposal! Titans are known to betray their allies." Percy said, trying to convince me.

"I'm aware." I said, "Still, I considered it for a while. I chose to stick around with you guys for a bit longer before I decided."

I turned to face Zoe, "Before this quest, I would have accepted that offer in a heartbeat, but I've seen you change from the man hating misandrist you were-"

"Hey!"

"-to an honorable ally." I finished, "We will all return, by our own power, not by making shady deals with titans."

Zoe nodded, "In this quest, I have seen how there are males that can be…tolerable. I see now how my hatred blinded me." She turned to Percy, "Perseus, thou art the noblest male I have seen in decades, take pride in that."

Turning back to me she said, "Valen, thou-"

Suddenly, the hairs on my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door, pushing Percy out, while Zoe pushed me out.

The next second, BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. I heard a sound like metal ram, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

I sighed, "So much for the promise of not destroying his car."