I found Nico and Bianca at dinner, sitting near the edge of the Hermes table as usual. They had saved a space for me too, exactly like old times.

I sat down between them, flicking my fingers as the two accessories shot out of my ring. I handed them their respective gifts, "That's a mini crossbow, goes on the underside of your wrist. Figured it'd help if an enemy ever got close."

Bianca attached it to her wrist, as I had suggested. The bracer glowed, and Bianca stifled a yelp. Moments after that, the bracer shrunk down to a bronze bracelet. "It pricked me," She whispered, "It's not alive, is it?"

I shook my head, "I don't think so."

"What does it do?" Nico asked, gazing at the pendant.

"It can store an endless amount of energy, it's made of stygian iron and a rams bones. Keep pumping magic in it to use in emergencies."

"Cool." Nico said, snapping the accessory around his neck.

Dinner went as usual, with us exchanging stories about what happened after we had separated.

"I've never heard of an ice monster like that." Bianca said once I got to the part of my fight.

"There's no mythomagic card about it either." Nico said, thoughtfully.

Travis joined in, "I don't think there are any monsters like that."

I furrowed my brows, if there were no monsters like that in greek mythology then…

'Your mother was from a different pantheon' Artemis' words so long ago came back to mind.

I knew my mother originated from northern europe, that narrowed it down to a few. The sword she had given me has runes etched on it's fuller, and the monster I faced.

Oh, I see now.

Father had refused to tell me anything about her, other than her not being in the underworld. But I had connected the dots now.

"Valen?" Bianca nudged, "You okay?"

I shook my head, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"I was thinking if it could have been a son of the north wind." The gods wanted this knowledge hidden for a reason, and I wasn't about to reveal it before knowing why.

Travis shook his head, "They are free spirits, what would one be doing in the labyrinth?"

I shrugged, "One could have fallen in."

"Maybe…" He didn't seem entirely convinced.

Dinner went smoothly after that. And for once, I slept dreamlessly.

The next morning I bid goodbye to my siblings and friends in camp, and headed to the van. The ride to manhattan was relatively quiet, with Annabeth still miffed about the whole disappearance act.

I shook my head, this is why you don't do love. It causes needless drama.

It was Saturday, and traffic was heavy going into the city. We reached Percy's apartment around noon. As soon as Ms. Jackson saw us, she engulfed Percy in a fierge hug. I suppose that happens when your child goes missing for two weeks.

"I told them you were all right," she said, sounding extremely relieved, so much that I can't put it in words.

Then she noticed us, "Ah, Annabeth and…Valen, right?"

I nodded, "The very same."

She looked at me sadly for a moment, before inviting us in. I shook my head, that darned pity again.

She sat us down at the kitchen table and insisted on feeding us some blue cookies? I was skeptical about them, but tried one nonetheless.

Not bad.

Percy caught her up on the quest, clearly watering down the details. When he got to the part about a ranch and someone named Geryon his mother pretended that she was going to strange him. "I can't get him to clean his room, but he'll clean a hundred tons of horse manure out of some monster's stables?"

Annabeth laughed, and I chuckled. "Next time just threaten to stop making him blue cookies, and he'll do it in minutes."

Percy looked mortified, "Not cool, Valen, not cool."

His mother smiled, "Good idea."

"Not you too mom!"

His mother laughed, assuring him she'd never do that.

"So," she said when he was done with the story, "you wrecked Alcatraz Island, made Mount St. Helens explode, and displaced half a million people, but at least you're safe."

That's a lot of optimism not going to lie.

"Yep," Percy said. "That pretty much covers it."

"I wish Paul were here," she said, half to herself. "He wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, right. The school."

Percy had told us how he'd get attacked by a monster at school nearly every year, so I assumed this must have been a similar situation. Although I didn't know of any Paul.

"What did you tell him?" Percy asked.

She shook her head. "What could I say? He knows something is different about you, Percy. He's a smart man. He believes that you're not a bad person. He doesn't know what's going on, but the school is pressuring him. After all, he got you admitted there. He needs to convince them the fire wasn't your fault. And since you ran away, that looks bad."

So my assumption was right then, he was attacked.

"I'll talk to him," he promised. "After we're done with the quest. I'll even tell him the truth if you want."

"Not sure if that's the wisest move." I muttered underneath my breath.

Sally Jackson put her hand on Percy's shoulder, "You would do that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he'll think we're crazy."

"He already thinks that."

"Then there's nothing to lose."

"Thank you, Percy. I'll tell him you'll be home…" She frowned. "When? What happens now?"

Annabeth broke her cookie in half. "Percy has this plan."

Seeming hesitant, Percy relayed what we had planned.

She nodded slowly. "It sounds very dangerous. But it might work."

"You have the same abilities, don't you?" Percy asked. "You can see through the Mist."

She sighed, "Not so much now. When I was younger it was easier. But yes, I've always been able to see more than was good for me. It's one of the things that caught your father's attention, when we first met. Just be careful. Promise me you'll be safe."

"We'll try, Ms. Jackson," Annabeth said. "Keeping your son safe is a big job, though." She folded her arms and glared out the kitchen window.

I snorted, "You can say that again, it's almost like he jumps headfirst into danger."

"Hey!" Percy protested.

Ms. Jackson laughed under her breath, "It's refreshing to see my son is in good hands."

"Mom!"

Ms. Jackson smiled, smiled. "Percy, you'd better use the phone in the hall. Good luck."

Percy looked almost relieved when he got off the couch. Once he was gone, Ms. Jackson turned to Annabeth, "What's going on with you two?"

I sighed, "Annabeth doesn't necessarily like this plan."

"I don't" She admitted, "relying on a mortal seems wrong and cowardly."

"Annabeth," I looked into her eyes, "think of it like this. The gods rely on us, beings inferior to them. Do you think they find this act cowardly?"

She frowned, "That's different."

"Is it?" I asked, "One group of higher beings relying on another group of beings lower than them. The gods use demigods to do their bidding where they are unable to, it's the same here just knocked down a level."

"..." She had no reply to that.

"I wouldn't have put it that way, but it is what I thought too." Ms. Jackson said.

Before another word could be exchanged, however, Percy came back, "She has agreed to meet us at Times Square."

Annabeth instantly got up, "Let's go."

It was clear she didn't want to continue the conversation.

We found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold. It was as if she had been dipped in liquid gold, her entire body was gold.

She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic—copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passerby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk. The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

The three of us stood there for a good five minutes staring at her, but she showed no sign of movement.

"You sure it's her and not just some statue?" I asked.

"Maybe if we push her over," Annabeth suggested.

I shrugged, about to do exactly that when a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. Rachel unfroze and stepped off the tarp.

"Hey, Percy." She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

We walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, I got a Caramel Macchiatto Annabeth and Percy got fruit smoothies and we sat at a table right under the stuffed moose.

"So," she said, "it's Annabell, right?"

"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. "Do you always dress in gold?"

"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You're a half-blood, too?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These two aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"That's not funny," Annabeth said. "This isn't a joke, mortal girl."

"Either you two calm down, or I put a muzzle over both your mouths." I warned, raising my arm, a half formed black muzzle floating over my palm.

Rachel gulped, "Uh, you're the vanilla guy aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" I asked indignantly, the muzzle over my palm dissipated with my sudden surprise.

"Valen." Percy corrected, "Look Rachel, we've got a problem. And we need your help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. "You need my help?"

Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "Maybe."

For the second time that day, Percy explained the quest.

"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"You can see through the Mist," he said. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours—"

"Yeah," Percy interrupted. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke…he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy," Rachel said.

"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."

"I think he's made it plenty clear which side he's on." I retorted, "Do not let your feelings of unrequited love obstruct your judgement."

Annabeth scowled, and oh if glares could kill I'd be halfway to the underworld already. "You do not know him, do not think y-"

"Okay!" Rachel interrupted, "I'm in."

Percy blinked, "Are you sure?"

"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"

"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," Annabeth said, reluctantly taking her glare off me. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."

She said mortals like it was some sort of terrible condition, but Rachel just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything," Annabeth said. "A section of wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek ∆, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.

"That's it," Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"

"No," Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

"Why?" Annabeth said. "Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

"Well that was easy." I muttered, getting up from the table.

.

.

.

The metal door was half hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirty hotel towels. I didn't see anything strange about it, but Rachel showed us where to look, and I recognized the faint blue symbol etched in the metal.

"It hasn't been used in a long time," Annabeth said.

"I tried to open it once," Rachel said, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."

"No." Annabeth stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

Sure enough, as soon as Annabeth put her hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.

"Wow." Rachel said calmly, more calm than she should've been. "So…after you?"

"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead on."

The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. As a child of the underworld, I had no issues in the dark, but the other's were effectively blind and had to use flashlights.

As soon as we switched them on, Rachel yelped. A skeleton was grinning at us.

It wasn't human, it was too big to be one, besides humans had two eyes, not one. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles to make giant X over the tunnel.

"A Cyclops," Annabeth said. "It's very old. It's not…anybody we know."

"It's too old to be him, the soul has long left the body." I said, "It's probably already reformed."

Rachel swallowed. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

"Tyson," Percy said. "My half brother."

"Your half brother."

"That was my reaction too," I added, "Then I remembered greek myths were always bizarre."

"Hopefully we'll find him down here," Percy said. "And Grover. He's a satyr."

"Oh." Her voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."

After fifty feet we came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

Percy pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right—those old stones—that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."

"We need to go straight," Rachel said.

Percy and Annabeth looked at her as if she'd gone mad.

"That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

I frowned, looking down. There was nothing but eroded bricks and mud. I extended my earth sense in a limited radius.

"She's right." I said, "The tree roots are alive and moving, and theres a trap to our right, the classic spikes on walls kind."

Rachel nodded, "Exactly, how did you know that?"

"Son of Hades, I have some control over the earth.

"That makes sense." Her tone said otherwise.

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but she waved at Rachel to lead on. Together we kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. We seemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

"No traps?" Percy asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

"I don't know," he said. "It never was before."

"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"

She said it like, What planet are you from? But Rachel didn't look offended.

"Brooklyn," she said.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

"Why not?" This time Annabeth didn't sound as sarcastic, for some reason.

Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of us, like huge doors opening.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," Rachel said. "Metal hinges."

"Oh, that's very helpful. I mean, what is it?"

"Monster." I warned.

"Run?" Percy asked.

"Run," Rachel agreed.

We turned and fled the way we'd come, but we didn't make it twenty feet before we ran straight into more monsters. Two dracaenae—snake women in Greek armor—leveled their javelins at our chests.

I summoned Stormguard dripping with darkness, and pointed it at the lead dracaenae.

But before I could make a move, the dracaenae pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck.

"Taking your little mortal pet for a walk?" She taunted. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"

Behind us, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom—an eight-foot-tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs.

The giant licked his lips when he saw us. "Can I eat them?"

"No," She said. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at Percy. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."

I sighed, sheathing my weapon. I could not take care of all four of them before one kills Rachel.

We were marched down the tunnel, flanked by dracaenae, and a Laistrygonian. I could probably warp Percy and Annabeth out, but not all three. I debated using Hellfire, but the steep cost came to mind, and I shook the idea out of my head.

Up ahead I could see bronze doors. They were about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. From behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.

"Oh, yessssss," said the snake woman on my left. "You'll be very popular with our hossssst."

"Piss off whore." I said scathingly, I was already in a bad mood about the whole thing.

She snarled at me, about ready to pounce when Percy asked, "Who's your host?"

She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll get along furiousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."

"My what?"

The giant pushed past us and opened the doors. He picked up Annabeth by her shirt and said, "You stay here."

"Hey!" she protested, but the guy was twice her size and he'd already confiscated her knife and Percy's sword. They had tried taking my sword, but like hell I'd let them take that away. Even when they threatened to kill Rachel I wouldn't budge.

"Give usssssss your weapon half blood." The other Dracaenae asked, trying in vain to get me to part with stormguard.

"I'd much sooner commit hara kiri than give you Stromguard." I spat out.

"Do it, or this one dies." the giant closed it's fist around Annabeth.

I scoffed, "The only thing preventing me from murdering you three is the threat over my friends, once that's gone you'll know what a son of Hades can do underground."

I had the tunnel shake, and darkness blanket over me for good measure.

The dracaenae gulped, but relented. The other dracaenae laughed, "Let him keep it, he cannot use it without us killing his friends anyway." Then she flashed Percy a grin, "Go on, Percy. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."

He looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry. I'll get you out of this."

She nodded as much as she could with a demon at her throat. "That would be nice."

As the dracaenae prodded Percy forward, I closed my eyes, entering the recesses of my own mind, drawing all the power I could as subtly as possible.

I was detached from the physical realm, I could no longer hear anything, and all I saw had a dark blue tinge to it. My body remained stiff, retaining the illusion that I was still in there.

I knelt down, ignoring all the movement around me, and dipped my incorporeal arm into my shadow, causing ripples in it. Slowly, I dragged my hand across the ground, a thin shadow trailing behind. Avoiding the monsters' shadow, I connected mine to Annabeth and Rachels.

Right on time as I was pulled back into my body without warning, my time outside had ended. I stumbled, disoriented by the experience. Glancing down, I noticed the shadows still connected.

Sucking in a quick breath, I allowed us to fall into the realm of darkness, reappearing mere ten feet away.

"Wha-!" The dracaenae didn't even have the time to register what was happening when my bident pierced through her chest.

The other one snarled at me, "You'll pay for that!". The giant began stomping towards us.

I narrowed my eyes, and my vision darkened, Stormguard appearing in my hand right before I shot out of it's shadow. My sword held in reverse grip, I pushed forward, bisecting the giant till it's ribs.

Not willing to waste a single moment, I left my sword in it, as my eyes began trailing the dracaenae jumping across the walls.

The good thing about being underground was that it was all shadow. The monster yelped when the wall beside her grew a dark blade, stabbing through her hand.

I raised my arm, dozens of dark spikes slowly emerging from the ceiling. The dracaenae widened her eyes, looking at me pleadingly.

"Go to Tartarus, fiend."

And the black rain fell.

I sighed, walking up to the pile of dust my sword was in, and picked it up, blowing off the residual dust on it's greaves.

It was now that I noticed that Percy was facing off against a red skinned giant in the arena.

"Stay here," I ordered the others, not sparing them another glance as I walked into the arena.

The giant frowned when he saw me, "Wait your turn son of Hades, this is a duel, you cannot join."

I scoffed, "Like I give a damn, you're going to die here giant."

Percy glanced at me thankfully, "Be careful, he can heal."

I frowned, "That's… troublesome."

The giant lunged at me. I warped to the side, my sword arm outstretched as the blade sliced across his side.

"Arghhh!" He yelled, but the wound leaked no blood, instead sand poured out.

"You see what I mean?" Percy said, as I warped beside him.

"How do we kill him?" I asked, prepared to move when the giant charged again.

"Your black fire could kill him maybe." He suggested.

I shook my head, "No, I'm not using that."

"Why? It's one of your strongest abilities!"

Before I could answer, the giant had charged at us. Percy and I moved different ways, and the giant followed after me.

"The earth, Gaea is healing him!" Annabeth yelled from the gateway.

Gaea herself was keeping him alive? Wasn't she supposed to be asleep? I shook my head clear of the thought, warping away right before the giant could crush me.

We cannot kill him while hes still on the ground. Slowly a plan began forming in my mind.

Popping an ambrosia cube in my mouth, I felt energy flowing within me. I just hoped I had enough to pull this off.

My hand blurred as it moved, and my sword shot at the giant, carving a hole in his chest, which, as expected, began healing almost instantly.

"Now you see why I never lose, demigod!" Antaeus gloated. "Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!"

Warping beside Percy, I began explaining my plan to him.

"That'll never work." He protested.

"Trust me on this one mate."

Percy sighed, "I can try."

I nodded, "I'll distract him while you do."

Separating from him, I engaged the giant in battle. My sword whistled through the air, cutting countless incisions over his body, yet all healed within moments.

"It is futile, half-blood. I cannot die."

"Last I checked you were no god."

He laughed, "I was borne of two gods boy, I am one!"

I narrowed my eyes, but didn't respond, noticing the cracks spreading over the ground. As his hand came down to crush me, I leaped off the ground, onto his forearm and then to his head. With a mighty cry, I stabbed Stormguard deep inside his skull.

"ARGHHH!" He cried out in agony, swatting me away. I hit the ground with a thud, the air all but knocked out of me. Groaning, I pushed myself up, my eyes lingering on the now inch thick cracks.

I grinned, now for step two.

Summoning my bident, I made eye contact with Percy, nodding subtly. He understood the signal, stomping on the ground as the very earth came loose.

I tapped the ground with the bottom of my spear, causing a brown ripple to spread across the arena. Raising my free hand I pulled, and as clumps of the earth flew up covering the sky, Stormgiard began racing towards me.

The struggling giant could do nothing but be pulled along. My shadow darkened, and I felt myself begin slipping into the shadow realm. And as I grabbed the ebony and golden sword, I fully entered the other realm.

We appeared in the sky, on a floating boulder, far away from the ground. With a yell, I pulled Stormguard out of his head, blood and brain matter dripping off it. Not waiting another moment, I impaled my lance, dripping with the slightest amount of hellfire, through his chest.

After a brief spurt of blood, he dissipated into golden dust.

And I began falling, my entire body aching, I felt the wreath tighten around my head. In one final moment of defiance, I willed my weapons to slow down, my fall turning into a slow descension. Yet, as soon as I touched the ground, I promptly passed out.

.

.

.

I awoke in a different plane, a monochromatic grey room where the ceiling was indistinguishable from the walls.

"You used it again." My father materialized in front of me, seemingly being knitted of shadows and damned souls.

I sighed, I already knew where this was going. "I did."

"You realize the consequences it holds."

"Yeah, but using it in moderation should be fine. It won't have that much of an effect."

"It is a risk I'm unwilling to take."

I shrugged, "I'm certain I'll need to use it more in the future, it has saved my life many times."

"It has also put your life in danger many times." He pointed out.

"I'll be careful when I use it, father. I have no intention of dying just yet."

He nodded, "See that you do."

"So, how are things in the underworld?" I changed the topic.

"Like they have always been, bland." Hades said without much enthusiasm, "Although, Achilles misses his star pupil."

I chuckled, "Tell him I'll be back soon. Actually, I'm going to need a marksmanship instructor."

Hades looked confused, "Marksmanship? Not archery?"

I shook my head, summoning my two new guns.

Understanding gleamed in his eyes, "Ah, Hephaestus' work. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

He nodded, "I'd best be on my way, you're waking."

I sighed once again, "See you later then."

.

.

.

I woke up in a large room, hled up by marble pillars. A Gymnasium by the looks of it.

"...something wrong with him. He looked…nervous. He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something."

"Probably, 'Hi, Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!'"

"You're impossible,"

I sighed, pushing myself up to a seated position.

"So which way now, Sacagawea?" Annabeth asked Rachel.

Rachel took a few moments to answer. "We'll follow the path," she said. "The brightness on the floor."

"The brightness that led us straight into a trap?" Annabeth asked.

"Lay off her, Annabeth," Percy said. "She's doing the best she can."

Annabeth stood. "The fire's getting low. I'll go look for some more scraps while you guys talk strategy." And she marched off into the shadows.

"Seriously, can you two not argue every five minutes?" I grumbled, startling them.

"Since when were you awake?" Percy asked.

"Around the time you guys were arguing about Luke." I said dryly, getting up to my feet.

Percy sighed, turning to Rachel, "Annabeth's usually not like this. I don't know what her problem is."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure you don't know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Boys," she muttered. "Totally blind."

"In my case, I'm just abhorrent to romance." I pointed out, "Percy's just dense as a rock."

"Hey, don't you get on my case, too!" He protested, before turning to Rachel with an apologetic look. "Look, I'm sorry I got you involved in this."

"No, you were right," she said. "I can see the path. I can't explain it, but it's really clear." She pointed toward the other end of the room, into the darkness. "The workshop is that way. The heart of the maze. We're very close now. I don't know why the path led through that arena. I—I'm sorry about that. I thought you were going to die." Her voice quivered a bit, as if she was about to cry.

"Hey, I'm usually about to die," Percy reassured her. "Don't feel bad."

She stared at him for a bit. "So you do this every summer? Fight monsters? Save the world? Don't you ever get to do just, you know, normal stuff?"

I shrugged, "That's the life of a half-blood for you, our lives are rarely ever normal."

"We get used to it, I guess. Or maybe not used to it, but…" Percy shifted uncomfortably. "What about you? What do you do normally?"

Rachel shrugged. "I paint. I read a lot."

"What about your family?"

I rolled my eyes, This guy.

"Oh…they're just, you know, family."

"You said they wouldn't notice if you were gone."

She set down the stick she had been holding, "Wow, I'm really tired. I may sleep for a while, okay?"

"Oh, sure. Sorry if…"

But Rachel was already curling up, using her backpack as a pillow. She closed her eyes and lay very still, pretending to be asleep.

"A bit insensitive there Percy." I commented, plopping back on the ground.

Percy grimaced, "Yeah, I didn't know what else to say."

I merely shook my head at him.

A few minutes later, Annabeth came back. She tossed some more sticks on the fire. She glanced at me, then the other two.

"Just so you know, I'm taking first watch." I interrupted her before she could speak, "That's non negotiable."

She looked annoyed, but nodded nonetheless. "Wake me up after a few hours, don't be a hero."

"Sure."

Of course, I didn't wake them up.