Chapter 19

The Hunters were good hosts, Percy was surprised they treated him so good despite the fact they usually held a pretty low opinion of guys in general. They escorted him and Annabeth all the way to the mouth of the Mississippi River and had even given them a rubber boat so they could make their way to Proteus's Island.

If Percy wasn't a son of Poseidon, he would've definitely chosen a boat with a motor to sail the Gulf of Mexico. His parentage was the only thing that stopped a few curious sharks from taking bites out of the boat.

Annabeth paddled next to him, though he was doing most of the work. She looked happier ever since they had that much-needed talk, she was less stiff when she spoke and she smiled more. He couldn't help but feel like the tension between them was pretty much gone.

The waves lapped against the boat's hull as Percy steered it towards the island in front of them. The afternoon sun provided more than enough light for him to see the island, though he really didn't need it. He could sense the island in the water.

Now that he was a bit closer to the island, he realized it wasn't some deserted island in the middle of the ocean. He could make out a dock that looked like it belonged to some millionaire's riverside property. The dock was complete with a very expensive-looking speed boat and a couple jet skis.

The main attraction though was the huge mansion style home at the end of the stone path that connected the docks to the house. The house was made of white marble, similar to cabin one and two back at camp, but this house was bigger. Percy almost wondered why Proteus needed a house that big for.

"That's a really nice house." He said, looking at Annabeth.

She nodded, an impressed look on her face, "Yeah, it is. Do you think the front door's unlocked?"

He grinned, "We're about to find out."

Percy wanted to avoid the docks, mainly because the plan that he and Annabeth had come up with hinged on catching Proteus off guard. If he saw them at the docks, then their plan was dead in the water.

Finding a place to land was harder than Percy expected. You see, the island wasn't surrounded with just a bunch of beaches. No, instead a good portion of the island was surrounded by jagged cliffs and rocks that would easily puncture or sink the rubber boat he and Annabeth were on. It was no wonder Proteus didn't need a fortress, his island had natural defenses to begin with.

Percy had just spotted a good beachhead to land on when all of a sudden, the boat jerked to the side. Annabeth yelped as she was thrown onto the floor of the boat. Percy held onto one of the straps to avoid falling off. He didn't mind swimming but he'd rather not fall off the boat and leave Annabeth on it by herself.

"The hell was that?" Annabeth asked as she grabbed her paddle and held it like a baseball bat.

"I don't know." Percy said as he eyed the water for the telltale signs of sea monsters.

"Woah!" Annabeth said as the boat jerked yet again.

Percy's eyebrows furrowed, he didn't see anything that was ramming or pushing the boat. It just didn't make any sense. That's when he noticed the boat was being pushed away from the island.

"Percy, are you crazy?!" Annabeth hissed as he stuck his hand in the water.

As soon as Percy's hand broke the water, he felt it. Beneath them was a huge current, the speed changed almost every few seconds, alternating between gentle and extremely fast. Against a larger boat, it probably wouldn't have done much but to their motorless rubber boat, it was keeping them back.

"There's a current." Percy said as he pulled his hand out of the water, "I think Proteus enchanted the water around his island. This isn't a natural current."

"What do you mean by natural?" Annabeth asked.

"It's changing too much." He said, "I can handle it."

Percy took a deep breath and willed the sea to obey him. Unlike all the other times he usually controlled the sea, this time there was some resistance. Now he knew for sure this current wasn't natural.

Sweat ran down his face as he exerted more of his control over the sea. Soon, he was creating his very own current, one that was pushing the boat towards the beach.

"Percy…" Annabeth's eyes widening as she noticed the beach getting closer at a alarming rate.

The next thing Percy remembered was the boat slamming onto the beach and sending both him and Annabeth flying off the boat. Luckily, they didn't fly too high up but that didn't mean they both didn't get an unhealthy coat of sand as they cascaded onto the beach.

"What was that for?" Annabeth moaned as she rolled onto her back.

"My bad." He said while sitting up and wiping the sand off himself.

Annabeth shot him a dirty look before scraping the sand off her hands, arms, and legs. She shouldered her backpack while checking to make sure her sword was still secured in its sheathe.

"Come on, let's go find Proteus." Annabeth said as she walked towards the huge mansion.

Percy had to admit, Proteus had a rocking island. Honestly, he preferred it to Polyphemus's island and that island was actually kind of nice. This island was smaller but now that Percy was on it, he found it had way more than he thought. There was a whole hot spring not far from the house, a volleyball court next to a small amphitheater, and a small shed right next to a couple ATVs. There wasn't a single carnivorous sheep or blind Cyclops in sight.

Annabeth motioned for him to get down as they got closer to the house. She hugged the wall as she crept to one of the windows and peered inside. She turned to him and shook her head, Proteus wasn't in that room. She went to the next window and frowned after looking inside.

"What?" He asked.

"Wait here." She snuck to yet another window, her eyes growing even more confused after looking inside. She snuck back to him, "He just has a bunch of bedrooms."

Percy groaned, "We're going to have to break in, aren't we?"

"Yep." She said, "Let's find a backdoor and hope it's unlocked."

Percy followed her as they walked around the house. Going through the front door was risky but to be fair, this entire thing was risky. They were basically doing the godly version of a home invasion.

Eventually, they did find a backdoor. Percy snuck up to the door and pulled. Sure enough, the door clicked and slowly creaked open. Annabeth smiled at him and snuck in ahead of him.

Once they were inside, Percy decided that Proteus was easily one of the coolest gods he'd ever run into. The inside of his house was a lot like cabin three, just bigger and way fancier. Cabin three didn't have platinum chandeliers, this house did. The cool air of the house was a welcome addition.

Percy really didn't know where to go in such a big house, so he followed Annabeth. He doubted she knew where to go but he figured they had a better chance at succeeding at this together. If they split up and got in trouble, things would be much harder for them. Plus, he doubted Annabeth would want to split up after what had happened in New Orleans.

After that incident with Oizys, Annabeth refused to leave Percy alone. He didn't blame her, he'd act the same way if the roles were reversed.

When they reached the living room, Annabeth stopped in her tracks, causing him to bump into her. His hands flew to her waist so she didn't fall. He peered over her shoulder so he could see what made her stop. That's when he saw him. Proteus was laying on a couch, snoozing away.

Now that Percy was able to get a good look at the guy, there really wasn't anything special about him. He looked like a living version of those old Greek statues that were made of people like Aristotle and Plato. He had gray curly hair and an even curlier beard. His snoring was loud enough to give a sleeping hellhound a run for its money.

"That's him." Annabeth whispered, "Watch my back, I'm going to put the ring on him."

Percy nodded and crept behind her. She reached into her pocket and took out the ring. She stopped right next to the couch and slowly and gently slid the ring onto Proteus's right ring finger. As soon as it was on, she stood up and shook him awake.

Proteus's eyes snapped open. He sat up with fright and eyed Percy and Annabeth, "Who are you?!"

"We want to talk." Annabeth said.

"Ha, you'll have to earn it!" Proteus said before closing his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself still staring at the two demigods, who stared back at him, "Why didn't I change form?"

Annabeth pointed to his ring, "We caught you fair and square, now you have to answer our questions."

Proteus eyed the ring, "My, that piece is handsome." Then he looked up at Annabeth, "Fine, what do you want to know? Let me guess, you want to know who your true love is?"

Percy nearly chuckled at the question, as if Annabeth cared about stuff like that.

Annabeth shook her head, "No. Ares and Demeter are both missing their symbols of power, where are they?"

Proteus sighed as his eyes began to glow a sea green color. He froze for a second before his eyes faded back to their normal blue color, "Very well. Ares's shield is in the possession of a daughter of Hecate named Zena, she is in California. Demeter's staff is in California hidden in the ruins of Mount Othrys. Go there and you shall find them."

"Great, one more thing."

"Ah, ah, ah!" Proteus cut her off, "I only answer one question! Those are the rules!"

Percy watched as he plucked off the ring and handed it back to Annabeth.

"Now, I am giving you five seconds to leave my island before I force you to leave." He said.

"Five seconds isn't enough!" Annabeth argued.

"5."

"Shit, let's go, Percy!" Annabeth grabbed his hand and started running. Percy heard Proteus counting down behind them as he followed them.

"Wait a second, Athena said he isn't violent, why are we running?!" He said.

Annabeth looked at him and screamed. Percy looked behind him and found Proteus had changed form into a massive spider the size of a car.

Out of all of the forms he could've turned into, he had to choose that one. Percy thought.

Annabeth pretty much sprinted down the hall, dragging Percy behind her. He heard Proteus skittering behind them as he chased them, Percy doubted he'd actually hurt them but Annabeth was way too terrified.

They burst through the backdoor and sprinted to the beach. Percy looked behind him and saw Proteus squeeze through the doorway after them. His eight eyes were full of mischief, Percy had a feeling this guy was having more fun chasing after them than anything else. He easily could've changed forms into something smaller and faster but he probably chose to stay as a spider after seeing Annabeth's reaction.

"The boat!" Annabeth screamed, "Get to the boat!"

"Okay!" Percy said, running alongside her.

The beach came into view and with it came the view of the black rubber boat they'd arrived on. He looked behind him only to find Proteus had switched back to his godly form and was cackling at them as they ran.

Annabeth must've not looked or cared because she slammed into the boat and started pushing it into the surf. Percy helped her push though he doubted she needed the help. As soon as the boat was in deep enough water, he helped her up onto the boat before jumping on himself.

This time, he didn't need to will the water to move them away from the island, instead, the current moved them away from the island naturally. All he did was add some speed to the current.

He looked over at Annabeth, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," She panted, "I'm fine."

Percy gave her a reassuring look as the boat started to drift further away from the island. He grabbed a paddle and started paddling back to the mainland. Now that they knew where the items were, they just needed to get to California.