After almost three days of sailing, they reached Tampico. "Let's meet your seer," Percy said, "The so-called Oracle of Delphi." "She's real which I think I have already mentioned," Annabeth sated. "I'll come too," Frank spoke up. "Can we trust you?" Annabeth asked. Percy didn't know about that, but Grover answered, "I think we can."

They anchored the ship to the port and went through a bustling market. "Do you know why the seers, the tribe of Delphi come here many a times? You see they are very old women and they come here whenever someone of their tribals die, as a ritual. And according to what I remember, she must be around in the port's market," Annabeth said. "Okay, so we are supposed to look for her through a crowd and market of a port?" Percy said. Nobody replied. "Yeah, that will be easy."

They all went separate ways. Allright, where do I start, Percy thought. As he was walking, he tripped over a rock carelessly, landing face flat. "I hate the taste of dirt," Percy mumbled to himself as he stood up. He angrily picked up the rock and threw it at the ground again. Then he noticed something, it had a writing carved into it. He tried to read it. "Sheesh," Percy muttered.

In the midst of a crowd,

There is a burn of a shroud.

Search for us there,

A fraction of your future shall we share.

He felt creeped out at the line mentioning a shroud. Then, it struck him. It was leading him to the Tribe where they were cremating someone. He ran and searched for some kind of smoke. There he saw it; they were on a type of raised platform not far from the entrance to mountains.

Grover walked through the other side. He tried to ask everyone if they knew anything about the seers. As he strolled, he noticed a girl with a dark complexion, shoulder-length curly cinnamon brown hair sailing in a boat in one of the canals. He called out her to ask her too. She only glanced at him and then, turned. She had gold eyes which creeped the hell out of Grover. When he stopped the boat with his leg, only then did she say something. "Step off my boat or I will be late, and he'd have my neck," she said angrily and then softened, "I am sorry, white lord."

That's when Grover realized she was a slave. He stepped off and went the other way. Once she was gone, he followed her. The river led her inside a cave. He saw her park her boat beside a cavern and step on land. She opened a door carved out of the rock. That's when he realized there was a whole house made of the cavern.

He heard yelling and peeked inside from the window. He saw a man shouting at her. "I am sorry," Grover saw her plead, "I could not buy anything from the market for this sum of money." "Oh! You are trying to fool me, huh?" The man yelled stupidly and brought out a whip. Grover ran away from the window just as the girl yelled.

Annabeth was not keen on walking with a person of Ares's crew, but she did because she was the only one who could know if Frank tried something. "Do you know where the seer is?" Frank asked. "Well normally, if you are looking for them, your destiny would definitely give you some clue," Annabeth explained, "The clue won't be subtle but finding it would be very hard."

"So, we have to keep our eyes open," Frank added. Annabeth nodded. Suddenly she dropped to one knee. Her eyes started following something on the ground. "What happened," Frank questioned. "I am following the pattern of the ants to see if they are creating a clue or a word," Annabeth said. "Seriously?" Frank also started helping her, "Well, I guess."

"There's nothing," Annabeth concluded after a while. Then she noticed something. "Frank, is one of your arrows deformed?" she asked. "Well, no. It broke when we were passing through a dense group of trees," Frank replied, "Is that supposed to mean something?" "Maybe," Annabeth answered and ran towards the direction Frank's broken arrow was pointing.

Grover ran and ran in hopes to find his friends when he suddenly crashed into someone. They were Annabeth and Frank. "How did you not see us?" Annabeth asked. Grover retorted, "How didn't you?" "Keeping that aside, we are all together but where is Percy?" Frank asked. "Hold on guys," Grover said, "You need to see something." "What?" Annabeth asked.

Grover led them to the cavern. "Oh my god!" Annabeth facepalmed. "I am glad you don't support slavery," Grover stated, "Even though you are a pirate and all." "I am Pirate who has been raised with standards by one of the 8 Emperors of the sea," Annabeth retorted. Frank was stunned. He had seen this happening before. Heck, it had happened to himself.

"Grandma, will mother be back?" 10-year-old Frank asked. "No, she is never going to come back to you. But you are going to go back to her," his grandma had said, "Fai, you are going to train fiercely to prove to the world that you are a hero. You shall not die a coward but, like your mother." Frank nodded deciding to keep the promise.

He trained and practiced until one day, some pirates came and took him away. Last time, he ever saw his grandmother was her house and their village being surrounded by Ares's pirates. King Zeus didn't do anything or even if he did after that night, Frank wouldn't know about it. He realized, there were more like him forced into slavery on the same ship. All of the children like him were forced to fight each other. Frank was a beast, he defeated everyone but one, Clarisse. Frank thought it was over for him until Ares chose to keep both of them and slowly promote them upwards. He doesn't know what happened to the other children and didn't.

"We need to do something!" Annabeth broke Frank out of trance. "Why didn't you do something about this, earlier?" Frank asked Grover. "I was scared, okay," Grover replied, "Let's just rescue the girl, now." "So, we just break in? That is not a good plan." Annabeth said. "Why not? He is just a man, and we are three pir-" Frank started to say but suddenly they heard an echo. "Annabeth! Grover! Are you here? I saw one of Frank's arrows lying at the entrance" Percy's voice came.

"Oh no!" Frank said, "He'd expose us." "The arrow must have fallen when we crashed into each other," Annabeth stated. The voice came closer and closer until the shouting and cursing from the house stopped. The man stepped outside. Percy came in sight and stopped in his tracks. "Oh, sorry to disturb you. I will just leave," Percy said until he noticed the three hiding. "Hey, guys! What are you doing there? Guess what, I found the Oracle!" And rest was history.

The man attacked at the four of them. Percy side-stepped and came in with the punch to his side. Annabeth caught the man's leg at the second and pulled up making him fall. And then, Frank kicked his knee onto his back. Meanwhile, Grover helped the girl stand up. The man came up to Grover from behind even after all the beating. Grover picked up a pan lying nearby, turned and smacked it onto his head. The man fell onto a rock.

"He is probably in a deep sleep now," Percy said. "You mean coma," Frank suggested. As they all turned, the man slithered and caught the girl's ankle. Frank stepped onto his hand and the man backed and stood up again. Percy attacked him with his knee. The man batted it away. He punched onto the man's side, but it got blocked. The man punched straight at Percy's nose, but he was able to dodge it barely. The man kept attacking him, but Percy was fast. He triple-kicked man on his chest but he didn't seem to stagger.

Percy's senses opened up again. He felt an adrenaline rush. He started off by throwing a jab, cross and hook. The man defended with corresponding punches and then, threw a punch at Percy's jaw. But Percy finished with a block and another hook. The man was not ready to stop. He picked up a bat and came at Percy. Percy didn't have his sword as it had been lost with Dionysus's ship. He decided to try the disarming maneuver with the only weapon he had, Frank's arrow. Percy's arrow hit the base of the man's and he twisted, putting his whole weight into a downward thrust. The man's bat scattered away, and Annabeth came in at the right time and wrapped the man's hand in a cloth while Grover kicked him in the calf.

The man broke free but immediately, Frank's arrow zipped past Grover and embedded itself into the man. "No!" Annabeth yelled. "Serves him right," Percy said. "The man was a beast. He was still fighting after being beat so many times and outnumbered. He had to be killed to be stopped," Frank explained. "Wait I'll show you," Annabeth said as she took out a symbol from the man's pocket, "The British would be enraged to see one of their people killed on Olympian soil." It was the Union Jack, the symbol of British.

"So, either he is an English Noble or a commander of a legion, right?" Percy asked. "Seeing his combat," Grover suggested, "He is probably the latter." "He still could be a noble but, considering both possibilities, what would he be doing here?" Annabeth asked. Percy and Grover looked at each other and nodded. Annabeth understood too. "Man, what the heck?" Frank asked confused.

"Hello, so what is your name?" Annabeth asked the girl. "My name is Hazel Levesque, and my mom was arrested for practicing sorcery three years ago. Then, I was sold to the English stationed in Atlantis by some people. Since then, I have been living like this and I am very grateful to you for saving me." Frank smiled, "No Problem."

"Anyways, let's go to the Oracle," Percy advised. As they made their way towards the tribal seers, they could now hear some sounds from the hill. "It is probably a ceremony going on. Either someone is being crowned, someone has recently been born or most probably, a funeral," Annabeth said, "Or it could have more than one reason."

Once they reached to them, they were welcomed by an old lady. "Come Percy Jackson, we have been expecting you." Percy was stunned and Annabeth smiled. She led them to the ceremony. Percy saw many old women, some young women, and a few men. The funeral was already over. They were told that their leader who was also the Oracle had died, and it was the time to crown a new one.

They were presented in front of the throne. "Percy, she is-" Annabeth whispered but was cut off by the oracle. "I am about to be crowned so, please hurry and ask me?" The new Oracle insisted. "Well, we wanted some help for his future since he is-" Grover was interrupted by her. "The future heir of Olympus. Quite so, he is going to be fantastic." Percy got nervous. Annabeth tried to say something again, but the green mist caught her attention.

She sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. Inside his head, Percy heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around his brain: I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies appointed by Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty legion of Python. Approach, seeker, and ask. "What is my destiny?" he gulped. The raspy voice spoke,

You shall go back and face the emperor who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

As the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, Percy cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?" But his audience with the Oracle was already over. The mist had retreated but the lady's eyes were still bright green. Percy was going to ask if she was okay, but she spoke first. "Ah! My first prophecy. Do you know, some of us actually go crazy after their first one. Glad, I didn-" Suddenly, her eyes went green again and she screamed like crazy. Many people came towards her and carried her away. The same earlier old lady came up to them again, "This happens again and again and again. Most Oracles are consulted on their coronation but go crazy after their first prophecy."

Once they were away, Percy was on the brink of breaking. "I should not have consulted her. It's my fault," Percy said. "If you didn't someone else would have. It was bound to happen," Grover explained. Annabeth told him, "This the life of Pirates, you have to be hard. After all, she deserved it. She was already mostly crazy and Luke's mom." "What?" Percy exclaimed. "I'll explain back on the ship," Annabeth stated. Throughout all of this, Frank was there stunned and in need of immediate answers.

Another old woman came up to them with watery eyes and explained, "After your consultation, she went crazy. It's okay and not really your fault but now, you have a duty to find a new Oracle for us." Percy could only comply.

When they were back on the ship, Frank questioned, "I am sorry for asking you this. I know I have only known for like three-four days but if I am with you, you need to tell me what is happening. I mean, Percy is the HEIR to the FREAKING EMPIRE OF OLYMPUS?" "Sorry, man. You are right, we didn't know whether we could trust you. But you seem a decent man, right G-man?" Percy said. Grover nodded. "I have shown Hazel her room and she is sleeping right now. Let us explain to you what is going on," Annabeth spoke up.

"Lord Poseidon's secret wife and High King Zeus's Master Sword has been stolen by Hades somehow. Zeus blames Poseidon and Poseidon blames Zeus. This would lead to a civil war where Lord Hades would benefit. But what none of them except Lord Poseidon knows that the English are planning to attack. It's clear that Zeus wouldn't trust Poseidon so, Percy has to retrieve Zeus's precious sword along with his mother to gain Zeus's trust. We can let nobody know because if Zeus learns about Percy earlier, he shall be executed due The Pact."

"Okay so, this is huge! And you know what, I am ready to help you," Frank said. "But don't you have to go back to Ares?" Grover asked. "Well, I'll help you after that, then," Frank stated. "I'd like that. We got one crewmate from the Brutal Fury too. I think Dionysus is going to be happy," Percy said. "You sank his ship," Grover said. "No worries."

That night everyone decided to put mattresses on the deck and sleep. "So, that was Luke's mom, huh?" Percy started. "Let me start from the start. My father and stepmother hated me. They treated me like a freak. I got the hint and ran away when I was seven. I met three people, Grover, Luke and Thalia who helped me. Luke is the son of the creator of the fastest delivery business. Thalia was the first-borne of Zeus, but she ran away from her responsibilities. Zeus worked hard to delete this memory from the whole Olympus and even his own. Now it mostly acts as a dormant memory that can be activated. On our way, we were capture by Ares. He used to this all the time, capturing kids and training them until Zeus denied so three years ago. We met another kid, you there. And Grover insisted to go with you because he said he was supposed to. Then when we all finally escaped, we found our way to Athena. But on the way, we were attacked by Hades because Thalia was with us. She decided to separate with us because she was allegedly endangering us." Annabeth said.

Percy's all questions were answered by Annabeth already except one, "I see you have already talked with Grover about me. Wait, who is your real mother." "Athena, she is the only mother I know of both Malcom and me."

I know, viewers want longer chapters, and I am trying. But I have already gone once on hiatus. So, I am trying to post faster.

I know this chapter isn't good as the others. But since I'm new, I think that is acceptable. Have a good day.