A/N: This chapter is a little short, but I wanted to end it on a certain imagery and a bit of a cliffy...sorry for that. Hope you enjoy this new chapter and thank you all for the awesome reviews, subs and favs! Happy reading!

I have also revised a few things, and fixed spelling errors in this chapter on 9/15 because even when I re-read through it I was horrified at the mistakes, bad grammar, and over all poor sentence structure and use of adjectives. So, in turn I've added and fixed things. -sorry...happy reading once more!

VIII

Percy, Annabeth and Grover

They all stood there staring, not knowing what to say or do. Annabeth then braved a step as she walked up to Mrs. Bishop and fiddled with her hands for a moment as she stared at the mother of a girl who had become one of her trusted friends. It was hard. How do you go about telling a parent that their only child was dead, gone from the world, and unable to breath.

"My name is Annabeth Chase, this is Percy Jackson and Grover Underwood...we're friends of Arina's and Alcander's from camp. Did Arina tell you where she's been the past few years?"

"She called me a few times from various places...but not really, no." Mrs. Bishop said as she eyed Annabeth still unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Her and Alcander have been traveling trying to stop Dea, Caius and Callus from reawakening the Titans. She's been gone for two years and earlier yesterday she returned. But, the camp was attacked, and Arina tried to stop it...but she...she's..."

"She's what? Tell me please." Mrs. Bishop looked desperate and also near about ready to fall over.

Annabeth tried to open her mouth to speak but it was Percy's voice that answered the question.

"She's dead." he said looking at Arina's mother with such sorrow and conviction in his gaze.

Mrs. Bishop blinked a few times as she shakily sat in her chair again and covered her face with her hands. She sat there still for the longest time until she finally uncovered her face then and looked out the window and evidence of tears were starting to form. This woman looked so lost as she sat there. For the trio it was hard to see such a beautiful thing so sad and broken.

"You three sit down and order yourselves something to eat. I'll be right back...I need a moment."

Mrs. Bishop got up then and walked away towards the bathroom and the three of them sat at the table in silence, staring off into different directions, trying to find some sort of calm, when really it was all pain and anguish. Telling Arina's mother of her death, made it seem like they witnessed her killing all over again. It replayed like a bad horror movie in all of their minds. Annabeth was pale, and Percy was staring at the table whilst Grover played with a fork next to his plate. Minutes ticked by into twenty and finally Mrs. Bishop came back and sat back down.

"Tell me everything." she asked softly and calmly.

Percy looked up at her and nodded, ready to pour his heart out. He knew where to start, he had been planning what to say in his mind for hours now. Facing this, was th scariest thing, not even facing Hades was as scary as what he was about to divulge...but he was ready.

Alcander

They had stopped at a motel mid-day. It wasn't anything fancy, nor was it anything to be admonished, but the smell of the place would be enough to throw off their scent for a while. Alcander had gotten a room, and Sherman helped him carry Arina up descretely as they lay her on the bed and covered her with spare sheets. It was disturbing really to both of them as everyone was cramped into a small room, no one daring to go near the body.

After about and hour of silence and the guys trying to watch the news on the TV, Alcander got up and got a wash cloth and walked over to Arina as he began to clean off as much blood as possible. He carefully wiped off the dirt and grime from her beautiful face, and then her neck and arms. Once he eventually got to the stab wound he near about wanted to gag. It was like looking at split granite with blood coming out of it. He got a clean towel and started to clean out the wound the best he could and tearing bed sheets he wrapped her side up the best to his ability.

"You should clean up yourself, Al. We'll watch her." Sherman said at the other end of the room as he sat on the floor with the television remote in his hand.

"You sure?'

"Yeah, it's not like she's going anywhere."

"Hm." Alcander nodded as he headed for the shower.

Alcander stripped of all of his dirt infested clothes and turned on the hot water to a scalding point and got in. It wasn't long for him to just turn into a platonic state of being as he stared at the white tile. He tried not to think, tried not to feel, tried his hardest to keep a straight face...but he just ended up letting the hot water rush down his face and finally let himself cry. It was silent tears, the man still had his pride and he'd be damned if he let the others hear him. No one should ever have to see what he's seen. He was allowed to feel this way, it wasn't wrong.

Deep down, he started to question everything. Could he do this? Would she come back right? What if they didn't make it?

He reached behind his head and clasped a hand on the back of his neck. This mortal flesh, would be the end of him...and he feared if anyone knew it outside of his family. He wished now, in all his years that he did not have a mortal mother. He thanked the God's everyday for his mother, but, if only he was stronger...if only his father had fallen in love with an immortal he wouldn't have been born this way. He could have protected his family better.

Alcander shut off the water and climbed out as he gave himself a quick rub down with a towel and put his clothes back on. He reached for the door when his high alerted senses kicked and he he turned around just in time to have something materialize in front of him and punch him in the face. He flew through the door and ended up on the floor. He was now staring up at a Gorgon...or to be precise he was staring at Euryale the middle sister of Medusa and Stheno. Her grey eyes bored into his and he felt his body stiffen. He was thankful for his Titan blood as it would not have him turn into stone, but it did affect him to where it temporarily disabled him...like the world had gone slightly fuzzy.

"Son of Hyperion." she hissed her ruby lips turning up as it showed white sharp teeth. The snakes on her head were black as obsidian, and she leered over him like a lion would it's prey, seeking for the perfect kill.

"Gorgon! Don't look!" Alcander yelled to his friends.

He got to his feet in a flash and Euryale flexed her hands out as massive claws of bone grew from her fingers. Her smile widened to reveal sharp canines elongated and deadly. Alcander backed up a few paces as she went for him and the next moment he was flying through the wall with the she-demon on him. She drove her bone claws into his chest as it ripped through his skin and he roared in pain. It was then that a sword when through her neck, and Alcander looked to see Sherman, eyes closed as he was standing over her. Euryale shrieked making them all fall to the ground covering their ears, her unearthly wail shattering glass and mirrors.

Alcander forced the hands out of his skin as he threw Euryale off of him and darted up as he gathered up Sherman and went back through the hole in the wall and into their room.

"Take Arina and get the hell out of-" he was pulled back, hands wrapping around his throat and he gagged as he grabbed at the bone that was sinking into his flesh. He felt his human skin break, and he felt true terror. Death was at his door.

It was just then as Sherman went to grab Arina that the sink's faucet started to rattle and the shower began to creak. The Gorgon let up her hold a bit as she heard the ominous creaking around her. Everyone froze as suddenly pipes burst, coming from all directions and wrapping themselves around Euryale. The she-demon was lifted into the air with such force and wrapped in a torrent of high pressured water. It suddenly then froze, all solid ice as Euryale was frozen in time her hands outstretched for Alcander and the snakes moving forward to bite.

Everyone was alright, but the stared in wonder. Slowly everyone looked to Arina's body, still dead and lifeless, except now the eyes were open, staring up at the ceiling like she had been alive for a few moments.

"What the hell!" Sherman moved away from the body, tripping over his own feet.

"What the hell is right." Alcander said rubbing his throat. "We need to get out of here."

Percy, Annabeth and Grover

Percy prepared himself, knowing what to say was different than having the actual guts to say it. Annabeth stared at him, ready to step in if she had to but she knew it was Percy's right, and it was something he had to do. She knew he blamed himself, and in part she blamed herself too. It seemed, looking back on it, they could have done so much more.

"Arina arrived at Camp yesterday around mid-day. She came in right as the first strike happened at Camp, along with Alcander. We mad esome plans to come see you, that we'd be safer here in Washington. Those plans, changed so drastically in the span of a few hours. The camp was ravaged, by everything and anything that Hell could throw at us. I've never seen anyone go in head first without a second thought like Arina, and she made a huge sacrifice, laying her life down so everyone else could have theirs."

"Who? Who did it?"

"Dea."

"Oh my-," Mrs. Bishop put a shocked hand to her mouth and took a shaky breath. "My baby." she whispered. "I trusted Dea...I invited that brat into my home."

"It's my fault." Percy said. "If I hadn't gotten in the way..."

"Don't blame yourself." Mrs. Bishop said as she reached over and took Percy's hand.

Percy felt a swell of warmth, despite how he was feeling. He suddenly missed his own mother and wished she was here to help him through this.

"You tried to save her, you have nothing but my gratitude. I am glad that you came in her stead, I am glad you told me."

He suddenly saw why Arina described her mother the way she did. Mrs. Bishop was nothing but kindness...defensive at first, but such compassion rang through her being. It radiated off of her in waves, almost as if her heart was too big for her.

"We came here, primarily because of this." Percy took his hand back and fished out of his pocket Arina's pennant.

Mrs. Bishop's eyes widened a bit and she reached out for it and Percy settled it in her hand.

"I gave this to Arina when she was eight. William gave it to me and told me to give it to her when she left home."

"William?" Grover inquired. "You mean Oceanus."

"Well yes," Mrs. Bishop smiled sadly at the proper name of her husband. "but he didn't call himself that when he was with me. He was William Bishop, a dazzling, kind man who took care of me and gave me a beautiful daughter. It wasn't until after Arina was born that he told me what he was, and why he had to go. Letting him go was the second hardest thing I had to do."

"What was the first?" Annabeth asked.

"Letting my little girl go. Not exactly a proper order to things, but, it was his last wish that Arina was safe and sound. I sent her away with Chiron a long time ago. It was for the best...I honsetly can't say I could have handled having a daughter who could lift a tractor above her head at four years old. I haven't seen her since her fourteenth birthday...and then she suddenly calls me telling me she's coming home for a very important reason."

"Do you know what that pennant does?" Percy asked and Mrs. Bishop nodded sadly.

"It unlocks my husband from his tomb. But he told me I must never do it, and never allow Arina to do it."

"There's a war raging between the god's right now." Percy explained. "Cronus is back, and he's using Dea, Callus and Caius to release the Titans from their bonds. Arina's last wish, was that I come to you, to ask you to help us unlock Oceanus so that he may confront Cronus to end this war."

"You must be something special, for my daughter to entrust you with this knowledge." Mrs. Bishop tilted her head to the side. "What child of what God are you?"

"Posidon." Percy said smally.

"All of you..."

"I'm the daughter of Athena." Annabeth said.

"Me..oh just your typical satyr." Grover shrugged. "But I am a senior protector."

Grover lifted his baseball cap to reveal his horns and Mrs. Bishop smiled slightly and nodded.

"My daughter had such friends...I'm proud." Mrs. Bishop stared at the glittering pennant in her hands and nodded. "If it was my little sand dollars last wish...what more can I do but help. But we have to leave...we've lingered to long."

No one even had a second thought that they hadn't eaten. They all arose and began towards the elevator.

But just as they made their way to the elevator, a huge quake rumbled beneath them causing many around them to scream. It was then that the glass of the North side of the tower shattered as large claws grasped the metal, crunching it and tearing it away. A large spiked, green and black head forced it's way through the windows and tore with it's teeth and claws.

A dragon, had found them, and was intent on getting to them.