I paced back and forth in my cabin, nervously chewing on my bottom lip after having woken up from a nightmare. Of course, Morpheus being the worst god of sleep in existence, showed me Kyle and Holly again last night, the duo locked in what appeared to be a training session.

As I'd feared, Kyle, who I guess I should really refer to as Kronos from now on, was wielding his scythe, a cruel smile resting on his face when the tip of the blade grazed Holly's thigh, causing her to scream and immediately collapse, blood streaming from the wound.

"Pity," Kyle (Kronos) said, seeming particularly indifferent about having hurt his girlfriend. "I recalled you to be a better fighter, daughter of Ares. Perhaps I was mistaken."

Holly grit her teeth and stood up, her sword having never fallen out of her hand. "Well unlike some of us, I don't have unlimited strength or the power to control time. But that doesn't make me any less competent of a fighter." She pressed her other hand flat against the wound, not even flinching as she applied pressure. "Trust me," she continued, "I'll be ready to take down that witch when the time comes."

Kronos's face hardened. "You will do no such thing, girl. I've already made plans for that traitorous daughter of mine. She will suffer alongside all her other siblings, spending the rest of her pathetic immortal life within the confines of that hellish pit."

"Immortal?" Holly asked. "Isn't she a demigod…err, demititan?"

"Yes and no." Kronos set his scythe down onto the weapons rack. "Although she was born of a mortal woman, she possess all of my powers and then some. If she so wished, she could alter her age for the rest of her life." Then Kronos turned to face me, a malicious glint in those blood chilling, golden eyes of his. "Isn't that lovely, darling? See how merciful I am, giving you eternal life? Enjoy eternity in endless suffering as I have!"

That's when I woke up, bringing you up to date. Anyhow, I was currently dressed in running shorts and a ratty, old t-shirt, waiting for James to pick me up. Percy was waiting for a lift, but I couldn't go anywhere without confirming my plan with James first. "I know the risks," he'd told me, "and I'm willing to accept them. So quit your worrying, and let's get to work."

Once James showed up, wearing an oiled stained Camp Half-Blood shirt and polka dotted swim trunks, I mist-traveled to Percy's apartment and brought him back to camp.

The three of us then jogged down to the beach, the large boat replica already floating in the water courtesy of James and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin. Beckendorf was also there, wielding goggles hanging limply around his neck, acknowledging his older brother's presence with a nod.

Beckendorf then handed us each of us a sack of gag grenades, three rolls of duct tape, and a map. "The goal is to get in and out as fast as possible and without being noticed. Let's try for five minutes for our first go."

"Uh, time isn't an issue for me," I commented.

"Well, good for you." Beckendorf turned to the others. "Five minutes, guys. Good luck." He then started his stop watch, and the three of us raced to the end of the dock, hopping onto the deck and going our separate ways.

According to the plan we'd made earlier, Percy and James would target the engine room while my job was to take out as many monsters as possible. I planted bombs at structural points on the boat, bobbing and weaving through the automatons that Beckendorf had added onto the boat, evading capture as I ripped tape off with my teeth and stuck things to the walls.

By the time I hit all my targeted areas, I mist-traveled back onto the dock, waiting for Percy and James to come back. For our first attempt, we agreed that we were going to try to do this without relying too heavily on the other, but in reality, we knew that it was my responsibility to meet up with the others if I finished first.

And so for the last few weeks of July and the beginning of August, the three of us practice under little to no time with different conditions. One time, Beckendorf had managed to get the rest of the Hephaestus kids and a mixture of Hermes, Apollo, and Athena kids to be on board, therefore providing us actual opponents other than Celestial bronze automatons.

However, after practices and training, Percy would always ask me to take him back home, where he'd go hang out with Rachel. Needless to say, when I'd return to camp, I'd get my ear chewed off by Annabeth as she complained about Percy running away from his training.

"We both know the prophecy," I reminded Annabeth. "Let him enjoy himself for as much time as possible."

That shut her up pretty quickly.

As for my other friends, Luke and Will, they began throwing themselves into their responsibilities – Luke making warriors out of as many demigods as possible while Will made it his mission to teach all his siblings everything he knew about field medicine. I bounced between the two of them, but I usually ended up training one-on-one with Clarisse, as she was unafraid of being as ruthless as possible.

August 11th came too quickly for my liking. James and I suited up a little after five, checking that we had everything we needed. "Just in case," Beckendorf had said, handing each of us bolt cutters before we left, mounting our pegasi.

Where we going, boss? Blackjack asked as James got on his back while I mounted Star.

"To find Percy. It's time."

Then the two of us took off into the sky.

We found Percy driving in Paul's Prius on the closed road next to the beach. While I got Star to land next to the stopped car, Blackjack thought it would be funny to land on the hood of the Prius, causing both Percy and Rachel, who had also been in the car, to grimace at the dent that would be there.

Hey, boss Blackjack said. Nice car!

"Blackjack," Percy sighed. "What are you-?"

Then Percy looked up at Blackjack's rider and swallowed, noticing James and me. Star walked up to the passenger side of the car, allowing for Rachel to pet her mane as Percy asked, "Time?" his face paler than freshly fallen snow.

I responded with a nod before tugging on my heart charm, allowing for my armor to coat my body. James readjusted his own breastplate, his fingers nervously drumming on the war helm dangling from a cord on his belt.

Rachel looked up at the two of us. "Hi."

"Oh, hey," James began. "You must be Rachel. Percy's told me…uh, I mean he mentioned you."

I stifled a snort. "Way to keep things under wraps."

"Don't you start with me," James groaned, a blush dusting his face.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Has he? Good." She glanced back at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."

"Pretty much," I agreed.

Percy turned to Rachel. "Would you tell my mom-?"

"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."

He nodded his thanks, but before he could get out of the car, Rachel said, "Good luck," and kissed Percy before he could react. "Now, get going half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."

In an extremely dazed like state, Percy hopped onto Blackjack's back before he and Star took off into the sky once again, the Prius fading away into a dark splotch in the distance. Now that we were away from Rachel, I allowed myself to laugh a little at how awkward that interaction had been, earning me a half-hearted glare from Percy.

"So," James said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."

"Oh, gods," he muttered. "Don't even think about it."

James and I laughed as we flew out further over the Atlantic in search of the worst cruise ship in existence.

We didn't find the Princess Andromeda until after the sun had set, the lights from the boat illuminating its silhouette in the early evening haze. Even from about thirty feet above, I could see the huge horde of monsters milling around on the deck, their weapons gleaming dangerously from their waists.

"Land there," I told the pegasi, pointing to the lowest deck of the ship, which was devoid of all monsters.

Like comets, we plummeted past the flashing lights and the monsters, coming to an abrupt stop on the deck.

Ugh, Star said as she looked around. I can see why you hated this place so much, Blackjack.

No kidding, Blackjack whinnied in reply, lowering himself so that James and Percy could disembark.

"Don't wait for us," Percy told the pegasi, causing them to skitter nervously.

But, boss-

"Trust me," he said. "We'll get out by ourselves."

Then good luck, boss. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!

Stay safe, mistress! Star said, nuzzling her nose against my hand for a brief moment. Then the two pegasi took off, disappearing into the rapidly darkening night.

Percy and I didn't hesitate to draw our swords while James hefted his own bag of explosives, reaching for a picture in his pocket. I knew he was looking at the picture of him with his girlfriend and mother at Thanksgiving, the both of them beaming from merely being in his presence. As far as I knew, James had shown me the ring he'd planned to give Lucy, his girlfriend, after this whole ordeal was over.

"We'll make it back to camp," Percy promised.

I hid my grimace, remembering the day that James's name had appeared on my list. Instead of Beckendorf dying tonight, I was going to lose another one of my longtime friends.

I saw the worry in James' eyes, but instead of showing Percy the truth, he wore his usual confident smile. "You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kro-" – he cut himself off at my glare – "err, the king back into a million pieces."

"Meet at the helipad once all the bombs are in place," I said. "And if anything goes wrong-"

"I know," Percy interrupted, his fingers ghosting over the charms I gave him all those years ago. "I'll call you."

I pulled both boys in for a quick hug. "Stay safe. I'll see you soon."

With that, I slung my own bag of explosives over my shoulder like Santa Claus and mist-traveled away.

Let me say for the record that running around on a monster-infested boat isn't fun, especially when you're being threatened every other second. In the fifteen minutes that I'd already been here, I managed to set my bombs throughout the four lower decks, all of them on critical structural points that promised maximum damage when detonated.

As I finished tapping my first bomb on the fifth floor, the alarm began blaring, causing me to curse under my breath. Before the hallway could flood with monsters, I ducked into the first bathroom I saw, quickly disposing of the monsters inside before hiding in the stall furthest from the door.

Percy, what's going on? I asked, deciding to use to check in on the duo before I left this safe spot.

Mr. Crabby's trying to kill me, can't talk right now!

Moments later, I heard heavy footsteps from the floor above heading towards the southern end of the ship. And judging from how quickly the sound disappeared, the crab after Percy was running.

As I found the stairs to the sixth floor, I slapped a few more vials of Greek fire onto the walls, concealing them behind paintings and plants and the like. And like I expected, I was instantly greeted with an overwhelming number of monsters as I burst onto the sixth floor, killing about a dozen within the first three seconds of being on the floor.

"There's another one!" a telkhine hissed, lunging forward with his brethren, only to be cut down.

"Fun," I muttered as I allowed myself to catch fire, becoming a vortex of flames as I shoved my way to the nearest staircase, slaying monsters left and right. But despite how many monsters I was taking out right now, I knew my father had much more than what was on this cursed ship and that we'd face much worse before the end of the week.

After another five minutes of fighting my way to the top deck, I found myself on the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted compared to the lower decks.

On the other side of the deck, down a flight of stairs, was the helipad, where I was supposed to meet the boys in the next few minutes if they could evade capture. But seeing that Percy was already half way across the deck before freezing, turning to the balcony above him, where I knew Kyle and Holly were standing, I knew that we were so screwed.

"You're late, Percy," my father said, his voice booming across the silent deck. "We've been expecting you for days, you see. Come bow before me."

"Yeah," Percy snorted, "like that'll happen."

I had enough time to whirl around and slit the throat of a Laistrygonian giant that had tried to apprehend me before ducking behind a large column, watching as the rest of my father's trap unfurled.

Other Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool, clearly waiting for my father's cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spike clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Kyle. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at Percy. Within seconds, Percy had been surrounded.

"Oh, hell no," I swore, exchanging my sword in favor of my bow. I didn't know how much longer I had before Kronos realized I was here as well, so I nocked four arrows and aimed at the Laistrygonians on the one side of the pool before repeating this again for the other side.

As the giants erupted into gold dust, I saw as Kyle turned in my direction, sneering at the column I'd been hiding behind.

"Welcome, daughter dearest. Did you really believe I was ignorant of your presence on my ship?"

I shrugged as I came out of my hiding place, slinging my bow over my shoulder and summoning my hunting knives. "Nah, but I figured I could try to hide long enough to cause some damage."

His lips twitched. "How amusing. Am I to understand that you are a part of this mission that Perseus Jackson is a part of? You're following a mere child to your death, daughter! You bring shame upon our family."

"Eh, don't care about what you think about me, douchebag." Without batting an eye, I cut off the paw of one of the hellhounds before stabbing my other knife deep into its neck. I yanked my knives back to my side, wiping the black blood off on my jeans as the hellhound whimpered and exploded into dust. "And to answer your question, I would follow Percy to the ends of the Earth if he asked me to. This is merely the beginning."

Kyle raised an eyebrow at Percy. "You allow for a woman to speak on your behalf, Jackson?" He shook his head in disappointment. "How pitiful, but the time for speaking is over. Come forward, if you dare."

"Percy, don't-" I tried to warn before being cut off by Kronos.

"Hush, you insufferable girl! Let him make his own decision."

Percy took a step forward, and the monsters parted like the Red Sea. He walked nervously, as if he expected to be stabbed in the back (which was a completely legitimate fear) and climbed the stairs, summoning Riptide to his hand.

I mist-traveled onto the balcony, standing at the forefront of the crowd that was beginning to cheer for Kronos. For some reason, none of them tried to touch me, but that didn't mean I relaxed. One wrong move and they'd stab me in the back faster than I could say, "Ow."

My father's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. To this day, I still wondered who had been sacrificed to forge such an unnatural blade.

Then Percy charged, causing my father to laugh as a golden glow began encasing Percy. His swing was slower than a sloth's walking speed, but before Kronos could hurt Percy, the boat lurched sideways and all the water from the pool leapt up to completely douse the balcony.

Since I'd been expecting that, I'd been holding onto one of the ropes that used to hold a banner over the balcony, smirking as monsters cried out in surprise as they were thrown off balance.

The salt water had been enough for Percy to break out of the time spell, but he was still too slow in comparison to my father. I tried to speed Percy up, but once I felt like I was trying to lift a car by myself, I knew that the Fates were preventing my interference of this battle. Damn them.

I had to look away when I saw the cut open on Percy's arm, my friend stumbling back and lunging forward with Riptide in his left hand. He'd got in a nasty hit on Kyle's stomach, but Riptide merely bounced off like the sword was made of rubber instead of bronze and was thrown out of Percy's grasp.

Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Kyle tells me you were never his match at swordplay."

Percy swayed on his feet. "Kyle had a big head," he said. "But at least it was his head."

"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plans unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."

"You'll never have the chance," I seethed, hating the fact that the Fates seemed to place a barrier between me and my father. "You'll never destroy Olympus, not as long as I am breathing."

"Then we'll just have to change that, won't we?" Kronos turned to Holly, who had been watching the fight from afar. "Show my daughter what we do to those who defy us."

"You coward," I snarled, pulling my helm down as the monsters parted for the two girls to approach me. "Having others fight your battles for you. No wonder Kyle was so hesitant to host you."

"It is a great honor to host the Titan Lord!" Holly exclaimed, lunging forward with her sword.

"I won't fight you," I decided, waving my hand over her, freezing her in place. I then slammed the hilts of my knives against her temples, watching her eyes roll back into her head before allowing her to collapse onto the floor.

"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan," Percy continued, gripping his right arm, trying not to pass out.

"And why would that be?" Kronos asked, his gold eyes glittering with sadistic glee at the sight of Holly unconscious at my hand. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"

He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"

A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. And though I'd never met this boy before, I knew exactly who he was: Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis. Despite Percy having saved his life in the Labyrinth, he pledged his loyalty to Kronos anyways.

"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."

He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging James Turner between them. I felt my heart lurch in my chest. James had a swollen eye and his shirt was nearly torn off.

I tried to move forward, but I was glued to this spot on the deck.

Please, I pleaded with the Fates. Don't make me have to face Lucy by myself. I don't want to lose another friend.

It must be done, girl, I heard the Fates speak in unison. Just close your eyes, and it'll all be over.

Promise?

We promise. You needn't see your friend suffer any more than necessary.

I closed my eyes and felt myself get thrown off the ship, falling from the top deck until I crashed into the ocean, the currents taking me as far away as fast as they could. Once I was in the water, I opened my eyes, watching as Greek fire consumed the ship, the explosion so loud that I thought I'd blown out my eardrums.

"James!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face as I reached towards the light, knowing that what was done was done. "JAMES!"

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Percy plummeting like an anchor to the bottom of the sea, completely unconscious from everything that had happened while on the Princess Andromeda.

Though my vision was still blurry from my tears, I propelled myself downward, catching Percy before he fell into a trench. I swam him back up to the sea bed and took care of his injuries before the salt water caused him to heal improperly, especially since there was an arrow sticking out of the back of his calf.

After I removed the arrow and bandaged both wounds on his arm and leg, I called for Rainbow, who showed up within five minutes after I'd called him.

What happened? Rainbow asked, nudging Percy's arm with his muzzle.

"We just escaped an explosion that killed our friend," I said, choking on my own words. "Could you please take Percy to Poseidon's palace? He'll understand."

Of course, mistress. And for what it's worth, I'm so sorry for your loss.

"Thank you, Rainbow."

Once I was sure Percy wasn't going to fall off Rainbow's back, I sent the two on their way. In the meantime, I swam back to the site of the explosion, determined to kill every last monster that didn't blow up from our attack.

It took me four more hours to make sure anything that had escaped the Princess Andromeda was truly gone. As for the enemy demigods who hadn't died in the explosion and didn't escape with Kronos, I sent them straight to the prison Athena and I had set up for this very reason. Psyche and Hebe would take care of them until further notice, which I was so very grateful for.

Even after I was positive that the monsters were gone, I swam around the wreckage, hoping against hope that I would find some part of James. And despite never finding his body, not even after the sun had come up and illuminated the water, I did find two things that had belonged to my friend.

I found James's dog tags, the ones that he had gotten from his favorite uncle after he'd died in Iraq, and on the chain that contained the dog tags was the ring that he had planned to give to Lucy Greendale, daughter of Demeter.

God, she was going to be absolutely devastated.

Before returning to Camp Half-Blood, I found Percy in Long Island Sound, his face unable to hide the grief and guilt he felt. He was sitting by a large boulder, his head buried in his hands as he ordered all sea life to stay away from him.

I took a seat next to him, wrapping an arm over his shoulders.

"Oh, gods, Andy," Percy muttered, burying his face into my shoulder, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. "I killed him. James is dead because of me."

"Don't say that," I said, running my hand through his unruly hair, knowing that the action typically soothed him. "What happened to James isn't anyone's fault but my father's. Don't blame yourself."

"I should've been faster."

I shook my head. "That wouldn't have changed the outcome, Percy. Trust me, I know." I sighed deeply. "But if it makes you feel any better, he's in Elysium with his uncle, and he's at peace with what happened."

Percy looked up at me, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "How do you know that?"

"Hades is my brother, remember?" I said with a weak smile. "He tells me everything about where demigods end up once they die. That's how I know James is happy and that he wouldn't want us to mourn him for too long."

He nodded, seeming to feel a little better about James's death. Then he paled again. "Lucy's going to kill us when she finds out."

"I'll handle her," I promised. "Come on, we have some news we need to share. And if I'm not mistaken, it's finally time for you to hear the prophecy."

"Does news really travel that quickly?" Percy asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nah, Poseidon told me. Also my brother, remember?"

"You know, it's kind of weird to think that you're technically my aunt."

I shuddered. "Don't think too hard about who you're related to on the godly side, or else you'll go insane. Trust me on that."

And with that, the both of us swam to the surface, walking onto the beach within Camp Half-Blood's borders.