It has been a while, hasn't it? School, then life in general take up most of my time. Here is the next chapter, though, enjoy!

Younger kids with an older self. kids with no younger self. The Seven.

Normal talking, telepathy

Sadly, I do not and probably never will own Percy Jackson and associates. I really, really wish I did, though.

"And that's why I said to never assume that you will have plenty of time for a quest. Always assume something will happen and all your time will be gone." Annabeth sat back with a sigh. And to think, this quest was considered 'back in the good old days'.

"That's the end of the chapter, by the way." Thalia said, taking a moment to collect herself. Luke didn't look much better. He and Kronos had wondered where the three of them disappeared to for those five days, he'd been getting really worried, especially for Annabeth. It wasn't until they turned back up in L.A that he'd allowed himself to breathe again, knowing Annabeth was safe, well... as safe as one get ever be on a quest, especially one to the Underworld.

"I'll read, next." Reyna volunteered. Thalia passed the book over to her, and she flipped to the next chapter.

Chapter seventeen: We Shop for Waterbeds

Reyna stopped reading for a second and glanced at the three of them, confused. A few others looked around at each other in confusion as well.

"You don't have time for waterbeds!" Zeus said scathingly. "Quit messing around already and find my Bolt!" He demanded.

Percy stared at him in disgust. "And they wondered why so many of their children turned against them." He commented to the demigods, not even bothering to keep his voice down.

Luke snorted. "Are you just now figuring that out?" He asked.

"No. I've known for a while, I've sympathized enough, wondered more than once which side would really be better at ruling. My conclusion was that the Olympians were the lesser of two evils. There are a few here that... I respect and think do a good job, especially with balancing their duties and still keeping an eye on their kids and trying to communicate. And then there are those I have no respect for and could care less if they continued to exist." Percy answered honestly.

Most of the council stared at the two of them in shock and horror, while Hestia tended the fire sadly. She knew what he was talking about, she heard it all the time when demigods spoke in her hearing range when she was tending the hearth in the center of the cabin area. She knew there was much discontent among the demigods.

The demigods stared at Percy uneasily. They knew that they all had their own doubts throughout the war, but they never would have guessed that Percy had his own doubts. He was such a loyal guy... Reyna cleared her throat and started to read again.

(It was Annabeth's idea.)

"Of course it was." Travis scoffed.

"What was her idea?" Connor asked, giving his brother the same strange look the rest of them were giving him.

"What? I'm being preemptive." He defended himself. Annabeth glared and pulled out her knife. You know, just to be preemptive.

(She loaded us into... "Los Angeles, please.")

"He's not going anywhere unless you can pay first, and I don't think you guys have enough money for that." Rachel said in amusement.

"Oh, we figured it out, don't worry." Annabeth said with satisfaction. Percy rolled his eyes while Grover shook his head fondly. Everyone else looked at them in confusion.

(The cabbie chewed his cigar)

A few of the demigods screwed up their faces in disgust, but didn't say anything.

"Lovely." Thalia muttered, she had no problem saying anything.

(and sized us up... cards?" Annabeth asked.)

"Ah... that would work." Hermes informed the room. Those cards were good anywhere, anytime.

"We tested one out in LA, just to see if it would work outside of Vegas." Percy said in satisfaction. He'd been very pleased when it went through like a normal credit or debit card.

"Seriously?" Travis asked, excited. He really wanted one of those cards! If only he could get Percy's, or Grovers... Grover might be easier to get it from.

(He shrugged. "Some... at it skeptically.)

"He probably didn't recognize it. Casino's would have their own cards, especially the bigger ones. He probably has customers offering up a casino card all the time, and would recognize them easily." Athena said, knowledgeably.

A few shot her annoyed looks for pointing out, what they saw as, the obvious. Most ignored it. A few listened and decided she was probably right.

("Swipe it," Annabeth... next to the dollar sign.)

All the demigods mouths dropped, and they stared at the trio incredulously.

"Please tell me you still have that." All four Stolls breathed at once. Leo himself looked like he might pass out from pure glee.

"I do." Percy shrugged, telling them the same thing he'd already said when Apollo asked earlier. The Stolls almost wilted, knowing that they would never be able to get it from him, he always knew when they took his things, and he got it back... with a vengeance! They turned towards the other two, instead, hopeful.

"I do, too." Grover piped up. He'd used it as needed during his search, but he mainly kept it for emergencies, like Percy did. The Stolls lit up, and started planning. Grover made a mental note to leave it somewhere safe, where those two wouldn't find it, but it was still easily accessible.

"I left it with the cab driver." Annabeth shrugged. At their incredulous looks, she gestured for the book.

"Nico." Percy hissed. When his cousin glanced at him in question, he pulled out his card from his quest bag and held it up in question while pointing at Nico, asking if he still had his. Nico pursed his lips in thought, then shook his head slowly. Neither he nor Bianca had seen the point in keeping them once they left the Casino.

Now he kinda wished he had kept it.

(The cigar fell out... uh, Your Highness?")

The comment earned a few snorts and snickers, but nobody was stupid enough to say anything, not with the glare on Annabeth's face, just daring them to say something.

"Well, technically..." Paul muttered under his breath to Sally, who looked at him in amusement. As the children of the gods, technically they could be considered royalty. Especially by mortal standards. The Big 3 children especially. Their fathers actually had kingdoms to rule over. Percy had been referred to as the Sea Prince a few times over the years, and Nico was called the Ghost King for a reason. Sally wasn't sure about Thalia, or Jason and Hazel.

("The Santa Monica Pier."... can keep the change.")

Hermes whistled. "A trip like that would be, what? Five hundred or so dollars?" He asked.

"Even if it wasn't, that's still a lot of change." Apollo said dryly. Everyone else nodded.

"Why would you just give it away like that?" Leo demanded, horrified.

"We were on a time crunch, that was good motivation." Annabeth didn't care, to be honest. She didn't really need it, even Percy only used it once or twice since Vegas, and those were both emergencies.

(Maybe she shouldn't... the Mojave Desert.)

Sally and Paul winced. "You're lucky the car didn't overheat. " Paul commented. The three looked at each other, having not even considered that.

"Magic?" Annabeth suggested. Now that she thought about it, the car should have overheated long before they even made the half-way mark, even if it was well-maintained. Especially at those speeds.

"Dad or somebody else might have been helping out there." Percy shrugged. It wouldn't be the last time one of the gods used their powers to speed up the journey when his quest was on a time crunch, the trip to save Annabeth and Artemis came to mind.

"No interference on a quest!" Zeus exclaimed, looking around with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out who would have interfered.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Even if that interference helps you get your Bolt back faster?" He asked innocently. He was pretty sure he would have been the one to speed their journey along. He would have been worried sick when his son disappeared in Vegas. Mostly for his son, but also because of the deadline, and the chaos that the seas would have been thrown into should he and his younger brother go to war. Mostly for his son, though.

Zeus frowned at him. Most of the council privately thought that he looked constipated as he warred with himself.

(On the road, we... to remember them.)

"That's not good." Hestia frowned.

"A case of him being affected in one area more than it should have affected him." Poseidon said with a grimace. "Some of his memory of the Casino itself is gone, while normally it would be completely gone, like it is with Annabeth and Grover. Instead, his memory from before they even reached the Casino has been affected." He explained. Honestly, being so unpredictable and uncontrollable by nature could be a double-edged sword for his children. While it was nice to not be affected by the Mist or even some 'drugs' like other demigods were, the times where the effects were more potent than they should have been made the trade-off almost not worth it.

(The Lotus Casino... my memory.)

"At least your memory was still mostly intact." Annabeth grumbled. She did not like the fact that she could not remember what happened there, at all. Percy shrugged.

"Mostly." He said quietly, lost in thought. He thought that he would rather his memory be spotty, than go back to what Hera did to him. Not knowing who he was, where he came from... only having a face and a name connected to his past, but not knowing where to look for her to learn what he was missing. He shuddered. Forgetting his friends and family... it truly was his greatest fear. And it was exactly what Hera did to him. Something like that would never be forgiven.

(I couldn't recall what... somebody I knew.)

"The one you call friend." Thalia murmured.

Annabeth looked at her while Luke looked down at the ground. Percy was still lost in his thoughts, and they weren't good ones, judging from his facial expressions. "I didn't even think of that when he told me." She shook her head.

"You were trying to figure out the puzzle that this whole quest had become." Will waved it off. And it was true enough.

(The servant had called... special name or title...)

"You know, I really hate it when powerful beings mess with my head." Percy muttered to himself. He was still only half paying attention to what was going on around him. Jason nodded in agreement.

("The Silent One?"... names for Hades.")

Hades, his wife, his son, and his daughter all made faces, wondering who on earth came up with names like that. Hades didn't even know, one day he turned around and he was suddenly being called by those ridiculous names! He was the Lord of the Underworld, such names were beneath him!

("Maybe..." I said, though... it's usually described.")

"While that was my throne room that was described, that does not mean it was me. Visions can be manipulated and altered to suit somebody's needs." Hades pointed out, indignant that they were trying to blame him still.

(I shook my head. "Something's wrong.)

"Were you just figuring this out?" Thalia asked, partly scornful, partly curious.

"No... I'd started suspecting before this, but I didn't say anything 'till right then. I was just hoping that we would find out answers in the Underworld at this point, and that we could get where we needed to go after figuring things out in time." Percy finally shook himself out of his thoughts and answered.

(The throne room... like a god's voice.")

Everyone looked curious at that one. "What do you mean by that?" Hestia asked, concerned.

"It felt... ancient. When I was with Ares, or even Mr. D, they didn't really feel... old. I know they are, I mean." He gestured at the room around them. "But this felt ancient, and overwhelming. Like, I'm sure Ares and Mr. D were holding back because we were mortal or whatever, the voice in the pit wasn't like that." He tried to describe it, not really sure how. He felt like he wasn't doing a very good job at it. "Does that make sense at all?"

Hestia nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I think it does." She said slowly. The others nodded, too. It sort of did.

(Annabeth's eyes widened... something went wrong-")

"You figured it out, didn't you?" Poseidon asked the girl quietly.

She bit her lip, but nodded. "I started to put the pieces together. But, I really didn't want to be right." She glanced apologetically at Hades, who sighed.

"If I stay the suspect because I'm the best alternative to the real one, I guess I can live with that." He grumbled. He was kind of wishing right now that it was him. Zeus growled, angry that they persisted in their beliefs that Kronos was rising again.

("Like what?"

"I- I don't know,"... could go wrong.)

"Like getting caught." Luke muttered, and rubbed his side. He hadn't told anybody (not like he could, that would bring uncomfortable questions at first, and then afterwards it wasn't important), but he and Ares had fought briefly when the war god caught up with him. Thankfully, his injuries weren't noticeable, or he would have had to figure out an explanation, but Ares could kick hard.

And Kronos had not been happy when he had to step in and manipulate Ares into not taking both the Bolt and Luke straight back to Olympus to be tried. He'd had horrible nightmares for weeks because of it.

"She has a point. You would have sent out your best hunters," Hestia told Zeus and pointed towards Artemis, Apollo, and Ares. "And if none of them found the thief..."

"Either one of them did find the thief and let them go, or the thief is that good at hiding." Hermes frowned. That basically shouted at it being one of his sons, where thievery was in their blood. But even Luke wasn't skilled enough to evade all of those three at once. One of them, maybe, but... not all three.

Which meant that one of them was a traitor to Olympus.

(So this thief had... retrieved the Bolt.")

"Huh." Percy said, tilting his head. "You were mostly right." He said. The only thing she was missing was the Helm, the Furies weren't after the Bolt, they were after the Helm. And, of course, it wasn't Hades that sent the thief. She pursed her lips and nodded in agreement. Now that they were getting answers, she'd been able to figure things out. She just didn't know enough.

Everyone else looked at them curiously. Some had already guessed which bits of that she'd gotten right, and which bits she was missing.

Luke was proud that she was already starting to put the pieces together like this, and gotten them right despite not knowing all the information.

(I wasn't sure what... to the Underworld?")

"Blackmail, threaten." Ares said immediately with a shrug. "Could make for an interesting bribe." He added.

Percy and Annabeth both stared dryly at Grover when he grimaced.

("To threaten Hades,"... your mom back.")

Ares merely raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

(I whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat.")

"Agreed." All the demigods said in unison. They'd already been over this before with Percy.

"You were also correct." Annabeth commented to Grover.

"Eh." He shrugged. "The both of us knew from the moment Percy accepted the quest that the only thing he was after was his mom. Being told she was still alive only made him more determined." He said airily.

Zeus sputtered, but Reyna was already reading again.

("Why thank you.")

Annabeth snorted. "I'm not sure how much of that was really a compliment, though." She muttered under her breath. Grover shrugged.

("But the thing in... two items," I said.)

A few people startled. They hadn't caught that. Hades, on the other hand, felt like that was confirmation towards the theft of his Helm.

("If the master bolt is one, what's the other?")

"That's a very good question." Reyna murmured, and looked around at the gods, trying to think who could have had something stolen, and either not realized it, or didn't report it for some reason. Or was the second item even a stolen item belonging to one of them? It could be something completely different. Then her gaze rested on Hades, and she narrowed her eyes in thought before going back to reading.

(Grover shook his... me not to ask it.)

"Which of course means that your going to ask it." Thalia said, matter of fact. It was a given with Percy. Not wanting him to ask, or not wanting him to know something, only made him more and more curious about knowing. Which led to him finding out on his own; usually with property damage, various injuries of some kind on both his and others people's persons, and/or various monsters killed in the process of him finding out.

He turned a bright red and mumbled something that made Annabeth break out into laughter. She refused to repeat what he said, though, no matter who asked or what they tried to bribe her with.

("You have an idea... if it isn't Hades?")

"There is nothing in that Pit that any of you should be concerned about!" Zeus snapped. Even if it wasn't Hades like they kept insisting, and he was withholding judgement on that, then it was clearly one of the minor Underworld gods or goddesses. Maybe one of the many immortal prisoners kept locked away in the furthest corners of the Underworld. But it most certainly was not anything in the Pit.

"You know, denying anything, isn't going to make the world how you want it to be." Percy said bluntly, getting tired of his uncles attitude. He'd put up with it for years, he really wished he didn't have to put up with it again right now.

Poseidon glared at his younger brother, silently daring him to force him to make good on his promise. He meant what he said wen he threatened to declare Zeus incompetent and force him from the throne.

("Percy... let's not... has to be Hades.")

"Wishing for something won't always make it true." Hades muttered something Rhea had once said to him, after Zeus freed them and before they really took over.

Percy blinked, thinking that was similar enough to what he just said to Zeus. Hades glanced at him with raised eyebrows.

"You shouldn't dismiss the possibility, either, no matter how much you don't want it to be true. Especially with the time crunch you are on. Better to have everyone on the same page concerning what the possibilities are, before you get where you're going, and find you've run out of time and still hadn't solved it." Rachel cautioned. A few people jumped, having honestly forgotten the Oracle was there.

(Wasteland rolled by... LINE, 12 MILES.)

"Almost there." Leo muttered. They were cutting it close, probably closer than what he, Jason, and Piper cut it when trying to free Hera.

And honestly, he almost wished they had taken Annabeth's advice and just left her there. Sadly, they couldn't do that unless they wanted things to fall apart more than they already had.

(I got the feeling... piece of information.)

"Oh, it was critical alright." Percy muttered bitterly. Just once he would like to go into a quest knowing the critical bits of information ahead of time. Instead of bumbling around, hoping they got what they needed in time.

(It was like when I... letters were floating around.)

The dyslexic demigods made faint noises of understanding and commiseration. They knew what that was like.

(The more I thought... even more dangerous.)

"Good instincts." Hestia murmured.

Sally and Poseidon smiled proudly. "His instincts have rarely steered us wrong." Annabeth said quietly, smiling at her boyfriend, who flushed slightly.

Hazel and Frank glanced at each other. Those instincts would certainly come in handy on the trip to Alaska. Hopefully, the Fates allowed him to keep his memories when they went back. Them too, they didn't want to forget this, either. In fact, the quest to Alaska would go a lot easier if Percy had his memories, since he would actually be able to use his (clearly) vast experience to help get them there safely. Hazel and Frank had no idea what to expect.

(The problem was: we... and war would begin.)

"But no pressure, or anything." Leo muttered from where he was bent over his notebook, sketching out the table for Annabeth. Percy shot him a dirty look.

He was used to operating under pressure by now, though. Nothing like the fate of the world resting on your shoulders to teach a kid responsibility, after all.

("The answer is in... one place that could be.)

"That is true." Hades grumbled.

"At least they know they're at least going in the right direction." Will pointed out. "It would have been bad to get there, only to realize that the answers were back in... say New York all along."

The quest trio looked at him in horror. "Don't even joke about things like that!" Percy exclaimed.

"That would have been so bad." Annabeth almost whimpered. They'd almost missed the deadline as it was, forget having to completely backtrack.

Zeus seemed to take the confirmation that the answers were in the Underworld, no matter who the real culprit was, as proof that Hades was somehow involved. Much to Hades ire during the long telepathic rant the Olympians all received from the Lord of the Underworld.

"The answer may be in the Underworld, but the Bolt probably isn't." Reyna mentioned with a frown.

"But they would have a better idea of who actually had the Bolt. Even if they don't get their hands on it, they'll at least know who they can point Zeus at instead of starting war with Poseidon or Hades." Rachel countered.

Annabeth and Percy shared a pointed look and glared at Ares. They had the Bolt the whole time, after all. (Well, mostly.)

(We're doing the right... heart wasn't in it.)

"I wonder what the cab driver thought of this conversation." Thalia said randomly. She decided it was probably best that Hades not have a chance right now to dwell on the fact that they were planning to break into his domain. Even though they all knew it was going to happen.

Everyone blinked at her. "Well, he gave us some strange looks, but for the most part he focused on the road." Annabeth said slowly, thinking back.

"Every time we said something that he found particularly strange, he glanced at the meter, like he was reminding himself that he couldn't just dump us on the side of the road." Percy added.

"You'd have thought he would be used to strange conversations, though. He is a Las Vegas cabbie." Grover said, tilting his head. The other two shrugged.

(There were just too... knowing the subject.)

Athena and her daughters were appropriately scandalized. "Young man, that is no way to properly learn." She scolded. Sally sighed, not sure why she was bothering anymore.

Percy shrugged, not caring.

The other demigods who actually went to school were in complete agreement with Percy. They'd all done it, on numerous occasions.

(And believe me, I'd done that enough times.)

Sally only sighed in exasperation while her son grinned sheepishly at her. Paul shook his head, how many times did he warn his students not to try and cram at the last minute, that it wasn't going to do them much good?

(The cab sped west... Echidna's reptilian voice.)

Chiron studied him for a moment, worry in his eyes. He'd seen many heroes go down that path, where they saw nothing but monsters or enemies everywhere they looked. He believed the mortals called it PTSD... it was never good when a demigod developed it over the course of their quests. They were too powerful, their powers went haywire. Not to mention, seeing such wonderful children reduced to those levels of paranoia, bouts of terror, and the often violent flashbacks...

Percy glanced at his mentor reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's controlled." Percy nodded when Chiron glanced at him, the same worry in his eyes. Well, his wasn't as controlled anymore as it used to be, but he and Annabeth were getting better.

"Paranoid much?" Travis tried to joke, wanting to get rid of some of the tension in the air. Percy huffed a laugh and shrugged.

(At sunset,)

"You guys are really cutting it close, here. You don't even know where the entrance to the Underworld is, do you? And you still have to meet up with that Nereid, too." Jason said, worried.

"We managed, don't worry." Percy reassured.

"But how would you get back to New York in time? Flying is the fastest way, but you can't fly." Thalia pointed out. Luke had to suppress a snort when he remembered what Percy had done to his step-father before catching a flight to New York.

"Hopefully, by that time we will have gotten the Bolt, so I figured that I was safe enough in a plane. That time." Percy muttered. That was the first, and last time he would ever fly in a machine. He would stick to Pegasi, thanks.

"Oh. Yes, I suppose that having the Bolt would have given you a free pass to be in the air that once." Jason muttered in realization. The other demigods nodded and murmured to each other. That did make sense.

(the taxi dropped us... it smelled worse.)

Hermes snorted a laugh. "Of course it did." He said in amusement.

Poseidon and his family all scowled at the thought of a beach-side being like that.

(There were carnival... the perfect wave.)

"They might be waiting for a while." Poseidon commented idly.

"Especially since you and Zeus are fighting right now." Amphitrite said in amusement. Perfect waves, as far as the mortals considered them, were most common when Poseidon was in a good mood.

(Grover, Annabeth, and... now?" Annabeth asked.)

"Good question, all you were told was to go to Santa Monica." Will said in confusion.

"Well, it was a Nereid that spoke with him, and she can't just meet them on land. Poseidon is busy preventing a war, and the Ancient Laws prevent him from interfering in the quest, meeting with his son and giving him information could be seen as interference. Most logical next step is for Percy to go into the water to meet with the messenger." Athena said logically, with a shrug.

A few people blinked at her. She hadn't said anything truly negative about Poseidon, she'd sounded neutral. Percy glanced at Annabeth, eyebrows raised.

(The Pacific was... the setting sun.)

"It was a beautiful view." Annabeth murmured.

"I wasn't really seeing it." Percy replied. His friends glanced at him in concern.

(I thought about how... at a different sea.)

"A lot has happened since then." Rachel said in complete understanding. After all, it had been confirmed for her that the Greek world was real, and then she was in charge of leading Percy and Annabeth through a magical labyrinth to find some guy who should have died centuries ago, so they could prevent an attack on their camp. And, oh yeah, along the way, a god died after people like her father exploited and destroyed his domain to the point where it no longer existed...

She knew all about a lot happening in a short time.

Percy snorted, oblivious to her inner thoughts. "Tell me about it." He grumbled.

(How could there be... was covered in water?)

"But the sky covers the entire world." Zeus said, almost petulantly.

"There is even water in the sky, however." Poseidon said with a slight grin. Not to mention, that none of that two-thirds stuff took into account how deep the oceans were. Merely how much water covered the surface area. Zeus glared at him.

Hera and Amphitrite shared eye rolls at how childish their husbands were being, but didn't say anything beyond Amphitrite patting her husband on the shoulder in a silent request for him to let it go.

(How could I be... someone that powerful?)

"Easily." Poseidon said with a small smirk towards Sally, who turned a bright red. Paul frowned, not sure how he felt about this, while Amphitrite punched his arm and Hera tsked.

Percy looked suitably disgusted. That was his mother! That was the last thing he wanted to be hearing about! "That's not even what I meant." He complained, and Poseidon's smirk widened at the chance to embarrass his son. Luckily, the younger kids didn't quite get it.

"You yourself are quite powerful, Percy. Never doubt that." Poseidon informed his son proudly, and with much satisfaction. He knew his son would never misuse that power, either. He was too good, too humble to let it go to his head. (He didn't know, yet, that Percy was only aware of a portion of his power, and what he already knew about scared him.)

(I stepped into the... "What are you doing?")

"Walking into the ocean, what did it look like I was doing?" He asked innocently, she threw a pillow at him. "Hey!" He protested with a laugh. She was smiling, though.

Truthfully, though, he hadn't been thinking. He just started walking into the water.

(I kept walking, up... all kinds of toxic—")

Poseidon and his family all scowled at the reminder. "I do the best I can." He almost snapped, although who he was snapping at was anybodies guess.

"We know, dear." Amphitrite murmured, laying a hand on his arm.

"Sorry." He sighed after a moment, feeling faintly embarrassed about his outburst.

(That's when my... breath at first.)

"Why?" Triton asked slowly, confused.

Percy turned red. "I'd only been underwater like that once since learning who my dad was, and that was the Mississippi, I was already breathing normally by the time I recovered from the shock of everything. I wasn't used to the idea of being able to breathe underwater yet." He defended himself. There was a lot about his powers that he took a long time to figure out, and he wasn't sure if he still hadn't figured it all out.

"I guess that's understandable..." Triton said slowly, but he looked unsure about it. After all, he'd been living underwater since the day he was born. It was second nature, he never thought about it, and there was never a time when he had thought about it. He couldn't imagine not knowing he could breathe normally. Poseidon smiled at his sons, but didn't say anything. While he, too, had no idea what it was like, he also knew this sort of thing was common among his demigod children when they were just learning about their powers.

(It's difficult to intentionally... could breathe normally.)

"Yeah, I imagine it would be... difficult to do that for the first time underwater." Will said faintly. "Consciously, of course." He amended when the sea-dwellers and Percy looked at him.

(I walked down into... cold streams swirling together.)

"That sounds really interesting..." Annabeth said, head tilted. Athena quickly erased the look of longing from her face.

"It was kind of pretty..." Percy said with a small smile. "And I suppose that's as good a description of what I see as any." He shrugged. Poseidon's eyes glowed (literally) with pride.

Pride for his kingdom, and pride for his son in equal measure.

"If there are sand-dollars all over the place..." Annabeth said after a moment. Percy had told her that the sand-dollar Poseidon had given him helped clean up the East and Hudson rivers.

"Because they are actually living creatures. The sand-dollar dad gave me for my birthday was just the shell. Either it was shed or the creature who used it died, either way, it was no longer living." Percy explained. Poseidon nodded his agreement. He could use them to help the river spirits, but the supply of them was only so large. He had to keep his own oceans clean, as well.

(I felt something rub... a ballistic missile.)

"What?!" People yelped in alarm.

Poseidon frowned, but wasn't alarmed. If anything, it was probably some form of marine life greeting the prince for the first time.

Nothing in the oceans (aside from monsters or those that slept in the deeps) would ever harm Percy.

(Sliding along beside... long mako shark.)

Everyone else's eyes went wide. "Yeah, I think I would jump out of the water, too." Jason said faintly.

"Eh, he wasn't going to hurt me." Percy waved off. Not that Percy knew it at that moment...

He got a few strange looks over his nonchalance over the giant shark swimming right beside him.

"Isn't that the one...?" Annabeth asked faintly.

"That's known to attack people?" Percy finished her sentence. When she nodded, he grimaced. "They are considered one of the most aggressive towards people..." He said slowly. "But, like most mammals, they will rarely attack unprovoked. Problem is, most people can't speak shark, so they usually provoke them without even knowing that the shark was nearby, or what it was they did that was bad." He said. "Sharks are actually quite playful, kind of like dolphins, only without the 'scatterbrained' quality most dolphins seem to have." Poseidon nodded his agreement while the kids stared at him, shock written all across their faces.

Mortals could only guess at what drove animals to do what they did, and why they did it. It wasn't like they could speak with the animal, they didn't even think animals were intelligent enough to speak with them.

(But the thing wasn't... Heeling like a dog.)

"You know... I think I've actually seen that particular shark several times since then... he doesn't really come close, but I've seen him in the distance more than once." Percy said thoughtfully.

"You're sure it's the same one?" Thalia asked, doubtful.

Percy nodded slowly. Poseidon blinked and tried to look innocently once he worked out in his head why that might be.

Amphitrite took one look at him and saw right through the innocent facade. "You didn't." She hissed, exasperated. "Really, Poseidon? A guardshark?" She asked.

"Well, why not?" He asked defensively. "Of course, I haven't done it yet, but it doesn't sound like such a bad idea." He shrugged and ignored his sons incredulous gaze. It wouldn't be that hard to assign one, either. All it would take was a bit of magic so that the shark in question could always find it's charge, no matter where the boy was, and voila; one guardshark.

Triton groaned and slammed his forehead into his hands. Well, at least it was Percy this time. That time when he was younger, and Poseidon had ten sharks swimming around him at all times had been more than a little embarrassing. "Be glad he only gave you one." He muttered to his younger half-brother.

(Tentatively, I touched... pulling me along.)

"Ah. He's the escort right now." Poseidon said, realizing why the shark was there.

(The shark carried me... void was right there.)

"It was a little eerie." Percy admitted.

"So was being at the Grand Canyon and being attacked by storm spirits. At least then it was day time." Leo muttered.

"At least when you were thrown off the skywalk, you managed to grab onto something." Piper said dryly. A few people looked at her in horror or some sympathy. Aphrodite didn't want to think of her daughter being thrown into the Grand Canyon from the top.

"Yeah... it's a good thing I can fly." Jason muttered.

Percy huffed. "I have to rely on there being a body of water underneath me when I fall off really high places." He commented, just as dry. The two of them shared understanding looks.

"Just how many high places have you fallen off of?" Sally asked, not sure she wanted to know. She knew he didn't tell her everything about his quests, but...

"Just a few." Percy informed, uncomfortable with telling her. She was already learning more about his quest life than he ever wanted her to. He knew that all she would do was worry.

(The surface shimmered... bottom of the Pacific.)

"No limit. You can go as deep as you want to go." Poseidon shrugged. "Although, you might want to be careful with that, anyway. There are creatures sleeping in the deeps, some so old I doubt I would remember them if I ever saw them again." He cautioned his sons with a grimace. Monsters, Titans, and Spirits, they all slept deep in the oceans.

"I doubt any of them would be friendly should you wake them up." Triton muttered.

"No doubt, most of them would have fought with the Titans, and some are as powerful as them, too." Amphitrite said grimly.

All three Percy's nodded at their father, silently promising to be careful. The older ones shivered a little thinking of the devastation they'd seen of their fathers palace during the Titan war when Oceanus had come calling, him and that really, really big squid he brought with him.

(Then I saw something... called: "Percy Jackson.")

"She's being compared to Sally a lot." Hestia muttered.

"Sally holds many qualities that those in my court hold." Poseidon muttered. They were all good qualities.

(As she got closer, her... horse she was riding.)

"Whoa! I thought seahorses could only get about a foot long." Annabeth asked, amazed. She chose to ignore what Percy thought about her eyes.

"Well... they do. Except for the ones we train and use as war-horses. Normal seahorses, yes. They don't get very big." Poseidon answered in amusement.

"Mortals have only explored a fraction of the oceans and the creatures living in them." Percy said, a strange gleam to his eyes. "They may have the surface world mapped out pretty much in it's entirety, but they know far less than they think they do about the oceans." His father beamed, proud.

(She dismounted. The... that looked like tag.)

"Now that's something you don't see every day." Annabeth mused.

"It's actually pretty common if you look in the right place, at the right time." Triton informed the room. Like Percy said, sharks were actually rather playful.

(The underwater lady... to do, so I bowed.)

"So you can be respectful." Annabeth teased, and he smirked before shrugging.

"When they deserve it." He shot a look at Ares, who scowled.

("You're the woman... a spirit of the sea.)

Poseidon and Amphitrite flinched back at the confirmation of who this was. She would not have had an easy time of recovering from all that pollution, even for a short time. He hoped that he would have at least rewarded her in some way for her service, because this was a little bit above and beyond.

(It was not easy to... serve in his court.")

"We should find some way of rewarding the Mississippi River spirits." Amphitrite murmured to her husband, happy that they were helping one of her sisters. He nodded in agreement.

("And… you serve in Poseidon's court?")

"Many Nereid's do in some fashion." Poseidon shrugged while his wife smiled briefly before fixing him with a dead glare. He shrank back and tried to look innocent, sadly she knew him too well for that.

"She shouldn't be here. You are interfering in a quest." Zeus warned sternly.

Poseidon shot him a bored look. "I am doing no such thing. I sent a Nereid to check on my son and give him some advice. Advice he is going to need if he is going to survive this quest that he shouldn't even be on in the first place. Not only that, but if you want him to come back with your precious bolt in the first place, then he is going to need her help." He waved Zeus off, bored, leaving the King to sputter for a bit.

(She nodded. "It has... with great interest.")

Amphitrite frowned, wondering how she hadn't known about him since apparently everyone else did. "How did I not know of him before this?" She asked her son quietly, and he frowned.

"Maybe you didn't want to know?" He asked, and her frown deepened.

(Suddenly I remembered... much thought before.)

All his friends looked at him, exasperated. "Really?" Clarisse deadpanned.

"What?" Percy asked, not sure what she was trying to get at here.

"You grew up seeing Naiads, but you freak out seeing one in the lake at camp?" She asked, incredulous.

Percy turned red. "I'd forgotten about them until now, and at the time I thought they were my imagination, anyway!" He defended himself. Annabeth sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment, shaking her head.

("If my father is... he speak to me?")

"Can't. The situation would be volatile, I can't interfere personally, and I'm undoubtedly busy trying to stop a war from happening, while also preparing for that same war." Poseidon said with a sigh. "Otherwise I would have been there."

"Don't worry, I know." Percy gave his father a small smile. His father was there for him whether he really knew it or not.

(A cold current rose out of the depths.)

"Annoyed with something, are we?" Hades asked, amused.

"Probably a combination of anger over the whole situation, annoyance over not being able to be there, and not liking that he was doubting that I care, while also being annoyed that he had reason to doubt at all." Poseidon said the last bit quietly so that only Amphitrite and Triton heard.

"Just as long as you don't take your anger and annoyance out on him." Hestia said, concerned.

"I would never!" Poseidon barked after a moment of shock. She raised her hands placatingly.

("Do not judge the... an unwanted war.)

Poseidon growled under his breath and glared at Zeus, who made a conscious effort not to look towards his older brother.

Percy winced slightly. "Just a heads up, but I said or thought a lot of things over the years." He told his father with a wince.

Luke snorted. "I think a lot of us said or thought a lot of things over the years." He said dryly. Hermes winced minutely.

(He has much to... show such favoritism.")

"It's not favoritism. It's called being a parent." Sally scoffed quietly.

"Yeah, well, under the law we're not even supposed to be that." Hermes muttered bitterly.

("Even to their own children?")

"Especially to them." Apollo muttered this time.

"It is too dangerous to allow yourselves to get attached to such short-lived beings." Zeus insisted stubbornly, glaring at his two sons.

"They are children." Hestia said with a glare. "All they want is to know that their parents care for them."

("Especially to them... and a gift.")

"This can't be good." Poseidon muttered. He must know something about the quest, something that Percy hasn't yet figured out.

(She held out her... in her palm.)

"Ah." Poseidon hummed, pleased. He relaxed back into his seat, content to know that his son would be perfectly able to escape the Underworld now. Before, he'd been wary of his son going down there, Hades would not simply let them leave, after all. He didn't fancy having to read about Percy fighting his way out of the Underworld of all places... now he didn't have to.

Amphitrite sighed and shook her head. "You and your pearls." She said quietly.

Hades looked at him in annoyance. "This had better be the only time you come wandering into the Underworld, young man." He warned Percy. The boy may be getting a free ride out from his father this time, but he would not be getting out so easily the next time.

("I know you journey... great music skill;)

Hades scowled at mention of him. Honestly, that mans punishment wasn't good enough if you asked him, but he'd had to let Persephone handle it as he wouldn't have been able to stay objective. Truthfully, he didn't see how being in charge of all the palace entertainment and in charge of all concerts in Elysium was a punishment for all the paperwork he caused.

Persephone caught his scowl and smiled to herself. If it had been up to her husband, he would have been subjected to an eternity listening to the most horrible noises, or absolute silence depending on just how vindictive he was feeling at that moment.

(Hercules, who had great strength;)

Artemis, her two Huntresses, and Percy actually growled at mention of him while Zeus smiled proudly. (Whether he can stand the boy or not, he can still be proud.)

(Houdini,)

Hades scowl deepened and he growled while the shadows danced around him. Only his children were unaffected by the sudden death aura that he was giving off, and his wife merely sighed and patted him on the arm consolingly.

"Dear, you're scaring the children." She said softly, which was only partially true. The younger ones looked like they might pass out in fear, while the older ones merely looked wary or had their hands on their weapons looking around for the threat. Percy was watching him, impassive. And Hestia was having to extend her own peaceful aura to cover the two mortals in the room so that they were not harmed.

He grimaced and managed to rein himself back in, barely. It was enough for the younger ones to be able to breathe again, although they were still tense and the older ones didn't relax their hold on their weapons. When he glanced over, he saw that Hazel and Frank had moved closer to him and were watching him carefully.

(who could escape... have these talents?")

"Yes." Annabeth said softly, looking at her Percy. She knew that she never would have escaped if he hadn't been there with her. He took her hand and squeezed before she released his hand and wrapped an arm around his waist instead.

"Well, I don't know about the musical skill..." Annabeth teased. "But he is strong, and has a talent for escaping the worst of situations." She smiled.

("Um…no, ma'am.")

"I beg to differ. You have all those talents and more." Sally informed her son with a soft smile.

Had anybody else said that, Percy would have scoffed or argued the point. Because it was his mother though... He just sighed and looked at her in exasperation with an embarrassed tinge of red on his face.

("Ah, but you have something else, Percy.)

"Heart."

"Honor."

"Humility."

"Integrity."

"Compassion."

"A whole lot of luck..."

Percy stared wide-eyed at all his friends who were currently listing off the various traits they liked most about him, and shifted uncomfortably.

"Natural leadership." Annabeth smiled softly at him when she said this.

Poseidon beamed, proud of his son for the loyalty the Greeks were showing him. He'd clearly earned their love and respect, probably without even realizing it, or even really wanting it, at least not in the way they were offering it. He knew, too, that the loyalty and care they were showing him was returned many times over.

Sally simply couldn't be anymore proud.

(You have gifts you... future for you,)

Percy scowled at mention of that stupid prophecy... all of them, in fact. Every single prophecy he'd ever gotten or that had to do with him in some way, shape, or form. He wanted to tell the Fates (and the Oracles) where they could shove his fate, but he didn't want to risk them making it worse than they already had planned.

Percy swallowed nervously while Triton squeezed his shoulder in support. He didn't like how that sounded.

Percy scowled heavily, and unlike his younger self, he had no problem mentally telling the Fates off for how his life had gone so far. He, unlike his younger self, didn't see how things could get much worse than they had been... Scratch that. Annabeth or his loved ones could be taken from him. That would be so much worse. But he didn't think they could do that just to spite him, because then everything they were destined to do would have to be altered to fit their absence... He only wanted to finish school and have a life with Annabeth. As far as he was concerned, he'd done his duty for the Greek and Roman Pantheon.

Sally and Poseidon exchanged worried looks, she didn't want to think of her son in these kinds of positions.

(should you survive to manhood.)

"Did she have to put it like that?" Triton muttered, annoyed with her while he held his younger half-brother closer after the boy squeaked and clung to his arm.

(Poseidon would not... before your time.)

"Did she have to put it like that?" Sally grumbled to Paul, who grimaced in commiseration. Poseidon made a face at the way that was put as well.

(Therefore take these... pearl at your feet.")

Hades scowled at his brother, earning a smug smirk. They both knew exactly what those pearls would do.

"She only handed him three pearls." Aphrodite noted suddenly.

"Huh?" Athena asked, confused about what she was getting at.

"She only handed him three pearls. There are the three of them, and hopefully they find Sally down there. That makes four. There are only three pearls." She explained sadly.

"Can those handle more than one passenger?" Apollo asked quietly, and Poseidon shook his head with a pained expression.

"Somebody is going to have to be left behind." Hera realized.

"And Hades does not release people from his realm lightly." Hestia finished. The Trio looked at each other, but didn't say anything.

("What will happen?")

"Depends on what exactly you need to happen." Poseidon answered the question with a shrug. Most likely, though, they would form some way of letting him escape.

("That," she said... about the warning?")

"Warnings are always good." Katie muttered, thinking about how often in the past she would have liked to have gotten a bit of a warning before something bad happened.

"Depends on if the warning is any good or not." Rachel said with a sigh, knowing that the kinds of warnings she often gave as the Oracle... didn't actually help much all the time. Especially since her prophecies and warnings were so difficult to interpret.

(Her eyes flickered... you will lose all.)

"Good advice, and it doesn't just apply to just this situation." Artemis said, nodding slowly.

(Hades feeds on... own judgment.)

Hades smirked darkly at the description of what he did.

The demigods all looked at him warily, especially the younger kids, while the older ones were more amused at it.

The gods were even a little disturbed by this, especially so soon after he released his death aura in the room.

Persephone sighed and shook her head in exasperation. And he wondered why so many people distrusted him.

(Once you are in... let you leave.)

"Of course not. It's the Underworld, the only ones who should be there at all are the dead or those that rule over them." Hades spat, his dark smirk disappearing to be replaced by a scowl.

Percy let a minute smirk cross his lips, thinking of all the times he'd been in and out of the Underworld. Only once had he needed somebody else's help escaping, and that was the first trip he'd ever made.

(Keep faith. Good luck, Percy Jackson.")

"He's going to need it, I think." Persephone muttered, her husband looked at her in amusement, but didn't say anything to dispute her.

It was the truth, after all.

(She summoned her... gifts. What gifts?")

"That's a good question." Was muttered around the room, many of them had a frown on their faces. There had been quite a few references about gifts and not trusting them, but what gifts were they talking about?

Percy frowned. "You know, I never was quite sure what exactly she was talking about. I mean, there were a few things I was given on that quest that were proven to be bad, but... I don't see how she could have known there was something wrong with them." He shook his head.

"Especially since most of those gifts we hadn't even been given yet, not when she first told you to be careful of them." Annabeth agreed.

("Good-bye, young hero,")

"And yet another person that won't answer my questions." Percy muttered, annoyed. Honestly, was it too hard to take a few minutes and answer a simple question?

Annabeth sighed. "It's a good thing you're good at figuring things out on the fly sometimes." She muttered. Although she could freely admit that she was probably the worst at that.

(she called back, her... to your heart.")

Annabeth sighed. "You know, sometimes I really wish he would listen to his heart a little less." She complained. Sometimes she wished he listened to his head more often, he might actually get into less trouble.

Percy blinked at her, surprised.

"You do tend to get into the most trouble when you listen to your heart, and not your head." Thalia agreed, shrugging. And that was her observations despite the little she actually saw of her cousin. She couldn't imagine what he got up to when she wasn't there all the time like Annabeth was.

(She became a speck... the court of Poseidon.)

"Someday. Once things have calmed down. You will be brought to the palace and properly introduced." Poseidon promised, but didn't say anything about bringing him down for proper training in the use of his powers. Percy was powerful, and he didn't have older siblings to show him. That power could so easily slip from his control and cause massive amounts of damage. In fact, there was no reason he couldn't do some training with the boy, and his younger self, while they were here. He could do it during the breaks.

It might be for the best to have a day or two in between books anyway, the demigods weren't going to be able to sit still that long. They could use some time to run around, get rid of some energy.

Percy smiled at his father, eager to see his father's kingdom when it wasn't being destroyed, but he also had to wonder what he meant by 'properly introduced'.

(But I looked up at... We had so little time...)

"That is true. You don't have time to wait around moping." Zeus snapped, annoyed that this detour happened at all. Although, he supposed he must be grateful Poseidon provided him with a way out of the Underworld. It would be difficult to return the Bolt if Hades kept the boy, after all.

"Does he ever shut up?" Percy muttered quietly to Annabeth. Honestly, he was tired of Zeus' complaining or comments towards his book self. She grimaced at him, but didn't say anything.

(I kicked upward... clothes dried instantly.)

"That has got to come in handy." Katie muttered, thinking about the times she'd gone to the beach and ended up covered in sand because it got on her while she was wet. Percy overheard and shot her a smug smirk. She glared.

(I told Grover and... without a price.")

"That's true enough." Amphitrite said with a grimace, thinking again how there were three pearls, and (hopefully) four people who needed them to escape with.

"You never said anything about the shoes Luke gave them." Travis said suddenly, and very randomly.

"Yeah... those were technically a gift." Connor added. Annabeth bit her lip, but admitted they had a point.

And the shoes ended up being the gift they needed to watch out for the most.

("They were free."... a price. You wait.")

"I didn't like that price." Percy muttered. He'd had nightmares for weeks after this, all of them featuring numerous scenarios where Hades didn't give his mother back to him after getting his stupid Helm back.

"Sometimes, though, the price for the 'gift' has already been paid by somebody else." Hestia advised. "It does not do to dwell on what might happen in the future. It is best to take things as they come sometimes."

"Not to say plans for the future can't be made, as long as you don't forget to live in the here and now." Apollo added with a shrug.

(On that happy thought... from Ares's backpack,)

"That happened to have been the last of the money we had on us, minus Grover's and mine Lotus cards, of course." Percy said with a grimace.

"How are you going to get home? Although I suppose the cards do work like normal debit or credit cards... but you haven't had a chance to really test that yet." Gwen said thoughtfully.

Percy smirked minutely. "Don't worry, we found a way home easily enough." He was still quite proud of himself for that trick with the 'free appliances'. Although, he hoped Gabe hadn't had a chance to take his anger for that stunt out on his mother...

(we took the bus into... Recording Studios.)

Hades, Persephone, Nico, and Hazel all shot Percy a strange look. Nico's face had more of a 'well, duh' look to it, though.

("You remind me of somebody I saw on TV,")

"Uh-oh."

"Not good."

"Abort mission! Abort mission!" (Leo got strange looks).

"You might want to get off the bus soon." Luke muttered to himself, quietly.

"Please don't say anything about the police..."

(he told me. "You... or something?")

All the demigods breathed sighs of relief.

"Thank goodness."

"Let's hope he doesn't figure out where he really saw Percy from."

"Forget that, let's hope he doesn't ask what movies Percy's been in." Rachel scoffed, and Nico had to admit she had a point there.

("Uh… I'm a... of child actors.")

"Quick thinking." Hermes nodded in approval. "Stunt doubles aren't really focused on, the scene is done quickly and from a distance, so nobody can really say for sure that it wasn't the original actor or not. He won't think anything of it. And by saying that you double for a lot of them, he won't try and ask which one, either."

Sally sighed. "Can you please not encourage him so much?" She asked. She knew that those skills came in handy when deflecting attention while on a quest or when he was in legal trouble... again, because of something demigod related, but she would rather he not make more of a habit of this when he wasn't doing something for Camp. Honestly, he got into enough mischief on his own without being encouraged.

"Sorry, Sally." Hermes apologized, honestly a little apologetic.

("Oh! That explains... at the next stop.)

"I didn't want to be around if somebody else decided they recognized me. And, the less time he had to look at me, the less time he had to really remember where he'd seen me from." Percy explained when he caught a few curious looks. After all, the driver accepted his explanation of where he would recognize Percy from, why the need to get off?

"Makes sense." Will muttered.

(We wandered for... in the phone book.)

"Of course not." Hades sniffed. "It is the entrance to the Underworld, after all. Why should the living know where it is?" He asked.

Percy blinked at him before he flushed a brilliant red. Honestly, he should have thought of that...

(Twice, we ducked... avoid cop cars.)

"Just be careful you don't run into somebody else in those alleys." Sally muttered. But then, he was a New York kid, he should know that well enough, even though New York was relatively safe for a kid to wander around as long as they weren't being stupid.

"I made sure the alleys were empty, and we didn't go too far in." Percy assured his mother. He wasn't stupid.

(I froze in front... stepdad, Smelly Gabe.)

"Oh, this can't be good." Gwen muttered to Dakota, who nodded in agreement.

"Keep walking, you don't want to hear whatever he has to say." Luke said, shaking his head. They all knew that Percy wasn't going to keep walking, though. He'd stopped and was probably frozen in shock at the sight of his step-father.

(He was talking to... of a poker game,)

There were a few snorts. "Even when he's supposed to be grieving, he's still playing poker as though nothing was wrong. Wonder what she thought about that." Jason spat in disgust. A few others nodded in agreement. That was very true.

"It was actually somewhat clean in there." Percy said, he'd been too angry to notice when he saw this, but thinking back...

"The producers must have had somebody sent in to clean before Barbara would agree to step foot inside." Annabeth suggested, and everyone snickered.

(and there was a... patting his hand.)

Sally's eyes narrowed and Paul's expression turned angry.

(A fake tear glistened... my grief counselor,)

There were a few snorts and dirty looks sent Gabe's way. Sally's expression turned stony.

"Well, he sure moved on fast." Triton growled, and all the older demigods who knew what was really going on growled at the thing in the corner. Sally was amazing, and he... he was... they couldn't even think they were so angry!

"'Grief counselor'? Is that what they are called these days?" Poseidon glared.

"Don't worry about it." Sally said stiffly. "I suspected for years that he was sleeping around, I only kept him around for his stench, anyway." That didn't mean it didn't still hurt, though. Paul made a noise and gathered her up in his arms before whispering in her ear. He couldn't imagine why anyone would ever treat this amazing woman like that.

(I'd be a wreck.)

"Such a wreck that you're playing poker and messing around as if nothing at all was going on." Percy said, bitterly.

(My stepson took... wife…my Camaro…)

"Now, that bit, about the car. That I will believe. And mom's cooking, but I doubt he actually missed her." The hatred Percy had for his former stepfather could be plainly heard.

"Disgusting." Hera muttered, angry that he would treat his wife in this manner.

(I—I'm sorry. I... talking about it.")

"He is a terrible actor." Aphrodite sniffed.

They pretended not to notice when Sally, Poseidon, and Gabe vanished in a burst of mist.

("There you have... "A man torn apart.)

Snorts echoed around the room, even from those that honestly could care less about Percy.

"Yeah, he's so torn up that he's gambling with his buddies like usual." Percy sneered.

"Please tell me we're not going to be hearing about him in the next book." Artemis asked, glaring at the disgusting thing in front of her. (Calling him a pig or any kind of animal would be an insult to the animals. She had more respect for animals than that.)

Percy immediately looked more cheerful. "Nope! This is the only book he's in." He refused to explain what happened to him.

(An adolescent boy with serious issues.)

"Well, he does have issues..." Thalia began.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"That much is true." Nico added.

"I don't think they're quite the issues she's thinking of though." Annabeth tacked on.

"Annabeth!" Percy whined, looked like a kicked seal as he turned to his girlfriend in betrayal.

(Let me show you... talking to Ares.)

"That could either be good or..." Travis started slowly.

"Or very, very bad." Connor finished.

"With any luck, all the suspicion will land on Ares at this point." Thalia shrugged. Clarisse shot her a dirty look, but didn't say anything. At least if the suspicion was on her father, then Percy would be free and clear, because they would never find her father. If they did, he could just make them forget, anyway.

("Who are the other... frightening new cult?)

"New cult?" Now a few of the council actually looked offended.

"Well, he is new to the life of a demigod." Hestia reminded everyone. "And we can be very insular."

"Yeah, but... cult?" Apollo whined quietly.

"Hopefully they drop the 'terrorist' question quickly. You don't want something like that hanging over your head." Demeter spoke up, for the first time in a long time.

"Don't worry, they dropped it." Percy assured, satisfied. Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

(When we come back... Stay tuned, America.")

"Wow. They are really making something out of you." Hermes was honestly slightly impressed with all the coverage Percy was getting at the moment.

Percy made a face. "I wish they wouldn't. Do you have any idea how many of my new classmates the next year decided to interrogate me about all this?" He waved a hand at the book. Luckily for him, they tired of not getting any answers quickly enough.

Annabeth grimaced. "At least you had Tyson..." She suggested with a shrug. He sat back grumbling.

"I remember my dad ranting something about only how low class only bred lawlessness, or something like that... I don't know. I just remember he was really on me about going to Clarion's that summer." Rachel glared at Percy for that, to which he only shrugged and grinned impishly.

("C'mon," Grover told me... appliance-store window.)

"Aw, Grover! You should have let him do it." The Stolls whined.

"Absolutely not! Not only would that draw attention, but the store window didn't do anything to earn that kind of abuse." Hermes denied, frowning at his sons, who looked shocked, then sheepish as they reconsidered.

"True. Sorry, dad." They apologized.

(It got dark, and... feel from New York.)

Percy nodded his agreement with his past assessment. He stood by what he said. For the most part, the gangs and stuff would ignore you if you were younger, too, unless you did something monumentally stupid.

L.A, on the other hand...

That place was wild compared with the order he was used to at home.

(Back home, everything... he wasn't stupid.)

Percy nodded again, to everyone's amusement.

He really preferred his home city didn't he?

"It makes sense that New York would be more ordered, Olympus is right there, after all, and their presence would have had a heavy influence." Annabeth reasoned.

(L.A. wasn't like that... reminded me of Ares.)

Ares looked up, pleased with himself for making such an impression. The others were just wondering where Percy was going with this.

"L.A. on the other hand, is the furthest point from the Olympians influence within America. Plus it is where Hades made his home." Annabeth said in satisfaction, and her mother looked proud of her daughter for working this out on her own.

"Hawaii. Alaska." Percy said simply. They were much further from New York than L.A. was.

"Alaska is outside of every Pantheon's sphere of influence. And Hawaii actually has it's own Pantheon, small though they are." Demeter cut in with a shrug.

"Exactly how many Pantheon's are there?" Gwen asked. This wasn't really discussed, ever. The Romans liked to think they were the only ones out there, they only had vague rumors of the Greeks still being out there, but they didn't really believe the rumors, either that or they thought those who still followed the Greek beliefs were isolated and confused.

"One for every belief system in the world. Well, the major ones, anyway, and especially the old ones. Ours is considered to be primarily Greek, even when we are being our Roman persona's, because we were Greek first. Some do acknowledge us as being both Greek and Roman, though." Athena lectured.

(It wasn't enough for... to navigate, too.)

Ares frowned, honestly trying to decide if he should take that as a compliment anyway, despite the insult it clearly was. Clarisse shot Percy a dirty look for the slight against her father, but Chris laid a hand on her arm that kept her in her seat or from saying anything.

(I didn't know how... the summer solstice.)

"That seems to be half of our quests, just wandering around trying to find what we were looking for and hoping we were in time." Percy grumbled, Annabeth and Grover nodded in complete agreement.

(We walked past... trouble of mugging.)

Percy snorted. "We probably wouldn't have been stopped at all if we hadn't gotten a change of clothes at the Casino. We were dressed like we actually had some money." He shook his head.

"Yeah, and who was the idiot that stopped walking?" Annabeth asked lowly. Percy turned a brilliant red at that reminder.

(As we hurried passed... idiot, I stopped.)

"What?!"

"Are you nuts?"

"I thought you knew better than that!"

"Percy! What were you thinking?"

Percy was a bright red at the moment. "I know, I know it was stupid. I blame the high stress of the week, and the whole thing with the Casino frying my brain." He said with a sigh.

(Before I knew it... and mean faces.)

Clarisse made a face. "Expensive clothes, huh? Tch." She sneered. Great, they were probably rich boys playing around.

(Like the kids at... at being bad boys.)

All the demigods sneered or scoffed. "Those brats don't know what it is to truly fight." Clarisse muttered in disgust.

"They probably go back to their mansions every night. While others are left to struggle to survive." Luke murmured.

Paul looked around, blinking. Clearly the demigods didn't think very highly of kids like this. As a teacher, he didn't really think too highly of them, either, to be honest.

(Instinctively, I uncapped Riptide.)

"Percy." Chiron warned, not pleased that he was drawing his sword on a bunch of mortals.

Percy ducked his head. "Sorry, Chiron. I wasn't thinking." He apologized sheepishly.

"At least it didn't hurt them, and it provided a good distraction." Annabeth said with a small smile. Percy looked up and shrugged. Chiron merely sighed.

Nobody noticed when Sally, Poseidon, and Gabe came back except for Amphitrite when Poseidon quietly asked her what he missed.

(When the sword appeared... stupid or really brave,)

"I'm going to go with really stupid..." Grover muttered with a snort.

"I wonder just what they saw, though, because the rest of them did back off..." Percy commented, and only got shrugs. Not even Sally or Rachel knew what other mortals saw, they saw right through the Mist.

Paul, on the other hand, only knew what something really was when Percy or Sally told him, but then he usually saw something different almost every time he saw the same thing. One time, Riptide was a baseball bat. Another, it was a large knife. Another time he could have sworn Percy was waving a gun around. The only things he could see with any sort of accuracy, without being affected by the Mist, was Mrs. O'Leary and Blackjack. He said as much to those assembled there.

"Unless you're the one manipulating the Mist to cover something up, then you'll never know just what it is that regular mortals see." Athena said. "And every mind works differently, so it makes sense that the Mist would show different things to different people. Thoughts of those objects must have been prominent in your mind for some reason on those occasions." She reasoned.

(because he kept... a switchblade.)

"Yet another disadvantage of carrying around weapons that don't affect regular people, while their weapons are very effective against us." Clarisse muttered to herself.

"We do not harm mortals. If you must fight to defend yourself, you know hand-to-hand combat." Chiron said firmly. There was a chorus of 'yes, Chiron' from his students.

(I made the mistake of swinging.)

"Perseus Jackson!" Chiron snapped, shocked. Percy winced.

"Sorry, sorry. I just... I just reacted." He said miserably. He hated disappointing Chiron, but he actually sounded mad right now.

"Huh... so it wasn't just me, then?" Rachel murmured. She honestly didn't know if she was relieved that it wasn't just her he decided to swing a sword at, or disappointed because it wasn't quite so... special anymore. Well, not really special, but...

(The kid yelped. But... through his chest.)

"Luckily." Rachel said with a small glare for Percy, who winced.

"Well... it's one way of checking to see who is a monster and who's not?" He tried. Rachel's glare only deepened while Chiron's severe look worsened.

(He looked down... turned to anger.)

"See?" Annabeth asked weakly, trying not to really look at the piercing stare Chiron and Rachel were giving Percy. "Distraction."

("Run!" I screamed... and Grover.)

"Good idea." Will said simply.

Just because they knew hand-to-hand combat didn't mean it was always a good idea. And a fight right now would only draw attention, and that was the last thing they needed. Especially since somebody might call the police, or the rich kids would at least give a description when their parents called the police on whoever 'mugged' their boys.

"I thought so." Percy said simply. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

(We pushed two kids... Annabeth shouted.)

"No, not there." Grover muttered dryly, glaring slightly at Annabeth. She'd been the one to point it out, after all.

"How was I supposed to know what that place really was?" She asked, annoyed.

(Only one store on... WATRE BDE ALPACE.)

Reyna stopped reading for a second. "I'm so glad I don't have dyslexia." She muttered. "I'm not even going to bother trying to read this... how on earth do you people stand this?" She asked the Greeks, bewildered. They only blinked at her, they didn't know any other way of reading anything that happened to be in English.

As she said, she skipped the mangled words entirely and just read the translation.

("Crusty's Water... Grover translated.)

Poseidon's attention was instantly drawn away from the thing in the corner of the room when he heard the name. "Oh, no. Why did you have to go there of all places?" He groaned. Honestly, he hated it when his children fought, but he also knew that there wasn't much he could do about some of them. "You weren't hurt, were you?" He asked.

"We got away fine." Annabeth reassured before turning a glare on her sheepish boyfriend. "Even if somebody could have been served to act a little quicker."

Percy cringed. "What was I supposed to do? His paw was on my neck practically the entire time!" He protested. Triton winced while his father flinched. Annabeth glared for another few moments before sighing and leaning against him in a silent apology.

(It didn't sound... this definitely qualified.)

"Yeah, I would say so. Unless you want to get into a fight with a bunch of rich kids and get found by the police, anyway. And if you weren't pressed for time. Otherwise, I would say just turn and fight." Clarisse said with a slightly wild looking grin.

"That's my girl." Ares said quietly under his breath.

"Clarisse." Chiron said, tiredly. He was always having to try and temper the Ares children's needs for a good fight. She didn't even have the decency to at least look at him somewhat sheepishly.

(We burst through... them," Grover panted.)

"Way to state the obvious." Nico muttered.

(A voice behind us... in a leisure suit.)

The kids all burst out laughing.

"Aw, man, Perce." Travis barely got out.

"I absolutely love your descriptions." Connor added.

"Makes me so glad I look normal." Piper shuddered. Not to mention, that he wouldn't meet her until after they took the Argo II to New Rome. Hopefully, if they even read these books that far, which she both hoped for and dreaded, the bit where he met her wouldn't even be from his point of view. And if it was, hopefully he was too occupied with seeing Annabeth again to really pay too much attention to the rest of them.

Only those who knew just who this person really was, didn't find any humor in his description.

(He was at least... cold, reptilian smile.)

"Monster." All the demigods immediately said, losing all earlier humor.

Grover grimaced, now that he heard the guys description, he wondered how he missed it. He didn't even smell anything!

(He moved toward... if he needed to.)

Percy blew out a breath. "Sometimes I hate being right." He muttered. He could move very fast, indeed. This had been one of the most harrowing experiences in a long time... his friends right there, being hurt right in front of him, and being unable to do anything about it.

He heard them calling for him to help them, to hurry up, and he was unable to do anything.

He'd promised himself after this that he was never going to be put in that situation again. He would never be this weak again.

(His suit might've come... even count them.)

By the end of the description, Aphrodite looked green and Ares was rubbing her back and trying to hide his amusement over her reaction. Hephaestus was glaring at both of them.

"That is disgusting." Piper said with a grimace.

"Is it sad that one of the most sure ways of spotting a monster is by the way they dress?" Thalia asked Nico, who shrugged.

"The more humanoid ones, anyway." Katie huffed. Otherwise it was rather obvious that it was a monster.

"Not the Empousai. They're much better at blending in." Percy reminded. He never would have known Tammi and Kelli were really monsters in disguise, not to say he hadn't gotten a bad feeling around them of course, if it hadn't been for Rachel pulling him away from the rally, or the two of them revealing themselves in the band room.

"Yes." Annabeth gave him a bit of a stink-eye at the mention of them, but didn't say anything else. For the most part, Percy hadn't ever been drawn in by them, merely dazed enough that he couldn't react in time. He was very good at resisting their charms.

Poseidon suddenly counted himself very lucky that his son had his immunity to controlling influences, although as a demigod it was erratic with him.

("I'm Crusty," he... yellow smile.)

"Yes he is." Luke commented with a grimace, after the trio disappeared in Vegas, he'd completely lost track of them until they entered the Underworld.

For some reason, Percy seemed amused by this.

(I resisted the urge to say, Yes, you are.)

Luke groaned and closed his eyes while Percy smirked minutely before turning his attention back to the rest of the room.

"See? I can hold it in." Percy pointed out, as if this moment was a big accomplishment for him. A few supposed that it probably was. Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

("Sorry to barge... just, um, browsing.")

Everyone snorted.

"That late at night and after you were clearly being chased? Try again." Thalia said dryly.

Percy stuck out his tongue. "Ok... before you two get into it, can we keep reading?" Annabeth asked, holding up her hands and glaring the two into submission.

They could go at it for hours when they got into a mood, and right now they were in a mood.

("You mean hiding... thanks to them.)

"You'd think he'd be happy about that." Apollo said. Surely that means more business for him? Although, he supposed that monsters didn't usually care about things like that, and those people probably didn't make it out of that shop alive.

"Eh... in his own words, people are so inconsiderate." Percy rolled his eyes.

(Say, you want... a water bed?")

"No." Most people said at once. Why would they want to see a waterbed when they were running short on time?

"That's what I was going to say." Percy muttered to himself. If it hadn't been for the paw on his shoulder, so close to his neck...

(I was about to... on my shoulder)

Poseidon narrowed his eyes, knowing that if he wanted to, his older son could snap Percy's neck like a twig.

He wouldn't, of course, because that wouldn't be very hospitable, but he could. So easily should Percy anger him enough to lose his temper. Like all his children, Procrustes' temper was quite explosive... and Percy seemed to be particularly gifted with making people angry.

(and steered me deeper... of-the-universe-size.)

Thalia snorted. "That one would be perfect for Father. It might almost be big enough for his head." She muttered to Jason, who agreed whole-heartedly.

His Roman training, however, was enough to ensure he didn't say anything like that out loud.

"Some of those beds were actually pretty nice looking." Percy said, tilting his head to the side in thought.

"Percy, you're not going back there. It probably got looted a long time, ago anyway, and the building sold out." Annabeth told him firmly. Honestly, hopefully Procrustes was a slow reformer, not that Percy had much luck with that.

("This is my most popular... on the headboard.)

"Maybe in the seventies or something." Piper muttered in disgust.

"That's probably the last time he ever had any real customers." Katie sneered.

(The mattress vibrated... oil-flavored Jell-O.)

"Ew." Most everybody said.

"I think I'd almost prefer that to being covered in Tabasco sauce mixed with oil." Leo muttered, wrinkling his nose.

("Million-hand massage... today, anyway.")

"I wonder if he ever has business." Rachel muttered.

"I doubt that any monster who runs a business ever has actual business." Will shook his head. It made him wonder how any of them earned any money ever.

"You had best not nap." Zeus said with narrowed eyes. At this point, everybody else ignored him.

("Um," I said, "I don't think…")

A few people glanced at him curiously. "We didn't have a lot of time, and I didn't want this to be another Medusa thing." Percy grimaced. "Guy was giving me the creeps." He muttered.

("Million-hand massage!"... This is cool.")

"That did feel good." Grover commented. He might try and find something else like that, or... he turned to look at Leo and Beckendorf hopefully.

Beckendorf looked amused, but he got out his notebook and started drawing it out. "Something like that could be very nice for the camp as a whole." He commented. Of course, they would have to build several to avoid too many fights over who got time in the chair, or who might be 'hogging' it.

("Hmm," Crusty said... "Almost, almost.")

"Almost what?" Luke asked, suspiciously. Everybody else looked just as wary about finding out the answer. Athena was glaring at Poseidon. If his son even thought about hurting a hair on her daughter's head...

Annabeth and Grover shifted, each unconsciously reaching to rub at their backs as best they could with a grimace. "You'll see if we keep reading." Annabeth said tightly.

"I worked as fast as I could." Percy said, almost pleadingly.

"I know you did." Annabeth reassured quietly.

("Almost what?" I asked.)

Everyone was too tense to make a big deal over this. They were all waiting to hear just who this was, and how much danger they were in this time.

(He looked at Annabeth... honey. Might fit.")

"Might fit what?" Jason asked, not liking this at all. He was racking his brain and trying to remember any reports of a specific monster in L.A., or any reported disappearances in this general area.

He kept coming up blank, though, and so was Reyna judging by the scowl on her face. And she's even scanned ahead to see what this guys full name was!

None of the three that were there answered Jason.

(Annabeth said, "But... leopard-patterned comforter.)

"Hmm... put a different comforter on that, that actually sounds quite lovely." Aphrodite said, tilting her head. She could decorate a room quite nicely around that. She wasn't sure about the leopard pattern with it, though... maybe a deep solid color... red or something like that.

Piper rolled her eyes at her mother, but couldn't help but agree. Ugh, she'd been spending too much time with her siblings.

(When Annabeth... Crusty pushed her.)

The room immediately burst out into protests from the demigods and glares from some of the gods or goddesses that actually cared.

Athena grumbled under her breath and promised much pain if this creature dared touch her daughter again.

Annabeth smiled slightly at the overwhelming show of support from the other demigods at what was a simple push. Of course, it was a push that put her in a bad position, but they didn't know that person yet.

("Hey!" she protested... his fingers. "Ergo!")

The room became tense. Just what kind of command word was that?

Percy was glaring at the wall on the other side of the room, not meeting anyone's eyes. He didn't want to hear any of this. That was the last thing he wanted.

(Ropes sprang from... her to the mattress.)

"Whoa!"

"Not cool, man!"

"You better think of something, Percy." Clarisse finished off the demigods outraged cries.

"I was working on it..." Percy muttered, still feeling guilty over everything that happened here. His arm snaked around Annabeth's shoulders and squeezed.

Athena's eyes narrowed, silently daring the sea-spawn to not save her daughter. Luke pulled Annabeth to his side, not wanting to let her go until the danger was passed. So far in the book, she wasn't really in any danger at all, now she was in direct danger and unable to even reach her knife.

(Grover tried to get... lashed him down.)

The tension rocketed up, now most of the group was captured.

Percy was going to have to think fast if he was going to free them.

"Oh, dear." Sally murmured, and eyed her son in concern.

("N-not c-c-cool!" he... c-cool a-at all!")

Despite the tense situation, a few people chuckled.

"Hey! Being tied down to those things while they're on isn't fun!" Grover protested, glad that some of the tension was abated before things really started getting bad right now. The massage hadn't felt nearly as good as it had before being tied down to it.

(The giant looked at... "Almost, darn it.")

"Almost what?" Luke demanded again. He wanted to know, and he wanted to know now.

"Patience. All will be explained." Amphitrite murmured, not looking at her husband.

"I really hope I grow a few more inches to be six foot." Annabeth muttered, not wanting to ever run into him again, although she supposed that if they did ever run into him again, they would be prepared, and he probably wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

"Get away from him, now." Triton muttered, unhelpfully in Percy's opinion.

(I tried to step away... back of my neck.)

"Getting away might be a little difficult." Percy deadpanned, rubbing his neck where he'd been held. He was pretty sure it bruised until he'd looked in a mirror and not seen anything.

"Oh, dear. That's not good." Aphrodite murmured. How was he supposed to save Annabeth if he couldn't move?

("Whoa, kid. Don't... one in a sec.")

"I don't think that's what he's too worried about right now." Rachel muttered, eyeing Grover and Annabeth in worry.

("Let my friends... them fit, first.")

"Fit?" Katie asked, worried. "Fit what?"

"Oh, dear." Athena murmured, and then glared at Poseidon. It was his son, after all, that was about to harm her daughter.

"That hurt." Annabeth winced, remembering.

"I tried to move quickly." Percy apologized again.

"I know, and stop apologizing! You did everything you could, this was an impossible situation that you got us out of." She snapped. Grover nodded in agreement.

("What do you... make them fit.")

"What... does that mean exactly?" Reyna asked hesitantly.

"Well... the only way to make somebody taller is... by stretching them." Will slowly revealed in horror. "But that could kill them."

"We made it out alright, just a little stiff and sore for a few days after this." Annabeth said quietly, reassuringly.

"This is starting to sound familiar..." Piper muttered, trying to think back to what she knew of Greek history.

The tension in the room was now so thick Percy was pretty sure he could cut it with Riptide.

(Annabeth and Grover... muttered. "Ergo!")

Everyone was tense, and looking between Annabeth and Grover in horror. Grover and Annabeth looked terrified, they didn't want that happening to them!

Nobody interrupted, though. They all wanted to know that they got out of here safely.

(A new set of... from both ends.)

"The human body can't take much of that. Not even a demigods body, or a satyr." Will muttered, and Apollo nodded in agreement.

The human body could only take so much abuse before it decided it had enough, and being stretched... well, there was a reason why being 'drawn and quartered' was a favored execution technique by some of the ancient factions. Or why stretching was a favored torture technique.

"Can you two, just... not?" Athena demanded, not wanting to hear about any of that in regards to her daughter.

"Sorry." Will winced.

("Don't worry," Crusty... bed you like, huh?")

"Why don't we not?" Percy muttered under his breath with a shudder. "Although, I did spot a bed I kind of liked, but..." He shrugged.

"Do not let him push you down, all three of you will be dead if you do." Jason almost commanded, thoughts whirling with various strategies and tactics he could use to get him out of this one with the rest of his quest party intact.

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious." Percy said dryly, but the quirk of his lips let Jason know he wasn't too mad or annoyed.

("Percy!" Grover yelled... bed salesman alone.)

"Hey!" Leo suddenly spoke up. "These are water beds, can't you use that?" He asked. The Romans glanced at each other, thinking back to what he did in the war games with the water cannons.

Percy blinked at him. Everybody jumped a minute later when he suddenly started cursing in Ancient Greek before switching back to English. "Why didn't I think of that?" Now he looked even more guilty at not being fast enough.

Annabeth sighed and shook her head. "You still didn't know the first thing about your powers. Maybe if you'd had more time to explore them and get used to them before this point... don't worry about it, Perce, you did everything you could, and we got out in the end. That's what matters." She repeated.

Maybe if she repeated it enough he would finally start to believe it.

(He would snap my... my sword out.)

"He would have." Poseidon confirmed with a sigh.

("Your real name's... he admitted.)

All the demigods froze and stared at Percy in horror.

The Fates must really have it in for him to come up against three of the biggest names in one quest and survive. Tyche must really like him, too.

Sally whimpered and tightened her grip on Paul's arm, making him wince as she started to cut off circulation, but he didn't say anything.

("The Stretcher," I... on his way to Athens.)

"I wouldn't have called it 'excess hospitality'..." Triton said with a grimace while Poseidon flinched violently at the reminder of that incident. Honestly, why was it that his children seemed to fight amongst themselves the most? Especially his immortal children and his demigod children, they always seemed to be going at it somehow.

Next thing he knew, Percy and Polyphemus would be fighting over the Fleece.

The demigods who hadn't already known the story, or recognized the names, like the Romans, looked at Percy in worry for how he got out of this.

("Yeah," the salesman... pronounce Procrustes?)

Poseidon actually looked a little offended that he clearly felt that way about his name. He grumbled a little until Amphitrite punched his arm and glared, but it got his mind back to what was actually important about this situation, which was that one of his sons was trying to kill another of his sons...

Again.

(Bad for business... good ring to it.")

"What are you doing?" Athena demanded. "My daughter is being stretched to death, and you're over there making casual conversation with the one who is killing her!"

"What was he supposed to do? Crusty had a hand on his neck!" Annabeth demanded of her mother, who subsided with a glare towards Percy. She knew that boy was no good for her.

(His eyes lit up...

"Oh, absolutely,")

"Not." Percy muttered, making a face as he did. It was the face he wished he could have made back then, but hadn't wanted to risk provoking him. That hand had not felt comfortable on his neck, after all.

He didn't appreciate everyone else's amusement, either. Although it eased the tension somewhat.

(I said. "And the... beds? Fabulous!")

"That was actually a compliment. The workmanship was actually pretty cool." Percy admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

"Less admiring the beds, more saving my daughter." Athena snapped.

"Mother." Annabeth cried, exasperated. Honestly, she knew that her mother had warmed up to Percy over the years, but this was ridiculous.

(He grinned hugely... on my neck.)

"Whatever your doing to gain his trust, you better hurry it up." Sally murmured into Paul's shoulder where she'd buried it when the other two got captured.

"He'll get them out." Paul whispered to her.

("I tell my customers... the workmanship.)

"I think there's a reason for that." Clarisse said dryly. After all, it was kind of hard to pay attention to the bed you were on when you were literally being stretched to death.

(How many built... have you seen?")

"It's been a while since I've seen one." Paul muttered in amusement.

"I've never seen any." Most of the demigods muttered.

("Not too many."... are you doing?")

"Um, trying not to make him mad enough to snap my neck like a twig." Percy deadpanned. She looked at him sheepishly, but didn't apologize.

He didn't hold it against her, he figured that being stretched to death would make anyone a little crabby.

("Don't mind her,"... "She's impossible.")

"That might have been going a little far." Piper protested, narrowing her eyes.

Percy turned red. "I was trying to get him to lower his guard. I figured if she was even paying enough attention to me to hear it, then I could apologize later, when she was free."

"And..." Annabeth interrupted before any of the other girls said anything. "If I'd been able to think straight, I would have known what he was doing from the beginning." She defended him.

"Yeah, well, it was kind of hard to think straight right then." Grover pointed out, rubbing his neck where a phantom pain was. Annabeth shrugged.

(The giant laughed... about the fitting.")

"Well, gee, I wonder why." Rachel said, as sarcastically as she possibly could.

"It couldn't be because the fitting is deadly, now could it?" Chris asked, just as sarcastically.

"This guy is a few circuits short of a board." Leo shook his head.

"Yeah... for some reason most of my half-siblings seem to be... oblivious like this." Percy winced, actually embarrassed on Crusty's behalf, and Poseidon got a strange look on his face.

"And how on earth is the person supposed to control their height?" Apollo asked, baffled over that one. Well, immortals could control everything about their appearance, or at least how they appeared to mortals. But last he checked, mortals couldn't do the same.

"Believe me, if I could will myself to become taller, I would do it. If only in case I ever run into somebody else who feels like holding my height against me." Grover commented, and Annabeth nodded her agreement. She was pretty sure she'd actually passed the six foot mark, though...

"I'm gonna keep reading, because I want to know what happens next." Reyna interrupted what she had no doubt would become a very long debate on how stupid this guy was.

("What do you... than six feet?")

"That's a good question." Thalia said with a strange look on her face, although she had worry in her eyes when she glanced between Annabeth and Grover.

("Oh, that happens... It's a simple fix.")

"Simple?" A few people asked hesitantly, wondering if they really wanted to know what he saw as a simple fix.

(He let go of my neck,)

"This is your chance to move." All the demigods sat up straighter, almost on the edge of their seats.

They all missed the grimace on Percy's face. If he'd been more ready for it, maybe. But... Crusty moved much faster than his size suggested.

Poseidon, Sally, and Paul visibly relaxed when Crusty's hand was no longer in the perfect position to snap Percy's neck like a twig.

(but before I could... double-bladed brass axe.)

"Whoa!" Most of the demigods burst out, and the tension levels sky-rocketed.

"You gotta think of something, quick." Clarisse said, now she was starting to get worried about them, although she did everything to hide it.

"Yeah, I know, I was working on it." Percy sounded tense, and they looked over to find him staring at the wall with his hands clenched in a fist.

"Just how big was that thing?" Leo asked in curiosity.

"Huge. I'm pretty sure it was about as long as my body was. Hamburger could have handled it easily." He added after a moment. Most of the demigods (the ones that were newest to Percy's insane life) were confused for a moment on who Hamburger was, until they remembered he'd been calling the Minotaur that since the time the bull-man had shown up in the story.

(He said, "I just... over on either end.")

There was silence for a moment. "Well..." Piper started weakly. "He was right. That is a simple fix." She was horrified.

"I'm so glad none of you were six feet tall at this time." Thalia informed her cousin and best friend seriously.

"So am I." They both said at the same time.

"I must have really been out of it by this point, because I don't remember this conversation at all." Annabeth admitted.

"Understandable." A few people murmured.

("Ah," I said, swallowing hard. "Sensible.")

"What are you doing?" Athena demanded again. "Stop speaking with him and rescue my daughter!" She knew it, this sea-spawn was completely unworthy of her daughter, he couldn't even focus well enough to rescue her when she needed it. That Luke boy would be much, much better for her.

"I was working on it, speaking with him happened to be part of my plan. Was I making it up as I went along? Oh, yeah. Did it work? Definitely." Percy snapped, tired of Athena's comments towards him.

("I'm so glad to come... like a strangled goose.)

"Whatever your doing, move faster." Luke urged book-Percy.

"I moved as fast as I could." Percy defended himself, not wanting to give Annabeth a reason to yell at him again because she thought he was still blaming himself. Which, he did, but no need for her to keep yelling at him over it.

("So, Crusty..." I said... Honeymoon Special.)

Aphrodite perked up, that sounded interesting... "The Honeymoon Special? Why that one, hmm?" She asked, almost leering between him and Annabeth. Piper hid her face in embarrassment, was her mother really doing this right now?

Percy looked at her in some disgust. He was working to save his friends, and that was what she was focused on? Really? He thought she was actually better than that. "It happened to be the nearest one, and the one with the most believable feature I could ask about."

"You shouldn't be asking about the beds at all, you should be saving my daughter!" Athena snapped, but everybody ignored her.

Only a few people started to get an idea of what Percy was doing.

("Does this one... stop wave motion?")

Aphrodite didn't say anything (not after the look she just got), but inwardly, she was thinking that they were a little young for that...

("Absolutely. Try it out.")

"Don't try it out." Nico said seriously, to everybodies agreement. The moment Percy touched that bed, they were all dead. Percy shot a deadpanned glare around the room.

Like he was really that stupid.

("Yeah, maybe I... No waves at all?")

Now, everybody started to figure out where he was going with this.

"Brilliant." Athena said, shocked with both the plan, and with herself for saying that out loud. She ignored Triton's proud look, choosing instead to simply focus on the plan itself, and not on who was coming up with it.

"I get good ideas." Percy defended himself with a grin on his face. Poseidon was beaming in pride, but he didn't let himself relax yet. Percy still had to get Procrustes to lay down, and hope that the trigger word worked for him like it worked for Procrustes.

("Guaranteed."

"No way."

"Way."

"Show me.")

"Do it. Do it. Do it..." The demigods started to chant, leaning forwards in their seats.

"Oh... to be honest, I wasn't paying any attention to this conversation at all." Annabeth confessed. She'd wondered how Percy had gotten him on a bed, now she knew.

"Completely understandable." Hazel said, eyes wide. This was one of the moments of these books where her and Frank were feeling better about their quests chances of success and survival with a trouble-magnet like Percy along, although they weren't leaving Percy behind either way. Even if Mars hadn't ordered his presence, Frank would have still asked him to come along as somebody who seemed experienced (despite his lack of memory at the time).

(He sat down eagerly... against the mattress.)

"Yes!" All the demigods cheered while a few of the gods (and Percy's parents) slumped in relief.

They would be alright now.

("Hey!" He yelled.)

"Yeah, hey!" Annabeth grumbled, a little miffed that he would protest in the same way she had, and yet he'd ignored her.

("Center him just... themselves at my command.)

Leo hummed thoughtfully. He would definitely need Nyssa or Beckendorf for a project like that though, since his forge-magic didn't work like. Which was very annoying at times... Not that he really needed it all that much for his creations, of course.

(Crusty's whole head... out the bottom.)

"Hypocrite." Reyna interrupted herself to spit out, disgusted. Honestly, the nerve of some people!

"So... he calls other people inconsiderate for not being exactly six feet, but he's not exactly six feet himself?" Will asked, incredulous.

Percy sighed. "Yeah... pretty much. I wasn't complaining too much right then, though, because that actually worked in my favor." He admitted.

("No!" he said... is just a demo.")

"He's trying to stretch Percy's companions to death, and he's complaining when he's the one strapped down?" Clarisse scoffed. "Don't dish it, if you can't take it!" She exclaimed in disgust, to her father's loud agreement.

Percy snorted. "Most monsters act like this, they don't seem to know what to do with themselves when the tables are flipped on them."

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like some of the class bullies I deal with at the school." He said, referring to the few times he ever saw one of his students stand up to their bully. The other guy never quite seemed to know what to do with a victim who'd finally had enough.

He was so proud whenever he saw it. As an adult, there was only so much he could do when punishments or lectures weren't working... oftentimes the only thing that made the bully stop, or at least switch to a new target, was if their current target stood up for himself and stopped making himself out to be an 'easy target'.

(I uncapped Riptide... dust for a while.)

"Especially since he was hurting my friends." Percy proclaimed hotly, a strange look crossing his face for a brief second.

Annabeth shivered when she saw it, the last time she saw a look like that on her Percy's face, he'd tried to drown a goddess in her own poison.

She wasn't the only one who didn't like that look on Percy Jackson's face, either. "Percy." Sally called softly. "You need to calm down, dear. She's fine, she's sitting right next to you." She said, and Percy visibly calmed himself down.

Poseidon frowned. That was something else he was going to have to work on controlling with Percy, it seemed. So far, he hadn't thought he would need to, as Percy seemed to have a good enough grasp on his emotions, even his temper, believe it or not. That look, however...

Percy, on the other hand, didn't see any of this. The words, 'he deserved to turn to dust for a while', reminded him vividly of the Arai he and Annabeth fought down there. And how they were all composed entirely of the curses various monsters he'd defeated had called upon him. It still made him think, did they really 'deserve' to be killed just for being a 'monster'?

("You drive a hard... selected floor models!")

"That's actually a pretty good deal." Hermes commented, tilting his head to the side. Now that the danger was passed, he was allowing himself to mentally check the place out. He didn't really have a need or liking for water beds, but...

Aphrodite nodded happily, thinking about the kinds of bargains she could find now that the stores owner was gone.

("I think I'll start... raised my sword.)

Ares grinned in appreciation of the kids methods. Now this was more like it!

Sally frowned, though, not liking her son behaving like this. She didn't say anything though. Who knew how many people this monster had killed? He'd tried to kill her son and his friends...

("No money down... for six months!")

"Ooh, that's an even better offer." Apollo said approvingly.

"Unfortunately, he can't take him up on those offers, because he can't trust Crusty not to try and kill him the moment he's let up off the bed. Not to mention, the other two are still caught." Artemis reminded the two, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yeah..." They said in unison.

(I swung the sword... making offers.)

The demigods cheered again and Nico noted something down.

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked her younger/older cousin.

"Making a list of all the monsters Percy's defeated and how. I want to compare it with what history says originally happened to them. Especially the ones Hercules is said to have defeated as well." He said, looking at her.

"Huh. That should be an interesting comparison." She said, leaning back again.

(I cut the ropes... and cursing me a lot.)

"I would be, too." Travis said with a snort.

"I'd be doing a lot worse than cursing." Connor nodded. The two had been playing a quiet game of Go Fish before they went into the waterbed store, and now that the tension was over they had picked up the cards again.

"We were in too much pain to be doing much more than that." Annabeth shrugged. Otherwise, yeah, she probably would have hit or kicked him.

Percy looked at her warily, but didn't move away from his place beside her, with his arm slung around her shoulders.

("You look taller," I said.)

"Did they really?" Will asked, amused and a little alarmed. Because if they did... that could cause serious back problems later on.

"No, not really." Percy confessed. "I was trying to bring some levity back to the whole situation." He shook his head. Will and Apollo both sighed in relief, but resolved to check over the two of the again.

("Very funny," Annabeth... next time.")

"Sorry." Percy mumbled again. And promptly received an elbow to the side.

"It was not your fault, you moved as quickly as you could. You would have done none of us any good if he forced you down on a bed like he did me." She scolded again. "And he would have if you were resistant like I was."

"Not every plan can be immediately implemented." Annabeth said quietly, to her older selves and mothers agreement. Ares children nodded in agreement as well. Sometimes battle strategies took time and patience to set up, especially if you didn't want the enemy catching onto what you were doing.

"You came up with a plan, and you put it into action as quickly as you could. Simple as that." Luke added.

(I looked at the... Hermes Delivery Service,)

Hermes nodded in satisfaction, although he wasn't really sure why he advertised... it wasn't like there were any other delivery services for the Greek Pantheon... maybe if there were he would be able to have a chance to breathe, a chance to have some time for himself.

They'd been here for several days already, with no distractions or new work coming in, and he was still only a quarter of the way through all his emails and voicemails that built up while he dealt with other things. Of course, he was also taking the time as he went to write up responses to some of them, responses that would actually go out the minute they got out of this time-bubble the Fates put them in, but still.

There were just too many of them! Maybe he should look into getting an assistant like Iris did...

(and another for the... Pages you'll ever need!")

"Wow." Thalia said, a little surprised. She didn't know the monsters kept something like that, and she was the Lieutenant! "Something like that would really come in handy." She glanced at Zoe and Artemis.

Zoe shook her head. "No. Such a thing would take away from the thrill of the Hunt." She informed her Sister, who nodded in agreement after a moment.

"I never thought about it, but the monsters are really organized." Will said in surprise.

Percy snorted. "You don't know the half of it." He informed the room dryly.

(Under that, a bright... for new talent!")

Hades got a few strange looks for that one. "What?" He asked. "It gets boring down there, we need some entertainment to liven things up once in a while." He shrugged. In fact, he was pretty sure that Orpheus was giving a concert in a few hours once he returned to his palace, whenever this book-reading was over with.

"'Commissions for heroes' souls'?" Hermes echoed. "Aren't our children's lives difficult enough without you more or less putting a bounty out on them?" He asked his uncle, who blinked at him, having not even considered that that was more or less how that sounded.

"I will... look over those flyers when I get back..." He muttered to appease the other parents.

(DOA's address was right underneath with a map.)

Hades growled in frustration. "I'm going to have to change the address after this, aren't I?" He grumbled to his wife, who patted him on the arm.

"I'll take care of it, dear." She assured him, and he smiled gratefully at her. What would he do without her there to help run things?

("Come on," I told my friends.)

"Give them a minute, they were almost stretched to death a minute ago!" Will protested, the Healer in him not liking at all that they were being pushed so soon, but he pushed that aside, knowing from experience that one didn't have time to slow down and take a breather on a quest. Right now, though, he felt like they were almost to the Underworld, and they could afford a second.

Will didn't understand the strange look Grover gave him, or the amusement on Annabeth and Percy's faces.

("Give us a minute,"... stretched to death!")

There were some snickers, but Will and Grover didn't mind. It was a very valid complaint, after all.

("Then you're ready for the Underworld,")

"Did you have to put it that way?" Katie asked, deadpanned. Percy shrugged.

(I said. "It's only a block from here.")

Hades sighed, exasperated. He'd been hoping, foolishly obviously, that the three wouldn't find the entrance. Clearly they were going to be invading his territory soon. He only hoped that they didn't cause too much damage during their visit.

"Makes sense, how many people has he stretched to death?" Gwen asked.

"Somehow I doubt he set up shop there because of how close the entrance to the Underworld was." Dakota pointed out.

"I don't know... there was that bounty poster for heroes souls." She said. The others all admitted she had a point. Hades sighed again, yeah, he was going to have to change those flyers.

"That was the chapter." Reyna said quietly.

"Just how many big name monsters or figures are you going to end up fighting over the years?" Piper asked Percy, incredulous. Even she knew about the Stretcher, but that was mostly because of the research her and her father had done before that stupid movie.

"I think almost all of them." Percy grunted. He'd even defeated one that Hercules himself failed to defeat. A feat that he was actually rather proud of...

After a few more moments, Jason reached out and took the book from Reyna, opening it without a word and finding the right page. "I'll read next." He said with a sigh, not really looking forward to reading about the Underworld. Death is something the Romans knew happened, and accepted it even. But they also refused to acknowledge anything related to aspects of death as Roman, like with Thanatos. He had a Roman name, but the Roman people refused to call him by anything but his Greek name as if that somehow completely eliminated him from the equation.

Chapter eighteen: Annabeth Does Obedience School