Zeus paced his private quarters, deep in thought.

He's been doing a lot of pacing lately.

He thought about the dream message he got from Percy. How on sour Mother Gaia's earth he managed to do that still eluded Zeus' mind, but he was fully aware of the situation.

"Hey, don't panic, I kinda kidnapped your daughter on accident. Just, like, help me if Artemis goes all Chernobyl because of it. Lol thanks ya much my man. GTG she's waking up."

Zeus was starting to regret the curse, but only a little. This was Percy we were talking about, the kid lived and breathed to be a pain in every god's arse.

But a small part of Zeus, a little feeling, actually liked Percy being in the sky. Zeus couldn't decide what that feeling was, it was very foreign to him. All he knew was that he liked Percy, in one way or another.

The thought gave Zeus a headache. If the others found out… well, he'll be more of a laughing stock than when Ares and Aphrodite got caught in bed together.

He sighed, turning back to his bolt laying on the bed. It looked completely harmless in its 2 foot dormant state. Zeus began to wonder if the weapon was really the reason he cursed Percy, or if it was something deeper.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Even 10 minutes after the bombshell Percy dropped on me, I still couldn't believe that he was… there.

The sun was shining in the cave, lighting up her surroundings. The cave was simple, grey stone that was slightly jagged, with thick jars of greek fire wedged in avery crack big enough. The silver tent glittered blue in the sunlight, like the sky peeking out from behind a cloud.

"How dd you do it?" I blurted out. Percy looked up from his book, raising his left eyebrow.

"Do what?" He said calmly.

"Survive? I mean, you disappeared 15 months ago, and everyone thought you were dead. I mean, you dove of a building, for Zeus' sake!"

Percy frowned. "It's been 15 months?"

My jaw went slack. "You mean… you mean you don't even know how long you've been gone?"

He shrugged. "Never bothered asking. It wasn't really important."

"Not important!?" I stared at him with wide eyes. "Why did you even leave in the first place?"

Percy shifted uncomfortably. "That's… That's not important right now."

I growled. "Percy-"

"Thalia, please," he replied back, his blue eye staring straight at me. "It's not-"

I stood up, drew my arrow, and aimed it at his face.

"Tell me."

He slowly slipped the bookmark on his page, closed the book, and set it to the side.

I watched impatiently as he stood up, dusting off his clothes.

Then, he sighed. "Don't shoot, don't panic, don't get mad."

He took a deep breath in, closed his eyes, and rolled his shoulders. Slowly, something large extended out from behind him. At first I thought it was some sort of monster, an eidolon or something.

But then I saw the colours. Golden tones of yellow, brown, white, and black all mixed together in a feathery blend. The colours extended until they brushed the edges of the cave and made a definitive shape. My mouth dried when I realised what they were.

Percy shifted nervously, his wings half-opened. "Listen, can we hurry? This is a little un-"

"You… you have… you have wings… Like actual… how?" I stuttered, my eyes wider than before.

Percy frowned. "Yes, I have wings. It's a 'curse'."

"A curse? From who?"

He bit his lip. "Your dad."

His wings twitched, folding back in.

"Wait!"

"You can look at them later. It's a little painful to only open the halfway. Kinda like holding a chin-up for too long." He said through gritted teeth. I watched as his wings slipped back behind him.

I nodded a little and Amber's head popped out from behind the tent. "I found it!"

In her little hands was a ballpoint pen. Riptide.

She scampered across the floor, towards Percy. She made a weird sound, like wood hitting stone, then metal hitting wood. Her floor length dress was ripped a little at the seams, making a few daisies look more like half suns. She smiled and offered the pen to Percy.

He smiled back and gingerly took his weapon, slipping it behind his ear. "Thanks, sweetie."

Amber smiled and hugged Percy's leg. I raised my eyebrow.

"Thalia, this is Amber." he smiled slightly. "She's my little scout."

She nodded firmly. "I found you. Percy said you are a good person and that your won't kill me."

"Kill you?" I questioned. "Why would i kill you."

Amber firsted nervously. "Because you are huntress. You hunt monsters, and you might think of me as one." She looked at the floor, where her feet should be.

I looked up at Percy.

"She's an empousa." He laced his fingers through his hair. "She risked her life to save mine, swore loyalty on the Styx, yada yada. And she makes a mean apple pie."

Amber giggled softly. "My apple pies are nice. Not mean." She corrected, cracking a smile. Her fangs were barely visible, like tiny ant hills on a plain of white.

"Yeah, you're right…" Percy mused.

"Um, Perce?" I cleared my throat He looked back up at me. "Could you maybe help the rest of my hunt?"

He frowned. "I kinda… can't."

I glared at him. "Why not?!"

He sighed. "Because they're hoping it would lure me out. The monsters… they've been hunting me."

"Since when are they not?" I exclaimed.

"Thalia, this is different. My wings add to the price on my head. How many demigods do you know with wings?"

I thought for a moment. "The Boreads?"

"That's two. Two demigods from four thousand years ago."

That's a really good point.

"They're just wings."

"With magical abilities, apparently." He grumbled. "Or at least, that's what the monsters think."

"You haven't tested to see if that's true?" I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Why should I? That'll only confirm it and make the price on my head higher."

I sighed. "Percy, please. Artemis… she's been kidnapped."

He paused. "That part I was not informed about." He frowned. "That would explain why she hasn't tried to smite me yet."

I waited impatiently, wondering how the Hades Percy survived this long. "So…"

Amber pulled at his shirt. "Persea? We are going to help them, right?"

Her blue eyes got wider and her lower lip stuck out. Percy took one look at her and sighed.

"Alright, fine." He huffed. "We'll help them."

"Yay!" Amber cheered, clapping her hands. Then she turned and raced down the hall in search of something.

"You can't say no to her, can you?"

He rolled his eyes. "I dare you to say no to a face like that."

I smirked a little. "Uh huh, right."

He flipped me the bird, which I found ironically funny, and grabbed his book. He stalked to the tent and disappeared inside. A few instances later he remerged with a light blue string sack the size of a little kid's bookbag. There was an iridescent glow to it, like the same way an oncoming storm seemed to glow in the distance in a fancy photo-slide you see online. I watched him as he began collecting his greek fire jars, slipping them into the bag one by one. The bag seemed to eat them up, but it didn't increase in size.

"Gift from Poseidon?" I guessed as he placed the last jar in, which would have been jar number 40.

"Naw, Zeus." He said, shaking the bag. "Enchanted to supply me with necessities in emergencies and safely store whatever I put in it. Kinda like Leo's toolbelt, but more flashy."

As if the bag was making a point, lightning flashed across the fabric in a white light. He sighed. "Your dad really likes to show off. I told him a glowing bag was NOT the way to go, but he's just as stubborn as… well…" He frowned. "Gods, nothing is as stubborn as he is."

"Dad gave you that? Doesn't he hate you. I mean… he did curse you."

"And felt bad afterwards. At least, I think he felt bad. He hasn't smite me out of the sky yet." Percy mused a little. "Then again, he might have been the reason why I almost ran into a plane…" he waved his hand like he was dismissing the matter. Then he turned to the tent and pushed a piece of the fabric. It slowly started to collapse on itself. Soon it was the size of a pack of gum.

"That's a hunter tent!" I exclaimed. "How did you-"

"Again, it was Zeus."

I shook my head. Percy click his tongue. "He kinda became my patron. Which I guess is better than having Hera as my patron."

"Dad is your patron?"

He pointed behind his back. "I mean, with these I kinda have to have him as my patron."

"Makes sense…" I drawled, watching him pack up. "So, how am I gonna get out of the cave?"

Percy looked at me with his 'are you seriously asking that' face. "We fly."

I felt the blood drain from my face. I was already feeling nauseous from being so high up, there was no way I was going to fly down. "Um, there's got to be some paths…"

"Thalia we're about 60 or so miles away from where the others are, which is at Crater Lake." Percy deadpanned. "And at least 30 miles away from the nearest city. Flying is straighter and faster."

My stomach flipped from the idea. "You carried me 60 miles in the air… here?"

Percy pierced his lips. "Yeah. It was easy when you were knotted up in a net. Sorry about that, by the way."

"No… no problem." My mouth dried up. "Are… are you going to carry me in a net again."

He thought for a moment. "It would be easier. I could strap the ropes in different places to distribute the weight more. But you'd also be in open air and be stuck swaying around a little bit."

I nearly doubled over from the thought. Percy went silent for a moment. "On the other hand, it would be harder for you to just hold on to me. If you let go, I'd only have a split second to catch you. Even then, it would put Amber's life in danger, and you'd probably get injured in the process."

"So my choices are swaying net or the hug of death? That's reassuring."

Percy offered a smile. "I mean, it could be worse. You could be the one doing the flying."

I found a hint of teasing in his voice. I realised he was referring to the Sun Chariot Incident. I punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" He pouted. I glared at him.

"That was for teasing me." I said, which caused him to smile.

"Teasing? I was merely stating the facts."

"Shut up Kelp Head." I grumbled. Amber dashed back into the room with a silver net. Her blue hair had somehow been tied up into pigtails and she had swapped out her outfit for a silver hoodie and a black skirt. Her hood was up so her flames trickled down her shoulders.

"Are we ready?" she asked, tilting her head. Percy smiled.

"Yeah, I guess we are. Thalia, let's go save your hunt."