July 30th, 2011

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Annabeth glared at Chiron and Thalia as she shakily stood up. "Annabeth, cut this out! This isn't like you at all. Percy may have rubbed off on you, but attacking a Roman legionnaire? Stealing a pegasus to escape camp?" Thalia lowered her spear, looking more confused than angry now.

Chiron too looked disappointed but managed to hide it better. "I think that you are afraid of someone finding out what you are up to. Annabeth, I would like to help you, Thalia would like to help you. We just need to know what is going on."

Annabeth thought about this for a moment then realized that maybe having someone to watch her back might not be the worst thing in the world right now. She sighed. "Okay. But I'll only tell you if I continue on my path and you come with me." She then looked around and saw the chariot carried by two other pegasi, big enough to hold all three of them, plus Percy.

Chiron nods in agreement and Thalia reluctantly followed suit. It then hit Annabeth that there was a small problem. "Where's Blackjack?"

"He was standing over you when we found you. Whatever happened spooked him badly and he flew off shortly after."

Annabeth nodded. She stopped into the chariot with Chiron and Thalia. "Where were you going, Annabeth?" Chiron asked.

She looked to the pegasi. "I was going to Maine. A town called Castle Rock."

Thalia blinked while Chiron spared her a glance. It was subtle, but Annabeth knew him well enough to tell when he was nervous. He spurred the reins and the winged horses took off, pulling the chariot into the sky. When they were soaring high in the sky, Chiron looked to the daughter of Athena. "Annabeth, please. Tell me how you know of such a cursed place."

Silence reigned for different reasons. Thalia was confused while Annabeth was stunned. "How do you know about that place?"

Chiron sighed. "In the 1960's, things at Camp Half-Blood became particularly dicey. I wanted to find other places to set up Camp Half-Blood and I looked to Maine for a solution. That land was a scarred one, carrying many curses and attracting monsters of all kinds. While I was willing to live with that, I could not put the campers at risk when I learned that demons also made their home there. But Castle Rock… that was the center of my troubles in Maine. I had encountered monsters there not even I had met before nor wish to meet again. That does not answer my question, though. How did you learn of that place?"

For this story, Annabeth felt like she owed Chiron an answer. "Things have been strange for a while now, sir. The day before I flew in to California, Percy and I had lunch. He told me there that he would not be joining us. He would be watching over his mother and stepfather as they visit a relative living in Castle Rock. He even told me that Sally and Percy were born there."

"Are you serious?" Thalia demanded, obviously without thinking.

Annabeth nodded. "Ever since I arrived at Camp Jupiter, I have had dreams of one such monster. I can't describe what he looked like but he reminded me of Kronos when I was in his presence; I saw him in my dreams, forcing me to watch such visions that I became afraid of sleep completely. And the worst part was that he was real. He possessed a Roman legionnaire and introduced himself as Randolph Freeman and spoke to me."

Chiron took the chance to look at Annabeth. "What did he say?"

Annabeth took a ragged breath. "He said that he wanted to see me in person before he left. That's all. He appeared to me when I was going to San Francisco."

"Yes, I was going to ask you about that too, Annabeth. Hazel found it rather suspicious, I might add."

Annabeth nodded. "I was going to see a friend I made to get some information. He worked at Shawshank Prison and pretty much said everything you said. Ever since, I had been trying to escape, to save Percy and his family from whatever is waiting for them. And that festival was the best way to do so."

Silence reigned as Chiron focused on flying but was clearly deep in thought. Thalia, however, looked rather haunted. "Annabeth…" She said after a long moment. "By the Gods, I don't even know where to begin to describe this. I suppose I am happy that you were so willing to give everything up. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure this is seen through."

Annabeth smiled; grateful she had such good friends watching her back.

No one was quite sure how long the trip lasted, but eventually, Chiron started giving commands to the pegasi in ancient Greek. Annabeth shakily got to her feet and looked over the edge. She could see the ground below getting larger and larger. She grabbed the railing, bracing herself for the firm thump that she eventually came.

They kept on rolling the chariot before coming to a complete stop in the middle of the forest. The three stepped out and looked around, Chiron being most careful of them all. "Stay close to me. I saw a house nearby that might be a good place to start."

As they made their way through the forest, they heard a loud howling echoing through the night. They turned to see what looked like a bipedal black-furred wolf looking at them through the woods. It charged at them and lifted a paw ready to slash. Thalia brought up an arrow and shot an arrow directly through the heart of the wolf. It fell to the ground, whimpering loudly. The whimpering became louder before the fur retracted into his body revealing an 8-year old boy. He looked up to the trio and started crawling toward them.

"Help… me…" He stopped crawling as his hands went limp and rolled onto his back. They warily stared at the corpse before Thalia creeped to the body and pulled her arrow out.

"I've seen werewolves before but never this young." She then noticed something and lifted one of his arms, with very fresh scratches on them. "He was just infected. This was likely his first outing of the incident."

Annabeth had to be honest with herself; she was somewhat disturbed by how calm Thalia was being right now. "Let's go. We need to find shelter."

The group made their way through the forest and to a rather steep hill to a large house with a barn nearby. Annabeth stopped and looked to one of the windows on the ground floor; she felt like she was being watched. "I felt it too. Someone's here." Chiron slowly clomped forward, bow in hand.

Thalia opened the screen door and stepped inside. The house was silent and smelled like something was rotting. Her companions stepped inside, and immediately noticed the smell. Chiron stepped through, albeit with difficulty, and clomped to the kitchen where an elderly man was laying on the table was lying face-down on the table. "Sir?" Chiron made his way to the man, sure that the Mist would hide his presence. He placed a hand on his shoulder, and he fell to the floor. Glassy eyes stared up at them, a long gash stretching across his neck.

All of them grabbed their weapons. "I'm starting to get a picture." Thalia muttered, before they heard a soft thump. Taking out her bone sword, Annabeth made her way through the house to see if anyone else was around. As she reached one of the bedrooms, she opened the door and saw a familiar person laying on the ground.

"Percy!" She made her way to her boyfriend's side, and rolled him onto his back. She checked his pulse then looked over his body. He looked to be in good health, but paler than she remembered.

He opened his eyes and let out a soft moan, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me."

He rubbed his head, looking to Annabeth with a puzzled expression. "I don't know. My family and I went to Ogunquit for a day trip and since then, I just can't remember."

Annabeth couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of his answer, like he was hiding something. She helped Percy back onto his feet and led him out of the bedroom and to the kitchen, where he saw the body. "Joe!" He pulled away from Annabeth and made his way to the corpse, looking over the body.

"Percy? Do you know him?" Chiron asked.

"This is my great-uncle. He took my mom in when her parents died."

"You don't say." Thalia stated, with Percy looking up at the huntress.

"It's good to see you again, Thalia." She nodded as Percy stood up. "Now, you said that we were going to be leaving?"

Annabeth nodded, just happy to see him again. "Come on. Let us leave." The group then made their way out of the house and through the forest. But before they reached the forest, Chiron stopped and looked to Percy. "Percy? How have you survived this long?"

He looked to Chiron, and to Annabeth's surprise, his eyes started to become jittery and his body shuddering. "I… I just stayed close to where I lived, sir." His voice seemed to bear a lot of pain, and Chiron frowned.

"Percy… how old am I?"

He froze and stared into Chiron's eyes. Percy shuddered more prominently and foam seemed to form in his mouth. Thalia and Annabeth drew their weapons and pointed them at 'Percy,' who broke his eye contact and fell to his knees. "I don't know."

Chiron stared down at his opponent. "Your skills with mind-reading are quite impressive. The only reason you were able to make it this far was because you were able to read our minds and pick apart what you needed to know. Eye contact is how you do it, but it seems that you have a limit as to how much information you can handle. I must say, it has been a long time since I met a psychic. Who are you?"

'Percy' stood back up, and his expression was one of pure spite. "I am Perseus Jackson, the real one. You are trespassing on Castle Rock. And you…" He glared at Annabeth. "You will suffer for your sins." He lifted his hands up and water surged from the air to his hands. He pointing them to the trio and they shot towards them.

Annabeth reacted in time, swinging her sword up and cutting the water apart but receiving some cuts on her skin from the attack. Thalia had better luck dodging to the side, but she too received some cuts. Chiron took the most damage as he couldn't move as fast, but he was able to stand his ground without problem.

Perseus then let the water go, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar pen. He looked at the pen, then pulled out the cap revealing Riptide. Annabeth's eyes bulged when she saw the weapon; could this be really Percy? What happened to him? What was this about being a psychic? No… Annabeth would defeat him and drag him in chains to camp where she can get to the complete truth.

She lifted up her sword and charged at Perseus. He brought up his sword and blocked her strike. With his other hand, he punched Annabeth between her eyes. The surprise strike didn't break her concentration, but it loosened it enough where Perseus was able to break their stalemate and slashed down. A deep gash was left on Annabath's arm and the pain was unbelievable. Thalia charged at him with her spear, and Perseus got his own gash as a result. As they fought, Chiron made his way to Annabeth and gave her a small Ziploc bag containing the familiar ambrosia. She ate a single square from the bag, and the wound slowly but surely closed in on itself.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I am going to wait until I have a clear shot. Go." Nodding in understanding, Annabeth stood up and watched Perseus and Thalia fight with dirty tricks ranging from Thalia bashing Perseus with her shield to Perseus using his powers over the water in the air to hold her in place.

Annabeth charged forward, a plan forming in her mind. She swung her blade at Perseus's right calf, making him shout and drop onto one knee. Thalia took advantage and slammed him with her shield.

The two women stepped back and Chiron lifted an arrow. As he let it loose, Perseus grabbed the arrow in mid-air. "No! I will not lose. Not like this!" He then let out a roar of fury that seemed to echo through the air around them.

A blinding white light consumed Annabeth's vision and when she could see herself again, she found herself on the shore of a lake. The waters of the lake gleamed in the light of the full moon. As she was sitting up, she saw Riptide pointed right at her chest. Perseus stared at her, and there was an almost insane gleam in his eyes, but there was something else present as well, something much more prominent. "What are you afraid of?" She asked. He was terrified of something right now, she could tell.

Perseus growled in anger. "You. You carry a connection that could kill us all." He then sliced downward, leaving a gash in her chest making Annabeth grit her teeth in pain. "I'm going to kill you before you do so." He grabbed her by the neck and with great strength, threw her into the lake.

Annabeth fought as hard as she could, but she only sunk quicker and quicker. Someone help her. Please… her vision became red again and swarms of voices swam within her mind. A voice seemed to speak in her mind in the voice of Randolph Freeman, 'Well, ain't it about time?' A surge of power, of rage, coursed through Annabeth's body and the surface seemed to come closer and closer to her vision before she burst out of the water. "You called for me?" She asked tauntingly, standing on the water's surface.

Thalia and Chiron just looked to Perseus, who looked scared out of his mind, and the red-eyed Annabeth. "What the fuck? I never knew." Perseus muttered. He then pulled out a submachine gun. "Time to die, Flagg!" He then opened fire. Annabeth simply caught the bullets out of thin air, then held the bullets in her hand to show them.

Thalia did not know what was going on, but she knew something was wrong with Annabeth. She would be damned if she lost another member of her family. She shot her normal arrows at Annabeth, who simply had them vaporize in her hand. Chiron then took out a trick arrow out of his quiver and fired it. Annabeth waved her hand and the arrow dissolved. However, the acid inside formed and spread across her face. She let out an inhuman scream of anger but was distracted enough for Perseus to charge across the water and attack her. When the cloud dissipated, the red spread to her entire eyes rather than her irises and her skin was looking leathery. She grabbed the weapon but looked confused as to why it did not work. Perseus twirled it out of her grip and stabbed her shoulder. She started chuckling before it became a cackle. She then pulled Riptide out and stabbed Perseus right through his stomach.

He fell backward and sunk into the ocean's depths. Then, a gunshot rang out and they looked to the cliffs and Thalia with Chiron were absolutely stunned. A shirtless Percy stood on the top of the cliff, holding a large revolver in hand. He pointed it at Annabeth, who stared at the newest arrival. "Let her go."

Flagg growled in anger. "I've gotten so strong in other people's bodies. I will not willingly let go."

Percy clicked the safety off. "Really? You're terrified of this weapon. I'll give you an ultimatum: give up Annabeth and leave this world or I will shoot you."

Flagg and Percy stared at each other. "You love this babe. You wouldn't kill her."

"Really? We've seen death before. Compared to this world, that is looking rather promising."

"You lie!"

"Am I? She is not the first person I'd helped to kill. Why not ask Luke?" Percy pointed the gun at Flagg's head, finger resting on the trigger.

Flagg started chuckling darkly. "Yeah, okay. I sense this world is more trouble than it's worth anyway. Think quick!" With that, a dark cloud seemed to pull itself out of Annabeth's body, sinking into the lake before vanishing.

The spirit now gone, Annabeth fell into the water. Percy threw his revolver aside and dove into the water. He swum deeper and deeper, catching her arm and swimming to the surface. Letting out a gasp of air, he pulled Annabeth to the shore and placed a hand on her stomach. The water evaporated from her system and Annabeth started gasping for air.

"Okay then." Chiron honestly gave up trying to make sense of this. Thalia was in the same boat. It was like someone left out a lot of information that would help to make this more sensible to an outsider.

Annabeth looked up and gasped. "Percy! Stop scaring me like this." She then hugged him so tightly he had a hard time breathing.

He then noticed Chiron and Thalia and felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. "So, this is kind of awkward."

"That has to be the understatement of the decade, Percy." Thalia stated bluntly. But still, she managed a smile. Chiron stared at the lake, looking troubled.

"Percy, I do not know what had happened, but I wish to thank you for your help. Let us leave before something else rises out of this lake." Chiron said.

Percy nodded, getting up. "I need to go back to Ogunquit. I need to make sure Mom and Paul are alright then they can come with us to San Francisco. I think I've seen enough of Maine to last a lifetime."

Chiron nodded and he started walking back to the chariot with the three demigods behind him. Percy by instinct reached into his pocket and felt something. He pulled out the object and realized that it was Riptide. He stared back at the lake.

He did not know whether what that man who called himself Perseus was telling the truth. Despite facing some of the worst monsters Tartarus had trapped in his lair, there were older and still more terrifying entities creeping around the edges of the world, preying for anyone to stumble upon and make them their next victims.

It was a thought that chilled Percy to his very core.