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"Chapter 9: I Am Offered a Quest" Connor read.

Poseidon groaned internally. Great! A quest full of danger, demigod-eating monsters and notorious evil great.

"Are you ok, brother?" Hestia asked. Poseidon blinked and nodded. "Just... peachy."

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.

Poseidon grinned thinking about how the lonesome cabin would now be occupied by someone.

I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag.

Hermes frowned. "That's not a lot of stuff. I should give you some in the future."

Percy just sat there with a blank expression while Hermes made a notebook appear and wrote it down.

I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.

"That sounds alright." Travis said. Connor read the next line to himself and raised an eyebrow.

"I bet you anything that Percy was miserable." Nico said; a smirk on his face. Percy just rolled his eyes and ignored his cousin.

And I was absolutely miserable.

"Ha! Told you so." Nico said triumphantly. Poseidon pouted and whined childishly.

"But why?" Percy sighed but smiled mentally since his dad was acting like a 6-year-old.

"You'll see. I'm pretty sure it's in the book."

Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid—or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood—I'd been separated out as if I had some rare disease.

All the gods frowned along with Nico and Percy.

"That's how I always feel when I'm at camp." Nico grumbled. Percy gave him a confused look.

"But you were getting along with lots of people last time that you were there."

"That may be true but I'm a child of Hades. No matter how much you change you make, people won't open up so easily to me, you now." Nico said sadly. Unbeknownst to him, Hades sighed sadly. Persephone took his hand again and smiled at him.

"It'll change. Maybe not now, not in the near future, but one day, love, it'll change." She said. Hades looked at her from the corner of his eyes and gave his wife a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back.

"Oh they were." Annabeth said, smirking slightly. "Who wouldn't? It was a big issue after all."

" son of the sea god.Big issue." Percy joked. "It actually is." Athena said, looking straight at Percy. The son of Poseidon blinked.

"How is it a big issue? I'm a son of Poseidon, big deal."

The demigods other than the futures had their jaws dropping along with a few gods and goddesses.

"Being a child of the Big Three is a very big deal. Especially since the Big Three aren't supposed to have children." Hera said sending her husband a stern look.

The gods just sighed in response to the Queen of the gods.

The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one; that I was the son of the Sea God;

"again, it's not a very big deal anymore." Percy said.

"Just let it go, Seaweed Brain. Just let the subject go." Annabeth said exasperatedly.

"Fine." Percy grumbled.

and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me.

"They still don't!" Nico said amusedly. Percy just grumbled something about annoying, resurrecting monsters. Poseidon just sighed and resigned himself to the fact that his son would have a hard life ahead.

They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.

"They already did." Percy and Annabeth said under their breaths.

The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible.

This time, Percy sighed while Poseidon frowned.

"They do know you had nothing to do with summoning monsters like that hellhound right?" He asked. Percy just shrugged since he himself didn't know.

Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods,

Ares narrowed his eyes at Percy who just shrugged again.

"Hey, is Clarisse awake yet?" Everyone blinked and looked to the daughter of Ares who was still out cold. Apollo frowned and snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately Clarisse's eyes opened and she jumped.

"What the heck? Alright, what the hell happened?" She angrily asked. Then she grabbed Travis by the front of his shirt and started shaking him.

"You better spill, Stoll. What did you do?" She asked or rather demanded. Beckendorf took hold of her arms and dragged her away from Travis who was trying to regain his balance but apparently, Clarisse managed to make his vision swim.

"Ugh. Don't feel so… good." The older Stoll placed a hand on his mouth then looked desperately at his dad.

"Left turn, three doors down. That's where the mortal-sized bathroom is." Travis nodded and quickly hurried to the bathroom. Clarisse had stopped trying to fight and watched as Travis raced out of the room.

"Oh man. I think you just shook the few remaining brain cells in his brain." Katie said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. It worked since even Hermes had a smile on his face. Connor looked at the empty space beside him.

"Should I continue?" He asked uncertainly. Most people shrugged.

"We should continue." Hestia said quietly. Connor nodded and read.

so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.

Poseidon's frown reappeared on his face while Percy just sighed and leaned his head on Annabeth's shoulder. Surprisingly, no one other than Nico and Thalia noticed.

"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches.

"wait, we have flaming torches at camp? Why do I not know of this?" Connor asked indignantly. The futures shrugged while those in the past either smiled sheepishly or avoided looking at the younger Stoll brother.

"Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."

Almost everyone winced. "Fifty repetitions… we can barely do ten." Clarisse said, frowning. "Luke's gonna kill you with that kind of training."

All the futures and Poseidon frowned deeply at the statement.

"You have no idea." Percy whispered darkly.

Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes.

Athena nodded in approval but at the back of her mind, she was thinking if she should act like this.

Meanwhile, Thalia and Nico were raising eyebrows at the couple who was blushing.

After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan …"

"Again with the plans!" Thalia groaned. Both Annabeths blushed and were about to respond when the door opened, revealing a dizzy-looking Travis. He shuffled his way back to his seat. Connor gave him a worried look along with Katie, Silena, Hermes, Apollo and Will.

"Bro, you don't look too good." Connor said timidly. Travis shot a glare at Clarisse. "I wonder why…"

Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear.

Clarisse glared at Percy again.

"Just let it go Clarisse."

"no."

I wished she would just yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored.

"Well why didn't you say so?" Thalia reached behind Nico and punched Percy hard on the shoulder only to receive an aching fist.

"What the hell?" Thalia cradled her hand while shooting Percy a dark look. Percy was just smirking at his cousin before sharing a knowing look with Nico and Annabeth.

I knew somebody at camp resented me,

"A lot of people resented you back then. It was either because 1) they were part of the Ares cabin; 2) They were one of the unclaimed demigods; or 3) that someone was Luke." Annabeth said the last so quietly that even Percy had to strain himself just to hear her.

because one night I came into my cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page.

"how the heck did someone get that?" Poseidon asked incredulously. The demigods all turned to the Stoll brothers while the gods turned to Hermes with knowing looks.

All three of them shrugged and in perfect harmony, spoke. "It wasn't us."

"Am I the only one who found that to be somewhat creepy?" Persephone asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"Oh, okay then."

The article took me almost an hour to read,

Athena raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that but Percy just ignored her.

because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.

Nico patted Percy on the back. "I feel you Percy." The son of Poseidon sighed sadly.

"Darned dyslexia. Why do we even need to have our brains hotwired for Ancient Greek?" Percy grumbled to himself while Nico just smiled brightly and ignored the Saviour of Olympus.

BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTERFREAK CAR ACCIDENT

Poseidon, Percy and practically everyone flinched at the title. Poseidon sighed sadly while Hades fidgeted inconspicuously in his throne.

BY EILEEN SMYTHE

"Who is this Eileen Smythe? I'm gonna talk to her." Poseidon said, frowning at the distance. Percy groaned and smacked his head on the headrest of his chair.

"Hey, this is soft!"

Everyone had to resist snickering at that.

Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.

Both Percy and Poseidon had dark, evil looks on their faces. Ones that could match even Hades' evil smile. The people near the two leaned away since they were chuckling under breaths like villains.

Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh please. I was only a couple of meters away all this time. Just go the hill, down into the valley, past the volleyball court, take a left at the big house, then head straight right into the arena. That's where you'll most likely find me." Percy smiled at the end, making Annabeth roll her eyes and shove Percy away from her.

"It's not like the mortals can enter camp plus, you were talking to a book, Seaweed Brain."

"I know."

Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.

Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano,

"That name fits him perfectly!" Aphrodite said, darkly. "Ugliano."

claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.

"I have not!" Percy said indignantly. "Stupid Gabe. I really wish I had kicked him in the-"

"Percy." Poseidon warned. The Savior of Olympus looked down at the floor guiltily.

"Sorry, dad." He mumbled but when he looked up Poseidon had a raised eyebrow.

"Why are you saying sorry? I was just gonna tell you that when you decide to harm that pathetic excuse of a mortal, you should bring me along."

"Brother!" Hestia chastised. Then it was Poseidon's turn to look guilty. "Sorry, Big Sister."

Hestia sighed and shook her head along with the responsible people in the room.

"Do continue, Connor."

"Yes, ma'am."

Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play.

"Seriously?" Hera said, looking very dumbfounded. "This boy loves his mom with all his heart! He wouldn't harm her, you annoying mortals."

Zeus calmed the Queen of the gods down but many people were staring at the goddess in shock. Percy leaned closer to Annabeth.

"Did she just defend me?" Annabeth had her mouth slightly open and was blinking a couple of times.

"I… I think she did." Percy sat straight again after Annabeth confirmed it. "Wow."

Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

The phone number was circled in black marker.

I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.

"Man, when you say it as empty cabin it suddenly sounds so depressing." Will said. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Believe me, Will, for a 12 year old boy, it's pretty lonely."

"Lights out," I told myself miserably.

That night, I had my worst dream yet.

Poseidon looked at Percy. "I heard a yet. Why was there a yet?" He asked worriedly.

Percy shrugged in response.

I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.

"Florida?" Apollo asked.

"Chicago?" Percy just shrugged.

"LA perhaps?" Hades asked curiously.

"For Olympus sake, I don't know! Please stop asking!" Percy all but yelled at the gods who were taken aback. Percy pinched the bridge of his nose while Annabeth laid a hand on his arm.

"Calm down, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah yeah. Calming down."

About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green.

Many of the deities in the room had to hide smiles and snickers behind their mouths when they figured out who it was that Percy was talking about. Poseidon and Zeus were eyeing each other warily before simultaneously looking at Percy who was whistling innocently and keeping his eyes on one of the pillars in the room.

"Wrestlers, eh, Percy?" Poseidon said in amusement while the other gods did nothing to hide the snickers escaping their lips. The son of the sea decided to keep quiet.

They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.

The snickering stopped immediately while Apollo let out a low whistle.

"You two are really angry huh?" Hermes said to the two gods before turning to the futures. "What happened anyway?"

Thalia and Nico shrugged. "We weren't there."

Percy and Annabeth pretended to zip their lips. "Sorry, not going to talk about it since it's in the book. Although I am pretty sure my mother has already figured it out." Annabeth said. Everyone else who turned to Athena who just shook her head, showing she wouldn't reveal it.

Connor sighed and just read since the book would tell them anyways.

I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand.

Many frowned at that.

Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.

Zeus glared at Percy who only raised an eyebrow.

"You wanted to say something to me, Lord Zeus?" The gods and demigods watched Percy in amazement since he stood up to the king of the gods. The futures on the other hand were shaking their heads.

"Why weren't you-" Zeus trailed off.

"Why wasn't I scared?" Percy asked amusedly. Everyone except the futures nodded.

"You've glared at, so have Hades, Ares, Dionysus, Hera, and many more but the scariest I've seen was the one from Athena. If you don't flinch under her glare then congrats to you, Lord Zeus."

All the gods grumbled under their breaths while Poseidon paled slightly.

"And, why exactly would people, gods especially, glare at you?" He asked in a somewhat squeaky voice.

Percy rested his chin on his hand and his elbow on his knee while looking at the hearth. "No reason really. Ares glares at everyone, Hera glares at demigods and so does Dionysus, Hades, well, it wasn't really a glare… oh wait no, it was a glare. Oh never mind that. It's going to be in the books anyways."

The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.

I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting!

"Not like they're going to hear you but nice try." Apollo said, grinning at the end. Percy rolled his eyes but smiled as well.

The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.

On instinct, everyone turned to Hades who was frowning.

"You know, it might be good not to assume until you have more evidence." He said annoyed.

Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!

Percy flinched remembering who the voice belonged to.

The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.

All around the room, sharp intakes of breath were taken.

I woke up, sure I was falling.

Poseidon sighed in relief as did many others.

"I hate that feeling." Katie said suddenly. All the demigods nodded in agreement but none more so than Thalia.

I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing.

The past demigods frowned. "It doesn't rain at camp." Mini-Annabeth said. Percy rolled his eyes.

"You never know what could happen in the future." Mini-Annabeth's eye twitched and she glared at Percy who wasn't looking at her.

I hadn't dreamed that.

I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.

"Come in?"

Grover trotted inside, looking worried.

"Grover?" Katie asked. "Why would Grover be worried other than because of pollution?"

The demigods other than the futures and mini-Annabeth shrugged. Those who didn't looked at Percy who kept a passive look on his face.

"Mr. D wants to see you."

Most people in the room eyed the god of wine warily.

"Why?"

"He wants to kill...

Dionysus paled greatly and risked a glance at Poseidon whose hand was twitching and was keeping a forced smile on his face.

"Dionysus…"

"I won't kill him!" The god of wine said hurriedly. Poseidon narrowed his eyes but let it go since his son was alive, well and in front of him.

"Continue reading then."

I mean, I'd better let him tell you."

Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble.

For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House.

"Why?" Connor asked Percy incredulously.

"I don't know. I was just being paranoid… I think."

Now that I was declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive.

Nico and Thalia nodded in agreement while the Big Three themselves flinched.

The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.

The gods frowned since that was what they would usually do about broken rules.

"Well now, we can't deny the fact that we would be debating on whether or not to keep you alive. It IS against the law." Athena said.

"Mother!" Both Annabeths yelled. Athena ignored them since what she said was true.

"Yeah but if we had a verdict already, I'd be the one delivering the message. Dionysus here would simply get it wrong." Hermes said giving Dionysus a sly grin. The godjust huffed and ignored Hermes.

Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil.

"Ink soup?" Thalia asked.

"Where the heck do you get these comparisons?" Mini-Annabeth asked. Silence was what answered her.

A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.

"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."

"well, that didn't last long." Percy and Annabeth said simultaneously.

I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"

"Oh that's nothing. Just your hot-headed, dramatic uncle sending his anger toward you in the form of clouds, rain, thunder and lightning. Nothing really, so don't mind it." Poseidon said, smirking at his younger brother who was fuming and grumbling in his seat while the others laughed.

"I am NOT hot-headed!" Zeus exclaimed. Hera took her husband's hand and soothingly rubbed circles on it with her finger.

"You have to admit though husband, you kind of are." Zeus sent her an incredulous while the gods and most demigods were hiding smirks and smiles. Poseidon leaned over to Apollo's throne and whispered. "Did you notice that he didn't deny being dramatic?" Apollo grinned and pointed it out to Hermes as well who had to pinch himself and bite his lips to stop himself from laughing. The three gods shared a grin, causing the others to look at them suspiciously.

"Are you three planning something?" Zeus asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nope. Just exchanges some words." Poseidon said but grinned at Zeus, causing the King of the gods to become even more suspicious.

"Shall we continue now?" Athena suggested. Connor readied himself and waited for the signal to continue reading.

He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."

"That doesn't seem to be the case in that moment." Hermes pointed out.

"Hey, how exactly does bad weather pass by us? I mean, would it be dry in camp while it's pouring cats and dogs? Does that also mean that when Percy was fighting Pasiphae's son, it was completely dry at camp?" Silena asked.

"It would be dry at camp unless a godly force made it rain inside camp. To answer your last question, camp should have been dry at the time. Bad weather passes by camp due to, again, godly power." Annabeth said, smiling at the daughter of Aphrodite.

I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.

But this storm ... this one was huge.

Poseidon looked pointedly at Zeus who was ignoring him.

At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs.

"Ugh, how do you guys have the energy to play volleyball? Breakfast didn't even arrive!" Travis asked Will. Will sighed.

"Travis, you do remember that we rise with the sun right? Not literally of course."

"yeah but then shouldn't you go to bed when the sun sets?" Connor asked. Will sighed exasperatedly again while the others groaned.

"Did you or did you not watch the orientation film? It was explained there."

"We watched it..." Connor said all while smiling mischievously.

"...but it's not like we would remember that." Travis finished with an equally mischievous smile on his face.

Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow.

Everyone was surprised to see the wine god smiling.

"Castor and Pollux." Percy said sadly. He avoided looking at the camp director. He might not have been responsible for Castor's death but he could have prevented it had he been able to stop Luke.

Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

"Who wouldn't?" Artemis asked. "A storm that big is bound to catch everyone's attention especially since it doesn't rain that often at camp."

Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day.

Aphrodite glanced at the wine god who was wearing the same shirt as was said in the book. Then she wrinkled her nose.

"Don't you have any other shirt other than that one? It doesn't even go with any kind of pants or skirt or shoes!" Dionysus rolled his eyes, causing Aphrodite to start rambling about fashion. Most of the people in the room groaned but luckily for them, the love goddess stopped her rambling all thanks to Hephaestus who handed her a ruby-encrusted mirror.

"Oh my us! This mirror is so CUTE!" Aphrodite said, admiring the workmanship of the mirror. Then she smiled at Hephaestus lovingly. "Thank you."

Hephaestus grumbled but a closer look at his face and you could tell he was blushing. "Don't mention it."

Ares watched the exchange with narrowed eyes.

Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel chair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the air.

The invisible opponents reminded Percy of his time on Calypso's island with her invisible servants.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

"Wow. Mr. D sounded like Snape."[1]

"Who in Hades' name is Snape?" Connor asked. Hades glared at the demigod slightly for using his name as a curse but he let it go. Annabeth on the other hand looked at the Stoll brother in complete disbelief.

"Severus Snape? You know, from the Harry Potter series?" She tried but was answered with blank looks from the Stolls as well as a few gods. The futures all shared a look and shook their head in disappointment.

"The Harry Potter series, written by Joanne Kathleen Rowling, consist of seven books about a wizard named Harry Potter who-"

"Annabeth." Percy interrupted. "Now is not exactly the best time to tell them about the Harry Potter books since we're in the middle of reading a book." Percy said. Annabeth. Along with Athena and mini-Annabeth sighed. "I know, but it's such a fantastic book and series!" Then she turned to her mini-self.

"After all this, lend those two dimwits the series. There should be a copy of all seven books in the library at the cabin. Our lieutenant councellor in this time period should have a copy of the books too."

"Alright." Mini-Annabeth said, giving the Stolls an evil smile. Connor decided to read to avoid looking at the evil smile. Too bad for his brother though. Travis couldn't help but look at the smile and he knew he'd be sleeping with one eye open once this book reading session thing was over.

I waited.

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

Dionysus paled once again when Poseidon raised an eyebrow at him.

"Barnacle beard?Seriously, Dionysus?"

"Y-yeah?" Dionysus said uncertainly. Athena smirked.

"It's actually a pretty nice name for you." Poseidon shot his nemesis a look.

"Owl head."

"Fish face"

"Book brain."

"Kelp head."

"Wise girl." Thalia and Nico shot smirks at the couple upon hearing this nickname. Annabeth was blushing but thankfully, it wasn't all that noticeable.

"Why, thank you."

"Not a compliment."

"Oh I know."

Poseidon grumbled in response to this, knowing he had lost.

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.

"Dionysus, be more respectful or else your sentence will be lengthened." Zeus threatened. Dionysus looked horrified.

"No more years at that camp, please father!" Dionysus pleaded, looking like he'd beg on his knees if he had to. Zeus sighed.

"I'll think about it but if your behaviour doesn't change, I will add more years to your punishment." Dionysus nodded his head vigorously.

Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble.

Poseidon's stare turned to a glare and a growling sound could be heard coming from the back of his throat. Dionysus swallowed his saliva and wanted nothing more than to cower behind his throne.

But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

All of the gods (except Ares and Hestia) were now glaring at Dionysus, even those who had no children.

"You know, by default, you just called Castor and Pollux brats." Percy pointed out. Dionysus paled further and had a horrified look on his face at the mere thought of calling his kids brats.

The futures all shared a knowing smile with each other, knowing Dionysus loved Castor and Pollux more than anything in this world... other than wine.

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Yes, yes it is." Hestia added in, shooting Dionysus a disappointed frown. "You're not actually thinking about harming the young hero now, are you Dio?"

The god looked at Hestia and immediately felt very guilty. He couldn't help it though. The goddess of the hearth had such a pure and kind heart that it made every god and goddess feel bad about ever bringing harm to any demigod and/or mortal.

"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing.

Dionysus groaned at his future self's words.

Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

Poseidon thought about it. Percy saw the look on his father's face and an incredulous and pleading look came upon the hero's own face.

"Dad, please tell me you're not actually thinking about letting Mr. D turn me into a dolphin." Percy asked/demanded. Poseidon blinked and smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, son. Even if he does turn you into a dolphin, I can always turn you back into a human." Poseidon grinned. Percy sighed in relief.

"wait, that means you were thinking about me being turned into a dolphin by Mr. D." Percy said horrified.

"Come on Percy. If you were turned into a dolphin, at least you'd know how it feels. Plus, you'd be one cute dolphin." Annabeth teased. Percy detected the teasing tone in his girlfriend's voice and pouted at her. He even made a small whining sound, which melted the hearts of most of the females in the room.

In unison, the females cooed, causing Percy to look at them weirdly.

"... awkward." Nico sang. All the boys nodded in agreement. Travis nudged Connor in the ribs and motioned for him to read.

"Mr. D—" Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness."

Poseidon's eyes widened at the mention of deadly and foolish at the same sentence.

"This is the part where you get the quest right?" Mini-Annabeth asked excitedly. Percy gave her a curious look. "Yeah. How'd you know that?"

Mini-Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It's the title of the chapter. Plus, there's nothing more deadly and foolish than a quest. Although, I wouldn't really call it foolish."

"We get it!" The past demigods chorused. Mini-Annabeth blushed and huffed indignantly.

Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose.

Poseidon gripped his trident and looked at Dionysus threateningly.

Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson,

Immediately, all the demigods except Percy and some gods gasped. Then they looked at Dionysus in astonishment.

"You... you got his name right." Hermes said. It sounded so alienated when it came to Dionysus. The god of wine rolled his eyes at those who were looking at him with dropped jaws.

"What I don't understand is how almost every god and monster seems to know my full name when I never said it." Percy said with crossed arms and a thoughtful look. All the gods looked away immediately. Percy looked up, noticing the swift motion and narrowed his eyes at the powerful deities in the room.

if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

"Oh wow. So getting turned into a dolphin was much more sensible than going on a quest. Yeah, nice logic." Nico said sarcastically.

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card?

The futures snorted.

"I wish." Percy mumbled.

No. A security pass.

He snapped his fingers.

The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.

"What a dramatic exit." Zeus said smirking. Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

"Dionysus actually has an excuse for being dramatic since it's part of his domain. Theatrics, if I recall correctly." Athena said. Zeus had an indifferent look on his face and only motioned for Connor to start reading instead of coming up with a witty response.

Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover."

We did.

Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.

"I don't think the old centaur has ever lost to anyone in pinochle before." Hermes said. Athena smiled slightly.

"Maybe I should give it a try? Who knows, I could possibly win." She joked. Hermes, Apollo, and Poseidon's jaws dropped. Athena gave them weird looks.

"You have something to say to me?" She asked sharply. The gods just silently shook their heads.

"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

Nico and Thalia snorted.

"Oh please, it's nothing. He practically eats hellhounds for breakfast. Not literally of course." Nico said. Percy rolled his eyes.

"You're exaggerating now."

"Oh really? That hellhound a week ago didn't even last 20 seconds against you." Percy blushed as the people in the room gave him awed looks.

"That's because I had Annabeth's help." He reasoned. Nico didn't look convinced but let it go. Unbeknownst to the demigods, all the deities except Ares and Dionysus shared a look.

"He is different." Hera said to Demeter quietly. The goddess of harvest observed the son of Poseidon with great interest.

"Indeed sister. He is very humble. Loyal too by the looks of it." Athena decided to join in on the discussion.

"Loyalty and humility, two traits that are very rare when it comes to demigods who have done exceptional feats." Those beside the wisdom gave her a glance before quickly looking away. Artemis leaned over to Aphrodite who was looking at Athena.

"Did Athena just compliment that boy?" the goddess of the hunt asked.

"I think she just did. Although unintentional, she complimented a son of Poseidon." Aphrodite whispered back. Artemis only nodded in satisfaction and waited for Connor to read which wasn't long afterward.

Just hearing the name made me shudder.

Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast.

Nico blinked and looked at Percy through the corner of his eyes. Then he whispered under his breath.

"It was only a coincidence. Nothing more, got it?" Percy smirked and whispered back.

"If I've learned anything from the life of a demigod, it's that there's no such thing as coincidence." Nico kept his face blank and didn't respond.

But I didn't feel like lying.

"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

By now, Hera, Athena and Artemis were impressed by Percy's attitude. He was honest, humble and loyal to a fault.

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."

Poseidon groaned and put a hand on his face. "Great. That's just what I wanted to hear. Fan-freaking-tastic."

"It's not that bad. I mean, I survived all of it didn't I?" Percy said happily. Poseidon on the other hand, groaned again.

"That doesn't really help."

"Sorry."

"Done ... with what?"

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

"not like I had a choice. It was either go on a quest or watch the start of world War III."

Everyone snapped their heads to Percy's direction who just realized what he just said.

"World War III?" Poseidon squeaked. Percy looked from left to right in an attempt to think of something. He looked at Annabeth who just shrugged, showing that she wasn't going to help him in that situation.

"well, it wasn't really World War III... just a few... uhh... casualties. A few forest fires maybe?Flooding and earthquakes... and uh... I'm not really helping am I?" Percy asked timidly. Everyone shook their heads at the son of Poseidon.

"Ok. Shutting up now." Percy clamped his mouth shut then looked at the floor.

I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

Everyone looked amused at that.

"Looks like somebody's hoping you'll accept the quest." Artemis said forcing down a smile. Dionysus chuckled and shook his head at the satyr. Demeter and Persephone smiled.

"You have to admit though, the satyr has courage since it seems he wants to go on the quest."

"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."

Athena looked at Percy and gave him a half-smile. "Wise decision, Perseus."

"Uhh, thanks?"

Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."

"details, details, details." Apollo said dramatically, shaking his head from side to side. He soon found an arrow whizzing past him and embedding itself into the pillar behind him. The god stiffened and forced out a smile. "I was kidding. Just kidding. Loosen up, sis." Artemis sighed.

"Don't call me sis, brother."

"Whatever you say. Hey did you just call me brother?" Apollo asked curiously. Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course not. You must have heard wrong."

Even though Artemis said that Apollo couldn't help but bounce on his seat like a 5 year old.

"Did ya hear that, Hermes? Artemis called me 'brother'! She actually called me brother!" Apollo was grinning as if it was his birthday and he got his birthday wish. Hermes was grinning but was also finding his brother very amusing along with everyone in the room. Aphrodite placed a hand on Artemis arm and smiled at her.

"That was a wonderful thing you did there, Artemis." Artemis shrugged Aphrodite's hand off. "I have no idea what you're talking about Aphrodite."

Even though she said this, Aphrodite could still see the smile on Artemis; face even if it was a small one. To the goddess of love, it was clear as day. Artemis may be annoyed with her twin but deep down inside, she loves him very much.

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?"

"Stolen?" Zeus repeated under his breath. Athena, Percy and Annabeth glanced at the king of the gods, preparing themselves for when he realized the truth.

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.

"I hate it when people do that." Mini-Annabeth exclaimed. The demigods all shared a look before raising eyebrows at the daughter of Athena.

"Annabeth, dear, do you know how ironic that statement of yours is?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

"He looked at all the clues and made an estimated guess." Athena said as if it happened everyday.

My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth.

"You got it right though." Hestia said, not comprehending why Percy was blushing in the book.

"Well, yeah but still. It's kinda embarrassing. Also, I probably ruined Chiron's explanation even though it saved him a lot of time."

"The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."

"I knew it," Grover said.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"Yeah Grover, hush." Connor said in a mature tone making those beside him smile.

"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"

"Only the Oracle can determine."

Apollo sighed sadly at the mention of his oracle.

"Oh Delphi. Why won't your spirit change hosts? I wonder..."

Hades looked down and shifted in his throne. Persephone saw this and raised an eyebrow at him but Hades only shook his head.

Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct.

"For once." Nico muttered under his breath but Percy still heard him. Nico stiffened but relaxed when Percy showed no sign of harming Nico in any way.

Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries.

"The worst?" The two repeated.

"What could have been stolen to make you two have your worst fight in centuries?" Hermes asked. Many of the gods thought about but in the end, only Hestia, Artemis and Poseidon were able to figure it out. Poseidon paled then slowly looked at his son.

"Can it be, Percy?"

Percy received the mental message and nodded his head slightly, confirming Poseidon's worst fear.

This will not end well.

They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen.

Zeus was thinking about what could have been stolen. He could only think of one thing to make him and Poseidon fight like they were in the book.

"Who would dare..."

To be precise: a lightning bolt."

Most of the eyes widened and shifted over to Zeus who was desperately trying to calm himself down but it wasn't going well. He glared at Percy and spoke through gritted teeth.

"Tell. Me. Who. Took. My. Bolt. Now." Percy looked down and avoided eye contact with the king of the gods.

"It won't be necessary." Percy said quietly.

"Won't be necessary?" Zeus repeated angrily. "My master bolt was stolen and you will not tell me who it is?" Zeus growled at Percy. Poseidon was looking at his brother with furrowed eyebrows.

"What I want to know, is why you do not blame my son, Zeus. It was the reaction I predicted." Zeus shot his brother a look but gave in.

"Although I do not like the fact that my bolt was stolen, it is clear that the boy didn't steal it. We have been reading about his life for the past days after all." Zeus said. Most of the gods smiled at him.

"That is a wise decision, father." Athena commented. Zeus managed a small smile.

"That aside, tell me who stole my bolt!" He yelled at Percy. "Tell me or I will blast you to pieces boy."

All the gods sighed. "it was too good to be true." Hestia said.

"Here I thought he had finally matured into a better ruler." Hera said sadly.

"Well, in a way he did. Zeus didn't let his anger cloud his judgement. Although his trying to find the answers to who stole his bolt is rather... childish." Demeter said this all while watching Zeus get up from his throne, and stomp his way to Percy was just watching him with a stunned expression. When Zeus was in front of Percy, the god crossed his arms.

"So, are you going to tell me who stole my symbol of power or will I blast you to pieces?" He threatened. Percy just sat there with a bored expression.

"You do know that the book Connor's holding has a purpose right? I don't want to spoil the story by telling. Sowwy![2]" Percy grinned childishly while the futures rolled their eyes at his antics. Zeus, however, didn't appreciate the childish act. Zeus made a motion to grab Percy by his shirt but the son of Poseidon was somehow able to back flip off the couch and land behind it 3 meters away. Percy then stuck his tongue out while smiling. Without warning, Percy took off and ran towards the other end of the room.

"Get back here, boy!" Zeus yelled, chasing after the son of Poseidon. "Tell me what I want to know."

"No!" Percy laughed as Zeus chased him around the hearth. Most of the people were watching them with grins while Annabeth was shaking her head.

"I honestly feel like a baby sitter when it comes to him and his childish ways." She muttered to herself but resigned to the fact that she couldn't change who Percy was. Annabeth watched as Percy ran around the hearth for the third time.

"Come on Zeus. Catch me if you can or are you too stiff from sitting on marble on day long?" Percy teased. Hephaestus brought out a camera and began filming all of this for future reference and for a good laugh one day. Zeus blushed and quickened his pace, almost catching up to Percy. The son of Poseidon suddenly became worried.

"Uh-oh... crap!" Percy started running for his life when Zeus started using godly power to catch up to the son of Poseidon. Percy zigzagged between the thrones of the gods.

"Hey, lemme join in too!" Hermes said. Then he proceeded to get off his throne and flashed himself next to Percy.

"Hiya 'cus."

"Hey Hermes." Percy was beginning to sweat now although Zeus was beginning to breathe hard. Hermes on the other hand wasn't breaking a sweat.

"Watcha doing?" The god asked childishly, playing along with Percy. "Oh nothing running away from an angry uncle who wants to blast me to pieces because I won't tell him the person who stole his bolt."

"I see. How are you doing so far?" The god asked. Percy quickened his running more since Zeus nearly caught him when he made a turn at Artemis' throne.

"I'm doing fine. I think I am since he hasn't caught me yet." Hermes looked behind them then looked at Percy in confusion.

"He's not behind you though." Percy slowed down enough to be able to look behind him. True enough, Zeus wasn't running behind him. He wasn't anywhere behind the two males. Percy blinked then looked at Hermes who shrugged. The two were still running though.

"If he's not behind me, where could Lord Zeus be?" Percy asked. That was when Percy looked to the front just in time to crash into fully armoured Zeus. Hermes stopped so suddenly that he lost his balance and fell on the floor. The son of Poseidon fell on his bottom and put a hand to his face since he probably hurt his nose with that kind of crashing.

"Ow..."

"Ha! I beat you, you sea spawn!" Zeus said triumphantly. Hermes picked himself off the floor and flashed to his throne where he high-fived with Apollo and was given pats on the back by a grinning Poseidon. Percy grumbled and stood all while pinching his nose. Then he turned to Hephaestus.

"Did you catch all that on video?" he asked. Hephaestus grinned and raised his camera. Percy cheered but soon winced and concentrated on his might-be-broken nose.

"Dang, why did you have to wear celestial bronze armor? Do you know how much it hurts when it crashes into my face?" Percy frowned and experimentally pinched his nose again.

"Oh good it's not broken." This caught Zeus off guard.

"It's not broken? How is that possible? It was one strong collision with bronze metal!" Percy grinned fiendishly at the question. "That's for me to know and you to find out at the end of the series."

"Alright, as amusing and fun that was to watch, let's continue with the reading shall we? It's already 5." Hera said, a smile on her face.

"Ok." Both Percy and Zeus returned to their seats. Once Zeus was back on his throne, Hera gave him a peck on the cheek.

"That was cute and childish for a person who's lived for millennia." Hera said. Zeus blushed, finally realizing how stupid he must have looked chasing after a 16-year-old demigod. Zeus cleared his throat.

"What happened will remain a secret, got it?" The King of the gods said. Many of the people in the room pouted.

"Awww!"

"That's final! And you, Jackson. We'll have a rematch once this is over. Preferably tomorrow though."

Percy smiled mischievously at the king of the gods.

"Whatever you say, uncle."[3]

I laughed nervously. "A what?"

"Don't you laugh at my master bolt!" Zeus commanded. Percy mock-saluted him."Yes, sir!"

"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned.

"Yes boy, do not take it lightly. That weapon in the wrong hands could mean the destruction of not only Manhattan, but the entire world if it comes down to it." Athena said darkly.

I can only think of one person who'd be daring and vengeful enough to make a plan to steal the master bolt but I really hope for once, that I am wrong and completely off course.

"I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."

All the males plus Clarisse let out whistles. "That's some fire power you got there, dad." Thalia grudgingly said.

"I never knew the master bolt was made out of high grade celestial bronze." Nico blurted out.

"I always thought it was made of pure lightning." Will said.

"Obvious, it can't be completely made out of lightning or else no one would be able to touch it. They'd be electrocuted on impact." Mini-Annabeth said as if it was something everyone should know about.

"Oh."

A lot of people had to stifle their laughter.

"Really Percy? One great weapon description and all you can say is 'oh'?" Thalia said while grinning. Nico was having a small laughing fit in his chair.

"I'm not sure if he's either at a loss for words back then or if he was just messed up." Annabeth teased.

"Yeah, laugh it up you three. We'll see who gets the last laugh. Just you wait." Percy promised.

"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top of Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

All the demigods winced while the gods let out whistles again.

"Again, that's some fire power you got there, pops." Apollo said. Zeus looked smug at all the awed looks on the faces of the demigods. Poseidon saw this and got a twinkle in his eyes.

"So all those achievements was because of your master bolt." He said slyly but Zeus didn't catch the tone in his voice. If possible, the king of the gods looked even more smug.

"your master bolt is precious to you, yes?" Poseidon kept asking. Zeus looked at his brother suspiciously.

"Why do you ask these questions, brother?" Zeus asked. Poseidon just smiled. "Just answer the questions." Zeus sighed in defeat, knowing that Poseidon would continue bothering him if he did answer.

"Yes, my master bolt is precious to me. Any other questions dearest brother?" Poseidon shared a small look with Hades who nodded. The god of the seas then smirked at his younger brother. "Since it is so precious to you, does that also mean that when you go to sleep, your master bolt is right beside you, acting as a teddy bear?" Zeus was stunned at the question and could only blink and open and close his mouth like a fish. Once the question settles in his head, the king of the gods started blushing like crazy, causing Poseidon, Hades, Hermes and Apollo to laugh like crazy while the rest just chuckled or smiled.

"Holy Olympus, it IS true!" Poseidon said happily. The demigods, one by one either started following off their seats and rolling on the floor or having a more controlled laughing fit.

"Ahaha! Oh my us!"

"I can't believe your master bolt is your bedtime teddy bear! This is just too good." Hades said all while smirking at his youngest brother.

"Can't... breathe!Too much...laughing. H-help!"

Zeus could do nothing but sit on his throne and blush like crazy since his one secret was out in the open. He grabbed the arm rests of his throne and glared at Poseidon.

"How, exactly do you know of this?" He asked. Poseidon stopped laughing for a moment and smirked.

"Olympus never runs out of gossip and untold secrets, brother. Never."The laughing continued for a few more minutes until Zeus had had enough and snapped.

"Alright, ENOUGH!" He roared. Everyone quieted down almost immediately. "Good. Now, we shall continue reading or else you will ALL be given extra work tomorrow." Zeus said to the gods. All of them paled at the thought of more work to do. Connor, as idiotic as he may be, knew how bad the threat was and wisely decided to read, both for his sake and for the gods as well.

"And it's missing?"

Zeus made a whining/choking noise and brought out his master bolt from its sheath. Then he placed it on his lap and looked at the bolt sadly.

"I can't believe someone had the nerve to lay a finger on bolty." Zeus pouted, forgetting about the people in the room and looked at his master bolt in despair. Poseidon on the other hand leaned over to Apollo again. "Behold, the world's biggest and most dangerous... teddy bear!" Apollo had clamp down his mouth, place both of his hands over it andbite his tongue just to prevent himself from laughing out loud. His shaking figure and slowly turning red face betrayed his emotions however.

"Stolen," Chiron said.

Zeus made another whining noise causing Hera to sigh in defeat. She made a pillow appear and handed it to Zeus who buried his head in it. The goddess of marriage sighed again.

"I'll get you some ice cream." Then she stood up and flashed out of the room. Hestia stood up from her hearth and comforted her youngest sibling.

"Don't worry brother, your bolt will be returned to you after all." She tried. Zeus only made louder noise. Hestia sighed too and looked to Demeter for help. She however, shook her head, not wanting to deal with a 5 year old attitude Zeus. Meanwhile the demigods were discussing about something important...

"Did Queen Hera say she'll get ice cream?" Silena said in disbelief. Her fellow demigods all nodded their heads.

" it plain as day." Will said. Connor sighed dreamily. "I wonder if we'll be allowed to have some."

"I hope we can. It's been so long since I've eaten ice cream." Mini-Annabeth said.

"What I don't get though, is why she just didn't make the ice cream appear." Beckendorf though out loud. "Let me explain that." Athena interrupted. All the demigods looked at her since she was standing right in front of them.

"If you are wondering why I am here it's because I don't want to deal with father who's is acting very immaturely. Anyway, to answer your question, one cannot simply make things appear out of thin air."

"But you guys do it all the time." Travis argued. Athena shot him a look. "Let me explain it, demigod. We may seem like we conjure things up entirely out of air but in reality, we are merely teleporting the object from one place to another. The pillow which Lady Hera just handed to Zeus was transported most likely from her own bedroom. You see, should someone be able to make things out of air, that object would be impossible to hold as the air itself cannot be held nor seen. To be able to transport one object from one place to another, you should know exactly where the object is placed. You should be able to picture the object clearly along with the place it is in." Athena stopped for a moment to think of an example. Then she snapped her fingers and immediately, a book appeared in her hands. She flipped it over and showed to the demigods that it was the second book to the series they were reading.

"I teleported this book straight from my own mini-library back in my temple. I am the only person who knows where the books are besides Hestia and Hermes." The demigods all looked at her in awe. Out of the corner of her eye, Athena saw Hera flash back in, holding a big tray full of ice cream. Athena smiled. "Looks like I won't be able to explain it further." The goddess then started walking back towards her throne just as the goddesses were passing the ice creams around. Demeter handed Athena a vanilla flavoured one mixed with strawberry chunks.

"What is this?" The goddess said in surprise. Demeter smiled at nodded toward Hera who was personally giving the demigods some ice cream.

"It appears we had an entire factory's worth of ice cream here on Olympus. Sister seems to have softened up to the demigods to be personally giving them the ice cream they prefer." Demeter smiled again and opened the lid of her ice cream cup to reveal corn-flavoured ice cream. Athena looked all around the room to find that everyone had a cup of ice cream. Some of the flavours were ordinary like cheese, strawberry and chocolate while others were unheard of like grape for Dionysus and tropical fruit for Persephone. Even Hades had a chocolate flavoured one which he just stared at as if it were from outer space.

Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo were happily eating on their ice cream. Athena sneaked a glance to the demigods. The past demigods were all laughing and eating their own ice cream while the futures had a different style. Every so often, one of them would take a scoop from another's cup and eat it.

"Man, I absolutely love chocolate ice cream!" Nico exclaimed. Annabeth looked at Percy's cup and read the label with slight difficulty.

"Double Dutch, right Percy?" [4]

"Yup. Vanilla ice cream mixed with jackfruit chunks? What the heck?" Annabeth frowned at the demigod. "It's actually really good. Try it!" She offered him her cup. Percy took a small scoop and examined it carefully before putting it in his mouth. His eyes lit up with delight.

"You're right, that is good. I still prefer mom's ice cream though." All the futures sighed.

"Yeah. Too bad they don't make that in the market."

Nico and Percy grinned at each other. "How awesome would it be if we sold ice cream to mortals? We'd make a killing with my mom's blue ice cream." Travis and Connor simultaneously looked at the two.

"We can sense some money making plans, care to let us join in?" they asked, grinning. Percy smiled at them.

"We don't really have a plan. Maybe we could try it sometime in the future." The Stolls grinned at the son of Poseidon, nodded and went back to eating. Those who didn't want to eat their ice cream yet had them stored in a mini-fridge which Hephaestus built in mere minutes. After a few minutes, Zeus called out.

"Let's continue?" He asked happily. Poseidon looked at his brother.

"Woah. What happened to you? You were all sad and gloom a couple of minutes ago now you're all smiley and giddy."

"Hm?"Zeus asked tilting his head to the side.

"He loves his ice cream and it makes him feel better. Why do you think I have an entire year's worth of ice cream in the fridge?" Hera asked, smiling slyly at Poseidon.

"In any case, we really should continue." Connor put his ice cream in the fridge along with many others before doing anything else. Then he took the book, opened it to the page where he left off and began reading although he started with a few sentences which he read earlier to help remind those of what was happening in the book.

"By who?"

"By whom." Athena automatically corrected. Then she smiled sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry about that. Continue."

"By whom," Chiron corrected.

Once a teacher, always a teacher.

"Indeed." Athena whispered.

"By you."

The throne room was silent before everyone (except Percy) made an outburst.

"EH?" Poseidon looked at his son with worry. "You didn't steal it right?" Percy gave his dad his are-you-serious look.

"Just checking."

My mouth fell open.

"At least"—Chiron held up a hand—"that's what Zeus thinks.

"Sorry." Zeus said quietly. Then he winced as if the word itself hurt him. Everybody was stunned and was looking at the king of the gods, their mouths open. To say they were stunned was actually an understatement.

During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument.

"You guys always have an argument." Hermes pointed out. The two brothers shared a look and in unison, shrugged.

"True." Zeus admitted. Poseidon however, contradicted it.

"Not so, brother.This year, we didn't have a fight during or after the solstice. It's one big miracle if you ask me." Poseidon said, sending his son a wink.

All the gods (except Ares who was cleaning a dagger and Dionysus who was still eating grape flavoured ice cream) smiled at each other. In all of their history, the last few days have got to be the most surprising since they haven't been fighting as much and have been bonding like a true family. On the inside, Hera was jumping with joy.

This is how a family should be.

The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' etcetera.

"You know, those arguments are getting kinda boring." Poseidon pointed out. Zeus snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well what do you want us to fight about, who will win American idol next season?"[5] Zeus joked. Poseidon's, Will's and Apollo's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Yes! That would be so epic!" Apollo yelled. Poseidon and Will agreed having been influenced by the sun god into liking the show. "I mean one of you would be like 'Jessica should have won. Not Phillip.' Then the other would be like 'Yeah right. Phillip deserved to win and-"

"Apollo" Artemis interrupted. Apollo looked up at his sister and flashed a grin. "yesh?"[6]

Artemis looked into the excited, blue eyes of her younger brother and the goddess could do nothing but smile. "Maybe you could talk about it later?"

Apollo blushed since he realized he was preventing the reading form continuing. "Oh uh… ok."

Apollo scratched his cheek slightly while smiling sheepishly at Artemis. The goddess rolled her eyes but smiled none the less. The older females in the room cooed silently. Aphrodite sighed lovingly.

"Ah sibling love. It's so adorable!" She said, making a face that looked like this: ^_^

Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon.

The god of the seas could only sigh. "Why must you always blame me?" He asked Zeus.

"It's because you are very blameable." Zeus said not being able to come up with a proper excuse. Poseidon raised an eyebrow while the others snickered at the word.

"I'm what now?"

"Blameable." Zeus said with more confidence. Poseidon gave him an are-you-serious look.[7]

"Blameable." Poseidon repeated. Everyone else had to suppress their laughter. Zeus was blinking a lot, showing Poseidon that he made it on the spot. Poseidon suddenly smiled. Then he reached over and patted Zeus on the head along with a little hair ruffling.

"I'll let it pass for now, Zeus. Next time, choose a word that's not 'blameable'. It reminds me too much of flammable which by the way, I am not."

Zeus sighed in relief while Connor started reading again.

Now, a god cannot usurp

"Usurp? What's that?" Travis asked.

"It means take, seize, grab. Shall I continue?" Mini-Annabeth asked. Travis shook his head, showing that he understood.

another god's symbol of power directly—that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

Poseidon grumbled and huffed indignantly.

"But I didn't—"

"Indeed he did not." Poseidon said with an annoyed tone.

"We know brother. We know."

"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said.

"Patience and listening… two things that will take a long time for Percy to learn." Thalia said, shooting a smirk at Percy's direction. The hero only rolled his eyes and ignored his cousin.

"Oy, don't ignore me!" Thalia said. Percy looked at her and stuck his tongue out. "I'll ignore you if I want to."

Nico sighed. "Please don't argue with me in between you two."

"Shut it Death Breath." Thalia and Percy said in unison. Nico crossed his arms and mumbled to himself. "Cousins."

"We heard that!"

"Uhh… no you didn't?" Nico tried. Thalia and Percy gave him passive looks.

"Whatever."

"Read Connor. I'm getting a headache."

"Zeus has good reason to be suspicious.

Poseidon blinked. "He does? Why Chiron? I thought you were on my side!" The god exclaimed. Athena rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Patience, Kelp Face. It's in the book."

Poseidon stuck his tongue out at the goddess of wisdom only to be hit in the face with a big encyclopedia.

"OW! Where the heck did that come from?" Poseidon glared at Athena who was stunned. "It… wasn't me."

Percy felt a small vibration in his pocket and new it was time to take out the magic scroll thingy again. He opened it and waited for the message to appear.

Dear Poseidon,

So sorry dear. Athena found out about the plans we (meaning the Fates and I) are doing. She found out Apollo's in on it too and she doesn't seem happy. Unfortunately, she decided to make books chase after Apollo. Unfortunately again, one got through our magic portal thingy. I guess one of the Fates (I don't know which one was responsible) thought it would be funny if someone got hit in the face with it. Looks like it happened to hit you in the face. Really sorry about that. Hope you're ok sweetie.

Love, Mommy.

P.S. Oh yeah! I forgot to say this in the last letter but Percy's mom, Sally, sends her regards to whoever her son is with.

Percy nodded his head as he folded up the scroll and stuck it into his pocket again. He looked up to see his father smiling goofily. Zeus and Hades were looking at Poseidon with what seemed to be jealousy. Percy nudged Annabeth who nudged Will who then nudged Connor. Connor looked at Percy who mouthed one word.

Read!

The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne.

"Oh please, like I'd want your master bolt. I'm perfectly fine with my trident. Your bolt can't be used to roast marshmallows without burning it to a crisp." Poseidon stated. A lot of people did double takes at the god. Hestia forced a smile on her face.

"Brother, do you use your trident during bonfires?" she asked curiously. Poseidon grinned. "Yup."

Athena and a few other females face palmed. "It's actually very useful! Look."

Poseidon took out his trident then conjured up a bag of marshmallows. He took out four pieces and pierced them with the trident. After that, the god hovered his trident over Hestia's hearth. Not long later, he pulled it back then took a marshmallow and ate it.

"Hmm…. Chewy!" He said happily. Then he leaned the trident towards Zeus a bit hesitantly. "Try it?" Zeus eyed the trident before taking a marshmallow from one of the trident's tips. He popped the soft delicacy into his mouth, chewed and swallowed.

"Ok, I can't believe I'm saying this but that is one good marshmallow." Zeus admitted. "Let's focus on the task at hand now shall we?" He asked, almost pleaded.

The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."

"Oh yeah. Before anything else, I called you crazy in the book." Percy warned. Zeus waved it off as unimportant but sent a small electric shock at the son of Poseidon.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed. Zeus grinned on the inside but was looking innocently at Percy on the outside.

"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"

A lot of people face palmed. Percy however just shrugged.

"Hey, I warned you guys didn't I?"

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.

"Coffin lid…" Hades and Nico repeated; both seemed deep in thought. Thalia frowned.

"Wow Percy. You got some pessimistic thoughts there." Percy just shrugged.

Persephone eyed her husband warily. Hades was still in deep thought, knowing he was forgetting something important.

Meanwhile in the underworld….

Charon was wading through the numerous spirits in his lobby.

"Dang it. When will Lord Hades get back?" Charon entered the elevator and soon found himself in the underworld, in his boat, going closer to the palace. He passed by Cerberus, a couple of skeletons and some spirits. He entered the palace, took a left, another left, then a right and entered the third door. Inside the room, there was a coffin which was full of dark red liquid. Charon opened the lid, took out a ladle and stirred the liquid. Then he took a small vial and filled it with the suspicious liquid.

The ferryman then closed the lid and left the palace and went into the garden of Persephone. There, he uncorked the vial and sprinkled it over a few pomegranate trees and a couple of daisies. Immediately, the plants bloomed. Charon observed his work, then grumbled then left the underworld.

"Honestly, when will they get back? They had to make me their temporary gardener. I don't DO gardening…" Charon grumbled and plopped himself onto a chair.

"I should really get a pay rise for this."

Back in the Throne Room….

"Eh, I can't remember what it was that I was supposed to remember." Hades said. "Oh well."

"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"No, no you don't." Zeus stated, shooting Percy a look.

"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested.

Zeus' jaw dropped at the words of the centaur.

"Wow, really? Nice Chiron… very nice… it means almost the same thing."

"oh just accept it. You are crazy." Hera said.

"Hey!"

"Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before.

"I have?" Poseidon asked unsurely. "When?"

"Golden net?" Hera asked. Realization dawned on the sea god. "but that wasn't even my plan. I didn't even want to unseat Zeus." Poseidon pointed out. Hera shrugged. While they were talking, Connor went over to the mini-fridge and grabbed his ice cream cup along with Travis'.

"Thanks bro." Travis said when Connor handed him the dessert.

"Whatever."

I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.

"No one can remember that after everything you've just gone through in the past week." Katie said.

How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted.

Hermes and the Stolls shook their heads at that.

"Now that… That's just sad. Plain sad."

Chiron was waiting for an answer.

"Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"

Zeus glared at Hera before switching his glare to Poseidon.

"Hey, it wasn't my plan."

"You really did need to be a better ruler before, dear."

"Correct," Chiron said.

"Well, that's a first. You remembered question no. thirty-eight!"

"Hey! I can remember those things you know. It just so happens that I'm always busy to think about them." Percy defended. Thalia smirked.

"Whatever fits your boat Percy."

"And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since.

"Well now." Zeus tried to reason. "I wouldn't say I never trusted him since then..." Poseidon gave his brother a blank and unbelieving stare.

"Really? Remember that one time when you wouldn't even let me hold the pillows which I had needed for Triton's temporary stay here? Or the time when you wouldn't even let me into the kitchen to get some ambrosia. Or even the time when-"

"I get it!" Zeus interrupted. "So I don't trust you but come on, Hades doesn't trust you either." Zeus looked at his older brother who found great interest in his shoes. Zeus noticed the guilty look on his brother's face. "Wait, you're telling me that you actually trust Poseidon?" Zeus said in complete disbelief. Hades only shrugged.

"Well, in my dad's defence..." Percy spoke up. "Dad's a really reliable and trusting person. It's kinda hard not to trust him." The futures nodded in agreement along with Hestia, Demeter and Aphrodite.

Connor groaned as he flipped the few pages left which he still had to read. "Can I please continue now? I don't want to read all night you know."

Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt.

"That's because I never stole your bolt. Why would I even need it?" Poseidon demanded.

"Woah, chill Uncle P. Breathe. In and out. In and out." Apollo said. Poseidon unknowingly did as the god dictated. "There. Better?" Apollo asked. Poseidon blinked a couple of times before nodding silently. Then he snapped his fingers and in his hand formed the Mocha-flavoured ice cream he left unfinished earlier. He scooped some of it with a spoon Hestia provided for him and placed the frozen sweets in his mouth.

"Dang this ice cream is good. You just can't appreciate this kind of thing when you're underwater." He said, happily munching on some of the almonds in his ice cream. The sea god then looked at Connor.

"Oh don't mind me. You go ahead and read."

Connor nodded his head slowly, not wanting to offend the god.

He took great offense at the accusation.

"Anyone would." Apollo said.

"Nu-uh! Lots of people accuse me of stealing and I don't get offended." Hermes pointed out. Athena crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Hermes, that's because stealing is what you do. Speaking of which, you have yet to return my silver curtains along with my Geography book as well as the lava lamp from the fireplace in my temple." Athena stopped and took a list out of her pocket.

"you also have to return Artemis' multi-purpose hair clip shaped like the crescent moon; Demeter's highly-effective bag of fertilizer; Aphrodite's pink, high-heeled diamond encrusted stilettos; Dionysus' grape squeezer; Ares' motor engine? Why the heck do you need that? Anyway, there's also-"

"Ok ok. I'll give back everything on that list once I find them all. All those items are scattered around my palace and some are in my temple. Others are in Nigeria, Mississippi, London and my all time favourite as of 3 weeks ago, Italy. That place has good lasagne." Hermes stated. Athena folded the piece of paper and tucked it into her pocket.

"You may continue then." She told Connor who got bored and was poking a small part of the sofa with one of the daggers he found in his room.

The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along—the proverbial last straw."

"But I'm just a kid!"

"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus,

Percy interrupted Connor. "If I was Zeus..." Annabeth gave him an expectant look. Percy grinned at her.

"I already said this once and I'll say it again. If I were Zeus, the world would wish it had ended in the year of the apocalypse." Percy stated happily. This however, produced many dropped jaws as well as sighs and face palms.

"Hey, it's highly possible you know." Percy said in his defense. "You know what, just ignore everything I said."

and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

Nico smiled slightly at the mentions of togas.

"Who wears toga's these days?" Connor asked curiously. The demigods other than Nico shrugged.

"you'd be surprised at how many spirits still wear togas even in death." Nico stated. Percy frowned at his younger cousin.

"Nico, you spend way too much time with the dead. Mom was right, you need to get out more." Nico rolled his eyes.

"Percy, what part of 'son of the Lord of the Underworld' don't you understand?" Nico asked. Percy rolled his eyes just as Nico did. "Well, what part of 'get out and have fun' don't you understand?" He countered. Nico gave him an we've been over this before look. "I do go out. I go out of my room into the fields of Asphodel. Sometimes I go to the fields of Punishment when I get bored. Spending time by myself IS my fun... did I just say that?" Nico suddenly said, a look of disgust on his face. Percy nodded a couple of times.

"Wow. I do sound depressing." The son of Hades stated. Percy did his best to hold in his laughter while patting his cousin on the back.

Meanwhile, Demeter was glaring at Hades. "See? Even your son finds it depressing. Now, doesn't that make you want to let Persephone go out into the world more?"

Hades sighed while Persephone rubbed her temples. "Mother, we've been over this."

"Come on dear. It's so dreary and boring in the underworld during winter." All the gods sighed miserably as Demeter started her rant about how Persephone should visit during winter.

"Lady Demeter, with all due respect, I don't think it would be possible for Lady Persephone to visit you unless she was summoned just likely she was a few days ago. Why don't you try visiting her? You could help her tidy up the underworld during your stay."

Percy said unsurely. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hades shake his head consistently. Demeter looked like she was contemplating the idea.

"It's not a bad idea, if I do say so myself." Persephone said. Hades sighed in defeat.

"We'll discuss the details once all this is over." He said sadly. Persephone smiled at him while Demeter nodded her head in approval.

"Alright then." Demeter grinned, clasping her hands together.

"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon—my dad—he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"

"No. No I do not." Poseidon said with confidence.

Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style.

"That's because it's not! It something more along the lines of Hermes and Apollo with their pranks."

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Apollo said indignantly.

"Well, we do make lots of pranks that eventually end up with an angry mob if we were mortals." Hermes pointed out. Apollo gave his brother a look. "Bro, you are NOT helping." Hermes grinned and stuck his tongue out.

"Wasn't meant to help you, Apollo."

The son god pouted while the rest gave small chuckles or grins. Connor flashed his dad a peace sign before continuing his gruesome task of reading.

But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date.

"Wow, you guys are demanding." Hades said. Poseidon and Zeus just rolled their eyes at the elder brother.

I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense.

The three sisters mentioned gave their brothers the same look. Zeus and Poseidon tried their very best to ignore the looks sent their way. Luckily for them, Connor had started reading, drawing away the attention of the three daughters of Rhea.

But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war.

Nico patted Percy on the back once. "Well... good luck!" He said all too happily. Percy and Annabeth shared a knowing look. Percy then turned to his younger cousin and smiled.

"Thanks Nicki!" The son of Poseidon said, complete with a small hair ruffle directed towards the son of Hades. Nico only pouted knowing he couldn't do anything.

"Don't call me Nicki."

"Lemme think about it... No."

And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"

All the futures recalled the very recent Titan War that had ensued.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I can." Percy said darkly. The gods all shared a look.

"Bad?" I guessed.

Athena face palmed at the small vocabulary word.

"You describe a full-fledged war as 'bad'?" Percy frowned.

"In my defense, I hadn't even seen what a real war looked like. It looked gruesome in the pictures and 'bad' was the most appropriate thing I could think of while on the spot." He said. Athena could only sigh in defeat.

"Never mind that. Although I do expect your vocabulary to grow into more than a single syllable adjective. Understand, Perseus?" Athena asked as if she were talking to a toddler. Percy frowned at the goddess but knew better than to test her.

"Yes Lady Athena. As you wish."

Percy then made eye contact with Connor and motioned for him to read.

"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."

Everyone except Ares flinched. The god of war cackled like a madman.

"Ah war. All those weapons, plans and of course, the destruction." Ares said maniacally. Hermes leaned away from his half-brother.

"How could you like war? It's so... ugh!" Aphrodite complained. "Wars ruin all that love!"

Ares rolled his eyes at the rant. He never saw the flying stiletto coming his way.

"I cannot believe you rolled your eyes at me!" Aphrodite all but yelled at the war god. The love goddess looked like she wanted to yell at the god but was interrupted by Artemis.

"Aphrodite, save it for later? We're in the middle of knowing if there will be a war in just a couple of year's time."

Aphrodite huffed but let it go since what they were doing was much more important than a squabble.

"Bad," I repeated.

Most people couldn't help but smile at that.

"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."

Percy smiled nervously while Poseidon narrowed his eyes at his younger brother.

"He won't be feeling your wrath anytime soon correct, brother?" Poseidon asked, his protective side showing again. Zeus sighed.

"He won't be feeling any of my wrath... that is until he gives me a valid reason." Zeus added.

"Fair enough." Percy called, saving a lot of people from another long argument with threats.

It started to rain.

"There goes the 'it never rains at camp' excuse." Mini-Annabeth muttered to herself. She looked up and saw Connor and Travis smirking at her. She glared at the two and the smirks disappeared instantly.

Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.

Apollo pouted. "My poor kids. Their game got interrupted." He said sadly. Will rolled his eyes at his dad.

"It was just one game dad." Apollo pouted even more.

"Still..."

Will sighed and nudged Connor who got the message.

I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me.

Percy glared at Zeus for that while the three other futures shared a look.

Uh-oh...

I was furious.

"And, there you go, one angry Percy." Thalia pointed out.

"He's going to take the quest now that he's angry at the king of the gods." Nico added. A lot of people looked over at Poseidon and expected a pale-faced god of the seas but instead, they found a perfectly normal god.

"I have already resigned myself to the fact that he gets a quest. It was the chapter title after all."

"So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said.

"My bolt is not stupid!" The god muttered to himself.

"And return it to Zeus."

"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"

"Peace offering." Percy scoffed. "I returned it to him and he awards me by sparing my life and threatening me. Yes. What a nice peace offering I will be." Percy muttered angrily. Annabeth could only shake her head at her best friend.

"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"

"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."

"No! I want to know where it is now!" Zeus demanded glaring at the book. Connor knew the glare wasn't directed at him but he couldn't help but shake under the stare. Hermes noticed this.

"Father, it would be very much appreciated it you didn't glare at my son." Hermes said. Immediately, Zeus stopped glaring and looked apologetically at Hermes. Connor sighed and sent his dad a thankful smile.

"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"

"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."

Poseidon paled slightly at that one.

I swallowed. "Good reason."

"You agree then?"

"Do I have a choice?" Percy asked. Annabeth thought about it and smiled at her boyfriend.

"Nope. You didn't have much of a choice." She said cheerfully. Percy stared at her passively.

I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.

"Looks like someone's happy that you got a quest." Demeter stated while trying to suppress her smile.

Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.

Annabeth whacked Percy lightly on the head to prevent a self-injury.

"You say it so nonchalantly. Don't you understand the meaning of your words?" Annabeth scolded. Percy had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

"It's true though." He whispered.

"All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."

"No it's not. When you're a dolphin, you get to spend all day in the water and the only chance of you dying is by water pollution, getting caught by humans and old age!" Poseidon tried to argue but knew it was hopeless. Percy gave his dad a half smile before shaking his head.

"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said.

"I think I've had enough of the oracle for now." Percy exclaimed. Nico fake gasped.

"Does that mean you hate RED now?" He asked with mock horror. Percy rolled his eyes at his cousin's antics.

"No Nicki. I don't hate RED. I hate the prophecies that she gives." Apollo perked up upon hearing this.

"Prophecies?" Percy and Nico looked at the god and slowly nodded their heads.

"Does that mean that my oracle had finally moved on to a new host?" Apollo said, his excitement building up more. The two cousins shared a short conversation before mysteriously smirking at Apollo whose excitement suddenly stopped.

"You'll see." Annabeth told the sun god. "We're not giving any spoilers."

"Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

"Assuming you're still sane? Wow. Nice words of encouragement Chiron. Very nice words of encouragement." Poseidon said, putting a hand on his face.

Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trap door.

I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.

Annabeth smiled. "It's just like Harry Potter."

The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.

Silena and Katie shivered at the mention of snakes and the last prank which the Hermes cabin pulled on camp.

I held my breath and climbed.

The attic was filled with Greek hero junk:

"Those are not junk!" Mini-Annabeth exclaimed. "Those are personal trophies of the heroes who returned from their quests. You can't just go around and calling it junk."

Percy tried his best not to roll his eyes at the younger version of Annabeth.

armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust;

Beckendorf looked up. "Do you think it's possible to give those to the armoury instead of keeping it in the attic?"

Hephaestus nodded his head in agreement. Mini-Annabeth looked uncomfortable.

"You'll have to ask Chiron if you can take it." She said. Beckendorf frowned but nodded his head. The son of the forge continued tinkering with a few rubber bands, a metal pipe, a small chain of steel and a toothpick. Silena looked over at him.

"Whatcha' doing there?" She asked curiously. Beckendorf looked at her and blushed slightly.

"It's nothing. Just something to help my ADHD." He said.

old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE,

Percy and Annabeth flinched at that one.

and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things—severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters.

Silena thought she was going to be sick soon.

A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.

Silena groaned now. "Why must you be so observant of your surroundings?" She asked Percy weakly.

The son of Poseidon could only shrug.

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy.

"Hey!" Apollo said indignantly. "my oracle is not gruesome...well maybe it is a bit but not a lot!"

Hermes laughed and patted Apollo in the shoulder. "Bro, you just lost that argument."

Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk.

Hades flinched but luckily for him, no one other than Percy noticed. The son of Poseidon frowned at the god but let it go.

She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.

Apollo sighed sadly. "My poor oracle had been dead for over 60 years now." The god rested his chin on his hand and sighed sadly again.

Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth.

All those who had never seen a prophecy being delivered sat forward in anticipation.

A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap door, but it slammed shut.

"The oracle won't hurt you. She's completely non-violent." Apollo said still thinking about the fate of his oracle.

Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain:

"I thought I had gone insane when that happened." Percy whispered to Annabeth. She nodded in agreement, having received her own prophecy for a quest.

I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python.

"You're oracle makes you sound more powerful than you really are." Artemis teased. Apollo looked at her from his sad state and pouted.

"I am powerful."

"whatever you say."

Approach, seeker, and ask.

I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.

The slight tension in room disappeared as snickers filled the room while Percy face palmed himself.

"I wonder what would have happened if you had said that." Nico said, trying to stifle his laughter. Apollo smiled thinking of what the oracle would have done 60 years ago.

"In her state now, she'll simply wait for you to gather your courage and ask. Sixty years ago however, well, that's a different story all together." Apollo chuckled.

But I forced myself to take a deep breath.

The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either.

Poseidon stiffened at the remembrance of the Fates but one look at his son and he felt fine. Although some part of his brain warned him that his would always be in constant danger. Even know, as they sit in the room, reading books like it was a family thing.

I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"

A lot of people rolled their eyes at that.

"Such a cliché question." Aphrodite said. Percy blushed but suddenly got a question of his own.

"Has the oracle ever repeated a prophecy?" Apollo looked stunned at the question. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." When Apollo wasn't looking, Percy leaned nearer to Annabeth and whispered. "I wonder what would have happened if the oracle gave me the Great Prophecy instead of the prophecy for my quest." He said. Annabeth sighed.

"Percy, the oracle is an intelligent spirit. She has already given the Great Prophecy plus it was written down so there is no need for her to dictate it again. Also, your destiny, at the time, was to retrieve the master bolt. Nothing more, nothing less."

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards.

Some were surprised by this. Percy however frowned at the memory.

Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.

At the mention of the poor excuse of a human, almost everyone in the room growled.

My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist.

"Good. You let your more rational side decide instead of loosing yourself in anger."

Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

"The god who has turned..." Hestia repeated quietly. A lot of people subconsciously looked at Hades but quickly averted their eyes when he glared.

His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.

Zeus sighed in relief. "My master bolt would be returned." He muttered happily. Hera heard him however and rolled her eyes.

The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

Everyone in the room stiffened and glanced at Percy who kept a blank look on his face. Percy shared a small eye contact with Annabeth who knew what had happened.

"Which friend would betray you? Why, for that matter?" Poseidon asked. He knew that personal loyalty was his son's fatal flaw. Betrayal was something he and his children didn't do well with.

Percy looked at the floor. "Again, you'll find out in the books."

Finally, Eddie, our building superior, delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

Percy clenched his fists at that. Poseidon paled, knowing and realizing what it was that couldn't be saved. Hestia, Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis gave Poseidon a worried glance. Apollo did the same.

Zeus on the other hand was confused. "But it said my master bolt would be returned." He pointed out. Hera hit him on the head and glared.

"You idiot." She whispered, motioning to Poseidon who looked like he didn't know what to do anymore. "The last line is talking about the boy's mother. She won't be saved."

"oh." Hera's eye twitched and she hit her husband again. "Show more compassion towards your brother. He just heard that the woman he loves can't be saved."

Zeus had the decency to look ashamed and bowed his head. The king of the gods felt a strong hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his older brother smiling sadly at him.

"It's okay, lil' bro." Immediately, the sad atmosphere became an irritated one.

"Don't call me lil' bro." He deadpanned. Artemis sighed. "Now you know how I feel when Apollo call me lil' sis."

The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"

"She won't answer you, you know. She did what she's supposed to and that's to give you your prophecy." Apollo said.

The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.

"That has got to be the saddest place in all of camp." Will said. All the demigods nodded in agreement.

"It actually is. Second is cabin 2 since no one ever goes in there."

I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.

"That's because you won't learn anything else by just standing there."

My audience with the Oracle was over.

"For now." Percy added silently.

"Well?" Chiron asked me.

"Chiron? When did he get there?" Hermes asked. Percy frowned. "Connor, let me see the book."

Connor passed the book over to Percy who scanned the page.

"They must have edited a few parts. I remember getting tired from all those stairs and coming across a vending machine at the third floor." Percy abruptly stopped and slowly turned his head towards Connor and Travis who were whispering to each other. Percy made eye contact with Katie who nodded. Next thing they knew, the Stolls had bruises on their heads and probably lost a few brain cells too. Percy nodded at her in thanks and handed the book back.

Connor warily took the book, not sure if he'll be able to read due to the very hard hit he just took. Will looked at him before taking the book.

"Hey!" Connor said, trying to reach for the book. Will gave him a look.

"Do you really think you'll be able to read in your state of confusion?" Connor shook his head. Then Will frowned at Katie but knew he couldn't stay angry at her. She was like his younger sis after all.

"Katie, don't hit them too hard next time. They might get permanent brain damage if you."

"ok then." Will sighed and searched the page for where Connor left off.

I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."

Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"

Dionysus sighed. "Oh satyr..."

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."

My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She ... she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said.

Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"

"You should tell Chiron the rest you know." Athena said, checking her wristwatch every now and again.

I didn't want to tell him.

What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many.

"what do you mean. You have a ton, no heaps of friends at camp!" Nico pointed out.

"I meant at the time. I didn't exactly talk to Will or Katie or even Annabeth that much before." Nico shook his head sadly.

"Dude, you early camp life is so boring." The son of Hades stated. Percy glared at him.

"If I recall correctly, you were the one bouncing all around the place when you found out you were a demigod. Not to mention you decided to play poker with the Stolls. No wonder you lost all your money." At the end of Percy's long sentence, Nico was blushing madly.

"I was not! Also, it wasn't really my money. It was that school I went to. Wow, I already forgot what it's called!" He said in astonishment. The two heard someone clear their throat and looked towards the source. They found Will looking at them with an impatient expression.

"Can you guys continue that later please? The sun is already setting and I want to finish this chapter before six."

With that said, the son of Apollo read without waiting for a reply.

And the last line—I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail.

"Prophecies have double meanings, Perce. Don't take them literally." Apollo said, sounding wise but the grin on his face broke the seriousness of the message.

"I know Apollo. I've dealt with a few prophecies before already."

How could I confess that?

"Easy. Just say it." Connor said goofily. Katie glared at him and wanted nothing more than to hit the son of Hermes but one look from Will and she restrained herself.

"No," I said. "That's about it."

"Liar." Hermes sang, smirking at Percy who rolled his eyes for the billionth time that day.

He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

All the gods nodded in agreement.

I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.

"Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"

Again, glances were thrown at Hades.

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

Zeus glared at Hades while the god just groaned in annoyance.

"Of course you blame me without enough proof." Hades grumbled. He rubbed his eyes and wanted nothing more than to return to the underworld in that moment.

"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."

Hades sighed, feeling the glare which his younger brothers were giving him. He glared right back at them.

"Haven't you two ever heard of the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty'?"

Poseidon immediately stopped glaring but Zeus held his a bit longer. "If I find that you took my master bolt..." Zeus left the threat hanging and motioned for Will to continue.

I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

"The only possibility we can accept that is." Annabeth whispered to Percy. The expression on the son of Poseidon's face immediately darkened.

A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"

Although he felt somewhat uncomfortable, Hades couldn't help but laugh at the satyr's reaction.

"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

Hades frowned. "I can't deny that. They only obey me... and occasionally Persephone."

Persephone smirked. "They had no choice in the matter really. It was either do as I say or they get turned into lovely dandelions."

Nico shivered at the mention of dandelions. Hades on the other smirked at his wife who smiled charmingly back.

"Yes, but—but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested.

Hades protested to that. "I don't hate all heroes." All of the gods raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Name one demigod, other than your children whom you don't hate." Hermes challenged.

"There's Jeremy Sullivan, son of Athena. Nice kid by the way. Offered to help in the rebuilding of the fields of Asphodel after a small riot. Then there's... Loraine Brentnall, child of Asteria. Quiet kid. She redesigned the throne room for us and now it looks even more suitable for a lord of the dead. Then there's..."

"We get it!" Everyone said. Hades shrugged. "Hey, you asked me to name demigods whom I did not hate and I did."

"Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon..."

"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued.

"Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."

"Well now, if I'm being honest, I'd like to kill all your children since they shouldn't have been born anyway." Hades said nonchalantly. All movement in the room ceased. Percy, Nico and Thalia stared silently at Hades with cold, unblinking eyes. Hades stared back.

1 second...

5 seconds...

8 seconds...

Blink.

"HA! You lose!" Percy yelled, high-fiving Thalia and ruffling Nico's hair.

"That's only because I let you win, demigod." Hades said, crossing his arms. The children of the Big Three smirked.

"Whatever you say Lord Hades. Whatever you say."

"Great," I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."

"More will be added to that list you know." Percy added. The futures all sighed while Poseidon was really wishing he brought some painkillers with him.

"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

"Oh Grover..."

"Maine was nice that time of the year though."

"Percy..."

"Shutting up now."

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

"Check. Check. And check." Percy said happily. "My 1st summer list is now finished. Let's go get the one for next summer!" Percy said with fake enthusiasm.

Annabeth smirked and whispered in Percy's ear. "Does your next summer list involve getting turned into a guinea pig? 'Cus if it is, you can check it off already."

Percy blushed into a bright tomato red color.

"What'd you tell him?" Will asked. Annabeth smiled at the son of Apollo.

"Secret."

A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge.

"revenge?" Poseidon asked.

"Er... Percy? No offense or anything but revenge just isn't your thing." Nico stated. Percy shrugged.

"I know it isn't. Why do you think I failed epically when I tried to prank Annabeth for tripping me up in front of my class?"

The demigods smiled and laughed at that.

"You so deserved it."

"Oh? And why, pray tell did I deserve to be humiliated in front of the new campers?"

"because you interrupted my class."

"Oh come on. I just asked if you saw Grover then I chased Connor and Travis and accidentally ran into you."

"Exactly."

"Oh come on!"

"Shush. Let Will read."

"But"

"Quiet Seaweed Brain."

"Alright alright. This isn't over yet, Wise Girl."

Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.

I was ready to take him on.

Hades laughed cruelly at that.

"As if a scrawny 12 year old could beat me. You're 300 years to young boy." Hades boasted. Percy decided to keep quiet. He only leaned on the backrest and crossed his arms. When Hades wasn't looking however, the son of Poseidon smirked both at him and at Nico who only shook his head sadly.

If only you knew how wrong you were dad. Percy doesn't NEED three hundred years. All he needs is a small bath in the Styx.

Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld…

Hades smirked again while Poseidon groaned.

I can't believe he's actually thinking about going into the underworld.

Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god.

"Oh thank goodness you have a more rational side." Athena said. She checked her watch. It read 5:38 pm.

"We still have time to read one more chapter. Will, you'll be the one reading again if it's alright with you."

Will nodded. "It's fine, Lady Athena."

Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.

Dionysus suddenly made an outburst. "The satyr is eating my pinochle cards! Does he know how hard it is to find those?"

"Calm down Dionysus. We'll get you a new set once all this is over." Hestia said to appease the god.

The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail?

"You are indeed a kind boy, worrying for your friend like that." Hestia said smiling at Percy again. Percy grinned back at her.

This was suicide.

"Suicide?" Poseidon squeaked. Many of the gods rolled their eyes. "Poseidon, your son is right here, fit and healthy. Does he look like he died on his quest?" Hera asked impatiently.

Poseidon shook his head but couldn't help looking at Percy with worry.

"Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

"Hey wasn't there a show named 'Bust Heads' a few decades ago?" Ares asked, speaking up for the first time in a long while. Hephaestus looked up from the metal pipe he was examining.

"There was a show aired on Hephaestus TV named Bust Heads. It usually showed the quarrels of us gods. Occasionally, it shows fights between demigods and in very rare times, it shows the feuds between mortals. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I just really LOVED that show." Ares started day dreaming about war while everyone shook their heads in disappointment.

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades—and I imagine Poseidon does—they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule.

All the gods nodded at that.

"Stupid ancient rules." Apollo muttered. "You're the reason why I can't visit my kids on their birthdays."

Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere;

"Check." Apollo said.

challenge anyone,

Annabeth shot Percy a look remembering when he himself challenged Atlas.

as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"

"You're saying I'm being used."

Poseidon looked horrified at that.

"I'd never use you! Sure I'll try to ask you to help me out but use you? That's one big N-O." Percy smiled gratefully at the sea god.

"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."

My dad needs me.

"Awwww." All the goddesses cooed.

"that's just so sweet!" Aphrodite said.

Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.

Poseidon flinched slightly at that. The way Percy said it, it did sound like he was using his own son.

I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"

"Chiron only assumed or had his suspicions." Athena said.

"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too."

I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."

Hades nodded although he didn't like it.

"Check," Chiron said.

"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Yup." Zeus added.

"Check."

"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."

"Pretty much."

"That's about right."

"You know, honestly, it kinda sounds easy." Nico said guiltily.

"Compared to the other things I've done, it is easy." Percy said.

"Other things?" Poseidon asked worriedly. Percy avoided looking at his dad's worried look.

I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.

Dionysus sniffed sadly, thinking about his rare pinochle cards.

"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.

"Still going with Maine, eh Grover?" Mini-Annabeth said amusedly.

"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you."

"You really are sweet, do you know that?" Aphrodite told the son of Poseidon.

"umm… you actually did tell me that." Percy told the love goddess who looked stunned.

"really?" Percy nodded silently. Aphrodite clasped her hands together and squealed. "That means you meet me in person!"

"Oh..." He shifted his hooves. "No... It's just that satyrs and underground places... well..."

"Oh you'll get used to it one day." Annabeth exclaimed nonchalantly. Then in a much softer voice she whispered. "You'll have to go underground if you want to find Pan anyways, Grover."

He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."

To everyone's surprise, Dionysus smiled and even looked proud. Hermes too looked proud.

"That is one brave satyr." Persephone said. "He deserves a reward or something. Not many satyrs would go on a quest with demigods.

I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic.

Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months.

"Now that… that's sad." Hermes said before high-fiving Apollo.

I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.

"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."

"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."

"Where?"

Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."

"Yes, because the entrance to the Land of the Dead was advertised in Good Morning America. Silly me for forgetting." Percy said sarcastically.

"Stop being so sarcastic. It's the reason why most gods hate your guts." Thalia scolded. Percy pretended to think.

"Hm… how about…. No." Then he proceeded to snicker at the expression on his cousin's face. Thalia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I give up." Then she turned to Annabeth. "How do you deal with him every single day?" She asked. Annabeth just winked.

"That, Thalia, is for me to know and you to never find out."

"Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane—"

"No!" yelled the demigods and most of the gods.

"Are you crazy?" Clarisse said, finally speaking.

"Crazy, no. That'd be Nico." The son of Hades, who was nodding all this time stopped and glared at Percy.

"I am not crazy!"

"Fine fine. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

"Before I would have said no. Now however, no matter how many times I want to say I've never been on a plane before, I can't lie because I have witnesses." Percy sighed sadly then shivered remembering how scary a single plane turbulence was.

I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money.

"Well, that one was true…" Percy thought.

Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.

Glares were sent towards the king of the gods again.

"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."

"What would happen if we crashed into the sea?" Percy wondered.

"It depends on whether the plane would explode or not. If it did, you're as good as dead. If it didn't you have a chance of surviving. The mortals however…. Are a different matter altogether." Athena hesitantly said.

Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.

"Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."

"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."

"Her?" Apollo asked. Athena paled and looked at her daughters. One of them was curious while the other one refused to look at her. The wisdom goddess groaned.

"I think I'll be joining Poseidon in the worrying starting now." The goddess said, rubbing her temples and desperately wishing her daughter didn't come on the quest.

"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

"are you calling me stupid?" Both Annabeths asked angrily while glaring at the son of Poseidon. Percy paled at the murderous glares knowing full well that if he didn't answer correctly, he'll find himself in an inescapable situation soon.

"N-no…" Percy said weakly. Luckily for him, both Annabeths deemed his answer as ok.

"I'll let it go… for now."

The air shimmered behind Chiron.

Athena groaned loudly. Poseidon smirked at his bitterest rival. "Welcome to my world."

"Shut up."

Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.

The past demigods looked at Mini-Annabeth in awe. Mini-Annabeth herself seemed to want to jump in her seat. The futures on the other hand, were expecting it.

Percy was observing Athena who had her eyes shut.

"I think your mom's going to need some Tylenol soon." Percy told Annabeth who could only sigh again.

"Your dad's been needing painkillers since the first chapter." Annabeth pointed out.

"Touche Chase." Percy said with eyes narrowed. Annabeth just smirked. Both teenagers simultaneously looked at their parents who were both pale and had their eyes closed.

"Maybe we should get them some tomorrow. I don't really know if mortal medicine would work on immortals but it's worth a shot."

Percy nodded. "I'll ask Hermes later."

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon,

"Indeed I am not." Athena said.

"I'm not a fan of yours either." Poseidon shot back.

but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"Well what do you know. You are the best person to keep Kelp Face from messing up." Thalia mused.

"I don't think it'll end, really." Annabeth said. "He gets into so much trouble."

"I do not!" Percy protested.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Remember Mt. St. Helens? Circe's Island? Oh and what about Geryon's ranch? There's also water land park. Don't forget taking the sky too." Annabeth would have continued had three pairs of hands not stopped her. The daughter of Athena glared at her friends before registering the looks of warning they were giving her. Then her eyes widened and she looked at the gods and past demigods who had stunned looks on their faces.

"Mt. St. Helens? What would you be doing in one of my forges?" Hephaestus asked.

"Did you say taking the sky? As in S-K-Y sky?" Poseidon asked hysterically. Percy panicked on the inside but luckily for him, Annabeth kept her cool and replied for him.

"No, you must have heard wrong. I said fly. F-L-Y. It was a brand new project of the Hephaestus cabin. Unfortunately, Percy took it thinking it was a bomb. Who told you that anyway?"

"It was just sitting there and… and ticking! How was I supposed to know it was a clock?" Percy said, playing along.

"Oh never mind. But that does remind me, you owe the Hephaestus cabin ten drachmas since the fly you destroyed was their one and only prototype." Percy's mouth fell open.

"B-but…"

"You can't argue with Jake. He says you need to pay up before March 23rd." Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine fine. I'll pay him when we get back. Remind me."

"Will do." Annabeth shot Will a look and he continued reading, not giving any of the gods time to interrupt.

"If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, Wise Girl?"

"So that's when you started using the nicknames." Nico said in wonder. Percy and Annabeth ignored him as did most.

Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"

"it's not a matter of if he wants your help or not. He needs your help."Thalia pointed out. Annabeth started chuckling.

"You're right, Thals but it was proper manners to give him a choice."

The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.

"A trio," I said. "That'll work."

"The Golden Trio!" Thalia and Nico said in unison, earning themselves weird looks.

"The what now?"

"The Golden Trio. That's what everyone says when they refer to you, Annabeth and Grover." Nico said as if it explained everything.

"So we had our own team name?" Annabeth asked in amusement.

"Pretty much." Thalia said. Annabeth looked at Percy who was contemplating on the name.

"Eh, why not?" the son of Poseidon said looking at her with excitement in his eyes. Annabeth shook her head slightly but smiled none the less.

"Golden Trio it is then."

Everyone except Ares smiled. Will looked at the remaining sentences and sighed gratefully but remembered that he was going to read the next chapter as well.

"I really should have said no. If I did though, Lady Athena might kill me…. Oh well. I'll just have dad buy me some ice cream and a new guitar pick."

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."

"just what I wanted to hear again." Poseidon grumbled leaning his head on the his hand in a tired manner. Athena contemplated on doing the same but chose against it.

Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.

The demigods sighed.

"Look on the bright side." Demeter said. "At least the plants would get watered and your cabins would get cleaned."

"Also, if you bring out the pegasi, they'd get a nice bath although it's a bit cold." Hermes said. Immediately, Poseidon and Percy gave him horrified looks along with Silena who loved the pegasi.

"That's not how you groom a Pegasus!" Poseidon exclaimed, his worry for the quest momentarily forgotten.

"You have to make sure you have the water set to a certain temperature which the Pegasus would like. Then you get a dipper and slowly pour the water over the horse's mane." Poseidon said. Then he looked at Percy.

"After that, you thoroughly scrub them with soap, then a brush and finally a small sponge. You have to wait until the Pegasus is satisfied." Percy continued. The son of Poseidon then looked at Silena.

"Once they are satisfied, you get the dipper again and slowly pour water on the horse, making sure to remove all the soap and shampoo. After that, you need to dry them off either with a towel or if they want the natural way, by standing outside where it's sunny or by letting them fly for a few minutes."

"Then you have to brush their mane down to the tail. Then you have to polish their hooves."

"you also need to make sure that their wings are properly aligned and that they feel comfortable every time the pegasi flap their wings."[8] By then, Hermes was looking dizzy at the useless (for him) information on how to groom a pegasus. Many of the females were laughing at his expression while Athena had Hephaestus video tape it all for future reference.

"Then-"

"Oh for Pete's sake, stop!" Hermes begged, clapping both hands on his ears. Poseidon smiled at Percy and Silena.

"My dear, how do you know so much about pegasi grooming?" Poseidon asked Silena. "I'm one of the equestrians at camp, sir." Silena said happily. Poseidon smiled at Aphrodite who was looking at her daughter with love and pride. Poseidon grinned at Silena, thinking of the perfect thing to give to such a young but energetic equestrian.

"Tell you what, Silena. I'll give you a gift tomorrow. I'll need to find it first though."[9]

Silena's eyes widened. Then she smiled dazzlingly at the sea god. "Thank you sir."

Poseidon waved it off. "Don't mention it. I don't use it that much anyways. Oh and Will, you can continue reading now."

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

With that, Will turned the next page. "I'm still reading right?" He asked uncertainly. Athena nodded but felt rather guilty.

"You do not need to if you don't want to of course. You could easily hand to book to someone else." She said. Will thought it was a good idea but he shook his head at Athena, his gentlemanly mannerisms getting the better of him.

"Nah. I'll read. It's only one chapter after all."

Will blinked a couple of times to get the slightly acquiring fatigue and read the next chapter.

"Chapter ten: I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus."

A/N: and that's it! ^_^ Hope everyone liked this chapter. Before I forget, school starts in a couple of days and so, I won't be able to update for a while. I really hope you guys can forgive me for that. Also, to those who have read my other story "WARRIORS of CHAOS" it's going to be on a TEMPORARY HIATUS since I ran out of ideas for that story. Again really sorry. Oh and let's not forget the explanation/question part of the chapter.

[1] This is just a shout out to all my fellow HP fans! Hi! :D

[2] You guys know it's just sorry said in a childish manner right? I got used to using it due to a chat with friends.

[3] I made this part too childish didn't I? :/ It was funnier in my imagination. Oh well.

[4] The flavors mentioned are the ones which my country has so don't worry if you don't understand some of them. I tried my best to translate the really good tasting flavors but it doesn't sound as delicious so I just went with others. Great, now I'm craving some ice cream .

[5] Oh my God I LOVE AI! (American Idol to those who don't know) It was so EPIC! The duet between Jessica and Jennifer was PHENOMENAL! ^_^ One Big shout out to all those who LOVE American Idol and can't wait for the next season.

[6] Again, just a childish way of saying yes.

[7] While writing this, I imagined Poseidon to look like this: -.- or maybe even this: -_- Also, is blameable even a word?

[8] I don't groom horses so I don't know if this is correct.

[9] What would be a good gift to give to Silena?

There we go. Review if you so desire to. ~Demi