Hey, I'm back! Well, you knew that because this is uploaded and...nevermind.

I am extremely sorry for the long wait. I got out of fanfiction for a long time, but I will explain everything below after you guys read this well deserved chapter.

Anyway, while I was gone, this story managed to pass 250, then 275, and finally 300 reviews, and now its somewhere around 330, so I truly can't thank you guys enough, even when I haven't been around.

Since so many people responded to the Quote Trivia and I'm kind of lazy and want to get this up, I am not going to put up the winners, but that will continue for chapter 9. The correct answer was Luke Castellan to Percy Jackson (and co.) in The Sea of Monsters. You guys should know if you got it right.

As to the QotC, last chapter I asked you guys whether you would rather get in a verbal argument with Octavian or a duel with Clarisse and the answers are in. 38 people said they would rather verbally argue with Octavian, while 12 people wanted to duel the daughter of Ares. Thanks again for all those who answered.

I'm trying to make this beginning author's note short, so we'll get on with the chapter. Chapter 8 is almost 3,000 words long and took up 7 pages in Microsoft Word. You guys better like it.

Of course the story is still dedicated to JazzApples. Can't forget that.

Enjoy Chapter Eight of The Ten.

Disclaimer: I am not dating Mrs. Riordan. Nor do I have 2 kids. Please move along in your search for Uncle Rick.

VIII: MECHANICAL ENERGY

Once the dust settled and the brightness vanished from his vision, Percy was finally able to regain his bearings and figure out what happened.

The four of them were dazed, but otherwise they were fine. Percy had a cut on his arm that would need tending to, and Thalia had a headache, but other than that the only worry was the fact that the library just exploded.

Within minutes police showed up. Percy was tended to while the other three put in a statement. Thalia mentioned the shifty figures.

"What did they look like?" The investigator asked.

"Um," Thalia shared a look with Percy. "They looked to be around our age," she said. "They were average height, I guess, around six foot or so. The second guy was a couple inches shorter. Other than that I didn't really get a good look at them."

Percy put in a quick word about the gray hoodie and jeans that the one guy was wearing.

"Oh," he continued, "they went down that alleyway there. Other than that though, there wasn't anything else." He paused. "They were here, the one guy ran out of the library, and then after the second guy joined him the library exploded."

The investigator thanked the four of them for their help and finally they were let go. The once quiet street was now bustling with police cars and fire department, as well as several ambulances. Police held back the line of onlookers for several blocks, as the explosion warranted a possible collapse in the surrounding buildings. Black smoke circled up into the atmosphere from the lot that once held the Johannesburg Library.

"What do we do now?" Piper asked once they had turned away.

"I don't know," Thalia said. "Perce, any ideas?"

"We have to keep researching," he said, flexing his arm as he got used to the bandage. "We need to find a hotel room and-" He cut off suddenly, stopping in his tracks.

Thalia turned back to her comrade, stopping as she did so. Percy was trailing the group when they had been talking, now he was stopped outside of an appliance store, looking at one of the TVs positioned in the glass case.

"Percy, you ok?"

"I am," he replied, "but you're not." Percy pointed to the screen. Thalia and the other two companions turned to look. The channel was on American news broadcaster CNN's station. On the news bulletin was a picture of a familiar looking girl. Underneath read the headline, Missing! Investigators in pursuit.

Piper finally caught on. "Thalia, that's you."

After a hefty explanation to Nico, the four of them made their way back to the car and quickly found a hotel. Once inside the hotel room, the door locked behind them, things became extremely tense.

"Percy, what are we going to do?" Thalia basically screamed at him.

Percy was glad there were other people in the room. Piper helped calm Thalia down, and Nico was surprisingly level headed, considering what he had been through in the past twelve hours.

"I don't know Thalia," Percy eventually responded. "But one thing is for sure, we have to figure this out before we do anything else."

Nico may have just met this guy today, but he was surprised with how intelligent Percy was, even though he might not seem like it all the time.

"I agree," he put in. "You said this thing could go on for a year, right? The princess cannot be gone for that long and then just show up and act like nothing happened. While people would be worried if the three of us," he mentioned to Percy and Piper as well as himself, "were gone for that long, we aren't as important of a figure as you are to your country."

"I agree," Percy added. "I'm not quite sure how to deal with your situation Thalia, but one thing is for sure. I'm letting my mom know what is going on. I think you two should let your parents know too. Once we've gotten our problems out of the way we can tackle Thalia's. We should contact Chiron and see what he has to say. I'm sure he can help us figure something out about her situation."

The four of them agreed, and Thalia stayed back to watch the room as the other three made their phone calls.

Nico was the first one back.

"Wow, that was fast," Thalia said.

"Yeah, well, I only called my sister," he told her. "I haven't had any parents to call for a while now."

Thalia immediately felt terrible. "Oh my gods, I'm sorry Nico. I didn't know."

"It's ok," he replied, flashing a small smile. "I've gotten used to it."

That had to be one of the most depressing things Thalia had ever heard in her life, but she let it go. Luckily, the silence didn't last too long, because Piper came in, back from her phone call.

"Hey guys," she said. "Glad to know my father cares about me at least a little." She motioned to her phone and let out a short, defeated laugh that didn't sound happy at all.

Jeez, Thalia thought, this is getting really depressing. I hope Percy comes back soon.

Fifteen minutes later, however, Percy still hadn't returned. Thalia was starting to get worried.

"I didn't think this would take that long," she said. "It's been a half hour." Thalia looked over at Piper, who just shrugged. "I'm going to go find him."

As Thalia headed out the door, she heard Nico shout from behind her, "I think he was in the lobby!" just as the door closed.

Thalia made her way down to the lobby, which was essentially empty. Just as she rounded the corner, she heard Percy's voice.

"Yes, mom, I'll make sure to change my underwear every day." Thalia could barely hold in her laughter. She stopped around the corner, trying to hear anything else she could hold against her American friend.

"No, mom," Percy continued, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll-Yes, ok, I'll make-No mom, I'm-" Percy took a deep breath. "Mom, I'm fine. Just know I'm fine. Mom, I-Mom!" Another deep breath. "Mom, I gotta go. I know, I love you too. Sorry for scaring you. Ok, bye."

Thalia, sensing the end of the conversation, walked around the corner to see Percy throw his head back in exasperation. He finally noticed the princess.

"How long have you been there?" He asked.

"Oh, long enough," she responded with a smile. "Come on, Mr. Underwear, let's get back to the room. We've got some work to do."

Percy threw her a look, but got up from the chair as she grabbed his arm. The two of them made their way back to the room.

Nico barely looked up from his phone when they reentered. Piper let out a sigh, with a not so subtle, "Finally."

"Sorry," Percy said. "My mom can talk forever."

"I'll say," Nico added, still not looking up from his phone. "Ok, now what do we do?"

"We should probably call Chiron," Percy replied. "See what he thinks about Thalia's situation." The others agreed and all crowded around as Percy set his phone on speaker.

The dial tone repeated for three rings before Chiron answered the phone.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey Chiron, it's Percy. We're in a little bit of a situation and were wondering if you could help."

"Oh, hello Percy. How are things going?"

"Things are good," Percy told him. "We got four of The Ten as well as the four bracelets. Our only real problem is that Thalia is kind of important. Her disappearance is bringing on worldwide headlines."

"Oh, that's definitely a problem." The other line went quiet for a while. "Ok, here's what we'll do. Percy, I want you and the gang to hang low for a while. Where are you now?"

"South Africa. Just outside Johannesburg."

"Ok, stay there until I give you the go-ahead. I'll take care of Thalia's problem. Do you know where you need to go next?"

"Not yet."

"Ok, research that until I call you back. Don't book any flights or anything. I want you to keep as low a profile as you can. Try paying with cash as much as possible. Look for me to call back within the next couple days."

"Ok Chiron. Will do. Thanks."

"No problem Percy. Look to hear from me soon." And with that the line cut. The phone call with Chiron was over.

It was the next day. After the phone call with Chiron, the foursome decided to hit the sheets for the night and deal with researching the next morning.

In the morning, following some awkward moments as to who gets to shower when and changing in front of people who aren't quite comfortable with each other yet, the four of them decided to head out to breakfast, delaying research even further.

Percy brought up the point that if they're stuck in South Africa for a couple days they don't have to be researching day and night. They agreed to get breakfast so that they would be thinking with a clear mind and a full stomach.

Once back at the hotel, Nico, Percy and Thalia pulled out their laptops and got comfy in positions around the room. Piper hopped in with Thalia seeing as she didn't have a laptop with her.

Three hours later, the foursome still didn't have anything.

"Hey, you guys want to take a break to get some lunch?" Nico asked. "I'm starting to get hungry."

Before Percy could answer, Piper cut him off.

"No, wait," she said sharply. "We might have something." She turned back to Thalia. "Look up where they are based."

After a couple seconds and clicking of the mouse, Thalia looked up and gave Piper a high five.

"Great job, Pipes."

"Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Whoa, hold on," Percy said. "Did you guys find something?"

"Yeah, come on over."

Percy and Nico crowded around the girls.

"Ok," Piper started. "So we started with a basic history of South Africa, just to see what the country was like. And then somehow," she turned to Thalia, "through the exports or something, we found out that they had a huge electricity problem back in 2007."

Thalia cut in, "The state company Eskom was mostly at fault."

"Eskom? Don't you mean Enron?" Nico asked.

"Enron? The huge energy company?" Percy said.

"No, it wasn't Enron," Thalia explained, "but we found quite the interesting connection in one of the news articles we read."

"Get this," Piper continued. "In the same month that Enron declared bankruptcy, December 2001, Eskom won the award for Power Company of the Year."

"Yeah, so?" Nico asked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It can't be a coincidence," Thalia said. "A huge energy company goes bankrupt and then suddenly a state company in South Africa gets named Power Company of the Year? Come on, that can't possibly have happened randomly."

"Ok, ok," Nico replied. "You were saying something about where this Enron was located?"

"Oh come on, Nico," Percy said. "I might not be the brightest, but even I know where Enron was located."

"Oh really? And where would that be?"

"Houston, of course."

Three days later, the group got a text message from Chiron. All it said was, "You're good." Percy tried sending a response asking what that meant, but he got nothing in return, so they let it go.

Nineteen hours later they landed in Houston. Unluckily for them it was still daylight out, so they still had another four hours before it became a respectable time to go to sleep.

They rented a car and dropped their stuff off at the hotel before heading out to dinner. Once their food was ordered, a tired Piper spoke up.

"Now what do we do? We're in Houston. What comes next?"

"Exploring Enron's old headquarters would probably be our best bet," Nico said. "That's what brought us here, so it's probably the thing that will most likely lead us to what we want."

"Ok," Piper replied. "Well, I'm exhausted, so unless any of you want to give me a massage, I'm taking the day off tomorrow. We can tackle Enron's headquarters on Thursday."

"Count me in on that massage boys," Thalia inputted.

Nico and Percy looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess we don't really have a choice," Percy said. "Which one do you want?"

"The less annoying one?" Nico suggested.

"Nico, you can't eliminate both girls with one question. You gotta pick one."

That earned Percy two slaps and a kick under the table from Thalia. Nico started to laugh, but quickly cut it off after a death glare from the princess.

"Uh, we'll figure it out later?" Nico asked, with more of a question than an answer.

"Ok," Percy said wearily. "Oh look, here's our food."

The foursome ate happily, or at least as happily as you could get with two girls ready to slit your throats at any false move, but they made it through unharmed, luckily for Percy.

The next morning the girls got their massages. After around a half hour, they seemed raring to go, so the group decided to head out.

Around an hour later, with Percy driving, the four members of The Ten headed into downtown Houston to visit Enron's old headquarters. What they found was a lot of construction, several barriers with caution tape, and an unruly worker telling them to 'Beat it' in Spanish.

"Looks like we're not getting anything here today," Percy said. "Should we head back to the hotel to do some more research?"

"That's probably the best bet," Nico replied from the passenger's seat. He had won the game of shotgun in the morning, much to Thalia's chagrin.

Percy pulled away from the construction and headed back out onto the interstate. Just as he was about to turn to Thalia to ask what exit he needed, a huge shudder came from under the hood. The engine let go a huge POP sound and the engine grounded to a halt. Luckily for Percy, they were already travelling around 70 miles per hour, so he was able to coast the car to the side of the road.

"What the hell?" Thalia asked as she exited the car. "This car is brand new, right?"

"The rental people told me it was a 2013," Percy told her as he opened the hood. Smoke and steam billowed out and Percy coughed at the sudden fumes. "Well, we're not going anywhere with this. We need to call a tow truck."

"Already on it," Nico replied.

"Alright, great. Thalia, you and Piper call a cab and head back to the hotel. Start doing some research and see what you can find out. Nico and I will handle this."

The cab came much faster than the tow truck. After around forty five minutes, the mechanic finally pulled up on the side of the interstate.

"Ay boys, what's the problem?" He asked in a thick Southern accent.

"Not sure," Percy replied, "She just gave out on us."

"Alright, well let's get her hooked up and we'll take 'er over to the shop."

It was a twenty minute drive in the sweaty cab of the tow truck. Percy and Nico were glad to escape without conducting some kind of lung cancer.

The mechanic dropped the two of them off at the office, saying he would take the car in right away.

Once the tow truck drove off, Percy and Nico realized they weren't alone. Some guy looked like he was arguing with the person they presumed to be the head mechanic, or the manager.

The guy arguing was short, around a half-foot shorter than Percy, and he had some papers in his hand, presumably resume papers. He looked to be around their age, maybe sixteen, but probably closer to seventeen.

"Why can't I get a job here?" The teen asked. "I am definitely qualified if you just look at my papers!"

"I'm sorry. We can't hire minors," the manager replied. "It's against the rules."

Exasperated, the applicant turned away from the manager, and the boys were able to get a better look at him. He was Latino, with dark brown eyes and short black hair. His eyes were mischievous, as if he was too hyped up on caffeine.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Percy replied, motioning towards the confrontation that had just occurred.

"Oh, the dimwitted manager there won't give me a job, although I'm totally qualified. Eh, it's no big deal, someone eventually will hire me."

Percy and Nico shared a look. This guy was a little weird.

"Hey, do I know you?" The guy asked, motioning towards Percy. "You look really familiar."

"As far as I know, no," Percy replied. "This is the first time I've met you in my life."

"Are you sure? What's your name?"

"Uh, I'm Percy. This is Nico."

"Oh, I guess not," the guy continued. "I don't know any Percy's. Well, I guess it isn't polite to ask someone's name without responding in turn. The name's Leo. Leo Valdez."

A/N:

So, what did you think? We now have a certain Mr. Valdez involved. Guarantee this doesn't pan out how you think it will though. You guys can guess all you want, but I'd be willing to bet my life savings that you aren't going to get close to what actually happens.

The timetable for chapter 9 is unknown. If you want constant updates, keep track of my Twitter feed. The link to my page can be found on my profile.

Onto my explanation now. There have been three major reasons why I have not uploaded in so long and especially this summer. Number one has been school. Before any of you ask, my first year of college was great. I met some amazing people, including my current girlfriend (more on her later), and the experiences I had will stay with me forever. I finished my first year of college with a 3.80 GPA, which based on my standards could be a little better, but it isn't too shabby at all. Now many of you probably are wondering why uploads haven't come since I got home from school. This is because of two smaller reasons, but we'll combine this into one. Over the past month or so, I have been busy trying to find a job (and then working that job), and probably more importantly, watching the greatest sporting event in the world, the World Cup. If you know me, I am an avid soccer fan, and I have watched almost all, if not all of the games so far. I look forward to the final later today. Now that the World Cup is winding down and I'm now settled in my job, hopefully I'll be able to write some more.

This leads me into my third and final reason, my absolutely amazing girlfriend. This will probably be really cheesy and you will tell me to get a life, but I absolutely love her to death. We've been dating for over 9 months now (thank you, thank you, I know, I'm surprised too) and I really can't see an end to our relationship (Sorry guys! My writing will be distracted with her around!). The main problem the two of us have is that we live over 2 hours away from each other, so when we get to visit every two weeks or so, I literally do nothing other than hang with her, so obviously no writing is happening. Don't get me wrong guys, I love you too, but that's clearly in a different way. I haven't met any of you, so there's absolutely no way I would do any of the things I do with her with you guys. Thanks for making it through the sappy part. Now we can get back to the actual questions about the story.

Alright, onto Quote Trivia. Who said this quote: "Good thinking," [he] said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."

I wasn't going to let you guys off with an easy quote now, could I? Remember, I need the speaker and the book. Good luck.

Finally, the Question of the Chapter. This will be the last poll type of question and I'll compile the results and let you guys know what's happening in chapter 10. Ok, here goes: Would you rather fight alongside Annabeth, Hazel, or Piper?

For me? Annabeth, duh.

Make sure to review!

Thanks!

-PSON