A/N I have taken Frank out because he isn't there when Jason is so it wouldn't work. Thanks anon for pointing that out Please review

Thanks also to philosophyluver I will try to improve on that

Disclaimer: All characters and the book The last Olympian belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 2

Third person POV

Everyone sat down on the purple sofas provided as Jason started reading.

"Go Cruising With Explosives" Jason read

Everyone busted out laughing except Nico. Nobody thought much about it at the time.

"I like this guy already" laughed Dakota while Octavian snorted at the comment.

The end of the world started when a Pegasus landed on the hood of my car.

The demigods in the rooms' expressions when back to normal as they remembered the Titan war themselves. "How come there isn't a Percy Jackson at this camp" Octavian questioned suspiciously.

"Maybe he's a loner. If he isn't that powerful he could survive." Replied Reyna casually

Not powerful Nico thought jokingly in his head if only they knew.

UP until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private section f beach on the south shore and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.

"That's a bit irresponsible" Gwen commented. Jason started laughing as he read the next line.

Now I know what you're thinking, Wow, that was really irresponsible of him,

Even Nico who knew how sad this chapter was going to get cracked a smile.

"Hey Gwen you think like Percy" joked Frank. He and Hazel had been so quiet everybody had forgotten they were there.

blah, blah, blah, but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings,

"This guy is awesome. Reyna can we go blow up a school?" Dakota asked giving Reyna the puppy dog eyes. "No" she said firmly. Dakota turned to Jason "Please Yason pwetty pwease" "hey if you asked me first I would have said yes but now no" he said with a smirk.

"You're pathetic" Octavian sneered. He gestured for Jason to continue reading.

So he probably figured taking a car a few hundred metres wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.

"The life of a demigod is never easy" remarked Hazel.

Anyway Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot august day.

"That was the month we took Mt. Othrys" exclaimed Dakota "that can't be a coincidence. No one replied they were trying to process this information all except Nico who seemed to grimace at the time.

Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint splattered jeans before, and she looked a million golden drachmas.

"Annabeth would not like to hear that" mumbled Nico. "Who?" asked Reyna. Too late did Nico realise his mistake. "I just said that I would like to see that" he blushed and shrunk into his chair trying to avoid any more questions.

Octavian however was thinking about something else. "Did he say drachma?" he questioned. Nico let out a breath of relief. "It's Greek isn't it" Gwen replied cautiously. Octavian nodded thinking of how there may be Greek demigods out there and how he was going to use it against Jason and Reyna.

"Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.

We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic.

"So they're on the east coast somewhere" Octavian mused

The sea was always one of my favourite places but today it was especially nice – glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.

"HE'S A SON OF NEPTUNE" shouted Jason. He was shocked at the fact that none of the big three had kept their pact. (A/N I don't know if the Romans know about the pact sorry if that is wrong)

"How did he survive without camp" questioned Gwen.

"If we let Jason read we will find out wont we" remarked Hazel

My dad by the way is Poseidon.

"Why is he using all the Greek names?" growled Octavian he was getting more and more suspicious of Percy.

He can do stuff like that.

"So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."

"Oh...right." I tried to sound excited.

"And failed I'm guessing" Nico laughed

I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folk were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.

"I'm guessing she's rich" commented Dakota. "No she's living in poverty" said Octavian sarcastically. "Shut up" Dakota retorted

Besides, I really needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.

"I wonder what happened?" said Hazel sympathetically. "It was the summer of the Titan war there were e loads of monsters around during that time and a child of the big three would be even worse." Reyna replied while the guys were pretending to be falling asleep at her long explanation. "Stop pissing about and read" she said while sending Jason her famous death glare.

Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was 'on call' for a mission. Even worse next week was my birthday.

"Why is it being his birthday bad? I would be well excited if it were my birthday" asked Jason. "Read and we will find out." answered Octavian thinking about the prophecy about a demigod reaching 16 and wondering if it were him.

There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.

"A half blood of the eldest gods

Shall reach sixteen against all odds

And see the world in endless sleep,

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap

A single choice shall end his days

Olympus to preserve or raze" Octavian recited. "That must be about him" Reyna said. "Well he dead" commented Dakota. "Don't say things like that its bad luck. And prophecies often have double meanings" scolded Gwen.

"Let's just read" interrupted Nico

"Percy," Rachel said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's always bad for you, right?"

She had a point.

"I really want to go,2 I promised. "It's just-"

"The war."

"The Titan war?" asked Gwen. No one replied wanting to find out.

I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist – the magical veil that distorts human vision.

"I never knew that" said Octavian sarcastically.

She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies.

"So it is the Titan war. How come they didn't help us to defeat them on Mt Others?" roared Octavian " Maybe they were busy fighting monsters of their own." Replied Nico tensely. He remembered how a lot of his friends and people he knew had died fighting the Titans. He angrily gestured for Jason to continue reading. Leaving the others wondering what was behind Nicos strange behaviour.

She'd even been there last summer when the chopped up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form,

The room was in stunned silence except for nico who suspecte what was about to come and he smirked at the thought.

And she'd earned my permnent respect by nailing him in the head with a blue plastic hairbrush.

"WOW. We never even saw Kronos and here is a mortal hitting him with a hairbrush. She has earned my permanent respect too" Jason said and all the Romans nodded in agreement.

She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…" Her voice faltered.

"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.

Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies' Academy in the autumn."

"I've heard of that place. A finishing school I think" Gwen commented.

"The school where your mom went?"

"It's a stupid finishing school for soceity girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in a finishing school?"

"No." chorused the room

I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to 'Save the Endangered Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker' and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.

Tell me about thought Nico

She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me , I'll feel guilty and give in."

"That's no way to treat you daughter" exclaimed Hazel. She knew from experience that parents shouldn't be mean to their kids. Everyone in the room agreed with her.

"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"

"Yes...but, Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favour. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk –" She stopped abruptly.

"She's making him feel guilty" observed Octavian. Everyone had a shocked expression on their face. " What I don't care about them I was just stating a fact" that was the Octavian they knew and hated.

"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean...so serious we'd have to go to St Thomas to talk about it?"

She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."

"Good subject change" laughed Dakota.

I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.

"That's a bit random, yet so cool at the same time" whispered Hazel to Gwen who was sitting beside her.

We'd spent a lot of time together this summer.

"Annabeth is not going to like that "Nico snorted. "Who?" asked Jason. Nico got a worried look on his face. "Do you know these people Nico?" Reyna asked. "Umm... well, you see, I'm sure it will be revealed later on. I will tell you that I do know Percy though." Nico replied nervously. "We will have to wait and see what the book says then wont we. " Reyna replied with a tone of finality. She glared at Octavian daring him to speak up. He wisely kept his mouth shut.

I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp,

"Camp?" asked Octavian. "Before you start thinking they are gonna attack you forget it but yes there is a Greek camp. That's where I'm from. "WHAT – "started Octavian but Reyna interrupted "Octavian silence we will judge at the end of the book."

The more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself the mortal world was still out here, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.

"I know how you feel" grumbled Jason.

"Okay," I said."Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."

She nodded. "And so.. Hypothetically, if these two people liked eachother, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?

"Oh shit this is so not good. He's soo dead." Nico muttered while Reyna glanced at Jason hoping he would be thinking of her yet he just seemed to be laughing at Nico's antics.

"Oh..." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows – slow, dumb and bright red. "Um..."

I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than... well, than some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or wrack my brain trying to figure out what I was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.

"It's good for some " muttered Dakota while looking at Gwen.

I'm not sure what I would've done next, I was so distracted I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!

"That's imaginative. Must be a Pegasus." Said Hazel dreamily

Hey boss a voice said inside my head. Nice car!

"He can speak to horses that's so cool" exclaimed Hazel. "So's flying" said Jason a bit jealous of Percy.

Blackjack the Pegasus was an old friend of mine, so i tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood, but i didn't think Paul Blofis would be real stoked about it.

"Hey his name sounds like Blowfish" laughed Dakota. "But it isn't so shut up" sneered Octavian

"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you –"

Then I saw who was riding on his back, and knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.

"Must be the mission he was talking about. I wonder who's riding him?" mused Reyna while Nico tried not to show sadness and give the story away.

"'Sup, Percy."

Charles Beckendorf, senior counsellor for the Hephaestus cabin,

"They aren't sorted by rank but godly parent that's odd, but if they're Greek they're going to do things differently" stated Gwen.

would make most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped muscles from working in the forge every summer.

"They have forges and enough metal?" questioned Reyna. "They're stealing all our Imperial Gold and Di Angelo here is helping them!" exclaimed Octavian. "Octavian please sit down while I explain why you are wrong," Nico said his voice dangerously calm. "WE, the Greeks, do not take your Imperial Gold as we have our own monster slaying metal. It is called celestial bronze. Mined from Mt Olympus itself." "So Octavian please be quiet so I can read the story." Jason said trying to gain control of the situation. "Fine" Octavian answered.

He was 2 years older than me and one of the camp's best armour smiths. He had made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek fire bomb in the bathroom of a tour bus carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush.

An explosion of laughter came after that paragraph as Dakota tried to get out a sentence between breaths "That's... the... best... idea... ever!".

Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side.

"That's not very much equipment what about a shield or pilum or all the other equipment we have to carry." Dakota whined while glaring pointedly at Reyna and Jason.

His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.

"Time?" I asked.

He nodded grimly

A Lump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.

"What do you think they're going to do?" asked Hazel. "Blow summin' up by the sounds of it." replied Gwen. She'd been so quiet they'd forgotten she was there.

Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."

"Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me...uh, I mean he mentioned you."

"Smooth." commented Jason quietly before continuing with the story.

Rachel raised and eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."

"Pretty much" laughed Nico.

"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.

"Ha Nico thinks like the book" teased Hazel. Nico shrunk back into his seat.

I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom –"

"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."

I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.

"Nah ya think" Octavian commented sarcastically. Everyone else just smirked.

"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.

"Uh-oh now Percy has got to worry" Nico laughed. "Not only do I have Blackmail ammunition to use against him but Annabeth will kill him if she ever finds out about this." "Who's Annabeth?" asked Jason. Reyna had a suspicion that it was the other girl from the island. "You'll I'm sure he'll mention her soon." Nico smirked.

"Now get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."

My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find out.

"Bit of a depressing thought." commented Gwen.

"So," Beckendorf said. "I'm guessing you don't wnt me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."

"So is Annabeth Percy's girlfriend because it is not right to cheat on someone?" asked Gwen. "No, she is his best friend and Percy is unable to cheat on someone. His fatal flaw is loyalty." Nico said he smirked at the fact that they are now going out. "Oh, right I understand. You can read now Jason."

"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."

Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.

It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon – a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord.

"I thought that was Mt Othrys" complained Jason. "That was his palace but maybe the ship was like an army base?" Reyna commented. "Read guys it's the only way to find out considering death breath over here won't tell us anything" Hazel said.

Then, as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead – a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.

The whole room grimaced at the thought of it.

Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.

"Why would it go to New York that place is already swarming with monsters?" asked Reyna. "I think it will explain at some point i would have thought that you would know though." Nico said thoughtfully.

"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.

I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.

"So there's an invasion but why New York?" asked Hazel (A/N Did the Romans know Olympus is in New York?)

"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."

Gotcha, boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.

Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.

"I'd like to see that" laughed Nico.

"Don't wait for us," I told him.

But, boss –

"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."

Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted towards the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship – dracaenae snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and humanoid sea-lion demons known as telkhines – but we zipped by so fast none of them raised the alarm.

"That's some fast flying Pegasus." Hazel said in amazement. "Can skippy go that fast?" she asked. Reyna shrugged, "I've never tried."

We shot down the stern of the boat and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.

Good luck, boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horsemeat!

"Great piece of advice" Octavian mumbled sarcastically.

With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket,

"What's he gonna do write all over them." Dakota laughed. Nico chuckled quietly at the fact that it was Riptide a metre long piece of deadly celestial bronze.

Uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size – one metre of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.

"That's what 'kota" laughed Jason while everyone else was thinking of how cool that was.

Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realised it was a photograph. He stared it in the dim light – the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.

"Aww how sweet" cooed Gwen. The men in the room rolled their eyes at the girls except Nico who suddenly turned sad and the mood in the room became more depressed. "Nico are you alright?" asked Hazel worriedly. "Yeah I'm fine can you just read please." He replied.

They'd started going out lsat summer, after years of the rest of us saying, "Duh, you guys like each other!"

The people in the room glanced at Jason and Reyna who were trying not to look at each other.

Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.

"We'll make it back to camp," I promised.

"Never promise that" Octavian said absently as if he weren't really listening.

For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.

"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."

"I have a feeling it's not going to go to plan." Commented Gwen

Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.

"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meatloaf sandwich!"

Jason and Dakota busted out laughing even Nico cracked a small smile at that.

"Meatloaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"

"Bah, your brain isn't on board!"

"It's better than yours" smirked Octavian.

They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to fade.

Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words, Engine room

It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.

"Now they would come in handy. That should be on our equipment list." He moaned at Reyna. "No." She said.

Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so absorbed in his work he didn't notice us. He was about a metre and a half tall, with slick black sea-lion fur and stubby little feet.

"How flattering." mumbled Gwen

He had the head of a Dobermann, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped his keyboard. Maybe he was a messaging his friends on .

"He has a unique way of thinking" Reyna remarked.

I stepped forward and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but on slice of riptide and he exploded into dust.

"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire,

"Greek what now?" asked Dakota. "Greek fire it can burn underwater and is virtually impossible to put out." Nico explained grimly.

one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool of demigod heroes – duct tape

"Say Jason can we –" Dakota was interrupted by Reyna "No you can't have any duct tape." She glared pointedly at Jason daring him to say any different. He decided he couldn't win that fight and went back to reading.

"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."

We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.

"Ewww!" said Gwen in disgust

The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea.

"Jason do you get that in the sky?" asked Hazel. She wasn't going to say that she could tell exactly where everything was underground unless he did she didn't want to seem like a freak "No" Jason thought a bit jealous that Percy had so many cool powers.

Don't ask how, but i could tell we were at 40.19 degrees north, 71.90 degrees west, making eighteen knots an hour, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbour by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it.

"That's a lot of pressure for a 15 year old." said Hazel. She felt sympathy for them.

I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell i could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.

I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?"

"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."

"Uh oh this can't be good" murmured Gwen. She was worried that someone was going to get hurt. Nico seemed to be even more depressed at this information.

Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.

"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."

"That's very brave" commented Jason. "He's trying to buy hi time and will probably die in the process."

"Percy –"

"Wish me luck."

He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.

"That never goes well for you Perce" Nico grumbled though no one else heard it.

"Good luck," he said.

I charged out of the door.

Half a dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine who was so startled he dropped his Li'l Demons lunchbox. I left him alive – partly because his lunchbox was cool,

"That's no reason to let someone live he's a monster you should kill it" exclaimed Octavian.

Partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.

"Oh." Octavian shrank back in his seat to hide from the embarrassment.

I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and, yes, unfortunately i speak from experience)

"How do you know what that looks like still be alive to tell the tale?" questioned Reyna. "He must be special like me." smiled Dakota.

Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourists on board for shows, shrouded in mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster infested ship.

"That's sick. They're like puppets." said Hazel in disgust. She hated it when they used mortals like that.

Now, I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.

"Well he still has a sense of humour which is good." Gwen tried to lighten the mood but they could tell something bad was about to go down.

I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and i stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab.

"Don't be a wimp it's just a crap." complained Octavian. Jason chuckled as he read the next lines.

I'm not talking 'giant' like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm talking 'giant' like bigger than the fountain.

"Hey how was I supposed to know" defended Octavian. "Well you are the auger" Dakota teased. "Shut it." He replied

The monster rose over three metres out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body.

If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size.

"Why than-you for that wonderful mental picture that will give me nightmares for months" said Dakota sarcastically.

It's beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see the intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr Crabby.

"FFFFfffffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like a garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.

"He's very descriptive isn't he" Reyna said while Gwen ran out of the room and threw up. When she came back Jason continued wanting to get this bit over with.

Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and i had to keep moving.

"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so –"

The crab moved with amazing speed.

"They always do" mumbled Nico.

It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dived into a gift shop, ploughing through a rack of T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr Crabby turned and followed.

"There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"

If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight.

"Smart thought. If he stays there he would be able to make it out.2 Reyna said.

If I got pinned down in the centre of the ship, I was crab chow.

"Reyna thinks like a boy" laughed Dakota. Reyna just glared at him making him hide behind Jason.

The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.

I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was a little bigger than my Reeboks.

"This guy continues to make the great Dakota laugh. He is officially awesome." He smiled. Everyone else just rolled their eyes as he took another swig of Kool-aid from a flash concealed in his jean pocket.

Then a weird thought came to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armour, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.

"That's pretty smart." said Octavian. Everyone stared at him in surprise. He had never complimented anyone before. "Yeah, yeah, I said something nice get on with it" he complained.

The only problem was getting to their ugly bellies.

I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from the scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded.

"Cool!" exclaimed Dakota.

Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of shops.

The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming, "AHHHHHHH!"

Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature.

"Right," started Jason. "That's crazy he can't possibly make that." "Just because you can't Jase" smirked Dakota. "I totally could I just never would" he retorted.

It was like sliding under s seven-ton armoured vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squish me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armour let go of the hilt and pushed myself out the backside.

"Okay maybe he can make it but surely he is now weapon less." Jason admitted. "Never ever underestimate Percy, Jason" said Nico darkly.

The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.

I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty handed.

"This is so not good," said Gwen. "He's trapped on a monster infested cruise ship with no weapon and the Titan lord on board!" "Nico can you please tell us whether he gets out or not?" asked Hazel worriedly. "He gets out I mean there loads left of the book right." He replied choosing his words carefully. Everyone relaxed a bit at that information.

Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.

In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple f dracaenae slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were women with green scaly skin, yellow eyes and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.

"He's done everything hasn't he." said Jason in a kind of awe now instead of jealous of this son of Neptune/Poseidon.

"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss!"

I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship.

"Nice play on words" commented Octavian. "Before you say anything I am a legacy of Apollo. It should not come as a surprise." He rolled his eyes as everyone else just stared in amazement that he wasn't just making snide comments. The reading only continued when Jason realised there had been an uncomfortable silence for about ten minutes and cleared his throat to continue.

I jumped over her grabbed her friends spear and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator and I kept running towards the front of the ship.

"Get him!" she screamed.

Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself on the mahogany-panelled wall of the stairwell.

I didn't care – as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.

"He's quite selfless isn't he" mused Reyna. She had thought that he and the girl Annabeth who had destroyed her home were selfish but Percy is showing now that he wouldn't have done that if he knew that he was going to hurt someone.

As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap. His armour was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.

That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half-Olympian.

"He won't be able to hurt him" Gwen whispered to Hazel. "He's too nice to do that." Hazel just nodded in response.

Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.

No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.

"Nice move." commended Jason.

Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid.

"Probably" murmured Nico.

It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.

"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.

I kept climbing.

"Letting him go was an admirable yet stupid thing?" said Reyna. "That's Percy for ya." Said Nico dreading the end of this chapter knowing how much Percy blames himself for what happened to Beckendorf.

Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half-brother Tyson and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit

"What happened?" asked Hazel. "I'm not sure I wasn't there yet." Nico replied.

I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restraint decks. t\he whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.

"That's never a good sign." said Gwen. "I know right I've seen so many movies like this" laughed Dakota trying to lighten the mood. "How did you watch these movies Dakota?" asked Reyna suspiciously. "Jason we will conduct a search of the fifth cohort barracks when we get back to camp." "Okay." Jason replied while signalling Dakota to move all the stuff to his house for a while.

All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away.

"Things never go to plan like that" grumbled Nico.

I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late Percy."

"Uh, oh" echoed through the room.

Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.

"He's Kronos!" Everyone but Nicos mouths dropped at that. Even thought he had been a hero at the end he still resented Luke for all the death he had caused including his sisters.

"We've been expecting you for days."

"They have a spy." said Octavian menacingly. "Leave it alone Octavian. " Nico almost growled.

At first he sounded normal like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body like he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."

"Yeah, that'll happen." laughed Octavian.

"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.

"Octavian thinks like Percy. The world is coming to an end" screamed Dakota. Everyone laughed at that.

Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was two and a half metres tall with tattooed arms, leather armour and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds, I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've got into position so fast unless they knew I was coming.

"So he is trapped by the Titan lord and you say he can get out of this?" Gwen asked Nico. "Yeah." He replied blankly.

I looked up at Luke and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed... or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.

A voice inside my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?

"Because you'll lose now." said Reyna. "Even if Kronos did agree to fight you his army would just tear you to shreds."

According to the big prophecy, I was supposed to make some big decision that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now?

"Because it's not the right time. Prophecies always come true in the end." Octavian stated.

If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.

"Really, which ones?" asked Jason intrigued. "Ares and the rest you will find out about in this." Smirked Nico as Jason's face surprised them awed at Percy Jackson.

As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I had to remember that.

"Come forward," he said, "if you dare."

The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding.

"He hasn't got a weapon yet though" said Gwen.

I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it and Riptide grew into a sword.

Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a two-metre-long scythe, half celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind I charged.

Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep towards my death.

"He should at least get a fair fight." Jason complained. There was a round of agreement.

I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd got better at channelling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.

I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with laughter.

Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day now would be good.

"Yeah, like right now." encouraged Gwen.

Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.

"Go Percy!" shouted Dakota. "Take that Titan scum." "Dakota calm down he still has to defeat him" said Gwen soothingly. There was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

I struck at Kronos but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face – Luke's face, a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.

"Kronos won't hesitate to kill him though!" exclaimed Hazel. A few heads nodded grimly in agreement..

Kronos has no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back and the evil blade missed by a millimetre, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet.

I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backwards, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.

"That can't be healthy" laughed Dakota. Everyone cracked a smile despite the tense atmosphere.

Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirt sleeve and grazd my arm.

"Oh, no." whimpered Hazel. "Don't worry Haze Nico promised Percy would get out." Jason smiled.

It shouldn't have been a serious cut but the entire side of my body exploded in pain. I remembered what a ea-demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.

"Poor guy I can't even imagine what that would feel like. " murmured Reyna. "Losing blood that's happens to me a lot but your identity." No one else said anything but listened intently wondering how he managed to get out of this mess.

I stumbled backwards, switched my sword to my left hand and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.

"How'd he do that?" asked Dakota. "The only time I've ever heard of something like that is when Achilles bathed in the Styx." replied Reyna utterly confused about that.

Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."

"Luke had a big head." grumbled Nico.

My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head,"

Everyone turned to Nico and chuckled. He just shrugged.

I said. "But at least it was his head."

"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plans unfold. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus.

"You'll never make it to Manhattan."

"Is that where Olympus is?" questioned Octavian. No one answered."I guess we'll find out soon enough."

My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my eyes.

"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed a mask, unnatural and lit from behind like some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"

"Beckendorf." Gwen breathed. They'd been so absorbed in what Percy was doing that they had forgotten about Beckendorf. Reyna figured out why Nico looked so sad. Beckendorf was going to die.

He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"

A teenage guy in full Greek armour pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer and, in return, the little punk helped Kronos come back to life.

"They went in to the Labyrinth?" asked Hazel. "Yeah me too." replied Nico. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."

He clapped his hands and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armour was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.

"How can a demigod just stand by and help do that to someone?" asked Hazel sadly. 2They all shook their heads at the image. Any fun or happiness that had been in the room immediately, left, and was replaced by sadness at the image of Beckendorf being reduced to this.

"No!" I yelled.

Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet. And that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.

"You give them way too much credit. They aren't that smart." Reyna said dejectedly.

"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak into the engine room. Can we eat him now?"

"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"

"He was going towards the engine room, my lord."

"How do you know that?"

"Er..."

"He's dead" commented Octavian.

Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."

"He's clever Beckendorf isn't he?" said Reyna there was unanimous agreement.

Slowly I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he realized he was going to be capture, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.

Kronos hesitated.

Buy the story, I prayed. The p[ain in my arm was so bad I could hardly stand.

"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.

One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted and turned it upside down.

"That's going to scare some monsters" Hazel said. Dakota chuckled but the others all had their serious faces on.

Panicked monsters surged backwards. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.

"Peaches. I'll never look at them the same way again. I bet that put a twist in Kronos's toga" Dakota laughed. It was refreshing that the others laughed and had not miraculously turned into Medusa statues.

I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.

"Did you perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"

Ethan turned pale. "Um –"

"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"

Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.

I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: How long?

He cupped his fingers and thumb making a circle. ZERO. There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the whole ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.

Kronos turned towards me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson, but it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."

"The spy." They all muttered simultaneously apart from Nico, who looked down remembering who it was.

He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.

The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but i muttered, "Communication device...spy at camp."

Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends they will always let you down.

"That's not true I can count on all my friends and they don't let me down. I can even kind of count on Octavian if he's not trying to steal my position as praetor." Jason practically yelled. "Hey, I'm a loyal Roman that just wants what's best for the legion." smirked Octavian.

Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and surrender to me or your friend dies."

"What a horrible decision to make.2 commented Gwen.

I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him and, even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.

Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go.

So that's how it happened, Percy shouldn't blame himself it was impossible o get out of this situation. Nico thought sympathetically.

Shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.

The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – towards the watch on his right wrist.

I wanted to scream, No!

Then down by the swimming pool one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"

"He has no time." whispered Hazel worriedly.

Beckendorf closed his eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.

I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – towards the water thirty metres below.

I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pieced my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far far away – fifty metres, a hundred metres.

Even from a distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame rolling into the sky, consuming everything.

Beckendorf, I thought.

Then I blacked out and sank like and anchor towards the bottom of the sea.

The room felt cold. There were tears in Gwen, Hazel and to alot of peoples surprise Nico's.

"Okay, guys I know we're all upset that Beckendorf's gone but let's rea. I mean, who knows, Percy Jackson may kick some Titan arse soon." Jason tried to lift everybody's spirits.

"I'll read next volunteered Dakota.

"I Meet Some Fishy Relatives" he said.

A/N: Hope you liked it please review and tell me your ideas and comments on it. Next chap will hopefully be done within the week