OK, so I've had the idea for a while and never really got around to typing it up. This first chapter really isn't going to be very good, but the rest of it's at least OK. The timeline of the story is set somewhere in the middle of Mark of Athena, before they meet Shrimpzilla but after Atlanta and Charleston.

Annabeth and Percy stood side by side, looking into the swirling green water of the ocean. The only sounds that could be heard were the swishing of waves and the purring of the engine. Other than that, all was quiet. Annabeth was the first to break the silence. "Percy," she said, hesitating before continuing. "What's wrong?" Percy looked up. His hair was messy and windswept, but his eyes were as green as the sea below. He smiled. "Nothing's wrong, Annabeth. Why would something be wrong?" The troubled look on his face that Annabeth thought she had seen was completely gone.

But before Annabeth could answer, the moment was shattered. A loud noise made them turn around. The door had banged open, and Jason stood in the doorway, looking panicked. "We've got a problem in the control room," he announced loudly. Annabeth quickly took control of the situation. "What kind of problem?" she asked, pushing her blonde hair out of her face. Behind her, Percy slowly stood, taking the pen out of his pocket. Jason said hurriedly "I don't know what it is, but it's having an influence on everyone… almost as if it's charm speaking them. Piper's not affected, and I only passed the open door for a second before she closed it, but it was almost impossible not to obey it." "It?" demanded Percy. "You keep talking about 'it'. What is it?" Jason shuddered. "It's… a thing. It's a glowing ball of light. Like a second sun. But it gets inside your head, and it speaks. No, it doesn't speak; it sings. Out loud, I mean, not in your head. It literally sings!" Annabeth looked troubled. "Let us see." Jason obviously didn't relish the thought of going back there, but he led them to the door of the control room, which was firmly shut. Annabeth went to open it, but stopped. "Percy," she commanded. "Go get the beeswax and cotton balls." Percy looked confused "Why?" "I'm going to make some very heavy-duty earplugs," replied Annabeth, "and I need those to make them. Please, Percy?" Percy sighed. "All right."

A minute or two later, he appeared with the beeswax and the cotton. Annabeth took one pair of them from him, handed another to Jason, and let Percy have two. She had four more, for Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Coach Hedge. "All right!" she shouted. "Put the cotton in your ears and cover it with beeswax!" Percy and Jason did as instructed, as did she. "ON THREE!" she yelled, much louder so that they could hear her. "ONE… TWO… THREE!" They burst in through the door to find Piper standing in front of a glowing, rippling ball that looked like a liquid sun. Coach Hedge and Leo had stretched out their arms, trying to touch it, to reach it. On their faces was a look of bliss, and a Wii controller dangled from Leo's wrist, forgotten. Frank was passed out in the corner, a large lump on his head, while Hazel had had the presence of mind to clap her hands over her ears.

They could see that Piper was doing her best to persuade Leo and Coach Hedge to stop, but they wouldn't listen. Her voice was no match for the song of that glowing white sphere. Annabeth ran over to Hazel while Percy and Jason took care of Leo and Coach Hedge. As soon as the earplugs had been made, Leo and Coach Hedge stopped forcing their way towards the glowing light, and Hazel took her hands out of her ears. Piper and Annabeth carried Frank out, and they all left that room.

As soon as Annabeth had shut the door, Percy removed his ear plugs. He gestured to the others to do the same. When all the ear plugs had been removed, Percy started to speak. "What happened in there, guys?" he asked. "How did this all start?" Leo started. "I was in the control room trying to sail this thing, with Piper and Coach with me. Piper was at least kind-of helpful. Coach Hedge spilled coffee all over the thing." "I did not!" denied Hedge fervently. "Yes, you did," confirmed Piper. "I have coffee stains on my shirt now!" Hedge started to speak, but Leo cut him off quickly. "Anyways, I was working with Piper and Coach Hedge when all of a sudden this light appears. We turn around, and there it is. The glowing light sphere. It wasn't singing at first, you know. It just appeared, and I was about to walk over to it and it started singing. I don't remember anything else." he concluded.

"Fortunately, I do," said Piper, taking over. "Leo and Coach Hedge started going nuts! They were trying desperately to get to the glowing ball. I asked them why and they said it asked them too. Not even my charm speak could knock them out of it. I yelled for help, and Frank and Hazel came running. Frank was enchanted immediately, and I had to knock him out with the hilt of my knife. Otherwise he would have bowled me over," she said, with an apologetic glance at Hazel. Annabeth leaned against the door and gestured to her to continue. Piper started talking again. "I knocked Frank out. I couldn't do that to Leo and Coach Hedge, firstly because Leo might have been able to help us later and we needed him conscious, secondly because Coach Hedge had knocked Katoptris out of my hand and I couldn't knock them out with my hands. All this time Hazel was slowly being enchanted. She's a bit more resistant to this kind of stuff, I've noticed, and she was trying to fight it, but it would have taken her over sooner or later. Then Jason came running. I yelled for him not to stop and to get you guys, and managed to shut the door. What was that?"

Annabeth sighed. "I don't know!" she blurted. "It's so frustrating, not knowing. But I do know one thing, and that is that if we want to find out what that is, we're going to have to go back in there. All of us." Leo took a step backwards, shaking his head. "No way, Jose. I am not going back in there." He waggled his Wii controller at the door. "Nu-huh. Not me." At this precise moment, Frank regained consciousness. "What happened?" he mumbled. "And why does my head hurt so badly?" Piper winced. "Sorry, I had to knock you out. It'll hurt, but it shouldn't be dangerous." Frank managed a smile. "It's OK."

Percy had been watching this exchange with interest, but now he said "Can we get back on track here? The only way to find out what that is, is to go back inside. Do we have any volunteers?" Hedge yelled "Me! I volunteer! I laugh in the face of danger. Bring it, glowing-light-ball-thingy!" He growled menacingly at the end of his sentence. Percy continued, talking over the Coach's monologue. "Piper, are you coming? We're going to need you if we get enchanted." Piper nodded, a determined look on her face. "Hazel and Annabeth should come, too. Hazel can help Piper. She's more resistant to this stuff. Annabeth, we'll need her intellect. I'm going, too. Are there any other male volunteers?" Jason looked at Leo. Leo looked at Jason. "Not it!" yelled Leo. Jason looked disappointed, but he stood up and joined the others. "Percy looked down at Leo. "Leo," he said. "Look after Frank, OK? If it's safe, we'll come to get you. We'll yell if we need help." Then Percy opened the door, and they all slipped inside.

Leo looked down at Frank. "I don't know about you," he muttered under his breath, "but I sure hope they don't need help."

As soon as Percy stuck his head inside, he knew something was wrong. All of the others had described singing, but he couldn't hear anything at all. Just… silence. He motioned for the others to come inside. As they did, he saw that it wasn't just him. The sphere wasn't making any noise. Coach Hedge grinned. "Not so tough now, are you, huh?" he cackled, motioning at the sphere as if to hit it. Percy grabbed his arm. "Don't touch it," he whispered. "We don't have the faintest idea of what it does. It could kill you instantly, or transport you into the deepest depths of Tartarus." Hedge looked slightly wilted. "How am I supposed to kill it if I can't touch it?" he demanded. "You don't," answered Annabeth. Percy let go of Hedge. "OK," said Piper. "How do we figure out what it does?" Annabeth smiled. She picked up a pen from the chair. "Like this," she said, tossing the pen high up in the air. It sailed through the light. There was no clink of it hitting the ground on the other side. Piper walked around the sphere and came back looking puzzled. "It's not there," she said. Annabeth nodded. "Some kind of portal. I knew it!"

"Where does it go?" Percy asked. "I don't know," said Annabeth. "I think the singing was like what the Sirens do. It was meant to enchant us into touching that." Percy shuddered. He'd met the Sirens, and had no intention of doing that again. "Is it safe?" Piper asked. "For now, yes," answered Annabeth. "Call Leo and Frank inside."

A few seconds later, Leo walked inside with Frank, who supported himself on the door frame. "It's safe, then?" he asked. "Kind of," answered Jason, who had been standing quite quietly the entire time. "Apparently, it's a portal. We don't know where it goes, but it's stopped singing so we figure it's… Leo? What's wrong?" This last part was because Leo was staring at the portal, looking terrified. "Is it me," Leo squeaked, "Or is that thing growing?" he motioned towards the portal. They all looked at it. Sure enough, it seemed to have grown at least a foot in diameter in the last few seconds. They all backed up, but it was too late. The portal grew with blinding speed, swallowing them all. And all went black.

Percy was the first of his friends to wake. He spit sand out of his mouth, looking around him. He was not on the Argo II anymore. He and his friends were all in a scrubby plain, with occasional hills rising up. He could see a camp in the distance. He tried to raise his head to look further, but suddenly couldn't. He looked down. There was a sword to his neck.

Thank you for reading this! Quick disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Percy Jackson series or in the Hero of Olympus series.

Please review!