Chapter 1

"Okay, so... you know how to do this, right?" said Percy. "Because I'm totally confused."

Annabeth sighed as she proceeded to make a transaction from the ATM. It was lucky that Percy had an emergency credit card. It was rather unlucky for him that he didn't know how to use it. He had her, however, and she considered herself to be somewhat skilled in the art of pushing a card into a slot and pressing a few buttons. "Typical," she muttered, smiling.

Once they had their money, they headed back to the food court. They had finally made it to Miami. It had taken 3 long days with a lot of noisy bus rides and very little sleep, but Annabeth didn't regret any of it. It had been rather exhilarating to step into the warm chaos of the Miami Bus Terminal.

"So, what's the plan, Captain?" said Annabeth, handing him the money.

Percy blinked. "Captain?"

"Would you prefer 'Seawood Brain'?" she suggested.

"Um, no. Percy's fine."

"Or, I could call you 'Kelp-Head'. That has a nice ring to it."

"Annabeth," Percy groaned, nudging her.

She laughed and held onto his arm. "Let's just go get something to eat."

Annabeth almost stopped moving as her growling stomach reminded her where they were. That's right. They had come to Miami, a huge city, without any clue how to find the Freedom Corps. Remembering this put something of a damper on her spirits. She instinctively clutched her locket, which felt warm in her palm.

Percy turned back to look at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Annabeth blinked a few times and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, let's go."

They walked to the closest street corner cafe and picked an outside table. Annabeth fished a large paper out of her backpack and spread it out on the table while Percy went to go get coffee and pizza. When Annabeth had questioned his food combination, he had just grinned and said "You never know until you try it!"

When he got back, he handed her her food and sat down. "A map, huh? Good thinking."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Yes, it would make sense to use a map to find a certain place, don't you think? Now, I was thinking that we should look for buildings on the map with names that might have something to do with the Corps. You know, codes, anagrams, anything like that."

Percy scratched his head. "This is supposed to be a top-secret government agency. Do you really think they'd make it easy enough to find that two teenagers could do it?"

"No," Annabeth said quietly. "But we haven't got any other leads, so we might as well start here."

Percy opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. His eyes were unreadable. He seemed to be realizing just how unprepared they were. But he still smiled. "Come on, cheer up!" he said, sitting down. "We're in Miami! We know exactly what city this base or headquarters or whatever is been. Now we just have to find it, like a sort of... hunt. It could be so much worse."

Annabeth sighed and rested her head on her hand. "I know. The whole situation just seems a bit precarious to me."

They spent hours looking at the map, circling different buildings with red marker and making huge X's over the parts where it couldn't possibly be. After the fifth coffee, Percy seemed to be ready to give up. Annabeth was sweating and her clothes were sticking uncomfortably to her skin.

She thought back to their meeting with Zeus. Is there something he said that could have been some kind of hint, something I missed? she wondered.

Zeus suddenly seemed very interested in the face of his desk. "I can't believe I'm about to tell you this," he murmured. "But... go to Miami. Miami, Florida. There's a base there. If you can find it, they'll tell you everything you need to know. About the Freedom Corps, about your father, about the locket, everything."

"Ugh!" She closed her eyes. "What am I missing here?"

The two people at the table next to them distracted her. She stopped ranting to listen for a minute. It seemed to be two police men, discussing a recent chain of robberies.

"You know as well as I do, it's the same people. Every description was matched, and every scenario exactly the same."

A sigh. "I know, Jim, but the Chief is convinced that there's something bigger going on here. It all has to be connected somehow, and-"

Annabeth's eyes snapped open. She stopped listening to the two police officers.

"What is it?" said Percy uncertainly.

"Connected," Annabeth breathed, her hands slowly unclasping the locket from her neck. She held it in her palm. "Give me the marker," she demanded.

Percy obliged. Annabeth set the locket gently down on the table and began to draw. She drew curved line after curved line, every swirl and angle exactly precise. When she was done she held up her locket triumphantly. "This is it!" She declared excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down.

Percy's jaw was nearly dropped, making Annabeth smile a little smugly. On the map, she had connected every X and circled building into a pattern of swirls and twists. She had used the markings to draw the Freedom Corps symbol, and atthe very center, a small plot of land fit perfectly.

"Not just anyone could find it, remember?" she explained. "Only someone with a connection to the Corps. And look at this." She shook the paper, her newly gray eyes glittering with pride.

Percy grinned and shook his head. "You, my friend... Are a genius."

"And you're just now realizing it?" she laughed. "Now, what's in the center?"

"Um... A baseball stadium?" said Percy, whose eyebrows were furrowed.

"You mean... The base to a secret official government society is a baseball diamond?" Annabeth said incredulously. She turned to get a better look at the map, in the process brushing against Percy's arm. He didn't seem to mind, and neither did she. It was almost... comfortable. And she was glad.

"Let's go," she breathed. "Let's go find the Freedom Corps."

Blah. School. I won't even try to explain.

Also, a few of you have asked if I will continue to be doing theme songs. The answer is no, seeing as I want to try something new. For The Freedom Corps, leave a review and tell me your favorite scene (and the page numbers) from any of the PJO or HOO books! Quotes would be preferable, but if you can't summarize the amazingness with less than an explanation, I understand. :)

If you want to know more about updates and such, my tum-blr is rebelgirl131. I usually give fair warning there.

AND OMG HOUSE OF HADES IS CURRENTLY BEING READ BY YOURS TRULY.

-Rebel