ONE

I have a Bad Dream

It was dark, a few lights in windows in a building in the distance. A

large figure stepped out from behind a tree; it was huge maybe the size of

the tree it was behind. It looked like a large man but it was too dark to tell.

He started walking towards the building which I realized was a school, and

not just a school but the boarding school where Annabeth was going. The

man walked up to the side entrance and tried to open the door. It was

locked.

The man looked around to see if any one was watching before he ripped the

door off and threw it into the woods. He walked inside where it was even

darker I could hardly see anything but the man just kept going. He took the

stairs up to the dorm rooms a few lights were still on but most turned off in

a hurry when the man walked by them. Then he stepped in front of a room

and stood there facing the door, that’s when I got my first good look at him.

He was about seven feet tall, bulky. He just stood in front of the door for

minutes, an hour.

Finally he moved, he grabbed the door handle and tried to open the door. It

was locked. So he just ripped off the door. In side were two girls who

looked like they had just been woken up, which they had. One I recognized

immediately as Annabeth. My girlfriend. The other girl screamed but the

man was fast he had his hand over her mouth before I could blink. Then he

picked the girl up took a step towards Annabeth picked her up. One of the

teachers, at least I think it was a teacher came into the room and told the

girls to be quiet. But before she said anything she noticed the man. Her

mouth dropped open and she staggered backward. The man looked over his

shoulder but then just jumped out the window. Lightning flashed and I woke

with a start to lighting outside my apartment.

It had been a nightmare. But for demigods nightmares rarely ever mean

nothing. Sometimes they would be glimpses into the past or future and

sometimes they showed what was happening while you slept. I looked at my

clock. It was three in the morning. I decided to wait until morning to call

Annabeth because she would kill me if I woke her up in the middle of the

night.

Normally I would’ve called right then but I hadn’t seen a monster in almost

four months, since the war with the titans, so I figured it was just a regular

dream. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that.

In the morning I called Annabeth but she wasn’t there. I went through my

day worrying about her. Which wasn’t like me, but that dream really freaked

me out. I decided to go and visit her this weekend just to be safe. I didn’t

really pay attention in school, not that I ever did. But Paul Blofis, my step

dad and English teacher noticed.

“What’s wrong, Percy?” He asked

Paul knew my secret so I told him about my dream.

“I know I’m new to all of this but it sounds like your friend needs some

help.” Paul said.

The way he said friend made it sound special. He knew about Annabeth but

it was still weird. I walked out into the hall when a voice said

“Hey, Percy”

The English teacher being my step dad not many people talked to me unless

they needed help in his class. I looked and it was Travis Stoll from Hermes

Cabin.

“Hey Travis, what are you doing here?”

“Chiron sent me; we need you back at camp.” Travis replied

That got me excited if I was needed at camp in the middle of the year

something bad must have been happening

“How are we going to get to camp?” I asked

“Porkpie and Blackjack are on the roof” Travis said pointing up and

grinning wildly.

“Yo Boss!” Blackjack called “you need a ride?”

“Good to see you too, Blackjack” I said

Travis and I mounted our pegasi and flew to camp half-blood. It’s hard to

talk while flying so I didn’t get a chance to ask Travis what all this was

about. As we flew over Manhattan I always wondered what we looked like

to everyone below but I had never gotten in trouble so I assumed it was ok.

TWO

We talk to Malcolm

We landed in front of Thalia’s tree where Peleus the dragon was napping lazily in the sun. He had grown almost a foot since I had seen him

during the summer. It was only mid October but I already missed the place.

It had changed quite a bit there were more cabins and way more campers

and it was the middle of the year. Most campers went home for the school

year. The newest cabin that caught my attention was a black obsidian one

sitting opposite the Zeus and Hera cabins in the U the “big thirteen” I heard

it was now called. Nico di Angelo was standing in front of his cabin talking

to a bunch of new kids I had never seen before. I looked at the big house

and on the front porch were Mr. D and Chiron and Rachel playing Pinochle.

Most of the kids seemed around twelve so I felt a little out of place. Travis

went down to his own cabin and I walked to the big house. Rachel was the

first to notice me. Rachel was my age; she had red hair and brown eyes. She

was pretty I guess, but she was hosting the spirit of Delphi. Apollo’s Oracle

snake spirit. So Rachel could never have a boyfriend or get married. She had

taken over as the host over the summer after some pretty weird things

happened. But the former oracles spirit finally got to rest in piece.

“Percy!” she yelled

Then Chiron noticed me but Mr. D didn’t even look up from his cards. I was

used to that though. Chiron didn’t look happy. He was in wheelchair form, I

guess to keep the new kids from freaking out. I stepped onto the porch and

Chiron smiled but I could tell something was worrying him.

“Annabeth’s been kidnapped.” He said

“Oh, hello Peter Johnson.” Dionysius said as if he was just noticing me.

I, of course was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. Chiron sat there like he

expected me to act this way. After a few minutes my tongue loosened up.

“Where? When? How? Where is she now?!”

“She was at her school, she was taken last night, a monster dragged her and

her roommate away. As to where she is now… no one knows.” Chiron

answered, he tried to stay calm but he had a worried expression on his face.

“We will be starting a quest, Athena’s entire cabin wants to go, but I’m

afraid Rachel hasn’t made a prophecy about the quest yet. So no half-bloods

can leave.”

I looked at Rachel hoping she would give a prophecy but she just sat there

and looked embarrassed. She and Annabeth had some trouble getting along,

so I figured she wasn’t too eager to give the prophecy but it was true that

she couldn’t control the spirit. I tried not to get annoyed.

I walked down to the cabins; I figured my mom would want to know that I

wouldn’t be coming home from school tonight. I walked into my cabin and

saw a girl there, she looked about my age. She had green eyes and black

hair. She looked a lot like me. At first I was panicking remembering my

dads “joke” during the summer about me not being his only kid. I wasn’t

sure what to make of her.

“Hello Percy Jackson, I’m Agete. I have come from your father’s court.”

She said

I let out a sigh of relief, not that I didn’t want siblings I just didn’t like the

idea that my mom wasn’t the only one my dad had broken his oath with.

“So why are you here?” I asked

“Your father sends some advice and a gift.” Agete said

She reached in her pocket and pulled out a fish made out of bronze. She

handed it to me so delicately you’d think she was part of the bomb squad.

“And next your father wants you to know that life is a fragile thing.” Agete

continued

Before I could ask her what that meant she stepped into the fountain and

disappeared. I was left with a bronze fish and the knowledge that life is a

fragile thing. I wasn’t sure what the point of all that was but I walked

outside my cabin. I guess that was the first time Nico noticed me because he

fought his way through the new kids who were pestering him and came over

to me.

“Welcome back.” He said

“Your cabin looks cool.” Was all I could think to say?

“Thanks, so how’s school been?” he asked

“Pretty good, I mean it’s school but good.” I said

We stood there in silence for a few minutes before Nico said

“What are you going to do about Annabeth?”

The question hit me harder then I expected, I mean she was my girlfriend

and all… Nico must have realized he hit a soft spot.

“She’s not dead.” He said trying to cheer me up.

It didn’t work. I walked off and the new kids swarmed Nico again. I didn’t

have a clue what to do. Whenever that happened I would call Annabeth but

since she wasn’t here I decided to ask her half-brother Malcolm for help. I

knew he would be eager to help, Annabeth was his little sister, and he had

the brains to figure it out. I found him where he usually was. He was sitting

up on Zeus’s fist and reading a book. He didn’t even notice me.

“Malcolm!” I called

“Percy, I’m busy what do you need?” He sounded like Annabeth the way he

said that. My heart felt heavy.

“Your help.”

“With what?”

“Finding your sister.”

“Then you’re late. My whole cabin is doing all they can already. Unless you

have a lead-“

“But I do have a lead.” I remembered my dream. The guy had to be and

adult half-blood.

“How big a lead?” Malcolm asked

“We’re looking for and incredibly strong adult guy half-blood.”

“How do you know that?” Malcolm asked looking a little annoyed

“I had a dream.”

Malcolm looked at me skeptically before accepting it.

“So now what?” He asked

“Well that’s why I came to you.” I said

We gathered the people who cared about Annabeth the most; Me, Malcolm,

Clarisse, Nico, Grover, Conner and Travis, and one of Annabeth’s little

sisters. I think her name was Sophie. Basically the kids who had been at

camp longest. Nico kept looking at Sophie shyly, I thought that was a little

funny but I didn’t say anything.

“Ok” Malcolm announced, “We know what we’re up against, but we don’t

know where he is. Does any one have any ideas on how to find Annabeth?”

Grover raised his hand

“I might be able to lead us to her with a tracking song, but I’d need

something of hers first.”

All eyes turned on me and I felt my face getting red.

“Uh, Malcolm you’re in her cabin right? So uh, maybe you could go grab

something of hers?”

“Can’t” he said

“She took all of her things with her to her school.” said Sophie

“Maybe one of us is supposed to lead the quest,” I suggested desperately

“maybe Rachel can give a prophecy to one of us.”

It didn’t sound very solid, not even to me but since we had no better ideas

we all walked up to the big house. The sun was beginning to set.

THREE

I tell Rachel the Idea (Two Newbie’s)

We told Rachel what our Idea was and she agreed to try to help. We

waited on the porch for our turn to see Rachel inside the big house. Nico

went first, nothing happened. Then Travis, still nothing. Conner, nothing.

Clarisse, nothing. Grover, nothing. I went in and sat down across the table

from Rachel. She sat there waiting. Nothing happened.

“Sorry Percy.” She said, “It’ll work with the right person.”

I got up and walked back out onto the porch.

“Not me.” I said as every one looked up

“Alright, Sophie, your turn.” Malcolm said

Sophie got up and walked past me into the big house. It was weird how she

reminded me of Annabeth when we had first met. Same blonde hair, same

gray eyes. All the Athena kids shared those traits, but the way you could see

her mind racing, and she was scared but kept going. She made me think of

Annabeth and I got upset again but more determined about this quest if

anything. Sophie came out. She shook her head and sat down. Malcolm

stood up looking proud; obviously thinking it would be his quest. All the

kids want to lead quests but sometimes it really shakes people up. He went

in. A few minutes later he and Rachel came out.

“Sorry guys,” She said, “I know this is important but the spirit doesn’t give

a prophecy unless the person who –“

“Ya, Ya. We know how it works.” Connor said, obviously miffed about

something.

We all sat on the porch thinking about what to do. A few minutes passed and

my mind started to wander. I started thinking about Annabeth’s and my first

kiss back under Mount St. Helens more then a year ago. Then our real first

kiss just this summer, at the dinning pavilion then under the lake. I got even

sadder. Then some one screamed from the top of the hill. We all looked up

and there was a satyr with a kid at the top of the hill running for the big

house. We all got up and ran towards the kid.

He was a little scratched up, really shaken up, and yelling for his sister. I

made the connection before the other kids. I ran to the top of the hill where

a fight was going down between Peleus and a giant. It wasn’t really a

contest Peleus was burning the monster and scratching but what worried me

was the girl unconscious on the ground between them.

I ran as fast as I could towards the girl, not even thinking about the giant.

That’s part of being a half-blood you do things with out thinking them

through. I got to the girl, and the giant seemed to notice what I was going to

do, because her gave up on Peleus and came after me. I picked the girl up

and stared running. She looked about ten. The giant was gaining on me. I

wasn’t going to make it to the hill when suddenly a hole opened in the

ground and swallowed up the giant. I looked up and saw Nico. He had

stabbed the ground with his sword and opened a one way ride to Tartarus.

That trick really drained him though. He staggered and sat down. Every one

else finally showed up.

“A giant,” I said, “chasing that boy and her. Thanks Nico.”

“Yep” Nico said

He looked tired enough to sleep right there. Malcolm offered to take the girl

down to the big house, so I let him. I sat on the top of the hill with Nico for

a minute.

“So, what are you going to do about Sophie?” I asked him

His face got really red, even after the sun set I could still see it.

“How, did you know?” He asked, his voice sounded a little softer then

usual.

“I can just tell.” I remembered Beckendorf and how he knew about me

liking Annabeth before anyone else knew. I reached up and felt my bead

from the summer. It had all the names of all the people who died in battle

with the titans, which included Beckendorf’s name. I felt sad again. We had

lost twenty four campers and sixteen hunters. That was more then half the

campers last year but even now in the middle of the year when most kids

were gone we had about sixty kids here. They would have been a big help

last year although most of them were about twelve.

“So what should I do?” Nico asked

It felt weird Nico asking me for advice on girls, I still had questions myself.

“Well, after the quest is over, you could ask her to a movie.”

We sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“We should check on the new kids.” Nico said

I agreed, we both stood up and started walking. Then Nico tensed. He drew

his sword and pointed it at Thalia’s tree. Something in a silver robe threw a

paper airplane at us. Nico and I looked at the paper airplane which stopped

right in front of us and fell to the ground. We looked back towards the tree

but the thing was gone. I reached down and picked up the paper and we ran

down to the big house.

The boy was pacing around the guest room and the girl was still

unconscious in bed. Argus was standing in the corner like he did whenever a

new camper was “hospitalized” it looked like things would be ok because

the girl started to wake up. Her brother ran over to her bedside. She opened

her eyes and tried to sit up. She let out a yelp and lay back down. Sophie

came in with a tray of ambrosia squares and a glass of nectar. Another

painful reminder of Annabeth; my first year at camp she had been the one to

nurse me back to health after my fight with the Minotaur. Sophie set the tray

on the nightstand and put ambrosia square in the girl’s mouth.

“It’s okay,” Sophie said, “its medicine.”

After two more ambrosia squares and a few sips of nectar the girl looked

like she was back to regular health. I turned to the boy.

“What’s your name?” I asked

“I’m Tommy.” He said in a relieved voice

“What’s your sister’s name?” I asked

“H-Her name is Sara.” He said

“Sara,” I said, “can you sit up?”

She nodded and slowly sat up.

“How old are you?” I asked her.

“I turn thirteen tomorrow.” She answered

“Ok, you’ll have your cabin by tomorrow.” I said “and how old are you?” I

asked as I turned to Tommy

“I’m ten.” He said

I looked at Nico who was watching Sophie. I couldn’t help smiling, I

wondered if I used to be like that around Annabeth. Then Rachel walked

into the room and nearly collapsed. She stood up tall and faced Sara and

said

“You shall gather two and go west,

To find the man who thinks himself best,

You’ll find who is lost and two who are here

And face the one who causes fear.”

I recognized that as the Oracles voice, I looked between Sara and Rachel.

She had been looking at Sara, no question about it. Sara looked ready to

pass out. Sophie, Nico, and I hurried out onto the porch where everyone else

was waiting.

“She’s going to be fine.” Sophie said, “There’s just one thing-“

“Sara, the girl, got the prophecy!” Nico blurted

“Well what was it?” Malcolm asked

I took a deep breath

“‘You shall gather two and go west,

To find the man who thinks himself best,

You’ll find who is lost and two who are here

And face the one who causes fear.’ ”

Every one thought about it for a minute.

“Does she know what that means?” Malcolm looked at his sister

“Not yet,” Sophie said, “She’ll be claimed by tomorrow at the latest.”

“So… she’s going to take two companions with her to go find Annabeth and

two people will beat her there?” I guessed, “‘The one who thinks himself

best’ might have been the guy who took her and ‘the one who causes fear’

might be Phobos.”

I looked at Clarisse, she and I fought Phobos a year-and-a-half ago. I guess

she was thinking the same thing because she said;

“Percy and I have experience with Phobos, we should go.”

“Too bad it’s not your choice,” Malcolm said, “It’s up to Sara.”

“How are we supposed to break it to her?” I asked “She doesn’t even know

she’s a half-blood.”

We all thought about it. It usually takes a few days for the idea of being a

half-blood to sink in. We had all been there.

“Either way she’ll be claimed tomorrow, she’ll see the stuff around camp.

She won’t be denying it much longer.” Malcolm said

Then Chiron came up to the big house in centaur form.

“What are you all doing up here?” he asked

“We have two new campers.” Clarisse said

“The girl already got the prophecy to go find Annabeth.” Connor said still

looking upset.

“Their names are Sara and Tommy,” Malcolm said, “They don’t even know

that they’re half-bloods.”

“So, they haven’t been claimed?” Chiron asked

We all shook our heads.

“How old are they?”

“Sara is twelve she’ll be thirteen tomorrow. Tommy is ten; I don’t know

when his birthday is.” I said

Chiron sighed; he trotted over to his wheelchair and human legs and got

into them. He rolled himself into the house. I knew he was going to break it

to Sara and Tommy that they were half-bloods. I looked around and it

looked like every one was having the same thought. “Who is she going to

take?” If the prophecy was right (and it always is.) half of us would be

going anyway.

FOUR

Somebody owes me a favor

“Once Sara picks the two to accompany her we’ll hold a competition.

First and second place get to go.”

It didn’t really sound fair to me, if it was something with riddles then Sophie

and Malcolm would be going, if it was a race then Nico and one of the Stoll

brothers, if it was a fight it would be Clarisse and me. We all decided to go

to bed and meet in the morning.

I’d like to say I had a pleasant nights sleep, but it was another nightmare.

Annabeth and her roommate were in a dungeon, chained to a wall. It was

dark and wet. Her friend seemed to be crying and Annabeth looked like she

was about to cry too. Which made me want to hurt who ever was doing this

to her. Then some one said

“Well, well, your fears are quite interesting.”

I couldn’t remember what Phobos sounded like from our encounter a year

ago, but I was sure it was him.

“Leave, Kate alone! I’m the one you want anyway!” Annabeth yelled

“Oh, but your not the one we want,” said a huge man

As he walked over close to Annabeth I was able to see him and I realized

that he was the guy who had taken Annabeth and her friend (whose name

I figured was Kate.) from their dorm room.

“I want the world to rightly fear my name! Phobos just wants revenge.” He

said

“Revenge?” Annabeth asked, “What did I ever do to him?”

She said him like she would say freak or monster.

“You did nothing personally.” Phobos said, “But your friend did.”

“Which friend?” she asked

But I already knew; Annabeth had been taken hostage to get me to fight

Phobos and his friend.

“The son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson!” They both said together

Even though it was just a dream I already felt sore from the whipping

Annabeth was going to give me.

I woke up to banging on the cabin door. I got up, it was still dark out, and I

opened the door. It was Malcolm.

“Percy! You and I are going right now!”

I figured he and I had the same dream. I threw my stuff into my backpack

and followed him to the sword arena.

“We don’t even know where to go! How are we supposed to find her?” I

asked

“We’ll figure that out, but I know who’s holding her.” He said

“Me too, Phobos took her to get back at me.” I said half apologizing

He ran up to Mrs. O’Leary.

“Hey girl,” He said, “can you follow this scent?”

He held up a pillow to her nose. She barked, I assumed that meant yes.

Malcolm climbed up on her back.

“C’mon” he said, “We’re shadow traveling.”

I had almost forgotten that Mrs. O’Leary could do that. More importantly

how did Malcolm know about shadow traveling? The fact that Mrs. O’Leary

could do that was between Nico and me. I didn’t have time to think about it

though because Mrs. O’Leary was getting ready to go. I hurried onto her

back and we flew through the shadows across the country.

For those of you who have never done it, shadow travel is like a roller

coaster in the dark. You can’t see any thing and its icy cold. One second

you’re standing still the next your going a thousand miles and hour, and you

can’t see the miles flying by. All you can feel is the back of the hellhound

you’re riding.

We came out of the shadow traveling very abruptly and we were in the

middle of a potato field.

“Where are we?” I asked Malcolm

“I don’t know,” He said “but we’re close to Annabeth”

“How do you know?” I asked

“Mrs. O’Leary is following her scent.” He answered

I wondered how Mrs. O’Leary could follow the scent how ever far away we

were from camp but I didn’t argue because it was the closest we would get.

Mrs. O’Leary looked tired so Malcolm and I got off. We looked around,

there was a farm house in the distance, other then that there wasn’t anything

around. We let Mrs. O’Leary sleep and started walking towards the house.

Malcolm drew his sword and I pulled out Riptide everything was quiet as

we got closer to the house. The lights were off inside. I couldn’t tell if the

house had a basement, so we walked around to the front of the house and

knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before a light came on inside the

house. A man opened the door. He was wearing boxers and a T-shirt and a

straw hat. He had salt-and-pepper hair and looked like he hadn’t shaved in a

few days.

“Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night sir.” Malcolm said “But we

were hoping you could tell us where we are.”

“Come in” the farmer said

We walked inside behind the farmer. Still holding our swords but the farmer

didn’t say anything. He walked into the living room/kitchen/laundry

room/bedroom. There were clothes all over the floor He poured five cups of

coffee. It seemed like an odd number to me, but I didn’t say anything. The

farmer turned around and took a few steps down the hall.

“Pho, Tony! We’ve got company!” the farmer yelled

“Oh, joy.” One voice said

“My name is ANTHONY not TONY!” another voice yelled

I wasn’t sure if I recognized the voices. The farmer turned back towards us

and set two of the cups of coffee on the table next to us.

“Sit down boys” the farmer said

He still hadn’t noticed our swords. We both took a chair and sat. A man I

recognized as Phobos walked down the hall. I jumped up immediately and

held my sword up to him. Chords came out of the chair Malcolm was sitting

in and he couldn’t move or talk.

“You don’t want to do that Percy.” He said

“Why don’t I?” I asked

“Because then your friends would die.” He said it as if he were trying not to

laugh.

A huge man came up behind Phobos and he was holding Annabeth and Kate

with one hand and held a knife to their necks with his other.

“What do you want?” I asked

“To fight you again.” He said, “Just remember if you lose you die, and if

you win,” he chuckled, “your friends die!”

“Your dad owes me a favor; want me to use it on you?” I asked

Phobos laughed

“Nice try, but he can’t interfere. It’s against ancient laws.” He said, “Now

come quietly or your friend dies.”

FIVE

I’m not gonna fight him

I was marched out of the house at sword point. After about a mile on

a road surrounded by nothing, a car pulled over by us.

“Get in.” Phobos said

So I did. Malcolm was still tied to the chair, but the man named Anthony

was carrying him.

The car wasn’t anything special just a large black SUV. The inside wasn’t

anything amazing either. I sat down in a seat. Phobos got in behind me, still

holding a sword to my back. Anthony put Malcolm in the trunk and threw

the girls on the floor. Then he got in the drivers seat. Only then did I notice

that no one had been driving the car.

“So Percy,” Phobos said, “It’s been a while, let’s catch up. What have you

done since we last met?”

“Me? Oh, well, you know. I stopped Kronos from coming back, which

probably saved your sorry butt. Became invincible, visited the dead, lead an

army. Just some simple stuff. How ‘bout you?” I tried to sound tough but

truth is I was scared; my friends were being held hostage and were going to

be killed if I didn’t cooperate.

“Well, I had a much better time then you I’m sure. I had a few kids, met a

few nice girls. Speaking of girls.” He said as he turned to Annabeth

“I heard you two are together now… she’s such a pretty girl isn’t she

Percy?”

He lifted her face with his foot, now I could see that Annabeth had been

crying, I couldn’t see Kate but I knew she was crying too.

“Where are we going to do this?” I asked

“Why so serious, Percy?” he said, “Relax while you can! You’ll be dead

soon, enjoy yourself now.”

I looked at Annabeth who was bound and gagged on the floor. She looked

like she wanted to tell me something.

“We’re here!” Anthony yelled

He stopped the car and I was forced out. I looked around and the only thing

that seemed different was that the farm house was gone. Which I knew also

meant Mrs. O’Leary was gone too.

“We’re fighting here?” I asked.

“The middle of nowhere! What better place to bury your body?” He laughed

“So, Anthony. Who’s your Olympian parent?” I asked turning to him

I knew Phobos didn’t like being ignored so I’d try my best to get them to

fight with each other.

“Ares” He grunted “So can I kill him or what?”

“Ya,” Phobos laughed “Lets kill him!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Two on one, that’s not fair!” I said

“Ok, Phobos. Let me fight him alone, after all I’m the best fighter ever.

What’s he gonna do?” said Anthony

I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it, it grew into a three foot long celestial

bronze sword. Anthony just laughed. I thought about how strong he was. He

would crush me if I tried directly blocking. He grabbed a sword off the

passengers seat. It was about five feet long, I wasn’t feeling very good about

this. We walked away from the car a little ways. Phobos made a can of coke

appear out of air, he started drinking like this would be a fireworks show. I

shouldn’t of looked over at Phobos because when I looked Anthony charged

I couldn’t block so I dove to the right and tried to cut him while I rolled but

he swung at me as I rolled. Our swords met and I went flying. I felt myself

sailing through the air before hitting the ground. My sword landed a few

feet away but Anthony was already on top of me. His sword was at my neck.

“This guy seriously beat you Phobos?” Anthony asked

“Shut up, he caught me off guard.” Phobos yelled back

“So can I kill him yet or what?”

“No! I want to!”

Phobos was pouting like a little kid, but I was still scared. A sword appeared

in his hands as he walked over to me. I didn’t think that Achilles curse

would extend to executions, my sword had disappeared, only a short time

before it appeared back in my pocket. But I needed it now!

“First I’ll show you what you truly fear.” Phobos laughed

He was standing over me, his eyes started to turn into flames. I should have

looked away but I couldn’t.

The scene changed, we were back at camp half-blood. The big house was

burning, and so where the cabins and strawberry fields. At Phobos’ feet

were my closest friends even the ones who were already dead. Grover,

Tyson, Nico, Bianca, Thalia, Luke, Clarisse, Chiron, Malcolm, Salina,

Beckendorf, Connor, Travis, and Pollux. They were all on the ground

bloody and dead. Phobos was holding Annabeth, she was still alive. Before I

could move Phobos raised his sword. But when I saw Annabeth new

strength found me, like when I stepped into the ocean. I got up, my pen re-

appeared in my pocket, I charged Phobos. That hadn’t been what he was

expecting because he hesitated. I stabbed him in the neck. He screamed.

The scene faded, we were back in the potato field. I really had stabbed him

and he was bleeding Ichor, the golden blood of the gods. I looked away,

with a flash of light Phobos was gone. So now it was just me and Anthony.

He just smiled. I knew I didn’t stand a chance, he had already beat me in

two swings.

“So why are you doing this?” I asked

“Because, if I can beat you then everyone will know that I’m the best fighter

in the world!” He yelled

“Well, you’ve already beat me, why do you want to kill me too?” I asked

“Proof!” He shouted

“Oh,” I grumbled

He drew his sword again. I got a crazy idea, even by my standards. He

started running at me. He was fast, he closed the distance in a few seconds.

“I’m not going to fight.” I said

He just about dropped his sword when I said that. I capped riptide and put it

away.

“Fight me!” He said

“No!”

“Fight!”

“No,”

“Why not!?” He asked

“Because, you want the feeling of killing me in a fight. I’m not going to let

you feel that way.” I said

“Coward!”

“I don’t care. I just want my friends back.”

I walked past him over to the car, opened the door and cut Annabeth free. I

was expecting a punch in the face so I was surprised when she jumped up

and hugged me.

“Percy!” she said

I was so happy to see her I didn’t know what to say. She leaned in so

quickly I couldn’t react, she kissed me. Kate was watching so I felt a little

embarrassed.

“I-I’ll get Malcolm…” I said

I walked around to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Something

hard hit me on the back of my head. Everything went black; all I heard was

Annabeth yell

“Percy!”

SIX

I Knew This Was Too Easy

When I woke up I was chained to a wall in a dark wet cellar. I looked

around and saw Annabeth, Malcolm, and Kate also chained to the wall.

They were all unconscious. As my eyes adjusted I could see further in the

cellar and sitting across from me was a skeleton. Chains still around its

wrists and ankles.

I sat in the dark for a while, but time’s tricky underground so I didn’t know

how long. Finally Annabeth woke up. She looked around, when she saw me

she started attacking me with questions.

“Where are we?”

“How did you find us?”

“How did we get here?”

“Are you alright?”

“Annabeth, calm down” I said “I don’t know where we are, we found you

with Mrs. O’Leary, Anthony brought us here, and I’m fine. What about

you?”

“I’m ok.” She said, “So, what do you know? I mean, about our situation.”

“Well Phobos will be gone for a while, Anthony is a crazy good fighter,

we’re probably in the basement of the farm house, back-up is coming, and

we’re-”

“Back up? You actually thought ahead and made arrangements for back

up?” She sounded surprised.

“Yeah, well no, Malcolm did.”

“Well still help is coming?”

“If they can find us.”

“WHAT?!” Ouch! that hurt and she hadn’t hit me yet. “They don’t know

how to find us?”

“Not exactly”

“You know what seaweed brain, your head can really be filled with kelp

sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

Even in the dark I could see her smile.

“So how are we going to get out of here?” I asked

“Jeez do I have to do everything?”

I waited a few minutes while she thought of a plan.

“Percy, can you see Kate or Malcolm?”

“Uh, sure, why?”

“Wake them up.”

“KATE! MALCOLM! WAKE UP!” I yelled

They still just laid there.

“Are they okay?” Annabeth asked

“I can’t tell from here.” I grumbled, “Maybe if I could get un-chained…”

After sitting a few more minutes in the dark I had pretty much lost hope. We

waited and waited but nothing happened; Anthony didn’t come back, neither

Malcolm or Kate showed any signs of waking up. We just sat quietly.

Eventually I guess I fell asleep.

SEVEN

I Finally Escape.. Or so I think

I can’t remember much after I woke up. I remember that drowsy

flashes of fights. But I don’t remember fighting much at all really. Most of

what I remember was waking up for the third time at Camp Half Blood in

the infirmary.

“Percy, how do you feel?” I heard Chiron say as I returned to

consciousness. “Wha-what happened?” I asked rubbing my eyes. “You

defeated Phobos,” Chiron said as I yawned. “And Anthony.” I stared at him

with my eyes filled with confusion. “Yes, you did. You refused to fight him,

but he attacked you anyway. After that you were drugged and you had

drowsily fought a battle after we came. There was a major battle.” Chiron

said. “Well what about Malcolm and Kate?” I asked him. “They couldn’t be

woken.” Chiron answered. I felt ashamed even if it wasn’t my fault. “If you

wish to see them, they are still on the beds across from you.” Chiron finally

said getting up to go. After he left I jumped off my bed and took one last

look at them before Grover came in. “Percy! We’re having a four way

Capture the Flag! It’s gonna be wicked!” Grover said patting me on the

back. “Uh-huh, Uh-huh. So why is that we are having a Capture the Flag

after a battle?” I asked raising my eyebrows. “Well- uh, the Hermes cabin

thought it would be a good idea to have a training battle after a real battle.

Besides the newbies need training.” Grover said skipping out the door. I

shook my head and followed him out putting my helmet on.