The way I are - Timbaland

Y/N HATED PROPHECIES.

It was bad enough that the oracle had ignored him completely and answered Zoe instead. But the stupid poem itself made no sense.

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo took the other end. Thalia, Grover, Percy and Y/N sat along the right, and the other head counsellors—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers, sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

Zoe started the meeting off on a positive note. "This is pointless."

"Cheez Whiz!" Grover gasped. He began scooping up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and spraying them with topping.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. Y/N was surprised at how different she looked after just a few days with the Hunters. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's now, so you could actually see her face. She had a splash of freckles across her nose. "You heard the prophecy. Six shall go west to the goddess in chains. We can get six hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Campers and Hunters combined prevail. We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"Your" Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. "Yerrr. We do not need yerrr help."

Thalia rolled her eyes again. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "One shall be lost. One shall perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"We're supposed to work together," Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced, but Thalia had scored a point.

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and three," Y/N said.

Everybody looked at him.

"We're supposed to have six," Y/N shrugged. "Three Hunters, three from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"Well," Thalia said. "It does make sense."

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing the goddess's path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: The bane of Olympus shows the trail. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.'"

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding who she wanted to whack first. "This monster—the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis's side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everybody looked at Dionysus. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a young god, remember? I don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. They make for terrible party conversation."

"Chiron," Y/N said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. Percy's father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor Stoll said. (Y/N noticed how he said you and not we.) "It sounds like at least two of the six are going to die."

"One shall be lost in the land without rain" Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement. "And the Titan's curse must one withstand," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

Y/N saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it. "One shall perish by a parent's hand," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was heavy silence around the table.

Y/N glanced at Thalia and Percy. Years ago, Chiron had had a prophecy about the next child of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades—who turned seventeen. Supposedly, that kid would make a decision that would save or destroy the gods forever. Because of that, the Big Three had taken an oath after World War II not to have any more kids. But Thalia and Percy had been born anyway, and now they were both getting close to seventeen.

Y/N remembered a conversation that he had with Percy and Annabeth last year. Percy had asked her, 'if I'm so dangerous, why the gods didn't just kill me?'

'Some of the gods would like to kill you,' Annabeth had said. 'But they're afraid of offending Poseidon.'

Could an Olympian parent turn against his half-blood child? Would it sometimes be easier just to let them die? If there were ever any half-bloods who needed to worry about that, it was Thalia and Percy.

"There will be deaths," Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy is right," Silena Beauregard said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?" Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Y/N said. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously. Zoe nodded. "The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added.

"Yes," Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said innocently. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

Y/N knew the Stolls were up to something. They always were. But apparently Zoe didn't know them very well. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But... I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself." Bianca closed her mouth. Y/N frowned. He didn't really have a say in who was part of the quest from the hunters, but choosing a brand new hunter to go save Artimis herself? Not a good idea.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met Y/N's and he could see what Chiron was thinking.

"I'll go." Y/N said. He decided to project just a bit of emphasis into his words, giving them more believability. A warm draft filled the air, and the hearth burned just a bit brighter.

Zoe blinked, before shaking her head. "No." She said. "I will not take a boy on a quest to save Artimis. It is completely-"

"Still mad about capture the flag?" Y/N raised an eyebrow. Zoe blushed and opened her mouth to say something, but Y/N didn't let her.

"Let's list off some reasons as to why I should go, shall we?" Y/N held out his fist. "One. I've had experience on two quests. Both a success." He lifted a finger. "Two. I can keep us warm during the quest. My mom isn't the fire goddess for nothing." He lifted another finger. "And three. I have bested a god, a WAR god, mind you, in sword combat. You'll have a much better chance with me than anyone else." He raised another finger.

"Now let's list the reasons you have given as to why I SHOULDN'T go." Y/N narrowed his eyes at Zoe. "One. I'm a guy." Everyone was silent. Y/n lent forward, putting his hands on the table, his face twisting into a condescending smile. "That's not a very good reason, don't you think?"

Bianca raised an eyebrow, leaning over to Selina. "Does he always act like this?" She whispered to her. Selina had a nervous look on her face, and she shook her head.

Zoe sighed, biting the inside of her cheek. "Very well, you can go... demigod." She looked around at the rest of the campers. "Who else?"

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper," Thalia said. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered. Y/N didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoe thought it was a good thing. "Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her. No one did. Next to him, Y/N could see Percy have a sudden realisation.

"Whoa, wait a sec," he said. "I want to go too." Nobody said anything.

"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean... I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."

"He cannot," Zoe said. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with another boy."

"You let Y/N on the quest!"

"He..." Zoe looked uncomfortable for the first time since Percy had first seen her. "His mother has our favour. He will be useful. Even if he is a male."

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy.

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I have to go," Percy said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

Percy blushed. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!

Nobody rose to his defence. Mr. D looked bored, still reading his magazine. Silena, the Stoll brothers, and Beckendorf were staring at the table. YN stared at him. Bianca gave him a look of pity.

"No," Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take the satyr and the demigod if I must, but not you."

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

No one sad anything. Percy sat down, a dark look on his face. "So be it," Chiron said. "Thalia, Grover and Y/N will accompany Zoe, Bianca, and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"—he glanced at Dionysus—"present company included, be with you."

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.

.

Percy didn't show up for dinner that night, which was a mistake, because Chiron and Grover came looking for him.

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover said, sitting next to him on the bunk. "I didn't know they'd— that you'd—Honest!"

"It's okay," Percy lied. "Really. It's fine."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking... I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

"Grover," Chiron said, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?

"Sure," he sniffled. Chiron waited, "Oh," Grover said. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at Percy miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."

He trotted out the door, blowing his nose on his sleeve. Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "Percy, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself"

"What about Y/N. How come he gets to go?" Percy muttered. Chiron sighed, stroking his beard.

"He was Zoe's choice. Besides, he can be very... convincing... when he wants to be."

"Would you have chosen me?" Percy said.

"Frankly, no," he said. "You and Thalia are much alike."

"Thanks a lot."

He smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."

"We could handle it." Percy murmured.

"The way you handled it at the creek tonight?" Percy didn't answer. "Perhaps it is for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call."

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe." Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket and set it on his nightstand. When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon.

Percy didn't understand. Chiron pulled a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to him. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth... I almost volunteered for this quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"One shall perish by a parent's hand. Yeah." It made sense. Chiron's dad was Kronos, the evil Titan Lord himself. The line would make perfect sense if Chiron went on the quest. Kronos didn't care for anyone, including his own children.

"Chiron," Percy said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

Chiron's face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush."

Percy stood at the saltwater spring, rubbing Chiron's coin in his hand and trying to figure out what to say to his mom. Finally, he took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow. "Show me Sally Jackson," he said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And there in the mist was a scene he did not expect. Sally was sitting at the kitchen table with some... guy. They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was, thirty-something? With longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor—like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.

Percy was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, Sally and the guy were too busy laughing to notice Percy's Iris-message.

"Sally, you're a riot." The guy said. "You want some more wine?"

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh. The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

"Mom!" Percy said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on Percy. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

She blinked. "Homework." Then she seemed to understand the look on his face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul—um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

"Mr. Blowfish?"

"Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong. Percy told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.

 Sally sighed, "Oh, Percy..."

"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home." Percy muttured.

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"—she sighed again, like she was mad at herself—"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

Percy stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."

"You're... you're telling me to go?"

Sally pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that... you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this." The toilet flushed down the hall. "I don't have much time," Sally said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you'll do what's right."

"How can you be sure?" Percy said.

Sally smiled. "Because you're my son." And with that, she waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving Percy with one final image of her new friend, Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.

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.

Y/N didn't remember falling asleep, but he remembered the dream.

He was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above him. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, Y/N knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.

"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed. It wasn't Kronos. Kronos's voice was raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. But this voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.

Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We