Ron Puckerman knew that the time had come for him to deal with Luke Castellan. He had spent most of this story running from and dodging monsters, not to mention escaping from the cruel older demigod on a number of occasions. All of that was enough to make him give up, but Ron knew that he wasn't a quitter. But enough was enough.

Luke Castellan needed to go down.

Ron said to the others, "You guys go distract those monsters; I'll deal with Luke." As the others rushed off to engage with the monsters, Ron pulled his pen from his pocket. The pen turned into a sword. Ron held up the sword and thought to himself right, Luke. You and I have a score to settle.

-----

Meanwhile, Jacquelyn was standing at the Hollywood Tower of Terror. As she watched the line for the ride grow, she recalled an incident last year where she, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were tricked into going on the ride:

Harry said, "No, dude, we're not going on that ride!"

"Then you're not a man," said a boy named Ramiro Glynn. "You can't call yourself a man until you ride a man's ride!"

"Forget about it!" said Jacquelyn. "If Harry says we're not going on the ride, then we're not going on the ride! And that's it!"

"I rather we ride the Cars ride," Harry snapped, but Ramiro shoved him into the line for the Tower of Terror. "I didn't come here so that we can ride no damned kiddie rides," he snapped. I came here for the big rides! Now, are you going to ride this ride or not?"

Jacquelyn shuddered as she recalled her cruel older cousin forcing Harry and the others to ride the big rides. At one point, Ramiro took her aside and said, "I would suggest that you leave these guys. They're no good for you. Anyone who isn't part of the family is the enemy."

"You have no right to talk about my friends like that," Jacquelyn snapped as she glared at him. "You don't know them, and you certainly don't know me!"

"But Jacquelyn," Ramiro began to say, but she shut him up by saying, "And if you say that anyone who isn't part of the family is the enemy, then you are the enemy!"

"What?" Ramiro cried out.

"You and your entire family are dead to me!" Jacquelyn screamed as her mother came to retrieve her.

"Hey, Jacquel," Hermione's voice cut into her thoughts. "Are you OK?"

Jacquelyn faced Harry and Hermione and said to them, "Ok, guys, what's going on here?"

"What are you talking about?" said Harry.

"Luke captured you, didn't he?" said Jacquelyn. "I know he did; he said so himself. Plus, I heard that he killed Ron's family, am I right?"

Harry and Hermione stared at her in fear; they had no choice but for tell her the truth. Harry said, "Luke had killed the Weasleys and it's all my fault! I should have gone with you when I had the chance!"

"Yes, Harry, you should have gone with us," said Hermione. "If you had gone with us, then maybe things would have been a whole lot better for everyone. The monsters wouldn't have chased us around so much and you could have explained everything to that Luke guy about why Ron was living with the Weasley family..."

"Okay okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Harry cried out. "I messed up big time. I'm an idiot. But don't take my head off just because you're mad..."

"Oh, Hermione and I are definitely mad at you," Jacquelyn snapped as she glared at him. "You ditched us when we needed you. Ron spent a good portion of the summer worrying about you, knowing that you had ditched us in the middle of New York City. Now, you have a crapton of explaining to do when Dumbledore asks you why the Weasleys are dead..."

She would have continued, but the Hermaphrodite had found them. He stared at them with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Harry said to her, "What the hell is that thing?"

"Oh, that's a hermaphrodite," said Jacquelyn. "They lurk in the shadows where no one can see them, and they pounce on you and attack you if you're not careful. I should know, as this thing right here attacked me while I was in Vegas..."

"That monster attacked you while you were in Las Vegas?" said Hermione. "He's hideous!"

"I heard that," the Hermaphrodite snapped as he glared at the children. "For escaping from Luke and telling lies about him, I'm going to capture you all..."

"RUN!!!" Jacquelyn yelled as she pulled out the wand that she had stolen from Circe and zapped the Hermaphrodite. Then she, Harry, and Hermione fled from the Tower of Terror as fast as they could.

-----

During the duel, Ron pounced on Luke and they both fell to the ground. They began fighting as Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Clarisse fought against the other demigods. What started as a simple duel soon turned into a full-scaled battle, with Ron and Luke at the center of the storm.

Luke laughed as Ron struck at him. "You still think that you can defy me?"

"I have been defying you since I first came to Camp Half-Blood," said Ron. "You said that I would never amount to anything, that I was not a demigod. But you're wrong. I am Ronald Puckerman, the son of Poseidon and Joanna Puckerman. Yes, I was raised by wizards, but they couldn't make me one of them. I am a demigod, and it's time for you to accept that, for better or worse!"

Luke struck him, saying, "You're right, Ronald Puckerman. You are a demigod. But you are also a fool. You are blind to the troubles that you have seen. This so-called "wizarding world" will face destruction from the gods when I reveal to them who had stolen their child." He leaned over and whispered, "And by the way, I never killed your weasel family; I only said that to force you to leave them and their pathetic world. And I guess my trick worked because you no longer belong to them. Molly Weasley killed your mother, and in doing so, the wrath of the gods should have sent her and her family to their graves. But since it didn't happen, I had to switch to the next best thing, which was to have them abandon you and leave you at the mercy of various monsters that lurked in New York.

"But little did I know that you would bring your spellcasting friend with you and that other girl as well. I had done my job too well, because I have given Kronos enough information for him to destroy the magical world and everyone living in it.

"Now you know the truth about yourself, Ronald Puckerman, so the next question is this: what are you planning to do with the information that you were given?"

"Well, I intend to tell everyone back at the camp about who and what you really are," said Ron, "and there's nothing that you can do to stop me."

"Is that so?" Luke said as Ron glared at him. "Well, I'm afraid that I will have to stop you from doing that."

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Ron taunted him.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you," said Luke. "As you can see, I already won. I got you away from those so-called "friends", save for the spellcaster. I brought you here. But somehow, you must have forgotten about how inadequate they made you feel. The wizards had no right to be keeping you, so I'm going to teach them all a lesson about messing with the gods. Also, I might devise an ending for the girl who betrayed you. But if you play your cards right, you will be known as the Son of Poseidon, and the whole world will know who you are."

"Thank you very much for telling me that," said Ron, "but I must go and see if you are just telling another lie. You know how I feel about lies."

"Understandable, seeing as you've been lied to your whole life," said Luke.

In response, Ron smacked him with the remains of his old broken wand and he fell to the ground, unconscious. He then turned around and saw his friends, who were losing the fight against the other demigods. He rushed over to join them as three large wolves arrived to scare off the cruel demigods.

-----

Meanwhile, Jacquelyn, Harry, and Hermione were walking through the park, trying to avoid the hermaphrodite, which was still chasing them. Harry said to her, "Is it true what Luke said about Ron being a demigod?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Jacquelyn. "But it's not what you think."

"What do you mean?" said Harry.

"What Jacquelyn is trying to say is that Ron wasn't who we thought he was," said Hermione. "I mean, I was skeptical about the whole thing while Jacquelyn knew exactly what was going on..."

"Not really," said Jacquelyn as she sat down on a bench and stared at the ground.

"Are you OK?" said Hermione.

"Jacquel, what's wrong?" said Harry.

"It's something that I'm thinking about," said Jacquelyn.

"What is it?" said Hermione.

"I'm so sorry that our friendship will be ending before the summer is over, as my mom is moving us back to New York," said Jacquelyn. "Plus, my mom doesn't want me to talk to you guys anymore."

"Really?" said Harry. "Why not?"

"I can't say, but that's how life goes," said Jacquelyn. "We can't always keep the friends we have; there will be time in our lives when we make new friends and have to leave our old friends behind, and there are times when we must turn our backs on our friends for many given reasons..."

"If this is about Dumbledore, we completely understand..." Hermione began.

"It's not about him!" Jacquelyn snapped. "I mean, I just found out that my mother has gotten remarried, and her new husband doesn't like or approve of magic. Sara was already sent away to juvenile hall for defying him and Jeremy is in a children's hospital after his last meltdown almost killed five people, so I don't have any other choice but to move to New York."

"Well, that sucks," said Harry. "Without you, who's going to help me when times are tough?"

"Just tell that Dumbledore guy that you have had enough of his nonsense," Dudley said as he saw them.

"Dudley, what are you doing here?" Jacquelyn snapped as she saw him.

"Because you're here," said Dudley. He stared at Harry and said, "Can I hang out with you guys?"

"NO!!" Harry, Hermione, and Jacquelyn snapped.

"Awww..." Dudley said with a huge frown on his face.

"Now let's get back to the others; I'm sure that Ron might need our help," said Jacquelyn.

"I'm sure he will, if we can get past HIM first," Hermione said as she saw the hermaphrodite rushing towards them.

"Oh no, not him again!" Jacquelyn snapped. "Will he NEVER take a hint?"

"That's the problem with bad guys," said Dudley. "They don't know when to quit."

"Indeed," said Jacquelyn. "Although you might want to take a step back..."

"Why should we?" said Hermione.

"What you're about to witness is a magic battle," said Jacquelyn.

"Big deal," said Harry. "We have magic battles all the time at Hogwarts."

"Not our dueling class," said Jacquelyn. "This is an actual magic battle, in which magical beings cast spells that are powerful enough to destroy each other."

"This is why you've always held back in class," said Hermione. "You're way too powerful for Hogwarts!"

"Exactly," said Jacquelyn. "This is why you can only see my toys and games..."

"Why?" said Harry.

"Because when it comes to true magic," Jacquelyn continued, "you'll never know how inadequate being a wizard is when you compare his powers to the power and might of a spellcaster!"

As she finished, Jacquelyn raised her hands and she seemed to take off all by herself in the air. The hermaphrodite saw her and said, "So, you're trying to destroy me, aren't you?"

"To be honest, though, I've had just about enough of you," Jacquelyn snapped. All you've done was chase me and my friends around, never giving me a second of peace. It's on now. If you want me, you're gonna have to come and get me."

"Oh, is that so?" said the hermaphrodite. "We'll see about that!"

Within a few seconds, Harry, Hermione, and Dudley watched in shock as Jacquelyn-Claire Alexandra Ulrich, the former Pink Princess of Hogwarts, engaged in a deadly magical battle against the hermaphrodite. Hermione gasped, knowing that she had seen Jacquelyn go from being the fourth-best student at Hogwarts to a powerful and deadly spellcaster within a matter of weeks. The tourists, not knowing that they were witnessing a magical fight to the death, applauded and cheered as they saw the duel taking place. Jacquelyn ignored the cheers; she had a score to settle.

After a long battle that did some considerable damage to the park, Jacquelyn zapped the hermaphrodite and they both fell to the ground. Hermione said to her, "Remember what you said the night we both got sucked into the world of Greek Mythology?"

"Yes," said Jacquelyn. "We'll be paying for that soon."

While the girls were talking, the hermaphrodite pounced on Harry, but Jacquelyn zapped him. Harry said, "Are you seriously trying to kill me?"

"Oh, you silly little boy, if you can't beat me, then how do you expect to beat the Dark Lord?" The Hermaphrodite laughed as he mocked Harry. "You can't. But I have a solution that will benefit everyone."

"What are you talking about?" said Dudley.

"I have the perfect punishment for him," said the Hermaphrodite as he reached for Harry. "Maybe things will be better for little Ronnie Puckerman if he had never met Harry at all..."

"NOOOO!!!" Jacquelyn, Hermione, and Dudley screamed as the Hermaphrodite had touched Harry, turning him into his earliest life form. "What did you do to him???" Jacquelyn yelled.

"Oh don't worry, sweetheart," said the Hermaphrodite. "I didn't kill him, just made him go back to his childhood. This time, he'll be a good boy and not play with magic."

"So, did Luke really kill the Weasley family?" said Jacquelyn.

"Yes he did," said the Hermaphrodite. "They knew they were wrong to kill that poor woman and steal her son. They deserved the death that we gave them."

"Oh," said Jacquelyn with a strange look on her face. She had liked Fred Weasley, but Fred was dead more, along with the rest of his family. They would never get the chance to marry or have children.

She then said, "What are you intending to do with Harry?"

"He has another chance," said the Hermaphrodite as he handed her the tiny creature. "Don't let him waste this chance."

Jacquelyn nodded as she saw a huge bird flying towards them. Not another California Condor, she thought to herself. But the bird swooped down and picked her up, carrying her away. Hermione and Dudley gasped in horror as two more birds picked them up.

-----

Meanwhile, the group was close to losing to Luke's henchmen, despite Ron, Magnus, and Magnus's brothers Hansel and Francis joining them. Annabeth saw a monster reaching out for her to claw her to death, but Ron jumped in front of the monster and it stung him in his chest.

"Ron!" Annabeth cried out in terror, but then a Cyclops pounced on the monster and tore it apart.

"Is that you, Tyson?" said Ron. "Are you reaching out to me from the Great Beyond?"

"I'm still alive," said Tyson.

"I thought you were dead!" Ron cried out. "I saw Luke shoot you with a crossbow! How are you still...alive?"

"Son of Poseidon," said Tyson. "I fall in water and get healed."

"Indeed," said Ron as he tried to sit up, but he was filled with poison. "Oh no," he cried out as he fainted.

"Annabeth, what happened to Ron?" Percy cried out, but then a flock of California Condors showed up, swooping the demigods onto their backs and fighting off Luke's henchmen. When the group was safely on the backs of the condors, the condors took off into the night sky.

~to be concluded...