I am so sorry, I just realized I posted the same chapter twice for Chapters 22 and 23. Sorry! Here's the actual chapter 23! :

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Annabeth

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We traveled hard and fast, for we had to get there earlier than the actual council.

In about a day and a half, we had reached the Teleporting Twin's fortress. We had decided that not all of us would go to Olympus for the council. Well, most of us would go, but a few would stay.

Most of Percy's group would stay, except for Jason, Nico, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and of course, Percy. All of my group would go, because my mother would probably want that. Out of Piper's group, it was just her and Lacy.

The people that were going to the home of the gods walked up to the fortress entrance.

The fortress was an impressive sight. It was about as wide and long as Athena's temple, but the height differed.

Most of the roof only reached about sixty feet, but one part looked to be at least twice that much. But it was only a small part, so maybe one room.

For the outside, it was mostly stone. There was a moat around it, and a large drawbridge stood up against the gate, making the fortress resemble a castle. The moat was made of dark looking water, that didn't look too sanitary. The weird thing was that the water was rushing, but the moat should go all around the fortress in a circle, and be the same depth. So I have no idea why or how it was moving. Maybe the Teleporting Twins had something moving it. Well, whatever was doing it, it was making it go really fast. The dingy liquid looked made a continuous rushing sound of water.

We didn't know what to do, so we went up to the edge of the moat, and Percy yelled, "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Commander of the God's Questers, and some of my warriors, Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, and her guards, and Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, and her sister."

For a moment, nothing happened, then a loud groan filled the silence. The drawbridge dropped, landing with a booming sound in front of us.

Dust flew up, and when it settled, we could see the iron gate in front of us. None of us moved for a moment.

Then, with deep breath, we started across the overpass. The clanking of our boots was the only sound.

We had figured earlier today that we didn't need to wear our full armor set, just a few choice pieces. Most people just took their shields, weapons, and breastplate and backplate. I was wearing my throwing needles scabbard, my blade, bracers, and a front breastplate and backplate on top of my brown leggings and grey tunic.

When we reached the gate, Percy raised a fist, and knocked hard. The booms were answered by a returning thumps, and the gates swung open.

So far, I had seen no one in the fortress, not even a guard. When we walked through the gate into the great hall, I still saw no one. I wondered who had let us in.

But my curiosity soon vanished at the sight of the great hall. "Great" was definitely a word to describe it.

The top of the room stood at least fifty feet tall, but I couldn't tell for sure, cause it was pitch black at the ceiling area. The only source of light were the green greek fire torches placed about ten feet apart until the end of the hall. The hall was about seventy-five feet long, and the door at the end was small in comparison to the corridor.

The passage floor was plain stone tiles, but the walls made up for it. Covering the walls were paintings and portraits. Several of them. Each illustration was incredibly detailed, from the lashes on the eyes, to the lace or armor designs on the clothes.

As for the actual picture, each consisted of either something that had to do with famous demigods or gods. For example, the biggest canvas, that was outlined by at least five torches, showed the faces of every twelve olympians. Another had Hercules killing the hydra plastered on it. Yet another had Perseus (not our Percy) killing Medusa.

As we walked to the other doorway, I was fascinated by the many artworks displayed. I soaked in as much as I could, remembering a detail or two that I could use on my sketching or paintings whenever I did my art.

One depiction caught my attention more than the others.

It was relatively large, but definitely not the biggest. Instead of being lit up by green lamps, the torches were burnt by regular fire, but it seemed more red than orange. The scarlet glow cast an eeriness upon the dark painting.

The main focus of the picture was a young man, maybe a few years older than me. He was standing, holding a sword that looked to be made out of two different kinds of metal. Maybe celestial bronze and steel. The blade looked to be about four feet long. His sandy blond hair was cut short, making his blue eyes stand out. His unsmiling mouth stood atop a strong jaw. He had the look of a swordsman, tall and muscular, with kinda big hands. You could say he was handsome, but I still would take Percy over him any day. Just saying.

The mar in his appearance was the thick scar, stretching from his eye to the corner of his mouth.

The background of the portrayal was interesting. Some of it consisted of the young man fighting something. I say "something," for I'm not really sure if it was a person. He was fighting what appeared to be a bright light, kind of resembling the sun. You couldn't see anything other than the light, almost as if he were fighting the light.

Another corner of the background consisted of blackness, the only thing you could see was two blue eyes, and a white scar. So it looked like two circles, and a blank line running from the edge of one of the eyes, stopping at darkness. I could tell that it was this young man's eyes and scar. Why they were the only things seen, and why the rest was dark, was unknown to me.

The last part of the setting was the young blond man covered in red liquid. Blood. He was smiling this time, showing a set of teeth also stained in blood. The grin was evil and made him look like a madman, a lunatic. His eyes were bright, but they were fill with chaos.

I shuddered at the last setting, and turned back to face forward.

We reached the next door. Percy knocked again. It opened.

When we stepped in, a wave of brightness washed over us. It was so light, because the roof ceiling was made of glass, letting us see the blinding sun and clouds wafting above in the sky. The substantial room was stone, just like the hall we walked through. It wasn't as tall as the corridor, nor as long, but it was way wider.

The first thing I saw in the room were the guards. About twenty of them stood at the exit, holding spears or swords. The sunlight reflected off their helmets and armor, making you blink, forced to look away.

Percy stepped up.

He opened his mouth to speak, but one of the guards beat him to it.

"WHO ARE YOU, AND STATE YOUR PURPOSE." The middle guard yelled.

I winced, not expecting the voice, much less the piercing tone.

Percy flinched at the booming statement as well, then said in an irritated voice, "Well, I was going to say, but you blasted out my eardrums before I could speak."

I rolled my eyes. Percy, we don't really want to get on their bad sides. I thought urgently.

As if hearing my thoughts, the lead guard's (I'm assuming he was in lead) eyebrows drew together and he said, "You don't want to get on my bad side, young man."

Percy inclined his head, then continued, "I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Commander of the God's Questers. And I have a few of my questers here with me."

The man nodded, "Greetings, Captain. And to you, Jason Grace, and Nico di Angelo. And who are the others?"

Percy replied, "Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, and her sister, Lacy."

The man dipped his head once more, then his keen eye turned to me, and his eyebrows rose, "And the gorgeous girl? I would love to know your name, sweetheart. And maybe a bit more." I flushed in anger, and was probably going to slap him, but I didn't get to it in time.

Percy's eyebrows drew together, and his eyes turned into mini hurricanes. He took a tentative step forward, his fists clenched, and said in a calm, threatening voice, "The lady's name is Annabeth. Daughter of Athena. And I don't think you should talk to her like that. I think you should apologize right now."

The guard's eyes narrowed, then he seemed to accept something, "Whatever. You have my apologies, my lady."

I nodded in acceptance, then the guard ordered the door open. We all hurried past, anxious to be out of the everlasting gaze of the guards. It was kinda eerie, in an unexplainable way.

Percy was walking beside me. I glanced at him, then muttered out of the side of my mouth, "Thanks, Percy."

He shrugged. "No problem. I hate it when men disrespect women like that."

I scoffed, "Well, it happens a lot."

He nodded, "Unfortunately."

We trailed into awkward silence, and after a little of that, I walked faster to catch up to Piper and Thalia.

We had walked into yet another hall, but this one wasn't nearly as big as the one before.

This door that we are walking towards, though, was by far the most impressive. Note the sarcasm. Correction: there wasn't any door. Really, it was just a door frame, probably wide enough to fit three people standing side by side.

The room on the other side was Olympus. Seriously. There it was. This is the doorway, and I guess we already got teleported, cause we were there. The bridge was white blocks of stone, about ten feet wide. The walkway itself was probably a quarter mile long, and then there was Olympus.

The sight of the home of the gods never failed to take my breath away. The stairway to the main building trailed off in many pathways, leading to different homes of minor gods, or nymphs. Each house was huge, and made of beautiful white stone. Green greek fire torches lit up everything, bathing the place in a gorgeous emerald glow. The roofs of the houses had carved statues, or flowers, or laurels, placed upon them. Beautiful trees, so beautiful and delicate that they looked unreal, were planted among the houses and roads. The main road and stairway was the prettiest. The white stones were polished so that even from the distance we were at, we could see the sun shining off of it. Torches stood on the posts set on the stairway. The whole floating mountain looked like you were getting a glimpse of heaven. It was so light, and joyful looking.

But even all of this would be considered dark and dreary compared to Mount Olympus. The white stones of Olympus were polished to be even brighter than the stairway. The columns used to support the magnificent home were each decorated with complex carvings, and ornate tops. The two large doors, and they were really large, like thirty feet tall each, were outlined in gold. Carvings and statues were placed everywhere of the gods. Gems decorated the entire building, sparkling with a light of their own. A fountain stood in the front of the place, spouting water out of the tip.

But as I looked at this magnificent view... I noticed something else. Something wasn't right about this. If you looked at the sight in the corner of your eye... it kinda... shimmered. Like there was heat waves. Which wasn't right.

"Woah! I'm gonna go get me on of those BEE-UH-YOO-TIFUL nymphs!" Leo said, emphasizing each syllable in the word "beautiful." He jogged confidently up to the sight, and was about to keep sprinting onto the bridge.

I realized what was wrong, and tried to warn Leo, but I was too late. Leo ran full on into a wall. He groaned, flattened against the solidness. Everybody in the group was chuckling.

I shook my head, "Leo, it's not real. It's an... image of some sort."

Then we heard a voice say, "The young lady is correct. This is but an image."

Another snickered, saying, "He he. This is "butt" an image." The person continued to chortle at the horrible pun. All of us were looking around for the source of the voices, but we saw nothing but the empty stone hallway and the image of Mount Olympus.

The first person sighed deeply, "Milo. That was the worst pun you have said so far, and you say so many horrid puns." But the laughing person just kept on sniggering.

"Where are you?" I asked cautiously.

"Turn around, my dear." The voice answered.

Everybody slowly turned around to see two men.

They were completely opposite. One was tall, one was short. The tall one had light blue eyes and short blond hair with a light complexion, and the short one had dark hair reaching his shoulders, and black eyes, and looked like he had just been out tanning for about ten years. They each were wearing the same clothes though, a dark red tunic and black leggings.

The short one nodded in greetings, and said in a voice that I recognized as the one who had said something first, "Greetings to you all, I am Theto."

The tall one grinned and said in a bouncy tone that clearly had made the pun, "What's up? The name's Milo."