Annabeth

"To pay, you basically have to protect us," Milo began. "You see, monsters sort of crave this place, for it is a direct way to get to Mount Olympus. Usually, the monsters that come here can be defeated by our guards placed among this fortress, but every once in a while, a difficult monster comes at us. One that our guards are unable to defeat, due to our limited resources."

Percy cautiously raised his hand, reminding me of a school boy waiting to be called one. I smirked at the thought as Percy asked, "Um, but last time I came here, we didn't have to pay anything."

Theto frowned, as if remembering the last time Percy and his group came, then recognition dawned on his face. "Ah yes, Commander. I remember. It happened that the last time you came here, we didn't have any monsters that we were unable to defeat. And also, you were on a tight schedule, as the gods informed us, so we let you off on that one. Now however, your group has until tomorrow. And we have an available monster or two."

Percy frowned, then shrugged, accepting the answer.

This time, I asked a question, "Lord Theto, let me get this straight. So, we have to defeat these monsters, and that will be our payment to be able to go to Mount Olympus?"

Theto nodded, "That is right, Ms. Chase."

I pursed my lips. "Okay. When can we get started, and where are the monsters?" I interrogated, anxious to get this job done so we can be in Mount Olympus on time. Athena had informed me that she expected us there the night before, which gave us this afternoon to conquer whatever monsters we had to beat and get to Mount Olympus.

"Well, there are two monsters. And you can get started right after I tell you which ones," Theto replied.

I bobbed my head, "So... what are they?"

"A drakon and Kampê." Milo responded this time, seemingly excited about some of the two most feared monsters.

"What?! Those are two of the most dangerous monsters!" Lacy, standing across from me asked indignantly, her blond hair tossing in the wind.

"Oh, I'm sure you will be able to defeat them, if you are skilled enough. Oh, and one more thing. Only four people can do this mission. Two for the drakon, and two for Kampê." Theto said matter-of-factly.

"WHAT?!" This came from everybody's mouths. We all started talking about the suicide mission, the racket getting louder and louder by the second. People were yelling, shouting about how this was unfair, or asking who would give up their lives to do this mission.

"CALM DOWN!" Milo yelled. The talk slowly died down, and people were looking around warily, no doubt wondering which person they will most likely not see again.

Jason spoke up, "Lord Theto! Why can it only be four?"

Theto found Jason in the crowd, and addressed him, "It's how the missions go. Two opposers to each monster."

"This is insane! Do you want us to get killed or something?" The shout came from Frank's throat, and the minute he was done talking, the clamor rose once more.

"Settle down please! This was not our decision! We are not in charge of this! The gods thought of the payment, and they were the ones who decreed that there must be only two people a monster!" Milo yelled, trying to get his message across the deafening din.

Everybody became silent at that, and I understood why. It was our parents that were basically sending us on a death quest? Why would our mother or our father want to do that to their child?

"Why would they order that?" Hazel asked softly, but loud enough to be heard by everyone. I think it would be a safe bet to say that she had just voiced pretty much everyone's thoughts.

All of us were quiet, not answering Hazel's question.

A movement erupting from the side of the throng of motionless demigods grabbed all of our attention. Percy walked up to stand in the middle of the glass floor, looking at all of us, one by one.

"I know why. Think about it. Think about the gods' pride. They will probably be watching this, no doubt about it. They each will want their own child to do this. If their kid wins, then they will have something to brag about to their fellow gods. They will be cheering us on, but only for their own benefit. This is just something for the gods to have fun with and have something to boast about. They don't take into consideration that this is our life that they are having 'fun' with and can 'boast' about the things we do."

His gaze landed upon me, and we just stared at each other for a few seconds before Percy continued, "We can't let them have their way in this. I will fight one of the monsters, but I'm not going to let any of the gods take claim of my victory, if I do win. It doesn't matter that we can kill a big monster. The reason I kill monsters is to protect people. The commoners. The people that the gods don't care about. Nothing that I do is for the glory of myself. And the gods can't take my own glory, even if I don't want it. I'm not going to give them that satisfaction."

His speech was met with stillness. I admired Percy, for his humbleness. Even though I didn't like the thought that the gods, the rulers of our world, were power-hungry, prideful people, I knew it was true. Even the kindest god had the pride. It sort of came with the immortality. Percy was just stating the fact.

I am scared for Percy's life, however. It did seem like this was an impossible mission.

No. It's not impossible. If you have the right fighters, and determination, we can defeat these two monsters, no matter how big they seem. The drakon isn't invincible. Neither is Kampê.

I don't think anyone else will want to offer themselves on this quest though. I sighed, Well, if no one else is going to, I might as well. Someone has to. And I was with Percy on the the gods' pride and everything. I didn't care about glory either. At least, not right now. I just wanted to get this over with. But if I did win, then maybe my mother would think better of me.

One of my wishes is for my mother to look at me as her daughter, not as a relation and reminder of her murdered lover. This might do it.

I hesitated, then resigned myself to it. "I'll go." It came out as a small squeaky voice. Great.

I raised my voice, "I'll do it." I walked forward to stand by Percy, conscious of everybody's eyes on me. But someone grabbed my arm, stopping me before I could go any farther.

"No, Annabeth. You can't do this." Darryn said anxiously. Castor and Malcolm were beside him with worried looks well.

I glared at him, then tried to shrug his arm off, "Why not? Nobody else is going to do it."

All at once, all my guards started talking, volunteering. I looked around at them, astonished that they would all risk their lives for this.

"Why are you all offering yourselves now?" I asked curiously.

One of Apollo's sons that was one of my guards, Amarr, stepped forward, "Because, Annabeth. We are your guards, we aren't gonna let you go on a death mission. No, we won't allow it. One of us will take your place for you." The other guards sounded there assent in Amir's declaration. I stared at them. It was just now hitting me that as guards, they would all risk their life for me.

I guess when they became my guards, that was the risk they took as becoming guards. Their job is to protect me. I had always known that, but now I'm finally grasping the extent of my guards' safekeeping of me. It touched me that they were all good enough friends and true guards that they would do it for me.

But the catch is that they were my friends, and as much as I knew it was their job to protect me, I wasn't going to let them do this.

"Thank you all. But I'm going to do this. I know that this is your job, but I can't let you do this." I said, gently pulling out of Darryn's grip. They all at once started to object, but Theto's voice interrupted their protests.

"The lady has decided. No one can change that."

"But we are her guards, we can't let her do that!" Amarr argued.

Theto nodded, "I understand that. But once someone says that they will do this, there is no backing out. I'm sorry, but Ms. Chase has made her decision."

I swallowed, walking up to stand by Percy, Milo, and Theto. I stood straight, ignoring the stares.

Milo looked at the crowd again, "Anybody else? We need two more people to fight for you to have the chance to be teleported."

Nobody did anything for a moment, then I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I turned my eyes towards it.

Jason walked up to stand on the other side of Percy. He didn't say anything, just stood there solemnly, staring into space, not looking at anyone.

Soon after, Nico came and walked up to stand by me. He gave me a small half-hearted smile, which I returned.

Theto clapped his hands, then turned to us. "Alright, looks like we've got our volunteers. You will find the drakon in the meadow, and Kampê in the woods. It is up to you to decide who will fight which, and each of you get two weapons to fight with, other than your powers. If you fail, we wait a day, and then send out four more people to attempt this task. After you tell us which weapons you are choosing, we will send you off." He looked at Nico.

Nico shifted, then pulled out his stygian iron sword and a silver ring with a skull on it. I didn't know what the ring was capable of, but if Nico chose it for one of his two weapons, I decided that it must be pretty capable of something.

"Very well, Mr. di Angelo. And you, Ms. Chase?"

I didn't hesitate, but pulled out my dagger and throwing needles. Theto nodded, then eyed Percy.

Percy didn't pause either. He pulled out a pen from his pocket (what in Hades? I'll have to see what that does) and then just stood there. We all waited for him to pick another weapon, but he did nothing.

Theto raised his brows, "Well? What is your other weapon?"

Percy smirked, then brought his fingers to his mouth, and whistled powerfully. I flinched at the unexpected sound in my ear.

We all waited for about ten seconds, then I heard a horse neighing. A second after that, a black figure of a horse swooped down, landing so hard on the glass floor, I was scared that it would break, and we would all fall to our deaths, but it held.

Percy turned around and nuzzled Blackjack's ears, ignoring Theto's deep frown, "That is a horse!" Theto sputtered indignantly.

The of Poseidon moved his head to look at Theto with a are you serious? look, sarcastically saying, "Really? I thought it was the minotaur!"

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help from smiling. Blackjack would be a huge help to defeat the drakon.

Theto narrowed his eyes, "I meant that it's is not a weapon."

Percy swung around fully to face Theto. "I think Blackjack is a weapon. One of the most deadliest at that," he finished with a smirk. There was a slight staring contest between the son of Poseidon and the teleporting twin, but Percy held fast.

"Fine," Theto said, then ignored Percy turning to Jason. Jason took out a gold coin (another object that I had no idea what it could do) and then a shield. I frowned. A coin and a shield? Oh well, those were his choices.

"Very well. You have decided upon your weapons. Good luck," Theto said, then he waved his hand, and everything went black.