𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 - 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

¸„.-•~*°˜¨ 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 ¨˜ˆ°*~•-.„¸

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Phoenix, Percy, Annabeth, Davey, and Grover at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm.

As they trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, Phoenix half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for them. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches.

Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Phoenix, Percy, Annabeth, and Davey sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers-Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Clarisse was back from her secretive scouting mission. Phoenix knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize Percy. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

Phoenix waved at her and she nodded back, "Hey Sunny. I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said to the four with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth and Davey!"

Annabeth smiled at Phoenix and Percy, laying her head on Davey's shoulder gratefully.

"Luke is alive," Percy said. "Annabeth and Phoenix were right."

Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?"

Percy told her what his dad had said about the Princess Andromeda.

"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

Phoenix had a feeling that when she said "figure something out," she meant "get Luke to change his ways,"

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. Well... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it.

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but-"

There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came huffing into the parlor, his cheeks bright red from the cold. He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

Dead silence. Phoenix stared at Chiron. She couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And then she realized why. They'd been waiting for them to appear, to tell Nico in person. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

But they owed it to Bianca.

"Hey, Nico." Percy got up from his comfortable chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."

Nico did not take it well at all. He ran away and Percy, Phoenix, Annabeth, Davey, and Grover searched the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.