Demigod driving was a term I hadn't fully understood until it was Nico's turn to drive my car.

Driving with Nico was like buying a one way V.I.P ticket to the underworld. He swerved in and out of lanes, checking only his rearview mirror when it was absolutely necessary, which was never. The kid probably didn't even know there was a break pedal. I clasped the door handle beside me with white knuckles.

I'll admit I debated jumping out of the car every five to ten minutes. At least.

Danny's eyes were clamped shut and he was mumbling what sounded like a silent Greek prayer.

"You sure you've got this, man?" Percy asked from the backseat. 

I caught a quick glance of Percy in my rearview mirror. The poor guy looked like he was going to be sick. His eyes darted back and forth between Nico and the road ahead as if he was expecting him to swerve into oncoming traffic any second.

"Yeah Perce, relax! I totally have my learner's permit."

"In what universe," Danny grumbled under his breath. Paris elbowed him in the ribs and smiled at Nico.

"You're doing fine, Nico. But, um," she cleared her throat and batted her eyes as if she were about to say something really sweet. "Would you mind if I took the wheel? Just until we find a rest stop or something."

"Okay. Are you sure though? I don't mind-"

"YES!" Everyone in the car yelled.

Unanimously, Paris was elected driver for the next hour and a half. Within that time frame, everyone had fallen asleep. Soft snores filled the car along with the sounds of California's Classic Rock Hits radio station.

Paris kept her eyes on the road the whole time. She didn't speak, nor make any attempts to start a conversation. It was a little out of character for her bubbly persona. With every mile, Paris' grey eyes seemed to darken in sadness. I wondered if she was thinking about Annabeth.

"Can I ask you something. It's kind of...personal. We don't have to talk about it," my voice broke the silence.

"What's up?" Her voice sounded calm and collected. She seemed to have a knack for hiding her emotions.

"Did you ever know her? Annabeth, I mean." I bashfully picked at the iridescent blue nail polish on my fingers. It was an old habit I had when I got antsy.

Paris tightened her grip on the wheel by a fraction. She didn't tense up or give any clues as to what she was thinking, but her voice was tight. 

"I was eleven when my entire family was killed by a monster. Everyone. My father, my stepmother, her children. It was looking for me when I wasn't home and my dad, he tried to...he tried to stop it. And he couldn't."

I thought I saw a tear trickle down her cheek but I assumed it was a trick of the light.

"Chiron and Grover came upstate to make sure I made it to camp safely. When I got there, Annabeth was head counselor of our cabin. She took me under her wing. Trained me at camp. Everything was great and we all fought in the war against the Titans but...we all thought she died trying to defend Percy." 

Paris took a shaky breath as if she was reliving her memories all over again. "She was like a daughter to Chiron. Nothing was really the same at camp afterwards. Thalia, your sister, refuses to visit anymore. Says it's too painful."

"My sister knew Annabeth?"

Paris' lips curled into a faint smile. "They were best friends. Practically sisters."

"Wow," I didn't know what to say. "Annabeth and Percy were pretty close too, right?"

"Are you kidding? They were crazy in love with each other. Everyone else knew it too. It was funny watching them pretend to hate each other for years, but they were like, total soul mates."

I felt an odd pang of jealousy in the pit of my stomach just thinking about Percy with her.

"But she's a psychopath now. She used magic to get me to steal from the gods." I couldn't hide the disgust in my voice.

"I know it can seem easy to hate Annabeth. Especially in the position you're in, but she was never evil, Orion. She fought with Camp Half-Blood to destroy the very cause Kronos stood for. She was never a bad person. Someone is using her. Whatever or whoever we're about to face isn't the Annabeth any of us ever knew."

  That was extremely hard to believe. I saw her in the vision Hades gave me. Her eyes were cold blocks of ice. There wasn't a single trace of kindness or mercy in her voice. She was an empty shell. The girl practically radiated evil. Instead of arguing with Paris, I decided to stop talking and watch the Pacific Ocean pass by at sixty miles an hour.

Four hours and six restroom breaks later, we were in the mighty city of San Fransisco. The five of us sat in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, staring in awe at the mountainous range ahead of us.

"I see it!" Nico exclaimed from the back seat.

"What? What is it?" Danny's eyes shot open.

"Mount Tamalpais. It's the Mountain of-"

"Despair," Percy finished Nico's sentence. "It's where the titan Atlas holds up the Earth."

I scoffed. "You're kidding, right?"

No one answered.

Clouds were swirling around the mountain's peak, almost as if something was luring them in. The mountain looked small from where we were, but as we exited the highway and drove closer it began to grow in size by the second.

"So, you're telling me a guy literally holds the weight of the world on his shoulders in there?" I gestured towards the mountains of doom.

"Yeah," Percy quietly mumbled. He didn't say a word the rest of the ride up the mountain.

"Aw man," Danny groaned. The fog around the mountain was beginning to thicken, making it harder and harder for me to see the winding rocky road. "It smells bad up there. And I mean...monster bad. Maybe we should come back another time! I hear it's beautiful here around winter time!"

Now it was Nico's turn to elbow Danny. "OW! Whats with you guys and elbowing today? Jeez."

"This is as far as I can go," Paris stopped the car in front of a neon construction barrier that blocked the entrance to the top of the mountain.

"We're going to have to walk from here." Paris slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Let's go."

Now the fog was really thick. All my eyes could make out were thick clouds of grey.

"Be careful," Percy said. "Mystical mist is really thick around here. This place can really mess with your eyes. Just concentrate and we'll be fine."

I gulped, trying my best not to look or sound scared. Out of the corner of my eye I could've sworn I saw faces of tortured souls. As I got closer, I could see they weren't just any tortured souls. They were my parents. Percy, Paris, and Danny's faces were amongst theirs too. It was my loved ones dying in front of me. I blinked heavily, forcing myself to ignore the faces and continued to trudge ahead.

"Guys!" Nico whispered. I followed the sound of his voice, finally making it out of the heavy fog. He was crouched down behind a snow covered rock. "Check this out," he moved so I could get a better look of the top of the mountain.

Annabeth Chase stood with her hands behind her back. She seemed to be supervising the hundreds of monsters laboring for her cause. Her hair was let down in waves of honey, cascading down her back and over her shoulders. Her eyes cautiously watched her minions. They were unloading large boxes from a U-Haul truck. 

What caught my eye wasn't Annabeth, it was the guy standing behind her. Every cloud in the sky above us seemed to meet with this guy's back, like one giant boulder. The veins in his neck were heavily protruding as he held up the entire weight of the sky. Talk about a workout.

Annabeth's minions carefully lowered a box to the ground before prying it open. Inside was what looked like a giant golden coffin. An identical one was placed right by its side moments later.

"What are those things?" Paris whispered under her breath. No one was moving a muscle.

"It's Kronos' tomb. And Luke Castellan's. Why is she doing this?" Percy's sad voice was laced with confusionand pain. I felt sorry for the guy. His eyes watched helplessly as Annabeth moved closer to the tombs and ran one hand along its ancient carvings.

"Um," Danny tapped my shoulder but I shook him off.

"Not now, Danny."

"Orion, I really think-"
     
     "What now?!"

I snapped my head to look at him. My mouth was wide open and ready to scold him but I couldn't. My eyes fixated on the dozens of silver colored serpents wrapping around his furry legs, making their way up to his face. There was one in particular that stood out; its scales were as white as the snow on the mountain and it's eyes were a deadly shade of neon green. It was about two feet wide and well over fifty feet long. The white viper slowly began to wrap itself along Danny's torso and began to wind itself towards his neck. I'd seen too many episodes of National Geographic to know that this thing was getting ready to squeeze the life out of Danny.

For his sake, I decided not to say anything or panic. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

"They're venomous vipers," Nico let the cat out of the bag and Danny whimpered in fear. "Don't move a muscle or they'll feel threatened and attack."

"Tempting," Danny seethed through his teeth and clamped his eyes shut as a serpent slithered over his face.

"I'm going to have to cut these off of you." Paris said. Her hands rustled inside of her backpack, pulling out a small glow stick. We were going to rave the snakes to death, apparently.

"Really?" Percy cocked an eyebrow.

"No," Paris snapped the glow stick and began to shake it. After a couple seconds the stick began to shimmer white in her hands, revealing a celestial bronze hunter's knife. "Not really."

Then the mother of all serpents began to speak. "I mus-ssssss-t feed my children."

"W-what was that?" Danny whimpered.

"I am Echidna, mother of ssss-serpents. Prepare to die, tas-sssss-ty ssss-satyr."

Paris raised her knife to attack, but the snake curled around her hand and squeezed. My friend bit her lip in an attempt not to scream and dropped the knife instantly.

"Foolish demigod! She will kill you firs-ssssst."

       She? Who was she?

Echidna curled her body tighter around Danny's midsection. She was slowly suffocating him to death. The silver snakes around his body began to move faster in excitement as he began to wheeze.

Percy slashed at the serpent's head with Riptide, killing it instantly. "I don't think so."

Danny breathed out a sigh of relief as the silver snakes crumbled into golden powder and disappeared. He touched his face and hair to make sure they were okay. It was good to see his priorities were still intact.

"Are you okay?" Paris asked Danny.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for having my back, guys," Danny clapped Percy on the back.

"Don't mention it, man."

"Aw, how sweet. Really, I'm touched." A voice immediately sent a freezing chill down my spine. I felt my blood go cold.

Reluctantly, I looked up. We were surrounded entirely by Annabeth an army of monsters. "It's about time you heroes joined the party."

Without so much as a single command, five burly men with a single eye in the center of their face rushed to Annabeth's side.

    "Disarm them, then bring them over to watch the show. Make sure to give them front row seats, will you? Oh and," she inched closer and closer to Percy until she was standing inches from his face. Her hand cupped his chin. "Make sure you sit this one. I want him to see everything." She smirked down at him while he attempted to break his chin out of her grip.

The men tightly clasped our hands behind our backs and shoved us to the side of the mountain. There was a giant wall in the shape of a C. It looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss novel, aside from the celestial bronze chains hanging down from it.

"Well this is fantastic," Paris spat. We helplessly watched Percy on his knees at Annabeth's side while she instructed her monsters. They were hauling out two more large rectangular crates from the moving truck. A couple of them helped carry three cases covered in cloth, but I had no idea what they could be.

   Paris, Nico, Danny and I could only helplessly watch as our hands and feet were shackled in place by celestial bronze. The more we struggled, the tighter our restraints became. We were doomed.

     Beyond the swirling mess of storm clouds, the sun was beginning to set. It looked particularly beautiful as the sun dipped over the San Fransisco Bay, shimmering orange and gold. Behind the Golden Gate Bridge I could see the burning ball of fire beginning to disappear into the dark waters below. I wondered if my father knew where we were.

"You see," Annabeth made her way towards the three cases covered in cloth. "I needed the three symbols of power from each of the Olympian brothers in order to activate a...vessel, if you will."

 She yanked the cloth off of the case in the middle, revealing a shimmering platinum lightning bolt, crackling and sparking with pure energy. My father's master bolt. Annabeth's eyes lingered on the weapon before she pulled the other two cloths off of the cases on either sides of the bolt. Poseidon's trident and Hades' spear hovered in the glass cases. The points of Poseidon's trident glowed green with power. I knew whoever stood at the other end of that thing was practically kelp.

   "I'm going to revive Chaos," her hand touched the glass of the case with the trident inside.

    "That's crazy, Annabeth. You can't do that," Percy said.

"But I can. And once he's alive, I'll give him this," a woman with snakes lining her head handed Annabeth a box carved out of solid gold. Annabeth carefully opened the box, revealing a golden apple. It shone brighter than any piece of jewelry I'd ever seen in my life, even underneath the dark sky.

"The Apple of Discord," Percy breathed out in complete awe.

"Look who actually paid attention in World History," Annabeth sounded sarcastic. "Yes, Percy. The Apple of Discord. For centuries both gods and mortals fought over this fruit. One so powerful it led up to the Trojan War. One bite and you inherit all its power. With the gods so worried about their toys, they haven't even noticed the apple went missing too."

  "All this for a stupid apple?" Percy spat at Annabeth.

     She smiled at him. " I'm giving it to Luke Castellan and Chaos. They will be able to heal themselves and rise to power." She looked over at the golden tombs with hope gleaming in her eyes.

"You're bringing back Luke from the dead? Are you insane?"

    "No, Percy. I was blinded by my love for the gods. We all were. I have a chance to rebuild the world we live in, to live in a new era. And you can all help. We all have our role to play in this war."

     "No way. You're completely off your rocker if you think I'm going to help you go through with this," Percy shook his head.

Annabeth crouched down to face him and held his face in her hand. "Percy, don't you get it? Luke was right. About everything. To think I almost sacrificed myself for you, for the gods! And what did I get in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was meant to be great. The greatest demigod architect in the world. The greatest warrior in demigod history," for a moment I thought I saw her grey eyes flicker, but they shifted back to blocks of ice. "Chaos and Kronos can give me that. With Luke and I as their transfer bodies, we'll be unstoppable. Please join me, Percy. Together we can take back Olympus. We can do what Luke always wanted and remodel it into our own. We can be together again." Annabeth was desperately pleading with him.

This girl was about to bring back two of the most powerful Greek entities to ever exist and she was pleading for a romantic companion. I clamped my eyes shut and tried my hardest to channel Percy. 'Beware the Daughter of the Wise One's seduction, Percy! Don't do it!'

  Percy bowed his head at Annabeth and she smiled in satisfaction. This was what he was talking about. His loyalty would ultimately lead to his own destruction. We had lost him.

Nico had his eyes clamped shut beside me. I didn't know if it was in fear or in concentration. Suddenly the rock holding his shackles in place began to crack. He was breaking out!

"That's brilliant," I whispered at Nico. His chains were now disconnected from the rocks that were holding the shackles in place. He unscathed his sword, slashing through his celestial bronze restraints as if they were made of butter. Then, he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke.

"He did not just-"

Danny shook his head furiously and mouthed, 'Look.'

The shackles above my head disintegrated as Nico invisibly slashed through them. 

Shadow traveling. The kid was a genius. 

I took my own sword out of my pocket and cut through my chains before proceeding to help Nico free Paris and Danny.

"I can only keep this up for so long," Nico clenched his eyes shut. I could see his powers physically draining his body. It was taking every last drop of his energy to keep us cloaked from our enemies. "We need to get to those crates and kill whatever's inside them. Orion, do you think you could summon lightning for that?"

There was a tense pause. All eyes were on me. I had never summoned lightning willingly, only that day I practically barbecued Stacy alive and the day I fought the Minotaur. Sure, I was able to shock Percy when he was being annoying and place small electric currents in my arrows but summoning lightning took a tremendous amount of strength and control. Pushing all of my doubts aside, I nodded my head.

"Yes. I'll do it, you can count on me."

"Great. When I lift this shadow Annabeth will be able to see us. Danny will distract her while Paris and I hold off the monsters. That should give you enough time to get to the boxes, get the three symbols of power and destroy whatever is in those crates."

"What about Percy?" Paris asked the question that was on everyone's mind. An uncomfortable silence lingered in the cold mountainous air.

"He can decide what side he'll chose to fight on when the time comes. For now, we leave him alone and only attack if he comes for us, alright?"

Everyone nodded then made a run for it.

"Bl-eeee-aaaahhhhh!" Danny let out what sounded like a mixture between a goat's bleat and a battle cry.

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as Danny hurled a chunk of rock towards her. Surprisingly, he didn't miss. The rock collided with her ivory skin, leaving a clear gash down the center of her cheek.

While Danny figured out a way to avoid sudden death, I charged for the wooden crates. I groaned as I desperately slashed at the wood with my sword. It began to splinter and break off , revealing what looked like solid gold underneath. The crate's four walls collapsed, revealing a golden coffin. Except it wasn't an ordinary funeral casket. It was absolutely breathtaking, with images of Grecian soldiers and Greek scriptures lining every inch of it. I used all of my strength to push off the million pound lid covering it.

    There are two other major categories in this world. Expectations versus realities. I expected to see a pile of bones and rotting flesh in the first tomb, but the reality was that it was a well preserved human body. Talk about a plot twist. The guy inside was about nineteen to twenty years old. His hair was an icy shade of platinum blonde, almost matching the cool grey tone of his dead skin. He had a beautiful face. Honestly, the guy could've been a Hollywood actor despite the long, pale scar running down the side of his left cheek.

   "Orion!" I heard Nico's voice scream from my right side. All of the hairs on my body stood on end. Someone was coming for me.

I spun around, now four feet away from Annabeth's bleeding face. There was a gleam of superiority and taunt in her eyes. She was powerful and wasn't shy about it. My eyes flickered over to Danny, who was knocked out cold on the ground beside her.

"Your friend didn't stand a chance," Annabeth swung for my head with a bone white sword, "maybe you'll actually impress me, daughter of Zeus."

"How do you know who I am?" I responded through my teeth as I attempted to use the hilt of her sword against herself, but she knew exactly what I was doing. She countered my attack, slashing at my right shoulder but I was quickly able to sidestep.

"You look so much like your sister. It's a shame you'll never know Thalia," Annabeth and I's swords came into contact, forming a deadly X.

"You don't get to decide what I do." I used all of my strength to push the blonde haired girl off of me. "You don't control me, Annabeth Chase."

I bent the air currents to my will and pushed my arm out towards Annabeth. The strong air current was enough to knock her off of her feet and send her flying through the air.

Annabeth did a backwards somersault on the mountain's floor before landing perfectly on her feet. The girl was probably half cat. She began to charge for me once again at full speed, but someone got in the way. It was Percy.

His sword collided with hers and they began to fight furiously right off the bat. He came at her with everything he had, but she didn't hold back either. Annabeth's blood began to mix with the beads of sweat trickling down her face. She looked exhausted but kept on fighting as if she had all the energy in the world.

"You will never beat me, Percy," Annabeth elbowed Percy and he fell back. She pointed her sword to his neck while he crawled backwards rapidly. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can still join me, my love."

Percy's stopped in his tracks. His face went slack. He looked as if he'd just had an epiphany. Then, he began to laugh hysterically.

"What?" Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows and jabbed the tip of her sword against his chest angrily. "Why in Hades are you laughing?"

"You are definitely, one hundred percent not Annabeth. She'd never say that."

Nico's silhouette shimmered behind Annabeth. With one quick slash of his sword, she collapsed on the ground. He didn't kill her, of course. There was still information he needed from her, but she immediately began to recoil in fear and angst.

    "Orion, go! Paris has got the bolt, I'll get the spear."

    My eyes flickered between Percy and his psycho ex-girlfriend.

    "I'll hold her off. You've got this."

Wasting no time, I sprinted back towards the coffins. Clamping my eyes shut, I half prayed for Zeus's help while trying to concentrate on the raging storm above. The air began to fill with an almost tangible sensation of static and the smell of rain became stronger. Then I felt it. The familiar tug on my gut and the rush of power coursing through my veins. There was a blinding flash of light and a thunderous boom immediately followed. When I opened my eyes the coffin was emitting a thin cloud of smoke.

"No! What have you done?" Annabeth's voice wavered and dropped six octaves. It wasn't...human. "You'll pay for what you've done, daughter of Zeus. Mark my words you and everyone you care about will pay."

Annabeth, the monsters and the tombs began to melt into water droplets, disappearing into the mist of the mountain.

We were left alone with the objects we had come to retrieve, but we would leave the mountain with an even heavier burden to carry.