Annabeth had had the smoothest travel she'd ever had from San Francisco to New York.

The ticket was issued smoothly, the boarding queue cleared just as she entered. She got her favourite raspberry milkshake as complimentary refreshments. Not a single turbulence hit her plane. Not even a slight jitter. It was such a smooth ride that she'd even managed to fall asleep after being kind of sure that there were no monsters on board (one could never be one hundred percent sure). Her luggage was the first to arrive on landing. Not a single delay.

Now, for anyone else, they'd be the happiest person in the room. They may think of themselves as being on liquid luck. But Annabeth was no mere mortal. She'd grown highly suspicious of her good fortune since that morning. And why shouldn't she? There was no such thing as coincidences or being lucky when one was a demigod. It only meant one thing, divine intervention.

She was proved right in a few minutes, when she'd checked out from the airport and a sleek black car with flame designs printed over it came and stood in front of her.

She was worried for a second that she'd somehow gotten entangled with Ares, the God of war, but was then thrown into a loop when the door opened automatically and a woman sat in the driver's seat. 

She reminded Annabeth of Thalia for a minute, with her punk vibes. But while Thalia preferred an all black outfit, the lady driving wore a blood red crop top and black jeans. Her hair in a choppily cut bob. With thick eyeliner and black lipstick, along with long nails painted blood red, she was the most fashionably dressed punk she'd ever seen.

"Hop right in!" The lady nodded to the seat next to her, with a haunty arrogance only a goddess could muster.

But who was she? Certainly not one of the major goddesses like Athena or Hera. Was she Eris, the goddess of strife? Nah... Too posh. Maybe, Hecate, the goddess of Magic and witchcraft? She would've had a staff... It was then that she realized that the woman's appearance had changed. 

She now looked like an Asian lady with pearl necklaces and a plain dress. She looked like her stepmother, only younger. And then she saw the goddess's features changing to a freckled face with bushy red hair. She didn't want to admit whom that person looked like.

"Your Nemesis" Annabeth said, her voice wavering slightly. The woman laughed at this, before changing to her original form. "Tsk.. Tsk.. Annabeth. Took you long enough. I was expecting you to be a lot quicker than that." She said, driving out of the airport now. She had no idea where she was taking her.

"I don't hate Thalia" She muttered, looking out at the window now. "Oh, you think so you don't. You hate her for leaving you and Luke alone the first time. You hate her for not trying to save Luke last winter. You hate her for escaping the prophecy and abandoning you again. You hate her for not being the child of he prophecy... "

Annabeth didn't know what to say to that. She she got to the matter at hand. "Why have you brought me here, my lady?" She asked, still reeling from the outlook she'd just been represented.

"You'll see in just a sec" She winked, stopping the car. They were somewhere in the outskirts of New York, with no idea where she was. It looked like an abandoned neighborhood.

"What do you know of Helen of Troy?" She asked, looking at the largest structure in that area, an abandoned factory." "She was your daughter... With Lord Zeus." Annabeth started, and on seeing Nemesis' face at the mention, hurried along. "Famed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was born from an egg. Married to Menelaus, the King of Sparta. Started the Trojan war when she eloped with Paris, the Prince of Troy. That's the summary I guess."

"Did you know she had a ceremonial dagger. An enchanted Katropis. It was recovered by a muggle archeologist a few years ago. Fortunately for him, he was robbed of he dagger in a few hours after he aquaired it. This place has borne the blade's misfortune since then. I want you to retrieve the blade after defeating it's Guardian."

"And why would I do that?" The thought slipped past her lips, with no regard with respect to whom she was talking to. Percy's thickheadedness must have rubbed into her too. "No, offense my lady, but you've chosen to to support the Titans in this war. Why would I willingly help you?" "I'm not just the goddess of revenge, Annabeth, I'm also the goddess of Balance.

The Olympians have gone too secure in their place. They have no respect for the minor gods. It's time to shake things up.

Moreover, this quest has nothing to do with the Second Titan War, I swear upon the river Styx." She promised, a strike of lightning sealing the oath.

And with that, Nemesis vanished, car and all. Annabeth stood alone in the deserted neighborhood, with only her backpack in hand.

******
Annabeth wished the goddess had given her a bit more information regarding the guardian, but she knew how gods worked. Her eyes narrowed at the crumbling buildings and fractured windows, each casting elongated shadows under the setting sum. She made her way toward the hulking form of the abandoned factory Nemesis had indicated. Rust-streaked windows loomed above, empty and watchful. Each step echoed, the silence of the town thickening around her, its quietness unnervingly unnatural.

Inside, the factory was a collection of old machinery, rotting crates, and faded posters. The air smelled stale, like dust and rust. Every creak seemed to carry a sinister intent, setting her on edge. She drew her knife, feeling the comforting weight of Celestial bronze in her palm.

The doors thundered close when she was halfway through the hall. The entire room started vibrating with a hissing sound. She turned around quickly, trying to pinpoint the noise's location. In the dim light, shadows slithered from all directions, Basilisks.

Annabeth's heart thundered as she sought for higher ground. She knew the risks—one wrong move, and it was over. This was one of the few times she wished she had a sword, or any other weapon with a long reach. Sadly, she'd have to make do with rusty iron rods and chains.

As the first basilisk lunged, she leapt aside, driving her knife into its scaled side before twisting to avoid another. She was doing good for the first two minutes, when the Basilisks were grouping up in twos and threes. But she too was soon overwhelmed when they started attacking in dozens. Venom splattered across her arm, sizzling against her skin. She winced, but she didn't dare stop.

"Come on!" she hissed, daring them, as she climbed up the rubble. One came close, but she stabbed it through its tail. The creature shrieked before crumpling to the ground in dust, but no one tried climbing up after that. Her vision blurred from the venom still burning in her veins.

Her hands shook from adrenaline as she searched for ambrosia. Her bag had suffered a lot of damage from the acidic venom and most of her food had been lost during the fight but her ambrosia had survived.

She quickly took two bytes of the cube, already feeling the energy returning to her. Then a voice, eerily soft and chilling, drifted from above. "A child of Athena, all alone in this forsaken place." It whispered.

Annabeth looked up, feeling her blood chill as she spotted her—the Lamia. She was hanging on to the ceiling like a chandelier. Her beauty was both horrific and alluring, as if she was trapped between the realms of nightmare and dreams. Dark, sunken eyes with a predatory gleam, a smile that looked more like a snarl and very sharp teeth. And where her legs should have been, there was only a snake's body.

"Oh, child," She purred, "Did you come here to become my next meal?" She asked, mock concern evident in her charm-speaking voice. Annabeth gritted her teeth, trying to focus through her pain. "Sorry to disappoint. I didn't come here to be anyone's dinner."

At once, the Lamia charged. Annabeth moved swiftly, slipping out of reach just as the Lamia struck. Annabeth had difficulty slipping close to the monster due to her long sharp talons. She didn't have the luxury to throw her dagger at her either, so they continued to play a dangerous game of tag.

She was just about to attempt another strike when her surroundings changed. She was no longer in the abandoned factory, but was in the heart of Manhatten, just a few blocks before the Empire state building. The city was on fire. Mortals ran in terror as monsters played with them.

The scene shifted to the throne room. Percy knelt before the throne, held down by several empousae.

Kronos strolled leisurely in front of him, his sickle by his side. His blade stopped inches from his throat. "The Olympians fled as soon as they realised I had conquered Olympus and toppled their seats of power." He boomed. "They will spend the next few decades in hiding, avoiding capture, but they are too weak to do anything. They'll fade away after that. Typhoon will arrive at Manhatten in a few hours. I'll destroy the Western civilization and bring about the golden age once more! " He roared to the cheering monster crowd.

It was then that Ethan Nakamura hurried to Kronos' side. "What do you mean they are skeletons now?" He demanded

Percy started laughing at this, but it soon turned into a cough, his lips smeared with blood. Until then, Annabeth hadn't noticed how frail Percy looked. His face was bruised in a number of places, his left eye was swollen shut. His shirt was in tatters, barely hanging in to his battered body. His eyes had a broken kind of shine in them as one has after surviving torture. But there was no doubt about the shine of determination in them either.

"What is the meaning of this?" He screamed, pulling Percy by his hair. "My Wise girl once told me that Olympus was more than this throne room and the Western civilization was more than our technology and skyscrapers. You thought tearing down the physical world would bring about it's end, but it isn't that. It is the idea they represent that matters. It is the people that matters. And I am successful in preserving that."

"My Lord, all the mortals suddenly vanished!" The minotaur screamed, running in. "Where have they gone? " He demanded, pulling at his hair harder. Percy grunted in pain, but otherwise didn't show any sign of weakness.

"You may have Mount olympus, but Poseidon still controls the oceans, three times more vast than the land, and with an army of their own. The army of the dead, lead by Nico, alone outnumber you one to hundred. The demigods, lead by Annabeth, have taken refuge in the oceans, but are regrouping as we speak. The mortals too know of your existence now. You won Olympus by dividing the Olympians, and you will lose it when all of us come together." he gasped.

"You fool, they've abandoned you here, at my mercy!" He thundered. "I made the choice" He injected, a touch of resignation in his voice. "You challenge me even to the end?" Kronos sneered, pulling Percy closer. "You pathetic mortal! Do you think that willpower alone can defy the Titan King?"

But Percy managed one last smile, a strained one. At this point, he didn't look like he had anything left to give. "You'll never understand what drives us. It's something that a tyrant could never comprehend."

Just as Kronos raised his sickle to strike, the entire scene blurred, and Annabeth felt herself sinking. The world spun violently, throwing her back into darkness, and then... she was once again in the abandoned factory. A sharp pain lanced through her torso, and she gasped, feeling the reptilian limb coiled around her.

The Lamia gazed down at her, smugly amused. "A dreamer, are we?" she cooed, venom dripping from her fangs. "Delightful. You'll make for an exquisite meal with all that rich imagination."

Annabeth quickly gathered her bearings, trying to shake off the aftereffects of the vision. Lamia's teeth gleamed, inches away from her neck. Everything would be over then. Annabeth tried to reach for her knife, only to realise she'd dropped it sometime.

And that is when she saw it. The katropis, hanging about the Lamia's neck like a pretty locket. With one desperate thrust, annabeth got hold of the locket. The blade slid out of it's cover easily, as though it had been oiled regularly.

Lamia didn't even get a chance to realise what was going on when she dug the blade deep into her chest, finding her heart. Her eyes went wide before she disintegrated into dust, her scream echoing through the empty factory.

Annabeth stumbled back, breathing heavily, the factory floor littered with basilisk bodies. Her arm throbbed from the venom, but she clenched her fist, refusing to be brought down now.

At last, she found it—a gleam of silver amid the wreckage. The Katropis,  a sleek and ancient ceremonial dagger, its edge glowing faintly under the dim light. She grabbed it, feeling the power thrumming within. She'd at last completed her task. 

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A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying the story. Vote and comment  guys! 

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