Hello people! I don't think that this chapter is my best but I felt like I owed you something so I've put it up anyway. I hope that you guys still enjoy it. We're almost at the end now! :)

I decided not to stick around after that. I didn’t really want to be near either of them for a while. I knew that they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation, but I was still mad at them. This was such a stupid idea!

I wanted to scream. But right here, in the middle of camp was not the right place for this. I needed to get away from it all, just for a little bit. I closed my eyes and thought of someplace where I could be completely alone. Somewhere that no one would interrupt me. A place where I could scream and shout all I wanted without drawing any attention to myself.

When I opened my eyes I was on top of a mountain. I could see the rest of the mountain range sloping off into the distance, a light sprinkling of snow dusting the peaks. It was beautiful. And peaceful. And just what I needed right now in order to calm myself down.

I took two deep breaths, loving the feel of the icy cold air filling my lungs. It made me feel more awake and alert than I had been a few minutes ago and was the perfect thing to help me clear my head.

I hated quests. I hadn’t been around for many of them, but from what I’d seen with Luke, I knew that they were dangerous. And most of the time they were pointless.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I could see the merits of this idea. I wasn’t so against the plan that I refused to listen to anything Chiron and Dionysus said. I knew that it was probably the best thing for Percy considering all of the factors. But it was just hard for me to get over the fact that I would be sending him out, practically untrained, into a world full of monsters and gods that want to kill him.

I needed to talk to somebody about this. I needed to just get all of this off of my chest and have someone understand how I’m feeling without trying to get me to agree to send a child to almost certain death.

I reached my hand down into my pocket and dug around in it until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out the drachma and turned it over in my fingers.

Newcomers to camp often thought that these coins were leftovers from the ancient Greek era but in actuality the coins used by people today are all less than ten years old. It is a common mistake, and so it often surprises them to see a 21st century date printed on the back of a coin. The gods, whilst being ancient themselves and living in ancient buildings, liked to surround themselves with new things. They always wore new clothes, never having any piece of clothing for more than a month. They made sure to have new furniture every few years and never ate off of the same plate twice. It had been quite a shock and insult for Dionysus when he came to camp and Chiron refused to give him new cutlery and crockery every day. I was told that he complained non-stop for three months. Dionysus refused to comment but he can still sometimes be seen glowering at his food during dinner.

The coins were one of these things that they liked to be new. Mostly so that they could argue over how they would be redesigned. They would fight over who would go on what coin and complain about how the new design made them look. Zeus ordered for new coins every twelve years, but always made sure that the majority of the coins had his face on them.

Hephaestus was in charge of the Olympian mint and absolutely hated the changeover years. Every god and goddess would come to him with ideas on how they wanted to be portrayed and with a list full of complaints about the last design. For example, they would grumble about how the last coin made them look fat or that their nose was drawn too long.

How anyone can look fat on a flat coin showing only your face is beyond me, but they still complained about it.

Hephaestus told me that one time, many years ago now, he got so annoyed at them all he only printed his face on the coins. Zeus, of course, had immediately recalled the coins and demanded Hephaestus change them, but he always said it was worth it.

It was only 5 years since the last change over and I can still remember the hassle it caused. Olympus didn’t talk about anything other than the coins for a month. Dionysus even left camp for three weeks so that he could make sure his coin was perfect. At least that’s what he told us anyway, I think he just wanted to get away from camp for a bit.

Three years ago, Hephaestus had taken me on a tour of the mint, showing me how they made the coins and explaining how it all worked. But the switch out of old coins for new coins was the bit that had interested me the most. The switch was instantaneous and done by Hephaestus himself. All of the new coins were made, moulded and stored in the mint. Hephaestus was very careful to make the exact same number as he had the year before because if he was out by even one coin the process wouldn’t work. Once the new coins were all ready to go, Hephaestus would clap his hands together and all of the new coins would physically replace the old ones. The new and old coins would swap places with each other so that the old coins would be piled up in the mint where the new ones had just been. And the new ones would be scattered around amongst the general population where the old ones had been.

It had been on that tour with Hephaestus that he told me his plan. When the next switch over came around I would be a goddess, something which at the time I wasn’t. He told me that once I was a goddess I would get my own coin. My face would make it into the currency circulation, just like my parents. It was something that at the time hade excited me, but as the year grew closer I became more nervous and awkward about it.

I looked down at the coin lying on my palm. It was one of Athena. I tried to imagine what my face would look like on it, but I couldn’t quite picture it. I also tried to imagine what I would feel like when I first stumbled across a coin only to find my face on it, but again I was having difficulty. I guess most people would find it weird to become currency.

I quickly shook that thought away and raised my other hand, making water shoot out of it. I made sure to arc the stream so as to get the light going through it at the right angle to make a rainbow. Once that was done I threw the coin into the rainbow and waited.

It didn’t take long for a familiar face to appear in front of me. Most people when using an iris message have to plead directly to Iris herself but I’ve learnt that she knows who is on the line without having to even hear them speak, so I usually just wait and if she’s not busy and available to talk, she will pop up.

“Izzy!” Iris all but screamed at me. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! I was starting to think that you’d forgotten me. Alex and those kids are monopolising your time and leaving nothing left for me! But you and Alex are such a cute couple I’m inclined to forgive you as long as you promise to give me all of the juicy details. I was just speaking about you two the other day to Hecate and she said ...” Iris rambled happily, but trailed off suddenly midsentence. “What’s wrong?”

How had she known something was wrong? I hadn’t even managed to say a word yet. Apparently my shock was evident on my face because Iris rolled her eyes at me.

“Please! I’m your best friend. Don’t you think that I know when there’s something wrong. Now spill it.” Iris demanded.

I didn’t know whether to be happy that Iris understood me so well or worried that I’m so easy to read. But I decided to settle on being grateful that I didn’t have to bring up the issue from nowhere.

“Well, there’s this new kid at camp.” I started and then I proceeded to tell her everything. I told her how he was a child of Poseidon and how Zeus was blaming him for stealing the master bolt and the quest. “I just had to get out of camp. They’re sending him to his death! But if he stays at camp he’s just waiting for Zeus to strike. And ... and ... and there’s just nothing I can do to make any of this better!” I knew that I was ranting and complaining but I also knew that Iris wasn’t going to judge me for it and she would understand exactly how I was feeling.

“Oh, honey!” She said sympathetically. “You know that Chiron and Dionysus are only doing what they think is best for the boy. And if Zeus really does blame Percy for stealing his master bolt then he needs to get out of there. And I know that this doesn’t make it any easier but you don’t have to kick the boy out empty handed.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, wiping under my eyes. I had told myself I wasn’t going to cry about this but when I was explaining it all and feeling the helplessness of the situation my body had betrayed me and a few tears had slipped out.

“You are the goddess of heroes and training, aren’t you?” Iris asked pointedly, but I still couldn’t see what she was trying to say.

“Yeah, but I don’t understand how that’s going to help Percy.” I said, still lost.

“Goddess of TRAINING? You can TRAIN him.” Iris said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Train him? But he’ll never learn enough in time.” I tried to protest.

“Not if you sit up here on a mountain talking to me he won’t.” Iris said challengingly. I felt my hopes starting to rise with the idea but I still didn’t feel the level of optimism that Iris did.

“I’m not sure th-” I started to speak but was quickly cut off by Iris.

“You need to have more faith in your abilities. You’re a good teacher. Just ask anyone of those kids in camp and they’ll tell you the exact same thing.” Iris said encouragingly.

“Thanks, Iris. That’s a really good idea.” I said honestly, starting to see a glimmer of hope.

“Of course it’s a good idea. I came up with it.” She said grinning. “Now go put my brilliant plan into action.”

“Okay, I will. Bye! And thanks again.” I said gratefully.

Nothing’s better than having a chat with your best friend, they always know exactly how to make you feel better.

“You’re welcome, now go! I’m hanging up on you.” She said playfully.

“Alright! I’m going! I’m going!” I chuckled before waving my hand in front of me, severing the connection.

I took a deep breath of the mountain air, feeling lighter than I had a minute ago. I was glad to get that off of my chest and Iris had provided me with the best solution possible.

I may not be able to make Percy the perfect fighter in the time I have, but I can damn sure try my hardest and at least make him better than he is now.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on camp.

It hadn’t been that long ago that I had left but the difference in how I felt was huge. It’s funny how much talking to a friend and having a good plan of action can lift your mood.