So I know it's been forever since I updated (again). I meant to update last night, but I chose The Matrix over publishing. So, here it is!

The next morning when I woke up, Liz was already gone and Hazel was just rising, so we went down to breakfast together. As I passed by the senior table, I heard Liz say to Leo, "...and Abigail is 7.3 feet from the 8th grade table..." and I had to laugh. It was just like her to know every single thing about me, even those I don't know myself. It is partly her fault I'm here—not that I'm blaming her or anything! I'm extraordinarily grateful, but if she hadn't 'died', well that was Artemis's doing, so I guess this whole thing is her fault. Or the Fates'. Yeah, it'll be theirs.

Breakfast especially awkward because talk was all about the ball the night before. I purposefully avoided any and all questions having to do with it, and I thankfully saw Alex doing the same.

Liz came over to say that we would be leaving with Cammie around 10:30. "Alright, I'll go finish packing. Just give me a minute. I need to say goodbye to everyone." I whispered the last part, not wanting anyone else to hear. I said goodbye to Tanya, Hannah, and my other friends and then ran up to the room and joined Liz and Hazel in packing. At 10:30, we went outside, ready to depart and to show Cammie Festus and the Argo II.

I looked back at Cammie to see her reaction, but she only looked confused. I realized that the mortal, as incredible a mortal as she was, did not have true sight. Liz must have thought the same thing, because she pulled Cammie over to the ship.

"Cam, look up," said Percy. She did. "Now, tell me what you see."

"A flock of birds," she replied immediately.

Then Leo came in with his oh-so-helpful advice. "Cross your eyes until everything sorta blends together."

I rolled my eyes and said, "Sometimes find that if you just wait a while, it will come naturally."

Disappointingly, that didn't work either, so Liz touched Cammie's temple and said, "It's our metal dragon, Festus. He is mostly bronze, but there is some gold and silver in his gears and face. His eyes are red lights."

Cammie was uncertain but still said, "I see him now."

"I had to place the image in your head," Liz explained. "Simple Mist manipulation in reverse. Now you should be able to see him clearly, am I right?"

'Ah, so that's how she did it,' I thought.

"Yes," she responded to Liz.

"Good. Now look directly in front of you. Do you see our warship?"

"Holy—How in the name of—? But..."

Leo grinned maniacally and said, "Welcome to seeing beyond the mortal realm, friend. Enjoy the sights as they really are."

"Oh my god... That apple tree over there has a face. And is that a cyclops at that café table? I always thought that was just a really big hawk of something...but is that a harpy?" I couldn't help it, I laughed. I remembered the point in my life where I thought everything was normal. I compare that life to my life now, and I'm not sure I would ever go back.

"Yep. Isn't it wonderful?" asked Hazel.

"It's amazing. And all this time I thought I was seeing..."

"Truth," I whispered, unsure if anyone had heard me.

"Well, time to set off on the rest of the quest!" Liz said, leading us onto the ship. "Leo, get us flying. Percy, if you don't mind checking on the horses? Frank...Hm...Can you check that nothing has snuck on board? Hazel, if you could show Cammie to her room. Carter, Abigail, I've just run out of things for you to do. I'm going to check on the engines and Buford the table.

As let down as I was about not being assigned a task, I knew that it wasn't because they didn't trust Carter and me or because we were useless. I knew that it was because, as the two non-spy mortals on board, we don't have much to give (actually, that's only me. Carter can use magic!!!). I went to my room and unpacked until Frank came into my room and said we were meeting in the mess hall. I followed him to the mess hall, hoping there'd be food, and was disappointed to find out there wasn't. I sat down at the end of the table across from Liz, as that was the only open seat. Feeling uncomfortable, I scooched over towards Hazel.

"So, to Camp Jupiter!" Liz started us off. "Here's the plan: by tomorrow, we'll be there. Because of that stupid exploding statue, we'll be parking the Argo outside of camp. We will hold a meeting where we negotiate the terms of alliance and when the big quest will occur..." A strong gust of wind cut her off, which wouldn't normally be a bad thing, except we were inside. Liz looked extremely unnerved by this. "Leo, has this happened before?"

"No..."

"Okay..."

Cater hesitated before asking, "I'm going to guess this is bad...?" When no one answered, everyone pulled out their weapon, except for Frank who turned into an eagle, and me who did nothing. Liz led us into the corridor and up the stairs onto the top deck. When we reached the top we realized what was wrong: they were on the ground, instead of the air. Looking up, we saw a...something.

"Ventus," Leo muttered.

"No, Leo, I don't care for an espresso." That was Liz. I get that her brain is wired a little differently than mine, but I was totally lost on the connection between coffee and something that was presumably an Ancient Greek monster. Then: "Oh dear Zeus."

'What? What is it?' I thought frantically. 'Oh, wait, NOW I remember what a ventus is.'

"What's a ventus?" asked Carter and Cammie.

"Trouble." This was probably the only time I've seen Leo serious and grave. "Venti. Evil espresso drinks of the sky, dear friends. Storm spirits. And storms aren't friendly."

"You should meet Set," commented Carter.

Liz next made a bold decision: "Let him in."

"You're going to regret that decision," promised Leo.

"Open the bloody force field and let him in, dam it!"

'Woah there, Lizzy. No need to get violent,' I thought.

"Alright," Leo said as he opened the door and the ventus rushed in and took human form.

After a moment, Liz said bitterly, "'And her first love will hold the score.' I was thinking it would be Alex."

"Yeah, nice to see you too," the ventus-person said.

'Who—Oh! Is that...'

"Evan. So tell us. Holding the score, what does that mean?"

"How inhospitable. Aren't you going to ask me to come in, sit down, and explain my coming?" I could tell he was trying to act innocent, but it wasn't working one bit.

"Tas," Carter said, and pink ribbons wrapped up Evan so he looked like a Breast-Cancer-Awareness mummy.

"Why are they pink?" cried the muffled mummy indignantly.

"Oh, how should I know?" replied Carter, exasperated.

Liz smiled. "Carry him down to the stables. He should be light as air."

"Very punny," commented Leo.

"I know, I'm hilarious."

They all walked down to the stables when Leo asked, "So can you, like, just have him bound at the feet, hands, and to the wall?"

"Eh," Carter said, waving his hand. The pink mummy disappeared and a shackled Evan took its place.

"Thank you," said Evan.

"So, what's with the eagle?"

"It's Frank," replied Liz with an icy tone. "He's a shape shifter."

"What happens now?"

"We interrogate you," Cammie answered. "Well, at least I think we do...Do we, Liz?"

"Yes, we do. We might be slightly more than mortal and fly around in a giant warship, but when we capture and enemy, yes, we interrogate him."

"Good," I muttered under my breath.

"I'm not your enemy, Liz. I just have a bit of knowledge which holds a bit of power, that's all."

Leo snapped, "Who do you work for?"

"The Fates," replied Evan arrogantly.

"Ew," said Liz, looking disgusted. I understood her reasoning there; they've been out to get her as long as I've known her, probably longer. "Hate them, thusly must hate you. What is the score?"

He rose an eyebrow and looked the brat he was. "You mean," pause for effect, "this?" A purple ball of light, almost like plasma, appeared on his outstretched hand.

"The score is a literal, physical thing?" asked Percy, astonished.

"What does it do?" queried Hazel.

"It kind of holds the Fate of anyone who goes on this quest to places you don't know of yet," answer Evan slyly. "So, basically, I know your fate," he pointed at Leo, "and yours," to Percy, "your Fate," Frank and Hazel, "your fate," Carter and Cammie, "not sure about yours," he admitted grudgingly, gesturing towards me, "but YOURS, haha, oh I know YOURS." That last one was directed at Liz, who looked utterly confused.

"What's so funny about her Fate?" Percy snapped.

"She's done something, haha, knows someone." It was clear he was struggling to speak through his laughter, a problem I am all too familiar with, but I felt absolutely no sympathy for him. He was one of those irritating beings who just didn't deserve it. "Oh, she doesn't even know the mess she's made, the path of Fate she's chosen. Just as stupid as ever, even if Lady Artemis HAS given you four years of age."

"And just as capable of kicking you're a—" Liz retorted, cut off by Leo.

"Liz! DON'T SWEAR FOR ZEUS'S SAKE! Percy, I vote we make a swear jar and get rich." I chuckled, remembering the swear jar my mom had made my brother and me in the 4th grade.

"Guys, there is a ventus here," reminded Frank. "We can fix Liz's bad habit later, but right now we have an interrogation to complete."

"Fate is leverage," explained Liz. "Take it form a Seer. But, of course, Fate can be changed."

"No it can't!" screamed Evan. "Not yours at least! Everyone else, get out. Seems that me and Lizzy here need to have a chat about her Fate." The rest of us left, me giving Evan an ugly glower before finally shutting the door. I was going to try to listen at the door, because, hey, why can't I know? I'm an Oracle and her friend!

"Abigail, I wouldn't. Liz would want to tell us herself," murmured Percy.

"Fine. You can't hear anything through this thing anyways." We all went on deck and were staring at the ground fly by below us as Leo got us in the air again. Suddenly, Festus drove the ship down and we crashed into the ground. A cloud of soot rose up and covered us, and Leo ran to the room where Liz and Evan were talking. Leo brought Liz up to the deck a minute or two later, the rest of us trying to get something done.

"Liz!" I shouted at her. "Festus crashed into us when we started fall—" but Liz cut me off.

"Festus? My poor baby! Is the metal dragon okay?! Valdez, tell me Festus is okay! He is okay, right?"

"I'm sure he's fine, it wasn't too bad. The Argo took more of the blow. We're going to need to stay overnight to repair the machinery though. You see, the main controls have..." Leo trailed off, realizing something. "We left the espresso drink—"

"Hey guys." Jerk.

"Liz, it was not very nice to choke me. At least allow me to explain why you can do that." I walked away from them, towards the rest of the group, helping, also eavesdropping enough so I could hear snippets of what Evan was saying. "...mother was from very ancient Greece...every god and goddess to give you a gift...Leo was such a big part of your destiny...All things that will hopefully be of help in the battle..." I tuned out, extremely confused and worried for my friend.

"So who is my mom?" I heard Liz ask. I couldn't hear Evan's reply though, because we all saw something—or was that someone?—on the ground, looking not-so-friendly.

"Liz?" Carter started. "I think that there's something, someone, down there. And I don't think they're friendly." We locked Evan back up and disembarked, to find an empty field. "I swear they were here, Liz."

"I believe you, Carter which is exactly why I'm—" what she was going to say, well we'll never know, because she was cut off by a metallic CLANK!

"Oh, mother hugs!" exclaimed an irritated voice.

'Oh, mother hugs? ...Interesting.'

Liz and Leo walked cautiously towards a rock. A girl in Greek battle armor jumped out from behind the rock, and, waving her sword like a mad woman, yelled, "Stay back." They took a BIG step back.

At this point I was able to look at our attacker. She was a few inches taller than me (but then again, who wasn't? I'm 5'1 for gods' sake!) with long, blond-ish hair. I couldn't tell her eye color from the distance, but I saw them shimmering with a combination of fear, anger, and curiosity. She was obviously a warrior, but her face was a kind one. I could definitely tell she was pretty, even if she wasn't really my type.

Then Leo embarrassed himself by saying, "Hey there, I'm Leo. And you are?"

"The name's Holly. Don't flirt. I'm an Amazon, and you're inferior," the girl, Holly, replied fiercely. You know, if this whole Oracle thing doesn't work out, an Amazon would be a pretty awesome fallback.

Liz started coughing to cover up her laughing, (I don't blame her, I was stifling my laughter behind my hand) and said, "Smooth, fireboy."

He replied with, "Oh, don't worry, fish princess. There's a lot more skilled flirting saved just for you."

'Really Leo? Flirting? Now??'

"Really, flirting, is that necessary right now guys?" Percy asked, sounding quite exasperated. "I think we should be more focused on the Amazon, don't you?"

"Ignore the boys," Liz said with an eye roll. "We kind of, um, crash-landed here...See, we're demigods, a magician, a spy, and well, a mortal who has some not very mortal abilities." I smiled a little at my introduction. I had never really thought of it that way before. "My name is Liz Jackson."

Holly moved quickly, ending up with her sword at Liz's throat and her other arm holding Liz's abdomen. "Liz Jackson. We have been expecting you." Not a good sign, especially coming from an Amazon. Except, it wasn't coming from Holly. 5 other Amazon warriors came out from behind rocks. The voice belonged to one of them, but I couldn't tell who.

Percy groaned and said, "Liz, you don't just politely introduce yourself to armed strangers."

'Really? What do you think diplomacy's for? It worked in Star Wars, didn't it? Well, kinda anyways.'

"Thanks, dear Perseus, next time I'll keep that in mind!" She slipped her hand into the pocket that held Great Warrior, her sword. She flipped the silver drachma in the air, elbowed Holly in the stomach, caught her now-transformed-sword, disarmed Holly, caught that sword, then pointed them both at the other girl. I had to stifle yet another smile. No matter how good the Amazons were at fighting, Liz would always be better.

Holly looked shocked. "I was NOT expecting that... You fight well."

"Not too bad yourself, Miss Holly." Liz returned the captured sword and said, "No why don't we talk peacefully?"

Holly smiled and said, "Fine by me," and then she and Liz shook hands. "Right this way, Ms. Jackson. We've got quite a bit to talk about." Liz started to follow Holly, but not before the Amazon added, "Oh, but other than the madman, everyone else stays." So Holly, Liz, and Leo walked behind the rock and disappeared, with the other 5 warriors following close behind.

After an awkward moment of silence, Percy said, "So, let's get this baby back in the air!" Turns out without Annabeth, Leo, or Liz, no one knew anything about the ship or Festus, or how to repair them. So we went back to our individual rooms (after a week and a half of sharing it with 2 other girls, it was nice being able to spread out again) and unpacked or read or drew or whatever we wanted to do. I didn't have much left, so I had plenty of time to mull over what Evan had said about my Fate. I mean, sure, I'm a possible-future-Oracle, but that shouldn't prevent others, especially one who works for the Fates themselves, to figure out what I was destined to do. I mean, form what I heard between him and Liz, she's from Ancient Greece AND a Seer, but he still knows everything about her! Maybe it's just because he knew her previously? Or because she's the leader? But what makes me so special? It's like Liz said, I suppose. I'm a mortal with very non-mortal-like abilities. Kinda. Really only just the occasional seeing-the-future-thing. And she said earlier that Fates can be changed. But can they really be changed so dramatically, going from "Oh-hey-you-don't-have-a-future" to "Well-now-you-do"? Oh well, like Annabeth said in The Last Olympian, "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die." So yeah, just because he can't foresee my future doesn't mean I don't have one, right?

Liz got back an hour or so later and told me that she wasn't going to be at dinner tonight. She was going to be on a date. But not with Leo, oh no, with Holly. It surprised me a little at first, but after I got over the shock of going on a date with someone you literally just met, I was cool with it. "Well, I'll be going as long as Percy lets me," she added. I laughed, "Why shouldn't he? You'll be fine. Have fun!"

That night I read some of my books. Oh how I had missed them. I hadn't really had much time to read them at Gallagher because of all the stress and work expected of me. As much as I loved it, I really had missed my novels.

After falling asleep, I dreamt about me spouting the super-long, super-important prophecy like usual, but it was different this time. Instead of the dream ending when I passed out, it continued. Except this wasn't a dream about me or Liz or anyone on the Argo II. This one was about Andrew. I immediately felt bad because I had barely give him a single thought since saying goodbye. It had been almost a month since I left, he had no way of knowing if I was alive or dead, and yet here he was, still defending me and keeping his promise.

"Guys, I swear! I don't know where she is either! I want to find her just as much as you. Tell Sarah—" Oh gods. Sarah. I hadn't talked to her in over a month. She must be frantic. I need to find a way to get in contact with her somehow. My phone's long dead and broken, and even if it weren't, it would attract too many monsters. I'll have to talk to Liz about it when she gets back... "—the same thing." He turned to a figure huddled in a corner. I realized with a jolt that it was she. She was crying, still, after a month, and I could feel my heart breaking. I had to talk to my best friend.