I was playing base quest to calm my nerves. Ever since Percy escaped, my instincts were especially jumpy. I decided to go to Everglen to chill with Keefe, Fitz, and Biana when I heard a voice.

"Sophie! Help!" The voice was edged with pain. I recognized that voice immediately. It was Percy.

"Sophie!" He repeated. "Please, help!" I abandoned the game and transmitted to everyone where I was so I could help him.

"Sophie..." The voice was faint now, and I detected some movement in the forest at my left.

There he was with a pool of blood around him. He was clutching his stomach with some monsters, three of them, next to him. It was horrendous. The monster had fangs and looked like vampires with flames as hair and a cheerleader's outfit. Their legs were mismatched, one of them being like a horse leg and the other metal, like a robot. Their nails were long and jagged, and coated with something that looked like red nail polish.

No, wait. That wasn't nail polish.

That was blood. Percy's blood.

I stepped away, horrified.

"Sophie, what's going on...?" Fitz stopped abruptly as he saw the hybrid cheerleaders and Percy bleeding on the ground.

"I finally killed Percy Jackson!" One of them shrieked triumphantly. The others hissed and laughed.

"What the heck are they?" Keefe asked incredulously.

"Monsters of some sort." I replied. Fitz rubbed his temples, turning pale when he saw Percy's blood.

"How are we supposed to kill them?" Biana asked, trembling and then proceeded to vanish right there.

"That's it!" I said. "Biana, you're a genius."

She cocked her visible floating head. "I am?"

"Hey, girls." Keefe sauntered up to them and mussed his hair. "Nice kill."

The monsters laughed. "Finally, someone who understands the pleasure of killing! Especially Percy Jackson, whom I longed to have revenge all these years!"

"O-of course! The pleasure of killing..." Keefe smirked, but he paled a little after touching Percy's blood. "You know, that was really impressive. Too bad I wasn't there to watch the whole thing."

Keefe continued to distract the monster cheerleaders, while I saw Biana, who had vanished, pick Percy up with some difficulty and crept up to a bush.

"That reminds me—hey! Where did Percy go?" Keefe pointed to the pool of blood behind the monsters. They hissed angrily. That was our cue.

"Attack!" I shouted, and Sandor, Grizel, Woltzer, Fitz, and I unsheathed our daggers and swords. I stabbed one in the chest and it disappeared into a shower of gold dust. Soon, the glitter covered the forest floor.

"Is Percy ok?" I asked. Keefe nodded. "Biana leaped him to Elwin's. He should be fine." I sighed in relief.

"You kids are always getting into trouble." Mr. Forkle grumbled behind us. I whipped around.

"Since when did you get here?" Keefe clutched his heart in fake shock. He shrugged.

"Is Percy ok? What happened?" He asked. I told him about how he called for help and the strange monsters we saw. Forkle cursed under his breath.

"Those were empousai. They live in the Greek world, but it seems like Percy's aura is incredibly strong because of his father." Mr. Forkle shook his head. "I don't know how they got into the Lost Cities, but now our cities are in danger because of him." I rolled my eyes.

"It's not like he wants to be chased." I defended. "Besides, the Collective's the one who brought him in the first place." Mr. Forkle sighed. "I suppose you are right. And I think that we should probably bring his girlfriend here to the Lost Cities."

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