Annabeth lay on her bed and picked up her blue Yankees cap, feeling the smooth fabric in her fingers. She thought about how normal her life had begun to seem: leave Camp Half-Blood; attend college with Percy; live together in New Rome; maybe even start a family.

Now, she was back in the world she had just left, yet it was even more confusing. She agreed with why Zoe thought Marinette could be a half-blood, but she just couldn't seem to figure it out.

She must just be strategic, she tried to convince herself. She has elf powers, so she has to be an elf. There's no way she's a half-blood. Annabeth's thoughts were interrupted when she heard knocking on the door. Annabeth assumed it was Percy.

"Come in!"

"Annabeth?" Zoe walked into the room. "Sorry to bother you. Can we talk?"

"Of course, Zoe-- What is it?" Annabeth set her hat on the bedside table, gesturing for Zoe to sit next to her.

"I need to go back. My mother will be worried, and I'll have Chiron send her something to convince her to let me go back to Long Island." Zoe sat down on the smooth grey comforter.

"Yeah, I understand that," Annabeth said. "But what's the problem, then? I need to stay here, the prophecy hasn't been fully fulfilled yet, but you can leave."

"I just- I can't leave without Marinette. I still have this feeling that she's a half-blood, Annabeth. Chiron gave me a mission. I have to fulfill it."

"But... Marinette's an elf." But deep down, that's only what Annabeth kept telling herself, since she had Elvin powers.

"They only think Marinette's an elf because she has elf powers. That doesn't necessarily mean she is."

Annabeth sighed. "You're right about one thing. You need to get back. If she turns out to be a half-blood, I'll IM Camp Half-Blood. And don't worry, Chiron will understand. Besides, then you can tell Chiron everything that's happened so far."

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked her. "I'm still not super sure what these elves are all about. Are you positive that you won't need me?"

"I think Percy and I can handle ourselves well enough," Annabeth assured her. "Go back home. Where I need you is at Camp, telling Chiron about everything."

Zoe sighed, "Alright. I'll tell Alden."

________________________________

Percy sat down next to Annabeth at the dinner table.

"It's such a shame to see you leave," Alden told Zoe. "If you wanted, you could have fit right in at Foxfire."

"Thanks, Alden," Zoe said. "But I've made up my mind. Camp Half-Blood needs me more than you do."

"And Annabeth? Percy?" Alden asked in his crisp accent, his teal eyes directed towards them. "What have you decided? Will you stay here in the Lost Cities?"

"Yeah, of course," Percy said. "We can't go back until this quest is done, anyway. But the real question is whether or not we're too old to attend Foxfire."

"No," Alden said. "I did some research, and it appears you two are just the right age to be a last-year. But the only problem is, it's an Elite level."

"What's that?"

"You need to have a special ability to participate. Percy could pass for a Hydrokinetic, but..."

"I don't have one," Annabeth finished calmly. Percy could see from her expression that the invisible gears were turning in her head. She must have an idea, Percy thought.

"But what about my invisibility cap? Can't I use that to say I'm a Vanisher?"

"Unfortunately," Alden told her, "I don't think so. You have to put your cap on to turn invisible, correct? They're going to test you for abilities. For the tests, no items are allowed. Also, people would see you put on your cap and wonder why you have a human item in possession."

Annabeth frowned, deep in thought.

"What about a Technopath?" Percy asked, his sea-green eyes full of hope.

"Well," Dex told him. "Although Annabeth seems to have a pretty good knowledge of technology, it isn't really her thing. Architecture is. I don't think she would be able to keep up with people who were born with technology as their specialty."

"Then what are we going to do?" Annabeth wondered.

"There is... one solution," Alden said. "I'm not sure it will work, but it's worth a try."

"What is?" Sophie asked.

"We need to see Forkle." Alden sighed.

________________________________

Everyone bid Zoe farewell before Sophie light-leaped her back to Paris. Annabeth winced at the thought of Zoe's family's reaction. From all Zoe had said about them, it didn't seem like they would take her disappearance well. But she found the thought of Zoe's stepsister's reaction when she noticed Zoe's detox hilarious.

"Hey," Percy took Annabeth's hand in his. "Whatever's about to happen, I know you're going to be fine. And I'll be with you the whole time, don't worry."

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain," she smiled. But she wasn't scared. Skittish, maybe. But in reality, she was excited. Alden made it seem like they had a solution for her Foxfire problem.

Before leaping, Annabeth and Percy had been given thick bracelets on their wrists, as well as chokers on their necks. Annabeth's choker was silver with an oval-shaped orange crystal in the middle. Percy's was the same but with a blue crystal instead.

Annabeth examined the bracelet on her wrist. It was a thick band with a stormy grey crystal in the middle, surrounded by spiraling designs. Percy's crystal was the same sea green as his eyes.

Sophie had decided that there was no need to take the entire group, just Annabeth, Percy, and Keefe. She held up her wand-like Pathfinder and light-leaped them to Foxfire.

Annabeth's eyes widened at the sight. She'd never seen architecture like this before. The closest she could get to it would have been the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

It was a five-story glass pyramid centered around a wide stone courtyard. The main building was entirely made of stained glass, wrapping around the pyramid in a sharp-angled U. Separating the wings were six towers—each a different color and a seventh tower, standing in the center, taller than the others.

Two giant towers, one silver and one gold, were inextricably intertwined, wrapping around one another. Built from what appeared to be the same stones as the ones in Lumenaria, to the left stood a beautiful domed amphitheater and two smaller buildings. Sophie led Annabeth into the bottom floor of the glass pyramid, which Annabeth was sure would usually packed with students, or prodigies, as elves called them, but as Annabeth gazed into the school, it was empty.

Sophie led Annabeth and the rest of the group through the identical hallways until they reached the headmaster's office. She knocked on the door. Why did they need to see the headmaster? Especially when school wasn't even going on at the moment.

"Magnate Leto! I know you're in there!" Sophie called out.

She shoved the door open and Annabeth saw a young man with greasy black hair sitting at his desk. His face had a slightly annoyed expression on his face as he mumbled, "You kids never knock anymore," which seemed strange to Annabeth, because he looked so young. She shrugged it off. She had forgotten that elves stopped aging after a while. For all she knew, he could be ten thousand years old!

"Hey, Forklenator," Keefe smirked. He seemed to do that a lot. She noticed that he had that in common with Cat Noir.

"Wait, I thought the nickname was for Mr. Forkle, not Magnate Leto," Annabeth said.

"Oh, right. Well, I have something to tell you. Mr. Forkle has a bunch of identities. Magnate Leto is one of them."

This just keeps getting better and better, Annabeth thought.

"Oookay." Why not? They have infinite lifespans, so why not? "Hello, Mr. Forkle."

"Hello, Ms. Chase. I believe we have some work to do."

They leaped back to Everglen.
________________________________

Annabeth looked at the ground, tugging at the silk pink sleeve of Elvin clothing Biana had given her. Pink wasn't really her color, but she had to admit the soft tunic felt comfortable against her skin as she thought about the event ahead.

She sighed, staring at herself in the mirror as she tied her golden-blonde hair in a messy ponytail. She was really doing this. She took a deep breath in, steadying her nerves before she stepped out of one of the many large guest bathrooms at Everglen.

Starting soon, she'll have to pretend to be an elf.

It's the best thing for the quest, she reminded herself.

At least one thing was already covered. The"more advanced minds" that elves have. Annabeth believed they would be able to keep up. Percy's actually pretty intelligent. Annabeth thought, quoting herself from an interview from a few years ago. But acts so dumb sometimes. And Annabeth, as a daughter of Athena, would surely keep up. It's what she was born to be. Smart.

She almost ran into Percy, her boyfriend, waiting for her as she opened the bathroom door. It was clear that he was more nervous than she was about what Annabeth just agreed to.

Sophie tried to sugarcoat it a bit while explaining, but Annabeth understood the gist of it. Sophie, Forkle, Alden, and Fitz would... it's hard to explain... but pretty much it had something to do with them all working together using telepathy and Sophie's enhancing to hopefully trigger some unknown demigod cell, and enhance it into something elf-like. She had no idea if it would work at all, but if it did, she wondered if it would work with humans.

The thing is, it's never been done before. Ever. So she understood Percy's fear. She would be in the same position if she felt Percy was agreeing to something that could possibly kill him. Then after he survived it she would judo-flip him for scaring her like that day in New Rome.

But although Sophie had told Annabeth she didn't need to if she didn't feel comfortable, the curious part of Annabeth got the best of her. What would it feel like?

Nevertheless, even though Annabeth hadn't felt she needed it to think, she was glad Forkle and the others gave Annabeth and Percy a bit of time after they explained what was going to happen. She wanted to feel 100% positive, and now she did, especially after remembering her meeting with Livvy and Elwin. Sophie told her they would be there to ensure her health, especially when this concept is completely new and untested.

Annabeth really liked Livvy. She thought she had an interesting perspective on things and still kept a fun personality as the Black Swan physician. Also, who doesn't like someone who has literal jewels braided in her hair?! I mean, Annabeth wasn't the girliest, but even she had to respect a little sparkle once in a while. Also, it gave her some inspiration on how to incorporate jewels into buildings.

She gave Percy's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll be fine, Percy. I promise."

"You can't promise that." Percy insisted, worry etched on his face.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. "I swear. I swear on the River Styx."

Percy gasped, staring at Annabeth in shock. They both knew the consequences of breaking an oath sworn on the Styx. Now Annabeth HAD to be okay. There was no alternative.

"That was risky, you know. Who knows what they could do? What if they took you away from me?" His sea-green eyes were glassy. "Don't scare me like that ever again."

Annabeth kissed him. "No promises."
________________________________

Mr. Forkle led the group to an empty guest room.

"Are you sure it won't hurt?" Percy asked him, his face scrunched up in concern.

"Well, I can't be sure of anything, since it's the first time this has been performed in a human, um, demigod, I mean."

That didn't seem to help her boyfriend's nerves. If anything, he was holding her hand even tighter than before. It was hard to believe she was the one getting experimented on. She hoped she would be able to hold onto him if anything happened.

"Are you ready, Annabeth?" Mr. Forkle asked.

Annabeth turned to look at Percy's face, feeling his hand gripping against her, and his face filled with concern.

"I'll be fine, Percy," she said, pulling her hand out of his tight grasp just for a second, until she placed her hand back in his.

Annabeth felt Percy's uneasiness, and she looked him in the eyes, silently telling him that she'd be okay.

"Remember, Elwin and Livvy are here, too. I'll be fine," she whispered to him.

"On three?" Mr. Forkle looked to Fitz, Sophie, and Alden. They nodded. "On three. One... two..."

Annabeth closed her eyes, trying not to freak out, remembering that she had Percy and Elvin medics to help her if anything went wrong. She felt four hands on her head.

"Three!"

Oh, gods.

Every injury she had experienced in her life flashed through her head as shocking pain went through her mind. Her ankle throbbed, remembering her injury from years ago. Countless migraines and concussions flashed through her head. Searing pain sparked in every possible part of her body. She doubled over, grasping Percy's shoulder as hard as she could. She gritted her teeth, opening her eyes to harsh colors. Blurred senses. Percy shouting her name.

And then, black. Her mind was black.

Suddenly, she was a kid again. Clutching Thalia and Luke's hands as they tried to find a good place to rest from all of the monsters.

"Thalia..." she muttered, her seven-year-old voice filled with fear. "I'm scared."

"Don't worry, Annabeth," Luke said. "You'll always be safe with us. We're family, remember?"

Then Luke turned toward her, his eyes now gold, and reached Annabeth's dagger towards her threateningly. As soon as he touched her, pain flared.

Everywhere, heat broke out in her body. Every cell felt like lava, intent on burning her from within. Annabeth wanted to cry out. She wanted to beg for it to stop. But she was paralyzed.

Then it stopped. Another flashback. Annabeth was with Piper and Hazel, sitting and eating tea with Piper's mother, Aphrodite. Aphrodite laughed, closing her eyes for a second.

Aphrodite smiled at her, opening her eyes, now sea-green, the same shade as Percy's eyes.

"I promised to make your love life interesting, didn't I?"

Then, before Annabeth could respond, an invisible force guided her to the underworld, dropping her into the pit. She was in Tartarus again. She was blind, and alone. So, so alone. Percy had abandoned her. He was never coming back. Her true love had abandoned her.

And then the pain started again, worse this time, as if it wasn't physical, but something else. It dug deep into her heart, into her soul. Annabeth needed Percy. But he was so far away. She was alone.

Then Annabeth felt... soft, as if she was cushioned between walls of soft blankets. But her eyes were glued shut. Help! She wanted to scream. But her voice didn't work as everyone she'd ever lost flashed by. Luke. Thalia for six years. Percy for six scary months. Jason. Beckendorf. Silena.

The last thing she noticed when she finally opened her eyes, drenched in sweat, was deep darkness. And bright light flashing before her eyes. Then, she collapsed.