{PERCY}

Percy went weightless.

His vision blurred. Claws grabbed his arms and lifted him into the air. Below, train wheels squealed and metal crashed. Glass shattered. Passengers screamed.

When his eyesight cleared, he saw the thing that was carrying him afloat. It had the body of a panther—sleek, black, and feline—with wings and the head of an eagle. Its eyes glowed blood-red.

The son of Poseidon squirmed. The monster's front talons were wrapped around his arm like steel bands. He couldn't free himself or reach his sword. He rose higher and higher in the cold wind. Percy had no idea where the monster was taking him, but he was sure he wouldn't like it when he arrived.

He yelled in frustration. Then something whistled by his ear. An arrow sprouted from the monster's neck. The creature shrieked and let go.

He crashed through tree branches until he slammed into a snowbank. He groaned, looking up at a massive pine tree he'd just shredded with his fall.

He managed to get to his feet. Nothing seemed
broken. Frank stood to his left, shooting down the creatures as fast as possible. Landon to his right, stabbing and slashing at the reforming monsters. Hazel was at his back, swinging her sword at any monster that came close, but there were too many swarming around them—at least a dozen.

Percy drew Riptide. He sliced the wind off one monster and sent it spiraling into a tree, then sliced through that burst into dust. But they started to re-form immediately until Landon would slash at them again.

"What are these things?" He yelled.

"Gryphons!" Hazel said. "We have to get them away from the train!"

The raven-haired boy saw what she meant. The train cars had fallen over, and their roofs had shattered. Tourists stumbling around in shock.

Percy couldn't see anyone seriously injured, but he could see the gryphons sweep down toward anything that moved. The only thing keeping them away from the mortals was a glowing gray warrior in camouflage—Frank's pet spartus.

Percy glanced over and noticed that Frank's spear was gone. "Used your last charge?"

"Yeah." Frank shot another gryphon out of the sky. "I had to help the mortals. The spear just dissolved."

Percy nodded. Part of him was relieved. He didn't like the skeleton warrior. Part of him was disappointed because that was one less weapon they had at their disposal. But he didn't fault Frank. The son of Mars had done the right thing.

"Let's move the fight!" Percy said. "Away from the tracks!" They stumbled through the snow, smacking and slicing gryphons that re-formed from dust every time they were killed.

He had no experience with gryphons. He'd always thought of them as huge noble animals, like lions with wings, but these things reminded him more of vicious pack hunters—flying hyenas.

About fifty yards from the tracks, the trees gave way to an open marsh. The ground was so spongy and icy, that Percy felt like he was racing across Bubble Wrap.

Frank was running out of arrows. Landon had resorted to throwing snowballs at the reforming particles of the gryphons. Hazel was breathing hard. Percy's attacks getting slower.

He realized they were alive only because the gryphons weren't trying to kill them, they only wanted to pick them up and carry them off somewhere.

Maybe to their nests, he thought.

Then he tripped over something in the tall grass—a circle of scrap metal about the size of a tractor tire. It was a massive bird's nest—a gryphon's nest. The bottom of the nest was littered with old pieces of jewelry, an Imperial gold dagger, a dented centurion's badge, and two pumpkin-sized eggs that looked like real gold.

Percy jumped into the nest and pressed the tip of his sword against one of the eggs. "Back off, or I break it!"

The gryphons squawked angrily. They buzzed around the nest and snapped their beaks, but they didn't attack. Hazel and Frank stood back with Percy, their weapons ready. Landon was browsing through the pieces of jewelry at the bottom of the nest.

"These things sure do love gold," Landon noted. "They wouldn't mind if I took some, right?"

"Of course, they would mind," Hazel said. "They're crazy for it. Look—more nests over there."

Frank notched his last arrow. "So if these are their nests, where were they trying to take Percy? That thing was flying away with him."

"Maybe it wanted another kid, Percy does look a lot like them." Landon shrugged, but as he stood Percy caught sight of him putting the Imperial gold dagger into his pocket.

"I do not,"

"Yes, you do."

Percy rolled his eyes. His arms were still throbbing from where the gryphon had grabbed him. "Alcyoneus," he guessed, returning to the matter at hand. "Maybe they're working for him. Are these things smart enough to take orders?"

"I don't know," Hazel said. "I never fought them when I lived here. I just read about them at camp."

"Weaknesses?" Frank asked. "Please tell me they have weaknesses."

"Horses," Landon told them. "They're natural enemies."

"I wish Arion was here!" Hazel scowled.

The gryphons shrieked. They swirled around the nest with their red eyes glowing.

"Guys," Frank said nervously, "I see legion relics in this nest."

"I know," Percy said.

"That means other demigods died here, or—"

"Frank, it'll be okay," Percy promised.

"I'd say our chances of survival are 50/50," Landon said.

One of the Gryphons dived in. Percy raised his sword, ready to stab the egg. The monster veered off, but the other gryphons seemed to be losing their patience. Percy knew he couldn't stall much longer.

He glanced around the fields, desperately trying to form a plan. About a quarter mile away, a Hyperborean giant was sitting in the bog, peacefully picking mud from between his toes with a broken tree trunk.

"I've got an idea," Percy said. "Hazel—all the gold in these nests. Do you think you can use it to cause a distraction?"

"I—I guess."

"Just give us enough time for a head start. When I say go, run for that giant."

Frank gaped at him. "You want us to run toward a giant?"

"Trust me," Percy said. "Ready? Go!"

Hazel thrust her hand upward. From a dozen nests across the marsh, golden objects shot into the air—jewelry, weapons, coins, gold nuggets, and most importantly, gryphon eggs. The monsters shrieked and flew after their eggs, frantic to save them.

The four demigods ran. Their feet splashed and crunched through the frozen marsh. Percy poured on the speed, but he could hear the gryphons closing behind them, and now they were really angry.

The giant hadn't noticed the commotion yet. He was inspecting his toes for mud, his face sleepy and peaceful. Around his neck was a necklace of found objects—garbage cans, car doors, moose antlers, camping equipment, even a toilet. Apparently, he'd been cleaning up the wilderness.

Percy hated to disturb him, especially since it meant taking shelter under the giant's thighs, but they didn't have much choice.

"Under!" he told the others. "Crawl under!"

They scrambled between the massive blue legs and flattened themselves in the mud, crawling as close as they could to his loincloth. Percy tried to breathe through his mouth, but it wasn't the most pleasant hiding spot.

"What's the plan?" Frank hissed. "Get flattened by a blue rump?"

"Lay low," Percy said. "Only move if you have to."

"Don't even do that," Landon whispered. "One wrong move, the giant freaks out and we get caught and eaten."

The gryphons arrived in a wave of angry beaks, talons, and wings, swarming around the giant, trying to get under his legs.

The giant rumbled in surprise. He shifted. Percy had to roll to avoid getting crushed by his large hairy butt. The Hyperborean grunted, a little more irritated. He swatted at the gryphons, but they squawked in outrage and began pecking at his legs and hands.

"Ruh?" the giant bellowed. "Ruh!"

He took a deep breath and blew out a wave of cold air. Even under the protection of the giant's legs, Percy could feel the temperature drop. The gryphons' shrieked and stopped abruptly, replaced by the sounds of heavy objects hitting the mud.

"Come on," Percy told his friends. "Carefully."

They squirmed out from under the giant. All around the marsh, trees were glazed with frost. A huge swath of the bog was covered in fresh snow. Frozen gryphons stuck out the ground like feathery popsicle sticks, their wings still spread, beaks open, eyes wide with surprise.

They scrambled away, trying to keep out of the giant's vision, but the giant was too busy to notice them. He was trying to figure out how to string a frozen gryphon onto his necklace.

"Percy..." Hazel wiped the ice and mud from her face. "How did you know the giant could do that?"

"I almost got hit by Hyperborean breath once," he explained. "We'd better move. The gryphons won't stay frozen forever."

They walked overland for about an hour, following the train tracks but staying in the cover of the trees as much as possible. Once they heard a helicopter flying in the direction of the train wreck. Twice they heard the screech of the gryphons, but they sounded far away.

Percy figured it was about midnight when the sun finally set. It got cold in the woods. The stars were so thick, he was tempted to stop and stare at them. Then the northern lights cranked up. They reminded Percy of his mom's gas stovetop back home, when she had the flame on low—waves of ghostly blue flames rippling back and forth.

"That's amazing," Frank said.

"Bears," Hazel pointed. Sure enough, a couple of brown bears were lumbering in the meadow a few hundred feet away, their coats gleaming in the starlight. "They won't bother us," she promised. "Just give them a wide berth."

The three boys didn't argue.

As they trudged on, Percy thought about all the crazy places he'd seen. None of them had left him speechless like Alaska. He could see why it was a land beyond the gods. Everything here was rough and untamed. There were no rules, no prophecies, no destinies—just the harsh wilderness and a bunch of animals and monsters. Mortals and demigods came here at their own risk.

Percy wondered if this was what Gaea wanted—for the whole world to be like this. He wondered if that would be such a bad thing.

Then he put the thought aside. Gaea wasn't a gentle goddess. Percy had heard what she planned to do. She was like the Mother Earth you might read about in a children's fairy tale. She was vengeful and violent. If she ever woke up fully, she'd destroy human civilization.

After another couple of hours, they stumbled across a tiny village between the railroad tracks and a two-lane road. The city limit sign said, "MOOSE PASS."

Standing next to the sign was an actual moose. For a second, Percy thought it might be some sort of advertising. Then the animal bounded into the woods.

They passed a couple of houses, a post office, and some trailers. Everything was dark and closed up. On the other end of town was a store with a picnic table and an old rusted petrol pump in front.

The store had a hand-painted sign that read: MOOSE PAS GAS.

"That's just wrong," Frank said.

By silent agreement, they collapsed around the picnic table.

Percy's feet felt like blocks of ice—very sore blocks of ice. Hazel put her head in her hands and passed out, snoring. Landon went into the store for some reason. Frank took out his last sodas and some granola bars from the train ride and shared them with Percy.

They ate in silence, watching the stars, until Frank said. "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

Percy looked across the table. "About what?"

In the starlight, Frank's face might have been alabaster, like an old Roman statue. "About...being proud that we're related."

Percy tapped his granola bar on the table. "Well, let's see. You single-handedly took out three basilisk while I was sipping green tea and wheat germ. You held off an army of Laistrygonians so that our plane could take off in Vancouver. You saved my life by shooting down that gryphon. And you gave up the last charge on your magic spear to help some defenseless mortals. You are, hands down, the nicest child of the war god I've ever met...maybe the only nice one. So what do you think?"

The son of Mars stared up at the northern lights. "It's just... I was supposed to be in charge of this quest, the centurion, and all. I feel like you guys have had to carry me."

"Not true," Percy said.

"I'm supposed to have these powers I haven't figured out how to use," Frank said bitterly. "Now I don't have a spear, and I'm almost out of arrows. And...I'm scared."

"I'd be worried if you weren't scared," Percy said. "We're all scared."

"But the Feast of Fortuna is..." Frank thought about it. "It's after midnight, isn't it? That means it's June Twenty-fourth now. The feast starts tonight at sundown. We have to find our way to Hubbard Glacier, defeat a giant who is undefeatable in his home territory, and get back to Camp Jupiter before they're overrun—all in less than eighteen hours."

"And when we free Thanatos," Percy said, "he might claim your life. And Hazel's. Believe me, I've been thinking about it."

Frank gazed over at the daughter of Pluto. "She's my best friend," he said. "I lost my mom, my grandmother...I can't lose her, too."

Percy thought about his old life—his mom in New York, Camp Half-Blood, Evangeline. He'd lost all of that for eight months. Even now, with the memories coming back...he'd never been this far away from home before.

He'd been to the Underworld and back. He'd faced death dozens of times. But sitting at this picnic table, thousands of miles away, beyond the power of Olympus, he'd never been so alone—except for Hazel and Frank...maybe also Landon.

"I'm not going to lose either of you," The raven-haired boy promised. "I'm not going to let that happen. And, Frank, you are a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you."

Frank lowered his head. He seemed lost in thought. Finally, he leaned forward until his head bumped into the picnic table. He started to snore in harmony with Hazel.

Percy sighed. "Another inspiring speech from Jackson," he said to himself. "Rest up, Frank. Big day ahead."

Percy glanced over at the store, he wondered if he should go inside and talk to Landon. He was still mad at the son of Hermes for lying to him. But after what Landon had told them during their plane ride to Alaska. He couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

He knew he had judged Landon too harshly in the past because of something as petty as jealousy. He had hated Landon more than anything in the world for a while, but he'd gotten used to having him there with him alongside Evangeline and Annabeth.

If they didn't make it out of this quest, Percy didn't want to die, knowing he'd never forgiven Landon. He got up from his seat at the table; the only sound around him was the sound of his footsteps crunching against the snow. He opened the door and walked inside.

Landon was eating a Snickers candy bar while putting a travel magazine back into its rack. He glanced up momentarily before focusing his attention back on the magazines. "Where are Frank and Hazel?" he asked, taking a bite of his candy bar.

"They fell asleep," Percy approached the son of Hermes. "I think I can put people to sleep with my speeches."

"Don't have to tell me, I know firsthand how boring those are." Landon agreed. He placed another magazine back and faced Percy. He frowned once he caught Percy eyeing his candy bar. "If you want some, there's more on the counter. A little expired, but edible."

"You're eating expired candy?" Percy raised a brow.

"It's just a little dry," Landon said. "Besides we're gonna die anyway."

"Right," Percy cleared his throat. "That's not why I came in here. I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Landon asked.

"About... this whole thing," Percy motioned between them. "You lying and pretending you don't know me."

"I thought we sorted that out on the boat," Landon said, taking another bite of his candy bar. "You were yelling at me, acting like I was the one in the wrong."

"That's because you were," Percy shot back. He hadn't come here to argue, but it was happening anyway. "Look, I just want to talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about," Landon shrugged. "You think I lied for some personal gain."

"That's not what I think," Percy said, shaking his head.

"Then what do you think, huh?" The son of Hermes said. "Come on, tell me."

Percy clenched his jaw. He was starting to wonder if this was even worth it. "I think you lie to protect yourself."

"That's the same thing," Landon said, rolling his eyes at the boy.

"No, it's not," Percy insisted, "There's a difference."

"I lie because it's instinct," Landon said. "It's a part of who I am."

"So, you're a liar and a thief?" Percy asked, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.

"Sure, if that's how you wanna see it," Landon replied. "That's what everyone says, right? I'm the liar. Makes sense. You're Percy Jackson after all. You're the camp's golden boy—the hero who saved Olympus, who gave up immortality. How could you ever be wrong?"

Percy felt his anger flare, but he tried to stay calm. "I'm trying to be nice here."

"For you or for me?" Landon raised an eyebrow. "Because we both know you wouldn't apologize to me, not unless you had a guilty conscience."

"So what if I'm doing this for myself?" Percy asked. "At least I'm trying. You haven't apologized for anything you've ever done to me."

Landon huffed. "You want an apology? Fine, I'm sorry. Sorry for the lies, sorry for everything. But I couldn't tell you the truth, not without getting myself killed."

"Is that it?" Percy scoffed. "That's your apology?"

Landon glared at him. "What do you want, Percy? I explained why I lied. I told you why I didn't tell you what I knew. I've been helping you get your memories back. What else do you want, a medal?"

Percy's fist clenched. He wanted to yell at Landon, tell him how badly he'd hurt him, but on the other hand, he knew deep down he deserved it. He'd gotten most of his memories back, including the ones with Landon, and in almost all of them, he had never been nice to Landon.

"You know," Landon said, his voice colder now, "you've never apologized for anything you've said about me. Not about the things you said behind my back and to my face. You accused me of being a spy just because I was Luke's brother, and you never apologized for that."

"So you did all of this just because I didn't apologize?" he asked. "You hurt me back because I didn't say sorry?"

Landon brushed past him and toward the door. "You have a brain, Percy. Use it for once in your life."

At dawn, the store opened up. The owner was a little surprised to find four teenagers crashed out on his picnic table, but when Percy explained that they had stumbled away from last night's train wreck, the guy felt sorry for them and treated them to breakfast.

The owner had called a friend of his, an Inuit native who had a cabin close to Seward. Soon they were rumbling along the road in a beat-up Ford pickup that had been new about the time Hazel was born.

Hazel and Frank sat in the back. Percy and Landon rode up front with the leather old man, who smelled like smoked salmon.

Percy hadn't even looked at Landon, let alone speak to him since last night. They both had just gone to pretend their conversation never happened.

The man told the two boys stories about Bear and Raven, the Inuit gods, and all Percy could think was that he hoped he didn't meet them. He had enough enemies already.

The truck broke down a few miles outside Seward. The driver didn't seem surprised, as though this happened to him several times a day. He said they could wait for him to fix the engine, but since Seward was only a few miles away, they decided to walk it.

By midmorning, they climbed over a rise in the road and saw a small bay ringed with mountains. The town was a thin crescent on the right-hand shore, with wharves extending into the water and a cruise ship in the harbor.

Percy shuddered. He'd had bad experiences with cruise ships.

"Seward," Hazel said. She didn't sound happy to see her old home.

They'd already lost a lot of time, and Percy didn't like how fast the sun was rising. The road curved around the hillside, but it looked like they could get to town faster going straight across the meadows.

Percy stepped off the road. "Come on."

The ground was squishy, but he didn't think much about it until Hazel shouted, "Percy, no!"

His next step went straight through the ground. He sank like a stone until the earth closed over his head—and the earth swallowed him.

{LANDON}

"Give me your bow!" Landon shouted.

Frank didn't hesitate. He dropped his back and slipped the bow off his shoulder.

The marshy slit and decomposed plants had made the surface look completely solid, but it was even worse than quicksand. He glanced at the other two. "Hold one end," he told them. "Don't let go."

Landon grabbed the other end, took a deep breath, and jumped into the bog. The earth closed over his head.

The son of Hermes sat in the warmth of the sun, a Ziploc bag of grapes resting beside him. Cassie, perched beneath the shadow of the leaves, writing in her diary. Whenever she wrote in her diary, it felt as if she slipped into another world, one that didn't include him.

Her gaze would go distant, and her hands would tremble whenever she would prophesize the future. Landon often wondered what she saw, but he knew better than to pry—unlike Xander, who had no problem going through his things.

Grey clouds began to roll across the sky, the wind pushing them to block the sun. Landon popped a grape into his mouth and glanced at his sister. She seemed too engrossed in whatever she was writing to care. Her hand moved quickly over the page, the ink smearing across her palm.

He reached for another grape, but something brushed against his hand. He pulled it away from a plant—a thick, leathery plant with dark green leaves and purplish-blue and white flowers.

"Lanny?" Cassie asked, still not looking up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what kind of a plant that is?"

He shook his head. Cassie smiled, looking at him. "It's Rosemary. You know, the one mom uses for her tea."

"She puts plants in her tea?"

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "She also puts it in food and decorates with it for Christmas."

Landon blinked, surprised.

"You wanna know something else?" Cassie whispered. "The Romans carry Rosemary at funerals."

"Why?" Landon asked.

"It symbolizes memory. The mourners would carry the memory of the dead person with them."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Landon frowned, his chest tightening.

"I thought you should know... just in case."

"Just in case for what?"

"You'll know it when it happens," Her voice was soft, the glassy look in her eyes had returned.

Her head snapped up when a crow passed by from above them. She watched the sky for a moment, taking in the sight of the dark cloudy sky before looking at Landon. "I should get you back to camp before it starts to pour," Cassie murmured to herself.

Landon felt dread creep over him as she spoke. He didn't want this moment to end. He wanted to stay here with his sister, under the tree, where everything felt safe. He didn't want to leave.

"I could make that happen," Cassie smiled, her eyes blank and crazed. Her voice was deeper, more creepier; it wasn't his sister, it was Gaea.

"What?" Landon said.

He wanted to get up and run but something held him there.

"I can make this moment last forever," Gaea repeated her words more persuasively. "It would be just you and Cassie, away from all that pain and suffering."

He couldn't fall for it, no matter how much he wanted that. It was a trap, Gaea was setting him up. He had to snap out of it and find Percy and get out before they both suffocated to death.

"You're lying," He told her.

"I'm not," She said. "You know I can do it, I can bring her back and you can live your life in peace."

"You're the reason all of this is happening again!" Landon hissed. "I finally had everything I ever wanted, but you just had to ruin it again by waking up from your nap, didn't you?"

Gaea chuckled amused. "I'll give it back to you, you just have to let me take Percy Jackson. He'll be fine with me, you're better off without him anyway."

"What?"

"Percy will never apologize for the way he treated you, nobody will. He will always hate you, Landon. Just let me take him and I will give you the life you've always wanted."

"I—" He stammered. He couldn't let her manipulate him. He knew Gaea never meant what she said.

She'd betrayed Phineas in a second, she had yet to give Oliver the power he craved. Gaea wasn't loyal to anyone but herself. Landon had watched Oliver lose his mind because of her promise to him, so what was stopping her from making Landon turn out the same way?

She was lying, and he wasn't going to fall for it. No matter how much he hated Percy, he couldn't just leave him to die. Percy had a life, and if he left him there, it wouldn't just be Percy who suffered—the people around him would too.

Landon tightened his grip on the bow. Something grabbed his ankles from below him, he was going to kick it when he realized it was Percy.

"I've already captured Nico," Gaea sighed. "If you just hand over Percy, I'll bring your sister back with the snap of my fingers."

Of course, Nico had been captured. But he couldn't worry about that right now, it was something that should be discussed with Nico's sisters, who were above the surface.

Landon turned his gaze to the Goddess of the Earth. She wasn't the only one who could weave empty promises; after all, it only takes one liar to recognize another. But he was done lying, he was done with it.

"Let us go," he demanded. "You and I both know that I will never cooperate with you."

Suddenly, his sister's face disappeared and his surroundings dissolved into darkness.

Landon was drowning in mud, one hand gripping the bow, Percy's hand around his ankles, deep in darkness. He tugged at the bow. Frank and Hazel pulled them up with such force he felt like his arm would pop out of its socket.

He doubled over as he coughed up mud. He was lying in the grass, covered in muck. Percy sprawled at his feet, also coughing and spitting mud.

Frank and Hazel hovered over them, yelling, "Oh, gods! Oh, gods! Oh, gods!"

The son of Mars yanked some extra clothes from his bag and started toweling off Landon's face while Hazel dragged Percy further from the muskeg.

"You guys were down there for so long!" Frank cried.

"We were worried sick!" Hazel added. "Don't ever do something like that again!"

Frank wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug. "Dude..." Landon gasped. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry," The Zhang boy apologized.

They got the sons of Hermes and Poseidon to the side of the road, where they sat and shivered and spit up mud clods.

Hazel managed to explain about the muskeg and Landon explained the vision he'd seen, he told them about Gaea capturing Nico and how she tried to make him give up Percy in return for his sister.

Percy rubbed his shoulders. His lips were blue. "Hazel, we'll figure out what happened to Nico, I promise."

Hazel squinted at the sun and spoke, "Does it seem like Gaea let you go too easily? I mean, what changed her mind to suddenly let you guys go?"

"Maybe she still wants us as pawns," Percy said, plucking out a mud clod from his hair. "Maybe she was just saying things to mess with Landon's head."

"What can I say? The old lady's manipulative," Landon sighed. "You can't let her get to you. She makes fake promises, and I knew she was lying. I am a professional liar, after all, right Percy?"

Percy shifted in his seat uncomfortably, he cleared out his throat. "I'm sorry," Percy said, making Landon do a double take. "I'm sorry for the thing I said back at the convenience store and at the boat. You did what you had to and you saved my life after all that. I'm sorry for acting like such a dick."

The son of Hermes could just stare at him. He had never expected an apology from Percy, he'd imagined the scenario in his head a few times but it felt weird hearing it in reality.

"I'm sorry too," Landon said. "For the lying and insulting you on a daily basis, and for wishing you would die."

"Wishing I would what now?"

"The point is, I am sorry, dude." Landon met Percy's awaiting gaze. "I mean it."

"Does this mean you guys are finally friends now?" Frank asked, hopefully.

"Yeah,"

"Sort of," Landon said, his voice overlapping Percy's. He ignored the look Percy gave him. "So now what do we do? We're losing time and we're also covered in a shit ton of mud."

"I'm not sure," Hazel said. "But...I might know a place we can freshen up."

------✧------

A/N: Y'all would not believe the amount of time I wasted fighting Grammarly over the spelling of Gryphon.

Xander has middle child syndrome he's forgotten from everything.

Anyways I'll see you tomorrow when I update again. (I alr wrote the next chapter js have to edit and proofread it)