The Great War Begins...

I walked out of the cabin decked out in full armor. Everybody stopped to stare at the new armor. Some of the Herme's kids looked at it like they were going to steal it somehow. I have to remember to lock my door when I'm not there, I thought. I walked to the front of the ship and leaped up onto the broad plank that hovered over the rushing water. I grabbed a rope to hold myself and keep my balance. Not that I needed it, I had perfect bearings at sea... thanks to my Dad. I squinted in the sunlight and could just barely see a strip of land dotted on the horizon.

"We're almost there," I muttered. Everybody must have heard because they came rushing over and crowded around me trying to catch a glimpse of land. They saw it. They all started cheering, wooping, and jumping. I turned and dropped onto the deck. I walked toward the back and up the stairs toward the giant steering wheel. We'll be there in about an hour and a half if I can get a nice current going with us and not against us. I came back down onto the other side of the ship where the best of the warriors were training. Annabeth was wailing in Clarisse's shield after she had disarmed her. Clarisse quickly ran out of the battle circle. She stood up and spit some blood onto the deck. She snatched up her spear from the ground and charged at Annabeth. She leaped through the air and stabbed at Annabeth's head. Annabeth quickly ducked and spun to her right, ending up behind Clarisse. She grabbed Clarisse's hair and pulled back, exposing her neck. She placed the celestial bronze shortsword against Clarisse's bare throat. She took the sword off and pushed Clarisse away. She turned and walked out of the circle. She took her helm off and poured water from a bottle on her head and gasped for air. She shook her hair out, getting me and an unexpecting satyr wet. The satyr bleated and trotted as fast as he could. I laughed and took Riptide out of my pocket. I uncapped it and it magically grew three feet and glowed with a ruddy gold light. I placed my helm on my head and walked into the circle. On the other side Thalia place her helm on her head and then picked up her spear. We circled each other and tried to figure out out where to strike first. She lunged forward and thrusted her spear at my head. I ducked to my right and she hit her hip off of my shoulder. My shoulder popped out of the socket. I fell back in pain. She grabbed my uninjured arm and lifted me off the ground. She turned me around and punched my shoulder plate. I felt the bone pop back in and I was fine. We started circling each other again. I swung Riptide at her head and she ducked so I followed through by swiping at her feet. I caught her greaves and she fell to the deck. She quickly rolled as Riptide sunk into the deck.

"Ughh. Great! Stuck in the ship!" I yanked it out and stabbed at Thalia's chest. She jumped back and leaned her head back toward the deck. She put her hands on the deck and caught herself. She was in a back bridge. She pushed off with her feet and flipped backwards. "I gotta try that sometime!" I said out loud. She started laughing and dropped her spear. She drew her sword. I lowered my stance and got ready to fight. I definitely knew that I could beat Thalia at a hand-to-hand combat with swords. I was just flat out better than her. She stepped forward but the step was two big. I side-stepped and kicked her leg out from under her. I caught her arm so she wouldn't crash into the deck. I put the sword point on her throat, then withdrew. I helped her up and shook her hand. We walked over to the side and got some water. Of course it instantly made me feel better. But Thalia took a little longer to recover from the battle, which had drained her energy so fast. Finally she was well hydrated and ready for a second round. As like many times done before, we circled each other inside of the circle. We both made a big step to our right then switched directions and jumped to the left. Our swords clashed in a shower of sparks. They created a big "X" between our bodies. I stepped to my left and grabbed her right wrist with my left hand and raised the swords up. I kicked her legs again and she fell back. This time I let her hit the deck. She hit it and groaned. She quickly jumped up. She was breathing heavy and was hunched forward from the weight of the armor. I was defintily wearing her down. But the problem is, I was getting tired not as tired. I started hammering on her shield with Riptide, like Annabeth and Clarisse. She started moving backward but never ran out like Clarisse. It probably runs in the family. Me and Thalia are both stubborn... just like our fathers. I kicked her shield and she tripped over her own feet. She fell back out of the circle and sat up.

"I don't know about you, but I'm too tired to go on," she panted.

"You know you can't do that in a war, right."

"Yeah, so?"

"So get up and keep going." She went over and got her spear again. Then we started back up.

We fought for a long while, both of us exhausted. We were almost there and we were trained as much as we could be. So I decided I would sleep. I went to my room and lied down. The second my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.

I was awaken by being grasped on the shoulders and being shaken violently. I sat upright and Grover was standing right there.

"Thanks! You could have just woken me up quietly and politely, you know!"

"Yeah, but it's a lot more fun watching you get scared." I grabbed a pillow and smashed it into his face. I swung my feet off of the bed and yawned. I stretched my arms as I stood up.

"Where are we?" I asked as I started putting my armor on.

"We're about twenty minutes away."

"Alright. I expect an attack as soon as we get off the ship. So make sure everybody is prepared to fight. Even the Aphrodite demi-gods will have to fight I fear."

"Wow! That's the smartest, and most sophisticated thing you've said this entire journey!"

"Why thank you, old chap!" I said as he straightened his back and shoulders.

"Okay. Now you just ruined it," Grover said with a frown on his face.

"Yeah, that was pushing it a little."

"Ya think?!"

"Sorry, lets go," I said as I strapped a greave to my shin. I stood up and slung my shield to my back, sheathed a shortsword in case Riptide didn't get to my pocket in time if I lost it, and picked up my spear.

"Wow! You look a little like King Leonidas," Grover said with a smile.

"That's funny that you mention that because there is three hundred of us demi-gods on this ship, and I'm going to try to hold off Luke's army of monster's as long as I can."

"Percy!" said Annabeth as she rushed into the room. "It's Chiron! Iris-Message! Important!" she said as she gasped for air. I rushed out of the room and sprinted up the stairs to a birdbath somebody put up for Iris-Messaging. I put my hands on the side and leaned forward trying to get my breath back.

"I said I wanted PERCY JACKSON! P-E-R-C-Y!!! Peeerrrrccccyyyy!" Chiron said, aggravated.

"Chiron! It's me!" I said as I took off my helm.

"Oh, sorry my dear boy. I didn't recognize you in your brilliant armor! Where did you manage to get that? Er- we have not the time for this tomfoolery!"

"Tomfoolery? Really?" I asked.

"Ahh, what was I saying before. Oh! I'm taking a group of centaurs and nymphs around to the back of Luke's army. All you need to do is blow the horn to give us the signal. Oh and wait a while so that we can catch them off gaurd."

"Wait! What horn!?" I half-shouted. The anxiety was really getting to me.

"If you go into your room and open the closet on the left, you will find a chest, open it and you'll find a golden horn, it's from your Uncle Zeus. Thalia has gotten a new horse from your father in the stables, and Annabeth got a new sword from her mother. There is another present from your father in the chest also. I suggest you go and retrieve them. You will be landing any moment now." I looked out over the rail and my guess is that we would be there in five minutes at the most.

"Bye!" I said as I turned and cut the connection by running my hand through the mist. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Thalia leading a white stallion war horse out of the stables. And I saw Annabeth swinging a slightly curved sword through the air. Grover was practicing his pipes, he was definitely getting better. I sprinted back down the steps, into my room, opened the closet, and threw open the top of the chest. There was the golden horn. I picked it up and fastened it at my waist. I looked back down into the chest and there was a ordinary, blue, ballpoint pen. I picked it up and took off the cap. As I expected it grew in length until it was a fully made weapon. But it wasn't a sword like Riptide, it was a spear. The shaft was dark blue and the spear-point shimmered in a light-blue. I slid it down my hand and touched the pen cap to the tip. It quickly turned back into a ballpoint pen. I put it in the pouch at my waist with Riptide. I placed my old spear in the closet and shut the door. I quickly walked back up to the stables. I pulled Annabeth aside from everybody else. I needed to talk to her. This could very well be the last time I would ever see her. "Annabeth, I want you to know, that even if something happens to one of us, I will always love you, always and forever. With all my heart. I want you to know that." We both had tears streaming down our faces by this point as we realized we might never see each other again.

"I love you too, Percy" I leaned forward and kissed her more passionately than I ever had before. All of a sudden Grover pulled our heads apart. Annabeth reared back and slugged him right in the jaw. "You ruined our heartfelt moment you jerk!" She bawled.

"Annabeth?!" I shouted. Did she really just hit Grover? Oh well...

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he shouted back. "Percy c'mon, we need to get ready," He said, pulling on my arm. I couldn't take my eyes off of Annabeth's face. "NOW!!!" I kissed her one last time, for now, and hurried off with Grover. "Percy, are you alright?" Grover asked, very concerned.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Let's go get ready."

I led my white stallion war horse out and mounted it. I told the stallion where to go and it followed the instructions. As I pushed through the fully armed crowd and to the front of the ship, I could see the beach about twenty seconds away. I turned toward my three hundred human soldiers and four hundred nymphs and satyrs.

"Today! Is the day we have all been waiting for! We will thirst on the blood of our enemies and feast on their souls. Let us send their souls to Hades! And let them rot there for the milleniums to come! Let us pray to our parents and all of the gods for a great battle. This war shall be remembered for eternities after we are long gone." Everybody shouted and screamed and banged their weapons against their shields. I felt us run aground and turned my horse around. I caught one last look at Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover's faces just before we all plunged into a possible death. Luke's army was waiting about a football field lengths away, shields up and spears out. The latch on the rails came loose and we charged off of the boat as soon as the boards were open enough. And so with this, the great war began...

A/N: OMG! I am sooooooooooooo sorry for this entirely HUGE wait! I know some people were bugging me to update! And so here it is! (Last update was 12/25/08) Hahahaha!!!