"Aaron," I called to my brother, "tell me why we're doing this again,"

He groaned. "For the millionth time, Percy, we just hijack the chariot and take it to the rendezvous point, where we make the exchange and get the cash."

"But—"

"Don't worry, brother. It'll all go as planned. Besides, you remember the last time we said we wanted out?"

He was right, it wasn't pretty. That was the last time we were going to deal with madmen.

"Okay," I sighed. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't signing my own death warrant. I turned to my fellow companions riding behind me. They just shrugged. I had a funny feeling that Aaron had his own hidden agenda in this plot. But I had many funny feelings many times, so I shook the doubt away.

"Guys, we've reached," Grover said.

Indeed we did. A few yards ahead we could see a broad path, probably wide enough for a chariot to drive through. Large trees surrounded it, forming a canopy at the top; a good hiding spot if we were to hijack the chariot. After dismounting and finding a good hiding place for our horses, we carried out our plan.

It was easy. Grover, Leo and Eddy were to climb the trees, up to a considerable height then attack the horsemen when they pass, knock them out then kick them out of their horses, get the horses then hide the unconscious horsemen. If there were more horsemen or soldiers, skilled archer and brother, Aaron, would be up to the mark. Hopefully, in the middle of the pandemonium I jump out of the canopy (which would, hopefully, be stable enough to hold me) and land down the carriage, and man the horses, then ride to the rendezvous. However, it's a pity that not everything goes as planned with us…

Everything was going as planned so far. As I climbed up to the canopy, I could make out a vague figure in the distance. A chariot, followed by a number of soldiers on foot, and the ones on horses riding beside the carriage. Aaron was already ready with his quiver of arrows at a safe distance. Leo and Grover were clinging to the branches on the right, Eddy to the left.

Time to attack was signaled by the shot of Aaron's arrow. A soldier dropped to the ground, with an arrow in his shoulder. The others looked around, confused. They drew their swords, but it was a minute too late. Grover had already ambushed a good number of guards. It seemed that he caught them by surprise, because one guard turned around in bewilderment and almost slashed his partner. It was a good thing Grover was a skilled swordsman, one of the best in fact, because if I was outnumbered ten to one like him, I would have just passed out.

But I had my own skills. You can call it acrobatics. But here's where things went wrong. Apparently, Aaron did a horrible job in taking care of the guards, because two guards had climbed up the chariot and looked around with alert eyes, as if waiting for me to attack. How they got up there, I don't know. Suddenly, the chariot slowly dragged itself down the slope, now picking up speed. With agility, I flipped down and surprised one of them with a blow. He tumbled down and landed headfirst on the muddy ground. But the other one turned the tables on me. He hit me with the butt of his sword on the stomach, and tripped me. Now I was lying on the smooth roof of the chariot, my neck at the edge. I got up just in time to dodge a branch, but the guard still caught me in a bad position. Just when he raised his sword dramatically to finish me off, we passed by a large branch. He went with the branch, literally. When I stood up, he was lying on the ground, dazed.

I was behind on schedule. Grover was far behind, still preoccupied by the soldiers. Leo and Eddy were on the horses a few yards behind me, leading the other horses. Quickly, I manned the two horses that were cantering uncontrollably. What I saw ahead of us chilled me to the bone; a cliff. It was obvious; I couldn't control the horses in time for me to change our course.

I staggered carefully back to the roof and lay down. I looked down and saw two ladies. One of them looked furious, not even scared.

"Why, hello Princess," I grinned.

Yeah, by the way, I said princess. We were about to kidnap the Princess of Wilshire. Is it me, or was this a suicide plan? No, maybe it's me. Apparently, we're supposed to be running away from King James, yet we come back to kidnap his daughter. I was definitely going to think twice about listening to my brother, Aaron, again.

Princess Annabeth shot a scowl at me and punched me in the face. I almost stumbled and dropped from the roof of the chariot, if it wasn't for my experience. It might be hard to believe, but I have been punched a couple of times by some women. I got up and looked reassuringly at my two partners, who had their own share of problems. They were struggling to control the horses but it wasn't going so well. I mouthed to them, "Dead end." But they didn't hear me right.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I ducked my head and said, "Okay ladies, I guess you're journey has come to an end." I swiftly jumped through the window and into the chariot. "Roomy here, isn't it?"

"You petty thieves think you can—" the princess' maiden snapped but Annabeth interrupted, "Thalia, let us not fraternize with the enemy." She said it with unusual tranquility, as if such incidents were common for her.

"Oh, we're not your enemies, Princess. We're just doing the dirty job for some crazy politician, but you don't wanna hear that, do you?" I continued before she could add, "So we're having a bit of a situation here, and we'll need your cooperation to resolve it,"

Annabeth retorted, "Like I said, we do not fraternize with the enemy,"

"Okay then, I guess I'll leave you lasses to what you're doing, while the chariot rushes to the edge of a cliff."

"What!" Thalia tensed.

"I beg your pardon?" Annabeth was also starting to look nervous.

I sat in between them. "Now don't worry ladies, I just need you to open the doors," they did so, "and close your eyes."

It was kind of dumb that they followed every command I said, but that was the least of our problems. When we reached a clearing, where there were no more trees but grass, I pushed Thalia out and jumped out the other side with the princess.