Sorry for the wait, here's another.

(Percy POV)

By the time they got back to the ship, Annabeth and Leo had managed to get it into good enough shape to fly. It wasn't a smooth flight, but at least they were able to leave the water and give Percy a break from being on watch the entire time.

Now, they were hovering over the ancient temple of the healing god Asclepius, hoping to find the god so that he could complete the physician's cure.

They were all peering over the railing, looking for any sign, when Annabeth suddenly pointed to a disc-shaped structure about fifty yards off their port side. "There," she said.

Leo smiled, "Haha, of course the architect knows what to look for."

The others gathered around, staring at the same place.

"It just looks like a bunch of rubble," Frank said. "Just a stone circle"

"No, it isn't," Percy said. "Look, closely, there are ridges and grooves carved around the rim. It's not a circle, it's a gear." He pointed at something else, "which means that those concentric circles are like mechanical gears inside a lock. That's a massive stone door." He looked around at the rest of the crew, all starting at him silently. "What?"

Leo quietly answered, "that's…exactly right. Wow."

"What?" Percy asked, "I'm smarter than I look you know."

"Yeah, no kidding" Piper chimed in.

Annabeth kissed him on the cheek, "Good, I can't be seen dating an idiot."

"So how do we turn the lock?" Jason asked.

"Way ahead of you," Leo answered.

Not long after, Leo lowered a grabber arm from the hull of the ship and latched it onto the rings. With little effort, they were able to turn the gears and unlock the doors.

"So, it's open, what now?" Leo asked. "Any volunteers?"

"Well, I have to go," Percy said. "The makhai said I had to summon them. And I was thinking Piper should come along in case we need charmspeak. Who wants to finish off the trio?"

"Me," Annabeth said. "Now let's do this."

They descended slowly and carefully into the vast space below them. At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a large cathedral-like room with rows upon rows of benches. But at the front of the room, where normally there would have been an altar, instead there was a 10-foot statue of pure white stone. A young woman in a white robe, a peaceful smile on her lips. In one hand she had a cup outstretched, with a golden serpent coiled around her arm, its head over the goblet.

Piper looked around the room, "This must have been the sleeping area."

"That's right," Annabeth said. "I read about this. Patients stayed here overnight, and Asclepius was supposed to send them a dream, asking them what cure they needed."

"And who's that?" Percy asked, pointing at the statue.

"That's Hygeia, the daughter of Asclepius," Piper answered. "She's the goddess of good health. That's where we get the word hygiene from."

"Neat," Percy answered. "But we should really move on."

They reached the front of the room, and next to the statue was a door. It was locked.

Percy pulled on the door, and suddenly, the statue came to life. Its lips didn't move, but suddenly a voice asked them, "Do you have an appointment?"

Piper stepped up, "Hello, Hygeia. Apollo and Artemis sent us. We need to see Asclepius."

"Well then, before anyone can see the Doctor, they must first be sanitized. Please, step forward."

"Um," Percy hesitated. The way she had said sanitize sounded very threatening. "I think we're good, thanks."

"Oh, you misunderstand," the voice answered. "Sanitizing is not optional!" The snake lunged at them.

Percy's reflexes were too sharp for the snake to catch him off guard. He easily sidestepped the snake as it lunged. In the meantime, Piper and Annabeth attacked Hygeia. Quickly, they slashed through the statue's legs, causing her to tip over. As she fell, her chalice splashed steaming acid all over the floor, which they were nimbly able to avoid. When they moved in to finish the job, they found the statue back in working order, Hygeia's legs magically reattached.

"Unacceptable," she said. "No one can see the doctor until they are properly sanitized."

She swung at Annabeth. Without thinking, Percy raised his arm and froze her in place. The snake lunged at him and he stopped it with his other hand.

Piper and Annabeth caught their breath. "What did you just do?" Piper asked.

"I froze them in time," Percy answered. "We can't beat these things, they keep regenerating. But I figure I can hold them long enough for the two of you to get through this door."

"But…" Annabeth started to say.

"No time," Percy interrupted. "Just get to work, I won't be able to hold them for long."

Percy hadn't tried this since Tartarus. Back then, freezing anything for even 30 seconds would have exhausted him completely. Now, he barely felt anything as he held the statue and snake frozen in place. Percy got curious, and found he was able to telekinetically move the snake from where it floated in the air to where the statue was. Next, he discovered only one hand was needed to hold both frozen. He wasn't really keeping them frozen individually so much as he was creating a bubble of frozen time. Huh. Percy thought to himself.

Eventually, Annabeth and Piper managed to work the door open.

"Percy, come on." Annabeth said.

"You go first," Percy said. "I'll drop my hands as soon as I walk through, then you're going to have to close the doors as quickly as possible."

As soon as Percy was safely behind the door, that's exactly what he did. Percy didn't stick around long enough to find out what happened after time resumed. He turned around and found a long hallway. "Come on," Percy said, "Asclepius awaits."

(Annabeth POV)

They opened the door at the end of the hallway and walked into a cozy office. Inside was a simple wooden desk. The rest of the room was filled with bookshelves, Annabeth could barely understand the titles, but they looked like stacks upon stacks of medical journals and research studies. The wall behind the desk was covered in diplomas for different medical degrees.

Sitting behind the desk was a normal looking man, with a kind smile, crinkles around his eyes, salt-and-pepper hair, and a well-trimmed beard. He reminded Annabeth a bit of Paul, Percy's stepdad. He wore a white lab coat over a business suit, with a stethoscope around his neck. He would have looked like the stereotypical doctor, if it weren't for the polished black staff with a live green snake coiled around it.

"Hello!" Asclepius said cheerfully.

"Doctor," Piper gave a warm smile. "We'd be so grateful for your help. We need the physician's cure." Annabeth continued to be amazed with how good Piper's charmspeak had gotten.

Asclepius put his hand over his heart. "Oh, I would be delighted to help. Please, come in, take a seat."

Piper and Annabeth took the two chairs opposite Asclepius. Percy chose to stand between them.

Asclepius leaned back. "I can't tell you how nice it is to actually talk with patients. The last few thousand years, the paperwork has been crazy. Forms, red tape. Not to mention the giant stone statue guardian that kills everyone in the waiting room."

"Yeah," Percy answered. "Hygeia doesn't make the best greeter."

Asclepius gave a warm smile. "My real daughter Hygeia isn't like that, I promise. She is actually very nice. Now then, what seems the be the problem."

He leaned forward and looked at Piper. "Hmm, Broken arm when you were six. Fell off a horse?"

Piper's jaw dropped at that. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Vegetarian diet," he continued without noticing her comment. "No problem, just make sure you get enough iron and protein. Ah yes, a little weak in the left shoulder. I assume you got hit with something heavy about a month ago?"

"A sandbag in Rome," Piper said. "That's amazing."

"Alternate ice and hot pack if it bothers you," Asclepius advised. He turned to Annabeth, "Same to you, you broke your ankle around the same time, yes?"

Annabeth just nodded.

"Other than that you're pretty much sorted," Asclepius continued, "some minor nicks and bruises, not to mention some psychological damage from what I can see, but you should be fine in time."

He turned to Percy, "And you…. Oh my." His expression turned grim. The friendly twinkle in his eyes faded. "Oh, I see…"

"What?" Annabeth sat up suddenly, "What's wrong with Percy?"

"Nothing," Percy interjected suddenly. "Now Doctor, we came for the physician's cure. Can you help us? I've got some Pylosian mint here and a nice yellow daisy." He set the ingredients on the desk.

"Hold up," Annabeth said. "What's wrong with Percy?"

Asclepius coughed and cleared his throat. "I…nothing. Forget I said anything. Now, you want the physician's cure."

Piper frowned, "Wait, but-"

"Guys," Percy said. "I'm fine. Let's focus on the imminent end of the world, huh?"

Asclepius grabbed the flower. "So this daisy was picked by my father, Apollo?"

"No, your aunt Artemis," Percy corrected.

Asclepius held the flower to his nose and took a sniff. "Ah yes, I can sense that now. Now, the only missing ingredient is the heartbeat of the chained god."

"No problem," Percy answered. "I can summon the makhai at a moment's notice."

"Fantastic, just one second." Asclepius shook his staff, "Spike, are you ready?"

The snake reared up and sniffed the room.

Asclepius set the daisy and poison in front of the snake. "Pylosian mint – certainty of death. The curse of Delos – anchoring that which cannot be anchored. And the final ingredient: the heartbeat of the chained god – chaos, violence, and fear of mortality." He looked at Percy, "You may release the makhai"

Percy closed his eyes. Wind began to swirl through the room. Angry voices wailed. Then the snake unhinged his jaw and swallowed the angry wind. He snapped up the flower and the vial of Pylosian mint immediately after."

There was a terse silence, then the snake spat up a new vial, a stoppered glass tube no bigger than Annabeth's pinky. A dark red liquid glowed inside.

"There we are," Asclepius picked up the vial. "The physician's cure. Wait," his face turned serious, then confused "why did I agree to make this?"

Piper stood up. "Because we need it to save the world, it's very important. You are the only one who can help us."

Asclepius relaxed. "Yes, yes of course. Now, the potion must be administered as soon as possible after death. It can be either poured into the mouth or injected into the patient. And there is only enough for one. Do you understand?" He looked directly at Percy.

"Got it," he said quickly. "Thanks Doc."

With that they turned around and left. As they walked through the waiting room, Annabeth saw that Hygeia and her snake were still stuck where Percy had frozen them. Somehow, Percy's powers had somehow stuck them in time permanently..

And there we go, another chapter down.

If my counting is correct, the next one will be Athens. Then the final battle. Then the Epilogue. I might split Athens into two, one setup, one fight (plus a fun confrontation between Percy and the gods?)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, don't hesitate to leave reviews, I love reading all of your feedback.