Annabeth POV

We headed deeper into the deadlines, our moods dulled and conversations mute. We were flying much less, to the bats dismay, and Percy's joy. Until we got dropped on by smelly sulfuric goo. That was disgusting. Our silent smelly parade continued, every once in a while Ripred would flick Gregor in the face with his tail to stop us (we were going single file and Gregor happened to be in front after the big rat) and let a patrol of rats pass by.

"They don't usually act this organized," Luxa whispered. "They usually just attack if you stumble upon them and hide in their lairs. This is unheard of."

Ripred slapped Gregor again, and we all stopped.

"Why do we have to listen to this Arm mania dude? He's not a rat," a voice whined ahead of us.

"Because he is powerful, and we respect power. Besides, he promised us the ability to take over the humans," a grating voice explained slowly. "You should be a bit more grateful-" he dropped out of earshot.

Ripred sighed quietly, and continued on. I turned to Luxa.

"Have you ever heard of Arm mania? Or someone similar?" I asked. She shook her head. I turned, looking for Thalia. She was second to last, in front of Nico.

"Thalia, have you heard of that guy?" I asked in Greek.

She shrugged. "There are so many gods, he could be a god, or a rat, or just a strong person. The name doesn't narrow much down."

I nodded, and turned back to the front. Suddenly, our surroundings went dark. I could still see a little, but not as much as I should have been able to.

Nico and Hazel both had freaked out looks on their faces. Something bad was happening.

We needed to figure this out. Fast.