Hey! I wrote this for my ELA class, when we had to write a short story. I might put the alternate ending, let me know if you want me to. :) Anyway, in case any of my teachers see this and want to blame me for copying something from the internet (what was that that word again?) THIS IS VALERIE LEBLANC FROM FAA! I published this after I sent it to Mr. Pollock in an e-mail so I can't get in trouble. :)

RaNdOmNeSs FoR ToDaY: I went to the ER earlier and I got a splint thingy. Then, I finished this, sent it to my ELA teacher Mr. Pollock, and went on facebook. Then, I came here. And I'm typing one handed. THIS STINKS! :P Plus, we bought my dog a Halloween costume. :) She's going as Tinker Bell! :)

Wrath of the Gods by: Valerie LeBlanc
It was a regular Saturday afternoon. I was at the beach with Poppy again. Since her father is Poseidon, she always dragged me here to Miami Beach in Florida. Even though I was the son of Hades and couldn't go into the water, it was always me who got dragged along with her. Why, I don't know. Maybe it's because we're best friends. Yeah, that's probably it.

You may have noticed that I said our fathers were Poseidon and Hades, and you're thinking, "Oh, their parents must have loved Greek mythology." Well, you're half right. They are the actual gods. That's right, James North and Poppy Chapman are demigods. We're also cousins and best friends. Some people find it awkward, because we are complete opposites. I was tall with dark brown (almost black) hair, gray eyes, and had a dark and mysterious personality. Poppy was average height, with red hair, green eyes, freckles, and was energetic and bright and happy all of the time. She also played guitar and surfed. The only things we have in common are 1) we are demigods 2) we're 17 and 3) we both loved reading books about other demigods. Speaking of those books...

"James!" Poppy shouted. She was in the water, and was probably about to trick me into going there.

"What, Poppy?" I asked.

She ran up onto the beach and collapsed on the towel next to me. "I found another demigod book on the sand! It's called Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Theif. You should read it, because I don't have the time anymore since I've been teaching Claire how to surf, and then I have the competition tomorrow, and I really want to know what happens. Please?" Well, she did have a surfing competition tomorrow, and she had been helping her friend Claire Washington with surfing.

"Fine. Just remember, I'm only doing it because you asked so nicely." Yeah right, I would have done it no matter what, because I always did.

"Thanks! Oh, I have to leave now, Nico called and begged me to bring him his laptop, so I'm going to bring it to him. Do you want to come?" she asked, packing up her things.

"No thanks, have fun. Tell Nico I said hey and I hope he feels better." Our friend Nico Grace got in a bad fight with the Minotaur. He'll be okay, but he's in the infirmary in Camp Half-Blood. He's been complaining that he was bored. I swear, children of the Big Three are so whiney (he's the son of Zues). I know that means me too, but oh well, it's true.

"Okay, bye! See you later, Jamie! I'll call you when I get home," Poppy shouted as she ran toward her car. She was lucky she was so far away already, or I would yell at her for calling me Jamie.

Since Poppy was gone, and Claire, Nico, and our other friend Luke Jackson were all at Camp Half-Blood for the summer, I went home to read the book. When Poppy said she'd call me, she meant that I better have the book finished so I could tell her what happens. If I didn't she would kill me, go to Hades to bring me back to life, then kill me again. Yes, she's violent like that.

About an hour and a half later, I was done with the book and waiting for Poppy to call me. I found something that was insulting the gods. One minute and 47 seconds later (not that I was counting) Poppy called. I practically jumped to the phone, and only gave it time to ring once.

"Poppy! Thank gods, guess what?"

"Oh wait, no hello?" I could tell she was rolling her eyes on the other side of the line.

"I'm sorry, but I thought you might want to know that this book insults our fathers and family, but-"

"WHAT! Tell me now what they said!" Ha, I knew that would work.

"So there's a guy named Luke Castellan and he was rebeling against the gods, and he said 'All the heroes- being pawns of the gods. They should've been overthrown thousands of years ago, but they've hung on, thanks to us half-bloods. Their precious Western Civilization is a disease. It's killing the world. The only way to stop it is to burn it to the ground, start with something more honest.'" When I finished, I listened to hear her reaction. However, I didn't hear anything. "Hello? You there Poppy?"

A very different voice answered. It was male and it seemed like it should be on one of those bad horror shows. "Poppy's gone now. The only way to get her back is to come to the Underworld and fight me to get her. Kronos shall rise again!" Then it hung up and the line went dead.

Oh. My. GODS! Kronos had Poppy? How was that possible? He was in Tartarus. He must have somehow had recruits. I had to get her, no matter what. No way was I about to let my best friend/cousin rot in the Underworld. Whoever took her must have heard what I said and thought that I was about to overthrow Olympus, but I couldn't do that from the Underworld.

Quickly, I threw some things in a suitcase and scribbled a note to my mom saying that I was going to rescue Poppy. Then I ran to the car and sped out to the highway. I knew that somewhere near the Hollywood sign there was an entrance to the Underworld. I started going there, and lost all track of time, just thinking about how to save her.

After what seemed about two days, I decided I needed a shower and sleep so I could continue to search for my cousin. If she wasn't the most important person in my world, I would have stopped much sooner. Stopping seemed like giving up, and I didn't want to disappoint her. I wanted her to know that I never gave up on her, and I was always focused on her.

I could only take so much driving though, so when I passed a place that had a flashing sign that said 'Lotus Hotel and Casino',I pulled into the parking lot. The place was huge, and you could tell that it would be fun. Too bad I wasn't here to have fun. It was white with flashing lights and skylights surrounding it.

Inside it was even better. When you walk in, it's the casino part. Again, there were flashing lights in every color. There were games and slot machines. People were dancing and laughing and gambling. In the back was the hotel, where I had read in the flyer that there were king beds, plasma screen televisions, and free room service. This place was awesome! I would have to bring Poppy if, no when, I got her back. It was exactly her kind of place.

A worker and a waitress came up to me. It was the worker who spoke. "Hello, my name is Simon and this is Sarah. Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino! Here is your room key, and a gold card that you may use on anything in the casino. Enjoy your stay!"

"Would you like a lotus flower, it's our signature dish?" the waitress, Sarah, asked.

"Sure, thanks." I tried one and it was amazing!

This seemed like somewhere that people would never want to leave. Two minutes later, I couldn't remember where I had been going earlier. I only remembered that it involved a girl named 'Poppy.' Five minutes later, I couldn't remember anything about myself. I still remembered Poppy though. Eventually, I couldn't remember anything but when I was in the casino. Oh, and Poppy. I didn't know where she was or anything, but I remembered her. I knew she was in danger, but what danger I didn't know. I didn't know that she was being tortured in the Underworld, with nobody to save her. I had failed her, and would never make up for it. I stayed in the Lotus Hotel and Casino for the rest of my existence, and I never saw Poppy again.

THE END

In the alternate ending (tell me if I should post, I'll put up a poll on my profile) James doesn't stay at the Lotus, because he never forgets Poppy even when he can't remember anything else. So, he leaves and he finds Poppy and it turns into one of my sappy teen-love stories, but it will be a long one, with around 10 chapters or so. Love, action, sadness, the whole shebang. I can't update this weekend though, because I'm going to my dad's house. PLEASE VOTE and (I forgot this in the beginning) shout outs to XxSpIkEsGuRlXx, Ginny414, MindBender10 (read her story The New Girls, it's awesome!), softballgirl05 (my beta), ForeverSisters (my other beta), all of those awesome people. :) ALSO some of my favorite authors not yet mentioned, MidnightRose, and Arianna4President. There are more, but it is so hard typing with one hand! XP

Peace, Love, di Angelo,
Valerie :)