A/N: Greetings from Gray, and welcome to my favorite story starring my favorite character: Emily Beauregard! So long story short, this is the first of a series of an amount I have yet to decide on. The first story is completely finished and the second is in the making. So bear with me for the first chapter, as it's an exposition for the most part. It can be pretty boring, but if I get enough reviews, I'll upload the second chapter. It's much better than this one and will leave you guessing! So hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1:

I Can't Fall Asleep

A scream echoed in the air, and my crystal blue eyes darted around, searching for what I had seen only moments ago. My chest was heaving, and I didn't even bother thinking about my siblings being woken up; they never missed a chance of getting their beauty sleep. My breathing eventually slowed, and I grew slightly calmer as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I was in my room; safe and below the Aphrodite cabin.

I bet you're wondering this: why aren't you in the normal level of Cabin 10? Well, that's simple, really. I can't stand the hot pink girly-ness of the Aphrodite Cabin. And I can already guess your second question: does a basement of the Aphrodite Cabin even exist? And the answer to that is yes. I'll go into how that happened later, to put it simply, it's a pretty nice room.

In other words, you could say it's a beautiful room for me, Emily Beauregard, basically the second-in-command of the Aphrodite Cabin. Under my blood-sister, Silena, that is.

With a sigh, I got out of my bed. There's use of trying to sleep when I'll just be woken up by nightmares, I guess.

My feet slipped into gray sneakers, and I looked into the mirror. I was dressed in a pair of ratty black and blue plaid sleep pants with an old blue tank top on. My dark wavy hair was knotted, and there were obvious bags underneath my weary eyes. My forehead was stained with sweat from my nightmares, and basically, I was a mess.

And I never felt better.

And now it's time for me to guess your third question. You want to know why a daughter of Aphrodite likes me likes to look like a mess. Well, to make a very long story short; I just don't care about looks. Beauty gets in the way of survival; it's just stupid. After tying my hair into a messy ponytail above the nape of my neck, I felt my neck, relieved to see that my geode necklace was still there, as always. I grabbed my camp necklace, tying it around my wrist, and paced over to a door, which revealed a staircase to the dollhouse called Cabin 10. The bright pink walls are blinding, even around 3 in the morning.

On my way out, I noticed Silena sleeping peacefully in her bed. A small, soft smile graced my lips. The only sister I had who I could stand; she was 18 now, and I was 15. I made sure that I left the cabin without making a single sound, and closed the door behind me. Right now, I just needed some fresh air.

As I walked, I racked my brain, trying to remember what the date was. It was early in August…right…it was the 5th—no, now the 6th of August.

We had been preparing for the upcoming war nonstop. Many of us had become year-round to get more training in. I mean, I already was a year-rounder, but basically, Camp got a lot more crowded during the school-year.

And to make matters that much worse, it wasn't long until it was Percy's 16th birthday, the day when the Great Prophecy would finally come true. Just thinking about that Prophecy gave me the shivers; it caused goose bumps to creep up my arms.

I continued with my stroll, if it could even be called that, and eventually decided to seat myself at the Aphrodite table at the Pavilion. There was nothing for me to do for a few hours, and I couldn't fall asleep. I usually didn't wake up until 7, and being up at this time was a little too early for my liking. Training was out; we would be doing that all day later. Nobody was up at this hour, so I had no one to talk to.

My eyelids felt heavy; really heavy at that. But I couldn't fall asleep; not unless I wanted to be haunted by nightmares, of course.

I fingered the geode charm dangling on its silver chain. Sure, it just looked like an ugly stone hanging from a necklace, but it was much more than that. Beckendorf and some other Hephaestus campers helped me charm it; whenever the geode is ripped off of its chain and dropped on the ground it materializes into my sword: Mésa Omorfiá, which translates into "Inside Beauty" from Ancient Greek.

My eyelids drooped even more. Slowly, they grew heavier, and heavier, and heavier until they finally shut—

"Boo!" A voice yelled in my ear. My eyes shot open, and I immediately ripped the stone off of my necklace, preparing to lob it onto the ground.

"Relax!" The same voice said, amusement evident in his tone.

I looked up to see the curly brown hair and blue eyes of Connor Stoll.

I resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief; I didn't know who had the nerve to yell in my ear, and they were that close to having their head chopped off. "Hey Connor…" I said quietly, which was completely out of character for me. "What are you doing up?"

Connor slid onto the bench next to me. "Well, you see, Chiron didn't exactly like the last prank that Travis and I pulled on him, so we're stuck cleaning up the Pavilion. I got morning duty," he grumbled, before looking at me with slight concern. "But I should be asking you, my dear, the same thing."

I rolled my eyes at him. I don't think that there had been one time when Chiron actually found one of their pranks amusing. Of course, I couldn't tease him; he was probably my best friend at Camp. Sure, I had Katie, Annabeth, Silena, and Percy, too, but Connor was the first person I met. Somehow, I always got stuck using my charmspeak ability to cover up for him and Travis, and get them in less trouble. By helping them out, they never prank me or Silena; only my siblings. I will say one thing; it's really funny to see my other siblings with their lips glued together.

"I couldn't sleep," I said quickly, wanting the conversation to end there. But, of course, the Connor I knew would never let that happen.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" He importuned.

"Yep," I said bluntly. Come on, Connor. Just let it go!

"Oh really?" He repeated, emphasizing on the word "really" much more than needed.

"Connor, just give it up! I'm perfectly fine!" I snapped suddenly.

"Hm…I don't think so." He said, teasing me slightly. "Your pretty face is never tainted with bags under your eyes, and you're never this hotheaded." Connor listed.

"Whatever, okay?" I shouted, and looked away. I had to admit: I felt bad. I really shouldn't have bit his head off over him being concerned. He was just being a good friend; something that I wasn't being at the moment.

"Alright, alright, I surrender!" He said, and raised his hands above his heads to prove his point even more.

I laughed softly, and slid the geode back onto its chain. Just as I was about to tie it around my neck, Connor spoke up.

"Allow me," he said politely. I rolled my eyes and handed him the necklace. I moved my hair so he could close the clasp, and I felt him drop it. "There," he said, a little too close for comfort.

I felt my cheeks heat up, and I jerked myself away. "Y'know, most people would think of as some sort of creeper." I said jokingly.

He chuckled. "You can't be considered a creeper when you're this gorgeously handsome." He said arrogantly.

I rolled my eyes once again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd assume that you're a son of Aphrodite."

That lit his eyes up. "Is that your way of calling me devilishly hot?" He asked mischievously.

"Uh-huh. Sure. Whatever you want to think, Connor." I said sarcastically.

He laughed for a little before saying something else. "Well, if I know one thing, it's that I wouldn't want to be a son of Aphrodite."

"And why's that?" I asked, slightly hurt by his choice of words. My voice was rising like it did when I was getting angry. Sometimes, I really don't like being a daughter of Aphrodite: monsters usually don't come after us because we're considered the weakest of all half-bloods. And that's all a bunch of false information.

"Relax, Em!" He said, and tried to calm me down. "Listen, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while." He started; our eyes locked.

I bit my lip; I didn't like where this was going. Connor was my best friend. I didn't want to ruin that.

I scooted myself away. "W—well…I should really try to get some more sleep." I said quickly, and prepared to get up and head back to my cabin." I spluttered, and froze when Connor put a hand on my shoulder.

"Let's just change the subject, alright?" He offered. I nodded, internally sighing with relief that we were finally on the same page. I sat down again, but this time further away from him.

"What do you want to talk about then?" I asked.

"Well…" he started, thinking deeply. "You seem pretty distant lately. Anything you want to talk about?" He pried.

I looked down at my feet, and weakly shook my head. "Nope…nothing…" I said in a small voice; it was much more weak than I had hoped it would be.

"Seriously, Emily, talk to your best friend." He said pathetically, sticking out his lower lip as an attempt to make me feel guilty. I studied him for a moment before speaking up.

"I'm just nervous about the war," I whispered. I mean, sure, it wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a complete lie either. I had more things to be worrying about; I just didn't want to get anyone else involved.

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we all?" He snorted. "Seriously, something else is bugging you, and I want to know."

Crap. How could he know that? He knew me too well, I suppose. "Nothing's bothering me besides the war." I said, trying to sound firm.

An evil glint appeared in his eyes. If I wasn't so tired, I would've known to run. "Don't make me force it out of you." He said slyly.

I narrowed my eyes at him skeptically. "And how can you do that, oh Great Connor?" I mocked slightly.

"Like this!" Connor suddenly tackled me to the ground and started to tickle me. How he could turn a negative moment around like this, I would never know.

"Seriously, Connor!" I gasped through laughing. "Let me go! I'm dead serious! Don't make me kill you!" I yelped helplessly. Trying to sound threatening when you're being forcefully tickled isn't easy.

"No way, Em! The Hermes cabin hasn't been playing any good pranks lately! This is the most fun I've had in weeks!" Connor laughed, not backing down the slightest bit.

I tried to glare at him, but that was really hard with my nonstop laughing. "I'm not kidding here!" I yelled, choking on air as I tried to get Connor off of me, but I failed miserably, of course. He was stronger than me. "Get. Off!" I hissed through gritted teeth, suppressing a laugh this time.

"Hmmm…" Connor said thoughtfully, continuing to tickle me, but with less force. "I don't think so!"

"Connor!" I screamed as he pinned me down.

"Shut up, Emily! You'll wake up all of camp!" He warned, still on top of me.

"Maybe I want to wake everyone up! Maybe they'll get you off of me!" I retorted, glaring up at Connor. I was happy that he stopped with the tickling, but I would never say that out loud; he would start with it again then.

"Alright, alright!" Connor surrendered, standing up. He held out a hand to me, which I took, getting back on my feet.

"Thanks…" I said, sending him a murderous look, which he smirked at.

"Any time." He replied. "Now will you tell me what's up?"

"I already told you, it's nothing!" I shouted.

"It's obviously something if you're so defensive about it!" He shot back.

"Well…well!" I struggled for a good retort, but to no avail.

"Ha! I knew it! Tell me!" He insisted while gloating.

I looked at him for a few moments before sighing. "Do you promise me that you won't tell anyone?" I asked. I couldn't believe that I was going to tell him, but if I couldn't trust Connor, then who could I trust?

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He said; I wasn't too happy about his tone; he didn't sound all that serious to me, which wasn't a good thing.

"Connor! You've got to promise me!" I chastised with all seriousness.

"Fine!" He muttered. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't say a word." He swore, and I sighed with relief.

"Good…that means you're serious…" I said softly, sitting down at my table again. Connor followed suit. "I've been having these dreams."

"All half-bloods have dreams. You know that, Emily." Connor interrupted.

"Yes I know that!" I said with a rising voice. "But these are vivid nightmares. I wake up in the middle of the nights screaming sometimes. These visions just haunt me!"

"Okay, I get it, I get it." Connor started. "Want to tell me with these nightmares are about?" He asked, concern evident in his voice and eyes.

I stayed silent at first. "They're about Kronos and the war and the Great Prophecy." I said, barley above a whisper.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "I thought that only Annabeth and Chiron knew about that Prophecy." Connor pointed out.

I shook my head slightly. "They're supposed to be the only ones. But one time… it was an accident. At least, I think it was an accident."

"When did this happen? How?" He asked gently.

I was quiet for a moment. "Chiron asked me to get something out of the attic last month. So, when I did, I just happened to bump into the Oracle. And…and…she said the Great Prophecy." I said slowly. "But...but then she continued, and said another Prophecy."

"And the other Prophecy was…?" He urged.

"I—I was getting to that…" I trailed off, and inhaled deeply.

"The white dove shall turn her back

Betraying those close, and into the black

A hero or villain, her decision will choose

Those motives that prompted will always confuse.

The black dove herself shall feel broken inside

She shall feel helpless when forced to guide

The force that will save her is solely her voice

The sound that will help her make a final choice."

After finishing, I took in a shaky breath, and felt light-headed. That Prophecy was just too much for me, and I was the only one who knew about it. It was weighing me down, and I was carrying fear with me at all times. I was too scared to talk to Chiron about it and find out more.

Then the shivering started, and I could feel the chills running up my arms and biting at my skin. I tensed when I felt an arm wrap around me, and bit my lip lightly.

"It's alright, Em. You'll be fine." Connor said softly. "You have a bunch of people who'll help you get through this." He said.

Slowly, I relaxed, and felt secure for the first time in a while. And eventually my eyelids slid shut.

A/N: So, what did you think? I hope you like it; this chapter has gone through quite a lot of editing and re-doing. I'll post chapter 2 when I get one or two reviews, so, please leave a quick reply saying what you liked and stuff! Alrighty? Well, hope to read your reviews! Bye!

~Gray