If you had told Madison Katerina Lucente that she would be frantically running through camp in search of a boy named Nico DiAngelo a week before it happened, she would have rolled her eyes and told you that you were crazy.

However, when her best friend Lela Jackson was in danger, Madi was willing to deal with crazy.

How does Lela get herself into these situations? She thought to herself as she ran. It was all a bit surreal still, even though she had been at camp since she was 12 and was now 15. If you had met Lela in a shopping mall or school hallway, somewhere normal, she would have looked fairly normal herself; wavy brown hair and vibrant, sea green eyes, a splash of freckles across her nose, and a cute smile that seemed to make boys their age want to give her whatever she desired. She had that effect on most people, actually. Madi wished that she were that way. She was charming when she wanted to be, but not effortlessly sweet and beautiful like Lela. You would never guess that sweet, innocent looking Lela was an immensely powerful demigod daughter of Poseidon.

And you'd never guess that she'd made an enemy out of the most powerful demigod of all time.

Heracles.

Lela had rejected the young god, and now he had decided to take her by force. Madi had known after she tried to engage in battle with him that she was going to need some serious back-up. (Which let you know that things were serious. Madi did NOT enjoy asking for help) Finally, Madi spotted the black Hades cabin with it's green flame torches and black obsidian walls. She knocked on the door frantically.

Whatever Madi had expected when she knocked on the door of the Hades cabin, it wasn't an angry boy with bright green hair.

Her lips parted in surprise, which didn't happen often. Almost nothing surprised Madi anymore, and if it did, she didn't show it.

"What?!" Said the boy, Nico, sharply. He was holding a towel and was scrubbing his head in an unsuccessful attempt at ridding his hair of the green dye. Madi had seen Nico around camp before, but he usually had black hair, not neon green. She didn't bother to question it, nor mask her panicked expression.

"Do you know Lela Jackson?"

Nico's expression softened slightly, and she could almost see his affection for Lela in his eyes. "Yes. Is she alright?"

"Not really."

His eyes widened. "What happened?!"

Madi shook her head, still out of breath. "No time to explain. She's down on the beach, come on!"

Nico's expression hardened and he put the towel on the ground. "Lead the way."

Madi was already running.

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By the time they got to the beach, Lela had gained more help. Another girl was there, fighting, and she was dead.

Not as in, she was fighting a hopeless battle, she was literally dead. Madi could see straight through her flesh, and she was glowing a hazy, strange green-gray-blue colour that Madi had never seen before. She was blonde, as far as Madi could tell, and beautiful in a petite way that Madi had always wished to be. Even as the girl fought for her life, Madi felt a pang of jealousy. The girl was beautiful in the same way as Lela, petite and delicate looking but still had decent curves, like a model for nymphs. Madi had always been tall and curvy, made for battle. Long legs, long fingers and toes, long neck, long hair that she almost always kept back in a ponytail or tight bun. (not fancy, but it was practical) The only thing short about her was her torso.

Look at her, being jealous of someone over looks. That wasn't like her.

She turned to Nico and saw that he was a surprised to see the ghost girl as Madi. His eyes were wide, mouth hanging open.

"Izzy." He breathed out.

Madi was jarred out of her thoughts as Lela let out a loud scream.

Get your head in the game, Lucente. She told herself. What was wrong with her? She never got distracted in the face of a battle!

She rushed in and engaged Heracles in combat, causing him to drop Lela. Fighting was what she spent most of her time on, right up there with the music and healing magic. She was nearly unparalleled in combat. She was a fighting machine, every move calculated, every strike as hard and effective as could be. She knew every weak spot in the human body, every pressure point. She studied martial arts and weaponry as if it were her native language.

Even the bits of jewelry she wore were weapons.

She raised her hands and turned her wrists over like she was taking her pulse. Her gold bracelets shot two small, well-placed knives into the jugular vein and temple of the hero. He dropped like a stone, but he was a god. She knew that even that wouldn't keep him down for very long. She turned her head just enough to see Lela being helped to her feet by her best friend Tyler, who also happened to be Madi's half brother. They were both children of Apollo. Madi knew that Tyler would take care of Lela.

Madi looked behind her too see Nico on the ground. With Heracles incapacitated, they were safe for a little while. She ran to where the ghost girl was kneeling over Nico, tears in her eyes.

"He won't wake up..." She said shakily.

Madi hastily moved her out of the way. She listened to his heartbeat. As steady as could be. As she listened to his heartbeat, with her head laid against his chest, she could smell the scent that wafted off his skin. A mixture of cinnamon and steel, dark chocolate and hardwood. It wasn't the way cologne smelled, but seemed to be entirely his.

She was jarred out of her thoughts by Izzy's worried voice. "Is he okay?"

Madi lifted up her head sharply, feeling embarrassed, even though she knew Izzy didn't think anything was out of the ordinary.

And nothing was.

Right?

Don't even think about it, she told herself. You don't have time for this kind of crap, and besides, he and Izzy look like they've got something going on.

Do you really want to get hurt again?

Didn't think so.