The Legend of Gaea (ORIGINAL)

by alinwonderland

Hello fellow readers :) Join the crew of the Argo II as they venture out on another adventure-this time with a few more members! This is a collaborative effort made by 2 people and a few editors. Have fun reading! (The story might be a little messed up in indents and spelling because of copy and pasting. Please enjoy anyways!) Please review, follow, fav! :DDDD

Hey guys! This is the original version I made with my friend: so please enjoy! (It's a pretty long chapter)

Anyways, pls review, follow, fav!

(Sorry about the weird unindents and everything... gosh darn copy n' pastin)

The Legend of Gaea

Part One

JANE

I wrenched my dark brown eyes open to another chilly November morning. The clouds were lingering in the sky indifferently, as if they didn't care whether they blocked the sun or not. Sitting up so I could close the window, I still remembered the scene that kept replaying in my mind. It wasn't a dream or a nightmare, but more of a vision. I kept on seeing a ship floating through the sky, with a dragon's head. It sailed over my school, bombs showered everywhere, spreading debris, and a crackling noise filled the air. The air was filled with the smell of… fire, salty water, and other unknown smells. These were the most vivid visions I had ever seen. I shook these thoughts from my head. Why am I even thinking about this? I have to get to school! I got changed into my clothes, combed my black hair back into a ponytail, slipped into my shoes, grabbed my backpack and glasses, and rushed downstairs. But I just couldn't stop thinking about that lucid vision I had. What was that?

ALICIA

Bombs scattered everywhere. The school exploded in flames. Students were running, but I stayed put, staring at the great ship in the sky. Oars jutted out, and were rowing like they were actually helping the ship propel through the air. Sails billowed. A fantasy from Peter Pan. I jolted up from my peculiar dream. Calming myself down, I grabbed my cup of water and gulped it down. What kind of dream was that? Nightmare? Straightening my glasses, I suddenly realized I had school to get to and rushed to get ready.

JANE

I stood by the entrance of my school, Crossroads Middle School, waiting patiently for the gates to open. I felt a sudden force on my backpack.

"AUGH!" I turned, already guessing who it was. "ALICIA!"

My good friend, Alicia adjusted her glasses and laughed.

"What was that for?" I yelled at her.

"Just trying to wake you up. No worries."

"Well, mission accomplished." I muttered.

Alicia grins. "Come on, cheer up. Let's go to our first period!"

I stood in the uneven line in front of my 8th grade history classroom with Alicia, both waiting for the teacher. When was he coming? Everyone was half asleep. Alicia stood next to me, waiting for the teacher as well. I sighed and took off my lens, and cleaned them with the hem of my shirt. Today was going to be a long day. But then-

BOOM!

Our assistant principal comes running to us, yelling,

"EVERYONE, GO AND-"

BOOM!

The whole roof of the room came crashing down, and everyone was screaming. Alicia was next to me, just staring at the broken roof in horror.

"Alicia? Alicia?!"

I looked at the roof, too. My eyes widened. A shadow fell over us as the bombs went off. The boat from my visions.

ALICIA

My eyes widened when I saw that flying ship from my dream. I could only stop and stare, open-mouthed. Dust flew everywhere, and I probably swallowed some particles. Jane was shouting my name and I just stood there, with the desire to step on that golden ship, with the sun glinting off its copper surface. Finally pulling out of my trance, I grabbed Jane and started to run. Jane looked just as shocked as well.

"Wha-ho-why?" Jane stammered behind me. We kept on running until we were well clear of the bombing zone, panting and sweating. The principal's booming voice shouts over us, directing us like soldiers in a war. Everyone looked like they were peeing their pants, but something made me look at that ship again. The instinct to just abandon everything and go onto that ship was overwhelming. I hesitantly took a step, then another. Soon enough, I was running directly into the line of fire.

"Alicia! What are you doing?! Stop!" Jane shouted behind me.

I ran even faster, all the adrenaline pumping inside of me. I stopped directly underneath the ship, and looked up. The bombs stopped dropping, as if the ship knew I was under it. Jane caught up with me, frightened at what I was doing. I kept looking up. The ship was descending.

JANE

"Alicia? Why are you-"

Then a copper skinned girl stepped out and looked at me and Alicia with eerie golden eyes. Her curly hair swept in the dusty breeze. She held out a hand.

"Grab my hand." She beckoned me.

"Wait, what?" I replied, hesitant.

I heard a screech. We both looked up.

"Harpies." She whispered.

The winged creature's feathered claw grabbed at me and I screamed. Alicia let her mouth open in horror. The girl hopped off the vast ship and slashed at it with a bronze dagger. It exploded into golden dust. Another harpy swooped down at an innocent sixth-grader. I leapt in front of them and hit the harpy with my art binder.

"Run, RUN!" I yelled to the sixth-grader. He didn't need to be told twice-he got up and ran away, screaming.

The harpy let out a cry and slashed at my face. I fell down, my face throbbing with pain and panic. I saw Alicia climb onto the ship. The girl shook me wildly, shouting for me to wake up. To respond. And...there was someone behind her...a pale-faced boy with jet black hair wearing a leather aviator jacket and torn skinny jeans. Before I could look closer, red dots started to cover my vision. I tried blinking them away, but they covered my field of sight, and I went out like a flickering light.

ALICIA

"JANE! JANE!" I cried at the unresponding figure of Jane, shaking her shoulders. She was brought to some kind of chair inside the ship, a couple feet from the entrance we had just ran through. Tears came to my eyes. "Will she make it? There's blood everywhere!" I looked at Jane's bloody face and head. It was soaking through her hair.

The girl merely stared at me, then smiled.

"I'll take care of her," she replied. "Oh, and by the way, the name's Hazel."

I just stared at her, then nodded. "My name's Alicia, and this is Jane."

She smiled back, then leapt away, seeming to know exactly what she was doing. Deciding to leave Jane to the professionals to clean her up, I stood up. I was curious about the flying ship and started to walk around. Then I noticed someone. He had wild, curly hair, and looked like an elf from another dimension. I decided to slip pass him, so I can see the ship on my own.

"Whoa, where are you going, ma'am?"

"Umm..." I paused. Dang it, I thought.

He chuckled, a grin spreading over his face. "It's ok. I'm Leo, owner and maker of this amazing flying ship, the Argos II. What do you think of it?" He winked at me.

"Er, well, apart from the crazy bombing and everything, I think it's pretty awesome." I stuttered.

"Well, we just had to make that happen to… kind of lure you guys out. It might be really hard to grasp. But the thing is, we needed to get you two out of the school, but the harpies caught up to us." he said, playing with a spark of flame indifferently.

"Well, how do mortals see them?

"That's where The Mist comes in. To them, the harpies probably look like crazy chicken-men." He put up an elfish smile. "Don't take it seriously."

"Oh… well… would it be ok… if you showed me how the ship works? I've always been kind of interested in mechanics… so… "

Leo looked at me. "Sure, no problem. Just follow me." He started to walk, and I followed. It was time to get some answers.

JANE

I woke up on a soft, comfortable bed in the late afternoon.

What happened?

Well, for one, I know I'm not in my room. Blueprints and diagrams of architecture were plastered all over the walls, and a Yankees cap laid on a desk, cluttered with paper. Nearby, a trash can was filled to the brim with scraps, and there was a photo of a beautiful blonde girl with gray eyes and a boy with messy dark hair and sea-green eyes.

I winced at the wound on my eye. I went to touch it, and realized it was covered by a cloth. I sat on the bed for a while, not really knowing what to do. Then a thought came over my head. What's going to happen to mom? Is she worried about me? Has she even heard about the explosion? I imagined my poor mother clenching her phone, talking into it as she called the authorities while wringing her hair and balling her eyes out. Oh, gods...my nerve-wrecking thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

"Can I come in?" said a calm voice.

"Sure." I said.

Then the same girl from the photo walked into the room. Her blonde hair was tied up and glistened in the afternoon sun leaking out of the window. She looked like your typical California girl, except with deep, intense stormy gray eyes.

"You're awake." she smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm good...except the fact that I have ever so many questions going through my mind." I answered.

"Oh. Then, to begin with, I'm Annabeth Chase." she took out a hand.

"I'm Jane. Jane Tai." I shook her hand.

Annabeth smiled.

"Well, as for where you are, you're on the Argo II, a flying ship."

"A flying ship." I repeated slowly.

"Yes."

There was a moment of silence. I then said,

"Why am I here?"

"I should explain that later, along with your friend."

"Alright…."

Another moment of silence. I tried to stand up, but my head burst with pain and I got back into the bed, forced to stay put, with tears of agony in my eyes.

"You should stay in bed for a while. Your wounds haven't healed yet." Annabeth said, worried.

"Okay. Who got me up here? Was it you?"

She shook her head.

"Nico carried you up here. I should get your friend here-she's worried sick about you."

Annabeth got up and left the room. I stared at the door she walked out of. I flopped back onto my pillow, thoughts racing in my mind. Why am I here? Where am I going? Why did they rescue only me and Alicia? Do I even have a purpose here?

ALICIA

I followed Leo through the halls of the airship, amazed yet wary. I didn't know if I could trust him yet, but I needed answers. Urgently.

"Hey, Leo?" I asked politely. "What did you say about the Mist again? And about 'luring' us out? It would be great to know, since I'm kind of confused about all this."

He turned around, then stared at me for some time. "I'm sorry, I don't think I should tell you now." Scratching his head, he gave me a quirky grin. "I don't really get it myself."

"Oh. Sorry for asking." I replied. So much for getting answers, I thought. At least I can get a peek at the inside of this cool ship.

We continued to walk. The inside of the ship had a warm feeling, and we walked past a room full of refrigerators and another room that had giant screens that changed their landscape every now and then. The picture with the massive bonfire intrigued me the most. Leo and I went down a long hallway.

I realized that Leo had led me to the engine room. The smell of oil was everywhere, but it looked like Leo didn't mind. He started to talk about his amazing handiwork, until he was interrupted by a blonde girl with a long, sleek ponytail.

"Aw, come on Annabeth, I was just telling someone about my awesome ship. It is actually the first time someone wanted a tour of this beauty." Leo pouted jokingly in front of her.

She rolled her eyes, then turned to me. "I hope he didn't do anything weird, but your friend Jane woke up."

My eyes widened. I instantly started walking toward the door, until Leo grabbed my shoulder. "Woah there, I'm coming too. I think we need to give you some answers."

Annabeth nodded. "I'll go grab the others."

Leo and I started to walk down the hall, until we arrived at Jane's room. I pushed the door open. "Jane?" I cautiously whispered, in case she was asleep.

"Hmm…" I heard her mumble. I then barged into the room and asked her a million questions.

"Are you ok? Does it hurt? Did you learn anything? Did Annabeth tell you anything?"

"Calm down," she muttered. "I'm fine, and I didn't learn anything. I'm really confused about all this."

I sighed, then sat on the flouncy bed next to her. Leo did the same.

"This is Leo, the chief engineer on this ship. Leo, this is Jane."

Leo turned to her and grinned. The door then opened, and people trickled in. Annabeth, Hazel, and five others.

"Time to answer some questions," Annabeth said.

Jane

I looked around. Five people surrounded me. Five people I didn't particularly know. There was a blue-eyed blond boy with a scar on his lip and wearing a purple shirt. There was another dark haired boy with green eyes wearing an orange shirt. It was the same boy in Annabeth's photo. Noting the way they intertwined hands, I guessed that he must be her boyfriend.

There was a girl with messy brown hair with a feather in her hair. I couldn't quite decide what her eye color was, but she was very pretty. Then my eyes set upon the boy next to Hazel. He was well built and had slanted dark brown eyes. Noticing how he was especially close to Hazel, I guessed they were together. Finally, I saw the boy who I saw standing next to Hazel when I passed out. He had wickedly pale skin, dark hair, eye bags, a permanent glare, and ominous black eyes with a hint of indigo.

Is that Nico? Seems most legit.I thought.

Then I remembered how Annabeth said that a person named Nico carried me onto the ship. I felt my face burn at the fact that a boy carried me up here.

I had a creepy vibe just looking at him, so I turned away and focused on Annabeth. She cleared her throat and started speaking.

"Do you know about the Greek gods and goddesses?"

"Yes," said Alicia and I.

"Well, do you know what demigods are?"

"They're half bloods, half god, half mortal." I blurted just as Alicia was about to answer.

Annabeth nodded. "Well, I should tell you the fact that the Greek gods are...still around."

"What?" I stared at her in confusion.

The dark haired boy with green eyes answered for Annabeth,

"She means that they still exist. They're still among us."

"Wait, so if they're still here, does that mean…" Alicia looked up. "Greek monsters and creatures are still here?"

He nodded. "But they're hidden by the Mist, the thing which hides Greek monsters and other wacky stuff from the mortals."

Then something snapped inside of me. "Does that mean demigods are still here?"

Annabeth nodded. "We have a whole camp for keeping demigods here. And we find demigods and bring them there. There, we wait until they get claimed by a god or goddess."

"Are you all demigods, then?"

"Yes. So are you and Alicia."

"Wait, what?"

"That's the reason we got you," said Leo. "Plus, monsters sensed you guys and were going after you. As you get older, your scent grows stronger, so monsters can track you guys down more easily."

"Wait, what?" I kept staring at them, unable to process such information.

Annabeth nodded. She then said, "You are also part of an important prophecy."

Alicia and I just numbly stared at them. It was hard for us to process such information.

Annabeth smiled sadly. "Sorry if this is too much for you guys."

"So wait, you're taking us to the demigod camp right now? Where we get claimed and everything?"I asked in total confusion

"Yeah."

I nodded. All of the demigods took this as a sign that the discussion was over, and left, one by one. The last one leaving was Nico, and he turned to me and said,

"You left this."

He threw my tattered art binder onto my bed and left me and Alicia, slamming the door.

Alicia

I looked at Jane, who was just as bewildered as me.

"A demigod?" She muttered.

I sighed. "It's all so weird..." We looked at each other, then the ship lurched forward. There are earthquakes in the sky?

We heard voices yelling, and suddenly Annabeth burst in. "We're under attack! Find a safe place to stay, we'll try to handle it!" My eyes widened, and Annabeth disappeared from the crack in the door. Jane collapsed onto the bed, seemingly sick of all this. I grimaced, then stood up.

"Come on Jane, let's listen to Annabeth. I know a good place to hide. " She nodded, then started to stand up slowly. She wobbled a bit.

"Ugh..." She murmured in obvious pain. When she finally managed to stand up, I grabbed her arm and we staggered to the hidey hole. I heard intense screeching, then turned around to a Harpy. Jane screamed, almost fainting again, and I just gaped at the incoming harpy. It dived toward Jane and I, about to attack. I closed my eyes, bracing myself, my hand in front of me in a weird stance. As if that was going to protect me.

But the attack never came. In my hand was a flaming golden sword, and in place of the Harpy was shiny dust. I dropped the sword, but before it touched the ground it vanished. Shocked and bewildered, Jane and I stood there, until we snapped out of it and started to run like babies attempting to walk.

Jane

We ran through the stinking halls of the Argo II, but stopped when a pair of furies landed in front of us. I yelped, and Alicia looked terrified. And annoyed. Suddenly, a fury tackled me, its fangs glistening and wings lashing, and I tried to struggle, but I couldn't get out of its grasp. It hissed as it missed my shoulder while trying to bite it, and I kicked at it, but it won't work. I suddenly felt a radiation of power in my arms, and pushed the fury. It screeched as if I blasted it away. The other one whimpered with fright, and flew away. Alicia looked at me, astonished.

"What?" I said.

I looked down at my hands and saw that my hands were glowing a golden light, shining so brightly I had to squint to look at it.

"Whoa," I breathed.

The girl with brown hair that looked like she cut it herself and the male blonde teen ran in.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to-" the girl's eyes widened. "Jason, look at this."

The same guy standing next to Hazel earlier, Jason, looked over at me and his eyes widened a little, as well.

"You guys need to hide, otherwise they'll get to you. Come on, Piper, let's get them to safety. We'll tell Annabeth about this later."

"Alright."

The girl who was supposedly Jason's girlfriend, Piper, grabs my hand and I grab for Alicia's. We run towards a hidden trapdoor. Leo stops us, saying,

"Guys, it's okay, they're gone!"

"Oh, phew, about time."

Annabeth rushes over to me and Alicia, saying,

"Thank the gods you guys are alright! Come on, get to the deck, we're almost at Camp Half-Blood!"

Alicia

I was so relieved when we finally arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Demigods greeted us left and right, and I was happy to have finally reached a safe place where crazy old ladies with wings don't attack you. Annabeth led us to cabin labeled "#6, Athena's Cabin". It was a gray building with white curtains and a picture of an old, wise owl on top. After leading us inside, she turned around.

"Tell me what happened."

We told her everything about the attack, and about our newly acquired "powers".

"Hmm, Jane, I think you have the powers of Apollo. Though blinding light shooting from your hands is a rare power to have. Alicia, I think… you might be either Hephaestus because you summoned a flaming sword, or maybe Hades. But… "

"Dinnertime!" A black-haired boy strutted in and kissed Annabeth on the cheek.

"Ugh, get off me, Seaweed Brain." She turned to us. "Ok, let's go to the tables. Your parents might claim you while you grab dinner."

"Parents?" I said out loud. Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah. You are a demigod, right?"

We exited out of the cabin and started to walk to the massive bonfire. Grabbing our food from a buffet, we took a seat on one of the long tables that stretched around the campfire and immediately started to eat. Suddenly, a bright light shined across the table. The bonfire flashed, and there, on top of Jane's head, was a yellow glowing symbol of a raven, in mid-flight. Everybody started to cheer, and Jane smiled in glee. She sat back down, and who I believe was the camp's counselor, a centaur, walked over to Jane.

"We welcome the daughter of Apollo, Jane!" His voice boomed. Everyone cheered again.

Suddenly, the bonfire went out. There were gasps of alarm, and then the fire rose again in a green, eerie light. Mist started to crawl, and snaked around me. My head finally flashed a symbol, a pair of white torches. The symbol of Hecate. Everyone drew a hesitant cheer.

The centaur looked at me and finally said, "Welcome, daughter of Hecate, Alicia."

Jane

I can't believe I got claimed by Apollo! It was the most wonderful feeling ever, but then the scariest thing ever. Annabeth threw an orange shirt at me. She smiled.

"You're one of us, now."

The shirt said, "Camp Half Blood" on it, and had a silhouette of a pegasus in flight. Then the centaur, Chiron, as Annabeth told me, beckoned me and Alicia, who also received a similar shirt, to come over to him. He whispered to us,

"You both are part of an important prophecy. Perhaps Annabeth has already informed you of this?"

We nodded.

"Good...you go to Rachel, our oracle, tomorrow morning to listen to the also begin your training tomorrow as well as selecting your weapon."

"Yes, Chiron." We both said.

He nodded, and yelled, "Lou Ellen! Kayla!"

Two girls ran over to him. Lou Ellen had dark hair and a pretty face with dark green eyes, and her oval face seemed to brighten whenever she smiled. Kayla had a slightly angular face with brown hair and blue eyes, and slender fingers.

"Lou Ellen, I want you to guide Alicia here to the Hecate cabin. Kayla, guide Jane to the Apollo cabin."

They both nodded. Kayla took my hand and we went to a golden cabin, which glistened in the setting sun. We went in, and it was like heaven. It had golden walls, bunks properly positioned into the walls, and in the middle of the cabin, there was a table with pencils and paper scattered all over it. I saw my backpack on the top bunk, which had a window that showed the setting sun.

"I hope you like it here." Kayla smiled.

I smiled and nodded, satisfied. "Thanks for guiding me here."

"No prob!"

I climbed up the bunk, cleaned up my place a bit, and started taking out my sketchbook. I started sketching out the Argo II.

I might paint this later. I thought as I sketched out the dragon head. I wonder how Alicia's doing.

Alicia

Lou Ellen looked me over, then smiled. I looked over her too. She had dark hair and gleaming green eyes, filled with a distant laughter.

"Follow me," she said, and we walked for some time. We finally arrived, and I felt like I couldn't possibly walk any further. I glanced up. There was a building of stone blocks, which had writing on them. It was Cabin #20, the very last cabin of Camp Half-Blood.

"Ya know, there's a legend that says if one of these blocks fall to the ground, it might explode and the people half a mile around here will turn into a tree." She laughed. "Pretty cool, huh?"

I smiled awkwardly and nodded, and we walked into the dim interior of the cabin. "Wow," I muttered. The inside was like a mini-library, and books about spells and whatnot lined the bookshelves. Everything was in Greek or Latin, languages which I could actually read and write in, even though I never learned the languages. Maybe it was just some perks of being a demigod.

I kept on inspecting the cabin. The beds were, amazingly, inside the bookshelves, a little hollow space for where you sleep. Lou Ellen pointed to the bed that were surrounded by books on various spells. "That's going to be your bed. Settle in, ok? Feel free to read all you want, just make sure to wake up on time in the morning." I nodded, then walked to my bed. Right next to it was a boy with a weirdly-placed curl in his golden hair, who stared at me with bright blue eyes, a book in his hand. Apparently he was looking at some spells.

"Welcome to Hecate's cabin. Diego." He offered his hand to me. "Glad to have a new sister here." I took it and introduced myself.

"I'm Alicia, nice to meet you." I gave him a little smile, still somewhat perplexed at how many people were my siblings.

"Watch." He focused on something, and spoke something in Latin. Mist drifted through the air and started to condense together. It slowly formed a little dog who plopped itself onto my bed, little wisps of Mist still clinging to his fur. "Hmm, might disappear in a month or two. It's my welcoming present to you, ok?"

I nodded cheerfully, saying thank you. He walked back to his bed a bookshelf away from mine. I grinned, having already made a friend, a half-brother. I yawned and collapsed on my bed. With the little dog curled next to me, and the fact that I still had my clothes on, I fell asleep.

Jane

I woke up, my lips dry and hair messy. I got dressed, untangling my black hair, and went outside wearing the Camp Half Blood T-Shirt and torn jeans. Alicia was waiting for me outside, wearing the same shirt and knee-length khakis.

"Morning, Jane." She grinned. "We were supposed to go straight to the oracle, but Lou Ellen told me Chiron said to meet our escorts at the campfire."

"Okay," I said. "Let's go."

We walked in the early morning sunshine to the campfire. Two figures were sitting there. When we came closer, we found that it was Leo and Nico. Leo saw us and ginned his impish grin.

"Morning, girls," Leo said. "I'd like to introduce you to your escorts."

"You guys are our escorts?" Alicia said. "To the oracle?"

"You think?" Nico growled. "Come on, my leg is falling asleep."

Geez, what a grouch. I thought. I followed them, and tried to stay with Alicia, but she kept talking and laughing with Leo. I smirked. They were pretty cute together. As the sun got higher, I started producing sweat. I brushed it off. I stared at Nico, who was wearing a thick leather jacket, and not a drop of sweat was on his face.

"Aren't you hot? Why are you keeping the jacket on?"

Nico looked surprised that I decided to talk to him, but the expression faded, and he grunted,

"Because I want to. And aren't you a daughter of Apollo? Why are you complaining about the sun?"

"Well, sorry, but I'm not immune to the sun's temperature."

Nico just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"The real question is, why are you not sweating?"

"Because I have cold body temperature. Don't you see how pale I am?"

"Well, Vampire Dude, GET A TAN."

"MAYBE I WILL."

"YOU SHOULD."

"THEN STOP ASKING."

"FINE."

Feeling slightly ticked, I turned to Alicia and Leo, who were grinning at us.

"I hafta admit, you guys are kinda adorable when you guys argue over minor stuff." said Alicia.

"What?! ALICIA!" I growled, turning a dark shade of red. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Nico avoiding eye contact, but indifferent all in all.

"Hehe. JANE AND NICO, SITTING UNDER A-OW!"

I pinched her arm.

"Ah, okay, okay, I'm sorry." Alicia was still grinning.

Leo said, "Sorry to ruin the moment, but we're here."

Alicia

Everybody looked up and saw a beautiful marble building, garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. A girl with red curls flying everywhere strided out, giving us a wave.

"Come to hear the prophecy right?" She looked at us. "You guys are new. Well, my name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the oracle of Camp Half-Blood. Nice to meet you." She shook each of our hands and smiled. "Well, here goes," she said, and her eyes started to glow. She started to speak in an eerie voice, and her hair started to fly with an unseen wind.

A child of witchcraft shall uncover the veil,

But without fire she cannot prevail.

With the entrance that they have forged,

Light and darkness must together merge.

These four half-bloods must find the legend

Resting the mistress at where she has beckoned.

Rachel finished and Jane and I stared in wonder. I didn't get half of the prophecy, but both Leo and Nico looked thoughtful.

"We may have a clue to who they're talking about…" Leo muttered. Everyone started to walk to the great bonfire for breakfast.

I looked behind me, seeing Jane and Nico walking in pace. Both were giving each other the cold shoulder. I grinned. I see Jane made a lot of friends already, I thought. Leo snickered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I asked.

He smiled. "Well, they look funny together. Never saw Nico blush before. Good one." He winked at me, lightly punching my arm.

I smiled. He tilted his head and looked a bit more serious. "What do you think the prophecy means?"

"Um… a child of Hecate… with fire powers… making a portal… stuff on yin and yang… 4 kids… resting a mistress?" I summed up on what I remembered.

"Not bad," He muttered. "We just need to find out who." Leo sighed. "Prophecies make my brain hurt."

"Everything about all this makes my brain hurt," I replied.

Leo gave me a half smile. "Well, Annabeth has a very good clue on all this, she just hasn't told us. She said she needed more proof and research." I nodded, and we continued to walk toward the rising sun.

Jane

I walked to the Apollo table, having pancakes and OJ for breakfast. A ginger-haired boy turned to look at me. His face was infested with freckles, and and angular face and well-built arms and legs. He had startling green eyes, like summer leaves.

"So you must be my new half-sister." he said while chewing a blueberry muffin. He gulped it down and took out a hand. "I'm Jaye Matthews."

"Jane Tai." I took his hand and shook it.

Jaye bit into his muffin and said,

"So, you're from Southern California, too?"

"Yeah. I'm from L.A."

"I'm from San Francisco."

"Oh, so that means you've seen the Golden Gate Bridge?"

"Yes, I have. It was cool-I took a few pictures of it. I would show you on my iPhone, but phones and electronics attract monsters, you know, so sorry, can't do that."

"It's okay."

I started eating my breakfast. I poured a heavy amount of maple . My eyes started floating toward Nico, who was sitting in the shadow of a tree, eating a bowl of cereal, grain by grain. Then I turned to Alicia, who was eating Cheerios and laughing with her half-siblings. I saw Leo trying to crack a joke, but miserably failed. I smiled. It was like home here. At school, I was treated like an outcast. My only friends there was Alicia and a few mortals. But now...here... is somewhere where I can say this is where I belong. As I was walking to clean my tray up, I accidentally bumped into a black haired girl.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you!"

She turned to me, and I got a pretty good look at her. She was a Japanese girl with pink eyeliner, brown eyes, a whole lotta jewelry, and jet-black hair. And somehow, she made herself look glamorous just by wearing a Camp shirt and denim shorts. She smirked and pointed at me.

"So you're the new Apollo kid, huh? Make sure you watch it, country bumpkin! And just how are you going to defend yourself? Look at the size of your stomach! What are you gonna do, hit more harpies with your binder? Torture furies with pencils and pens? How very impressive."

Some kids looking at us snickered, but most of them just stared. A little flame of anger started in my stomach, but I coldly said,

"I don't know who you are, but I'm sorry for bumping into you. Now, if you can please move aside?"

I tried to move, but she stepped on my foot. Great pain rushed up my feet. I blinked away tears.

"Tch. Look at you, klutz. Face it, honey, you're just not right for the prophecy."

"I said please move aside."

"Why should I?"

"Just please move aside. I just innocently bumped into you, and you're creating a mountain out of a molehole."

"Oh, that's weird. I thought Apollo kids loved-"

"JUST MOVE!"

Everyone stared in surprise at my anger. No one ever knew about my short temper, although I rarely get angry.

"Geez, you never give up, do you? Just who do you think you are?!" I growled.

"Hmf. Glad you asked." She swished her hair and purposely got it in my face. "I am Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite."

Daughter of Aphrodite...hm, no wonder.

"Well, DREW, sorry if I'm being rude, but I have to get on with dumping my tray."

I moved around her, but she turned to me and said,

"You're never gonna belong here if you keep yapping your insults in people's faces, you know."

I turned to her and cooly said,

"I don't get mad this often, you know. And if you keep shoving insults down people's throats, you're gonna be as fake as your eyelashes."

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN, SUN MAID!"

Drew lunged at me, but I moved aside and she crashed into the tree.

"What is going on?!"

Chiron trotted over to us. Drew immediately sat up and pointed at me.

"Jane blasted me with her powers!"

I gaped at her. I saw a smirk forming at the ends of her mouth. Okay, first, this BEYONCE stereotype grills me for accidentally bumping into her, tries to make me punch her in that face of hers, and now she's LYING ABOUT ME?! That was it. I tried to respond, but Chiron interrupted me.

"Oh, but that's not what I saw, Drew. I saw you discouraging her in front of the whole camp."

Drew gaped at him.

"Bu-bu-SHE RUINED MY MANICURE!"

"Is that of importance?"

"...no."

"Then go apologize to her and come with me."

She turned to me, muttered a "sorry", and went to the big house with Chiron. But she turned to me again and growled,

"You're lucky THIS time, Sun Maid, but I'll get you, just you wait."

Then she disappeared into the Big House.

Alicia

I saw that fight happen. I was going to help, but Diego stopped me short.

"Don't add more fuel for the fire," he said. "Your friend is strong enough."

He had a point. But I was very angry. I usually would stop the bullies from getting to Jane, but, maybe she is strong enough. That doesn't mean I wasn't going to interfere. A little smile tugged at my face. I learned a few tricks in the morning, and I was ready to prank this snobby little girl later, when I didn't have a prophecy-thing-relating-to-me-and-everyone-might-die-if-I-don't-do-something thing. Who does she think she is?

Annabeth called the four of us over. Percy tailed along as well.

"Ok, come on. I have a slight idea about who and what the prophecy is talking about, and I've shared it with the whole camp," She bit her lip. "But a lot of people are jealous of you guys. They think you're not powerful enough than them." Jane looked a little annoyed, and I was a little mad. We don't even know what's happening and people are bullying us on it. Such jerks.

We followed Annabeth into her dimly lit cabin, and sat down on one of the chairs.

"A child of witchcraft shall uncover the veil, but without fire she cannot prevail.

With the entrance that they have forged, light and darkness must together merge.

These four half-bloods must find the legend, resting the mistress at where she has beckoned," Annabeth recited. "Obviously, there is a child of Hecate thrown in this prophecy, and we believe it may be you." She looked at me. "The second part is about her having fire. Either that's Leo, since he can control fire, or Alicia needs to know some high-level spells." She paused. "Supposedly, you make an entrance, and light and darkness must combine. The prophecy has to be relating to Jane and Nico, since we need 4 half-bloods here. And the last part…" Annabeth looked uncomfortable.

Percy continued for her. "We think it may be referring to Gaea." A silence ensured.

"Gaea?" I asked. "Isn't she… the goddess of the earth?"

Percy nods. "She tried to kill us all and overthrow us Olympians."

I frowned. "So, the prophecy says we need to put her to rest? Like, quench her vengeance?"

Annabeth tilts her head. "That might be it, though... putting to rest might also mean to kill."

I gaped. Whoah whoah, so Jane and I, two totally unprepared demigods, have to "rest" the almighty Gaea who was the MOTHER of all gods and Titans? I shook my head in disbelief, and Jane looked ready to puke. Annabeth gave us a grim smile.

"Sorry if this is too much for you. But, we still need to find your weapons." Annabeth motioned to me. "It's better if you come one at a time."

I nodded, then followed her out of the room. We walked to the weapons room, which was a dusty old shed. Glints of metal came from the little cracks of sunlight, and I stared in awe at all the weapons gathered together.

She looked me over. "How bout… a dagger? A spear? A sword?"

I peered over a large crate, and something caught my eye. "What is that?" I motioned to wooden staff.

Annabeth paled. "I… don't think you should get that weapon…" She paused. "Its the Varunastra, an ancient Hindu weapon. It's a water weapon, meaning it can shapeshift… and if you make one little mistake, it will kill you."

I bit my lip. "Uhh… well…" I looked around. Nothing really seemed to fit me. "Can I… test it out?" Annabeth frowned, as if scared that I might do something and self-destruct. "Ok then," she muttered. "Better do it outside."

We stepped outside and I firmly gripped the staff. With one hand outstretched, the staff shape-shifted and became a flaming gold sword. I swung that a couple of times, before the weapon changed again into a silver disk. I threw that and it flew in a wide arc, coming back to me. Upon catching it, it shifted back into a wooden staff.

Annabeth was impressed and relieved. "Ok, you can keep that one," she said. "Go to your cabin, and I'll go grab Jane." She stopped, then winked at me. "Only the best warriors have used that weapon. Good job." She walked away back to the cabin. I watched her leave, still stunned that I could do all these complex maneuvers. Shaking my head, my grip tightened on my staff and I ran back to the Hecate cabin.

Jane

I felt sick. One minute, I was dealing with...her, then, I found out I had to work with Vampire Dude to kill-er, "rest" Gaea. It was horrifying. Annabeth came out to get me after Alicia got her weapon.

"Jane, your turn."

"Alright."

We entered the room, and my eyes widened as I saw assortments of weapons.

"Take your pick." Annabeth said.

I started looking around. There was so many to choose from, I didn't know what to pick. Then I saw a silver-ivory sword. It was perfect. Annabeth said, "Oh, do you want to choose that one? It's called Kusanagi, a sword held by the god Susanoo, used to slay the eight-headed Orochi, then given to Amaterasu, the sun goddess. A coincidence, since you're a daughter of the sun god."

"I'll take it!...After I try it out."

"Alright."

I went outside and slashed at invisible enemies. It was smooth and quick. My eyes were shining at its speed and power. After I was done, Annabeth stared at me with a smirk.

"What?" I said.

"It's just...it's just funny because your sword looks kinda like Nico's…"

Wait. WHAT?!

"Erm, could you repeat that?"

"Your sword looks like Nico's. It doesn't look EXACTLY alike, but they're both dark in color."

"Mm…"

"Are you still taking that one?"

"...Yeah."

"Good. That sword is good in speed."

"Thanks, Annabeth!"

"No problem!"

I marched down the hill with Annabeth, holding my sword. Alicia, Leo, Percy, and Nico were waiting at the foot of the hill.

"Nice blade, Jane!" said Percy. "Wait-That looks like Nico's!"

"Awww, she loves him.." said Leo. Alicia laughed.

"Shut up, or I'll cut your arm off with little Kusanagi here." I said. "This can kill."

"Alright, fine…"

I spotted Nico looking pretty miserable right now. I saw his sword, a black iron stygian blade. It was thinner, and jet-black. How did it look like mine? I walked up to him and took out my hand.

"Hey, sorry about all that before. Can you cut me some slack? Besides, we are an important part to the prophecy."

He was silent at first, but then he stood up. He didn't take my hand and shake it, but he said,

"Fine. I guess we'll be allies. Nothing more. Okay?"

"Uh...Okay!"

He turns around and goes into a shadow, disappearing into it.

"...Man, what's up with him avoiding people?" I said.

"His sister and mom died, and all he has is Hazel, his half sister." said Percy.

"Oh, that's sad." said Alicia.

"Yeah. Now he stays away from people."

Leo was playing with a fireball.

"Dude, he needs to get hooked with a girl that cares about him. Then I think he'll be happy."

Alicia grinned at me. "Well, maybe Jane can do that."

"Alicia…" I said, using my sword as a threat.

"I'm just kidding, geez…"

I just rolled my eyes and walked with Leo, Percy, Annabeth, and Alicia to the training course.

Alicia

The training course was amazing. There was archery, swordsmanship, and all these crazy classes.

"Excuse me!" A demigod carrying a red sword charged through. I spotted Diego, waving a silver sword and chanting incantations. Suddenly I saw Drew. Since Annabeth let us wander around, it was my chance to confront Drew.

"Hey! Drew!" I yelled to her. She turned around.

"Oh, it's the daughter of the last cabin. Hecate. Come to apologize on your friend's behavior?" She snickered.

"No, I just want you to know that if you DARE touch Jane again, even a hair, I will destroy you." I replied, voice low and threatening.

She merely laughed. "Oh, really? Sweetie, you don't know a thing on fighting. You'd probably suck. Hmph, I bet if I challenge you to a duel, you would flat out lose. Probably never get better in time for resting Gaea."

I decided to test my luck. "Ok then. Fine. So if I win, will stop acting like a snob?"

"Oh, you're actually going to THINK about dueling me? Especially with that stupid old stick?"

"Yeah, you scared? Afraid your manicure is going to chip off again?"

"Scared? Hon, I'm going to kick your butt."

We stepped into the dueling ring, and I felt everyone's eyes on me. Murmurs started in the crowd.

"Ready? Hmm, maybe I'll go a little easy on you. Don't drop your weapon, " she cooed.

"Nah, I'm good. Make sure you don't drop your weapon."

She snickered, and dove at me.

"Aww, don't run away, dear."

She slashed at me with her sword, a blazing mass of pink and white.

I dodged just in time, my staff shapeshifting into a flaming sword with a golden hilt. I took the offense, cutting the air just above her head as she ducked down. She smiled and charged at me like a bull. The sword changed into a silver shield, and we collided. I stood strong, not letting her push me down. Suddenly, I side stepped and Drew lunged forward with her momentum. Barely on the verge of tipping, she suddenly turned and did something I probably should have known.

"Dear, why don't you drop your weapon?" Something gripped me. What was she doing? My hand let go of my staff.

Drew curled her lip. "Now, be a good girl and say you surrender."

My throat constricted. I couldn't let this brat win.

"Muagrgh," I gurgled.

I closed my eyes, and opened my mouth.

"You surrender." I smiled at finding a loophole. Now free from her words, I quickly chanted something Diego taught me in the morning. A little rain cloud formed above Drew, messing up her "perfect" makeup. Her mouth gaped open, and I charged at her and pressed my newly formed dagger to her throat.

"Surrender."

She muttered something indecipherable, and finally she gave in.

"Fine." She whispered.

"Say it louder. Say that you won't bully anyone ever again."

I pressed harder.

"You win. I lose. And I won't bully," Drew said with gritted teeth. I let her go, and she quickly darted away. I looked around me, and everyone was staring at me like I was some sort of miracle. Embarrassed, I too ran out of the ring and blended in with the shadows.

Jane

I gaped at Alicia, and then ran toward her.

"Alicia, that was amazing!" I said.

"Er...thanks." She was obviously embarrassed by all the attention.

"Urghh...Who does that...sick-minded...fashion-obsessed...sicko think she IS?!"

"I don't know...and I probably don't WANNA know."

I paced toward the dummies with Alicia, and I had an idea. I got a pink highlighter from my pocket and traced the mouth. It was very thin, and no one could see it.

"Er...Jane..."

"Relax, Alicia..."

"But I already took her down!"

"Just a minute..."

When I was done, I started slashing at the dummy, twisting and spinning as I slashed my sword. I probably looked like a blur. Alicia stared at me. Sooner or later, the dummy was in shreds. I happily put my sword down.

"There."

"...Jane?"

"Yes?"

"You're a lunatic."

"I know."

We were walking toward the great bonfire to get our lunch. The Aphrodite kids were cheering as we passed by. Piper walked up to us, wearing a magpie feather as a hair accessory, walked up and put a hand on each of our shoulders. I was glad she was the cabin counselor.

"You two did a good job taking her down. I sure hope you really taught her a lesson..."

"Thanks, Piper," Alicia smiled. "She deserved it."

Piper grinned. "Keep up the good work! You guys' training is looking up!"

"Thanks!"

After that, we grabbed some food, and ate at our own tables. I laughed with Rupert and another one of my half-sisters, Sheila Renegade. I started talking to Nico again, but he just looked at me with a blank look in my eyes and just made a few grunts. After I gave up, Alicia...well, tried to assure me by saying,

"Don't worry, Jane. Soon, you and Nico's love will blossom like a lotus flower in murky waters."

"And your legs will be chopped off like a dandelion's stem during weeding time."

She just laughed it off.

Evening passed, and we had our butts almost taken off by training courses. We ate our food like savages (okay, that was exaggerated, but we were pooped, okay?) And we watched the sunset while laughing and talking about our hatred for Drew. When it reached night time, we returned to our cabins and I started finishing up the pencil drawing for the Argo II. Maybe they can hang it up somewhere after I finished painting it. Then I became bored and started sketching out the crew. Leo, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason were easy enough to draw, but Hazel and Frank were a little harder for me. I drew Alicia next, and then...there was the part I hesitated the most. Vampire Dude. I started sketching out his body shape, and little by little, I drew out his entire look. It surprisingly looked okay. I stashed the sketches under my pillow, drew my curtains, and fell asleep.

Alicia

A flash. I saw a deathly pale woman, holding a torch. She was followed by a black dog and a polecat. Her hand extended and touched my shoulder. "My daughter," she said. "Work hard. You have an important role to play." I tried to say something. What role? What is going to happen? The lady started to drift away. No, I thought. I need to… know… Then everything was darkness.

I jolted awake, the silhouette of that woman, supposedly my mother, Hecate, still in my mind. The need for answers gripped me, and I bounced out of my bed, changed, and glanced at the clock. One and a half hour till breakfast, I thought. Good. I went to the history section of the cabin and grabbed a book titled, Hecate's Children and Their Powers. Walking back toward my bed, I plopped down next to my little puppy and opened the book. The inside smelled of old newspapers, and my nose instantly crinkled. I started to read.

Hecate's children have a wide range of powers, and are the only demigods to use magic. They are known for being able to control the mist, and for making a myriad of other things, called Mistforms. These can range from weapons to illusory beings.

The demigods also have powers such as necromancy, and have some control over the dead, but not as much as Hades.

By speaking in either Latin or Ancient Greek, her children can cast spells, such as creating fire, freezing an object, or shielding themselves from the eyes of monsters. However, only the most advanced can cast spells without saying anything.

Hecate's children also have a good sense of prophecies, since they are able to predict multiple futures.

I closed the book, having seen enough. Summing everything up in my head, I put the book back and went to the spells section. Maybe I could find something there that I could learn and get better with. A glint of gold caught my eye. A spell book, titled Spells and How to Cast Them, rested on the very bottom of the shelf. I grabbed the gold-covered book and immediately started to read it.

Spells are usually spoken in Ancient Greek or Latin. The enchantments help you cast a spell, but the more experienced spell casters sometimes do not even need to say the enchantment. For example, to summon a sword, armor, and a horse, say this is Latin: In manu gladium, et arma et in pectore et purebred equites proelio. This means: A sword in my hand, armor on my chest, and a purebred horse to battle with. Remember, this list of useful spells and enchantments are only here to guide you. We are not responsible for any possible damage. All warnings are listed below the spell.

I chuckled. Hopefully it won't be THAT hard…

So I read. And read. And learned pretty neat spells that I could work with. I glanced up at the clock, and realized that I had to go to breakfast. I saw Jane sitting with Nico under a tree and immediately started to laugh. I found Leo, asking him if he put them together. His eyes twinkled.

"I have my ways," he replied. I grabbed my breakfast, and then sat down to breakfast.

Jane

Ugh. I can't believe him. When I first stepped out of my cabin, Leo chased me around with fireballs in his hands, and I was screaming like crazy, trying to get away from the flaming madman. I hid in a shadowy part of a tree, and by the time I discovered that Nico was there, too, it was too late. I saw Alicia laughing at me, and I felt my face flush. I heard a growl.

"And why are YOU here?"

"Leo got me here. He was chasing me around like a lunatic."

"Oh."

He took out half of a pomegranate and started eating the seeds one by one, chewing slowly as if to savor it. Did he eat that little? He glared at me, and then I realized I was staring. I blushed, embarrassed by the awkwardness. A bit bored, I started coloring the sketches I made last night. I didn't look up until he said,

"Aren't you going to leave or something?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm still working on warming up to you."

"I'm different than all of you. I'm an outcast."

I put down my sketchbook and looked at him straight in the eye.

"Aren't we demigods all different and an outcast in a way?"

We stared at each other for quite sometime. He finally grunted and ate more seeds.

"I guess. But I'm a child of Hades. Hades demigods don't belong."

"...Whatever you say. I'm leaving."

"Hmf. Good riddance."

I ignored him, pacing to get my breakfast. After I ate, I went into the training course to train. Chiron said I was good at speed, which was surprising since I was always the last one to run the mile in P.E at school, but I should work on my stance. I progressed through the training course pretty well. Afternoon came, and I went to the Great Bonfire for lunch. I sat under a great oak tree for shade, and I realized Nico was next to me. Again.

"Oh, really?!" Nico growled. "You again?!"

"What? It's 86 degrees out here."

"Again, daughter of Apollo, it's still strange to me that you are not immune to the sun."

"Uh, Vampire Dude, we're called DEMIGODS because we're half mortal. So we still have the usual mortal things going on."

"Don't you dare talk to me in that way."

"No. What are you, my teacher?"

"Just shut up!"

"Alright, fine."

We ignored each other for the whole lunch, and I was the first to leave. I practiced a few more moves, and even dueled Alicia. But none of us won before dinner started. Nightfall came, and I had learned a new trick by then. When the sun set, I went to the great oak tree to test it out. I opened my palm, and it glowed softly. Two light particles floated out of my palm, and up into the sky. Three more came out. It looked like I was generating fireflies out of my hand. It was beautiful. I was enjoying it when someone interrupted me.

"Are you serious?!"

Oh, gods, not him.

I turned, and there, standing in the shadow, was Nico. I rolled my eyes.

"I wasn't bothering you or anything. I just wanted to try out a new trick. And why do you keep popping up everywhere?"

"I should be asking YOU that…?"

"Whatever."

Four more came out of my palm, except some were bigger in size. The first two was as small as flies. The ones that came out now were the size of big golf balls. Nico stepped up to watch.

"Hmf. Never knew you guys could do that." he muttered.

"Well, the more you know, huh?"

He merely grumbled. The particles reflected against his black-blue eyes, looking just like the night sky. He looked at it blankly, but was somehow mesmerized at the same time.

Jane, you're staring….

I blushed at the realization, and tried to focus on the particles. They floated high into the night sky. The stars twinkled as if they were welcoming them. It was so fun to watch, and when Nico started speaking, I almost jumped.

"You know about the prophecy, right? The light and darkness part of it?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Maybe…" he cleared his throat. "Nevermind."

Alicia

Strolling around the dying bonfire, I had assumed that everyone was, one way or the other, asleep. I just wanted to look at the stars, have some private time. Until I saw a stream of flickering lights floating into the sky.

Fireflies? I thought. At Camp Half-Blood?

I followed the lights right to its source: the great oak. And then I saw Jane and Nico. I had to stop and put my hand over my mouth from hyperventilating and laughing to death. Slowly creeping back to my cabin, I hoped Jane and Nico were having a good time. I flopped into my bed, staring at the ceiling of my bed. The little puppy curled up next to me.

Oh, I forgot to give it a name… I thought. My thoughts started to wander, and just tipping into the brink of sleep, I murmured the puppy's new name: Theo, short for Theodoros, meaning "gracious gift".

Sunlight peeked in, and I opened my eyes. Groggily sitting up, I changed and walked outside to grab some breakfast early so I could practice some of the spells I learned yesterday. Cheerios… My mouth crunched slowly on the mass of grains. I wonder if…

"Boo!" Leo pushed me from behind, startling me into dropping my spoon into the bowl of milk.

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" I said, a bit ticked off.

"Well, someone woke on the wrong side of the bed," he retorted. Rolling my eyes, I went to grab another spoon. Leo followed me, having already ate his breakfast.

"Alicia, do you want to go to the training area with me today? I have some new hot moves I can show you."

"Mm-hm," I said, munching on my cereal, trying to think of 20,000 excuses to leave and say no. I preferred to train alone, since it is quite embarrassing if you mess up.

As soon as I finished my breakfast, he grabbed my hand and we rocketed to the training area.

"Whoah! I didn't even say yes! Chill out man!" I yelled.

Leo looked at me. "Sorry, can't. Son of Hephaestus, after all!"

Making a note to secretly grab breakfast next time and avoid detection from Leo, we stepped into the ring.

"Watch," he said to me. He did some kind of karate move, and a massive fireball formed in his hands. Poof! It disappeared into smoke. "Your turn," he looked at me.

I tried to remember a spell I learned. "Um…" I muttered. I took a deep breath. "Imitetur virtutem," I spoke out loud. A massive fireball formed in my hands, then disappeared in smoke, exactly what Leo did.

"Hey, not fair," he said. "Copycat."

And so I tried again. "Et quaecumque in me in centuriis," I chanted. Alicia clones started to appear around me, exactly the same in body and stance. They started to surround Leo, until he blasted each with a fireball.

"Not bad," he said, fire dancing on his fingers. He started to blast me with more fireballs, but I had already cast a shielding spell. I smiled, and tried something else out. "Invisibilis Factus," I said. Leo frowned, having realized that I disappeared into the air. I slowly crept behind him, and with a sweep of my leg, he toppled over onto the ground.

"Aw, come on, that was hardly fair," he said to me, with a grin on his face.

"Stop complaining, Fire Boy." I started to walk, quite tired of all this. I just needed some peace and quiet.

"Hey, wait up! I was thinking… " he started to say. I put my hands on my hips.

"Hurry up and spit it out," I spat.

"Um, do you want to ….prank Jane and Nico? I dunno, you seem pretty good at what you do. And," he added, "I don't just ask anyone to prank with me." His eyes twinkled.

I had to refrain from laughing at all the possibilities. Ahhh, I thought. This will be fun. I nodded to Leo, and he grinned. "Ok, I have a plan…" he said in a conspiracy-making voice. We drew close and whispered, brainstorming about our wonderful plan…

Jane

I was fast asleep on my bunk bed when I heard my pencil drop to the floor.

Dangit...I don't wanna get it...

But I did. I had to. I climbed down the ladder, grabbed my lead pencil, and put it back to where it belonged. I was wearing the same thing I did yesterday, so I didn't need to change. I did my hair into a quick ponytail, and, weary, left for breakfast. I went down the green hill, under the shade of some green trees. I breathed in the morning air, relieved by the cool breeze. Life on Camp Half Blood couldn't get better than this. Then I heard a "fwoosh" behind me. I turned. Nothing. Another "fwoosh". I turned. Nothing.

What is going on?

Then I heard a sudden crunch of leaves, a last "fwoosh", and then...someone tackled me from behind. I couldn't scream. I was so startled I forgot to. They wrapped their arms around me and dug their nose into my neck.

What in the…?

I slowly moved my eyes to my left shoulder, and I gasped. It was Nico, wrapping me in a tight embrace. My heart rate got faster, and my cheeks turned as red as the horizon. His tangy pomegranate scent filled the air.

When I got to my senses, I elbowed him on the stomach, and as he let go, I kicked him. I started running as fast as I could, my face flushed, my heart pounding with fright. Then, I bumped into someone, and I fell backwards. I sat up immediately, and Nico looked at me with widened eyes. We stared at each other for a while, and we both yelled,

"DID YOU JUST HUG ME?!"

Then I stood up, and looked at him in the eye.

"Vampire Dude, you'd better not hug me like that again! Digging your nose into someone's neck while hugging them is creepy!"

"Says the girl who stuffed her face into my jacket while she tackled me! I mean, what in Hades-"

Ears pounding, I lashed out my sword, and so did he as he stood up. Mine glowed with light energy, as shadow swirled around his.

"YOU CREEPO! I AM NEVER GOING TO HANG AROUND YOU AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WANTED TO KILL YOU AT THAT INSTANT?!"

"WELL, SAME WITH YOU HUGGING ME!"

"SPEAKING OF KILLING, I'M GONNA HURT YOU NOW AND HERE, AND IT'LL LOOK LIKE A BLOODY ACCIDENT!"

"I'LL SEND YOU TO THE UNDERWORLD AND KILL YOU THERE AGAIN!"

By this time, our heads were so close, we could see just how infuriated and startled we both were. Our swords almost touched, and the wisps of shadow started curling around my glowing blade, and swirls of light were snaking around the tip of his black stygian sword. Then we heard unmistakable laughter to my right. Nico and I turned, and we saw Leo and Alicia, both howling like maniacs.

"Oh my gods, that was priceless!" cried Leo, laughing so hard he had to put his hands on his knees. "You guys should have seen the looks on your FACES!"

"You guys had no IDEA…" Alicia was laughing, holding her belly as she did.

"What do you mean? ALICIA?" I straightened up, putting down Kusanagi.

Alicia calmed down a bit, but was still smiling with glee.

"It was all a prank! Jane, Nico didn't actually hug you-that was just an illusion! Same with Jane hugging Nico."

We stared at Alicia and Leo. Then we stared at each other, trying to process what we just heard. Then we turned back to them, eyes widened.

"YOU WHAT?!" we yelled.

Leo and Alicia started laughing even more and started backing away.

"Ha ha...Oh my gods...Leo, let's go…" gasped Alicia as she laughed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

We started running at them, our swords raised high in the air, mine burning with light, and Nico's pulsing with darkness. "YOU GUYS ARE SO DEAD!" I cried.

"RUN, RUN! RUN LIKE THE WIND, ALICIA!" shrieked Leo, running as he pumped his arms heavily.

And so, it turns out that I was out of breath, starving, and pouring with sweat by the time training started. Thank the gods Chiron let me eat a little, and didn't ask a thing about what happened.

Alicia

I was literally laughing to death as Jane chased me through the camp and Nico was slashing at Leo's bouncing hair. I actually had to summon a nice long rope (which took forever, I kept on summoning snakes instead) to get them to stop. And then we just laughed at the tied up Jane and Nico. Making sure we were a good distance away, we threw them their swords. And they didn't say anything after that.

Leo and I dashed to the training area, and thank goodness Chiron didn't ask what happened.

"Ah, as I always said, 'A good prank always lights up the mood'", Leo said as he put his hands behind his head.

I nodded, and quickly became silent as Chiron started to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we need to discuss some safety measures in the camp and several rules. There have been frequent monster attacks, and we need to have a system to keep everyone safe."

As everyone groaned, Chiron quickly dismissed us, and we started our normal training routine. Swordsmanship was my worst subject. I kept on not having the best "posture" or "motion" or whatever. Leo wasn't very good too. Jane however, (and Nico for that matter) were quite amazing. Archery was fun, but dueling was my favorite, since that was the only subject I had that allows me to use magic. As training came to an end, everyone started to get ready for lunch. And then we were dismissed again to do our own thing. I left Jane, Nico, Diego, and Leo and decided to do some research on magic in the Hecate cabin. The sun had started to set, and I finally left the cabin and went to find Jane. Until I spotted someone else, or something: a shadow. Nico, I thought. I walked up to him and attempted to start a conversation.

"Hey, Nico, what are you doing?" I asked.

He just grunted.

Rolling my eyes, I studied him. Very carefully.

"What are you looking at?" He squinted at me.

"Well, just seeing if you're good enough for Jane, that's all," I teased. "You'll never get to know her if you keep on acting like a creep."

I knew I got on his nerves, but I wanted to see.

"What are you talking about?" He growled. "I already know her."

I smiled. Bingo, I thought.

"Ok then, Mr. Brightside, I see you've got some confidence going. Well, see you at dinner…"

Nico turned red, something I have never seen before.

"Go away," he muttered.

I walked away, quite victorious, to Leo. Probably shouldn't tell Jane, she'll go nuts. I walked to the table to grab my seat, leaning back and waiting for Jane to appear.

Jane

The gravel crunched under my feet as I trudged to the tables after Alicia and Leo's prank. Such great friends, I thought.

Suddenly, I heard a growing crackling noise. Heat wrapped around my arms, and tears came to my eyes. What was happening?

The bonfire erupted, and everyone screamed. Everything erupted into chaos.

I saw Alicia and Leo run to my side. "What's wrong with the fire?" Leo asked, a little shocked. The fire started to go down, until a voice started to boom from it.

"Demigods," The voice said in a tone that wasn't male or female. "It is time." And then it vanished.

My breathing started to quicken. Who was he...or she?

"I knew this would come."

Chiron was behind us, giving us quite a scare. He straightened himself and looked at me, Alicia, and Leo.

"It is time for you to fulfill your prophecy."

He turned to the great oak. "Nico, it is time. Do not act like you don't know."

A shadow popped out from behind the tree. Nico stepped up to the bonfire, having his usual gloom surrounding him. Alicia's mouth started to form the tiniest of smiles, but it faded. What did she do now?

Chiron turned to us.

"What is your form of transportation?"

Leo put his hands on his hips.

"The Argo II, of course."

Chiron raised his eyebrows.

"But isn't that ship a bit too large for only you four?"

"Naw, we'll be alright." Leo said reassuringly.

"But you must bring at least two more people with you."

"No, I'm sure we'll okay, Chiron."

Chiron furrowed his brow. "Alright, I suppose."

Leo started to grin. "So when do we leave?"

"At day break."

Alicia's eyes widened. "That early?"

"Yes. I insist you start packing."

After that, we started eating dinner again, but then us four sat beneath the great oak thinking over things.

"Why are we leaving now?!" cried Alicia, running her hands through her hair. "We don't even know where we are supposed to go, or what we're supposed to do!"

Leo was leaning against the oak.

"It'll come to us, just you see."

I was playing with a little particle on my finger, saying,

"She's right. We've got no clue."

Nico just sat there, fidgeting with a blade of grass. "Well, the prophecy did say 'find the legend', so we have to figure out what legend it is."

Alicia nodded. "So do we have to find a book or something?"

"I suppose." The blade of grass broke in two, and he pulled out another one and started fidgeting with that.

I started thinking about it, holding the particle in my palm. All of this hurt my brain. I started to furrow my brow, and I closed my palm, the particle exploding into golden dust. I stood up.

"I'm going to go pack. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay." said Alicia. "I'll go with you."

After we waved good-bye to Leo and Nico, we started walking toward my cabin. We passed by the same exact spot where the fake Nico hugged me, and I grimaced at the memory. Alicia spotted me, and grinned.

"What are you looking at?" I said.

"Nothing." She walked by me, and she stopped in front of my cabin.

"I'll see you in the morning."

"You, too."

"Oh, and Jane?"

I turned. "What?"

"Be sure to know Vampire Dude a little more. I think he has a little more to what he is on the surface." She grinned.

"Oh, shut up." Luckily, it was too dark for Alicia to see me blush. "He's a grump. What should I know about him?"

"Aw, you'll find out soon enough. Night, Sunmaid."

"G'night, Magic Girl." I said. She laughed, and walked back to her cabin.

I opened the door, and it was dark. I started packing my things–my sketchbook, my glasses, extra clothes...the essentials. Then tiny footsteps came up to me. I looked up, seeing Sheila.

"Hi, Jane." She said. "I know you're going to leave tomorrow, so I wanted to give you this."

She handed me a silver music box. I held it.

"A music box," I whispered. "Sheila, thank you."

I opened it, and a miniature sun with a smiley face popped up.

Sheila smiled and said,

"Say what song you wanna play."

I started to rack my brain. I loved many songs; C'mon, Radioactive, Let it Go, When Can I See You Again?, and many more. Then I remembered the night y the oak tree.

"Fireflies," I whispered. "By Owl City."

The little sun started to glow, and a soft tinkling started to play. Then the familiar tune started to come into play.

"You would not believe your eyes, if ten million fireflies, lit up the world as I fell asleep..." I sang softly.

Sheila smiled at me. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! Thank you so much!"

She giggled, blushing at my thanks, and said, "It was a gift from my grandmother. She said to give to anyone special."

I hugged her. "Tell her that you found that person, and that person is very grateful. And tell her that I plan to give back the favor."

Sheila nodded. "Okay."

I closed the music box, and stashed it in a safe place in my backpack.

"Good night Jane, and good luck."

"Okay. I'll see you in the morning."

She walked up to her bunk, and I started to go, too. I flopped on to the bed, thinking about what was going to happen. After twenty minutes, I gave myself up to slumber.

Alicia

After I sent Jane off to her cabin, I started to trudge back to my cabin, which was a very long walk. When I finally arrived, I saw Diego leaning on one of the bookshelves.

"Hey man," I said to him as I passed him and went to my neat little bed. Then I noticed something: Theo, my little puppy, wasn't there. I grasped the fact that he probably disappeared, then plopped down on my bed, getting everything ready in my 10 year old backpack. I heard Diego approach behind me, and turned around to face him.

"Alicia," he tentatively said. He was acting very strange, and I didn't know how to react. "Um… since you're leaving, I want you to have this…"

I arched my eyebrows. "Nah," I replied. "I don't need all this." Too late, he already held a little box lined with gold leaves for me. "Oh, thanks," I said after a long pause, and Diego hugged me tightly and then left.

Too tired and a little anxious to open the intricate box, I quickly stuffed it into my old backpack. After all that tiring packing, I finally slammed onto my bed and fell asleep.

I woke up, a little too early, when the sun hadn't even come up yet. "Ugghhh…" I moaned. I got ready, and just before I walked out of the cabin, Lou Ellen attacked me, gripping me in a bear hug.

"Oh, I hope you succeed!" She said. "It's really rare when a child of Hecate gets picked on these important prophecies." Lou Ellen smiled, then finished her little goodby speech. "I'm really proud of you, and hope that you'll come back to Camp Half Blood safe and sound!" I grinned, and we hugged again. I finally walked out of the door, the sun not yet up. In the distance, I could see the hunk of metal we were about to ride on.

"Leo!" I called out when I spotted him. "Are we eating breakfast on the Argo II?" He nodded, then went back to work preparing the giant airship for flight.

I stepped in the dim interior of the ship (looked like this massive spider web to me), looking for the room Leo assigned to me. When I finally found it, I started to unpack and got everything nice and organized. Feeling like it was a little empty, with just a bed in the corner, a desk, and a window, I attempted to create a little bed. After I managed to do that, I tried to summon a puppy to go with that, which actually turned into a maltese-German shepherd-golden retriever-poodle-chihuahua type of dog since I wasn't specific while chanting the spell. Still, the puppy barked and wagged its tail. I grinned, until I heard the door open behind me.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," I heard Leo say.

I turned around, facing him. "Oh, you never knew that?"

He grins. "Nope," he said.

I rolled my eyes as he pet the newly summoned puppy. "What's her name?" He asked.

"Ummm, I don't know."

"Well, how about… Calypso?"

I paused. "Wait, isn't she… this immortal girl stranded on an island?" He nods. "I miss her."

"Wait, what? You've seen her before?"

He nods again, and in his eyes I sensed a hidden connection.

Tilting my head, I decided to change the subject. "Do you need any help?" I asked.

"Nope, just waiting for Jane and Nico. I'm guessing they're not early risers…"

I laughed. "Or maybe they're just taking their sweet time to get here."

Leo smiles. "Maybe."

Jane

I woke up, smacking my lips. I groggily stood up and started changing, doing my hair, and getting my stuff. I put my backpack on, and went outside.

"Jane!" Rupert called.

I turned. "Yeah?"

"Good luck! Go git 'em!"

I smiled. "Thanks! Bye!"

I walked over to the hills, where the Argo II is. I saw Nico standing next to it. I walked over.

"Good morning, Vampire Dude. Why don't you go in already?"

"I'm supposed to show you your room, Sunshine." he growled.

I smirked. "Well, thanks."

He got me inside, and as we walked through the dim hall, Alicia spotted me from her room.

"Good morning, Jane! Hey, Nico." She smirked at him. "Having fun?"

Nico grunted..

"Shut up. Come on, Jane, let's go."

We went into a room directly next to Alicia's-I could tell because of its neat interior decoration. It had a bed with a shelf hanging over it, like you see in those IKEA catalogs, a desk and a wheelie chair, and a window. It was perfect for drawing. Nico waved me off, saying,

"I'll be outside."

I just nodded, and I unpacked. I put my clothes in a closet, which I found in a cardboard box. I decided to open it later. I put my binder, my glasses, my sketchbook, and my drawing utensils on the desk. I put some more sketchbooks on my shelf...and some more. I finally took out the music box. I put it on the table next to me. I went to open the cardboard box I found in the closet, and opened it. It had two test tubes, a round one and one that had a skinny neck and a triangular bottom, a holder for the round one, and christmas lights.

What was Leo doing? I thought. I placed the round one on its holder on my desk, and the other one on the shelf. I hung up the Christmas lights, and flicked them on. It glowed dimly. I turned it off. I flopped onto the bed, sighing. I noticed the music box was opened, waiting for me to utter a song title. I didn't have any ideas, so I just lay there, staring at the ceiling. Then, for some reason, I remembered playing games when I was little, like Nintendogs, Bomberman, and others. But my favorite one was….

"Pokemon." I sighed, smiling. The word tasted good on my tongue. Then I heard faint music. I swiveled my head to my music box. It started playing the Pokemon theme song, violin version.

"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was…" I started to move my feet to the beat as I sang. "To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause…." I sat up. "I will travel across the land, searching far and wide…" I pumped my fist. "Each Pokemon to understand, the power that's INSIDE!" I stood up, and started pumping my arms. "POKEMON! It's you and me! I know it's my destiny! POKEMON! You're my best friend, in a world we must DEFEND!" I started playing air-guitar. "POKEMON! A heart so true! Our courage will pull us through! You teach me and I'll teach you, PO. KAY. MON! Gotta catch 'em all, gotta catch 'em all, POKEMON!"

I struck a cheesy pose. Then I heard the snap of my music box closing. I turned my head to the doorway, where Nico was standing there, his hand on the closed music box and a smirk forming on his pale face.

"...How long have you been standing there?" I asked, feeling my face blush as I got out of my pose.

"Long enough." The smirk faded, and he said, "Come on, Pikachu, breakfast is ready. Gotta eat 'em all before Leo and Alicia get it."

I started to walk down the hall, feeling Nico's black-blue eyes boring into my back. I ignored it, and entered the room, where the air was filled with the scent of waffles.

Alicia

"Hola, amigos! Guess you're having fun," I said when I watched Jane, with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. Nico wasn't far behind, with a little smirk on his face.

Jane reddened as she sat next to Nico, and apparently something happened. Leo broke the awkward silence by singing the "Do You Like Waffles?" song. I replied with the "Yeah we like waffles!" part, and we were both in our little world making waffles and singing until Nico broke the loop.

"Shut up already," he said. "It's so annoying."

"Mm-hm," Leo replied. He was still humming the song in an endless loop. I giggled like a schoolgirl, and suddenly stopped since that did not sound like me. When the waffles were finally done, I scooped each golden-brown waffle into a plate. Grabbing the honey, I threw it over to Jane, who almost dropped it. She looked like she was in deep thought and her cheeks were tinted pink.

"Jane! Waffles! Come on!" I waved my in front of her face, and she finally shook out of it and returned to Earth.

"Yeah? What's up?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nevermind," Leo laughed.

"Probably dreaming about her future with Nico."

I glanced at Jane to see if Leo went a little too far. She was steaming, and her face was literally red. Nico was very red as well, and looked like he was struck with a fever.

"Ok, switching topics," I interrupted. "So, how was your morning? Anyone need butter?" Leo nodded, but Jane and Nico stayed very quiet. After we were done and smacking our lips, Leo got up. "Ok, we're going to take off, ok? Chiron already said we can leave whenever we want to, so let's leave now." We all agreed, and Leo set off to the control hub, or the quarterdeck of the ship. I walked after him, wanting to help.

I finally caught up to him, and I saw him in his seat, about to fly the massive ship. There were WII controllers, gameboys, levers, buttons, and a steering wheel. Gauges and sensors were scattered around the control panel as well.

"Can I help?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Only I can fly it, it's pretty hard. He gestured to all the instruments around him.

I tilted my head. "At least try to teach me," I said to him in a puppy dog voice.

He sighed. "Fine, we still have some time before we go meet outside with Chiron." I grinned, and sat down in the chair next to Leo's.

"Well, the steering wheel is for, you know, steering, the lever here is for how many miles per hour we are going, the WII controller controls the sails, and as for altitude, you have to shake these WII controllers really hard. Festus, the dragon in the front, will take care of the other stuff like where we are going, etc," Leo spouted to me. "That's just the basics."

"Ok… " I felt like I pretty much got it… not really. "How 'bout we tell Chiron we're ready? It's already seven." He nodded, and we stepped out into the cool morning air. Chiron had already arrived.

Jane

That was the most embarrassing thing I have ever been through. I stomped over to my room after eating only a little bit of my waffle. I opened my music box, my face still burning as my left fist was clenched.

Stupid Valdez….

I whispered, "Dango Daikazoku," and as the music box played the soft music, I jumped onto my bed, and started doodling random things. I didn't know I absentmindedly drew a skull next to a pencil. I threw my pencil onto the ground, and put my face in my pillow. I didn't necessarily cry, but I wanted to tame the irritating questions in my mind...What were we going to do for the prophecy? What if we don't survive? What if it doesn't go as planned? Where were we to go? And how is Vampire Dude and I going to freaking fulfill the stupid prophecy?! I growled to myself.

Then I heard the door creak open. I looked up, my eyes weary. It was Nico, carrying a paper plate with my barely-eaten waffle. He looked blankly at me, asking in a cold tone,

"Can I come in or not?"

I just shrugged, and he sat down next to me on my bed and handed over my waffle. It was awkward for a moment. I hugged my knees tighter, and he stared at the ground. He looked at me again and handed me the plate.

"You barely ate. Come on, go on."

I stared at the waffle, then looked at him. Then back at the waffle. I let go of my knees, grabbed it, even though it wasn't as warm as before, and took a small bite. As I kept biting it, each bite bigger than the rest, he spoke.

"You have a pretty nice voice you know." That cursed smirk started stretching across his face. "You can maybe try out for American Idol or something."

"Oh, shut up." I drank water from my bottle.

The smirk stayed longer, but it dissolved as he picked up my drawing and stared at it. "Hey, you're pretty good."

"Of course I am. I took art class since I was seven."

He snorted, and we just sat there, listening to the heart-warming music I put on. We were looking outside of my window, watching Alicia, Leo, and Chiron speak to each other. The way they were standing so close next to each other make me smile. Then I heard a bark. Alicia's new friend, a golden retriever mix, trotted up to us and jumped up my lap. She started licking my face free of excess crumbs, and started licking my plate next. I smiled and petted it. Nico started stroking her back.

"Why did they name her Calypso?" asked Nico.

"I thought that was a girl's name...that girl who was stranded in Ogygia."

"She is," He kept on stroking the dog. "And no one will ever know why in Hades he named her Calypso."

"I would call her Waffle."

"Good choice."

He took down the test tube on my shelf. "What're you doing with this?"

I thought for a moment. I grabbed the tube, and screwed it open, free of its cork. I put my finger in, and light particles started to come out like young fox cubs coming out of their den for the first time. I pulled my finger out once I thought it was enough, and particles started to come out, one by one. I put the cork back on.

"Hmf. Just what I expected you to do."

"'Course you know. C'mon, you have to admit that they're pretty."

"I guess."

I felt my eyes droop. It was too much for me to take. The warm sun leaking through my window, the soft music playing, the particles dancing about, the comforting breathing of Waffle as he slept on my lap, and the clashing scent of pomegranates and maple syrup made me drowsy altogether. I gave up, and closed my eyes, leaning on Nico's shoulder as I steadily breathed, lost in my dreams. Then I heard a grunt of annoyance and he pushed me off his shoulder. My head landed in the pillow I was holding instead, and he walked away.

Alicia

Leo and I were taking off. He pulled the lever for the engines, and I started to shake those WII controllers. I felt the massive airship lurch beneath me and start to ascend. He started to press buttons, and pulled on a couple more levers. I continued to shake.

"You really need to design these WII controllers into maracas," I commented. "With a dance floor here too, and throw in a couple more sombreros."

Leo turned around and laughed, as I started to sing "Feliz Navidad", even though it wasn't even Christmas. As I shook those imaginary maracas harder, the airship continued to rise and through the windows I could only see clouds. After a few minutes of intense shaking, Leo told me to stop since we were already pretty high on the altitude.

"Not bad, it's nice to have someone here to help me." He smiled, showing his teeth. "Well, we have to find the legend, and Chiron had a pretty good idea to where we should go," he said while biting his lip. I nodded. We were to go to the underworld (with Nico of course) to search for the god, Hypnos. Hopefully he would give us a clue on what to do when we put Gaea to "sleep", maybe help us find the legend.

I shuddered when thinking about the Underworld. Still, it was going to be a cool experience. Not exactly Disney, but still.

"I'm going to go to my room," I whispered to Leo who seemed to be swimming in his own thoughts. Snapping out of it, he finally bobbed his head up and down.

I walked down the long hallway to my room, the one with the only open door and peculiar little dog sitting at the entrance. Calypso jumped up onto me as I entered the room. She licked me, as if waiting for me since forever. Looking at her golden fur, I decided to nickname her Cal. So much easier.

The ship lurched, as if Leo forgot how to fly his own airship. I heard Jane's surprised and confused shouts and Nico's grunts, and jumped from my bed to assist Leo. Cal immediately started running to the control room too.

So much for helping Leo when the second I leave him the ship's about to break down...

"What's happening?" I yelled. I saw Leo at the cockpit with a look of dread on his face. "Nothing's working…" he muttered. "Festus is unreachable, and none of these controls seem to be working…" I could tell he was panicking, so I ran to the deck to get a grip on things.

The sails were cut, and the engines were on fire. I noticed harpies flying around, apparently the reason we got into this mess.

"I'll hold them off! Try to get the ship working again!" I cried. Leo nodded and went to try to fix the engines. I saw Jane and Nico from the corner of my eye helping Leo, and, casting several spells at once, I repaired the sails and blasted those annoying harpies. They turned into golden dust, floating away into the wind. I breathed in and out. Why are they trying to attack us?

Jane

"How do you even work this thing?!" I cried desperately. "Sorry, but I'm not a tech-savvy genius! I'm a sketchy dork!"

Leo rolled his eyes and said, "Just pull on the red wire!"

Nico raised one eyebrow. "You said to pull the green one a few seconds ago."

"Green or red…? Gah, stop making me confused! Ay ay AY!"

I widened my eyes. "Whoa, Amigo, slow down. Don't need to speak in fast Spanish here."

"Urgh, which one?!"

"Just calm down and THINK!"

Leo started pacing around, talking in fast Spanish. He soon cried out,

"MA MA MIA!"

I whispered to myself, "Don't Italians say that when spaghetti explodes in their faces?"

"Well, what if some Italians don't eat spaghetti?" asked Nico.

"What, it's not like you know some."

"Well, I'm an Italian, for one?"

"What?! You are?!" I almost burst out laughing.

"Yes, I am."

"Then can you translate…" I thought up of a cool sounding Italian sentence one of my classmates made during History. "...Ho intenzione di passare a gas dopo la morte."

Nico looked at me like I was demented. "You just said 'I'm going to pass gas after dying.'"

I didn't know whether to die of embarrassment or burst out laughing. So I just bit my lip and nodded. Then Leo ran up and cried,

"I got it! Just switch the places! I finally remember!"

He got a wrench and started working like a maniac. The engine reeked of oil all of a sudden, and then he straightened up, wiping his forehead free of sweat.

"That should do the trick…"

Then we heard a mechanical roar, and Leo perked up.

"Festus!" He ran over to the big dragon, and started whooping.

"It worked! Oh, gods, it worked!"

I stared at him. Then I decided to take that off my mind. I went over to Alicia, who was huffing and puffing, and pouring with sweat. She looked up at me, sword in hand, glasses crooked. "Jane...you alright?"

"I should be asking you that."

"I'm okay...phew." She straightened up and patted my shoulder. "I dunno what I'd do if I were dead."

"Jane here would probably pass gas." said Nico.

"What the...huh?" said Alicia. She turned to me, confused.

"Ah….just some language lessons. And weird Italian to English translations."

Alicia nodded slowly. Leo started picking up the remotes and started controlling them again. He called over his shoulder, "It's working!"

"Good!" said Alicia. She turned to us. "Why did the engine get funky all of a sudden?"

"Dunno." said Leo. "There were a few minor problems here and there, but never one like this."

Alicia started thinking, her eyes narrowed and brow furrowed. "Unless…"

"It's been hijacked." said Nico grimly.

Alicia

Everyone turned silent. Hijacked? By who? Why? I wondered. Shaking my head, I slowly walked back to my room, and everyone followed as well. I collapsed onto my bed in exhaustion and upon closing my eyes, everything slipped away.

I woke up and bonked my head on the wall. Cal sniffed at my leg, then went back to her little bed and rolled around, trying to catch her tail. Shaking my head, I tried to clear my thoughts from all this crazy mess. "Ugh," I groaned. Suddenly, my door creaked open and in came -well whaddaya know- Leo. He tilted his head at me, and then sat right next to me on my flouncy bed. An awkward silence ensured.

I cleared my throat, and Leo automatically started to speak.

"Well, who do you think hijacked the ship? Can you predict why and who? And I need assistance in the engine room." He said, in a rushed manner.

"Whoah…. ok," I said. "First of all, I have a feeling it's Gaea trying to stop us or something and ok I'll help on whatever you need assistance on."

He stared at me for sometime, and his expression changed to a little regretful, as if remembering a sad memory.

"Ok, then come on. I need help on the engines." He stood up and headed for the engine room.

I followed, matching his pace. Finally, we stood before the giant engines used to power this ship. He unscrewed some little metal door and bright red, blue, and green wires shone through the little opening.

Leo looked at me and said, "We have to replace some wires, and we better do it quick. The way they are placed now aren't going to hold the ship for much longer." I nodded, gulping.

"I need you to… start rearranging them," Leo continued.

I stared at him. "Seriously, Leo, you are the most descriptive person ever." I rolled my eyes. "It's amazing how you managed to build this ship with other people."

Leo managed a little laugh. "Um, sorry to disappoint you, but I'm trying this "teamwork with friend on building stuff" out. And, I built the Argo II on my own."

I raised my eyebrows. "Ok, Mr. Overachiever, just give me a pattern or example or anything to help me along my way."

"Um...do you know the binary code?" I nodded. Of course, I took robotics when I was a kid.

"Well, I need you to have a pattern of red, blue, and green for the binary code of 1 to whatever number you get to. Just… you'll get it when you look inside." I slowly bobbed my head, and we got to work. Somehow, despite Leo's amazing instructions, I was able to quickly change and replace most of the wires. Leo was doing something else with the motor. When I was done, I called out to him and he strutted over, glancing at my work.

"Not bad," he said.

"Uh-huh. Have fun doing the motors, I'm going to start making lunch. How does PB&J sound?"

"Ah, delicious. I don't want smooth PB, ok?"

"Hm, good choice. Smooth doesn't pack as much of the flavor."

He laughed, then got back to work.

I took out all the bread, the jams, PB, and everything you could possibly need for PB and jelly sandwiches. I started to hum It's Time by Imagine Dragons, and started to have a mini dance-off.

"It's time to begin, isn't it, I get a little bit bigger but then... " I froze when I saw Jane and Nico walk in. They looked at me with their eyebrows raised, and I rolled my eyes.

"Here's your sandwiches." I passed them their plates.

They nodded thanks and then started to gulp them down like they have never seen food before. I laughed then continued to hum It's Time again. Nico and Jane both looked really dull, so… I decided to ask a really dumb joke. Can't blame me, ok?

"Hey Nico, knock knock."

Jane intervened. "Who's there?"

"To."

"To who?"

"No Jane, it's to whom."

Jane looked at me, then continued to eat. I rolled my eyes, and then Leo burst in, covered in oil. "Oh! I've got some good jokes!"

My nose wrinkled at his soot-covered shoes and pants. "Whoa mister, come in clean or something or no lunch for you."

"What? It's fine."

"No, I've got some serious OCD, so get cleaned." I bit into his sandwich. "That's what you get, now get that black soot off of you."

Leo frowned sadly at his bit sandwich. "Aww," he muttered. I gave him another look. "Fine, ma'am, I'll go clean up…" he walked out the door.

Jane

After listening to Alicia's geeky joke, I started for my room. I went in and doodled some loops and scratches while thinking who the hijackers might be. The music box started playing Counting Stars in piano version. I looked outside the window. The clouds were shifting like waves, and flocks of birds flew by. Then when the flock of birds were gone, a jet-black raven flew past, and hovered in the air, looking at me with its golden amber eyes. I looked closer. Then, a voice inside of me boomed.

Hello, daughter.

I shook my head. "Dad..?"

Yes, it is I, Apollo, the sun god, of the…

I rolled my eyes, interrupting him. "What are you doing here?"

Children of night lingers among this very ship.

"Children of night…?"

Yes.

I stared at him for quite some time, but I shook my head.

"This is so hard to take in…"

I believe in you, child. Good luck.

Then the raven's eyes turned blue, and started cawing and flapping its wings about. It flew out of sight, and I watched it, bewildered. Apollo sure had a way with birds. I headed for my door, still bowing my head, and bumped into someone. I looked up, and Nico was staring at me with an ominous glare. I screamed and backed up.

"Geez, what's your problem?! And why do you keep coming to my room?!"

"I just wanted to ask if you want to duel with me." He grumbled.

...Duel…?

I crossed my arms and looked at him with the same look I give to my step-brother when he does something suspicious.

"Okay...where are we going to duel?"

"On the deck. And no using powers."

I snorted. "Fine. Then I won't expect you to use yours?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's go."

I took my sword and we headed for the deck. Nico eyed me staring at him skeptically, and he said,

"Why are you looking at me as if I'm going to stab you in the shoulder?"

"Why not? You're the one who wanted to start a duel all of a sudden."

He just rolled his eyes and we got onto the deck, a warm breeze blew in the air. I breathed in, and a tingle in my chest told me winter was coming. Then he got to the other side of the deck and turned to face me, unsheathing his sword. I took out Kusanagi, and it gleamed in the partly-concealed sun. We stared at each other for a while, studying each other.

"You better not do anything huge, Sun Maid." he got into stance, his stygian iron sword pointing at me menacingly.

"Tch. If you don't want your beautiful face to get all bloodied up, better stop sitting pretty."

We got into stance, and we studied each other more. Then he came running at me, crying out a battle cry, raising his sword. I emitted my own cry, and came at him. Our swords clashed, and we backed up. He starts slashing at me, and I dashed behind him and starts lashing at him from behind. He swivels and stabs at me, and I jump back, my feet making a screeching sound on the wooden deck.

"You're gonna have to try something harder than that."

"I'm going to You'll see, Vampire Dude."

I then dashed around him, and he watched me go run around him, holding his stance. Then I tackled him from behind, and he fell on his stomach, me on top of him. I put the tip of my blade close to his ear.

"Surrender."

"No."

He elbowed my chest, as a fury of pain quickly spread like wildfire throughout my body. I fell backwards, and he pushed me to the ground, pointing his blade at my nose. I heard Kusanagi clatter to the ground.

"You surrender."

I stared at him in surprise. Then smiled and got up.

"Alright, you win."

We shook hands, and Alicia came.

"Hey, guys-Ooh, what are we doing here, hm?"

Then I let go of his hand and felt my face flush.

"I-it isn't what it looks like!"

Alicia just smirked. "Right…."

"So what do you want?" asked Nico.

"There's two people in the engine room. I got them tied up, and now you guys have to interrogate them."

We followed her into the musky engine room, and we found two people, one boy and one girl, tied up together. They glanced up at us. They were both well built and almost looked identical, with their black hair and dark brown eyes and round faces. But the boy's eyes had a pale brown color to it, like chocolate milk.

"What is your names and what is your business?"

The boy spoke up, his voice husky and deep.

"My name is Donovan Richards, and this is my fracturnal sister Dana Richards. We are children of the goddess Nemesis."