I am way too old for this.

and so I present to you, the greatest feat of noobishness I have ever attempted

enjoy. review. thank you.

NICO

"Fifth Cohort, CHARGE!" Hazel's voice rang out through the woods, and Nico clutched his Stygian iron sword. He shared a glance with Will Solace whose straw colored hair glinted in the moonlight.

"Apollos, Hephaestuses, Nikes, Hadeses, get ready. Here they come!"

Arion was a gold flash shooting over the river and Hazel an armored blur on his back. She came up behind Nico but he was ready as the tip of her gold spatha met his sword, sending sparks flying in the night.

"We will prevail!" Hazel called to her fellow legionnaires, "Rome forever!"

"Rome forever!" her cohort echoed enthusiastically as the two forces met. Nico grinned, the white of his teeth flashing.

"Don't bet on it, sis. You'll never capture our flag!"

"We'll see about that." Hazel replied smugly, "Our Fourth Cohort has already overrun your Aphrodites and Hermeses, and the First is working on Ares and Tyche right now. We'll be parading your flag around in no time."

"I forgot." Nico smirked as her spatha nicked him on the cheek, "You don't know Clarisse, do you?"

"I guess no one told you." Hazel replied, equally confidently, "Reyna's leading the First Cohort."

Well, that was a bit of a problem, but Nico wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing he was bothered by it. Instead, he melted into the shadows to come up behind Arion.

It was the strangest feeling. Normally shadow-travelling was a cinch, but this time it felt funny, like a magnetic pull underground, straight towards. . .

No. Nico shook off his suspicions as he dodged Hazel's stab. That's not possible. He was just imagining it.

Finally, a hit on Hazel's thigh.

"That hurt!" his sister exclaimed good-naturedly, retaliating with a slash to his helmet, "Oh," she added, "And I bet you didn't know that Jason's in charge of the Second."

"Well try Annabeth and Tyson's strategic planning and peanut-butter sandwich bombs." Nico encouraged, "And before you ask, Calypso's in leading all the nymphs and satyrs. Percy's with them, and Coach Hedge, too."

"I'm sure Frank will have his work cut out for him." Hazel allowed as Arion danced and their swords met again.

"Fire in the hole!" shrieked a familiar voice and a half dozen small explosions lit the night, courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin. "Whooo baby!"

"Nice going, Valdez!" Nico called.

"That's me, Bad Boy Supreme!" Leo flashed him a thumbs up before turning back to direct his siblings.

"Hey, Death Boy, a little help over here?"

"Will, that you?" Nico asked. The speaker had better hope he was Will Solace, because Will Solace was the only person who had the green light to call him 'Death Boy'. Anyone else who tried might find themselves with the nickname Dead Boy instead.

"Yeah, it's me and I could really use some of your skele-bros over here!" Will answered, fending off four Roman soldiers and looking a tad strained.

"On it!" Nico promised, calling up four skeletons in what looked to be pro boxing paraphernalia; gloves, and all. Sure enough, the four zombie heavyweights set upon the enemy Romans mercilessly, someone's nose erupting in a fountain of blood.

Again, Nico felt a twinge of uneasiness calling up the dead, as if they were reluctant to rise from the underworld. Again, he shook off the feeling; he was just being paranoid.

Hazel had now drawn blood from a cut on Nico's sword arm, and he was backed up against a tree, nowhere to run. Not that running against the fastest horse on earth would do much for him anyway.

Forced to retreat, Nico melted once more into the darkness

RACHEL

In the early morning hours of June fifteenth, Rachel Elizabeth Dare sat bolt upright in her bed. The moonlight poured in through the skylight of the attic, casting a blueish glow over the floor.

The Oracle stirred. Rachel felt it, a writhing mass, right where her heart was. And she felt it rising, saw the first curl of green smoke on her breath.

And the Oracle took over.

WILL

Will's first thought when he was awoken by the creak of the Apollo cabin door opening was Monster!

And then he remembered that he was in Camp Half-Blood, and that no monster he knew gave off green smoke like Rachel did.

The glowing display on the alarm clock next to him read 4:41 am and Will sighed, wondering why the Oracle couldn't wait until a more reasonable hour of the morning.

Rachel waited by the door, shrouded in silence and green smoke.

Will waited silently for one of his siblings to get up and address the issue. When none were forthcoming, continuing to sleep on, Will grumbled and got up.

The tile flooring was cold on his bare feet as Will shuffled to Rachel. After ensuring his attention, she retreated outside, and he followed.

By the marble wall of the cabin, Rachel stopped and turned to him. Will did not mention the time of night as he would have liked to, as the Oracle of Delphi was of Apollo, and to annoy her would be to annoy his father as well. And so he waited politely.

There was no suspense, no ceremony. It was all very abrupt. Rachel's mouth dropped open unnaturally, a thick veil of smoke following.

"For Rome, for Greece, for gods, for earth

Beware the dark, avenge the hearth

By death, by scorn will heroes fall

Or night and strife envelop all."

And with that Rachel's mouth snapped shut, cutting off the green flow. Will wrapped his hand around her arm as her eyes rolled back, knowing she was about to fall. He sat her on the ground until Rachel returned to her own mind, eyes their usual blue shade when opened again.

She blinked, coughed once, looked around at the setting, and then to Will. "Prophecy?" she asked, as if this was a common nightly occurrence.

"Yup," he answered, "We're going to Chiron."

I know the prophecy sucks ass, apologies.

-oldsoul