The seal of Notheos
Daughter of Thanatos/ Heaven, Earth and Nightmare
Crossover
I do not own Percy Jackson, NiGHTS or Daughter of Thanatos (she belongs to Kris Warrior of death) I do however own Juliet Williams.
I would like to thank Kris warrior of death for writing this with me I was glad to make a crossover between are two characters, and so half of this story belongs to her.
Warnings: contains spoilers for… "Heaven, Earth and Nightmare" & "Daughter of Thanatos"
Rated k plus for tiny bits of swearing and just plain paranoia.
Maybe some Kris x Lance…
(Author's note)
Juliet's thoughts/Chi speak in human world
'Kris's thoughts'
People talking at once/emphasis
Kris: just get on with it!
Juliet: Kris, be nice
Oracle Cosmos & Kris, Warrior of Death: We are!
Part 1: Beginning the Journey
Juliet's POV
"Juliet! That hell hound of yours is trying to gobble up a chicken again!"
"All right I'm going!"
I ran through the fields in to the pasture, and sure enough there was Tiny chasing the rather plump poultry (or chicken) to the barn where we keep the hay and dad's secret stash of beer that I'm not supposed to know about
When I got to Tiny I rescued the vandalized poultry and tried to get Tiny to go back to the house, but for some strange reason she insisted on inspecting the barn
"Tiny! If you don't go back right now, you won't get my leftovers!" I called to her, trying to get her attention. Upon hearing she wouldn't get her fix of people food she trotted back in the direction of the house, and I'm about to follow her when…
"Check the barn"
"What?" I said out loud
"Check the barn, Juliet"
I groaned, knowing full well who the voice belonged to "Chi, can't you be more specific and less vague?" I said, not receiving an answer, of course "Guess not." I walked towards the barn and noticed a bundle of fur sticking out from one of the hay bales "Oh no, Tiny! Did you kill another vulpini?" I shouted (by the way a vulpini is the scientific name for fox, LOOK IT UP!) but as I got closer to the thing, it didn't have the same coloring, or a tail for that matter
'Clink'
The sound of cans clinking together made me freeze, that was when I started sensing some kind of dark aura
"Oh, please tell me it's not anther Nightmaren" I thought "it can't be NiGHTS, can it? No, if it was NiGHTS she would have just swooped in through my window"
Just then the bundle shifted, and I could feel it tensing getting ready to spring
"Holy fudge!" I thought trying not to panic, and just as I thought that, whoever it was sprang at me.
A reflex so typical of a six year old kicked in, I screamed and covered my face with my hands, waiting for end of my life, and it didn't come. I opened my eyes to see a dagger inches from my face. I made a tiny squeaking sound in throat and looked in the black eyes of my attacker. I could see something in her eyes though, was it… fear?
"You're just a kid!" She said with surprise withdrawing her weapon and taking a step back. She had ankle length platinum blonde hair with black steaks, her eyes where deep blue now instead black and she was wearing a black tank top and jeans, and appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old.
"s-s-s-sorry I-I scared y-y-you" I said trying and failing to keep the tremor out of my voice
"Uh no need. I thought you were a… never mind." Said the girl
"You thought I was a what? A monster?" I asked becoming a little less scared
"Uh sorta…"she said
"She's hiding something" I thought, and then I noticed the dried blood on the side of her head. I jumped up of the floor
"You're bleeding! Hang on I'll be right back" I said then I remembered I forgot something "by the way, I'm Juliet, and you are?" I then asked
"Kris." Said the other girl simply
"Okay Kris, I'll be right back" I said, turning and running out the barn door
Kris's POV
Fighting. That's what I remember last doing. I was fighting side by side with Annabeth Chase and Lance Night. A few Hell Hounds had followed us all the way from New York and now I'm guessing we were somewhere close to Washington D.C. "Agh." Annabeth let out a cry of pain. I turned in time to see her stab the hound in the chest and watch it disintegrate into golden dust 'Sucker' I thought and stabbed another one coming at me. I saw Nico and Percy fended off a few while Annabeth staggered to a tree and managed to climb it. Clariese threw four knives and each embedded themselves in a hounds head. I was fending off a rather small one and not paying attention behind me when "Kris, look out!" I heard Lance yell. I spun around and jabbed it but not before it caught my arm. I inhaled sharply but kept fighting. The last thing I was fully aware of was my name being called then nothing.
I heard a loud and shrill bark from where ever I was and instantly thought "Shoot, Hell hounds." I stayed as still as possible and listened for more but it sounded as if it was a loner.
"Tiny, if you don't get back here right now, you won't get my leftovers!" A voice called out. "Huh?" I thought "Must be my head playing with me." I reached up and touched the throbbing spot on my temple and gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. "Gods, when did that happen?"
"What?" The voice spoke again, sounding as if a child was speaking.
"Guess not." The voice said. The doors opened slightly and I froze instinctively.
"Oh no, Tiny! Did you kill another Vulpini?" 'What in the name of Zues is a vulpini?' I thought and then held my breath as foots steps approaching. I hunched over slighting, grabbing my dagger and getting ready for a fight. I jump up, tossing my cloak in the process and landing in front of the speaker and saw a very scared child, almost as scared as I was.
"You're just a kid!" I said, pulling the dagger back but still holding it firmly. She had waist length wavy, light brown hair, deep blue eyes and was wearing a white t-shirt and overalls, and she was really short.
"S-s-s-sorry I-I s-scared y-you." She stuttered
"Uh no need. I thought you were a… Never mind." I trailed off.
"You thought I was what? A monster?" She smiled slightly still a little shaken
"Uh sorta…" I trailed off again. She jumped up off the floor, startling me
"You're bleeding! Hang on, I'll be right back." She started for the door but turned around and said "By the way, I'm Juliet and you are?" She seemed trustworthy
"Kris." I said 'Simple enough. Not like anyone calls me anything else.' I thought.
"Okay Kris, I'll be right back." Then she dashed out the door, leaving me trying really hard not to scream in frustration and complete anger at myself for letting my guard down. "I hope the others are okay."
Juliet's POV
I ran back to the house as fast as I could, trying not to trip over my own feet. When I got there I tried to be as quiet as possible, so mom, dad and Burn wouldn't get suspicious. Unfortunately, Burn saw me on my way back
"What's with the bandages, lovely Juliet?" he asked, putting on his goofy grin and cocking his head
"Sorry dear brother, my conversation time is of minimal span" I said and Burn just gave me the look he usually does whenever I use big words, and just went back to what he was doing.
I started to pick up speed, but froze when I heard…
"RRREEIEIEIEEIEIEIEIIE!"
The noise was so loud it almost rivaled the noise the macho mobile makes, almost. I was really scared for a minute, but I looked around for where the sound came from hoping it hadn't come from the rabbit hole
Then I saw where it was coming from, "The Barn! Kris!" I yelled running again
"Stupid bird! Tarturas will have your soul!" I heard Kris yell, as I got closer
I peeked in the barn door and saw possibly the biggest bird in the world, except it wasn't exactly a bird. It had a human head; an ugly old lady's head, and coming right at Kris.
"Leave her alone! Go away!" I yelled
"No! Juliet run! Agh!" The bird slammed into Kris and sent her flying into hay bale
"Another demigod I presume." The bird lady said looking at me
"No, now go away! Shoo! Harpies don't belong here!" I yelled, and yes I knew the thing was a harpy, if you read Greek mythology you would too
"Ha-ha really child? This would be much more fun if you were terrified." She said coming closer
Kris was pulling herself out of the hay to lunge at the harpy again, but before she could, the harpy lunged at me, and I screamed and covered my face with hands again, and shutting my eyes
Only this time, I got the weird buzzing feeling that I get whenever I use my power. Just then I heard Kris gasp and then the harpy screamed. I opened my eyes just in time to see the harpy disintegrate
Exhausted, I fell to my knees, dropping my hands looking down at my lap panting and not wanting to look at Kris, for fear of thinking I was some kind of freak
"How did you do that?! Most monsters die once celestial bronze hits them but you just… Wait how did you see it anyway? Mortals can't see threw the mist..." she trailed off
"I don't know. And you mean I-I killed that thing?" I said about to burst into tears, reason being; 1: I was exhausted, 2: scared to the point of shivering, and 3: horrified at the thought at me killing something
"Yeah but if you hadn't, she would have killed me and a lot more people. She was doing her job. From who she was taking instruction is still a mystery. I have to go." She said making a move for the door
But before she could leave, I did burst into tears
"Juliet! You alright?" came a voice from outside the barn
"Gods. Who is that?" Kris asked moving back into the barn
"Burn" I said spluttering
"Okay. Who's Burn?" she asked
"My brother" I answered
"Uh okay, harmless?" she asked
"Mostly, unless you find his bad jokes lethal" I said feeling slightly better, until realization hit me. I jumped up from the floor so suddenly I accidently startled Kris
"You need to hide! Now!" I said, trying to lead her to behind the hay bales
She let me pull her to behind the hay, "be right back" I said, then going over to dad's beer cans, which were stacked in a neat fashion. I walked up to them, turned, and sat down right in the middle. It had just the same effect as I wanted they all came crashing down and a few of them bumped me and it hurt
"Juliet!" came Burn's voice from outside the barn. When he came in, he saw me sitting in the middle of the beer cans, with red, tear stained eyes, making look as if I fell on them, and started crying, which in a way I had
"What happened?" he asked coming over to me
"I fell in the beer cans" I said, stating the obvious
Burn came over and helped me up "well my lovely Juliet, let's check you over for serious injury" he said, beginning to poke me all over and I started laughing hysterically.
When he finally stopped, he said "well you look alright, but if you don't want me to tell dad you better pick this stuff up"
I was still smiling, and nodded "okay" I said
He gave me a big goofy grin and said "very well, now I'm off to help Dad fix: The Macho Mobile!" and with that, he turned around pointing at the door and ran out
"Achoo! Ugh, I hate hay." Said Kris coming out from behind the hay bale, after Burn left
"Sorry, only place I could think of," I said "now come here and let me look at your head"
She stood up and brushed the loose strands of hay off and pushed her hair out of her face and sat on her knees
I came over and inspected her head "looks as if you just came into contact with a blunt object and caused the tissue to open, and you may have a mild concision, otherwise as far as I can tell you are healthy as equis faris" I said rapping the bandage around her head, when I finished she got up and started to leave again
"Wait, I still have questions!" I said grabbing her arm
"I can't help you. I have to find my friends. You saw that thing, there could be thousands of them out there, looking for us." She said pulling herself out of my grip and moving towards the door
I was still being stubborn "and that thing saw me! Let me come to!"
"No! I'm not bringing a kid with me. It dangerous enough as it is and several people's lives' depend on it. I'm not bringing to add another person to that list." She said turning around and walking out the barn door
"I'm goanna go and you can't stop me" I thought
Kris's POV
I walked a few miles, keeping track of where I was going, leaving certain things on either trees or stones so only I knew where I was. After a mile or so I heard a small thud and spun on my heel, dagger in hand and ready to strike. Only instead of a monster, I saw the girl, Juliet.
"What are you doing?!" I practically yelled, than mentally slapped myself 'Moron. Wanna give your location to every monster in the area?'
"Coming to help you" she said smiling sheepishly. I sighed
"Ugh fine but if something happens to you… Never mind, just try to keep up and don't blabber the whole way." I said and walked over to help her up.
"Ok" she said "but one question." I looked at her
"What?" I said
"What did you mean by 'several people's lives are in danger'?" she asked and I sighed 'Don't tell her anymore then you need to. Keep it simple.'
"Ever heard of the Greek gods and goddesses?" I asked
She nodded then said "and monsters"
"Yes and monsters. Well have you heard the stories of Hercules and how gods would have children with mortals called demigods?" I asked
She nodded again "That's you and your friends, right?"
"Sort of. We're all from different gods though but yes. Anyway six of us were sent on a quest to retrieve an item of power. Have you heard of Notheos?"
She closed her eyes and thought for a moment "The name rings a bell. Is he a bad guy?" I nodded
"One of the worst. He was rejected and insulted for being the way he was. He tried to destroy the gods but they defeated him and sealed him away for good. But now, someone is trying to set him free to wreak havoc on the gods and the world. Get the concept?" I asked
She nodded, strangely not bothered "sounds like Wiseman" I heard her mutter
"Huh? Never mind, anyway I have to find my friends and we have to find the object the gods used to defeat him. Our oracle said it would be in Washington D.C. So we started there and that's where we got separated. If this wasn't a life threatening matter I wouldn't mind you coming but you're as stubborn as a mule I guess I have no choice. As long as you know, one missed move could be life or death. Got it?" I asked, slightly out of breath.
"Got it," she said "and you aren't the first to tell me I make a mule look reasonable" I laughed at this
"You're a smart kid. How old are you anyway?" I asked
She smiled and puffed out her chest proudly "six" she said. I whistled
"Really? Wow, that's cool. Well we need to get going. We should reach a clearing soon. See this?" I held up a leaf smeared with blood.
"Yes" she said turning slightly green
"Mine. My friends and I were attacked by Hell Hounds. I'm pretty sure they got away but I wasn't so fortunate. One snuck up on me from behind and likewise, I had been fending off another one and you can pretty much guess what happened from there. After that I still can't remember how I got to your barn." I said and started walking
She had to jog slightly to keep up "you said you where fighting in a clearing? Because I think I know where that is" she said. I looked at her.
"Rather large, few pine trees darted around the sides…"
"Really big Rabbit hole?" she said, finishing my sentence and I nodded.
She smiled up at me "I know where that is, it's this way" she said running off to the left slightly. It didn't take me long to catch up with her then we entered the clearing.
"Nice going." I said, smiling
She smiled back "no task to big for me!" she said proudly. I walked along the edges of the clearing, looking for carnage from the battle. I found one of Clarisse's throwing knives and stuck it in my belt. There was a large patch of carnage under some trees and blood stains on the bark.
"It looks like they climbed the trees but it also looks like the hounds completely ignored them once they were up high enough. I wonder… Hey!" Something hit my head, no heavy enough for a weapon or rock but heavy enough to hurt.
"Kris? Oh thank the gods, it's you!" I looked up to see Annabeth perched on a branch.
"Annabeth! Thank Zeus you're alright I thought you were a goner. Here let me help." I climbed up and began helping her climb down without hurting herself anymore then she already was. We got down and Juliet stared at her. "Here" I handed Annabeth a square of ambrosia. She ate it carefully and started looking much better. I looked over at Juliet; she had her head cocked to the side
"What's that stuff?" she asked, pointing at the ambrosia
"Food of the gods. If mortals were to eat it, they would turn to dust and if we eat too much we turn to dust as well" I said while taking a small bite myself.
She took a step back and wrinkled her nose "sounds like Burn's cooking on taco night" I laughed and Annabeth looked confused.
"Who's Burn, who are you and what happened to you?" Annbeth directed the first two questions to Juliet and the last to me.
"My brother. Juliet, and my theory is she hit her head on something" Juliet answered.
"Yeah, pretty much. Did you see where everyone went before that hound hit me? I can't remember what happened after that." She concentrated for a moment then started walking East.
"Wait! Before we go anywhere, I whanna check something" Juliet said starting to walk over to the rabbit hole, which was really huge. "Hello? Anybody listening?" she called in a whisper
"Juliet what are you.." Just then there came an answer
"Hoo! Yes?" came the voice, and Juliet smiled "Owl, I'm going away for a bit so I might be late" she called down the rabbit hole "just tell NiGHTS and Chi why I'm not there"
Me and Annabeth stared at her as she skipped over to us
"Done" she said smiling.
"Um ok. Well lead the way Annabeth." It took her a minute to lose the daze.
"Uh right, uh this way." She started walking east again, me and Juliet following closely behind.
"So if we keep walking this way, where would we end up?" I asked Juliet
She looked around, then straight "if we keep going this way for about another mile we'll end up in town by my school" I nodded.
"Then that's most likely where the guys and Clarisse are. Let's try and find them ASAP so we can get this mission over with. The sooner the better" I said and we kept following Annabeth toward town
Juliet's POV
"Hey! I can hear car horns up ahead" I said skipping ahead a bit. Me, Kris and Annabeth were almost at my school, when…
"Woof... Woof!"
A really, really loud barking from behind us, Kris and Annabeth both spun around and pushed me behind them as they got in battle stance, baring weapons
"What kind of a hell hound is that?" said Kris as I peeked around her and Annabeth to see…
"Tiny!" I said running out from behind them, getting pounced, and getting every square centimeter of my face licked
"You have a hell hound as a pet!?" Kris asked
"My dad calls her a hell hound, but she's just an over sized German shepherd" I said laughing as I got Tiny off me and stood up
"She?" Annabeth asked
"What? Yes Tiny is a fine female specimen of canis lupis" I said smiling
"You could be a daughter of Athena. Very intelligent for a six year old." Said Annabeth
"My mom's not a Greek goddess, she's a secretary at bank of America" I said giggling, the thought of my mom being a goddess was just… well… silly
"Just a though. Where do you think they would stay?" Annabeth asked
"Not sure. Some place deserted most likely. Is there any place like that here?" Kris asked me
"Only my school library, its summer vacation so nobody's there right now" I said
"Well then that's probably our best bet." Kris said
"Lead the way" said Annabeth
We walked for about another thirty minutes and then finally got to the school yard with the big fence
"Well good thing Burn took me rock climbing" I said starting to climb the fence "come on, it's this way"
"And good thing climbing a mountain with lava coming out of it is a lesson we have learned and mastered." Kris said as she and Annabeth started up after me
"You two climbed volcano?" I asked. The thought was just… well I had heard some strange stuff both super natural and magical. But two demigods climbing a volcano just didn't seem right for some reason
"Yeah, training is a real pain but looks like it was good for something." Annabeth said
Once we got over the fence Tiny began sniffing around the edges of the fence till she found a small hole at the bottom of the it, and then began digging and making large enough for her to squeeze through
"Smart dog, no wonder she followed. Just like her owner." Kris said
I think I was literally glowing with pride and embarrassment, I couldn't help it no one, except my mom, dad and Burn had ever really praised me and or Tiny
"Uh are you okay? You're glowing." Annabeth asked, sounding a bit worried
"Uh…" I said looking down at myself and sure enough a faint blue glow was coming of me then faded away "yeah I'm alright that's just another reason for me being weird" I said, not really wanting them to think that I'm a freak
"That's not the worst thing in world. At least it's not as weird as changing irises." Kris said.
"Yeah being able to glow is cool." Annabeth said and smiled.
I felt better and was about to say something when…
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Tiny began barking and sprinting to the library building
"Tiny! Get back here, or no leftovers, and I'll tell dad that you took his monkey wrench!" I yelled running after her
"They might think she's a hell hound! We have to stop her!" Kris said
"Come back here you demon dog!" I yelled again, just then it felt like wind blew through me and suddenly I was a few inches in front of her, still running only this time instead of flying past me I grabbed her around the neck and we both sprawling, with Tiny landing on top of me
"Did you get her? Oh jeez are you okay?" Annabeth asked
"Yeah" I said wheezing slightly "um… help?"
"OH duh. Tiny come here!" Kris yelled
"What the…" Came a new voice
Kris's POV
Once Tiny started barking and sprinting towards the library building, I instantly thought 'Oh no. She looks a bit like a hell hound and sounds like one. They'll think she is one!'
"Tiny! Get back here or you won't get my leftovers and I tell dad you took his monkey wrench!" Juliet yelled to the huge dog.
"They might think she's a hell hound! We have to stop her!" I yelled
"Come back here you demon dog!" Juliet yelled then suddenly vanished and reappeared a few feet ahead of us and right in Tiny's way. She reached out and wrapped her arms around the large shepherd mix, then went sprawling across the field and out of our vision for a moment.
"Did you get her? Oh jeez are you okay?" Annabeth asked
"Yeah" she said, her voice wheezing slightly "Um.. Help?" She asked
"Oh duh. Tiny, come here!" I yelled and she just looked at me as if to say 'but I like it here'
"What the…" A voice came from behind us. Annabeth and I both turned to see Nico, half leaning out from an open door.
"Nico!" I yelled and ran over to him, tackling him with a bear hug.
"Hi Kris. You can let me go now." He said in a strained voice. I let go and stepped back.
"Where's everyone else?" Annabeth asked
Before he could answer, Juliet piped up by saying "Hello! Still stuck unable to inhale properly due to a certain over sized German shepherd!"
"Oh shoot." I ran over to Juliet and starting pulling the over sized dog off her chest. "Sorry Juliet." I took her hand and brought her over to the door.
"Hi mister, who are you?" she asked cocking her head to one side and giving him an innocent look
"My name is Nico, and uh Kris?" I looked at him, the universal 'Yes?' look plastered on my face
"Why is she here and who is she?" He looked her over
"This is Juliet and the only reason she's here is because she is as stubborn as a mule and claims to make mules seem reasonable." He eyed her
"Yep, my brother says I make equus africanus asinus look reasonable" she said. Nico and I stared at her while Annabeth just smiled.
"Nice to know I'm not the only one who knows this stuff." She high fived Juliet.
"Hey Di Angelo, what are you doing?" I heard Clarisse yell from inside.
"Clarisse get the others and come back, quickly!" He stuck his head in the door and yelled at her.
"Fine, whatever." She sounded like her usual grumpy self.
"Others?" Juliet asked and I nodded
"The other two from our group of six." I said, than heard the sound of footsteps running down towards the door.
" Annabeth! You're okay!" Percy pulled her into a hug then checked her over. Lance came out and bear hugged me, same as I had Nico but I liked it and Nico never liked hugs, no matter who it was from.
"You're coven is complete now?" Juliet asked and I nodded.
"Oh great. Another smarty pants." Clarisse groaned and I glared at her
"Quit it Clarisse, she's only six and has a higher IQ then you." She growled at me and turned around to leave.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't able to help you. After the hell hound swiped at you, I lost track of where you went. I tried to find you but there wasn't any sign of where you anywhere. We had to go or they would have gotten the rest of us. I'm really sorry." I heard the note of fear in his voice when he said this.
"Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" Juliet asked pulling on my shirt. I forgot that we had a six year old with us. How I could forget the silliest, smartest and sweetest six year old I'd ever met?
"Uh you could say that." I said and picked her up. She giggled and looked at Lance, then at Percy, and cocked her head to one side again
"Are you two brothers?" she asked
"How could you tell? The only thing we have that look the same are the eyes." He said, doing bug eyes and making a goofy face.
"That and similar aura" she laughing but then stopped and got the same look she did whenever something about her power came up.
"What is it?" I asked
She looked at me, shook her and smiled again "Nothing" she said brightly
"Okay." I said 'I will never understand what goes through that head of hers.' I thought, putting her down and turned back to the gang. "Okay well, we all know we need to get to Washington then-"
"What exactly do we plan on doing once we get there?" Nico asked
"Why are you all going to Washington?" Juliet asked
"Because we need to find a sword for a quest" I answered Juliet "and just try and figure this whole prophecy, then find out where Notheos is hidden." I said
"A sword? In Washington D.C?" she asked her eyes lighting up
"Yes and we have to find it before the summer solstice. On that day, Notheos will escape unless we can somehow prevent that." I said looking down at her
"I know where that is! The sword I mean" she said excitedly, running into the library "Come on!"
Juliet's POV
I had to admit I was excited, I knew where the sword they were looking for was and I've been wanting to go there for a week now
I ran over to the news papers and looked through them till I found the one from Sunday, last week
"Here! Is this it?" I asked holding it up to Kris
"Yes! The Smithsonian… Could you help us get here?" Kris asked
I thought about it for a minute, then nodded "yeah, from where we are now, it's about five or so miles north west" I said
"Whoa, well walking won't be the easiest thing. Is there a bus that goes into Washington from here?" Kris asked
I shrugged "I don't know, I've never taken the bus, the only transportation I've ever had is my dad's macho mobile" I said
"The huh?" Nico asked, speaking in a low voice, because everyone else was looking at me as if was crazy
"Sorry, my dad's old pickup truck" I said "another accurate name would be rust bucket"
Annabeth laughed
"The "Rust bucket"?" Percy asked
I let go of the news paper with one hand and smacked my forehead with it "It was manufactured in the early 90's and he got it from a used car sale, so yep, it's rusty" I said
"Well if there is a bus, we need to find the schedule and see if it will in fact take us to downtown Washington." Annabeth said and Percy looked at me, clearly confused that I knew as a much as Annabeth.
"The computers are over this way" I said pointing, putting the news paper on the stack and started walking in the direction but froze when…
"Juliet"
"Uh, oh" I thought, turning around to see Chi, wearing a plane white dress and standing over by the rows of shelves, "what now?" I said out loud
"Excuse me?" Kris asked, everyone looking at me
I tried very hard not to panic, and not show it "nothing it's just I- uh well…"
I was saved by none other than Tiny, she came bounding in and went right up to Chi and began trying to jump on her but, Chi being a spirit, just kept going through her, and looking very odd to the people watching
Nico looked directly at Chi and his eyes widen slightly. Kris noticed this and looked in the same direction and getting the same look on her face.
I looked at the two of them, and then to Chi she was still looking at me as if to say 'well?'
"Can I talk to you two for a minute?" I asked, and without waiting for an answer I grabbed their arms and pulled them in Chi's direction. She stepped aside as we passed, I let go of their arms and turned to face them, Chi coming to stand next to me, with Tiny behind her still trying to smell her
"You two can see her?" I asked, point blank
"Yes" They both said in union.
I turned to Chi "Why?" I asked her, and she just shrugged
"Children of the death gods can see things others can't, just as you can things others can't" she said or thought to me
"Like you?" I asked out loud and Chi smiled
"How do know her?" Nico asked
"That's a really, really long story" I said, then I remembered what Chi said "Are you the Children of the death gods?"
"Yes, I am the son of Hades." Nico said.
"And daughter of Thanatos. Only children of the death gods, why do you ask?" Asked Kris
I jerked my thumb at Chi "Chi" I said simply
"So Chi…" Nico started "How come you're here?"
"3/Ed/7" Chi said/thought but her voice sounded more echoey than usual
"Is that a book name or something?" Kris asked
Chi nodded but didn't offer any other explanation "ok book name, but one more thing" I said turning to Chi, who looked at me expectantly "since when can you do telepathy with other homo sapiens?" I asked, and she did her equivalent of a laugh, which all the movements but no sound
"I've always had the ability" she said before disappearing, and I groaned
"I wish she would stop that" I said, before turning to face the shelves "Okay, 3/Ed/7" I said
"You guys alright back there?" Percy asked
"Yeah we'll be done in a minute." Kris said "Let's hurry and find this book."
I began looking at the shelves "Okay three from the bottom… last name… but the seven?" I said talking to myself then I found it: Edith Edison; three shelves up and seven from the start of the Ed's
I pulled the book off the shelf and looked at the cover "The sealing of Notheos" I said
"Well we found it, whatever it is. Now let's get back to the others before anyone gets suspicious and starts asking questions that we can't answer." Kris said
Kris's POV
We came back to the front to Annabeth at a computer with Percy, looking up bus schedule. Clarisse, standing by the door, grumbling. Lance was sitting on a chair with look of concentration and confusion.
"You okay?" I asked and he jumped, bumping a pile of papers and scattering them across the floor. Clarisse laughed
"Nice going."
"Shut it, Clarisse." I hissed at her and picked up some of the papers and placed them on the table
"Sorry about that." I said, sheepishly but he just smiled
"No problem."
"Hey guys." Annabeth called out "There's a bus leaving in twenty minutes to Washington a few blocks away." Juliet looked up from the book
"Can I come?" she asked.
"NO!" Everyone except Nico and I said.
"How come?" she asked this time sounding slightly angry.
"We can't just leave her here." I said, "Besides, I'll be the one watching her."
"NO! She could get hurt or worse. There are two rules when you've got life and death matters at hand." Clarisse said "One: Never involve children or mortals. Two: Never involve more people than needed."
"Since when do you care?" I asked and She glowered at me and was about to say something else when…
"STOP!" Juliet yelled as she began to glow again, this time papers from the news paper stack went flying everywhere.
"She's coming. Doesn't matter about the rules." Nico said
"Really?" Juliet asked smiling as the papers settled down. Nico nodded
"She can see things like me and Kris can. We'll need her." He said
"Fine but you have to keep her in check." Clarisse said aiming it at me
"Bite me." I said.
"That phrase is wasted on her." Lance said "But I agree with Nico. She might be on this new threat's list and we can't have that. She's coming with us." Everyone nodded and Juliet squealed with delight.
"Yes!" she said "I won't get in the way I promise" I smiled 'I wish I had had a little sister like her.' I thought. 'Sure she can be a handful at times but it would still be nice.'
"Kris?" Juliet called
"Huh? Oh sorry I was just um… Thinking. Anyway, we should probably get going to we don't miss that bus." I walked over to Juliet and held my arms open to her.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck and I picked her up.
I looked at one of the pages in the open book and saw the sentence "He had been locked in the Night Dimension, to never be released."
"Hm what's the Night Dimension?" I said and felt Juliet stiffen. I looked over to her, to see her scanning the pages of the book wide eyed
"Do you know something about it?" I asked, she looked back at me and bit her lip
"well…" she said trailing off and looked down
"If you know anything about it, you need to tell us. We need to find this guy before someone releases him. Please Juliet." I said
"Um… do you promise to believe me and not think I belong in a mental asylum? Or that I'm just making stuff up?" she asked
"You saw that harpy and didn't go crazy. I see those kinds of things all the time. I will believe you."
"Hate to break this up but if we want to make that bus, we need to go." Annabeth said
"Oops. We can finish later." I grabbed the book and tucked it under my arm. "Ready?" Everyone nodded and we all started for the bus.
Juliet's POV
"No! Tiny they don't let k9's on the bus!" I said when we got there, and Tiny had followed us, of cores
"Woof!" she said
"No! Go find Auntie Claudia!" I said pointing in the direction said person's house
"You have an Aunt?" Kris asked me and I shook my head
"No, Claudia's my best friend and her Chihuahua bear" I said
"A Chihuahua named Bear?" Percy asked "That's funny."
"Yep" I said, smiling
When the bus finally got there we all piled on. Tiny had, finally after much pointing, talking, and yelling, trotted off to Claudia's
We all sat in the back rows, Percy and Annabeth sat next to each other in one seat, me, Kris and Lance in another and Nico and Clarisse tried to sit as far away from each other as possible
"This is about a ten minute ride, let's just hope nothing decides to make an appearance." Annabeth said
I didn't like the sound of that "a monster?" I asked
Annabeth nodded "They've been scarce for some reason but I'm pretty sure that's not the last we've seen of them." She said
"Oh" was all I came up with
"So what is this Night Dimension?" Kris asked
The dreaded question "okay she said they weren't going to think you're crazy so just come out and say it" I thought to myself
"Okay," I said taking a deep breath "yes I know what the Night Dimension is, it's often referred to as the world of dreams" I looked around waiting for someone to call me crazy
"It's basically a place in your mind that can only be reached in sleep?" Annabeth asked
"Sort of" I said "It's not like the world itself doesn't exist, I mean it's a real place. But yes in most cases you can only reach the dream gate when you're asleep, and even then it only happens sometimes"
"Interesting, so how do you get to it in cases when you are not asleep?" Annabeth asked. Clarisse looked bored
"The rabbit hole" I said and Kris had a look of remembrance
"That really large one that was in the clearing?" she asked
I nodded "Yep, and remember when I called into it? Well I was talking to Owl" I said
"Okay now who's Owl?" Nico asked
"Owl is… now how should I put it… well, he welcomes visitors to the dream gate" I said, not knowing what else to call him
"So that's all he does? Is he kind of like the gate keeper or something?" Lance asked
"I don't know, but he guides visitors through Nightopia and helps them stay out of Nightmare" I said
"Hm sounds a bit like the underworld if you ask me." Nico said "Like with the places that are okay and places that could break your soul."
"I don't know so much about 'break your soul'. But I do know about the dark ocean and that the Nightmarens used to steal idya" I said, reaching for my blue pendant and shuttering slightly
"Um what exactly is idya?" Annabeth asked
"It's suppose to be the essence of your heart, there are five, and if the Nightmaren steal them, they steal your soul and you can never go back" I said and remembered the first time I met Reala
"Okay so really bad." Percy said.
"Not all Nightmarens are bad, like NiGHTS, she's a Nightmaren, but she's my friend, Reala too. Although he wasn't very nice when I first met him" I said
"Okay so Reala and NiGHTS good Nightmaren and the rest are badies?" Percy asked
"Who cares? Let's just get this over with." Clarisse grumbled and Kris glared at her.
I shrugged "Well, I wouldn't call Reala a 'good' person, but as for NiGHTS she's pretty happy go lucky and friendly" I said
"What would we have to do to the Night Dimension? You said it was down that rabbit hole. Is it kind of like the whole Alice in wonderland deal?" Kris asked
I smiled at her "in a way, yep" I said
"Okay then-"
'screech!'
The bus came to a halt a few blocks away from the museums. "Good, let's find this sword and get back to that clearing." Kris said as everyone started getting up and piling out.
"If this 'Nothoes' is in the Night Dimension and he's escaping… I just hope everyone's okay" I thought as I got off the bus
Kris's POV
"So where is this new display Juliet?" I asked as we walked through the front doors to be greeted by the sight. This place was huge! I had no idea how we were going to find this sword in a place like this!..
"This way" she said walking off. We followed the little brunet till we saw the big room filled with Greek armor, weapons and wax replicas of the gods. The sword was in plain sight, on a pedestal with lights shining on it.
"Well there it is." Lance said. Juliet's eyes were wide with excitement.
"Finally! I get to see the new exhibit!" She said going over to the pedestal next to the sword that had the history of gladiators or something. 'Too bad we have to take the main attraction' I thought.
"How are we going to take it without causing an outburst?" Nico asked and I shrugged.
"Maybe cause an outburst elsewhere…" I said to myself but they still heard me. Clarisse got this evil look on her face.
"I know what to do. Jackson, you and Blondie come with me." Percy and Annabeth looked a bit nervous at what might go down.
"Just do it." I said "We don't have much time. Just do whatever Clarisse has in mind and do it fast." I said
"Just pretend that you're being mugged, got it?" Clarisse said
"That won't be hard." I heard Annabeth mutter "You're as close to one already." And Clarisse growled
"Just don't screw up Blondie." They walked out into the halls. Juliet looked up at me
"What's going on?" she asked cocking her head to one side
"When it comes to Clarisse, you pretty much don't want to know what's going on." Lance said
"How will I know that till I know?" she said smiling.
"Point taken" He said. Just then, Annabeth screamed. Everyone started running towards the halls and pushing others out of the way to see what was going on. The room was empty and now was the best chance we'd get.
I reached up and grabbed the swords hilt. It felt alive, like a little heart beating inside a child. It wasn't too big but still rather large. I wrapped it in a jacket I had put on my waist and held it under my arms s it looked like a was just holding a normal jacket.
"Okay let's get out of here." I said and turned around to see Nico starting a shadow phase.
"Go. I'll get the others." He said and I nodded
"Juliet, you first." I said
"Me first, what?" she asked looking at Nico
"It will take you all to the back ally. Kris will be right behind you." He said and Juliet looked at me
"Is it safe?" she asked and he nodded
"It's a little tiring but it's safe." He assured her
"Come on, we have to go now." I said
"Ok" she said and walked straight into the shadow and disappeared.
"Make sure to meet us as soon as you get them." I said and Nico nodded
"Now go." I ran into the shadow and everything went dark. It then opened up to the back ally Nico said and I saw Juliet sitting down, her eyes closed. I sat down next to her.
"A little tiring?" I asked
She nodded "that, and it reminds me to much of Nightmare"
"Nightmare. What is it exactly?" I asked
She opened her eyes and looked at me "Well, Nightmare is what is. It's a dark and scary place, I've been there I never whanna go back and don't really want to talk about it" I nodded
"That's okay; you don't have to if you don't want to." Just then Lance came through the shadow then it closed.
"Everything okay? Other then the fact that Annabeth needs acting lessons?" I asked and he laughed
"Yeah Clarisse "Pretended" to mug them, which of course got attention but not for long after you went through people started wandering back in so I had to wait and then here." I laughed "But man, shadow travel really takes it out of you." He said then sat down on my other side.
"Yeah it'll wear off soon. So once everyone finds out it was just some kids being stupid, things will go back to the way they were, and then someone is gonna notice the sword missing and then we gotta high tail it outa here." I said all in one breathe. I inhaled several times, then felt a bit better.
"Yeah pretty much." He said
"Guys!" We all looked over to see Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse and Nico running towards us with a security guard on their tail. "Run!" Lance and I jumped up but Juliet was still to tired to stand so I picked her up then started sprinting down the other way.
"Stupid kids!" The guard yelled "Don't think about coming back!" 'Didn't plan on it.' I thought.
About twenty minutes later, were sitting in a park, with Juliet asleep on my lap and Annabeth studying the book.
"Remind me never to go into a heavily security placed ever again." Percy said and Annabeth nodded.
"Hopefully we'll never have to again." I said and Juliet stirred, right before her eyes snapped open
"Problem!" she said sitting blot up right
"What is it Juliet?" I asked. She opened her mouth and was about to say something when…
BOOM!
A huge clap of thunder shook the ground as big black clouds circled over head
"That!" she said sounding scared
"We need to get back to the clearing." I said. Just then, a loud sound, not like the thunder but close enough got closer
Juliet's POV
This was bad! I know
Just then I heard a familiar voice…
"Juliet! What in the name of Mr. Porco are you doing out here?!"
I turned my attention away from the clouds to see…
"Burn?" I said, and in fact it was my six foot three brother looking half relived half angry
I got off Kris's lap and stood to face my brother's wrath "why! How! What! Achi-oh-ah-hm" he said
"Look uh Burn. We have to-" Kris tried to speak
"Who are you? How do you know my nick name? Why is she here?! " he said pointing at me
"I am Kris, Juliet told me your nickname and she followed us." Kris said
He turned to me and said one word "Why?"
"Because I felt like I had to, and Chi- ."
"Not again with Chi! Juliet, she's your imaginary friend, she's not real" he said cutting me off
"No she is real, Nico and I saw her." Kris said
"Nico?" he asked
"Yeah, him." Kris pointed at Nico
"look, Juliet's brain moves too fast for a normal six year old so she makes things up and thinks there really real, so that does not mean you need to humor her" he said and I looked up at him indignantly
"I'm not humoring her. Chi is real, more spirit form but still very much real." Nico nodded when Kris finished.
"Spirit, imaginary person, same difference! The point is…" he said grabbing my arm and leading me over to the Macho Mobile "…you're coming home, now!"
"But we need her help!" Annabeth called after him and stomped up so she was staring at him intently.
"With what? A spelling bee? Look we need to get home, sorry about her giving you trouble it won't happen again, will it?" he said giving me a pointed look
"Look, we need the kid. Now you can either let her help us or you can see my bad side." Clarisse threatened
Burn made a kind of grunting sound and scratched his whiskered chin "Fine! Macho mobile, now, bed of the truck" he said pointing
"Thought so." Clarisse said and everyone piled into the back except me, because I sat in the passenger seat
When we all got in, I turned and opened the back window "word of warning, the rust bucket makes a very…" I'm cut off by the roar of the engine and then a loud back firing noise
"I thought you said you helped dad fixed it!" I yelled at him
"I said I helped him fix something on this thing," he said over the roar of the engine "I never said we were going to fix that sound!"
"Then what didyou fix?" Kris asked
"It doesn't smell like exhaust in here anymore" he said and I face palmed
We had been driving down the road for a about half an hour when…
"Burn, stop here!" I said looking out the window as we passed my school. Unfortunately Burn didn't stop
"Oh, no! we are going home, and that's that!" he said not taking his eyes off the road "where are they going?" he then asked jerking his thumb at the bed of the truck and the demigods
Then I saw red flash out of the corner of my eye 'oh crud' I thought 'Claudia, just don't get killed'
'wham'
The Macho Mobile stopped in its tracks when it was surrounded by red light
"What the Hades?" Percy asked and Nico scolded at him
"Don't use my Dad's name." he said
I pulled open the door to the truck and ran to the side "every one out and hurry!" I yelled
They all piled out and followed me over to the fence, and Burn yelling after us looking angry and confused
"Woof! Woof!" "Yap! Yap! Yap!"
I was tackled for the third time today not one but two canis lupis. So now both Tiny and Bare were liking me face
"Juliet! If you ever go on an adventure without me again I will not speak to you anymore!" came a new voice. I looked up to see my best friend, Claudia standing above me, hands in her jacket pockets
"Forgive me contradiction, dear friend," I said, laughing "but that is one of very few, impossibilities in this world"
She smiled and shrugged "Whatever" she said stooping down and picking up her Chihuahua
"You must be Claudia." Kris said as she helped her remove Tiny
"Yep, the one and only!" she said sticking out her hand "Please to make your eggmaintis" Kris gave her a weird look and shook her hand anyway.
"Acquaintance" I said correcting her
"Bless you" she said
"Haha sounds like Percy and Annabeth." Clarisse said
"Who?" Claudia asked turning to her "more to the point, who are all of you?"
"Well," Kris looked around before Claudia interrupted her
"Never mind I'll ask later, right now we have a mondo problem" she said turning back to me "time to fall down the rabbit hole!" she said
Kris's POV
Okay, this was getting weird. Not that we're not used to weird but this was just plain weird. Once we got to the clearing, Juliet went straight to the rabbit and held out a large blue diamond. Claudia seemed okay, and didn't turn into any monster so: Point one for team demigod. Point zero for team evil forces.
"Next stop; the dream gate" she said
"The dream what?" Percy asked and Annabeth turned to him
"The entrance to the dream world as most people call it." She said and Juliet nodded
"Now let's get moving, because like I said we have a problem" Claudia said
"What kind of problem are we talking about cause if it's monsters then we're all set for that." Clarisse said as she pulled a sword from her belt. I remembered the throwing dagger I'd placed in my belt and pulled it out.
"Here, I believe this is yours." I said, handing her the blade. She glared at me and took the knife
"No, not monsters exactly. Now down the rabbit hole, and me, NiGHTS, Reala, Owl, and Chi, will explain when we get there"
"Crap. Fine whatever let's just go." Clarisse said and Nico spoke for the first time since we got into the "macho mobile"
"What is down there?" Nico said and Juliet looked like she just wanted us to go down the blasted hole.
"Come on, I'm pretty sure there are no bad Nightmarens, right?" she asked looking Claudia, who just shook her head
"alright and on that note" she said before turning to Claudia "You accompanying me?" she asked and Claudia nodded and came over, they held hands and jumping strait down the hole. We stared as they disappeared down into the depths of the hole.
"Um who should go first?" asked Percy and Clarisse said
"Youngest first." And I glared at her
"Thanks for that, you know that means you're last right?" She rolled her eyes
"Yeah yeah just go." I walked towards the rabbit hole, shut my eyes, took one last step, and then I was falling.
It was a weird feeling, like falling, but not like free fall. I opened my eyes, I was falling through a deep void, bits of rainbow colored glitter flying around me and falling towards a white light
"Whoa…" My voice sounded like an echo and before I knew it I was standing in a large area and the light was dim. "Where am I?"
"The Dream gate, mademoiselle" said a voice, I turned to see a very strange owl, with a red coat and spectacles "and who mite you be?" I eyed the large owl 'Monster? Nah to... I don't know. Not monster like.' I decided
"Uh my name is Kris," I said "and-" I was cut off when a something hard collided with me. I stumbled then saw Lance lying on the ground.
"Ugh that hurt." He grumbled as he sat up
"Maybe you two should move…" came Claudia's voice. I took Lance's hand and pulled him away from the place the rest of our group would appear. The next one to come was Nico and he looked funny. He stumbled and had a green hue to his face. 'So he can shadow travel and be fine but when he falls through a rabbit hole to another world, he looks like he might puke his guts out.' I thought as I reached out and pulled him away from the spot and towards the gate. That's really when I got a good look at the dream gate and believe me, this place was beautiful. There was a large fountain in the center with several gates surrounding it, all shimmering the same color.
"Hoo! Juliet said there were more of you, how many then?" the owl asked flying a little closer to Nico "are you alright young man?" Nico shook his head and sat down.
"Put your head between your knees." Lance advised and Nico nodded and Claudia for whatever reason started snickering. I didn't know what for so I ignored it and waited for Percy, Annabeth and Clarisse to come. A minute passed and Percy landed in a heap and groaned. Lance and I helped move Percy to the gate. Just then Annabeth landed but on her feet and not in a heap. She seemed alright and not sick or hurting in anyway. She ran over to Percy and helped him stand.
"That wasn't as painful as being almost killed but that still hurt." Percy said. Clarisse wasn't as fortunate as Annabeth, landing in a heap as well but not as bad as Percy.
"Never doing that again." She grumbled and walked over to us.
"That's everyone." I said
"Super!" "Stupendous!" said Claudia and Juliet.
"So what now?" Asked Lance and I shrugged
"Uh how are we supposed to find Notheos? We don't even know where he is." I said
"Hoo! Nothoes?!" the owl said, sounding alarmed "Why are you looking for him?!"
"That Bloke in that red book?" said a new voice. A purple jester like person was floating in mid air a few feet behind the owl and scaring him
"Hoo! My dear you gave me quite a fright!" he exclaimed. I looked at the jester. She wore a purple jester hat, a pink and red vest over an all purple outfit, white gloves, and a red diamond like jewel on her chest, and another thing her eyes where huge, blue, almond shaped, cat eyes
"NiGHTS!" Juliet said running over and giving the jester a hug
"Hi, Juliet, Claudia. Owl told us you two would be late, but you're early actually, and who are you?" the jester, apparently NiGHTS, said letting go of Juliet and flying over to us. Yes, flying.
"Well I'm Kris this is Lance, Nico, Percy, Annabeth and Clarisse." I said, pointing to all of them in turn.
"Nice to meet you, my name's NiGHTS" NiGHTS said bowing in mid air.
"You called Notheos 'That bloke in that red book' What red book would that be?" Annabeth asked
"Hm? Oh him, should be in the sapphire archive" she said pointing to a door way. That's when I realized, that surrounding the walkway and fountain, were doors that lead to nowhere.
"The sapphire archive?" I asked "Kind of a weird name." but not the weirdest I've heard
"Where exactly is that?" Annabeth asked and NiGHTS gave her an odd look
"It's this way" said Juliet running to one of the doors
"Wait for me!" said NiGHTS flying after her
"Wait for us" Claudia corrected starting to run after her as well. The rest of us followed till we were all standing in front of the door.
"Here we go, next stop; Sapphire archive!" Juliet said opening the door as light and butterflys came out and she stepped in
"Will this be like the rabbit hole?" Nico asked wearily.
"Yes, I understand you may not like it but this will be a more brief decent" said Owl.
"Ugh great." He said
"It's okay, like the owl said shorter decent." I said and turned towards the door. "And don't worry, you and Clarisse can stay here." I said and she looked like she might hurl.
"Whatever blondie. Just go so we can get this over with." I rolled my eyes and stepped through the door. It was slightly like the rabbit hole, but I seemed to move… slower? Just then the void cleared and I slowed even more this time landing on my feet and looked around.
"Whoa…" I breathed, and I thought the dream gate was beautiful, but this place… Book shelves stretched to the ceiling and looked like they were made of sapphires, the floors were a light blue as well with darker blue and gold designs and the ceiling itself was a large glass dome filtering in mid morning sun. Wait mid morning?
"Hey Kris, what do you think of Nightopia?" Juliet asked running over to me.
"It's amazing. Why is it called Nightopia?" I asked and remember the incident at the dream gate all to soon. I was shoved again and saw Lance standing where I had been a slightly dazed look in his eyes. I laughed as I straightened. "You okay there?" I asked and pulled him to where Juliet was standing so the same thing wouldn't happen again.
"I think so. That was wei…" He trailed off as he saw the sapphire archive. His eyes widened to about the size of dinner plates and I laughed.
"Yep it's beautiful." I said
"That was my face when I first saw this place" said Juliet smiling "and we should wait for the others to get here before I explain Nightopia" I looked over and saw Claudia standing there.
"Whoa… and I thought Ruby glen was awesome." She said looking around before turning to Juliet "this is your dream world, isn't it?" she then asked looking as if she already knew the answer
Juliet smiled proudly "yep" she said. After a while Percy came about then Annabeth.
"Oh. My. Gods." Annabeth said, staring at the books and the architecture. Percy was amazed by the view too. "Who built this place?" she asked to herself and Juliet scratched the top of her head
"In a way I did." She said and Annabeth stared at her, amazed "Nightopia is a place that mirrors a visitor's heart and is created by the idya, and well… this is my dream world" she said spreading her arms out.
"It's very impressive. This place is amazing but if we don't find Notheos and take him to the gods, it won't be like this for long." I said "So where is he exactly?"
"Notheos? Your getting in over your heads this time, don't you think?" said a cold voice. A red jester was hovering a few feet above and behind Juliet
She jumped and spun around to face him looking scared at first then narrowing her eyes
"Hi, Reala." She said "and what makes you think I'm in over my head, anyway?"
"Notheos was imprisoned here for a reason, I'm just worrying about your safety." He said but that last bit didn't match his expression, from the way he was smirking he looked trying to scare her, but it didn't work.
"Who are you?" I asked. I really didn't like this guy and the way he was speaking with Juliet made me not like him even more.
He looked up and flew over so that he was positioned in front of me
"I, am Reala Visitor, a Nighmaren, and-"
"Oh come on Reala! Enough is enough" NiGHTS said as she appeared from nowhere and glared at him
"Just giving them a warning, my dear sibling." He said, giving NiGHTS a mocking bow and she glared obviously annoyed
"Get away from her now." Lance growled. I stepped back and beckoned for Juliet to come over here. She came over but glared at Reala in a similar way NiGHTS was
"Oh very well," he said "by the way if you're still interested in finding him, he should be over there" he said pointing "take care" he said, flying off somewhere, but from the sound of his voice he sounded like he didn't really mean it.
"Ugh. I don't like that guy." I said and the look on Lance's face told me the same. I looked at Juliet "Why is he so interested in you?" I asked.
In reply she closed her eyes raised her arms and made several books on the floor rise up and around her head "This is why" she said opening her eyes, looking at the books and then at us.
"Point taken. Did he say he was your sibling?" I asked NiGHTS.
She made a slightly disgusted face but nodded "Yeah, and I know he's a real jerk most of the time."
"Well I like you a lot better then I like him at the moment but I'm pretty sure everyone does." I said.
"He's worse than a hell hound if you ask me." Annabeth said.
"Hey, let's talk about 'mister jerk jester' later cause' we gotta find that book" Claudia said and Juliet nodded restacking the books and walking in the direction Reala had pointed.
Juliet's POV
Honestly if he would maybe stop all the teasing and being a jerk, we may be nicer to him.
"Claudia?" I asked and she looked at me "What problem were you talking about?"
"Yeah it's this way" she said, pointing.
"BBBBUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZ"
A loud sound echoed through the archive.
"Yeah, that" she said stopping.
"Please don't tell me that's what I think it is" I said.
"What now?" Annabeth asked looking around.
"Magnus Vespa…" I said, backing up and wanting to run and hide.
"Huh?" Percy asked just as the thing rounded the corner.
"A really, really big wasp." Claudia said bluntly, and that was an understatement. The thing was the size of my family barn, black, magenta, yellow in color, with a tiki mask and stinger the size of Tiny. (The dog)
"Juliet? You're white." Kris said, concern written on her face, I gulped. I was shaking, I couldn't help it, the Nightmaren was really, really big and really, really scary.
NiGHTS moved in front of our group, spreading her arms and legs making a human(?) shield between us.
Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out… A ballpoint pen. A pen!
"Might I inquire what you're going to do with that?" I asked, trying not to shake or yell in fear.
"Fight with it." He said like it was the most obvious answer.
"How?" Claudia asked, scratching her head.
Percy smirked "Like this" he said and he uncapped the pen and it changed into a sword.
"Whoa…" I said.
Claudia blinked "I want one of those!" She said waving her hand up in the air.
Percy shook his head "I don't think that would be a very good idea." Annabeth nodded in agreement
"No sharp objects for youngsters, learned that the hard way. Now we should probably get to the giant wasp advancing on us." Kris and Lance retrieved weapons as well and started towards the vespa.
"You guys go ahead…" I said moving towards Claudia "I'm goanna stay here behind Claudia." She just rolled her eyes.
"Oh, sure" she said crossing her arms "Use me as a human shield, thanks a lot!"
"No," NiGHTS said and the demi gods paused. She turned to us "You don't know how to fight a Nightmaren, find Notheos, protect Juliet and Claudia, I'll handle this."
"NiGHTS…" I said peering out from behind Claudia over at my jester friend, she turned her gaze to me and smiled.
"Don't worry, Juliet" she said giving me a thumbs up "I'll be okay, promise."
I looked down, I was feeling really ashamed of myself. I admit, I have a very high phobia of vespas…er… wasps, and now I was dooming one of my best friends to fight it by herself.
"Enough moping, we need to go." Kris said as she ran towards Claudia and I.
"I'm with Death Girl on this one" said Claudia.
"I'll try not to take that as an insult, Lance grab Claudia. Juliet you're coming with me." Kris said, coming over and grabbing my arm as Lance came over and grabbed Claudia… and giving the fact it was Claudia, she had to get at least one complaint in.
"I can run I don't need to pul-led?!" she yelled the last bit because Lance picked her up in bridal style while she flailed "Hey, do I look like a sack of potatoes?" Kris laughed as she pulled me over her shoulder.
"No but would you rather be dragged or carried? I've had both and I prefer carried." Kris said and she, Lance, Percy and Annabeth took off.
I looked over Kris's shoulder and saw NiGHTS flying up to the giant Nightmaren. "Be careful NiGHTS…" I thought.
Kris's POV
Now I've just about seen everything.
Hell hound, seen. Gods, seen. Ancient evil beings, seen. A dream world created by a six year old, seen. And now I can add 'Giant wasp' to the list, yay.
As we ran down the long isles of books in the direction that Reala character said Notheoes would be, I faintly heard the buzzing as NiGHTS battled the giant wasp. As we raced along the shelves I felt something, like a strong and evil aura. I turned sharply down a gap in the shelves and the feeling got stronger
"Juliet," I said as the feeling got more intense with every stride "Should we be concerned about any other strange things popping out at us?" I asked.
"I don't think so…" she said, sounding unsure.
"You don't 'think' so?" Annabeth asked, a bit uneasy. "You said this is basically your dream world, correct?" Annabeth asked. Juliet nodded "Do you have any other fears?"
Juliet nodded, her face turning a slightly white color "Yes… but, it's nothing that can manifest." We rounded another corner and the aura was so intense I felt I might fall over. Okay that's weird, since when can I feel auras? Whatever, it doesn't matter right now, what does matter is finding Notheos.
"Uh… think the book we're looking for is red?" Claudia asked.
"Not sure, we never get much info for these kinds of things," Percy said "Why?"
She pointed "Because I'm looking at it." We all looked up to where she was pointing to see a large red book floating several feet off the ground. I set Juliet down and shrugged my hoodie off, Juliet gave me a confused look.
"What are you doing?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I'm going to get the book. What else would I be doing?" I said, taking a few long strides back. "You guys might wanna stand back or something." Everyone backed up to a self as I started running at top speed then leaped into the air, extending my wings in the process. As I got closer to the book, the energy around it grew stronger and a sphere of milky white substance surrounded it. I placed my hand on the sphere and it obliterated, it was obviously the thing keeping the book elevated so once it disappeared the book started falling.
"I got it!" Percy yelled as he ran towards it, catching it pretty clumsily.
"Be careful!" Juliet and Claudia yelled at the same time.
"Nagh! It feels weird." Percy said, pulling his sleeve over his hand. I descended slowly then touched down and fell on my back, purposely of course. The energy of the book was very strong which started screwing with my own, so if I hadn't lied down then I would have fallen over trying to walk.
"Kris, are you okay?" Lance said as he put Claudia down and came to kneel next to me and I smiled.
"Yeah, there is a lot of energy coming from the book, that's why Percy thinks it felt weird. But unfortunately, we're goanna have to bring it to Olympus however we plan on doing that." I said, annoyance coloring my tone. Lance laughed.
"Well at least you're fine, right?" I nodded.
"Perfectly."
"Guys…" Juliet said trailing off "Something feels weird."
"Yeah, like… Vacuum weird…" Claudia said looking at the Notheos book as if it was about to light on fire.
"That's an odd definition of 'weird'" I said as my energy level returned to normal, I stood with a little help from Lance then walked over to the rest of our group. Once we got in a five foot radios, I felt what Claudia meant by 'Vacuum weird'. It felt as if the book was trying to suck us in
"Percy, put the book down slowly." I said.
"No, You'll hand the book to me." Said a new voice.
We all turned and faced the new speaker, it was a fairly young man, maybe in his early twenties, wearing jeans and a black tee-shirt. His eyes were a dark red like that of blood, his hair was a dark brown almost black color that hung past his chin and the expression on his face was bored but there was a hint of annoyance.
"Uh I think not." I said staring the man down. He laughed like I amused him
"Awe how cute, well I hate to tell you but I didn't come here to be told no, so if you'd have your friend give me the book, we can all be on our marry way" The man said.
"Why should we?" asked Claudia, putting her hands on her hips and turning up her chin.
"For one, you're out matched and two, with that book in my possession, my father shall be free once again." The man said smiling evilly.
"He's your father?" Juliet asked blinking.
"Never stopped me!" Claudia said, confidently. I blocked Claudia's view of the man by side stepping in front of her, I was already getting pretty ticked off and this guy was pushing it to the point of me biting his head off in a rant.
Juliet's POV
I have to admit. I was less scared of him as I was of the giant Nightmaren wasp. I could feel something in his energy that was less threatening and more… desperate?
My attention was drawn away from him when Claudia decided to do something impulsive. She broke away from Kris and snatched the book out of Percy's hand.
"What are you doing?!" yelled Annabeth
"Making stuff up as I go along!" Claudia yelled back running over to the other end of the archive.
The man's amused expression turned to that of a mix of horror and fury "Come back here you-"
"Miss me, miss me, now you wanna kiss me!" she yelled over her shoulder, cutting him off and I couldn't decide whether I should laugh or smack myself in the forehead. Why are all my friends stark raving mad? I eventually decided to just pinch the bridge of my nose.
The man sprinted off after Claudia "Uh oh…" I thought, Claudia may be the fastest person I know, next to Burn, but I didn't think she could out run this guy and I was very surprised at what she did when he got in three feet of her.
"Hey Julie, go long!" She yelled and threw the book over his head and it started sailing straight towards me.
I caught it and did the first thing my brain could process, I ran.
"Juliet!" Kris yelled from one side of the room, I looked back at her "Divide and conquer!"
I think I knew what she meant; I grabbed a book off the shelf switched them around in my hands and flung the fake at Lance "Four!" I yelled, and okay that was golf but it was the first thing I thought of.
He caught it and ran down one of the isles, waving the book above his head shouting "Come and get it!" The furious man raced down the isle after Lance as I ran down the one I found the fake and sprinted off down towards entrance suddenly I heard a roar of anger from behind me. I turned the man was barreling towards me, I couldn't out run him, I couldn't throw the book to anyone, I was stuck. I closed my eyes, waiting… and waiting… nothing happened. I opened my eyes just in time to be swept up in bridal position. I looked up to meet a pair of aqua eyes and I didn't know whether to be happy or scared or mad.
"Just so were clear," Reala said, glaring at me "I want that god free less than you do, and you won't say a word, unless you want me to take the book myself and drop you." I managed to hold in my exasperated sigh, Reala was never going to change.
I looked back down at the man, and couldn't see him, because he was engulfed in a black and red cloud, shouting and cursing so much it made me glad I didn't understand ancient Greek. He now had to deal with the nightmare cloud and hopefully Reala wouldn't have second thoughts about not dropping me.
He flew me back around the corner, almost smacking into the giant Nightmaren NiGHTS was fighting. I managed to contain my scream but I couldn't help but squirm.
Reala laughed "Scared, are we?" He asked as if he already knew the answer, which he did I managed to glare at him and say anything.
"Juliet!" Called a familiar voice, I looked up to see NiGHTS flying towards us. She stopped and glared at Reala "And why are you here?" she asked.
"Only trying to help" he said, though it sounded as if he didn't mean it.
NiGHTS scoffed "Yeah, since when have you-"
"Look out!" I said as the nightmare wasp barreled towards us.
"Aw, too bad, little human I told you not to speak, and you remember what I said" the red jester said and before I could protest he grabbed the book from my hands dropped me.
I felt the wind in my hair as fell, I could hear Reala laughing, and through my hair I could see NiGHTS streaking towards me stretching out her hand, palm up. I touched my hand to hers and almost immediately felt my senses changing, till I no longer felt like I was falling and more, well… different.
Kris's POV
After I heard the yelling then the numerous cuss words I did not need to hear, I saw that Reala fly off with Juliet. 'This guy really likes being a brat doesn't he?' I saw Percy and Annabeth coming out from e book case, both out of breath, then I saw Lance and gave him the universal 'Follow me' sign then flew down the hall we came from, noticing the large black and red cloud where all the cursing was coming from 'Serves him right.' I came out of the hall and saw Mr. annoying and NiGHTS but not Juliet. I turned and saw Lance emerging from the hall and landed softly next to him
"What's going on?" He asked quietly
"I'm not sure but I don't see Juliet. I think he did something to her." I said "And he took the book." I looked back and saw NiGHTS flying up to eye level with Reala.
"We don't have time for this!" It was Juliet's voice, I looked around but still didn't see her, I looked back up at NiGHTS to see that she threw up her hands in exasperation before turning back to the wasp and flying back towards it.
I took this opportunity while Reala was distracted to fly up behind him silently. I reached swiftly over his shoulder grabbed the book then shot about twenty feet up before shouting "Thank you!"
He turned to look at me, snarling before shouting "How dare you!" and flying after me, he was surprisingly fast. I was still better at dodging and cutting corners,
"Lance catch!" I shouted, hurling the book in his direction then stopping dead in my tracks to prevent Annoying from catching it instead. As I had hoped, he slammed into me but I took the blow just fine, I turned and grabbed him by the collar. "What did you do to Juliet?" I hissed menacingly "If you've hurt her, you're goanna pay." He laughed manically "What's so funny?"
"You should be asking my sibling, not me" he said, still chuckling and not scared at all. I looked at her. She was flying around it, getting on it's back and shoving it into the book shelves, until it finally let out a loud, ear shattering shriek and vanished into a black and red vortex.
I flew towards her, Reala in tow and stopped a few feet away.
"NiGHTS, what happened to Juliet? Your brother is no help." I said, the purple jester had her hands on her knees and was panting "NiGHTS?"
"I'm fine" said Juliet's voice, and suddenly, there she was, transparent and standing in the same position as NiGHTS.
"What the frick?!" I asked, staring.
"It's called dualizing," NiGHTS said as she caught her breath, straightened and crossed her arms and Juliet did the same exact thing.
"That's… Uh interesting." I looked back at as Juliet referred to him as the 'Jerk Jester' and glared sharply "You've got be the biggest pain I've ever met." I said jerking him forward. He only laughed again.
NiGHTS rolled her eyes and Juliet did the same, "I know, he's always been like this" NiGHTS said.
"Can we get on the ground and talk about this?" Juliet asked as she put both hands on the side of her head and rolled her head around with NiGHTS doing the same "The elevation is giving me vertigo."
"Yeah that's fine." We descended till we hit the ground, my grip on Reala not loosening. Lance ran over to followed by Claudia, Percy and Annabeth, Lance glared at Reala.
"What is he doing here?" I shook the hand holding his collar, shaking him a bit.
"For now, being held captive." I said, he rolled his eyes and sneered.
"If you're going to keep dragging me around like a trained mutt the least you can do is stop shaking me, it's giving me a head ache." I smiled innocently.
"Oh really? I'm sorry, maybe if you would stop acting like a big freaken jerk, we wouldn't have to drag you around." I said.
"Okay, let's stop playing tease Reala, though this is fun," said Claudia, causing the red jerk to hiss at her, whom she ignored "We got a book to deliver to lady Chi and get out of here. 'Cause I for one am ready to go home."
"Yes but what to do with that red eyed freak that has used more than fifty cuss words in less than two minutes?" I said jerking my thumb towards the hall we came through.
"Yeah, actually…" said Juliet, there was a flash of light then there she was, looking solid as a brick with her hands on her hips as NiGHTS flew over next to Reala and grinned at him teasingly, making him snarl back. "NiGHTS and Reala can handle him, can't they?"
"I know I can," said NiGHTS as she crossed her arms "But I wonder if Reala has the bravery, he's known for being a coward after all."
He growled at her "I am not afraid of that visitor or any visitor!" he said turning his glare from his purple sibling to me for the last part.
"Well I'm not afraid of you either, if you'd seen half of what we've seen you'd be pretty scared" I said and he just smirked. I really hate him.
I finally let go and NiGHTS grabbed him by the arm "Come on then" she said dragging him (if that's possible to do while flying) down the hall towards the sound of the still flowing cuss words.
"Well that was interesting." Percy said, scratching his head then wrapping his arm around Annabeth "Let's hurry up and get this to the Chi person and get back home, I'm tired." I nodded in agreement.
"Where to?" I asked Juliet.
"To Owl, Nico and Clarisse" she said "Because we have to go back to the dream gate and I'm fairly certain she's still in Purity Garden."
Author's note 1: Hi all! Hope you liked part one! We'll be putting up part two when me and Kris can get together again and write it. Which may take awhile, so be patient our plot bunnies are working as hard as they can.
Sincerely, Oracle Cosmos.
Author's note 2: Thanks for reading and as Oracle Cosmos said, it may take some time for part two so just be a little patient. I know we're so evil for making you wait for the next part, but we promise for it to be as awesome as part one. I hope you had as much fun reading this as we had writing it! Please review! Thank you!
~Kris