Olivia's POV:

I dread school. It's a new day and… That's pretty much it.

I walked down the hallway to my locker, and was getting my books out when my phone beeped.

I opened it to find a text.

Fluke or destiny? We need to talk -Stella

That was just plain weird...

"Think it's about the band?" someone asked behind me. I wasn't expecting it so me being, well, me, hit my head on my locker... Wow, I need to be on guard. It may have been just Wen, but what if it was a monster? They could attack without me knowing.

I just walked away.

This year just feels, different. I've been living in Arizona since I was 9, been training for the past 5? 6? Years. Why does it feel so different than all the other years I come back to school?

Later...

We all met up at Dante's. It better not be about the band.

"So, I signed us up for Rising Star this morning." Stella said. She just said what?

"We're not experienced enough." Charlie said.

"That's why I also signed us up for Halloween Bash." She said. We all looked at her surprised.

"Well, how'd you pull that off?" Wen asked.

"It's a wonder what a principal will do if he thinks his new 'problem' student is focusing her power on the student body." She said.

"But Mudslide Crush is playing." Mo pointed out.

"And we are opening for them." She said.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be known just as a random face in the yearbook. Wen and I are in, what about you guys?" she asked.

I saw Mo waving at Jules and Patty. Why do they look so dangerous?

"I'll give it a shot. Just one practice. If it works, great, if it doesn't, I'm out." Mo said. (I left out about everyone agreeing cause that would just say she's not in it then)

"Olivia? How bout you?" Stella asked as I pretended to drink my drink.

"I can't." I said.

"Come on, say you'll try." Wen said.

"It'll be fun." Stella added.

"I honestly can't. Trust me. You don't want me in it. It'll be chaos and you won't be happy." I said.

"Olivia, just this once. Try one rehearsal." Mo said.

"You guys are gonna bug me until I say, aren't you?" I asked.

They nodded.

"One rehearsal. I'm out after it." I said.

"Charlie?" Stella asked.

He took out a coin. "Heads we do it, tails we don't."

He flipped the coin and it reminded me of Jason. Of course, he has Lady Hera's gladius now, but still…

Did it really have to land on heads? Well, at least it didn't turn into a sword.

We all walked outside after and I saw a familiar face.

"Thals!" I said.

"Hey Liv!" she said. "Wait, when you said Arizona, I thought you meant Phoenix."

"Really Thals? What brings you here?" I asked.

"We've been picking up these trails lately and it led us here." She said.

"How long have you been hunting?" I asked.

"About a week now." She said.

A week. Isn't that how long Ray Beech was away from school?

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Hey, who are the people behind you?"

How do I say it?

"We're her friends." Stella said.

"Aww, did you really replace me?" Thalia joked.

"Shut up! Like I would replace you!" I said.

"This is Thalia. She's one of my good friends even though I don't see her around that often anymore." I said. "That's Stella, Charlie, Wen and Mo."

"Hey." Thals said.

"Well, well, well. Two Demigods in my territory. This should be fun." I heard someone say. That voice is too recognizable. The same voice that was missing for a week…

"Ray Beech." I said.

"Uh-oh." Thalia muttered under her breath.

"I wonder what they're gonna think of this." I said.

"The mist should do the trick for now. You know that Liv." She said.

"I know." I said.

"Where are your little Satyrs? Or your 'Hero' that's oh so famous around Camp Half-Blood and to us?" he asked before changing into his true form.

"You're a manticore." Thalia said. "Just like Dr. Thorn."

"Thal, we can see that he's a manticore, just get ready to defend ourselves." I said.

In matter of seconds, we were both armed.

"Liv, can you still use music to influence how people and things act?" Thal asked. Yeah, I have a gift. I can use music to affect objects in ways most people can't.

"I don't know. It doesn't work on everyone." I said.

"Try!" she said.

"What feeling?" I asked.

"Uh- sleeping!" she exclaimed.

I let my soul take over. I didn't know what I was singing but it seemed to work. The manticore seemed to be falling asleep.

"Now?" I asked.

"Yep." She said. We raised our bows and started shooting arrows. After several of them hitting the monster, it disintegrated into dust.

"Another amazing work." She said.

Everyone still seemed to be controlled by the mist. Ha! It's doing it's work then!

"What did you guys see?" I asked the group.

"Ray Beech disappearing all of a sudden." They all said. I laughed.

"So you didn't see anything unusual?" I asked.

"Nope." They all replied. This is getting funny. It's like they're being controlled or something.