Hello, all!

BY THE WAY, I MADE A HUGE AS SCREW-UP! I FORGOT COACH HEDGE WAS WITH REYNA AND NICO IN THE LAST ONE! GAH! So, he's still on board, it's just Reyna and Nico…

Oi opakio: I was hoping for story ideas, please. Thanks for answering!

ReAdErSfEvEr: Yep! All seven of them!

Let's go!

"Let the games begin!"


"GET BACK!" she yelled. Reyna was the Praetor of New Rome. Even monsters backed down when she yelled. Particularly when she'd just vaporised a dozen of them in under a minute.

Slowly, the remaining telekines stepped away from the great statue, the girl warrior and the sleeping one. Reyna stood her ground between the dog-faced attackers and the Athena Parthenos and Nico di Angelo, who was passed out at the statue's feet.

"Now," she said carefully, her voice controlled and dangerous. "Unless you want to go to Tar-" She broke off as the ten telekines attacked as one, snarling hungrily.

She deflected the first's blade and stabbed him easily. She kicked another in the chest, sending him into another, then swung her blade over their heads, vaporising the one behind them. She whirled and slashed another, and turned to stab at the two who were struggling to their feet, only to be parried by a third. This one was slightly more skilled than the rest, so he lasted around five extra seconds. Well done him. The two had finally got to their feet and attacked her from two sides. She ducked and rolled out of the way, and came up ready to fight them, only to find they had hit each other and been vaporised. Seriously?

She cut, whirled, stabbed, blocked and sliced her way through the four remaining. Then she stood panting. Had she gotten them all? One, two on the ground, the one behind them, the skilled one, that's five. Plus the four she just took care of. Nine. So where was the tenth? The thought had barely formed when she heard a hideous growl behind her. Number ten was leaning over Nico.

"No!" she yelled. She ran and hit him in the head with the butt of the sword she'd taken from Camp Jupiter after an over enthusiastic recruit broke her spear in training. The blow was enough to dissolve the monster, but the damage was done. The Son of Hades looked pale, his eyelids fluttering weakly. He had a cut in his left shoulder. It was shallow, but long. No doubt it would burden him when he shadow-travelled.

Reyna cursed softly. It seemed they be spending more time in Spain than she'd originally thought. Then she shrugged. Di Angelo needed as much rest as possible before he made the jump over the Atlantic Ocean. This gave the stubborn boy an excuse to get it. He was turning out to be one of those 'don't-worry-I'm-strong-enough-to-do-it-now' types. Admirable, perhaps, but not at all wise.

She glanced around. They were in a small clearing on hill, surrounded by scraggly undergrowth. Not the best cover, but at least they had high ground. It's not like she could move the Parthenos anyway. She started setting up camp and treating Nico's shoulder.

Nico woke up hours later, with a bandage on his shoulder and some more colour in his face. They sat quietly, nibbling cold rations. They'd been travelling together for a few weeks, but they still spoke little. Nico wasn't easy to warm up to, a trait Reyna could relate to.

So Reyna explained what had happened, and Nico quietly thanked her, hiding how annoyed and useless he felt. First stupid Tartarus, then the stupid jar, then having to be rescued again by stupid Percy from the stupid jar, then the stupid, exhausting shadow-travelling, and now, Reyna was having to baby him because of his stupid shoulder. Good gods, his life was stupid.

As the night got darker, Reyna smothered the fire to coals, so the bright light wouldn't attract monsters, but they could still see. As it turns out, the movement was counterproductive.

The Athena Parthenos started to glow with a silvery, magic light to rival the moon. The statue of Nike, goddess of victory glowed particularly bright. The magic seemed the move and ripple, flowing to the man sized angel in Athena's hand. Soon, Nike was the only thing glowing.

Reyna and Nico stared at it. Most of the light faded, but the mini-goddess statue still glowed softly with magic.

Then, Nike opened her eyes.


"Break!" called Hazel. Piper lowered her jagged sword. She and Hazel had been sparring in the training room, like they do every day. Hazel noted with approval how Piper lowered the weapon, but remained vigilant. The first few times, Hazel had called 'Break', and then attacked her suddenly seconds later. It seemed a little mean, but Piper had to learn not let her guard down – particularly if the person was still holding a weapon.

Now, Hazel could see that her stance was casual but ready, and her sword positioned so she could block quickly. Good. She sheathed her own sword and put her hands up. Piper followed suit, grinning. They got some cold water and sat on the benches. Hazel looked at her, slightly concerned.

Piper had kept her guard up, but she seemed a little distracted during the sparring. Hazel didn't have to be a child of Aphrodite to figure out what was bothering her.

"He'll be fine." she said. Piper looked at her. "Jason. I'm sure all of him will be fine at the first event tomorrow." Piper nodded her understanding, looking a little bummed.

"But what if Team Roman wins?" she asked. "No offense."

"None taken." Hazel replied. "They won't."

"How do you know?" Piper asked desperately. Hazel turned to her, eyes twinkling like pools of molten gold.

"Romance is on Team Greek." she said simply. "He'll kick some butt for you – trust me."

Ooh, what's up with Nike? Well, I know, but you guys get to enjoy the surprise! Sorry it was kinda short.

Yay, I worked out how to use the fancy little line breaks!

Argh, words come so easily for this, but why don't they come when I write my own novel? So unfair.

Still looking for curses, tell me your opinion, please!

Till next time!