I was standing on top of a mountain. The fresh air was running my skin raw it was so crisp and so clean. I had never smelled air so clean. It filled my lungs and wormed down to my toes. The sun was beaming and it felt good on my skin. I looked down at myself and I was naked! What. I looked around frantically looking for something to throw on myself, and to make sure no one was trying to sneak a peek. But I was standing on a mountaintop.

"Do you marvel at it," came a voice that sounded like slow honey pouring over a warm biscuit. I turned and was so stunned at what I saw I staggered back a few paces. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Like I idiot I nodded yes to her. I couldn't even find my voice to speak to her. She was glowing, like literally glowing, but if you asked me what color her skin was I couldn't tell you. It was the color of everything. It was the color of chocolate on a cold winter's night. It was the sheen of a dolphin falling out of a ariel jump back into the ocean. She smiled at me and I felt like a little girl crawling into my mom's arms during a really bad rainstorm. I was amusing her and to my bewilderment I liked it. I wanted to please her. She turned from me to look out over the mountain we were standing on. A bird fluttered down and landed on her outstretched hand. "It took me a long time to make this one." she whispered something to the bird and it tweeted and flew off. "Do you know who I am?" she asked finally turning back to look at me. I had no idea who she was and I shook my head. "It is no matter that you can not name me, you already know me. You are me." I didn't know what she was saying but I felt like I did know her. That I knew exactly who she was. "I bore it all child. Everything from my womb. Even you." she smiled.

Then it clicked in my mind. "Gaea," I whispered. She giggled again and I felt the Earth under my feet warm as if the laughter of its mother was soothing to it. "Am I dead?" I asked.

"No, Dillon you are not. After I bore Typhon I vowed never to return to the deep places of the Earth." It sounded like it pained her to not be traipsing around in the pits of hell or the Underworld. "This is my resting place for I have been asleep since the dawn of the Olympians Dillon." My heart leapt every time she said my name.

I walked slowly toward her. I had never been in the presence of a goddess before. I didn't even know if you called the mother of all gods just a mere goddess. "Are you awake?" I asked her as a sat down at her feet and looked up at her. I could gaze at her for eternity.

She seemed to sit down on air. "In a sense I have always been awake, but no in the human sense I still slumber. I wanted to meet you child." Her hand reached down and I stopped breathing. She caressed my cheek. I gasped. It felt like the sun warming me in the middle of the summer. It felt like the crunch of the Earth when I'm walking barefoot through the woods. It was the most incredible feeling in the world I wanted to cry when she pulled her hand back. "But I fear our time for now is up," she stood up and in a flash so bright her image was burned into the back of my eyelids she was gone and I was nearly jumping up and out of a bed I didn't remember falling asleep in.

"Whoa," said a voice and soon hands followed the voice trying to pull me back into the bed. I swing out and connected with someone's face. "OW! Damnit!" they swore and let go. A light flipped on and Nico's bone white face was glaring at me. "What in the name of Tarturus was that for?" he growled rubbing his eye which was turning a ugly shade of blue.

I hide my smile as I started towards him. He moved back away from me. "I'm sorry. You just scared me and..." I looked around the room. "Where are we?" I had apologized that was all he was getting out of me.

"This is the camp I was telling you about. You passed out when we crossed the border." he explained pulling the shade so I could peek outside.

"How long was I out." I felt like I could still use a few more hours sleep.

"Maybe 5 hours," he rubbed at his face again and I noticed he wasn't wearing that black sword of his. "Come on Chiron wants to talk to you and I'm guessing Eris will want to meet you." the way he said the last name it sounded like him and this Eris person weren't friends.

When I moved to follow him thats when I felt the breeze on my back and I looked down at myself. I was in my underwear! "You could have told me I was naked!" I shouted at Nico as I wrapped the blanket around myself looking for my clothes.

He turned around, smirking. "You could have asked. I'll wait outside." He laughed and closed the door as he slipped out. If I were white my whole body would have been bright red. I looked around the small room for my clothes. They were hanging in the closet. I snatched at them as I thought about Nico undressing me and looking at me. I slid on my black tunic dress and laced up my thigh boots. I slipped my earrings on and yanked open the door. Nico was leaning against the frame of another door just smirking at me. "Follow me," he pushed off the door and headed down a long hallway. I had no choice but to follow him. We walked down some stairs and out the front door. I shielded my eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. we were standing on a long, expansive porch and at the end of it was a man in a wheelchair and a slender woman with the wickest scowl on her face. They both looked up at me. I felt like shoving Nico into the wall as I turned and glared at him.

"Leave her be Enyo," the woman turned and glared at the man in the wheelchair. He rolled from under the table where they were playing chess and wheeled over to me. The woman swept her hand across the chess board knocking over all the pieces.

"What's your problem?" I asked her. Clearly she had attitude and I was the right one to have it with. I didn't like taking crap from over grown brats. She grinned at me and let out a little giggle. It sounded weird coming from her lips. It was so feminine and she looked so...not feminine. Man I needed to pick up that SAT prep book again. My vocab sucked.

She stood up and followed in the wake of the wheelchair guy. "I think I'm going to like you little sister." I had no idea what she was talking about.