AN: Here's the third chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I own nothing that Rick Riordan wrote.

Chapter Three: Dream Thief

That night, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Unfortunately, I didn't get much rest.

I found myself on the bank of a chocolate river. As I slowly stood, I heard a voice behind me.

"Why are we in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory?" my dad asked.

I turned to see him standing underneath a gummy bear tree. "I don't know. You're the god here, aren't you?"

"It's your dream. You control the setting," he laughed.

"Okay then…" I concentrated on my bedroom back in the apartment where I'd lived with Mom. When I reopened my eyes, I was standing next to my bed and Dad was sitting at my desk where my laptop sat open, showing my blue background. I turned to Dad. "So, why do you want to talk to me?" I asked, hands on hips, staring at him expectantly.

"I was going to ask how you've been, but as I said, this is your dream now. You're controlling it. As soon as you got here, you hijacked the dream," he replied, spinning in circles in my swivel chair.

"Wait a second. I stole this dream? How can you steal a dream?"

"Normally, no demigods except for Hypnos's children can control dreams if a god is there, but you, well, I guess you can't refuse a challenge when it comes to thievery," Dad informed me.

"I guess..." I trailed off, thinking. "Does that mean I can steal other people's dreams now?"

"Possibly," was Dad's reply.

I giggled like a little girl and clapped my hand together. "Let's go hijack some dreams!"

"What have I done," Dad muttered, but I was too excited to care.

"I've heard a lot about Percy Jackson so let's steal his!"

As soon as I said this, the setting changed to a cliff overlooking the sea. A dark-haired teenaged boy was standing at the edge, looking confused.

"Hi!" I called out, catching his attention.

He turned around. "What? Who- Lord Hermes? What are you doing here?"

"I'm just along for the ride. My daughter stole control of the dream I sent her, and now she's stolen yours."

"You're shorter than I thought you'd be," I remarked, studying the famous hero.

"What? How? Why?" he sputter, obviously confused.

"I'm Nikki Bells. I stole your dream. I have no idea how, but I did. Now, it was nice meeting you, but I have other dreams to steal." I turned to my father and said, "You can either stay here, come with me, or go home. Just note that you can't do anything to stop me from stealing dreams."

Dad just sighed and disappeared, leaving me and a very confused Percy behind.

"I wonder if I can steal a god's dream?" I mused, before disappearing into the next dream.

When I appeared in the next dream, I had to close my eyes or get blinded by the golden light that shone from everywhere. I'm not kidding. There seemed to be no source. It was just there.

"Can you dim the lights please?" I called. "I don't want to go blind."

I waited a few seconds, but got no reply. Shrugging, I changed the setting. I opened my eyes to see a river. I was beneath a bridge in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey!" yelled an unfamiliar voice. "What happened?"

"I saved my eyes from permanent blindness!"

A teenaged boy approached from my right. "Who are you?"

"Nikki Bells. Who are you?" I replied.

Instead of answering, he just laughed. "So you're Hermes's kid! He warned me about you!"

"Who are you?" I asked. "Are you..?" I studied the boy. Blond, the golden light, close ish to my dad…. "Apollo?"

"Yep!"

"I stole a god's dream. I actually stole a god's dream! This is so cool!"

"Why did you steal my dream?" he asked. "It was a good dream."

"It was a blinding dream. I couldn't see anything."

"It's my dream! You have no right to go around changing it!" he exclaimed.

"I stole it!" I yelled back. "It's mine now!"

"Woah! Why are you yelling?" he asked.

"You yelled first."

He shrugged as if that were a perfectly acceptable answer. "Fair enough."

"What the hell was that blinding light dream thing about? I almost went blind!" I asked.

"None of your business," was his reply.

I shrugged. "Okay, then. Bye." And then I disappeared.

I woke up with a huge headache. It felt like Athena was trying to escape from inside my skull, like she had from Zeus's.

"Dear freaking gods! I am never doing that again!" I groaned, sitting up. Today was not looking good.

I only had about five seconds to wallow in my excruciating pain before Sammi, my overexcited younger half-sister, leaped on top of me shrieking, "Wake up, Nikki!"

I groaned and rolled over, dumping her onto the floor. "Noooo..." I muttered into my pillow.

Sammi bounced back up from the floor. (Where does she find all that energy?) She shook my shoulder saying, "Get up or you'll miss breakfast!"

I shifted so I was facing her. "I have a headache," I whined. "I don't wanna get up!"

"Too bad!" Sammi declared, grabbing my arm and attempting to pull me upright. I shook her off and sat up by myself, pain shooting through my skull.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, grabbing my head.

"What did you do?" Sammi asked.

"I-ouch! I stole some dreams."

"You stole some dreams?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes. Dad tried to send me a dream, but I hijacked it. Then I stole Percy Jackson's dream, then Apollo's dream," I replied, wincing in pain.

"Maybe you should visit the Hypnos cabin," Sammi suggested. "They might be able to help since it's dream-related."

"Maybe," I said, getting up. "I'll go there after-" I stumbled, catching myself on the bed frame. "After I get dressed."

After a fifteen minutes filled with stumbles, trips, and getting ready for the day, I headed out, Sammi insisting on coming with me "in case I fell". Her words, not mine.

Demigods and satyrs stared as we crossed camp, me stumbling and cursing and Sammi skipping along beside me.

When we got to the Hypnos cabin, the headache intensified.

"Holy frickity-frack!" I exclaimed. "That hurts!"

"What's wrong?" Sammi asked, her worry evident in her voice.

"Nothing! Just my head splitting open!"

"Oh! Um, Clovis? Someone! Nikki needs help! She had some funky dreams!"

I shot Sammi a sarcastic look. "Funky?" I gasped out. "That's the word you use?"

"Stop criticizing my word choice and get moving!" She dragged me into the cabin, as I was barely able to stand.

The last thing I remembered was Sammi shouting for help before I passed out.

I woke up to the sound of someone's voice saying, "This is actually pretty cool."

"What's actually pretty cool?" I asked, sitting up.

"You're my half-niece. Your mom's a daughter of Hypnos," replied the guy standing next to Sammi.

"Well Uncle Whatever your name is, what's the verdict?"

"You inherited your mom's dream powers, and, combined with your status as a daughter of Hermes, it created an odd mix of abilities. Hypothetically, you're able to take over or "steal" any dream while you're asleep."

"Okay, so, why the headaches?"

"It was the first time you've ever done this, right?" Uncle No Name asked.

I nodded and he continued. "It won't happen again. By now, your brain has adjusted to the sensation of stretching beyond its normal limits."

"So, no more feeling like my head's gonna split open?"

He nodded.

"Cool!" I got up and dragged Sammi out of the Hypnos cabin shouting, "Thanks!" as we went.

I stopped once we reached the empty campfire area.

"My mom's a demigod? Does that mean that I'm technically more god than human? Am I, like, a semi-god or something? More than just demigod?" I asked Sammi, kind of confused and a little bit angry at the fact that Mom had never shared this information with me.

Sammi shrugged. "I don't know. I guess the only person who would know is your mom."

"That's it!" I snapped. "I'm gonna call my mom! Do you know anyone who has a phone?"

"Chiron might have one."

I whirled around, determined to call my mom and find out what the heck I was.

"Chiron!" I yelled, as I approached the Big House, Sammi close behind me.

Chiron wheeled out onto the porch, a confused expression on his face.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I need a phone! I need to have a word with my mother!"

"Technology tends to be dangerous for demigods-" Chiron started to say, but I cut him off.

"I know you have a phone, and I want talk to my mom! Please!"

By this time, I was almost crying, so Chiron took pity on me and led me into the Big House and into a room with a computer and a telephone. After a warning to never take anything out if this room, he and Sammi left, leaving me alone to call Mom.

AN: I know it's a bit of a cliffhanger, but please just bear with me. I'll have some more up as soon as possible. Please review!