*Hey again people! Thanks for reading my story! So here's the next chapter. And . . . well that's about it. Enjoy!*

Chapter 4

By this point I was ready to chop something in half, so naturally I went to the only place I could do something like that: the swordplay arena. Thankfully, no one was there. Well, except for Mrs. O'Leary of course. As soon as I walked through the gate, she came bounding up to me. She flopped down on the ground in front of me and rolled over on her back, begging for me to rub her. I sat down and started rubbing her stomach. "Hey girl. How've you been?" She wagged her tail in response. I got up and picked up the closest shield. Mrs. O'Leary poised herself to run. I flung the shield like a Frisbee and she ran after it.

I walked over to a practice dummy and started chopping away at it. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Mrs. O'Leary as she played with the shield. She quickly got bored though and moved on to one of the practice dummies, chewing on it and tossing it around. Being here always helped me calm down. Swordplay was one of the only things here that I really enjoyed.

I practiced for a good thirty minutes before I decided to stop. Exhausted, I sat down by the fence, leaning my back against one of the posts. Mrs. O'Leary seemed to be worn out too. She was sitting at the far end of the arena in the shade of a tree, panting as she watched her prey, a/k/a the destroyed practice dummy. Just then, an instructor came in with a sword fighting class. The instructor gave me a look that seemed to say, "Do you mind?" I got up and left. I decided to go to the only other place where I knew I could think: the canoe lake.

When I arrived, I took my shoes off, sat down on the dock, and let my feet dangle off the side and into the cool water below. This simple act already helped clear my mind. I kicked my foot, sending a wave of water halfway across the lake, almost hitting a couple of naiads. They looked at me with surprise. "Sorry!" I yelled. They turned and dove under the surface. Just for the fun of it, I bent over and cupped my hands in the water. Concentrating hard on the water in my palms, I willed it to rise. A small bubble of water rose out of my hands. I willed it to rise over my head. This was actually something I did with Annabeth when we sat here. I would create bubbles of water and make them float around us. It's actually pretty cool. I willed the bubble to grow bigger. It grew until it was the size of a basketball.

"Hey!" someone yelled behind me. I lost concentration. I quickly flung the bubble behind me. There was a splash and a groan. I turned around. It was Nico.

"Really?" he yelled. He was soaking wet.

I laughed. "That's what you get."

He groaned and sat down on the dock beside me. "So what are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to be back to July," I asked.

"Well, my dad let me come early. Just got back a few minutes ago actually."

"Oh. Hey by any chance do you know Annabeth?"

Nico laughed. "Uh, duh! Everyone knows her!"

Finally!