Thank you so much to The Awesome One for being my first reviewer! (See guys, that's the prize you get for reviewing! A shoutout! Pretty Frantastic, right?) Now for those of you anxious readers (if there are any…), I just got out of school for Thanksgiving Break, so I'll try to update a few times this weekend. Because I love you all so much. Now, go on! Enjoy the story! And remember to REVIEW.

Keep in mind that I update faster with more reviews…

Heads up: this is a relatively short chapter; I apologize in advance.

R&R!

Chapter Three

The quest began smoothly. Percy was easily able to steer the ship; it required very little effort on his part. We were heading due east on Chiron's instruction, but no one had a clue what lay ahead. The sun rose over the ocean as we sailed, spreading red and pink streaks through the sky. I leaned back and soaked in the rays.

I'd learned that the sun acted as a kind of steroid; it helped to heal me, it flooded me with energy, and it made me stronger. It was like Percy's reaction to water, just with sunlight.

I gripped the railing of the sailboat and squinted, scanning the horizon. All I could see was sea and sky; we were headed to open ocean. No one was talking; we'd all scattered across the deck, just observing. Percy and Jason were both pacing, looking equally uncomfortable.

"What's up?" I asked Percy. He was practically muttering to himself, as if in debate about something.

"Nothing." His voice said one thing, but his eyes said another. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Come on, Percy. Anyone can see that something's not right with you. What's wrong?" He leveled his eyes with mine.

"It's just… I can feel a disturbance. I can't see anything, but it's just… there. Like maybe a storm or something?"

"I can feel it, too," Jason agreed, approaching us cautiously. "Something's not right." Both boys rotated in sync, facing the edge of the sailboat. They leaned out over the railing, searching for something; anything.

Just as they'd started to calm back down, the sky blackened. In just seconds, it went from a cheery pink to a menacing dark gray. Clouds closed in, blocking the sun from reaching us. I heard a clap of thunder, followed immediately by a flash of lightning. Jason tensed, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Before anyone had time to react, Piper screamed and pointed out to sea. An enormous black wave was pushing through the ocean, coming straight toward us. The clouds thickened as the wave drew nearer. Percy gritted his teeth in concentration; he tried to steer the ship to safety, but once we got turned around, we saw an identical black wave approaching from the west. And they were closing in fast.

"Guys, brace yourselves!" Percy ordered. No one argued; we all clung to the railing as the waves drew closer. He raised his palms, as if trying to push the waves back. That's probably what he was doing, too. The waves slowed, but not by much. A bolt of lightning flashed in slow motion, striking the very top of the eastern wave. The water pulsed with electricity, looking like a wall of pure energy.

Jason threw his arms out, attempting to draw the lightning out of the water, but his plan backfired. The lighting was extracted from the wave, but it arced back to the sailboat, striking the deck right behind Frank. He leaped in surprise, nearly hopping over the railing. The bolt left a wide scorch mark on the deck; it had seared through the wood.

"Why can't we control this!?" Jason yelled to Percy over the roar of the storm.

"I don't know!" Percy yelled in response. "It's almost as if Poseidon and Zeus are doing this directly…" He was interrupted by another stroke of lighting. It lit up the dark sky, highlighting a land expanse to the north.

"Guys!" I screamed. "There's land!" I pointed north. They followed my gesture, and their eyes lit up. Percy threw his hands out, and the sailboat wrenched to port. This time, I almost toppled over the side, but Leo caught me before I could clear the railing.

I could hear Percy groaning in frustration; the boat was racing toward the land, but not fast enough to escape the waves. They'd changed their course as well, now combined into one gigantic expanse of water.

I didn't even care that I was practically clinging to Leo; my heart was racing and my battle reflexes were on full alert. As we drew closer and closer to the land, a deafening thunderclap rocked the boat. A colossal bolt of lightning exploded from the sky and zipped down toward our ship. This one was so big, I knew that it would blast all of us right off the ship, possibly resulting in death.

As if out of instinct, I thrust my hands out toward the bolt of lightning, which was uncharacteristically slow, just like the rest. I concentrated all of my energy into my hands, and a wall of light erupted from my palms. It blocked both the lighting and the wave from striking the ship, and gave us the last propulsion we needed to reach land. The sailboat slammed into the sand, sending us tumbling onto the ground. The storm seemed to give up after we'd touched the sand; the wave retreated back into the sea, and the sky calmed. Any evidence of a recent storm was gone.

We'd all landed in a pile, one on top of another. I awkwardly scrambled off of Percy, who I'd been on top of.

"Holy Hephaestus," Frank breathed, once he'd caught his breath. "What was that?"

"And why was it out of our control?" Jason looked ashamed, as if it was his fault.

"Well, whatever it was, it stranded us here." Percy gestured to the broken ship resting on the sand behind us.

"Yeah, sorry guys," Leo said. "I can't fix that. And on another note." He turned to me. "How did you do that?"

I shrugged, feeling embarrassed. I honestly had no idea how a wall of pure light had come from my hands. I studied my palms, looking for an answer that I knew they didn't hold.

"She harnesses photokinesis," Annabeth said matter-of-factly. She brushed off her pants as she stood. "It's a rare gift in children of Apollo."

"Photokinesis?" Frank said. "What's that?"

"It's similar to Leo's pyrokinesis (A/N: The ability to control fire) but this is the ability to control and manipulate light instead of fire. Light users are able to become invisible, create illusions, shapes of light, light based force fields, and concentrate light particles into beams. It also strengthens the half-blood's already present healing capabilities. (A/N: Credit to Camp Half-Blood Wiki for the photokinesis stuff.)

"Speaking of healing." Hazel shuffled over, her arm pressed to her ribcage. "I could use some of that remedial magic right about now." She lifted her arm to reveal a horizontal gash on her torso. I rushed over to her and helped her stretch out on the sand. Then I touched my fingers gently to her wound and began to sing. My siblings back at camp had taught me a special "healing song" that was used to fix wounds and stuff. I'd never tried it before, but this seemed like a good opportunity to test it out.

Once I was finished, Hazel slowly sat back up. She was glowing faintly from the magic, and she looked almost… happy.

"How do you feel?" Frank asked her.

"I feel great!" She grinned widely. He let out a huge sigh of relief. Hazel accepted his offered hand and rose to her feet. She looked great, and somehow stronger. "Bring on the monsters; I can take 'em all."

"Wow," Leo remarked, smirking. "Someone's in a good mood."

"Seriously, guys. I feel like I can do anything!" She smiled proudly.

Did my magic do this? I was afraid to know…

"Don't get too hasty, Hazel," Annabeth said, glancing nervously at the woods. "Be careful what you ask for. This island feels… strange. I can't put my finger on it." She studied me once more, an action I'd become used to. I felt tiny and powerless under her calculating stare. "So much… power too strong… bad feeling… can't think clearly." She was muttering to herself, but we all heard what she was saying. Clearly this was a normal occurrence, because no one said anything; to her or to each other.

"Come on guys," Percy urged quietly, his gaze lingering on Annabeth. "Let's find somewhere to camp."


*Sigh* That Percy. That gorgeous, silly, hilarious, talented Percy. We all love him, don't we?

Well, I do at least. But I'm sure I'm not the only one.

And plus, my true love lies with our own Mr. Valdez. Sorry, Percy. It's true.

TEAM LEO FTW!

I know you feel me, fellow Leo fans.

But anyway, GET ON WITH THE STORY, MY APPRENTICES!

-TheLegendaryPotterhead **Peace, Love and All That Jazz**