Okay, so thanks to Redwolf11, I'm updating again. Their review just made me happy and it inspired another update. More reviews like that definitely equal FASTER UPDATES! Oh, and just to let you know, I'm not breaking up Percabeth.

Percy Jackson & The Case of the Missing Campers

IV

The next day, for Elysia, was the day she'd return to training. Apparently nobody knew about the shadow travelling thing. They all were asking her questions now that she was up, out of her cabin. She didn't particularly want to tell them how she ended up there. Her response was: "a mix up of magic." Of course, no one knew what the Hades she was talking about, so they left her alone.

The few people who knew were obviously Nico, Percy, and Annabeth, but they repeated the same story: "a mix up of magic."

When Lucie asked her what happened, she couldn't lie. She told her sister the truth, and she laughed at her. "Only you, Ely, would end up travelling to the Nile in Egypt…"

Training that day was hard. When Percy was sword fighting with her, she was getting sloppy. Her mind kept flashing back to her disorienting dream of… Elysia didn't even want to bring herself to name her suspicion. If she was right, it would be devastating. There was no need to cry wolf just yet. She'd wait for concrete evidence first.

Percy noticed she was distracted. After knocking her sword from her hand and holding the sword to her throat, he said, "What's on your mind?"

She avoided his eyes. "I cannot say." Knowing that wouldn't appease Percy, she said, "It's nothing you need to know, and nothing I mean to share. If you're so worked up about it, know that I've already talked to Nico. Just don't mention anything to my sister, okay?"

"Fine, I won't push for an answer. Now let's focus on fighting."

Elysia cracked a smile and parried his strike. She swung her sword towards his, and a loud clang echoed in the arena. She stepped forward and in one fluid motion, she twisted Percy's blade from his hands and it clattered to the ground. Before he bent down, she held the sword to his chest. "Nuh-uh, son of Poseidon. I've won this round."

He smiled, and Elysia offered him a hand up. Percy took it, and found that this daughter of Hades was different than all the other children of Hades were. She seemed a lot like Bianca, but totally different at the same time. Don't get him wrong, he was great friends with Nico, but his sister was unique. Yes, her features, like hair color and skin, marked her as a daughter of Hades, but her personality didn't. Percy realized that they were definitely alike in personality.

Elysia's smile turned to a frown. "Percy, I barely know you, but I feel like I need to tell you what had me distracted." She looked from side to side, like she was looking for people who could possibly be listening. When she saw nobody, she leaned closer and whispered, "I had this weird dream last night. I lied when I told you Nico knew about it. He knows something else. But back to my dream…" She described it in full detail. Percy's face remained the same the entire time; he knew a thing or two about weird dreams.

"I think I know who it was, and I think I know what's happened to the missing."

"What?" he asked.

"I think it was…"

"Percy?" Annabeth called.

Immediately, Elysia and Percy separated. Elysia backed away and said, "I'll tell you later, Percy."

After she left, Annabeth looked to Percy with suspicion. "Just something personal she wants kept a secret," Percy told Annabeth.

"Why would she be telling you her secrets?" Annabeth asked with a possible hint of jealousy in her eyes.

"She trusts me," he said. "Look, Annabeth, I'm her sister's brother. That makes us, like, distant cousins or something."

"Technically, Seaweed Brain, we're cousins, too."

"Fine, Annabeth, you win, as usual. She had a nightmare and wanted to talk to me about it because she thought I'd be the best to go to since I've dealt with them a little too much, okay? You don't need to be jealous," he laughed, trying to make the situation light again.

"Okay, Seaweed Brain, I'll take your word for it," she said, looking down. "Anyway, I came here to talk to you about the missing campers. Don't tell Elysia, but…"

"Nico's missing?" he asked, completely shocked.

"Yes. How did you know it wasn't Lucie?" she asked.

"I saw her not too long ago. I haven't seen Nico all day."

"Well, Chiron wants to tell her before dinner. Hazel's a mess, Percy. So are Jason and Reyna. They're thinking of going back to Camp Jupiter, since Rachel still doesn't have a prophecy. We don't know what to do," she complained. He knew Annabeth hated not knowing things.

As if on perfect timing, Chiron trotted over. "Rachel has given us a prophecy, and I'm afraid it is rather dark."

Percy and Annabeth shared a grave look before they followed him to the Big House. The walk there was silent. Once they got inside, there were already others there, Elysia being one of them. Her face was a little sad, but not how Percy expected it to be. He took his eyes away from her and scanned the rest of the people there. Jason, Reyna, Hazel (who was a mess, as Annabeth said), Rhea, Grover, Rachel, and Lucie all sat around the room.

"Rachel, please repeat the prophecy," Chiron ordered.

She took a deep breath before she began.

"The daughter of death shall lead the group of nine,

Up the north and to the west, enclosed in endless pine,

Where the evil stirs, for only sacrifice to save,

To bring those back from beyond the grave,

And despair without a hero's hand,

To be lost in unfamiliar land."

"Which of us is the daughter of death?" Elysia asked.

"I don't want to lead anybody, Ely," Hazel said. "It's you who must lead them."

"What? But I'm a nobody here still…" she said, shy.

"Elysia, how do you think we all started here?" Percy asked her. "We all started out by quests being appointed to us. I think you're meant to lead this. Rachel's already said the newcomers are important. You are a newcomer."

Elysia looked down to the carpet. Those words made her shudder. The sacrificing part indeed wasn't pleasant, and at least one of whom she takes would be killed. All of them would be lost in the end, and the prophecy hadn't guaranteed a positive outcome. She didn't want anything to do with the prophecy or the stupid quest, but she said, "Fine... but we need a group of nine. Percy, I want you with me and the same with you, Annabeth."

"I am going, too, Ely," Lucie said.

"Luce, no way am I taking you on a quest like this," Elysia said.

She argued back with, "I'm a newcomer, too. I'm meant to go on this quest."

Elysia's eyes were filled with sorrow, but she nodded. "I'll take Romans, too. Jason? Reyna? Rhea? Um… Hazel?" she asked.

Hazel shook her head no. Reyna and Jason looked to each other and nodded. "We'll go, Elysia." Rhea just nodded in silence.

"Are there any other newcomers, Percy?"

"There's Zayne Knight. I'll talk to him after this meeting has ended."

"Um, Reyna are there any Roman newcomers?" she asked.

"Yes, there's Jay O'Connor. I'll see if he wants to come."

"Okay, that would make… nine, actually," she muttered. "What are we going to do about where in Hades we go? Up north and to the west? Jeez, that's way up in Canada… and it makes me think of the Northwest Territories, which are all the way on the other side of the continent…" Elysia mentioned.

"Why don't we fly?" Lucie asked.

"What? No! Zeus would kill us for that…" Percy said, shaking his head. "Have you ever been on a plane in your entire life?" he asked her.

"Come to think of it… no, I haven't. That's weird…" she answered.

"We'll need to travel by land," Elysia said.

"What about shadow travel or using a transportation spell?" Jason asked.

Annabeth was the one to reply. "We don't know exactly what we're looking for. With both those things, you need a set destination. Nico explained to me once that shadow travel only works if you know what you're looking for. If Elysia were to only imagine trees, she could end up in the Amazon Rain Forest, and there is no way she could take all of us. Same goes for Rhea's transportation, she couldn't take us all at one time, and she doesn't know where we're going."

"Annabeth's right," Rhea said. "There would be no way. We must travel by land. I can't even teleport us all to Camp Jupiter."

"How about pegasai?" Percy asked. "We could fly there. We have more than enough pegasai here to accommodate all of us."

"I would like to have Skippy with me. Let me IM Jay, see if he can round up Skippy and then I'll have him wait for Rhea to escort him here," Reyna said before she left the room.

"I'll go and get Zayne," Percy said before he left the Big House.

Elysia stood and walked out to the porch. The sun was setting, and Elysia loved the beauty of the sun's setting in the setting of Camp Half Blood. She wished she weren't about to embark on a quest where she would have to sacrifice one of her companions. It just seemed wrong.

She saw Percy coming back with an unfamiliar boy, and fear crept into her heart… sacrifice, without a hero's hand, all those lines were terrible and had too many loopholes for her. It was causing a headache for her. "Hey Percy," she greeted as cheerfully as she could. "Who's this?" she asked.

"I'm Zayne Knight," he said, giving her a formal handshake. He had sharp features, brown eyes, and dark brown hair. "Son of Khione, the snow goddess."

They each let go of each other's hands and she said, "Elysia Rook, daughter of Hades, but everyone knows that."

"You and your sister are the talk of the camp."

"That's not always a good thing," she muttered. "Anyway, I guess we should get back in there…"

The three of them walked in there and found Rhea gone, probably to get Jay and Skippy. Chiron announced, "We'll prepare the pegasai for your departure in the morning. When you get to your cabins, pack everything you need. Food and money will be provided, but pack your own, in case anything happens. All of you should carry a bow with a quiver of arrows with you to hunt, well, except you two," he looked pointedly at Lucie and Percy. "For it would be useless. I guess you two should get fishing equipment… You all should depart at dawn," Chiron finished.

Reyna walked in with an unfamiliar boy carrying two stuffed backpacks. "We are going to sleep here for the night."

Everyone left the Big House (except the ones who were going to sleep there), and went to their cabins. Elysia silently prayed to her father that there would be no dreams for her tonight. She wasn't sure if Hades had any control over it, but she prayed nonetheless. Once she reached her cabin, she took a shower and braided her hair again. She packed everything she had with her, and none of it was suitable for going exploring in Canada. She knew Lucie wouldn't have anything warm to wear, either.

She needed to get them warm clothing. While in the bathroom, she focused hard on their living room in Buffalo, trying to shadow travel there with all her might. Her senses guided her, and when she focused her eyes, she was in her apartment. It looked the same, for the most part. The only thing missing was her mom and step dad. After swallowing a lump in her throat, she went to her bedroom and dug around for her winter clothes. She grabbed her favorite black sweatshirt, her long sleeved white under armor top with a hoodie, her thermal pants, and a few pairs of her soccer socks. She made sure to grab her best combat boots, beanie, and gloves.

Then, she went to Lucie's room. She dug around for her blue fleece jacket, her light blue under armor hoodie, her thermal pants, and some of her softball socks. Elysia also remembered to grab her black winter boots, her black beanie, and her black gloves.

"Gods, I almost forgot," she mumbled. She went back to her room and grabbed her stepdad's bow and quiver of arrows. Her stepdad, Ryan, was pretty cool, but he was busy travelling for work all the time. Chances were he didn't know about her mom's death yet. He gave her this when she turned sixteen a few months ago. When she inspected the arrow tips, she was surprised to find that they were imperial gold, something she hadn't noticed before.

A creak on the floor made Elysia whip around while twisting her ring, making it grow into a full sword. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Would you really kill your own stepdad?" the voice asked.

She relaxed and changed her sword to a ring. "Ryan?" she asked.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. She ran and gave him a hug. "I know you don't have much time, but I want you to know Elizabeth isn't dead," he said softly.

"What?" Elysia asked when she pulled away.

"I know you had a nightmare, but it wasn't true."

"Then why do I feel like she's dead?" Elysia asked. "In case you don't know, I'm the daughter of Hades."

"I know, but don't you feel she's still here?"

Now that she thought about it, she kind of did, but she didn't dare let her hopes up. "I'm not sure. Ryan, I haven't told Lucie. Do you know she's the daughter of Poseidon?" Elysia asked.

He nodded. "I do, Elysia, because of my being descendant of the goddess, Trivia."

"What?" Elysia exclaimed. "You… Roman… what?" she stuttered.

"You heard me. I've known for quite some time that the Greeks exist. I knew immediately that you two were Greek. I could just tell. Also, she was similar to my great grandfather's friend, who was a son of Neptune."

"How did you end up here?"

"After my service with New Rome, I moved to New York to see if the rumors were true, and I was right. It has long been wondered if there were Greeks, and I wanted to see for myself. Once I did, I swore on the river Styx to not say a word to those who don't know. Then, I met your mother after she already had two demigods."

"You must be great at magic."

Ryan laughed. "You need to know that I'm hardly considered powerful. My great grandfather fell in love with a mortal. His son, my grandfather, fell in love with a mortal. My mother then fell in love with a mortal. I hardly have any god blood in me, Elysia."

She smiled and said, "I need to go before people start to look for me. Look, you may never see me again, but if mom really is alive, tell her I love her and I am doing everything I can to protect Lucie."

"Goodbye, Elysia."

"Bye," she said before she melted into shadow again with her backpack. She focused hard on the bathroom in the Hades cabin, the small shower cubical, the detail of the obsidian walls, and then found she was there successfully. A wave of tiredness overcame her, but she didn't let herself fall asleep.

A knock startled her at the door. "Elysia?" she heard Hazel ask.

"Just a minute," Elysia said.

"You've been in there for a while," she mentioned.

"Oh, it's just I'm drying my hair and braiding it," Elysia said, which was mostly true. Her hair was still wet, but it was already braided. After a few more minutes of sitting in the bathroom, she stood and went to bed.

When Elysia woke up that morning, she knew it was around six thirty again, which was just before dawn. While looking around the dark room, she heard the clopping of hooves. "I'm already up, Chiron," she said, waking Hazel.

A muffled "Okay," came from the door. Elysia stood, and the torches lit with Greek fire. She then ran to get her backpack from the bathroom. Then, she dressed in her usual jeans and t-shirt. It was a warm day so far, and Elysia would only wear her jacket unless she needed to. She put on the pair of combat boots and strung the bow. She put it across her back, with the quiver. In the mirror, she realized she looked nothing like how she used to.

Elysia used to be the regular teenage girl.

Well, almost. Of course, she always had dyslexia and ADHD, but other than that, she lead a pretty normal life, until she turned twelve. But even the difference between a month ago and now was a pretty big difference. For one, her hair was about two inches longer than it had been a month ago. Her hair always grew fast. For another, she actually had a slight tan a month earlier. It could have been just her, but she thought her eyes were slightly bluer a month ago, too.

None of that mattered, though. Elysia liked who she was becoming, even though being a demigod was dangerous.

After she brushed her teeth, she went back out to talk to Hazel. "Hello?" she asked.

"Ely, good luck on your quest, okay?" she said.

"Thanks. I promise I'll do whatever I can to bring Nico and the others back."

"That's a dangerous promise," Hazel acknowledged.

"Everything's dangerous," Elysia said. "We just have to deal with it. Anyway, bye!"

Hazel gave her a hug, then Elysia walked out of the cabin and down towards the stables.

When she got there, the only other people there were Jason, Reyna, Rhea, and a boy who she thought to be Jay. "Hey, should we eat something for breakfast?" she suggested.

"Sure, Elysia, just give me as second," Jason said, who was loading a pegasus.

"Who's this guy?" she asked, petting the pegasus.

"Oh, this is Crimson," he answered. Crimson was a dark brown-red color, and the name suited him just fine. The pegasus had faint stripes of a lighter red-brown. The wings were amazingly huge, and Elysia stared in awe at Crimson.

"Who am I riding?" she asked to Jason.

"I think you're riding Jinx," Jason said, gesturing to the pegasus to his right. This pegasus was beautiful, too, and she knew it was a mare. Jinx had an unnatural dark blue color, but she pulled it off. Its hooves were almost black, and its eyes were also unnatural. They were a light blue, and it was purely one color. No spots, no stripes, just solid dark blue, so dark it was almost black. "They call her Jinx because she's very unusual, even for a pegasus."

"She's very pretty," Elysia said, slowly walking up to this one. She had ferocity in her eyes, so it made Elysia hesitant. Once she reached Jinx, she gently stroked her mane. Jinx whinnied, and it made Elysia want to understand what she was saying.

Once everyone woke up, they went to the dining pavilion to eat a full breakfast. Dawn still had not yet risen. After they all finished and were stuffed, they went back to the pegasai. "So, to be clear, Reyna, you have Scipio, of course, Percy, you have Blackjack, Annabeth, you have Porkpie, Elysia, you have Jinx, Lucie, you have Mythica, Jay, you have Midnight, Zayne, you have Frostbite, Jason, you have Crimson, and Rhea, you have Celestial. May the gods be with you on this perilous quest."

"Thank you, Chiron."

He galloped away, leaving the nine demigods to get ready to leave.

"Percy?" Elysia asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can we get my sister a better weapon than just a dagger? I know she doesn't like fighting with it much."

"Thanks, Ely, but you didn't have to…" Lucie said.

"Annabeth, quickly take her to the weaponry," Percy said.

She nodded and the two ran off to get just the right weapon for Lucie.

"We should load the pegasai," Elysia mentioned. All of them did as they were told. As much as none of them wanted to, they put saddles on them to carry the load. Since Lucie left her backpack, Elysia took Lucie's stuff she got from their apartment and put it in her backpack. Once they came back, in Lucie's hands was a beautiful sword with ancient Greek engraved. She could tell it said Tyfonas, meaning hurricane. She put it in a sheath around her belt.

Then, Rhea walked over. "Do you want me to enchant that? I could make it like Percy's, where it changes into an object."

"Uh, thanks."

"What do you want it to change into?" she asked, pulling the sword out.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I think it should be a headband. I usually wear those all the time."

Rhea gripped the sword tightly and muttered a few words in Latin. It shrank until it became an average black headband. She handed it back to Lucie. Immediately, Lucie put it on and said her thanks.

After that, they all mounted their pegasai and took off from Camp Half Blood, flying northwest. They flew past Quebec by a longshot, and did not see it, which Jason was thankful for. Apparently, Jason wasn't the only one who had been to Canada before. Elysia and Lucie had been to Canada before, too.

Thanks to all my amazing readers! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! If I get at least 5 reviews on THIS chapter, I'll try to update BEFORE the end of this week.

OC's in this chapter...

Zayne Knight and Jay O'Connor.