Nico di Angelo hated a lot of things, but one of the highest on his list was waiting in line at McDonald's. He, of course, was a regular customer so he always knew what he would be getting beforehand. That was the upside of knowing the menu backwards and forwards. However, it seemed to be Nico's luck that whenever he went on an urgent McDonald's mission that the people in front of him had never been to a fast-food restaurant before. He tapped his foot impatiently as a lady and her family debated the pros and cons of the dollar menu versus a meal.

Nico sighed and looked over to Drew and Daniel, who both did not look as irritated as he. Of course, this only made him more irritated that he was the only one irritated. He gave a long sigh.

Daniel nudged him with an elbow, "Patience is a virtue, you know," he said.

Nico simply growled in response.

Daniel raised his hands defensively and took a step back, "Looks like someone needs a drink."

They finally made it to the front of line, much to the relief of the other two Half-Bloods who were beginning to be wary of Nico's souring mood. The second that was able to order his mood lightened considerably - in fact, he seemed to be bouncing on the heels of his converse.

"Can I have four hamburger happy meals?" he asked the worked.

"Can I have one, too?" asked Daniel.

Nico shot him a glare.

"I need to refuel!" he said defensively, "I just went through a traumatic injury."

Nico shook his head, but still asked, "Hamburger or chicken nuggets?"

"Chicken nuggets, please," he said, a large grin on his face.

Nico turned to Drew, "Do you want something?" he asked.

She gagged, "Hades, no. This place is disgusting," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust with her arms crossed, as though she was trying to protect herself from the mere presence of the McDonald's atmosphere.

Nico rolled eyes, "If you say so," he said, "So that'll be four hamburger happy meals and one chicken nugget happy meal," he recited to the worker, then handed her his rewards card.

The lady behind the counter nodded and punched in the code into her computer, "Would you like a boys toy or a girls toy?"

Nico shrugged, "Gods, I dunno, surprise me."

"Are you kidding?" exclaimed Daniel.

"What?" asked Nico.

"You can't just say 'surprise me' when it comes to happy meal toys!" he turned to the worker, leaning over the counter so that his face was rather close to hers, "What are the toys?" he asked, his face deathly serious.

The girl shrunk away from him and gave him an odd look, "Um, the girls' toy is My Little Pony. The boys' is Mythomagic."

Nico and Daniel slowly turned their heads towards each other, mouths open wide in pure ecstasy. Before they could utter out a word through, Drew spoke.

"My Little Pony, please," she said.

"No!" cried both of the boys, Daniel doing so much as covering her mouth with his hand.

"We'll have the boys' toy, please," said Nico, trying to make his voice sound even and not as excited as he truly felt, "And what exactly are the toys? Are they figurines, expansion packs...?"

The girl rolled her eyes, obviously over the weirdness coming from this particular group of teenagers, "Look, kid, I just work the register. I don't know what your toy is going to look like. But if you care so much, you can always come back and trade in your toy for a different one."

Nico glared as the girl turned her back to him to call in their order. Sure, he had gotten a little excited over a children's toy, but that didn't mean she had to treat him like a child. He was the Ghost King, godsdammit, he wasn't about to be treated like some annoying pre-teen. Hades, most of the Happy Meals weren't even for eating, anyway, they were for raising the dead!

Nico sulked against the wall of the McDonald's, crossing his arms across his chest as he waited for his meal to be ready. Drew and Daniel followed, standing on either side of him. He turned to Drew, "Is McDonald's not classy enough for you?" he joked.

Drew, however, was not feeling it. She gave him a dirty look and said, "It's McDonald's, nobody should be eating here, let alone a child of Aphrodite."

Nico rolled his eyes, "I'm pretty sure Piper would be okay with eating at McDonald's."

Drew made a gagging noise, "Don't even talk to me about that troll," she said.

Daniel widened his eyes, "That's a little harsh, don't you think? Even for you."

She shrugged like it didn't matter at all to her, staring away from them and off into space like the discussion was over.

"What did she ever do to you?" asked Nico, scowling at her, "From what I heard, you were the one that was tormenting her first."

Drew gave a dry laugh, "Please, like I would ever give her any sort of special treatment. I treated her the same way I treat every child of Aphrodite at the camp."

"So, like they're a worthless piece of shit?" challenged Nico.

Daniel sighed, as though he knew exactly what her response would be, "Here she goes."

Drew glared at Nico and stepped towards him so they were face to face, "You have no idea what you're talking about," she said, "Ninety-nine percent of those kids have had everything handed to them on a Gucci platter. They have no idea how the real world works - your looks can only take you so far. So I'm not sorry for trying to toughen them up with some tough love. I don't want them to be just a pretty face, I want them to be able to stand up for themselves when someone like me comes around and doesn't worship the ground they stand on. And what was the worst thing I even did to them? Make them wear ugly shoes? The horror! Maybe I was just trying to make them not be so superficial. And then along comes Dumpster Queen who humiliates me in front of my own cabin. And you know what she does after that? She doesn't even take her duties as a counselor seriously. She leaves on some stupid quest and I'm left to clean up her mess as head counselor, only this time I have absolutely no respect. So excuse me if I have some ill-feelings towards her."

Nico sighed. He should have seen that coming - it came with being a Half-Blood, nothing was ever entirely how it seemed. He should have expected that she would have a valid reason for her actions instead of thinking that she was just some tyrannical ruler. He nodded slowly, he understood what it was like to be harshly judged without people even caring to hear his side of the story.

"I guess you have a point," he said, "Still, not a good idea to hold a grudge, especially against someone who could easily become a valuable ally. Trust me, I'm kind of an expert at that."

Drew shrugged and turned away from him, "Yeah, whatever," she dismissed him.

Nico couldn't help but chuckle at her insistence to go against him, "You really can argue with anyone about anything, huh?"

She scowled, "No I can't."

"You just proved my point," he said, a smile beginning to show on his face.

Drew raised her eyebrows and gave him a sly look, "No I didn't."

They finally received their food and Nico practically skipped back to the hotel, Happy Meals in hand. While he had to admit that he was somewhat of a broody guy, there was something about McDonald's that put him in a fantastic mood. Daniel looked incredibly amused by Nico's antics and couldn't help but smile every time he looked over to him. Even Drew's mouth was very slightly upturned at the sight, despite her outburst while they had waited for their food.

As they walked into the hotel Drew beckoned the boys to follow her, "There's a courtyard over by the pool," she said.

Daniel looked over at them both with eyes wide, "A pool?" he said excitedly.

"No," said both Nico and Drew, to which Daniel's face fell.

Once they made it to the courtyard, Nico set his Happy Meals on the bench and set out to perfect the environment in which he was to raise the dead. Daniel and Drew pushed lawn chairs up against the two door that led into the yard, lest any mortal walk in and start to freak out. While this happened, Nico began to dig a shallow hole in front of the bench where he put the food using his Stygian Iron dagger. The sun was beginning to set, and a low orange light illuminated the whole courtyard.

Daniel and Drew walked back over to Nico and sat on either side of him. Nico couldn't tell if they were excited or afraid to see Nico's powers in action, but either way they looked as if they were both holding their breath in anticipation.

"Hopefully the hotel won't care that we're digging up their courtyard," said Drew.

"It's for a good cause," said Nico, still using his dagger to shovel out the dirt from the hole. It wasn't that effective, but it definitely beat him just using his hands.

Daniel grabbed his backpack and placed it on his lap. He began to rifle through it, then took out a piece of paper that looked like it belonged in a small book. After that he grabbed a small Ziploc bag from the inside of his backpack. And with that, he took the contents of the bag and placed it gingerly on the paper then began to roll it up. Nico stopped digging for a while to stare at him in disbelief. He noticed that the paper, now rolled into a tight cylinder, had words printed on it.

"Are you seriously rolling a joint with a page out of the Bible?" asked Drew, incredulous, "You seriously tore a page out of the Bible in our hotel room, for that?"

He shrugged, "It's not like it's from an important part," he said, using a lighter to burn off the end of the paper. The smoke of the burning paper stung Nico's eyes, and it didn't let up until the paper burnt down towards where Daniel had packed it. He took a hit, inhaling deeply and then holding his breath for a couple of seconds. When he finally exhaled Nico wrinkled his nose at the smell. It was a skunky, dank smell to the smoke and Nico waved his hand to try to disperse it.

"What in Hades' name are you doing?" asked Nico with an exasperated sigh.

"You expect me to watch you raise the dead sober? No thanks," he joked, then took another hit.

Nico narrowed his eyes at him, feeling slightly offended by the joke. He hated when people made a big deal out of his powers, especially when they called them creepy or weird, "Seriously, Daniel? Is this the reason you were so reluctant to give the backpack to the police? Because there were drugs in there?"

Daniel raised his hands defensively, "You're acting like I was trying to smuggle heroin or something. It's only a couple of grams of weed."

Nico groaned and rested his hands on his head, "Why in Hades would you think it would be a good idea to bring it on a quest?" he said, exasperated.

"Well, I couldn't leave it in my cabin, now could I?" he said, "If they found it during inspection it would be guaranteed kitchen duty for a week for the rest of my cabin when they didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't planning on smoking it in the middle of a fight, or something," he said with a nervous laugh, which made Nico wonder if he were lying about that last part. He looked to Drew for help, but she seemed to be incredibly entertained by the both of them and wasn't about to intervene.

"You can never know when something is going to go wrong on a quest," he said, sighing. A million different scenarios of just how a high questmate could potentially turn sour rushed through his brain. This only made him mad, as every single scenario involved Daniel or all three of them dying. "I didn't realize that I was going on a quest with a reefer addict," said Nico sharply, arms across his chest.

Drew snorted a laugh and hid her face behind her hands. Daniel's face broke into an embarrassed grin, as well, "Whoa there, old man. I didn't realize we were still in the ninteen-fifties," he said, biting his lip to keep him from smiling, "It's not that big of a deal, Nico. It's medicinal."

Nico scoffed, "Medicinal for what?" he said, "Why exactly do you need medical Marijuana?"

Daniel shifted where he sat, taking an anxious hit then turning his head so he wouldn't blow the smoke in Nico's face, "Well, I got it from one of the kids in the Apollo cabin so it has to have some medicinal qualities, right?"

Nico rolled his eyes, "Exactly how a son of Dionysus would think," he said, "I can't believe I actually thought you would be different."

The smile that was on Daniel's face had disappeared. His eyes shone dangerously as he stared the son of Hades down, but behind the glare there was a hint of hurt in his eyes. He turned so that he was face to face with Nico, "Because all children of Dionysus are lazy druggies, right?"

"Guys, come on," said Drew, sensing that the conversation was about to take a seriously sour turn.

"No, let him answer. Do you think that children of Dionysus are unheroic drunks, Nico?" he said, venom dripping from each word. Nico was speechless to see what was usually a happy and joking guy get so angry.

"I didn't mean-"

"To say your prejudiced opinion at loud? Well, in that case, I completely forgive you. You know, you really are one to talk about judging a person based on their parents, Death Boy," he snarled.

Nico opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't find his voice. This time it wasn't a matter of being speechless, but it was as if he had temporarily lost his ability to create sentences. He searched in his head for what he was trying to say, but it was if he were trying to run backward in quicksand - everything was a hundred times harder and in slow motion.

The more he tried to think about it, the more confused he became. And with the confusion came a splitting headache. He gave up on trying to speak - he had forgotten what he was going to say to him anyway - and rested his head in his hands to try to soothe the pain in his temples. But when he closed his eyes he was back in darkness. He was back in Tartarus, or in the death trance in the jar the twin giants put him in. He began to visibly shake.

"Daniel, stop it! Do you see what you're doing?" he heard in the distance, but it didn't register what she meant. But then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

It was as if the fog in his mind had cleared. The headache went away and he felt an intense relief in his mind. He opened his eyes and saw Daniel staring back at him, all the anger drained from his face. He had thrown the still burning joint on his backpack and moved closer to him. Nico could tell by his eyes that he was feeling terrible, all thoughts of their previous conversation was gone from his mind. He put his hand reassuringly on Nico's back.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Nico nodded slowly, raising his head to stare back at him, "I'm fine," he said, his voice slightly cracking, "That was just, uh, kinda weird..." Weird was definitely not the first word he would have used to describe it. Completely terrifying seemed to fit the bill, but he didn't want to make Daniel feel worse than he already did. Nico understood what it was like to have powers that were scary and hard to control. He knew how bad it had felt for him, and he didn't want Daniel to feel even more guilt than what he felt already.

Daniel wrapped his arms around him and hugged him hard, to which Nico had absolutely no idea how to respond. His arms hung limply at his side, unsure with what he should do with them. He awkwardly patted Daniel on the back in a way that he hoped was reassuring.

"I'm so sorry, Nico," he said, the sound muffled by the fact that his face was pressed into Nico's chest, "I just had a really long day and the sword has been messing with my mind and it's getting harder to control and I don't know why. I promise I won't smoke if you don't want me to," he rambled in a way that Nico thought was rather endearing.

Nico gently pushed Daniel from him and spoke, "Don't worry about it, bro. I'm fine, trust me. I've had much worse things done to me before. And if it helps, I don't care if you smoke."

Daniel nodded and returned to where he was sitting. He was uncharacteristically quiet, and Nico hoped that he didn't think that Nico was still mad at him. He knew how hard it was to try to control something that already terrified the living daylights out of you. And with that thought, he decided to turn back to his work at hand while Drew and Daniel whispered to each other behind him.

The hole was big enough for the ritual. It was shallow, but Nico wasn't planning on calling a lot of spirits, only ones that would be able to help him. He first dumped each coke into the hole. He had received a small coke for each happy meal he purchased, including Daniel's. The result was a muddy soup of dirt and soda which, frankly, looked appetizing to no one. After that he dumped each meal into the hole, careful to keep his toys safe and not an offering for the dead. No, the Mythomagic-themed toys were all his.

"Let the dead taste again," he said after dropping the last hamburger into the pit, "Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."

He held his blade in his hand, hovering it over the hole. He then began to chant in Ancient Greek, keeping his eyes closed to focus on the power behind each word he said. He felt a pull deep down in his stomach as he sensed the spirits start to stir from under the earth. They used his life force and power to crawl their way from the Underworld. The offering in the hole began to bubble, and frothy brown liquid rose to the top.

He opened his eyes to see a thick fog surrounding the area. Daniel and Drew looked on in awe as bluish figures began to appear from out of the fog. They began to surround the pit, but Nico waved his knife which caused them to back off.

"Shit," said Daniel as he looked over the scene, then took a hit.

"Eloquent," remarked Drew sarcastically, punching him lightly in the shoulder.

Nico couldn't help but smile at their reactions. For a couple of camp kids, they weren't taking the ritual as badly as he had thought. He had suspected that one of them would have run away screaming by now. It was a pleasant surprise, actually.

"We need someone who can give us information about out quest and who is behind it," he said.

A figure started to approach him. He lowered his blade and it knelt to the hole, using its hands to slurp up the brown liquid. The figure grew brighter and sharper until it was recognizable as a woman. She looked just like a regular person, only slightly transparent. She knelt in front of him, looking over at Nico with an expression of sorrow on her face. She had brown skin, slightly weathered by age. She looked to be in her late forties or fifties, but her hair held no gray, it was only a solid black.

She held out her hands to him in desperation, but couldn't quite reach, "Ayudame, señor," she sobbed, tears welling in her eyes.

Daniel stepped forward, "¿Qué pasa, señora? ¿Quien te hizo esto?"

The lady looked over at Daniel, her eyes wide, "¡Una bruja!" she said, the tried to speak again, but her words were unintelligible through her rapid crying, and were soon cut off by her uncontrollable sobs. Nico could tell that even Daniel, the translator, was completely lost.

"She said it was a witch," said Daniel.

"Because that totally helps us," said Drew.

"Show some sensitivity," said Nico, "How would you think you would act if you were violently murdered? The dead are always like this."

"¿Te acuerdas la apariencia de la bruja? ¿Ella te mató?" he asked her.

She shook her head, "Tuvo un lobo negro. Muy grande y con dientes fuertes," she sobbed, "¡Mi bebé! ¿Donde está mi bebé?" she began to frantically look around, her whole body convulsing in sobs. Nico didn't think they'd be getting much more out of her.

"She said that the witch had a big black wolf with her. I think it killed her and her baby," said Daniel.

Nico watched as the woman wept in front of him and as Daniel tried to calm her down ("Debes que te calmes señora, ¿okay? Lo siento, lo siento."). His heart broke for her. Mortals should never have had any problem with monsters, especially ones without Sight. He could only imagine how confused and terrified that woman was to be attacked by a monster that she could barely see, controlled by a goddess that she could only assume was a witch. There was only so much the Mist could do. And having her baby die, too. That sounded absolutely terrible.

"A black wolf? That could be a Hellhound," said Nico, his eyebrows furrowing, "But that doesn't make any sense. Hellhounds are controlled by the furies, my dad, and I. Only something really bad would be able to take full control of a Hellhound to make it attack a mortal," he said. He didn't want to say it out loud because he knew that it would probably scare them, but the only beings he could think of having that kind of power were supposed to be in Tartarus.

Not wishing to prolong her suffering, he said, "Thank you for your help, you may rest," and released her. Her form faded until she had disappeared from view.

"Well, that was of great help to us," said Drew, who was reclining on the ground with her legs out in front of her. She seemed to be a perfect picture of complete ease despite the spooky situation she was in, especially now that the sun had gone down. "Really gave us a lot of vital information."

Nico rolled his eyes, "And your sarcasm does a whole lot for us too, thanks. It's not a complete science. Sometimes the dead don't always have the information you need."

She simply shrugged, then diverted her attention to her nails.

Nico turned back to the shades in front of him. "Is there anybody else here that could help us?" he said.

One figure approached the pit and began to drink. This time the figure showed itself to be a young man, perhaps only a couple of years older than Nico. His formed shifted until he was almost fully solid. He stood up to his full height, which prompted Nico to do the same.

He looked over the man. He wore traditional ancient Greek dress and looked as though he were ready for battle. He wore a bronze breastplate and held his helmet under his arm. This allowed Nico to see his face, which was handsome like a marble Greek statue. He had pale skin that was not necessarily because he was a ghost. Nico guessed that his family was probably wealthy and that he didn't have to work outside a day in his life. He was muscular, but did not look particularly strong. He was attractive in that pretty-boy Abercrombie model type of way, which was pretty much the opposite of Nico's type.

"Who are you?" Nico asked, "And how can you help us?"

"My name is Paris," he said, "I believe I can help you with you quest."

Drew's ears finally perked up in interest. She stood up next to Nico and studied him carefully. She looked at him like she had just met her favorite celebrity.

"You're really the Paris? Paris, prince of Troy?" she asked excitedly.

Paris allowed himself a smile as he in turn studied her, "A child of Aphrodite," he said fondly, "Yes, the beauty of Aphrodite is always incomparable. I was not lying when I awarded her the Golden Apple. She truly is the fairest of all the gods."

"Of course, being awarded the most beautiful woman in the world was just an added perk," remarked Daniel, sitting on the ground with a joint in his hand looking completely unimpressed.

"Hey, I'm not one to question a gift," said Paris, and Nico winced at the word 'gift' in reference to a woman, "Although, looking back on it now, I should have realized what chaos the goddess Eris was trying to cause. But it was better to have loved and lost than to have never to have loved at all, am I right?" he said, staring deeply into Drew's eyes.

Drew batted her eyelashes and nodded, "Wow, that was, like, so eloquent," she said, "No wonder my mom liked you."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Really, Drew? He's quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson."

"Well, it's still eloquent, isn't it?" she said.

Paris smiled warmly at Drew, who looked like she was about to swoon. The boys, on the other hand, were not amused. Nico wasn't even quite sure if it was out of Paris' own stupidity or his own jealousy, but he already hated the guy.

Paris looked over to Daniel, still sitting with his joint. Paris raised his eyes curiously, then spoke, "Can I have a hit?"

Daniel's face took on an expression of surprise, but he shrugged and handed it over anyway. Nico had to admit that it certainly was a sight to see - the ghost of the Prince of Troy in full battle armor and smoking a joint.

"Alright, now that we've had all of our fun and games - how are you going to help us with our quest?" asked the Nico.

Paris looked down at Nico thoughtfully, one hand rubbing his chin and the other holding the joint. He exhaled the smoke and said, "Well, if you really want to be pushy, then fine - I'll tell you. On the night that Troy was sacked a lot of things happened. Not only did I die, which was probably the most tragic thing, but the whole city succumbed to complete chaos. You Greeks may think that you're the greatest in the world, but the real, hard truth is that you guys burnt down our whole city, raped our women, and slaughtered our children."

Nico shrugged, "Hey, don't blame me for what my ancestors did."

Paris nodded, taking another hit, "Fair enough, fair enough. But the real help I can give you is this. On the night that Troy fell, it wasn't just Greeks that destroyed my city. The second that the fighting started horrible monsters appeared everywhere, taking mortal and demigod to Hades with them. Granted, back in the day the two worlds weren't quite as separated as it is now, but monsters have always shied away from the innocent. Innocent mortals, that is. If you're a demigod you're fucked no matter how innocent you are."

Daniel seemed to have really connected to Paris' last statement. He gave a couple claps while nodding and said, "I'll drink to that."

"You'll drink to anything," said Nico.

"I'll drink to that, too!"

Paris chuckled, then continued, "Well, from what I gathered, the amount of Chaos generated by the Trojan War through its battles with mortals, demigods, and gods alike was substantial. Monsters are beings of chaos, after all. Some monsters are born from the Earth herself, who definitely will not be winning the mother of the year award any time soon. Most monsters, however, are born of Echidna. She is the Earth's mothers favorite, because she gives birth to the monsters that roam the world and kill demigods like yourself. Because of their nature, they are influenced by the discord set off by such supernatural wars."

The trio gave each other a grave look. They knew just exactly what Paris was talking about.

"The Giant War," said Nico, "Heroes and gods fighting side by side to defeat giants. Not to mention the Titan War right before that. Gods, that must have stirred up so much chaotic energy."

Paris nodded solemnly, "With more chaos comes more power for the monsters. They gain the power to attack any living thing without discrimination. And fighting them will only cause more discord."

"Which will make them even stronger," said Drew, sounding defeated.

"That's the thing, though," said Daniel, "I mean, maybe this is just some stupid high idea, but think about it. What happened when we killed the Sphinx?"

"The Evil Party Ponies chased us through Newark," said Nico.

"Exactly, and what did we do to them?" he said.

"Jack shit," replied Drew.

"Exactly! And what happened after that? Nothing. What we need to do is not fight the monsters. We just have to avoid them so we can defeat the masterminds that are controlling the monsters in the first place. If we keep trying to kill the monsters we will never win. We'll just end up being killed ourselves."

Paris nodded, "He's right. The only way to truly defeat the monsters is to defeat the source of power that is controlling it. And I already told you who is controlling them."

Piper frowned, "No, you didn't."

"Yeah, I know, but I've been leaving huge hints this whole time and I was hoping you guys would figure it out yourselves. Just think, without the Trojan War there would never have been enough chaos to allow the monsters to become so powerful. And once the monsters became powerful enough, there was only one person that could possibly control them and use them for her own personal gain," he said.

"To spread even more discord," said Nico, it finally dawning on him who it was that was behind the attacks the whole time.

Paris smiled, "Looks like my job here is done, then," he said, sensing that Nico had arrived at the answer. He handed the joint back to Daniel, "Thanks, that was some good stuff." He then turned to Drew and gave a bow, "My lady."

As he stood back up to full height he slowly faded away. Nico had heard all that he needed for tonight and released the rest of the spirits. After the use of his powers in such a way, he was definitely in need of some rest in the hotel room. He beckoned for the other two to follow him, and they did.

"So who is the one behind the attacks?" asked Drew as they walked out of the courtyard and back into the wallpapered halls.

"The one who started the Trojan War in the first place," said Daniel, who had finished up the rest of the joint outside and thrown the remaining paper in a trashcan.

"The one who would gain even more power from increasing forces of chaos," said Nico, "The goddess of discord - Eris."


A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the late post on this one. There were only some bits and pieces of the original chapter that I liked that stayed. The rest of it had to be completely re-written, which took a bit of a while. Good news, it's up now! Bad news, this was the last pre-written chapter that I had, so unfortunately you guys might have to get used to updates that are not very timely.

A funny thing that I'm beginning to notice - less action = longer chapters. Kinda weird, but it is nice to have a nice long exposition chapter again :) Hopefully from this point on the plot is going to soar.

Kudos to Rick Riordan not only for the amazing books that I am basing this story on, but for the details in Battle of the Labyrinth that I had to meticulously read over to make sure I was getting Nico's ritual right. I'd feel salty if I didn't credit him, especially considering that a line is taken straight out of the book. Granted, it is the dialogue that Nico says to start the ritual, but still. On that note - anybody like some Leyna? Well I have a new one-shot called the Beers thats Leyna and if you like Leo Valdez you should go check it out because he gets drunk.

Speaking of drugs (kinda?) I'd like to have a lil disclaimer here now that the chapter is over. You can obviously see that this story is rated T for a reason. Drug use is prevalent in many teenagers lives, and I bet that's equally as true with demigods. I mean, can you imagine a son of Dionysus that has never tried drugs before? He is the god of ecstasy, after all, and not many normal teenagers have an excuse like that and they still do it. I'm not condoning the use of Marijuana in this story and neither am I not not condoning it. (Does that even make sense?) I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I'm trying to be realistic. Not only to real life but also with greek mythology. Did you know that Dionysus' followers would get drunk/high at his temples and have orgies to worship him? Of course his son is going to smoke weed.

Special thanks to Idonotget, malamuteblizzy, and ZeroLuver567 for the lovely reviews. Idonotget, your long and exceptionally nice reviews always make me so happy. Malamuteblizzy don't worry about being redudant because I love you and I'm so happy you like the story. And ZeroLuver567 you make me want to cry omg that is like my dream for someone to enjoy my story that much that they daydream about it. Like I daydream about this story everyday but I have to because I'm the author. Also thanks to the great people that have fav'd and followed the story, you guys are amazing as well. And also thanks to everyone who just reads the story. I love you guys too, you don't have to follow or review or do anything for me to love you, it makes me happy enough to know you read it.

Wow, this was the longest authors note ever. Next chapter the trio are awarded with a fruit basket.