Sorry for the wait guys, I was kind of all over the place this last month. Anyway, I have recently gotten a wonderful review challenging my logic AGAIN. Please, I know what I am doing. However, if you are worried about something or if something doesn't feel right with you, please tell me. I take your advice very seriously.

-Sincerely, your author

My walk with Keith would have been nice if I wasn't the awkward person I was. We talked about a bunch of random stuff, but I wasn't really comfortable talking to him. Well, talking to anyone lately, really. I just had so much going on right now with Clora, Danny, and my Dad. Everything from my old life is now gone. I don't know why, but it feels like every second I stay at Camp Half-Blood I'm losing a part of myself. Keith seemed to notice that I wasn't listening to him talk anymore, so he stopped walking.

"Nicole…" he sighed, "I'm sorry."

I stared at him, confused, "What do you mean? I don't see any reason why you should say sorry-"

"No. I was useless in capture the flag, and I couldn't even say thank you for looking after me while I was unconscious, and then I haven't been talking to you because of… well…"

He let the sentence hang, and then it was my turn to sigh. We stood there awkwardly for a moment, listening to the dryads giggling by the trees. I nervously twirled my hair.

"Keith… thank you," I said, "I need someone to be honest with me right now. I need to be honest with me. I'm tired of trying to be someone I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

I hesitated. "It doesn't matter," I said finally, and he nodded.

"I see."

"Actually," I said, "I have to see Chiron. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said dully, "See you later."

I felt bad for leaving him, but I couldn't stay here any longer. I felt like no one was listening to me and everyone was judging me, like I was an experiment gone horribly wrong. I wanted to break down and stay strong at the same time. I wanted to show everyone that they weren't getting to me. I suddenly felt myself break into a run, heading towards the Big House.

I walked up to the stairs, but then I hesitated. If I was actually going to ask him what I wanted to ask him all week… well, if I was going to ask him in general I would have to be insane, but if he actually said yes then I knew my life would change, and I might never see Camp Half-Blood again.

Wow, I thought being a teenager was hard, but being a teenage Half-Blood? Not a good combination.

Finally I got enough courage to open the door, and I was surprised to see that Chiron was not alone. A very pretty red haired girl was talking to him in a hushed voice, and Chiron seemed to be soaking up every word she said.

"Excuse me?" I said quietly, and the girl gave loud squeal and jumped.

"Oh my gods," she said, clutching her heart, "You scared me!"

Now that I got a better look at her, I noticed that she was dressed… really weird. Well, she was dressed in a plain white t-shirt with paint all over her jean shorts, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that she was wearing a dark red robe that made her look like one of those masked murderers you see on crime shows. Let me tell you, her artsy shorts did not go with her I'm-ready-to-kill cloak.

"Oh, sorry," I said stupidly, still staring at the girl. We stood there in silence for a moment, but then Chiron cleared his throat and I was brought back to reality.

"Miss Summers," He said, "Please take a seat."

He motioned to the couch in front of him, and I slowly walked over and sat down. The other girl sat down right beside me, making herself comfortable.

"I'm Rachel, the oracle, I live in the cave over the hill," she said, grinning at me. I looked over to Chiron, expecting him to laugh and say 'Yeah, funny joke,' but no luck. I mean, I can believe in mythological creatures and gods, but oracles?

Then again, this is camp half blood.

"I'm Nicole, the social outcast," I said, laughing, but my laugh was hollow. Chiron cleared his throat again, and I turned my attention to him.

"You want to ask me something?" Chiron said.

"Yeah," I said, getting back on track, "I want to ask you if I could leave camp."

There was a long silence that filled the room. Rachel looked between the two of us, confused, but Chiron didn't bother to explain anything to her. Instead, he just let out a long sigh.

"Nicole, if this is about the campers-

"No," I said quickly, "It's not about that. It's more like… I mission."

"Are you asking for a quest?" Rachel asked, "A quest is kind of like a mission."

"Well, I guess I could consider…" Chiron said, running his hands in his hair, "But what will you do on this quest?"

I was about to make up some excuse about having to fight something evil, like laundry or something, when suddenly Rachel's eyes started to glow bright green. She stood up, green smoke coming from her mouth and turned her glowing eyes right towards me.

"Ask me, child," a voice far from Rachel's said, giving me a chill up my back. I swallowed, not able to break away from her glowing eyes. I was scared out of my mind, but somehow I managed to answer.

"I want to find my father," I said, and suddenly Rachel's faze got a lot creepier.

Rachel started to float of the ground, the green smoke clouding up all of the room. The temperatures seemed to drop ten degrees every second. I looked over at Chiron, panic plastered over my face, but he too looked confused. Then Rachel began to speak.

"Five will go to the land of living dead

To make sure the forgotten one meets his end,

Help is needed for the one with the gift,

One child of the dead, and one of the lightning quick.

Another child will be from the sea,

But the fifth and final shall come later in the journey

To make sure no one will be lost in this quest,

Only look after the gift and forget the rest,

For this deed must be done

Before September the one."

For a moment the possessed Rachel just stood there, frozen in the air, but then she suddenly dropped to the ground with a loud thud. What did that mean? And why was the gift, whatever it was, being brought up everywhere? And what did it mean to only look after the gift and forget the rest? What was there to forget, my father? And who is the forgotten?

"Miss Summers," Chiron said in a grave voice, "I'm afraid that you must leave at once. I will get Percy, he must go on this quest as well, and Nico must too, since Hazel is more a child of cursed gems… Lightning quick must mean Hermes-"

"Danny," I said, under my breath, but Chiron wasn't listening to me, he was lost in his own thought.

"You have got your wish, child," Chiron said, looking at me with sad eyes, "You shall depart in one hour. I suggest you explain this to Annabeth, there might be a few things that she needs to know."

I nodded, quickly running away from the big house without another word. Somehow I knew what was going to happen. I was going to leave with Percy, some kid named Nico, and… well, Danny. I would travel to the land of living dead… where ever that is, and I would have to destroy the forgotten man. Okay, so basically I'm going on a death quest with a stranger, a somewhat friend, and I still have the Danny situation, and somehow we all have to come together and destroy a forgotten person. Okay, that doesn't sound crazy.

Finally I saw the Athena cabin in the distance, and I started to sprint. I didn't know how I was going to explain this to Annabeth. Hey, Annabeth, I know that Percy just came back and everything, but I kind of have to leave with him on a quest that could most likely kill him. But no biggie, right?

Please. If this quest doesn't kill me, Annabeth will.

I made my way to the steps of the Athena cabin, and then I banged on the door. Thankfully it was Annabeth who answered and not Keith or some other Athena kid. She looked like she was ready for a night in; dressed in sweat pants and her hair was tied up into a lazy pony tail. I looked into her room to see that her laptop was out and she was working on some weird backscratcher/ deadly weapon.

"Nicole," Annabeth said in surprise, "What's wrong?"

I did my best at telling her what had happened; how Rachel went all possessed and how I was now going on a quest and how some kid names Nico and Percy were coming along with someone from the Hermes cabin. She looked surprised that Percy was coming, but she let me continue. I told her about the weird rhyme which Annabeth told me was a prophecy, and how I had to fight a forgotten ruler in the land of the living dead. I even told her about the gift.

"Oh, well the gift is easy," Annabeth said after I had finished, "It was a key. Not many people know about it, it was actually a huge secret. Only half bloods now know about it. Zeus had given Artemis the gift as a present on the day of her birth. It was supposed to be the key to a great power, however it had a terrible curse on it. The key was… well, a gift. And gifts must be given. So, ever one hundred years the gift has to be given to a new person. At first is traveled between all of the gods, then the huntresses… but then the gift was lost."

"Wow," I said, engulfed in her story, "What did the gift look like?"

"It was a… oh what was it…" Annabeth whispered to herself, playing with her hair, "Oh yeah, it was a necklace. Funny, huh? I could be anywhere in the world. I wonder how the gift fits in your quest…"

But I wasn't listening anymore. I felt my heart stop and my hands slowly went up to my neck. There, hanging, was my silver doe necklace. It wasn't possible… she couldn't have…

But a voice in the back of my head was saying yes. She definitely could have.