I fully realize that my father can imitate anyone from their appearance right down to what they say and how they say it. By simply studying a person for a few moments, he knows how they'll react to any given situation and the way they generally act. However, I can not believe that Michael's insisting that I have the same ability.

I don't know what happened when I was fighting Dominique in the water. I just felt stronger and angrier. Michael claimed that for a minute I literally took on the form of Clarisse and fought off Dominique, but I can't see how that's possible, especially since you think I'd realize it happening.

After the unsuccessful attack by Dominique and the demigods, we sped off towards Africa once again. The others struggled against sleep, afraid we'd get a surprise attack once again. Soon, however, we all started falling in and out of consciousness.


For the first time in my life, I had a dreamless sleep. I've always had extremely vivid dreams that warned me of the future, but this was different. And I was very concerned about it.

Being a daughter of Morpheus, I fully realized that my dreams are extremely important and in some cases, could be the fine line between life and death. To not be having dreams…well, that could mean a lot of things.

First and foremost, that could be a sign that I was going to die, and soon. Or worse yet, that one of my companions was going to die. We weren't all extremely close and couldn't be described as a close-nit group (except for Percy, Annabeth and Grover, of course), but I wouldn't like to see anything happen to any of them, even Clarisse.


I woke up slowly, taking in my surroundings. The rest of the group was awake and looking beyond the water. I squinted my eyes and sat up. Beyond us, there was an island coming into view. As we inched closer, I noticed that there were a lot of trees; something was probably hiding in them.

"Sail around the island, Percy," I called to Percy at the head of the boat. Clarisse turned around to glare at me.

"You're not calling the shots here, Violet," she sneered.

"This is my quest and I'll give the orders. Besides, there's probably something on that island."

We inched closer to the island, but Percy still wasn't budging to steer the boat around. "Percy, sail around," I repeated to him, incase he hadn't heard. Annabeth shook her head, "I think it'll be alright if we checked it out, Violet."

It didn't feel right, going straight to the island. I thought it was weird that Annabeth and Percy were so insistent that we go to the island, but I tried to ignore it. After all, Annabeth was a daughter of Athena and would know better to go to an unknown place if she didn't think it was safe.

Percy pushed the boat straight up onto the beach and we all climbed out and onto the sand. As my feet landed, there seemed to be a pulse through the air. Like a daydream, I could see Annabeth yelling and jumping from a large boulder. Clarisse was right behind him, sword swinging madly at something I couldn't see.

"You guys, I really don't think we should be here," I whispered to my group, but they ignored me. Annabeth looked into a bag that held our food.

"We've got enough food to last us until we get to Africa, but I think we should look around and see if we can find any fruit to bring with us," she announced. Michael nodded and pulled out his bow for precaution. He and Grover started towards the trees; I quickly ran after them, leaving Annabeth, Clarisse and Percy in a group.

Once inside the trees, Grover frowned. "This place doesn't seem right."

I rolled my eyes, "What do you think I was trying to tell you guys? We shouldn't just stop at random islands that we come across."

Michael snorted and cocked his bow in preparation. We slowly moved through the thick cluster of trees. There didn't seem to be any fruit, only large bugs that darted around quickly. A spider the size of my fist rushed by, making Grover jump in shock.

"Did you see the size of that thing?!" I smirked to myself, imagining what Annabeth's response to the spider would be if she came across it. Annabeth was deathly afraid of spiders, as were all of her siblings. Apparently, the fear stemmed from her mother's feud with Arachne. My smile quickly faded, though, when I saw something slither in the corner of my eye.

I turned quickly, but nothing was in sight. "Did you guys see that?'

I looked back at Michael and Grover questioningly; Michael frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"I could have sworn that I saw something slither pass."

Grover's eyes widened in fear. "When you say slither…do you mean like a snake?"

I nodded slowly and both boys looked around madly, searching. "How big do you think it was?"

"I don't know! Bigger than us!"

Almost on cue, there was a hiss that sounded like it was coming from right behind me. Michael and Grover slowly turned around and faced me. They looked beyond me, eyes filled with terror. Michael's grip on his cocked bow shook trembled.

I didn't want to look at what was behind me. Odds are, I already knew what it was. I racked in my head through the Ancient Greek history, looking for something that would explain what was going on. I knew in my head that we weren't just going to be facing some average snake. Average snakes weren't taller than you.

The only thing I could come up with was Python, a large and hideous monster that Hera sent after Apollo and Artemis when they were infants so they couldn't reach Olympus. Apollo defeated the Python when he was stronger and older, but just like other monsters, I assume the Python was reincarnated.

I made eye contact with Michael and Grover; they didn't need to nod or speak for me to know that they got my message: run now and fast or you die.

We sprinted at the same time. Running with all we had, I felt like we were going pretty fast, but in all honesty, the snake was just as fast and Michael was a slow runner, with his short legs and all. I glanced behind me as we ran and came face to face with a snake with huge, black eyes that reflected my terror filled face.

All of a sudden, the Python lunged. I jumped to the side and rolled; the snake slithered by, going after Michael and Grover. "Get higher up! Get into the trees," I yelled after them.

I didn't have time to make sure they heard me because all of a sudden, the Python was coming back to me. As it slithered near, I pulled out my sword. Besides the minotaur I fought back in Chicago, this was my first real monster. The python lunged and I swung with all my might.

The sword barely missed its head and all it did was make the Python angry. It swung around and whipped me with its body. I went flying through the air and fell against a bed of rocks twenty feet away. My sword was about 15 feet away from me; it would be no help right now.

I tried to stand as the Python slithered nearer to me, but my leg buckled beneath me. Looking down, I noticed there was blood staining my jeans. The Python was just 10 feet away from me; I forced myself to stand. The pain was sickening, but I had more important things to deal with right now. Despite my leg screaming in protest, I ran for my sword. The Python stuck me again, sending me crashing into a tree.

"Hey!" The Python turned its attention away from me and looked left. Standing on the ready was Annabeth, Percy and Clarisse. Clarisse had her electric spear out and was running at the Python without fear. The Python slithered away from me and immediately headed for Clarisse. Annabeth ran past it and to me, "Are you alright?"

She helped me to my feet and I grabbed my sword, immediately ready to help Clarisse. She struck the Python with her spear, but it seemed to just deflect it. It turned and threw her across the small clearing we were in, too. Percy and I ran forward at the same time, swords high in the air.

All of a sudden, arrows shot down at the creature, but they seemed to bounce off. Michael and Grover came running into view, Michael shooting off a volley of arrows. The Python became very angry and turned its attention at me. Perhaps it knew I was hurt and would be the easiest target.

It lunged at me, mouth wide open to bite me. Just before it hit my body, I threw my sword forward, aiming for its mouth. I closed my eyes as the Python landed on top of me. There was silence for a minute.

The weight was painful. It was hard to describe, though, because I never felt anything quite that heavy. Slowly, I opened my eyes. My sword was stuck in the Python's mouth and the creature was clearly dead.

"Way to go, Violet," Clarisse grinned. She and Percy pushed the dead snake off of me; Annabeth helped me stand. I pulled my sword from the Python's mouth and started walking back towards the boat.


Once back in the boat, I rolled up my jeans. On my left leg was a long, blood cut that went from my knee to nearly my ankle. Michael tried cleaning the cut for me, but his medicines didn't seem to be helping me very much; the most he could do was bandage it. Besides, Annabeth's bruised wrist was a bigger problem, it would be hard for her to fight if it was needed.

Percy slowly backed the boat away from the beach and we all watched the island slowly disappear as we went back into the middle of the ocean. Michael shook his head.

"Let's make a rule," he said.

We all turned our attention to him. He grimaced, "How about we don't just stop at random islands anymore."

We all muttered in agreement.


*Author's Note*

Thank you for reading! Reviews would be appreciated! : )

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