Elena blinked at me, "The North Pole? Are you kidding?" Her face was scratched and dirty, as was Pollux's, but she still managed to stay her. Unlike me, who freaked out and left…

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Does it look like I'm kidding?"

She shook her head, sighing, "No, but I was hoping you were. How do you know? Why didn't you take it when you saw it?"

I grimaced and glanced at my hand, still covered in bandages, and said, "I… well, let's just say I shadow-traveled there by mistake. And I couldn't take the bow, there was no way1

Pollux was sitting on the ground, his elbows propped up on his knees. He was staring at the fire with a blank expression, his blonde hair in his eyes. The fire seemed to make his face glow. Still staring at the fire, he said, "You said you shadow-traveled there by mistake, how do you expect us to get there? We know you can't do it purposely, and even if you could, it tires you out."

My eyebrows furrowed, and I frowned at him. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Elena's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait. If you can't do it, not really, how did you get here? Did you freeze your arse off or something?" she asked, sitting down as well.

I grimaced. "I was terrified," I said, "that's the only time I can do it. The first time was when I was falling off a mountain, the second time…" I trailed off, shaking my head.

"Yes?"

I shook my head, "It was nothing. But we need a plan. The bow is inside a fountain, which I think is filled with poison or something. I stuck my hand in and it practically burned my skin off."

"Was it purple?" Pollux asked, finally drawing his eyes away from the flames. He looked at me with his grey eyes, which were sparked with curiosity.

"The fountain?"

"No," he snapped. I heard the slightest bit of irritation in his voice. "The poison."

"Oh, no. The poison itself was clear as well," I replied. "That's how I saw the bow, through the bottom."

"That doesn't make any sense…" he muttered, looking at his hands.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked.

He sighed. "Poison is usually portrayed as purple. If it wasn't purple, it wasn't poison. Which means…"

"Which means you can drink it," Elena said, finishing for him.

I let out a frustrated noise, "What?"

"When you were gone, Pollux and I went over the prophecy as much as we could," she explained.

" 'Two forbidden daughters,'" Pollux recited, "obviously it's the two of you."

"But… 'In madness and in wine,' doesn't make any sense. But we know it's Pollux."

" 'One will drink thyself to death,'" I whispered, my mind flashing to the clear liquid. I couldn't imagine anyone drinking it. It was so painful putting my hand in, what would it do to the inside of a person? "You're going to drink it, Pollux?" I asked, horrified.

"I have to."

I shook my head quickly, "Uh… no, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I have to do this, Emilie, you don't understand."

I let out a deep breath. "Fine." Who was I to deny him of what he needed to do? "How are we going to get there?"

We all went silent. "Pray to our parents?" Elena suggested.

I snorted, "Yeah, okay, my dad is totally going to help us."

"Now is not the time for this, Emilie." Elena snapped, "Now really. Pollux, do you think your dad will help?" As she asked this, not only did she look at him, but she glanced at me. With that glance, I knew what she's asking. "Do you think he'll help you?"

I grimaced. It was doubtful.

"No," Pollux replied, "he didn't want me to go on this quest in the first place, he's not going to get us there. Not even if I begged."

She sighed, and I tried to lighten up the mood. "What about your dad, Elena? Your dad is Poseidon, one of the nicest gods there are. Surely he'll help!"

She seemed to consider this. "Well, maybe. We'll probably need to sacrifice something important."

"Like a spoil of war?"

"Exactly!"

"But… we don't have a spoil of war."

"That's where you're wrong," Pollux said.

"Hm?"

"While you were gone, we encountered a giant."

"A Laistrygonian giant," Elena piped up.

"And?"

"Well, it's not Medusa's head, but it's all we've got," Pollux said.

"What is it?"

"It's a bone from one of the fingers of the giant."

Elena grimaced, disgusted. "It was disgusting to watch! Him pulling it out, I mean, but he said that we might need it."

He rolled his eyes, "And we do. But now, where are we going to sacrifice this?"

"The ocean?" I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which it kind of is.

"Yes, I realize that, Emilie. But we have no idea where we are, and if we're anywhere near the ocean."

I crossed my arms and frowned, but Elena was grinning to herself. "What?" I asked.

"Well, I think I know where to go. When you were gone, and Pollux and I were walking, which was next to the road, we came across this," as she said this, she pulled out two folded pieces of paper. The first one she unfolded was a green flier.

COME TO OUR BOAT SHOW!

Come see our boats! We have all kinds. Motor boats, sail boats, canoes, even pirate ships! Bring your kids, bring your parents, but most importantly, bring yourself!

I didn't bother to read on. There was just times, and crap like that. I raised an eyebrow at Elena, "And just why do you have this?"

She shook her head, blushing. "I don't know, I found it on the side of the road and found it interesting… but that's not the point! Look, it's a boat show. We give my dad the bone, and we ask him to take us- on a boat that we stole- to the North Pole!"

"That's easier said than done," Pollux pointed out.

I stuck my tongue out at him, "I think we should do it!"

Elena grinned at me, "Two against one."

"Knuckle bump!" I exclaimed, and our knuckles did indeed bump each other.

Pollux rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. We'll go."

"Great."

"Where is it?"

"Erm…" she unfolded the other paper, which was a map of Canada. "We're here," she said, pointing to the city of Rouyn-Noranda, "Or at least, right outside of that. And the convention is here," she said, pointing to James Bay.

I grimaced, "The distance from here to there is the size of Maine!" I exclaimed, then frowned. "How'd that flier get all the way out here?"

"Look, it doesn't matter. People drive through Maine, we'll just take a bus."

And that's exactly what we did.

-xxx-

"This is the worst idea you've ever had," Pollux said as we all walked into the convention. Rather, walked out to it. We stepped onto a deck, a really big deck, which held a ton of people on it.

Everyone was dressed as pirates, everyone. No joke. We all looked at each other, but began walking. There were so many people, it was going to be hard to steal one of these boats. "Can you hotwire a boat, Emilie?" Elena asked me, and I frowned.

"No."

"Then how are we going to do this?" Pollux asked, and I looked at Elena. We both grinned at each other.

"Steal a pirate ship," we both said at the same time.

"How? There are a million people here! Just for the pirate ships, I might add."

Elena raised an eyebrow, "I'm a child of Poseidon, and I'm sixteen. I think I can cause enough mist for Emily to sneak onto the ship. It won't be that hard, Pollux. Stop being such a downer."

He scowled at her, "I am not a dower."

Smirking, I said, "Prove it."

-xxx-

"I can't believe we're doing this," Pollux said as the wind blew through his blonde hair. We all shivered as the wind hit us. It was freezing, sort of. It wasn't as cold for me, with my daughter-of-Hades powers and all.

Elena waved her hand, then leaned over the boat, staring at the ocean. She had dropped the bone in it only a few moments before. I shut my eyes, "Aeolus," I prayed, whispering, "a little help?"

The wind picked up even more, as did the currents, and the boat began to move. I grinned to myself, and said a silent thank you.

Elena's dad did help us. He got us to the Artic Circle in less time than a plane would. As we were moving through the water, I sat down next to Pollux, who was staring at the ocean as we sailed through it. He seemed… distant.

"You don't have to do this," I said, looking at my hands.

He sighed and looked over at me, "Emilie-"

I held my hands up quickly, "I know, I know! You need to… I get that. I just wish you don't need to."

I kept staring down at my hands, refusing to look at him. Yes, I know we've had our differences. But… I don't know, I just feel close to him. He's my friend, and I don 't want him to go off and kill himself. "Emilie?" he asked, his tone confused.

"Huh?"

"You're crying."

I blinked and brought a hand up to my cheek, utterly surprised when I saw a tear on my finger. Why on Earth am I crying? It…I… "I'm sorry."

He began to laugh, and I looked at him incredulously. "Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't… know." As I said this, I shivered, and I realized I left my blanket below. Before I could get up to go and get it, Pollux grabbed me. He pulled me into his shoulder, wrapping his blanket around my shoulders. I awkwardly shifted, but laid my head on his shoulder. It was kind of… weird, but it was more of a friend thing. Not… well, you know. That's how I feel about his dad.

-xxx-

I woke up by something banging the boat. I fell off the bench, hitting my head. Grimacing, I lifted my hand up, but was glad when I didn't feel any wound. "What was that?" I called out, trying to stand up but was knocked over by another bang.

Elena was gripping onto the side of the boat, "Whale!"

…. What?

"Can't you like, talk to it or something?" Pollux screamed, looking a bit sick.

"Uh… I can try!" And with that, Elena started making whale noises. If you thought Dory from "Finding Nemo" was silly, well, obviously you've never seen a daughter of Poseidon do it.

I cupped a hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh. ….Gods, am I bipolar? Not too long ago, I was crying, and now I'm trying not to laugh. What's wrong with me?

… Many, many things.

But anyway, when we thought the whale stopped, it his us one more time, actually flipping the ship over. I didn't even have time to think as I hit the icy waters. After that…. Everything was chaos.

I felt the current pull me down, but I needed to get to the surface, I needed to breath. I looked around for Elena, panicked, but I couldn't find her. Now I could see why she had a fear of drowning, it's awful. I clutched at my neck, and waited the current out, but black spots danced around my vision, and then I blacked out.

-xxx-

"Emilie? C'mon, wake up!" cried Elena. I knew it was her, even though I couldn't see her. My eyes were still closed, and my body was still. I let out a groan as I sat up, and when my eyes opened, I was aware that we were on land.

My clothes were soaked as was my hair. I grimaced at the cold, "Where are we? And where's Pollux?"

"Over here," he called out. My head swiveled around and I saw the all too familiar cave that the bow was in. He was in the cave, his arms wrapped around himself, shivering like mad.

I glanced back at Elena, "Is he all right?" but her only answer was a desperate look and a shrug. Elena was dry, due to her daughter-of-Poseidon powers. I stood up, raising my arms in the air, stretching. I tried to ignore the water in my clothes and walked into the cave, stopping abruptly when I saw the fountain. It was a deep purple, no longer the clear liquid that it was in before. "It-it's not supposed to look like that," I said, looking to Elena.

Pollux, still shivering, stood up as well. "It doesn't matter what it's supposed to be like, it is what it is. But my guess is that it changed colors," he said, and tilted his head at it. "But… you know, it looks an awful lot like wine now."

Elena and I looked at each other, but I said nothing. What was I supposed to say? I don't want you to drink it 'cause you'll probably kill yourself, but you have to anyway?

He took a few steps forward, but looked to us. I looked away, but Elena nodded. He went back to walking and finally reached the fountain. It was still taller than he was, though not by much. It seemed that now stairs had carved themselves in the ice wall next to him. He climbed them, and then pressed his fingers into the liquid. It didn't burn him, like it did to me, but he couldn't grab the bow. The liquid around it wouldn't allow him to.

I looked away again, refusing to watch as he… as he… ugh! Even though I wasn't looking, didn't mean I didn't stop hearing. I heard the clink of a glass to the ice and him drinking, and drinking, and drinking until all of the liquid was gone. "Pollux?" I heard Elena ask, "Do you feel all right?"

I glanced towards him, seeing that he wasn't dead on the floor. He had the bow in his hands, but… but there was a look in his eyes, a look I knew all too well. "Get down!" I screamed and jumped at Elena, knocking her out of the way. As we were falling, an arrow passed right by our heads.

We rolled over, and I helped her up, and then we began running. "What's going on?" she screamed, "What's wrong with him?"

"He's insane! The liquid, it made lose his mind!"

She stopped and grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn around. "Is there anyway we can fix him?"

Before I could answer, another arrow flew by our heads. He was catching up to us, and our stopping didn't help. Also, his long legs didn't help, either. "Keep running," I told Elena, pushing her forward. I unclipped Parafrosyni from my hair and began running behind her, but when an arrow got me in the leg and caused me to fall, well, I got a little angry.

Pulling the arrow out of my leg hurt terribly, but when I did it, I threw it in the snow. The area around me began turning red, my blood soaking into the snow, but because my leg was numb, it didn't faze me. I started at Pollux, who kept shooting arrows at me. "Is there anyway we can fix him?" Elena had asked… no, there isn't.

I split one arrow with my sword, and ducked to avoid another one. Another arrow hit me, in the stomach, and without thinking about what I was doing, I plunged my sword into his chest. He fell to his knees, and I pulled it out, blood pouring from his wound. That insane darkness had left his eyes, and now he was as sane as ever, but dying. "I'm sorry," he whispered, and then there wasn't any light in his eyes at all.

I was shaking all over. I stared at his dead body, ignoring the buzzing in my head, and watched as the snow around us turned red. Blood from both our wounds. Elena made her way over, "Is he-"

"-yes."

"Are you all right?"

"Do I look like I'm all right?" I asked, but shook my head. "He was our friend, 'Lena, and now he's gone. …Oh gods! Dionysus is going to hate me." My eyes widened, and I couldn't breath.

Placing a hand on my shoulder, pulling me into a comforting hug, she said, "Not if you didn't do it."

"But I did."

"I'll tell everyone I did it," she replied, and I pulled away, looking at her with my eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would you do that?"

She snorted, "Why wouldn't I? You're my best friend, and I'm sure Mr. D wouldn't like it if you were the one who did it, as you so wildly pointed out."

"I- thank you," I said, but I sounded dazed. I suppose what I did, what just happened, was just… getting to me. But there wasn't anyway to

"You're welcome."

-xxx-

"Did I ever tell you to thank your dad for never killing me?" I asked Elena, who was trudging through the forest next to me. We were in New York again, though I'm not sure I knew how we got there. I was in a daze for a while…

"Erm… no."

"Well, you should do that."

She turned around, raising an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure you're all right?"

My face hardened. "I'm fine," I replied, but I'm almost positive it wasn't convincing. Elena shook her head and sighed, but kept walking, passing in front of me.

…. When she finally stopped, I nearly ran into her. But she was staring up, and I looked with her. It was Manhattan. "We're here."

With sudden inspiration, we both started running. We sneaked on a tour bus to the Empire State Building, but when the tour guide noticed us hanging on the side of the bus, he kicked us off. It was all right, though, because we were only a few blocks away from Olympus.

We dodged tourists, residents of the city, and hobos. The bow was in my hand, and Elena was ahead of me, but that was only because her legs were longer than mine…. I've used that excuse too much. When we were across the street from the building, Elena stopped, frozen. Across the street from us was Lady Artemis, a bow in her hand, and a determined expression on her face.

I took a step forward, not really aware of what I was doing. I didn't know what Artemis was up to, but it didn't look good.

Suddenly, Artemis' face changed into a form of rage. Her hands were shaking- from fury, I think- and she brought her bow up, pulled the arrow back, and screamed, "This is for Orion!"

She let the arrow go, and then everything happened in slow motion.

The arrow was flying through midair, missing the mortals walking on the street by a mere quarter inch. My eyes went from Artemis, to the arrow, then to the place where it was headed. I let out a small shriek, "ELENA!"

I started forward, but I couldn't do anything, I was too slow, too far away. Just this once, I wish Kronos was my father, so I could slow time and save her. Just as it was with Pollux, it went through her chest, through her heart, and slammed into the wall behind her. She collapsed immediately, blood pouring out from her body.

The mortals around us were oblivious, courtesy of the Mist. I was already rushing over to her, and when I reached her, I tried to stop the bleeding. But it was no use, she was already dead. I didn't breath, I didn't move, I didn't do anything. For a moment, I just stared at my now dead best friend.

My hands clenched tighter, and it was then when I realized that the bow was still firmly in my hand. I stood up, and strode across the street, snarling at the mortals who bumped into me. Now I understood Artemis' rage, how irate she actually was, because now I am too. But this time… Oh no, this time, I'm going to get back at her. I may not be able to kill her, but there are things that she wouldn't want killed.

I glanced at the bow, wondering how much force it would take to break it in half, but decided against it. I couldn't have a war between the gods, that would bring terror and destruction, something I already got enough of in the Underworld.

When I reached the front desk, I wondered if the man was mortal or not. Did he get a lot of demigods in here asking if they could see the gods? Did he think they were crazy or just tell them no, your parents are busy?

He looked up at me from his magazine, "What?"

"I need to get to Mount Olympus, like, now."

His eyebrows furrowed, "Kid, are you nuts? There is no Mount Olympus. Get outta here."

I glared at him, then leaned over the desk, gripping his shirt. "Now you listen to me, Mr. My father is fucking Hades, and if you don't let me in, I'll make sure that you get to know him a lot better. Are you getting my drift?"

He was shaking now, but nodded. "'I-Ite, 'ite. Here."

He handed me a few keys and I grinned, but I knew that it wasn't a very pretty one. In fact, I think I looked nearly as sadistic as my father.

-xxx-

Ding.

Taking a deep breath, I walked through the now opened doors of the elevator and onto Mount Olympus. I didn't have time to marvel, and walked straight to the major pavilion, where the gods were.

The sight of them amazed me, if nothing else did. All twelve of them were there, even Artemis, who had just killed Elena not moments before. She was rolling her eyes at Apollo, who was draped sideways across his throne, grinning. But the moment he saw me walk in, his smile faded.

Everyone was turned to me at this point. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena… well, you get the point. Nobody spoke, so I took that as a chance to introduce myself. I was too busy staring at Zeus, making sure he didn't smite me, to notice anyone else in the room.

I knelt down, my head down as well, and said, "As you all probably know, I am Emilie, daughter of Hades."

"Is there a reason you intrude, daughter of Hades?" asked Zeus, who was staring at me with a peculiar expression. I stood up.

"I-well- yes," I said, and held up the bow to Artemis. "Lady Artemis, I bring you back your bow."

With a single twitch of her finger, the bow emitted a silvery glow as it floated into my hands and into hers. Once it touched her skin she let out a loud sigh, as if she was now becoming whole again. I crossed my arms behind my back, my clenched fists shaking. Oh, I so badly wanted to hit her…

"What happened?" asked Poseidon, whose eyebrows were furrowed.

Poseidon scared me less than Zeus did, that much I'll admit. And besides, I owe him an explanation. …

-xxx-

"… and on the way here, Elena was killed by monsters-"

"-Nemesis," someone muttered.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I apologize," said Athena, "but she killed young Pollux, yes?" I nodded, "Well, then what do some mortals call it? Ah yes, karma."

I nodded again, at lack for words, but continued on. "Uh.. Yeah, so she was killed by monsters and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I didn't have time to mourn, because I needed to come here and give Lady Artemis her bow. …And that's pretty much it."

I glanced at all of the gods, and Poseidon and Apollo seemed to be taking it the worst, which made sense, of course. Poseidon looked incredibly sad, blue, almost. And Apollo… well, he refused to look at me the entire time. He looked grimmer and grimmer by the second.

"May I speak to Emilie alone?" he asked, and all of the gods and goddesses looked at each other but nodded and left the room. Now it was just Apollo and I.

"I knew," he said. "I knew," he said, shaking his head, "that she would die."

I remained silent, not knowing what to say. It was incredibly awkward, and I stared at the ground, not making eye contact.

"But I didn't think," he began, and it sounded as though he was choking back a sob, "that I would love her this much."

It was at that moment when my knees gave out. At that exact point in time, something else was in that room. It wasn't just Apollo and I… but, even as a daughter of Hades, I didn't know what it was. But it definitely had "ghost" written all over it.

Apollo didn't bother to ask if I was all right, but I don't blame him. I slumped on the floor, staring at the bottom of his throne, feeling like absolute crap.

It was my fault the two of them were dead. I stabbed Pollux, I allowed Elena to let Artemis get mad at her, I allowed the arrow to fly through her chest. …Why couldn't it have been me? Why couldn't I have been the one to die? My reasons were flawless, it would have been much better if I were the one to go.

"Emilie?" a familiar, male voice asked, but I hardly heard it. I was in that daze again, and the image of Elena's and Pollux's dead bodies and deaths kept flashing through my mind. "Emilie! Apollo, what did you do to her?"

Apollo didn't reply, nor did I. I was still on the floor, still staring at nothing. I felt myself being picked up, but I was limp. I couldn't control my body anymore.

My eyes finally closed, and only moments after they did, I heard, "Emilie… what has this this quest done to you?"

-xxx-

Groaning, I lifted a hand to my head. I had opened my eyes moments before, and now I was finally taking in my surroundings. I was in a bed, my leg, torso, and arm bandaged. "Hello?" I asked, and was nearly startled by my own voice. It sounded… empty.

"Oi! Mr. D, she's awake!"

"I'm well aware of that Kenneth, thank you."

"My name is Kyle-"

"Thank you."

Sighing, Kyle trudged off.

I heard footsteps, and then there he was, right in front of me, and I wasn't doing anything to greet him, I was just staring at him. "Are you all right?" he asked. My eyebrows furrowed. "I was there yesterday, I saw what happened…"

"Oh," I said in my empty voice, "right. I'm fine."

He stared at me for a long moment, and I took in the sight of him. His black hair was messy, a lot more than usual, his clothes were still crazy designs, but… he didn't look all too happy, but his son just died, so I guess that's it.

"I don't believe you."

"Okay."

His hands clenched around the bars at the end of my bed, "Stop that!"

I frowned. "Stop what?"

"Stop acting depressed!"

I took a long breath and said, "Well I'm sorry, but I'm a daughter of Hades, I'm allowed to be depressed."

-xxx-

Papers filled my cabin so much they were overlapping. I barely came out of my cabin, and when I did, I ate in the shadows. It's been weeks, and this solitude hasn't been very healthy. If I could have gotten any paler, I did. I also got thinner, weaker, and I just didn't care.

My hair's a mess, but I didn't care. I got up, walked out of my cabin, and to lunch. Nobody talked to me, in fact, nobody even looked at me. I didn't mind, though, I like it that way.

When I saw Rachel running, though, I immediately left my table and followed her. She seemed to be running in the direction of the Big House, but did it matter? Dionysus and I hadn't talked in weeks.

"I see terrible things!" she cried out, clutching her head. Her red hair and green scarf seemed as if they were floating in the air, due to the wind.

"Like what?" asked Chiron, his eyebrows furrowed. He was frowning at her, but didn't seem to notice me.

"Like… like…"

"Yeah?" I asked, but then brought my hands up to my mouth. I didn't mean to say that.

All heads snapped to me, and I stared. "I-sorry," I said.

Rachel stared at me with a sudden intensity, though. "I see you," she replied, "in the future. What the fates have set up for you is awful… for you and your lover, and your children."

I raised an eyebrow at her- something I haven't done for a long time- and said, "Well, actually, I have neither of those things, so-"

"No! I will make you see!" It wasn't Rachel's voice who said this, nor was it the oracles. It was… odd. Then I saw things so terrible it made me fall to my knees and scream.

I saw fire and war. I saw dead bodies surrounding me, and one in particular. It was a girl- one who actually looked a lot like what Aphrodite was changing to- with curly black hair and pale skin. Her cheeks were pink, though. She was looking up at me, whispering, but I couldn't hear her. All I could here were the constant screams and clashes of swords. Her purple eyes looked up at me, and I was shaking. I felt some sort of tie to this girl.

Then two figures came fighting. One was a man with short red hair and a scar on his arm. His eyes were green and he was battling a tall, wiry figure with dark brown hair. I couldn't see his face from the back. But from the looks of it… he was losing. The redheaded one stabbed him in the gut, and he fell, wincing in pain. The redhead spat at him.

The girl with black hair and now… blue eyes? She began screaming something, which I'm guessing was his name. She had a look of pure horror on her face.

Then three arrows came out of nowhere and his the three of us in the chest… killing us instantly.

Then I blinked, snapping out of it, but I couldn't get the pictures of horror away. They were worse than Elena's and Pollux's deaths, which freaked me out to the extreme.

Then I blacked out.

-xxx-

"Rachel! What went through your mind when you showed her that? Were you thinking? You know when the Oracle shows someone images that it only turns out bad!"

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. D! It wasn't me who was doing it…"

"I don't care who it was, but do you know how long it took for me to calm her down mentally? She's so unstable it's not even funny. The things I saw in her head… I wish it upon no one." he said this, but it sounded a lot like a snarl.

I heard a sigh. "Dionysus… perhaps you should just sit and calm down-"

"-don't tell me to calm down, Chiron! When this girl is herself again, I'll calm down."

"Why do you care so much?" asked Rachel.

"That is none of your concern."

-xxx-

When I woke up for the first time for real- I kept drifting in and out of sleep earlier- I saw that I was in one of the rooms of the Big House. ….again.

Dionysus was in a chair on the side of the room, across the chair, asleep. I frowned but got off the bed, a little wobbly, and walked over to him. "Hello?" I asked, but he stayed asleep. I then shook his shoulder, "Wake up." I said in a flat voice.

He did.

"Emilie," he said, blinking in surprise. "What are you….?"

"Doing out of bed? I came to ask you what happened, I can't remember all too well."

He sighed and nodded, standing up. My knees shook again, and he grabbed my waist, steadying me. …I felt a pang in my chest, and I didn't realize just how much I missed him. He placed me on the bed and sat next to me, though not as close as I might have liked.

"Rebecca-"

"Rachel, that much I remember," I said, correcting him.

"Yes… Rachel gave you images of the future, something she's not supposed to do. And they just weren't enough for you to handle."

"Oh," I said. "But… that doesn't make sense, I feel fine, calm."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "I know. I had to sedate your emotions so you wouldn't try to kill yourself. You can't feel anything but calm right now, and soon you're going to hate it, once you're ready to be yourself again."

I nodded, my face expression blank. "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked, his purple eyes turning to me angrily, "Is that all you have to say?"

"Yes. …I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize!"

"I'm sorry- I mean-I- okay."

He looked at me for one moment, his expression was angry and completely tormented at the same time. He shook his head and walked out of the room.

I looked around, spotting my shoes. I put them on and walked to my cabin. I suppose this calmness thing was all right. It was better than feeling pain and anger and suffering, right?

As I was walking to my cabin, I saw a familiar sports car parked right outside the forest. My eyebrows furrowed, and I wanted to know what he was doing there, but didn't care too much to go looking. I continued to walk to my cabin, my footsteps so light they weren't heard. But then I saw Apollo leaning against the door of my cabin, and I stopped.

"Emilie," he said, walking towards me. He looked like an absolute mess. But… also, he was too pale to be the sun god, which explained why the sun wasn't so bright lately.

"Apollo," I replied, my voice sounding dead.

"Listen… I need your help."

-xxx-

Hey, everyone, what's up?

I know I said it wouldn't be long before I uploaded again, but I've been rather busy, and I needed inspiration. I found it, I think.

So Riley told you we were fighting? …Yeah, I suppose we are. Usually we don't, I just do something stupid and she gets angry at me, but this time the anger goes both ways.

Anyway, review or I'll… or I won't tell you who those weird people were soon!

Oh yeah, and some of you were asking how Hades found out. Well, he's a god, he can find out just for that reason. And she's his only living daughter, he's a little over protecting and bound to freak out sometime, right?