I, personally, am proud of this chapter and-

*loud crash*

Leo: I'm back... with Nico di Angelo!

Me: *screams* Leo! Nico! But I put out a reminder for you guys not to visit because Jack-

Nico: That was stupid.

Me: Fair enough. *clears throat* Well, ladies and gentlemen, Leo and Nico! Now guys, tell me, what the HECK are you doing here?

Leo: I heard Nico and I were getting a little spotlight in this chapter, so I thought, hey! I'll get Nico to shadow-travel me over here to read with you!

Me: *blushes* Nico, go while you still can. I want you to stay, but avoid Leo while you still can. Seriously.

Nico: *smirks creepily* I can handle it, whatever it is. Hey, do you have McDonalds?

Me: I'll see what I can do.

All three of us: ENJOY!

Jay's POV:

Frost. Ice. Snow, you name it, it appeared. Jack had turned the beach into an Antarctic paradise – thank the gods I chose to wear a small jacket before stepping out. Jack on the other hand… he had on nothing but his T-shirt and his ripped up pants (or leggings, whatever you want to call em'). Luckily, he was immune to cold, something that, at the moment, I'd kill to have.

Jack cheered, pumping his fist in the air like he was blowing a truck horn, and I looked around. This definitely seemed like fun, even coming from me. Jack willed it to snow, and something inside of me seemed to burst. Christmas would be coming soon, and this was probably the best way to spend the season: with snow. Canada's lucky to have all this, that's for sure, I thought.

"C'mon, Jay! Come play with me!" he shouted, already running off, and for a second, I imagined myself as a ten year old, running around with my old Jack Frost, with my other friends, both real and imaginary. It was like I was reliving my childhood… Childhood.

I ran over to Jack, scooping up and throwing a snowball towards him. "I'm coming!" I said mockingly as I ran through the snow. Jack laughed as the ball of snow hit him in the chest, and aimed his staff at my feet. He shot some ice forwards, and suddenly I was sliding on my belly like a penguin, heading for the ocean. I laughed, trying to stop from sliding.

I managed to swerve to the side, and the ice disappeared. I whooped, plopping into the fresh powder, trying with all my might to fight the biting cold, and focus on the fun I was having right now. I felt cold hands hoist me up and onto my feet, and I turned around to see the happy-go-lucky look on Jack's face.

"I told you you needed this," he chided, "Even if it was only for a few minutes."

"But – but-" I didn't want it to end! I swear we just started ten seconds ago…

"I know you're enjoying, but I know you're cold too." He spoke softly, his eyes sparkling. Now that he said it aloud, I realized I was starting to shiver. Holy Hades… what was I doing out in weather like this?

He motioned for me to follow him back to the camp. My face flushed in disappointment. "But… but," I only realized how childish I was sounding, and took in a breath. "How are you going to melt the snow?" I asked. I put my hands under my armpits, watching as my breath appeared in plumes of smoke. I should have brought gloves…

Jack shook his head, waving his hand in the air. "It'll melt by itself," he said coolly, running a pale hand through his wind-swept hair.

"What! But what if another demigod finds it? Someone's bound to find it – whether it's Leo or the crazy seven, or the nymphs, or, well, anyone!"

The cold must be getting to me. Jack laughed. "The cold must be getting to you," he spoke, mirroring my thoughts, almost exactly. "I'd offer you my sweatshirt, but I don't have it. And knowing you, you'd probably refuse anyway." He explained casually. It took me a second to realize this was his failed attempt at flirting.

I looked out at the expanse of snow. Sure, I cared about camp. I didn't want them freaking out about this, claiming it was one big anomaly sent from Khione. Knowing them, Rachel Elizabeth Dare would probably spout out a whole prophecy about it: She of sun and he of frost, will make a big snowstorm at the beach… Or something like that.

Then I looked back at Jack, and the thoughts seemed to freeze up and fly away with the snowflakes.

"Where is your sweatshirt anyways?" I asked, realizing that he hadn't been wearing it since last night. Over the span of time that I've known him, he's always been around in that frosted blue mess.

"Eh, I was out and about with Baby Tooth in the woods, and then it kind of tore up." He blushed visibly, the red of his cheeks contrasting oddly with his otherwise pale complexion. I scrunched my nose up, ready to bombard him with more questions, before I saw the look in his eyes. Please, he seemed to plead. I'll tell you another time.

I smiled at him reluctantly. It was never really fun to stay curious for a long time, but whatever.

"Now." He spoke in a slightly serious tone. "I want to talk to you about something else." He explained, and for a second, I thought he was talking about… us. Creepy, to say the least.

"I…" he spread his hands, as if he was confused. "You're fight with Will and Nico, I, I-"

Without thinking (seriously, no thought what so ever), I grabbed Jack and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. I could already imagine their scowls of disapproval, realizing that I had closed off my friendship with them. I fought off the bitter cold of Jack's touch, and forced myself to come to the harsh reality of the situation. "They're gone, Jack. I've lost them, and they're mad at me, and-" I stopped myself, not wanting to slip up about Nico's secret.

Jack seemed too appalled to react to my response. I guess he did the only reasonable thing a person would do in a situation like this – he hugged me back. "You can't lose true friends forever, Jay." He said soothingly. I vaguely remembered those words coming out of Ash's mouth.

"Then what, what if we aren't true friends?" I asked Jack, squirming out of his freezing grip. His eyes were widened slightly, as if I hugging him was too bewildering. "Jay. Tell me again how you guys became friends." He asked, noticing my hesitation.

"Well… they taught me about being a half-blood." I imagined the Hell-hound, and how we had been running the whole night. "They saved me, and, and," I remembered how Will had jumped onto me, using himself as a human shield to protect me, "I… they brought me to camp, and, and… They really are my friends!" I exclaimed, the excitement in my voice starting to scare me.

I tried not to notice that I was starting to mirror Anna from Frozen, and how she had gotten Kristoff to take her to the palace with hope, only to realize that Prince Hans wasn't who she was looking for.

Hopefully I wouldn't be Anna in a situation like this.

Nico's POV:

"I don't know what to do," I confessed to Will, watching as he hung upside-down from a few metal bars on the roof of the sword arena. We were supposed to be sparring, but we weren't (Gee Nico, what was the first clue?). Instead, he was hanging upside-down, and I was slouching over a bench, watching him as we chatted. His sword lay off to the side, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. It wasn't like we were too lazy, we were just uninterested.

"Hey, it's not just you," he grunted, his tanned, arms flailing around. "I'm her friend too." He sounded serious as he spoke, but I couldn't help not keeping a straight face.

"Hate to break it to you doc, but I don't think we can have a serious talk while you're hanging upside-down with your camp shirt falling over your face." I retorted. It was true – I couldn't see his expression, or his face for that matter, which made it really annoying. It was hard not to blush, seeing him… like that. Seeing the faded scars on his shirtless chest… I'm getting ahead of myself.

Will grunted and tried heaving himself up with failure, and I had to smirk, washing away my previous thoughts. "I thought Apollo kids had to be fit," I chided. "You definitely set the standards." I could imagine Will's face heating up from under his faded orange shirt at my sarcastic tone.

"And I thought Hades kids didn't joke around with peppy Apollo kids, and look where we are now." He snapped in response.

I scowled, twisting my skull ring. Will finally managed to bring himself up, his sun-kissed (I don't know if I should take that term literally) blond hair tumbling down his forehead. "Fair enough, Solace," I mumbled in defeat, watching as he jumped off the rings and walked over to me, his footsteps echoing across the almost empty room.

He plopped onto the bench, wiping a few beads of sweat off of his face. He nodded and stared at me, as if to say: Well? Ideas? I searched his face, going over the question that's been popping around in my head ever since he made me sit in that damned infirmary for three days: How could I of ended up friends with somebody… like him?

"I dunno," I muttered dumbly. I wasn't even sure which question I was answering: his or mine.

Will sucked in a breath noisily, as if I wasn't there. "Really Solace?" I asked, feeling a bit annoyed. Will made a face, mirroring me.

"Well I'm sorry, I was just hanging upside-down with a cotton-shirt covering my breathing holes, and well, forget it." He laughed, as if he had said the funniest thing in the world. "We have bickering issues Death Breath," he concluded.

I swallowed. "Well, duh," I spluttered, not really liking the feeling of being righted by Will, and especially not liking it when he called me names like 'Death Breath.' I cleared my throat, trying to come back to reality. "Look, Will. Jay's our friend. And… and…"

For once, Will didn't take the time to make a joke. "We'll get her back," he finished, acting as if this was a quest. Acting like the two of us were the prince, and Jay was the damsel in distress. I wasn't sure if I liked that idea or not. Jay definitely didn't seem like a damsel in distress… Unless you count the time we saved her from the Hell-hounds and brought her to Camp Half-Blood.

Suddenly, Nico felt another presence in the room. "Hello?" called a familiar voice.

He and Will immediately turned around to face the door, where a familiar Latino was standing. "Hi!" Will cheered, losing the seriousness that was in his voice only a few mere moments ago.

"Am I interrupting something?" Leo asked, his cheery smirk giving me the feeling of wanting to punch him in the face. Will's eyes widened as the Latino said this, and I fought down the colour rising in my cheeks.

I scoffed, only realizing the awkwardness of the situation through Leo's eyes: Two boys. Alone. Talking in hushed tones. Sitting on a bench, at unnaturally close proximity. So on so forth.

"You're not interrupting nothing," Will muttered, losing his cheery tone for a second, and replacing it with sheer embarrassment. I realized how funny it was that he accidentally said 'nothing' instead of 'anything.' I scooted to the edge of the bench, avoiding Leo's gaze as he walked in without invitation.

The boy examined the two of us before launching into speech. "Guys, I need your help. Since the rest of the seven are at Camp Jupiter at the moment, you guys are the next big thing."

"Gee Valdez, we just love being compared to the seven like that," I muttered, still avoiding his gaze. Will had become awfully quiet. I didn't exactly know how to react to that.

Leo paused, shifting his weight from foot to foot and glancing at Will, as if waiting for him to speak.

"Just start talking," I spoke, feeling my impatience start to surround me.

"OK, so… um…" he scrunched up his nose, as if deep in thought. "It was either last night or the night before, but I was with mi sol, err, Calypso, giving Festus an oil change, when, we felt… this thing."

Will snapped out of his quiet mode. "Care to elaborate this 'thing?'" he asked with a smirk. "Because for all we know right now, it could be a wrench hitting you in the back of the head."

Leo smirked. "Ha ha, very funny Solace. When was the last time we talked like this, you were giving me the grand tour, weren't you? And now you've left me and joined di Angelo over here-"

"Shut-up flame pants and finish the story," Will said through gritted teeth. Leo definitely had a thing for ticking people off.

Leo smirked at the name 'flame pants,' before continuing his peculiar story. "It was like… It felt as if something hit me in the back."

"And so the wrench attacks," Will and I said in unison. I gaped at him, and he gaped back at me. It was always weird to say the exact same thing as someone else at the exact time. For a second, Leo looked as if he was trying not to laugh.

"Well, anyways," Leo spoke, running an oily hand through his oily hair, "when I turned around to see what hit me, there was nothing there. It was just a force, and it stayed there, knocking me against Festus for a while. It hit Calypso too, and she said that something wasn't right. We left the forest immediately after the force disappeared, so that we could warn Chiron."

He took in a gulp of air, seating himself between me and Will. Will gave him a look of concern. I tried not to stare.

"But then," Leo said, facing me, "as we were walking towards the Big House, something even weirder happened."

I leaned forward expectantly. "Something weirder? Leo, what is it with you and weirdness?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Seriously Nico," he said, which took me by surprise. It was only on rare occasions that Leo actually called me by my real name, and not something like 'di Angelo,' or 'Death boy' or something like that. "C'mon, this is where you guys come in. Jay… I saw her, talking to…"

Will's eyes widened, and we exchanged a disappointed glance. It was almost a ninety percent chance that she was talking with Ash. But Leo dashed that chance. Unfortunately or fortunately, I'm not completely sure…

"She wasn't talking to anybody, but it was like there was a person… A he. And this he… I don't know if he's real or not, but… if he is, than he might've caused that force."

Leo looked at the both of us with his face scrunched up, as if he was bracing himself for our reactions.

Will was the first one to react. "She's weird, Leo. She talks to herself. Remember when Ash posted that thing about her talking to a random 'boy' near the woods?"

But I could sense that he was doubting what he was saying. Leo hardly ever told lies. Sure, there was the occasional prank or life-or-death-lying-to-monsters, but the taco-lover could surprise you.

"Was there anything else you want to tell us?" I asked, twisting my skull ring again until it hurt my finger.

Leo's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! The air around her, well, I was hiding and listening a few feet away, but the air… it was freezing! It was like she was in a little bubble with the person she was talking to, and that person, was, like…" he struggled for the right word. "Was like Elsa!" then he scrunched his face up again. "Elsa the guy, I mean."

Something seemed to click in my brain. "Um, don't worry Leo. We'll keep an eye on her… Bye!" I said, hopping up and escorting the Latino away. I tried ignoring his cries and complaints. Once he was out of sight, I jogged back to the benches where Will was sitting, his elbows on his knees.

We stared at each other, before I spoke. "Jack Frost," I said, because that was the only answer I could come up with at the moment. I plopped back down onto the bench, waiting for his reaction.

Will seemed to have come to the same conclusion. "Remember when she was talking to us, that day when we first met her? She asked if Jack Frost was real."

I nodded. "We just said it was Khione, and then it started snowing, and-" I stopped myself. "We don't know for sure." I said, falling back into my slouching position.

Will sighed. "I wish the rest of the seven were back," he muttered, completely abandoning the Jay situation. "They could subdue Leo's awful jokes and stuff."

I found myself trying not to smirk. "Percy would have a hard time looking me in the eye," I said, not meaning to say that out loud. I felt my eyes widen as Will stared at me, his eyebrows arched, the question on the tip of his tongue.

"It's nothing you need to know, doc," I lied, giving him a fake salute. Will seemed to be satisfied with the answer (either that or he liked being called doc). "But shouldn't we worry about Jay, not Leo?"

Will nodded his head, his brow now furrowed. "You're right. Maybe we… maybe I should try talking to her."

He glanced at me, blue eyes boring into mine, as if waiting for my reaction.

"I'm coming, even if I don't say much," I figured obliviously.

Will's eyes seemed to darken. "But what if you accidentally-"

"Fine. I guess I'll just shadow-travel off then."

"NO!" Will shouted, his reaction taking me by surprise. His voice echoed off into the emptiness of the place. Then he shook his head again, his blond hair flying everywhere. "You can come… no more shadow-traveling."

I couldn't resist the urge to tease him, even for only a little bit. "In case you haven't noticed, those three boring days of me trapped in the infirmary with you are over. I was shadow-traveling to save you and Jay, and-"

Will's face heated up, but I couldn't tell whether it was from anger or embarrassment. "Just shut-up already. We have to get going."

I stood up, joining him, and the two of us walked out without another word.

It's amazing, how one little thing can change your whole life.

There the two of us were, walking around camp, keeping eyes peeled for Jay. The whole time, I had to fight the blush from rising into my cheeks, since Will was standing with his shoulder pressed up to mine. It's kind of weird: We're alone; and he's the one blushing. We're walking around freaking camp, and he's doing… whatever this is?!

I coughed, watching as other campers walked by, staring at the two of us. I counted the faces of people I knew as they walked past: Lou Ellen, Malcolm, Clarisse and Chris.

I was suddenly feeling self-conscious, hoping they were staring more at Will than me. Will was smiling at everyone as always, as if we were celebrities.

I coughed again. "Why don't we split up?" I asked. We had already checked her cabin, the woods, and almost every other place in camp except the beach. And I definitely did not want to go to the beach with Will pressed up this close to me.

You might be thinking: Nico, you're acting weird, why don't you just scowl and distance yourself like you usually do? Well thing is, I tried that. And then, moments later, before I could even think, he was there again. I couldn't tell if he was doing that on purpose to tease me, or if…

Will shook his head. "Nuh-uh. If we were going to split up, you should've called it sooner. We just have to check the beach or something. She's been going there recently." He mumbled, and I got the feeling that he was starting to feel self-conscious too. I tried distancing myself again, and, finally, he didn't follow. Thank the gods… I guess.

Suddenly, I spotted her. I tugged on the sleeve of Will's camp shirt. "There she is!" I said, not bothering to get a closer look. She was waving her hands around frantically, as if she was talking to somebody. I was about to run up to her, but Will grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face him. I tried to scowl.

"She's talking to herself again," he whispered, "Just like Leo said."

I kept scowling, and somehow managed to look Will in the eye. "Doesn't matter."

"But she-"

I tore out of his strong grip, suddenly angry. At who? Possibly Will.

"NICO!" Will shouted, a bit too loud for my liking, especially since I had only managed to make it a foot away from him. Jay whipped around, a startled look on her face. Her gaze caught mine, and I finally realized something different about her. Her eyes stood out, and she had bright blue streaks in her hair, brighter than Will's eyes.

I shook my head, not knowing what to do. I knew instantaneously that Ash had done that to her, and I wasn't pleased. "Jay…" I trailed off.

Jay's POV:

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does Jack! They'll go crazy and-"

"Do you want me to fly you back to that camp?" he asked, rather sneakily.

I tried not to freeze up as I recalled the trauma of almost falling off of a horse and having Will as the only thing keeping me alive. "NO flying, right. Let's go." I said quickly, walking off through the woods. Jack laughed merrily before following after me.

He seemed to of whispered something, but his voice was too soft for me to understand.

"Huh?" I asked, to which Jack blushed and swung his staff around, almost sniping me smack-dab between the eyes. I ducked just at the right moment with a small shriek and a few curses.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Sorry."

By the time we made it back to the camp, the two of us were talking animatedly about books.

"I wrote this book!" Jack said excitedly. "But then I lost it somewhere in these woods, and yeah."

"What was it about?" I wondered aloud.

"100 things to do with snow," Jack said dreamily. "I was only on number… fifty, I think."

Right then, I heard an all too familiar voice. "NICO!" called Will. Much to my dismay, the two must have been looking for me.

At that moment, Jack pressed his shoulder up to mine like an act of defense. I took a glance at him, and he put a finger to his lips: Don't talk to me. They can't see me. Just for extra measures, I stuffed my hands into my pockets, hoping that Jack didn't have the idea of grabbing and holding them. Humph, I thought. He's giving me the cold shoulder, but in a nice way.

Nico seemed angry, his dark eyes boring into mine like daggers. Will seemed disappointed at the both of us. I only just remembered that I was wearing the makeup from Ash, and a feeling of revulsion passed through me. I didn't want to imagine what Will – or Nico – was thinking about how I'd changed.

"I- I, Nico-" I called, but the skinny boy took off, his aviator jacket flapping uselessly, away from me and Jack. I swallowed nervously, waiting for Will's move. Will, I thought silently. We're both of the sun. You get me. Please be my friend again.

Will shook his head, a torn look on his face. "I- Jay-" he took a glance to where Nico should have been, only to realize the Italian was gone. He must have shadow-traveled off. "I have to find Nico," he fretted. "But I, we-"

Nico appeared off to the side, landing face-first in the dirt with an audible grunt. Before Will could finish his sentence, he had torn off to aid Nico (typical). The two disappeared the moment Will laid his hands on him, and it occurred to me that the Italian must have shadow-traveled them away. I crumpled to the ground like a pop can, just like that, leaning against Jack's skinny legs for support, fighting off tears.

I've lost them, for the third time in two days, I thought glumly.

Then I felt Jack's cold arms try and pull me up. I didn't fight. I wasn't in the mood to.

"Jay-"

"Just shaddup," I mumbled rudely.

I was waiting for Jack to flinch at my tone or something, but all he did was sigh. "You aren't gonna get anywhere by swearing." He mumbled softly as he finally managed to pull me up. There was a hint of humour in his voice that I couldn't forget.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Ash worriedly. We were sitting in her cabin this time, on her bunk, talking in hushed tones so that her fellow brothers and sisters wouldn't listen in. She was wearing her orange camp shirt and her ripped jeans, somehow managing to make it look cool, a feat that only a child of Aphrodite could pull off.

"I dunno, Ash," I murmured in response. "I don't really want to talk about Will and Nico, so-"

"Right. I'll shut-up now." She said, to which I burst into stupid laughter.

"Anyways," she added, the both of us composing ourselves once more, "I… we're having a party in our cabin, next week. You're invited!" she squealed excitedly. Then she paused. She must have seen the uneasy look on my face, because she said: "Jay, you're coming, right?"

I spluttered. "I'm not sure, Ash, I know Will and Nico-"

"Jay, you've lost them. Just get over it." Her voice was thick with an emotion I couldn't quite place. Was it even an emotion? It was like I was getting stuck in her words.

I tried not to splutter even more before saying, "Right, I guess." Even though I did say that, I knew in my heart I didn't entirely mean it. Something inside of me couldn't quite let go of Will and Nico – they did save my life, after all.

Ash let out a breath of relief, wrapping me into a rib cracking bear hug. "Ribs!" I squeaked, my voice an octave higher than usual. Ash let go of me with a giggle.

"Don't worry Jay, you're going to look awesome! With the makeup, I'll have to design you a chic looking outfit…" she began to ramble about clothes.

I coughed, hugging my knees to my chest. "Are you trying to back me out of this?"

Ash rolled her eyes. "Sorry, sorry, just excited."

"Ash!" called Jess, one of her siblings, a tall, muscular sixteen year old with swooping blond hair and pale green eyes. He was perched on the edge of his bunk, on the opposite side of the room. "Never seen you this excited! I'm betting Will Solace is going to be there too?"

I forced a laugh.

Even though it was the middle of November, and I was freezing cold, I couldn't sleep with my covers on. It seemed out of habit for me to not sleep with the covers on, but it gave me a sense of freedom, as if the covers were shackles binding me to my bed.

I couldn't help going over all the things that had happened from when I arrived at camp. Will and Nico, and Leo trying to kiss me. Being claimed, only to realize my father was a retired titan or something. Jack. Ash. Me throwing a grape at Nico's head, and losing him and Will forever. And Lily, how could I forget that? Sure, I wasn't exactly involved, but it was plain creepy.

I've lost Will and Nico. Lost… (This would have been the time when I made a Lilo and Stitch reference, but I was already asleep)

I was in a bright white room that seemed to stretch out for miles on end. I looked around, imagining all the snow Jack had made today. Was I dreaming about that, just without any sense of reality?

"Jay!" called a voice, snapping me out of my thoughts. I know that voice! The figure of a scrawny boy with spiky, mangled black hair appeared. I realized who he was with a start. Is that? NO, it couldn't be. But still…

"Jason!" I called back, instantly remembering my childhood friend. I couldn't recall this being a scene that had happened to me before, so this must have been a dream. As he loomed closer, I noticed that this was him, Jason while he was still the same age as I was now. He had definitely grown taller, and he was no longer the midget I had become friends with.

He stopped running a few feet in front of me and we stared at each other. I wanted to run and give him a hug, but my dream self wasn't moving. I was rooted to the spot, and all I could do was talk. "Holy smokes Jay, you look so…" he trailed off.

"Where are the others?" I asked worriedly, not wanting him to finish that sentence. "You guys didn't split up, did you?" I had always feared our little friend group would split up, and one of would deal drugs, the other drop out of school… Nothing good, to say the least.

Jason's eyes widened. "Oh no, we're still the same. Still the five of us, trying to conquer the world." He smiled wistfully, but I felt a pang of melancholy when I realized I was no longer part of the six (which had become the five).

His smile seemed to widen as he continued to talk. "Gabby and Dawn have been dating since junior year," he explained casually.

Soon, I had to smile too. "What about you and Nyssa? You still like her, don't you?!"

Jason laughed good-naturedly, but he was trying not to blush. "I dunno if I want to answer that," he mumbled quietly.

Then it occurred to me that I was missing someone. "How's Dan?" I asked, my voice near a whisper.

Jason seemed to stiffen. "He… he's still trying to search for you. He's kind of mad, but it's hard to tell who at. I think he still likes you, and-"

"You have to be kidding me. We haven't seen each other in years!" I couldn't help but feel guilty. It never would have occurred to me that he'd still like me after all these years!

Jason tried for a smirk. "Do you still like him?"

I scowled. "I got over that before I even ran away… and I met somebody else," I mumbled, an image of Jack appearing in my mind. Then I shook my head, trying to erase the thought.

My old friends' smile vanished. "Why did you run off anyways?" he asked innocently.

"I went bankrupt. I wasn't allowed to get a job, and there was nobody to adopt me after mum died. So I left for a while, and then I needed food to eat, so I stole some, and soon the police were on my back, and-"

"Oh," Jason said. "I never thought you'd be able to do something as crazy as that." He sighed. "Have you made any friends?"

"Yeah, I did. But I lost them."

"You can't lose true friends, dummy. You'll get them back. Remember when Dan and Gabby-"

Then he paused, as if something had struck him. The whole scene seemed to freeze, as if there was a glitch, before a tornado of black surrounded me. "Jason!" I screamed, but my voice no longer worked. I had lost Jason too.

Suddenly, the scene shifted.

A murky gray seemed to surround me. I called out, and immediately the gray seemed to reside, and soon I was in the forest. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack, running and shouting. I tried walking over to him, and my legs finally seemed to work. "Jack?" I called, but he didn't answer. He was muttering things like a madman.

Then, something red caught my eye. I whipped my head around just as Jack flew off, and I noticed an open book lying in the dirt, beside an unnaturally smooth rock. I walked over to the book carefully, and suddenly the forest seemed to… sigh. Then I heard a raspy old voice, as if the speaker hadn't used it in over a gazillion years. "He of frost and she of sun," it murmured, before stopping. The forest stopped 'sighing' and I took another glance at the book.

I tried picking it up, but my hand just passed straight through it. The words were in Latin, which was something Malcolm from the Athena cabin had started teaching me recently. I could only make out one word: draco.

Dragon.

Nico: *trying to not blush* I still want McDonalds.

Me: *now smirking* I tried to warn you, dude. I'm sorry.

Leo: Since when was Solangelo a thing?

Nico: Why you little-

Me: Commercials! Review and commercials!