"My lady," The voice hissed, echoing all around me like surround sound. "I've done what you have asked, I have claimed the girl."

I stood-more like floated in place, actually-in complete darkness. Everything around me was pitch black, smoke clogging my lungs. I started to hyperventilate out of panic.

"You have done well, Nemesis. You will be rewarded to…keep the balance," A softer, more sophisticated voice answer. I froze. Nemesis was lying.

"Thank you, my lady," The raspy voice, my supposed mother, replied.

Then the dream changed. I stood in a snowy field, sunlight glaring down as the icy wind cut through my light windbreaker. The sun reflected off the snow blindingly, but somehow I wasn't affected. My eyes adjusted to the harsh light, taking in everything. For as far as I could see, all there was was snow. Snow here, snow there, snow everywhere.

"Gods," I mumbled, then frowned. Camp Half-Blood was already changing me. It was changing the way I thought, the way I dressed, and now the way I talked.

The world around me was flat in all directions, nothing standing out against the horizon. I had a feeling I wasn't in Kansas(or New York) anymore.

"Ready your weapon, child," That softer voice from before told me. Even in this snowy wasteland, her voice still echoed. "They will arrive soon. Ready yourself before this dream becomes reality. Train hard, embrace your abilities, and fight bravely against your enemies. Do not fail me, child of…Nemesis. I had that blade crafted for you specifically."

I whirled around then looked up at the sky. "Who are you?" I croaked, then yelled the next part. "What do you mean?"

"The moment you fail, the moment you become a hindrance instead of an asset, I will not hesitate to rid myself of you, hero," The voice sneered. "Now ready yourself!"

"What are you saying? Tell me! And I'll fail you if I want to, you unhelpful hag!" I hollered defiantly, at the top of my lungs. I got no answer. I glowered at nothing in particular and kicked the snow. I'm sorry, but something about anonymous, mocking, unhelpful, invisible dream women really pissed me off.

But the person, being, goddess, whatever she was did spark my interest by mentioning the knife. It was made for me, like actually made for me? Really? And what did she mean by 'Ready your weapon?' I was dreaming, so why would there be any monsters in my dream?

Nevertheless, I looked down. Strapped to my thigh was the diamond knife, the stones embedded in the hilt glittering in the sun. I unsheathed it, holding it out in front of me and twisting it around. It was incredible, captivating, the way the blade sparkled and glinted in the sun. It almost gave me a headache.

I remembered back to that afternoon, about a week ago, when Nico and I had gone back to the dining pavilion.

Chiron stood at the head table, his horse half never fully still. The pavilion was buzzing with talking and laughter-a normal afternoon at camp. Kids quieted though as Nico and I came into view.

I don't think they expected me to be laughing at Nico's wet shirt front. I had kicked water up into his face back at the creek when he'd called me annoying. His expression had been priceless. Right then, he was glaring at me. Black didn't dry very fast.

Thinking back on it, they were probably more shocked that Nico hadn't sent me to the Underworld the hard way. I understood, all of a sudden, what he was saying about people treating him differently, being frightened by him. It must've sucked.

Anyway, I held my head high as I headed toward Chiron, Nico slouching along behind me. He still looked pissed.

Chiron's eyes immediately shot to the blade in my hand. I had to give him credit: for an old-as-dirt centaur, Chiron didn't miss much. He spoke in a low voice so he wouldn't be overheard.

"Where did you get that Andromeda?" He asked tensely.

"In the attic, under the stool," I answered, just as quietly. His face grew grim.

"Ah, so it's you. You are the demigod," He looked at me sadly, as if that knife had sealed my fate.

"What demigod?" I demanded. Chiron hesitated before answering.

"That knife," He started. "Was left here almost fifteen years ago. With it, an anonymous note was left. It said that when the right hero came along, the knife should be given to them. The note said that it was vital for the demigod receive the weapon."

I stared at him. "Wow."

"Wow, indeed," Chiron said gravely, looking out at Long Island Sound. I looked at the knife and swallowed. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

So the knife was meant for me after all. This mystery lady had ordered it made…just for me. This chick must've had high expectations for me. I wonder if she realized how badly I'd turn out…

I pushed the thought of my mind. No use thinking that way now. The women must have known what I was like. Somehow she still had faith in me, faith that I wouldn't 'fail her,' whatever that meant.

To be honest, I was crazy surprised about how calmly I was taking this dream lady. She comes, proves that I'm not Nemesis' child, then tells me that I'm supposed to be ready for…

What exactly am I supposed to be ready for? I asked myself, gripping my knife and looking around again. What enemy was she talking about anyway? No one had said anything about a major, threatening enemy.

You see, I'd been at camp a little over a week. I'd gotten somewhat better with a sword-even if I couldn't beat ten-year-old Wayne, my supposed brother-and I'd learned how to use a bow. I was more an archer than swordsman, hands down. By the third archery lesson with Chiron, I could hit a bull's-eye about half the time. That gave me some credit with Apollo cabin.

But my strong suit was knife fighting. Annabeth had started teaching me every day after I'd found the knife. Chiron still seemed worried about the blade and wanted me to learn from the best. Apparently, Annabeth and some Ares kid named Drake were the best two knife-fighters at camp. They took turns teaching me how to attack and defend, how to disarm and block. Something they stressed, above all else, was how only the quickest and cleverest could fight with a knife and come out alive. If you were going up against someone, knife on sword, you had to get in uncomfortably close. Then you'd have to work with your smaller blade, trying to block their sword and not get skewered, and still manage to wound them.

I'll admit, it was incredibly difficult. A few times, when I got frustrated, my control would break and light would shine through the blade. Annabeth's eyes had widened once, seeing the light, but I'd passed it off as the sun. She'd gone along with it, although she had still looked suspicious.

Eventually, I knew that I would completely blow my cover all together. I'd figured out that the light was linked to my emotions. One day I would get too angry or panicked and would show off my little magic trick. When that day came, I knew I would be in deep trouble. I had a feeling that this knife would only make the Great Unveiling-as I so sarcastically called it-ten times worse. I don't know why I felt like that, but the feeling was strong.

Drake called it the Demigod Gut. We just felt things, knew things. It was a side affect of being a child of the gods. That and the dreams, or rather nightmares. The dreams were more like vivid messages, like the dream I was in now.

"Look my lady," I mocked. "If you expect me to embrace this freaky light stuff and kick some enemy tail, you better start explaining." I grumbled that last part, squinting around and wondering how I could wake myself up.

Frankly, I was bored. That is until something slammed into my back and sent me sprawling.

It seemed that my body already knew how to fight, the training I'd gotten at camp just made me more aware of what I was doing, less impulsive. Fortunately, this meant that I was able to twist in mid air and face the thing that had tackled me. I jerked back, slamming my head even further down in the snow, when I saw the monsters face.

Another one of those Greek vampires. Lamiai, Annabeth had called them. According to her, they were cousins of the empousai, and looked like dracaena from the waist down. Of course, I had no idea what dracaena or empousai were or how they looked. All I knew was this: lamiai were pretty girls until you looked through the Mist. Then they were slightly transparent with glowing red eyes. Does everyone remember Ashley and her crew? Oh yeah, and one thing I had managed to overlook the first time. The lamiai had two serpent tails for legs. Vampires that walked on snake trunks. Who would've thunk it?

Anyway, this lamia was small, hardly worth any effort to kill. I just threw her under me, twisting my body over hers, and sat down hard on her stomach. Transparent or not, this chick had enough substance to be sat on.

I drew my knife out quickly, shoving it under her chin. She growled and struggled, snapping her fangs at me. I thought back to the school hallway-it seemed like a thousand years ago now-and remembered Percy's shot to Ashley's heart. I drove my dagger down into the lamia's heart and she screamed, disintegrating to dust under me.

I almost laughed. Her monster dust made the snow yellow.

Then I heard a scream of rage behind me. I whirled, holding my knife out defensively in front of me and drew in a sharp breath.

"Aw, Styx," I groaned under my breath, looking at the army of lamiai standing in front of me. They curved around where I stood in a semi-circle, and when I say army, I mean army. There were over a hundred, all glaring at me, all bent on destroying me.

So I gave in to my ADHD, let myself go on auto-pilot. Naturally, impulsively, I shot them the bird and charged.

A/N: I told you I'd write longer chapters, did I not? Well here's this: flashbacks, dreams, and obscene hand gestures all rolled into one! xD

On a more serious note, I have done some research. And now, I am so freaking syked to write the rest of this story, however long that may take. (I'm an incredibly talented procrastinator.)

Anyway, I really hope to Zeus that you guys like this. The chapter was fun to write, for sure, even though I might not have edited it as well as I should... R&R? Maybe? Possibly? Please? Even if you don't, you could fave this story or add it to your alerts. Do either one and I'll get all giddy when I check my email. rme. I'm such a kid sometimes. Anyway, you guys rock, so much! 3