I closed my eyes as I heard a scream. It might've been mine, but I wasn't sure. In my mind I pictured a slide, made entirely out of light that was so concentrated it seemed solid and could be ridden on. I felt it beneath me as I slide in spirals to the ground.

My feet hit concrete as I opened my eyes and looked to the top of the building. Connor was rushing to the edge. My slide was dissolving at the top so he couldn't follow. He glared down at me and slammed his fist down on the ledge. I glared right back.

Then he made such a sudden movement. I couldn't process it until it might've been too late. Connor had whipped out a dagger and was advancing Nemo, who stood to his right. She started backing up, backing right into Octavian, who stumbled back. Connor grabbed Nemo's bloody arm.

He yanked her to her feet, holding the dagger to her neck. I felt my bow materialize in my hands. I could feel the burning scream in my throat. I notched an arrow and had the bow aimed, string pulled back, ready for release.

And that's exactly what I did. I chose to look away as Connor's limp body fell to the floor, the arrow piercing his heart sticking up. I let the part of the top of the slide re-materialize.

"C'mon! I can't hold it for long!" I shouted at them. Misty was the first into action. She jumped over the ledge and onto the slide without a second thought, Octavian after her, and Nemo went shakily after him. Alex was last, and as he started sliding down, I could feel it disappearing behind him.

Once his feet hit the ground beside me, I fell to my knees. My bow dissolved next to me, and my pendant reappeared around my neck. I could see black spots floating in and out of vision.

Alex knelt down next to me. "Jaycee?" He asked as my vision blurred and the black spots merged together. My eyes slid closed and I passed out.

Nemo's POV

I was sitting next to Octavian on the plane ride back home. I stared at the snake bite on my right hand and closed my eyes slowly, hoping that I would at least get just a little time left before I died.

"Are you okay, Nemo?" Octavian asked me, and I nodded.

"Fine." I replied, and I fell asleep.

Octavian's POV

We landed and were picked up from the airport by a man with many eyes named Argus. We went to Camp Half-Blood and walked into the Big House, where we were immediately taken care of by a few Apollo demigods and Chiron.

"And you'll be staying in this cabin with me." Jaycee said, pointing to a bunk across hers. "I have some business to take care of." And Jaycee left me in the cabin without knowing who the hell these people were.

"Um, hi." I said and everyone just stared at me. This was going to be a long day.

Nemo's POV

I was called by Chiron to go to the attic to talk to Rachel, where she was currently sitting. Apparently Frank and Hazel told him about the unfinished prophecy and he thought that it would help if I went to talk to the Oracle.

"Hello, Nemo." Rachel said, and I nodded my hello.

"Spirit of Delphi, finish my prophecy." Nemo said, and Rachel's eyes turned bright green, and the Spirit of Delphi filled her soul.

"The darkness and the messenger face certain doom, the messenger trapping himself within his own tomb.
The magic, the gems, and the shape-shifter too, will return the fire to the sword sent by you.
The sun and the magic will find their souls match, the pain from within will finally match.
The future changed because of the past, but only one will find they don't last." Rachel finished the prophecy, and she slumped down in her chair. Before she could say a word, however, I ran back downstairs and ran out of the Big House, ignoring Chiron's protests. I ran past Percy and Annabeth, who asked what was wrong. I ran past Leo, Reyna, Frank, and Hazel, being concerned but ignoring them. I ran all the way to my cabin, grabbed my scepter, and disappeared into the woods. Why, you ask?

So I could die alone.

Octavian's POV

"Have you seen Nemo?" Jaycee asked, running into the Apollo cabin with Alex on her heels.

"I thought she was hanging out with you!" I replied, almost shouting, and I stood up, not quite sure what was going on.

"She's going to die because of her snake bite!" Jaycee said, and we ran out of the cabin.

We found Nemo next to Thalia's tree, up on Half-Blood Hill. She was a deathly shade of blue with crimson eyes, and her veins were all black.

"Nemo!" Jaycee exclaimed, and we ran up to her. I sat next to Nemo and stroked her hair.

"We have to find help." Alex said, and he ran towards the Big House as fast as he could.

"What can you do?" I asked Jaycee, who had a concentrating look on her face, and her eyes lit up as an idea sparked in her mind.

"Kiss her." Jaycee said.

"What?" I asked.

"Just do it!" Jaycee said. "And then you and her will go to New York, contact my friends, and get her to meet her father. Got it?" I nodded in agreement, and I looked back down at Nemo, who looked back into my eyes with those creepy (but beautiful) blood red eyes of her other form.

"Nemo, I just wish it didn't have to be exactly like this." I said, and she managed a weak smile.

"I know, Octavian." She said, caressing my cheek in a blue hand, and I shivered because of the coldness of it.

"I've also got other reasons for this." I said, smiling back at her, and her body shuddered and convulsed, writhing on the ground.

"Now, Octavian!" Jaycee was screaming. "Do it now!" Alex and Chiron had caught up to us, and I leaned forward to kiss Nemo, but Chiron held me back.

"Not yet, boy." He whispered so only I could hear it, and I nodded just slightly, so Jaycee and Alex couldn't hear me.

Suddenly, Nemo stopped her seizure. I put my hand underneath her nose and felt no breath. Her skin was a normal shade instead of her blue frost giant form, and I imagined that her eyes were also back to normal as well.

Jaycee started crying, and she hugged Alex tightly, who returned the hug and she cried in his shoulder.

"Let's give them some privacy." Chiron whispered to Jaycee and Alex, and they all went down the hill, leaving me alone with Nemo's now cold body.

I trailed my fingers over her lips and outlined her facial features.

"I think you're my soul mate, Nemo." I whispered into her lips. "And I think I can bring you back." And in one motion, I kissed her.

Her lips were cold, and it was a short kiss, but I was still mesmerized by the after-effects of it anyway.

Time passed slowly, even though it was only a minute. And then I felt a tug deep inside me. It was like my soul waking up from a long nap. Images flashed by in my head and I saw Nemo's life, from start to finish. As the images faded away, I was amazed. It was all so beautiful, and so was she. But she was even more striking and stunning now.

"Nemo." I whispered, stroking her hair back from her face, pleading and hoping she would wake up. "Nemo." I felt her hands moving, her eyelids were fluttering, and in one single movement, her eyes opened to reveal golden orbs with green specks. And, as if testing the movements of her body, she stood up, and danced around. After spotting me on the ground, she sat down next to me, and grabbed my face in both of her hands. Opening her mouth, she only said two words that summed up everything.

"I'm back."

Ahhhhh! The story's finally over! So exciting!

But anyways, the story will have a sequel. It will start to be posted after New Year's Eve, so we have enough time to actually write out the chapter in advance so petty things like writer's block doesn't happen to us and make us take super long to update!

The set up of the sequel is basically the same, except during most of the story (the entire middle section) Nemo and Jaycee will have completely different story plotlines (yes I said plotlines. Sue me!). The story starts and ends with the same 'story', and then it gets all weird at the end. And it will alternate, so one chapter will be about Nemo, and the next will be about Jaycee. It can be confusing, but don't think of it that way!

So sayonara, and when December's over, look for our new story on this same profile, "The Light Shatters the Sun".

;) ~*N.L*~