Lily's POV

I had the last watch of the night, so I am the one who gets to wake everyone else up. Blackjack and the other Pegasus aren't here yet, but I figured we should be awake and ready to go when they are.

"Guys!" I shout, kneeling down to gently shake Annabeth awake.

"I'm up!" She shouts in my face, jolting up just after I move back, slightly dazed, a hand over my forehead for stability.

"Oops, sorry," Annabeth frowns, her eyes shining with worry.

"No, its fine, I'm good." I mumble, pausing a moment to steady by heartrate. It seems I may have also gotten a concussion from the crash.

The only thing that alerts me that Apollo's blessing is still in effect is the fact that I haven't been severely injured just yet. Really only minor medical faults. My burn could have very easily been more than a 'light toasting'. Instead of my hair, I could've lost a leg or arm, or hand or foot. Things could be going much worse for me.

"Percy!" I shout again, having to make the effort to push him off of the tree trunk before he finally wakes.

"Yeah?"

"Blackjack should be here any minute! Get up," I continue, offering my hand for him to stand.

Yeah boss! I'm almost here! I hear the voice in my head, startling me so much I nearly trip backwards.

"What was that?" I frown, instinctively bringing a hand up to my cheek.

"You heard that? It was Blackjack! I guess I was right the first time, all of us children of Poseidon can speak to and understand animals he created," Percy explains happily, watching the skies for his Pegasus.

"Um…I don't think that's as good a thing as you think it is Percy," I say, following his eyes up through the tree canopies to the sky. He shrugs.

"Oh, guys look!" Annabeth says suddenly, pointing us in the complete opposite direction than that of where we were facing. There he is, a real life Pegasus.

He's gorgeous! I think to myself. I could swear I see the black stallion with wings wink at me.

Thanks Lady Boss, I hear the response.

A white Pegasus, and a spotted Pegasus follow behind him, creating a V-Formation. It's almost mesmerizing.

They land gracefully in front of us, their manes fluttering in a light wind.

"Hey, Blackjack. I owe you a bag of sugar cubes," Percy promises him, stepping closer to run a hand through his hair.

For whatever reason, I feel myself being drawn to the spotted one.

What's your name? I ask her, in pure awe of her beauty. She has the longest eyelashes I'd ever seen.

Venus, what's yours?

I'm Lily,

Pleasure to meet you, I've heard much about you from Juno.

I freeze, my hand an inch from her mane.

"Juno?!" I ask, slightly horrified. What has Hera told Venus about me? And why did she send Venus, for me? I thought she had faith in me, she was the only one who had faith in me…

"What is it, Lily?" Percy asks me, coming over to me and Venus. He didn't hear any of that? I look away, and look back, calmer.

"Nothing, I just…thought I saw something," I lie, looking back at Venus.

Good one, Lily. She whispers in my mind.

You need to tell me now why He-Juno sent you, I demand. If a Pegasus could grin, I assume Venus would be now.

To help you get to South Carolina, of course.

Whatever, I sigh, defeated.

"Lily?" Annabeth snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, right, we should be leaving." I finish for her, turning away and hopping up on Venus.

We take off a few seconds later, and I have to say, it wasn't as graceful as their landing, instead it felt as if I was on a rickety wooden coaster just about ready for the loop-de-loop.

Maybe that was just Venus.

About three minutes into our flight, I try to make small talk with Percy and Annabeth, by yelling.

"So how long until South Carolina!" I say, leaning my body closer to Venus' neck, for stability.

"We have to stop in North Carolina, so the Pegasus can rest! It'll be about three hours!" She says back, stroking the neck of her Pegasus.

The name's Short-Stack. He speaks to me. Forgot about that.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend you. I apologize quickly, to Short-Stack.

I watch him nod, and slow down slightly, to prevent breaking formation.

Alright, Venus. Are you really going to keep me in the dark? I try again.

Lady Juno requested that I don't get involved.

Ok, what is that? Why do you keep calling Hera, Juno?

She asked that I use Juno when I speak to you about her,

And why would she ever do that? I've never even met Hera!

And then Venus goes silent. Serves me right for losing my temper. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Though I guess that's just the stress of being a demigod.

After a while of just holding on for dear life as the wind scrapes my face and brushes my burn, I decide to try closing my eyes for a while. They say that helps with motion sickness, right?

Oh, great, another dream… I think to myself just before I drift off.

In Lily's dreams…

"Lily?" I hear his voice, turning around.

"Nico? What's going on?" I ask him, almost relieved its him and not Gaea again. He smiles, coming closer.

"Sometimes I like to enter the dreams of others, Clovis from Hypnos' Cabin taught me. It's a skill…" He explains, casually taking a seat on the ground.

I follow suit, sitting across from him.

"So what brings you into my dreams?" I wonder nervously, sure that I'm already blushing. You don't need to know why.

"I wanted to find out how the quest was going. I figured it would be easier to talk to you like this. No unwanted ears listening," He says ominously, his eyes glittering. I suppose he hasn't yet noticed my hair, or he would've been able to assume the quest has been fairly, surprising, so far.

"Well, I haven't been much of a leader. For the most part I've still been following Percy and Annabeth's lead," I frown, looking away from him. He shifts, clearly unsure of what to say to me.

"Well, I'm sure it'll get better. You'll find the right moment to take control, I'm sure of it," He says, running a hand through his unkempt hair awkwardly.

"Yeah, I guess…" I pause, "How's camp been getting along?"

"Chiron has all the campers preparing for-"

"When I fail," I finish for him, staring at the ground between us.

"He just wants us to be ready, is all. We all have confidence in you." He says quickly.

"I'm sure you do," I reply miserably, refusing to look at him.

"Lily, I-" Nico stops suddenly, my sight becoming fuzzy, until there's only darkness…

In Reality…

"We're here, sleepy head," Annabeth smiles at me as I open my eyes, blinking.