I'm trying really hard for this story and desperately need you guys to review it. PLEASE! I can promise that you won't be bored…there's going to be a lot of grisly deaths and angst and myths, and it's going to be better once you reach the part where Alex's 'secret' is revealed.

And can anyone guess who her teacher/stepmother is? It's actually pretty obvious in this chapter.

"So, Rachel," Chiron said. "What exactly is the wording of the prophecy?"

Rachel and Marcus had sat down on the stone bench, and a cup of coffee had been placed in Rachel's hands. It did not seem to be a particularly good idea, as the prophetess was already hyperactive.

"I think I should, um, tell you…privately?" she spoke hesitantly.

"The demigods deserve to hear it," Chiron said. "After all, they are the ones who will execute the quest."

Rachel took a shaky breath. Whatever the prophecy was, it was clear that it alarmed her. Percy thought that she'd never looked that panicked since their quest in the Labyrinth, when they had been captured by Luke's army.

She exhaled. "Fair enough.

'It thus begins with resurrection,

The huntress, the celestials, the lover, and deception,

A change of rules; the curse of the Styx,

Three for a quest; blood thus shall mix,

Twin blades shall complete the curse,

The fall of the sun, the final verse.'

Chiron was white. In all his years of training, Percy had never, ever seen him so scared, not in the Titan War, not when Gaia rose. But his face now held raw fear, as plain as a drop of blood on a carpet of snow. But all Percy could think of was the line of the prophecy.

Twin blades shall complete the curse.

He looked at Alex. She was looking longingly at the Hecate table, her face a mixture of homesickness and pain. Before he could stop himself, the words pulled themselves out of his mouth.

"Alex, your sword."

The area had been completely silent, and Percy's words reverberated through, as clear as a spring of fresh water. Everyone looked at the Poseidon table.

Alex looked startled, and realization dawned on her face. She flashed him a look of irritation, but she had no choice now. She reached into her pocket and hesitantly pulled out Shockwave.

At the same time as her, Percy uncapped Riptide, and both the swords gleamed in the sunlight, bronze and steel.

No…Platinum.

If possible, Chiron's face turned even more shocked and afraid. "No," he whispered.

Rachel looked as if she were about to pass out.

A moment later, the centaur trainer regained his composure, though his face was still fragile. "This...this calls for a quest." He looked a little lost. "I must go," he muttered to himself and trotted towards the direction of the Big House, leaving behind thirty extremely confused demigods.

"Counselors," he turned his head back at them. "We shall have a meeting in the Big House today. Oh, and Percy," he looked at the son of Poseidon distractedly. "Bring Alex."

Line Break

Nico traced the length of his sword as he waited in the throne room, wondering why he had been summoned. His uncanny observation had found a second opinion, and he couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or bad thing. So he replayed his talk with Malcolm, finding nothing better to do.

They'd been sitting and watching Percy and Alex as they practiced their swordplay skills against each other, bath having a look of passionate concentration on their faces. It was the day Adonis had been claimed. He found Malcolm surprisingly easy to be with; his wise gray eyes and his observant expression made him all the more trustworthy for Nico.

It was the son of Athena who broke the silence. "Alex fights surprisingly well for someone who has never been trained."

Nico nodded. "Too well, I should say. Even Clarisse never lasts against Percy for this long."

"Hm. Maybe she learned it from somewhere."

"That good? It doesn't seem like that to me."

Malcolm was silent for some time. Then he said in a low voice, "You think she got all those features from her father? Do all children of Poseidon look that similar?"

Nico glanced at him sharply. "Maybe, but Percy got his cheekbones and nose from his mother. Poseidon's nose is not quite so elegant. Alex…well, somehow she has those features too."

The blond demigod squinted. "Maybe Poseidon chose a woman who was closer in looks to Percy's mom."

"That isn't very likely."

Malcolm cut a sideways look at him. "You see it too, don't you?"

Nico didn't say anything for a moment.

I wonder if all children of Poseidon are that way.

"They're really alike," they both said at the same time.

"Nico?" A deep, rich voice shook him out of his thoughts.

He looked up and blinked. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he had not even noticed his father's silent entry into the throne room.

He bowed. "You, summoned me, father?"

Hades nodded. "Yes."

"It is the middle of the night. It surely must be something urgent that you whisk me directly to your palace?"

Hades was blunt in his answer, not delivering it in the subtle way her delivered death to so many mortals. "The harpy, Ella, and Rachel Dare have discovered something. Something lost and ancient. A prophecy."

"Why has Chiron not been informed yet? Why must I know of this?"

The god shifted in his seat. The gesture was small, furtive, yet Nico's brow furrowed. The Lord of the Dead, his father, uneasy? That must be a first.

"What is it?" he said, his voice turning hoarse of its own accord.

"We…may have encountered a problem."

"Which is?"

His father had a brooding expression. "I believe I told you about your sister's choice of rebirth."

Nico flinched. "Is this about Bianca again?"

Hades raised his hand. "This is just to tell you the truth, Nico. Your sister did not…truly…choose rebirth."

He looked up, his eyes as sharp as daggers. "What do you mean?"

Hades' hand drifted in a small movement, a vague gesture. "It was a sort of…comeback."

"I believe that is what rebirth is, father." His voice was filled with dry humor.

"I…it is rare." He said. "But it has something to do with a stirring of ancient powers. Something even I have not seen in millennia. But…she would not remember, I think."

Nico considered, concerning his father, whether all these centuries of dealing with ghostly traffic had finally gotten to him. "I do not understand."

"Of course you wouldn't." Hades looked disturbed. "Yet, be warned, my son. Bianca dwells in another's body now. Not rebirth. Just…something like bonding. Inside an anomalous new half-breed. And…tell Chiron Rachel Dare will be arriving at Camp Half-Blood tomorrow. You must be strong."

"What?" the son of Hades felt confusion and curiosity clouding his thoughts, as a deathly dark mist surrounded him, darkening his vision. "What does that mean?"

"Remember…she will not be the only one."

Before Nico could say anything, the mist swallowed him up, and everything went black.

Yay! Minor cliffhanger! I know all of us PJO fans are affected enough by these little gems.

Hope you like it! R n R!