Giras a la izquierda, entonces, sigues todo recto hasta 'la exención de responsabilidad'.

CHAPTER FOUR.

"Ready?"

I hear Connor's voice whisper below me. In case you were wondering, I'm on top of Thalia's pine tree right now, while Connor's below, being my lookout.

"What if I told you I wasn't?" I choke.

"Then I'll shake this tree so you fall off, then step on your face like I was supposed to." Connor punches the tree, causing it to rumble slightly.

"Hey!" I shout, grabbing onto the branches to regain my balance. "Don't do that."

"Then shut up and be ready," he demands.

"How can one just 'be ready'?" I ask stupidly to annoy Connor.

He punches the tree even harder. "If you shut up, maybe you'll figure it out."

I feel my foot slip and I grab onto the nearest branch with a slight yelp. I use my dangling foot to kick Connor's back. He jerks back, gasps, then pushes me back into the tree.

"Geez," Connor complains.

"Thanks," I say sarcastically.

"Nico! How many times do I have to tell you? Talk in whispers! We have to stay inconspicuous till Jake gives us the signal! They might get suspicious." Connor demands angrily.

"Yeah, sure they won't know something's up, 'cause you always hang out near this tree," I tease.

"Oh, I just really love hanging with the dragon. He's my best friend. I could totally marry him." I could hear the growing contempt in Connor's voice. I should really stop pushing his buttons now, or else I might never be able to get to Arizona.

"I better be the best man. Oh wait, never mind, I want to be the flower girl." I wink, even though Connor can't see me. I know I just said I should stop, but it's just so fun.

"One more strike, di Angelo," Connor punches the tree threateningly once more, though lightly. "And you're out."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop." I laugh. I tried to raise my hands in mock-surrender, but I almost lost my balance when I did. Connor can't see me anyway.

Connor sighs. "So, you still remember the plan or do I have to explain it to you one more time?"

"Nope, I remember. I memorized every single detail the fourth time." I grin.

"Good," he says. "Just remember—"

"One mistake, and everything's ruined," I cut him short. "I know."

I hear Connor chuckle a bit as he glanced up at me, then turn back around to face the camp, waiting for Jake to send us the signal any moment now.

So, what is this plan, you ask? Let me explain.

The whole point of this plan is to get me my 'grand exit' out of this camp so I can get to Arizona. All the consequences will be dealt with upon my return.

For this plan to be a success, the first thing we did was: steal a bunch of automatons from the Hephaestus cabin. Jake then tinkered with them a bit too look exactly like me, and even have some of my mannerisms so most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Connor scattered these automatons all over camp.

The twist? Jake installed a chip on them so they would be invisible, until one of the chips was deactivated. Then all of them would be, well, visible, and then start rampaging around camp. And if you touched one of the automatons, it would then would be propelled up into the sky then explode, with fireworks spelling out words like, "Nico di Angelo was here"—and other really interesting messages Connor wanted to put—in the sky.

In the midst of all this, Connor would turn of the Guards then I would just slip away quietly.

I bet it wasn't the 'grand exit' as you expected, but I'm a son of Hades—I'm not one to be into flamboyancy to begin with.

Then again, it would be pretty cool if I escaped camp riding a flaming chariot being pulled by a bronze dragon . . .

And if I wore a battle suit, I'd be the complete "Knight in Shining Armor" set, with a hardcore bronze dragon instead of some gay horse . . .

Aww man!

I hear a faint whistle from the distance. I immediately look down at Connor. I bend down slightly and kick his head.

"Was that the signal?" I whisper.

He pushes my foot away. "Yes, now stay here and wait."

"Wow, how exciting," I say sarcastically as I sink back into the tree. I watch Connor roll his eyes and then run over to the Guards control room.

I hear a distant explosion and see, "NICO DI ANGELO IS A BADASS" with a tiny "but is still not as awesome as Connor Stoll" underneath it. I laugh as I position myself on the branch, ready to jump off when necessary.

I look ahead and see the faint purple force field around the camp flicker, from bright to faded and barely even there, until it shines brightly one last time before disappearing. I smirk. There's my cue.

I jump from the tree and begin to run for it. Finally. This was it. It's going to work. I'm going to get to Arizona.

"Shit!" I say as I feel something yank my foot with so much force I thought my foot was going to get ripped off. My whole body freezes and I fall to the ground.

Oh dear gods, please, no.

"Percy, no," I whimper in the distance.

I'm in so much pain my whole body's going numb. But I can't give up now. Arizona's waiting for me . . . Thalia's waiting for me . . .

"I'm not Percy," a voice whispers wickedly.

I turn around and see bright green eyes staring down at me. I see her smirk in the darkness, and giggle slightly as she watches me recoil in pain. A cold, green mist starts to form around us. I close my eyes as I feel the mist engulf me, right as I see her open her mouth to speak. I begin to sink into the shadows, concentrating on the desert I saw in my dreams. But I was too late.

"In the mountains, you shall find what you want

But your thoughts will give in to every taunt

Remember these words as you get washed up the bay

For your actions, you will surely pay."

Her words are the last things I hear before the darkness consumes me. Her whispers linger in my ear as my thoughts travel back and forth, torn between the unwanted prophecy and Arizona.

"Holy Zeus!" Thalia shouts. She sits up from her sleeping bag. She's sweating and panting heavily. "What the—" she whispers to herself as she looks around her tent. Everyone else is still asleep. Looks like they didn't hear her scream.

She stands up from her sleeping bag and walks out of the tent. She shivers as she feels the cold desert breeze. As she takes a few more steps forward, she realizes how even the sand beneath her feet is cold.

"They weren't lying when they said deserts were cold at night," she whispers to herself jokingly.

She rubs her arms for warmth as she walks further into the forest, in her pajamas and barefoot, completely unprotected.

She looks back at her tent, silver and sparkling under the moonlight, before venturing deeper into the woods.

She didn't know where she was going. She just knew that she had to trust her instincts to take her where she needed to go. She didn't know why she knew, but she did. Her dream told her so. Her heart was telling her so.

She kept walking until she reached a pathway with tiny dribbles of water flowing down. She steps on the water, ready to cross, when she hears heavy breathing near her. She immediately raises her arm, taps the chains on it, and grips onto her shield, Aegis, tightly.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't 'completely unprotected' after all.

She spots a figure in the darkness, covered in branches and dried up muddy leaves. She creeps towards it slowly, her footsteps as light as feathers.

"When creeping up behind an animal," she chants to herself in a whisper. "Be as invisible as you can. Then, when you're near enough, go for the kill." When she was about a foot away from the figure, she sprints then jumps on top of it. She grabs onto the hair at the top of the figure's head and yanks on it.

The figure grumbles in pain.

"What?" Thalia whispers.

Those groans sound really familiar.

She loosens her grip on the hair, the strands caressing the ends of her fingers as they slip away.

She scrunches up her eyebrows.

The hair. Familiar too.

She gets off of the figure and bends down beside it. She carefully grips onto its sides and flips it around to see the front of it.

Another groan of pain escapes the figure as it is slowly laid on its back.

"Oh dear gods," Thalia whispers as she takes in the figure's identity. She leans back a bit from the shock.

Pale olive skin blotched with mud . . . messy black hair drenched and tangled with leaves and twigs . . . and to top it all of, dark eyes that stared right into hers.

She starts trembling, but she tries to hide it.

"N-Nico?" she whispers.

"Help . . . me . . . " are the last words that escape Nico's mouth before he falls unconscious.

REVIEW!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm really sorry for not updating in so long ): So here's my early Christmas gift, from me to you, a new chapter! :)

The POV sort of switches after Nico passes out, if you haven't already noticed. I hope it wasn't too confusing. I just needed to get Nico to Arizona more... dramatically, I guess? The rest of the story will progress in Nico's POV though, just so you guys don't get confused.

This chapter wasn't very long, I apologize, but I wrote it so Nico could finally get to Arizona, where everything else is going to happen. I promise there will be more drama starting the next chapter ;) I hope you all liked Nico's 'grand exit'. It just popped in my head while I was writing. Lots of what happened in this chapter I basically pulled outta my ass while writing, so I hope everything flowed pretty smoothly.

I was listening to "Baby Blue Eyes" by A Rocket to the Moon at the beginning of this chapter, and "Punch-Drunk Love" by the Summer Set about halfway through up till the end.

And remember that schedule I was supposed to make so I could update my stories more frequently? Well I failed at following it D: huhuhu.

Good news: Aside from updating this story, I was also able to update "Til' Hell Starts To Freeze", so I feel really accomplished this break. Hehehehe :P

Please tell me what you guys think of this chapter, and feel free to tell me any ideas you have for the story! I'm all ears (or eyes, since I'll be reading what you say, not really hearing them).

Merrily Yours - Schoe.

Did you guys write your letters to Santa yet? Hahaha :)