A/N: Here we are at chapter twenty! I know my updates are horrible and the quality is probably slowly deteriorating, but...I'll do the best I can. I apologize for the late update. I had the whole chapter nearly done, but then I clicked save and the whole thing got deleted. :( Thanks as always to everyone who is still sticking with this story and who loves it even when I don't! Your support means everything to me!

(Oh, and if I totally screwed Nico up, let me know. I am not used to writing him at all.)

Emily Marie POV

The dreams were terrifying. I didn't want to say anything, because I knew drawing attention to myself any more than I had to would make everyone mad. Besides, Collin and Sammy had scary dreams all the time, and if they were brave enough to not complain, why should I?

I was more than confident that my dreams were worse than most demigod dreams. And I wasn't even a demigod! It was confusing, but I'm pretty sure we were all called legacies, which I thought was a bad name. A legacy was awesome and epic; it had an amazing ring to it.

There was nothing amazing about our group of legacies. Sorry, but it's true.

I couldn't actually say any of that out loud, though. Being the youngest sucked. If I voiced my opinion, it was disregarded before anyone even got to hear it. That was why I couldn't wait to grow up - teenagers got to do everything they wanted. Even Ethan, who was twelve, was treated equally. Yes, I'm only eight. Yes, I'm considered a child. Yes, I'm rather short. Yes, my legs were shorter and I wasn't as strong as the others. But why should that matter? I was much smarter than some of my friends. Especially Lexie, who would not stop talking. (Though I guess I do that sometimes too.)

If being big meant that people would actually listen to me and treat me normally, then I couldn't wait to be fifteen like Helena and Collin. They were practically dictating the so-called "quest" we were on, even though they had no idea what they were doing.

Nothing spectacular happened after the run-in with Mania until about the third day. We were sitting on the grass of some forest, eating the last of our food supplies - stale, yucky, disgusting sandwiches. I wanted to complain, but I knew that if I did, I would get sushed by my brothers.

Anyways, one moment we were eating in bitter silence, and the next thing we knew, a rainbow appeared behind Collin, asking for something called a drackma. He looked bewildered for a moment, then stood up and dug a gold coin out of his pocket and threw it at the mist.

A man's hazy image came out of nowhere, and I resisted the urge to laugh. I had never seen a man who looked so wrong standing in the middle of a rainbow. He was by far the moat grave, dark looking man I had ever seen.

He was wearing a black leather jacket over a black t-shirt with a skull on it, and there was a skull ring on his finger. Everything about him was black, from his jeans to his hair to his ominous eyes. His face was as pale as a ghost, and he was very skinny and rather short.

"Um...can we help you?" asked Collin nervously.

The man narrowed his eyes and scanned Collin up and down with his dark irises, not answering the question.

"Seriously?" he said at last. "Leo had a kid? With who?"

Collin's mouth dropped open, and the look in his gold eyes turned defensive.

"Never mind. Don't answer that. I don't want to know."

The man looked beyond my brother at the rest of our group. Pointing at Helena and Ethan, he said, "I take it you two are Percy and Annabeth's kids?"

Ethan's green eyes clouded. "You got a problem with that?"

The man's face darkened. Clearly, he did.

"Not to be rude," said Sammy, "but who the heck are you?"

"Well, miniature Frank Zhang, I am Nico di Angelo, and I am your mother's brother." After pausing for a moment, he said, "I suppose that makes me your uncle."

Seriously? I was related to this creepy man?

"What do you want?" asked Collin bluntly. It was clear that he was not very appreciative of Nico after that comment about Leo.

Once again, Nico did not answer his nephew's question. Instead he peered into Collin's gold eyes in shock. After a moment of silence, he gasped. "Oh, no way," he muttered. "You have my sister's exact eyes! Oh gods, that means Hazel and Leo - "

"SHUT UP!" roared Collin. We all jumped, except Jessica, who said, "It's okay. The monkeys will be quiet."

Nico gave her a weird look, then turned back to Collin. "Little sensitive on the family topic, huh? Okay. I can understand that."

"Don't talk to me like that," growled Collin. "What do you want anyways?"

Nico shook his head. He leaned back against a tree, and the bark immediately turned black and shriveled. The skeleton of a bird flew from the branches and landed on his shoulder for a moment before flying off again. The man remained quiet, which made me mad. Why couldn't he say anything without pausing for five minutes and then changing the subject?

"Answer him!" I shouted, moving to stand in front of Collin. I put my hands on my hips and gave him my best evil stare.

Instead of looking intimidated, Nico gave a small, emotionless chuckle. "Aren't you cute? Wow, you look just like Hazel..."

Why wouldn't anyone ever take me seriously? I wasn't really going for cute.

"Well, if you really want me to know, your parents sent me to look after you."

Bad choice of words. Collin's hands curled into fists and he turned his back to Nico, stalking away a bit. Without turning around, he spat, "We don't need you to look after us. And we don't want you around anyways. So get lost."

Nico raised an eyebrow, which got lost somewhere in his tangle of black bangs. "Little bitter, aren't you? I used to be that way. Still am, actually. So where are you anyways? I have a feeling I might be nearby."

"Jupiter," said Jessica in a floaty sort of voice. "Headed for the great beyond."

"Uhh...what?" asked Nico.

"Our location is none of your business," said Lexie, speaking up for the first time, which was odd. It was unlike her not to say a thing.

"Hello, there," said Nico. "Who are you again?"

"Lexie Stoll."

He nodded with comprehension, then leaned away from his now black tree and crossed his arms. "So are you Connor's kid or Travis'? I guess it doesn't really matter. You'll have an annoying streak either way."

Suddenly the rainbow flickered.

"Damn," muttered Nico. "I only have a few seconds. Well, just know that I'm not giving up. I'm going to find you, and I'm going to help you sad little children, whether you like it or not."

And with that, he was gone.

We had to bed on an empty stomach that night. The lack of food made everyone even crankier, if that was possible. I almost couldn't wait to go to bed.

That is, until I remembered the nightmares.

It started off as me chained to a rock. The cold metal cut into my bare arms, causing an unbearable pain. I could feel the flow of my own warm blood down my arm, and I let out a choked sob.

"Help..." I moaned, though I knew from experience that no one was there.

Suddenly a loud and chilling voice sounded in the dark. A sickening stench swept over me, like rotten eggs and old socks.

"Little child. No one will help you. Who would want to?"

A cold wind tore across my body and the chains tightened, increasing the pain. Tears were streaming down my face. "Let me go!" I whispered, feeling small and hopelessly alone.

"Never," said the voice. "You see, you, Emily Marie, are the most powerful out of all your pathetic little group. You actually have powers, though you may not be able to use them quite yet. I don't care about your brothers or the Jacksons or that insane girl. I just want you. You could be very helpful to me...dead or alive."

I screamed, and flames lit up around me. Everything was burning hot, and I couldn't feel anything but the incredible pain.

The last thing I remember was an evil laugh, echoing through my head.