I huffed as my sport shoe clad feet hit against the sand as it began to turn golden at the orange beam of the rising sun, turning the dawning sky an array of pink, purple and orange – a little girl's dream. Trying not to kick up too much sand for it to stick on any piece of clothing, and not succeeding at it, I covered the long expand of the fireworks beach before turning back on track to return to civilization, where I would get to the showers and use up all the hot water. Hey! It not my fault some people can't get up early!

And it wasn't like I wanted to anyway. Sleep had always been peaceful and full of dreams, except for that night before the much anticipated journey. When I had looked up the dictionaries for 'nightmares' after Hera asked if I'd been having any after being told of my unusual history, I had been extremely puzzled and amuse beyond belief. The idea of a terrifying scene plaguing one's sleep when they could have some semblance of control over it had been unrelatable to me at the age of six, but as I grew older, I would be admired for not having nightmares by the inhabitants of Olympus, not that deities even sleep.

Now, I have a suspicion that I'm paying up my share of nightmares that I've been happily avoiding through my childhood, and I've found out that running is a great outlet to all the heightened emotions the nightmares caused and a good way at keeping them away from another visit in the same night.

The first night it came was the night after the disastrous combat lesson. I'd been so exhausted, mentally and physically, that I practically plopped into bed with all my clothes on after barely managing to kick off my shoes. Snuggled deep in the thin summer blanket on my bed, my mind was assaulted by images of massive waves and a great hurricane, thundering and shaking, as if the earth had tried to split itself open. In the midst of it stood a familiar figure, but I can't seem to make out anything besides the short, dark hair that was flopping about in the monstrous wind.

I yelled as the figure was taken down by a wave when a crack started right beneath it, and, caught unaware, the figure dropped, and then clung to the soft, upturned soil by a sword that came out of nowhere. I looked around, trying desperately to yell at someone to go save this person. But I realized that I'm all alone in this blurred reality, and only I could go and save this person from falling right into the fiery pit of Tartarus. That was where it always ended, and for the past week the nightmare stayed at that annoying and pacifying state, until today.

I put my hands on my knees as I neared the shower stalls. Turning into one of the spots I've found near it, I dragged out my change of clothes and the bag of toiletries that I'd hidden there so that there would be no need to go waking up a cabin full of grumpy campers with my loud stomping. I proceeded to one of the modest shower stalls and quickly stripped and rinsed and made quick work of the shower. Once the water hit my back, I'd calmed my racing heart from the earlier and longer run than usual.

After I had woken from my first nightmare, my body was just itching to do something. My mind not having caught up from the shock of having a nightmare, I had my sports gear in my hand and was running out the cabin door before I'd realized I had even moved. The ideal venue had come naturally; the salt water spring being the comfort I depended on up in Olympus, so here, the sea would have to do. Funny how much salt water had integrated itself into my life.

Something changed in my nightmare last night. Instead of looking around to find people to help, I had screamed at the top of my lungs for the gods at the churning sky, yelling for them to do something, and came to the same conclusion that it had to be me to go and save that person. And as it was, it ended right at the cusps of what I wanted to know most – whether I had went up to save that poor bastard whom had been hounding my sleep or not.

I sighed into the steam the hot water had created against the slightly cooler air of the morning. I guess I'll just have to wait for another grueling night of sleep, I thought gloomily.

I can't help but wonder if hurting Percy had anything to trigger the stubborn knot in the nightmare machine. I had been expecting a lot of stern faces and kitchen duties as punishment after being lead to the Big House, but none found their way into the world as I was let out after Percy was deemed ok enough to head back to the Poseidon cabin, Annabeth following without a backwards glance, her neck stiff with worry about her other half's vulnerable situation, I would say.

The one ending up doing the interrogation had been an over excited Xav, whom had cornered me as I walked back towards the Hermes cabin to get ready for our shower time.

"Rose, spill, now," he said urgently as he pushed me up the wall on the side of the shower stalls, a gleam in his liquid eyes as a small grin played at his lips.

"They didn't seemed to be overly upset at anything," I shrugged, "but Percy seems ok now, if that's what you're worried about," I said, wondering what else did he think I would have to spill, as he said.

"Wow," Xav shook his head and he leaned back with a look of surprise on his face, and I cocked my head to the side in question.

"I mean, did you not realize that you had made the unbeatable kneel in front of you in a duel?" Xav laughed incredulously, and then shook his head in disbelief again. "Tell me about the rush, you know?"

I looked at him, wondering about the opinion he had just voiced, and the fact that it had never occurred in my mind. Then, I gave him a good slap on the back of his stupid, stupid head.

"The unbeatable kneeling? That's all you saw from the whole event? Gods, did you not worry for him at all?" I admonished.

Xav looked stunned, and then had the decency to look slightly guilty. "Well, I'd been here long enough to know that a blow wouldn't keep him down for long, and seeing you using my move on him and catching him off guard kinda, well, it kinda caught me off guard too."

I looked at his pink cheeks, and then sighed, before telling him that I'd meet him at the dining hall, as usual, before giving him a reassuring smile and heading off to shower.

I was brought back from my musings as a ruckus seemed to have started up, what with the sudden yell and stampede of feet rushing pass the toilet stalls. Plopping my soapy hair atop my head, I stuck my head out to see what was going on, and was quickly forced to pull my head back at the sudden rush of people running to avoid being beheaded. Why were there armed campers rushing towards half-blood hill at this hour of the day?

I quickly dried and dress myself, then sneaked behind the troops at the Thalia's pine (the senior campers have some difficulty explaining why the tall pine that marks the entrance was given that name, and they gave up in the end, resulting in me still not knowing its name's significance). Peaks of silver shone in the minimal lighting, and the tip of an arrow surfaced in the sea of people before disappearing again. Oh, the Hunters of Artemis have arrived.

How did I know of them? Artemis never manages to shut up about her precious hunters during meeting which I sneaked into, and Artemis preferred color and weapon had been silver and a bow and arrow, not that hard for me to make the connection, and it seemed to my observation, which was that the campers do not get along very well with them. I watched with a raised brow as the girls draped in silver marched pass stiffly while the armed campers stared stoically. Things might just be spiced up after all, I thought with an excited grin.

Hera frowned as she looked down the clouds drifting below the bridge that connected her quarters to Ambrosia's. A hero had been brought in after suffering an attack from a drakon near Long Island Sound. Perseus had personally saved that boy and brought the bleeding heavily young to the infirmary. They hadn't had time to notice his eyes yet, but they will be utterly frozen with fear at the shiver it will cause and the rain of painful memories that will dominate they minds.

She heard the running feet of a child and looked towards the sound to see Ambrosia running towards her with a bandage around her head. She was instantly alarmed and rushed over to check for any injuries. Ambrosia had been stunned by the outward worry that was shown in the goddess' face, which previously only displayed indifference and annoyance.

"What happened?" Hera sharp tone cut through the pleasant breeze.

"I sneezed and hit the back of my head against the stone statue in your gardens," Ambrosia's little but smart voice sounded a little sheepish and worried that Hera would scold her for going into her quarters to play, again.

"Oh," Hera breathed a sigh of relief, and then her tone sharpened once again to give her little child a talk on going unpermitted into her halls again.

Hera thought ironically, that the statue that was planted against her will in the shadiest spot in her garden was meant to be an offense against her. It had been the one to hurt their daughter too. But the goddess feared that even the greatest heroes even seen in the whole of Greek history was about to face something more than they can handle, and she had to make sure that her plan do not fail her at such a desperate time that others did not had the foresight to see.

I was stationed by the edge of the forest, far away from the heaviest action that was taking place near the creek. I could hear the waves behind me, and they gave their comfort for my bored state in a supposedly exciting battle.

As was customary, I was told that whenever the hunters arrived for a stay, a game of capture the flag was issued with the Hunters taking a side against the campers. Also customary, all the boys (mostly satyrs) would go around spending their time snooping on the hunters and mooning over their preciousness. All the senior campers were surprisingly good friends with the leader of the hunters, a frightening looking girl named Thalia, and they were chatting like old friends around the campfire during the sing along as if they'd been doing this since they were born. Though the coincidence of the hunters' leader's name did not escape my notice, I was busy listening Xav trying to explain to me the general schedule now that it had changed due to the hunters' presence.

I was not foreign to capture the flag, as it was played on Friday each fortnight, and in my first hectic week, I've added the game into my exhausting experience. My first game, I was still trying to adjust towards the added weight of the armor required, and I had been stationed near the east of the forest, where fights were involved but none that were too heavy for me keep up. The Hermes cabin had been well impressed by me in the combat lesson, and had expected more of a fanfare in the game. Guessed I'd disappointed them, greedy little heroes these were.

Now that they know that I'm nothing special, they put me in the most boring place that anyone could be subjected to other than sitting out. Not that I don't appreciate the soothing sounds of the sea, but how am I supposed to get better at fighting while listening to the waves crashing against the shore?

A sudden rise in noise and yell caught my attention and I swung my head to the creek, directly in front of where I was standing. The trees of the forest started shaking; leaves were being ruffled, and out came the group of sons of Hecate and Ares, all with their weapons raised and coming in my direction.

"What the –" I managed to get out half an expletive before I had to start running to get out of their way. What they were aiming for, I don't know, but I sure as Hades am not getting in the middle of that!

And that's where everything went to Hades and somewhere further. Because I don't think Hades would have sufficed to hold the havoc that followed.

Somehow, I had gotten pushed back into the waves, my feet sinking in sand as I tried to get out of their way. As I did so, I realized that my effort was all for nothing, because they seemed to be coming for me. Confusion took a small space before it was rushed out by the panic ignited by the sights of so many weapons raised and the strong sense of survival and self-preservation set in.

My mind went blank. A roar sounded.

And the proud sons of two powerful deities were drenched head to toe with seaweed draped across their heads to boot.

And I realized that I'm fifty feet away from the shore where I stood not just five seconds ago.

Oh, Hades.