Chapter 4

…Michelle's P.O.V.

I watched as Percy caused the water to fly out of the bowl and around the room in intricate patterns. The gods watched, enthralled, as patterns played out in the air. After a couple minutes, Percy returned the water to the bowl. Odin blinked his good eye.

"That was impressive Percy," he said. He turned to me. "Your power Lady Michelle?" I dipped my head in a gesture of agreement.

"Of course Allfather," I said silkily. "I would be honored to show you my power." His eyes narrowed and behind him I saw Loki's eyes glint with amusement. I took a deep breath and snapped my fingers. Honeysuckle vines curled up from the dirt, growing at a fantastic rate. I concentrated on a dog and willed the vines to grow to my desires. They flew around, wrapping themselves together until I had captured a fantastic likeness of a howling timber wolf. I sat back, smiling at my accomplishment. The rest of the room except my friends and Heimdall (who never shows any emotion) were slightly gaping. Clarisse glared at me and I returned the glare.

"Your power, Master Nico," Odin said. Nico shrugged and vanished. Thor leaped up and spun, looking around. Nico tapped him on the shoulder. Thor turned and saw him. Nico waved and vanished again, popping up somewhere else in the room. I grinned to myself. Nico could be hilarious at times. Thor, meanwhile, was looking quite dizzy, trying to keep track of the son of Hades. Thalia was barely keeping a straight face and even Odin looked amused at his son's confusion. Percy coughed.

"Ok, Nico, we get the drift, you can stop," he said. Nico appeared next to me, biting his lip to keep from chuckling. I nudged him.

"Shh." Odin had turned to Thalia.

"And you, Lady Thalia?" Thalia snorted and tapped Percy on the shoulder. He yelped.

"Why do I have to be the one you electrocute?! Can't you do it to Annabeth for once?"

"Because I've known her better, that's why!" Their argument would've continued, but I felt a terrible stab of pain shoot through my head and quickly spread to the rest of my body. Not now, oh gods, please! Not now! I grasped Nico's arm tightly and keeled over. He grabbed me and held me to his chest. Annabeth rushed over and grasped my wrist, feeling my pulse. I was conscious, but barely. Pain lanced through my body and I shuddered in Nico's arms. Percy pressed his palms against my forehead, his cool hands somewhat soothing. Thalia was saying something hurriedly to Odin and Thor, and I was vaguely aware that I was being carried away. Then I blissfully fell into unconsciousness.

…

I hate demigod dreams. In this particular one, I was standing in front of a field of wheat. The sky darkened and thunder boomed. Every muscle in my body screamed to run, but I was paralyzed. Being underground was every demigod child of Demeter's worst fear, but for me, fire came a close second. A voice sounded.

Look well upon your mother, little hero, it said. For none, neither the Greeks nor the Aesir can stop me. Lightning struck the field and it erupted in flames. Finally, I could move. I turned and fled…straight into another dream. In this one though, I was in the Underworld. A beautiful woman sat in front of me, absentmindedly turning the flowers in a vase several different colors.

"Persephone," I said, unsurprised. My half-sister had taken a great liking to me and often gave me advice that I was glad for. No one else knew about our communication though, not even Chiron.

"Michelle. You are enjoying Asgard then?" There was a slight edge to her voice.

"It's not that different from Olympus, although there are not many plants." Persephone gave a small smile. "You didn't call me here just to talk about Asgard though, did you?" The goddess of springtime sighed.

"No, I did not. I have come to warn you. Michelle, there is a trap in your path ahead. An Aphrodite trap if you would." I nodded.

"A love trap. What's so bad about that? Can you at least tell me who?" I asked. Persephone shook her head.

"I don't know, but that's all I can sense. These dreams are…" she stopped speaking abruptly and pursed her lips.

"Dreams? What dreams?"

"The point is, be careful who you flirt with."

"I don't flirt!" I protested. Persephone raised an eyebrow. "I don't!"

"Denial," she sighed. "But no matter. Just be careful." I nodded, deciding that I should tell her about my dream.

"Persephone…" I began, but was cut off by voices.

"Michelle!"

"Wake up!"

"C'mon, you're still with us right?" My eyelids fluttered open and I saw the worried faces of my friends (minus Clarisse) above me. When they saw that I was alive, they all broke into grins. Thalia hugged me, then chuckled.

"Clarisse is going to be disappointed when she hears that you're still alive. I've gotta go tell her!"

"Wait for me!" Percy cried. Annabeth sighed.

"Great. Now they'll all get into a fight and I'll have to break it up. Perfect." She ran after Thalia and Percy after looking pointedly at Nico, who blushed. He shifted nervously. I began noticing little things like that I was in the bed in my room and that I was in regular camp clothes (Though the shirt didn't say Camp Half-Blood).

"So, are you sure you're okay?" I nodded and sat up.

"How long was I out?" I asked, worried that I had missed something important. He thought a couple minutes.

"Not longer than twenty-four hours."

"WHAT?!"

"It was one of your long spells, I think."

"Gee, ya think?" I said sarcastically. He began to study the bedspread. I closed my eyes, my anger quickly dissipating. I wasn't mad at Nico anyway, but at my stupid malady. How long will I have to live like this? I thought. I can't live to adulthood with this! So far, it hasn't struck when I've been training or fighting a monster, but how long until one does? I sighed and swung my legs out of the bed. Nico looked amazed.

"Is that ok for you to do?" I nodded, walking around and stretching my stiff legs.

"Oh sure, I've gotten used to this." I tugged a hairpin out of my hair and it morphed into a celestial bronze spear. It had spearheads on both ends of the bronze shaft and could be used for blocking and stabbing, excellent for dueling multiple opponents. It was also surprisingly light. I spun it around, twirling it like a baton. Confident that I could defend myself if necessary, it morphed back into a hair pin and I placed it in my hair. Nico was gaping at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, you're just so…" he searched for the right word.

"Brilliant?" I suggested. "Beautiful, marvelous?" He nodded. "Yep, that's me!"

"You're welcome. Now…" he was cut off by a loud crash. The two of us looked at each other, exasperated. Couldn't Thalia, Percy, and Clarisse get along for more than five minutes?! There was a loud rumble of thunder and the tinkling of broken glass. Ok, apparently not then. We ran as fast into a large room at the end of the corridor, but what we saw made no sense. Thalia was standing over Fandral, her foot planted firmly on his neck, Aegis in full form on her wrist. Percy and Annabeth were wrestling with Clarisse in front of a broken window, trying to keep her from jumping at Volstagg. Thor, Sif, and Hogun were standing at the entrance to the room, smiling in amusement. I stared at the scene with amazement. Nico, who had drawn his sword, looked kind of abashed and sheathed it.

"What happened?" I asked. Currently, this was not doing very diplomatically. Thor chuckled.

"Fandral attempted to woo the Lady Thalia. She did not take it too kindly." I sighed and snapped my fingers. Vines lashed around Thalia and Clarisse. They struggled to break them, but the vines were thick.

"And what happened with Volstagg and Clarisse?" I said.

"Volstagg said that he was better at fighting than Clarisse and they began to fight. Volstagg, according to Clarisse, cheated and," she gestured towards the room. Nico and I glanced at each other.

"Hey, uh, Thor?" Nico said. "I think that it would be a good idea to have a training session with you, Sif, the Warriors Three, and us." Thor looked horrified.

"But you would be hurt!" I pulled out one of my knives and began cleaning under my nails.

"I think not."

…

After some debate, we finally decided that we would meet in a training area after we had put on our armor and gotten our weapons. I grabbed a bite to eat, then we all went to put on our armor. We all had brought our own equipment. When we got there, I put on my armor. Unlike the bulky armor most everyone else wore, my armor was more delicate. I had Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin make it before…you know. Anyways, it wasn't as thick as most of the other armor and lighter, allowing me to go on the offense more. It was carved with intricate vines, trees, and other plants. I preferred to fight without a helmet. After my armor was strapped on, I took out my spear and slung it over my shoulder. I moved towards the training area, whistling 'Counting Stars' by One Republic. Annabeth caught up with me. I asked what she thought about Asgard. Her eyes lit up. Oh no, I thought. Architecture. Sure enough, she began talking about the rooms, their support structures, and whatnot. I was rather relieved when we got to the area. The gods were there, waiting. Thor stood when he saw us.

"My friends, who would you like to go against?" he asked. I stepped back from the front and Percy stepped forwards.

"Thalia should definitely go with Sif and Nico can go with Hogun if that's okay?" Hogun and Sif nodded in agreement.

"Tyr has heard of Clarisse and wishes to fight her," Thor said. "I would like to go with Percy and Fandral wishes to go with Michelle." I shrugged.

"Sure."

"Then that leaves Volstagg with Annabeth," Percy said. "Perfect." We all split up into our pairs and went to different sections of the deserted area. I pulled out my spear and got ready. Fandral had his rapier out and was grinning cockishly.

"Are you ready for this, m'lady?" I smirked.

"I'd be surprised if you last five minutes," I said, and flew at him. Our weapons met with a clang and it was on.

Muahahaha! Be glad I didn't end it at Michelle and Nico staring confusedly at the fight. Anyways, review please! I love reviews and am extremely thankful to those who write them!