Well, in this chapter we meet Nico and Annabeth. (kind of) Nico is one of my favorite characters in BoO, he just feels real to me. :) Also, I do go through and edit my chapters, but I post them first. So, if you see any errors, review, and i will update the chapter. :)

I felt wind whipping through my hair, and my wet clothes getting blow-dried instantly. Percy's hand started sliding out of my grip, and I realized I was scared off letting go. The dark was suffocating, and it was everywhere. I couldn't see anything, and while I wasn't scared of the dark, I wished there was some light. It was freezing, and I wished my hands were free so I could rub my arms.

I felt ground underneath my feet and bright light shone through my eyelids. I hadn't even realized I closed my eyes.

When I opened them I was standing in an unfamiliar forest. There were stone thrones near us, covered in vines and shrubs. The trees above us cast shadows down at the ground, making the thrones look creepy and mysterious.

The guy wearing all black was already walking away, with Percy right behind them. "Hey!" I called back, starting to jog towards them. "What the heck? Someone tell me what is going on?"

Neither of them answered me, so I ran in front of them, making them slow down and actually see me. "We just teleported or something, and you say nothing? What was that?"

The guy in black stopped and looked at me with a guarded expression. "My name is Nico, you just shadow traveled." He looked up at Percy, and I couldn't see either of their faces.

Percy didn't even slow down. "Just follow us."

We had reached the tree line and were about to leave the meadow that the odd thrones were in. I wasn't going to follow anybody if they were going to be rude and pushy. Percy and Nico kept walking, but I stayed still. They didn't even look back to see if I was coming.

I turned around and headed into what looked like a deeper and darker part of the forest. Odd animal tracks covered the ground, making me wonder what odd things lived here. The trees were beautiful. Their bark was old and worn down, and they were tall and magnificent. I felt like I was in a magical place.

The light shone golden through the leaves and reflected off a nearby creek, making everything look like something from a storybook. When I looked at the sun through the trees, it was low in the sky, almost at sunset.

I felt so at home in forest, like nothing could hurt me while I was under the trees. When I walked around a tree, I spotted a doe standing in a clearing. The fading sunlight illuminated every line on it's body, and it's fur glowed. I walked towards it, transfixed. It was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen.

It didn't move or run away, even as I got near. The closer I got, every feeling of doubt and common sense faded away. This animal wouldn't hurt me. I could just tell.

Soon I was right up to the doe. It was much smaller than I expected, around three feet tall. It raised it's head up, looking straight up at me.

Hesitantly, I lifted my hand up and placed on top of the doe's head. It was extremely soft, and I moved my hand to pet the back of her neck. I was completely in wonderland, petting a deer in a mystical forest in a beautiful sunset. It was picture-perfect. I soon forgot all about my anger at Percy and his arrogant actions.

I kept petting the deer, even when it got completely dark. Even though it was hard to see, I didn't want to leave.

Unfortunately, the doe felt different. It's ears perked up, and it's tail flew straight up into the air, revealing a bushy white fluff of fur. The beautiful doe ran off, leaving me in the dark and suddenly scared. I heard a twig crack behind me, and I ran, not caring to even look behind me. I was lost, with no sense of where I was or how I got there.

I ran into a clearing, one I didn't recognize from walking around before. I slowed down, and turned around, looking for what I hoped wasn't chasing me. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to get away that easy.

A horrible monster entered the clearing, and I could see all of it's terrifying details.

It looked like a giant hound dog, and it was snarling aggressively. Slobber was falling from its giant jaws that looked certainly big enough to eat me in one bite.

I backed away slowly, having nothing to put my back too. The hound advanced, it's beady eyes focusing on me the entire time. I felt no longer safe, especially when I moved back under the trees, blocking out the moonlight.

An animalistic voice ran through my head, like I was reading something and it sounded out in my head. "Hello little fox. You aren't my usual target, but nothing escapes me."

I desperately thought of all the Greek mythology I read, searching for any mention of a giant hound. The words fox and hound rang a bell. There was a Greek myth that a fox that could never be caught, the Teumessian fox, was hunted by the Laelaps, a hound dog that's prey could never get away.

So I was being hunted by a creature destined to catch all of it's prey. I was doomed to die.

I kept backing up until I reached a huge tree. I put my back against it, and picked up a good sized looking branch from the forest floor. The Laelaps said nothing more but kept stalking towards me.

When it got within ten feet or so, and it realized i wasn't moving, it barked. The sound made my heart clench and fear. It ran towards me, and I raised my arm over my face. There was nothing I could do.

A horrible pain erupted in my raised arm, and I didn't have to open my eyes to know what happened. It had sunk it's canine fangs into my arm. I pushed with all my might at the unseen enemy in front of me. An even more painful feeling came from where the tooth must have been in my arm. I opened my eyes too see the hound stumbling away, with it's tooth still lodged in my forearm.

I had an advantage. The hound was scared of me. I might as well go down fighting, and inflict as much damage as possible on the beastly monster. I ran at it, letting loose a battle cry, forgetting the excruciating pain in my arm.

The hound backed away whimpering, golden liquid spilling out of it's mouth. When I got close enough to it, I jumped up in the air, higher than should be possible. My feet landed on it's forehead at an angle. When I hit, my impact was enough to push it back into the meadow.

I fell out of the air and landed on my leg. Hard. My head hit a tree root, turning my vision to black for a few seconds. I reached up and felt my head. There was a sticky liquid clinging to my hair. I could imagine the shade of blood matching perfectly with my hair color.

I looked up, expecting to see the hound running at me again, but I didn't see it anywhere. I got up, watching my bad arm, which was also dripping with blood. My head was spinning, and it it took all my physical and mental effort to stay standing.

It took me a moment to realize what was right in front of me. A giant stone statue of a…. hound. The monster had been turned completely to stone. The moonlight glinted coldly off of the gray stone. Whatever gods were up there, I had someone to thank.

The rest of the myth came back to me. Zeus had turned the fox and the hound into stone to end the impossible hunt. Did Zeus do it again? Was Zeus even real?

Thunder rolled through the sky, even though the skies looked clear.

I had other things to worry about. My leg felt like jello, my head like stone, and my arm like one giant ball of pure pain. Yeah, really great describing, huh?

I hobbled in a random direction, hoping I could get to civilization before some other crazy monster came to bite my other body parts off. My head was spinning and I was surprised I had even made it one step.

I some how made it back to clearing with the odd thrones. I couldn't take another step, so I just fell. I crumpled on the soft grass, hoping someone would find me. I passed out, welcoming the cold darkness.

I woke up to a face hovering right above mine. It was a female, and her blonde hair tickled my face.

"Percy," she said, "what did you do?"

The unwelcome pain came back, and I couldn't move anything. So, naturally, I passed out again.

Well, that was my first monster battle, ish. We kind of meet Annabeth, if you count deliriously seeing her for only seconds as meeting someone. So, who do you all think is Tayen's godly parent? There are a few hints, one being really obscure, but if you figure it out, it gives everything away. There are also some red herrings too. :) I hope you all enjoyed my abnormally early update. I have an irl reader that was pestering me. :)