~A Message from FireFishFangirl~

Hey guys! It's Isabel with Chapter 4 for ya! So literally, I'm going to try from now on to end each chapter in a cliffhanger. So…Here goes…See ya!

~Isabel XOXO

~Nico's POV~

"Listen, we need to talk, Nico," Ariana said to me. I needed to talk to her too. There was something I had to ask her. Something I never would have thought I would do. Beads of sweats started to form on my forehead. I clenched my hands together. I couldn't get nervous about this. "Nico?" her voice spurred me back into the moment. "Uh….Yeah?" I hoped I didn't sound nervous or suspicious. I tried to regain my confidence as I looked into her eyes. I saw a nervous glint in her deep blue eyes. I suddenly became even more nervous. What if it was something terrible? What if her mother had done something? What if-I was interrupted by her voice. "Nico, I really need to talk to you. Now." Before I knew what was happening, she had grabbed my wrist and was dragging me towards the woods at the lake where she had been claimed. I slid down on the back of the old willow tree. I loved its gentle calm. She slid down next to me, her eyebrows knit together. She genuinely looked worried. "Before you start, I have to tell you something too."

"Okay, what is it?" she asked with a little more interest.

"Will you go out with me?" I asked. My voice shook. I felt a shiver down my spine. I was dying to know.

"Nico, I'm so sorry, but I can't. I like you and all but- well, I had a dream."

Rejection. Utter rejection. I wanted to storm off and leave her alone to show her what it felt like. But I stayed. Dreams were always a bad thing.

"Listen, Nico…in my dream, you were-"

Suddenly the willow branches swished around madly with the wind that was picking up. It grew cold. I looked around, and suddenly, everything went black.

~Ariana's POV~

"Nico! Nico! Wake up!" I shook his shoulders. He didn't move. I acted on my emotions-okay, I slapped him. I saw his eyelids flutter a little bit, and my face brightened. His eyes flew open. I could've sworn I saw his eyes turn gold instead of hazel. What was that about? I pushed that strange thought out of my head. He sat up slowly. "What-What happened?" he asked. He looked tired and dazed. "Well, we were talking, and everything suddenly got really cold and strange. And then you must've blacked out," I replied. I didn't tell him the part about his eyes. I didn't want to stir up any more trouble. "What were we talking about?" he asked. "I was telling you about-nothing important, you don't need to know." I had an idea right then- if I didn't tell him about his fate, maybe I could stop it from happening. Besides, it would make our relationship awkward. I didn't want to lose him. If he knew, he would stay away from me and try not to hurt me, but I didn't care. I could stop it. I could train and practice with my powers a little bit more, and learn how to control them. I tried to convince myself that it would work. But those glowing gold eyes- the other side of my mind tried to stop me. I pushed it aside and went back to convincing myself to be courageous. I didn't know how, but it would work. "So..." he grasped for words, but apparently couldn't find what to say.

"Um... I have to go... Bye," I replied. I sat up and jogged through the woods and towards the cabins. I bumped into someone-this scrawny kid with curly hair and an elvish face.

He looked crazy.

"LEO SUPERSIZED MCSHIZZLE STRIKES AGAIN!" he yelled. I covered my ears. "Ummm," I stuttered.

He straightened his posture and held out his hand for a shake. "Valdez, Leo Valdez," he said in a James-Bond-like way.

"Ariana," I replied while shaking his hand. Suddenly his hand grew really hot. I drew mine back. "Ow! What IS that?!"

His hand burst into flames. Yeah, I'm not joking.

He blushed. "Sorry...that happens a lot. I'm a son of Hephaestus, so I have pyrokinesis and sometimes when I'm...uh...startled, I go crazy," he explained.

"Well, it's better than this," I said. I pointed my finger up toward the sky, and storm clouds gathered. Lightning struck in the distance. As I put my hand back to my side, they cleared and I saw Leo looking at me in awe.

"You should hang with my friend Jason. He can do that too. He is a son of Zeus, no wait-Jupiter! He's Roman/Greek I guess you could call it. But still cool."

Percy came running over. "Uhhhh...hi?" he said. "I saw storm clouds in the sky, and then it went back to normal. I suspect you, Mr. Supersized Mcshizzle Repair Boy. What did you do?"

"Well, Ariana-" Leo started to explain.

I crossed in front of him. "Ummm...what he means to say is that it was probably just your imagination. Right Leo?" I gave him a little head nod so he could hopefully catch on. "WHAT? OH! Yeah, your imagination." He put on a creepy fake smile. Honestly, it was extreme creepy. *shudders*

"You two are up to something...but OKAY!" Percy said as he walked away confused.

"That was a close one!" I told Leo.

"Why were we lying to Percy? Why didn't you tell him?!" he asked.

Too many questions.

I had an idea. A very good one, if I might add.

Nico would be possessed, I knew that for sure. He told me demigod dreams are always true. I couldn't trust him on this quest. Something could go wrong. The only other person I had met was-Leo. But could I trust HIM? He was kind of-well, clumsy, disorganized, and crazy. Kind of like Vanessa, I guess. If I trusted Vanessa, I could trust Leo.

"Leo," I piped up, "I have a question..."

"Yeah?" he said.

"Would you be able to-" I was interrupted abruptly.

Nico was running over. He looked mad.

"What exactly are you doing? I literally just asked if-oh, I see how it is," he said as he stormed off.

~A MESSAGE FROM ISABEL~

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

XOXO ISABEL