~A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR~

SERIOUSLY IM INACTIVE AGAIN IM SORRY

~IZZY

~Ariana's POV~

I was ripped from the darkness that was the curse. I really opened my eyes to see Vanessa and some man leaning over me in a toga. I sat up, looked around, and realized I was in a throne room. My eyes widened. This must be Olympus.

Vanessa wrapped her arms around me, saying, "Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're okay!" (which is something she doesn't normally say, she's not much of a hugger)

I didn't know what to say. I also didn't know what I had missed while I was asleep. Was Leo okay? Where was Nico?

Thoughts clouded my head, and when they cleared up, I realized Annabeth was there. How did she find us?

Suddenly, a loud voice thundered across the room. "GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I'VE DONE ENOUGH FOR YOU!"

I stepped out of the wheelbarrow and we hurried out of the room. When the ginormous doors closed behind us, Annabeth and Vanessa let out a huge breath and started laughing. I did too, once we were out of that hallway.

I stepped out into the sunshine that covered Olympus. It warmed my skin, freezing from being asleep in that huge, cold throne room.

I decided that Annabeth deserved a thank you. "Listen, Annab-" I started, but I was cut off by the coldness of her voice.

"Why would you just leave like that?! You aren't experienced in this. You don't know what you're doing!" She was furious, something I had expected to see out of her sometime but had never experienced.

I tried to interrupt, but she just said, "No. You're not going to interrupt. No excuses. You're coming back with me."

She pulled my arm. I tried to get away, but she was strong. I guess she was right-we weren't experienced in this. If we couldn't get out of a teenage girl's grip, we couldn't fight against goddesses and monsters. What were we even thinking?

I reluctantly followed her into the elevator that took us there and into the lobby of the Empire State Building. We walked a while until I got exhausted.

"You can't even walk three miles. How did you think you could fight without training?" She said, shaking her head.

She then stopped walking. "How did you even get over here so quickly?" She asked, confused.

"Um, well..." I took a deep breath. "I have powers."

"And what are these powers exactly, and where are they from? Or should I say, whom?"

"I can make these-" I thought for a moment, "clouds of darkness. I used one to take us across the water."

"I asked you two questions. Who's really your godly parent?!" she asked annoyedly. She crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

I contemplated telling her for a moment. I could lie and say someone else was my mother. "Eris," I said finally.

Her eyes widened. "We need you back at camp. NOW." She tightened her grip on me and we kept walking quickly until we reached the water that I had crossed.

"Do it again," she said, gesturing to the huge expanse of water.

"Okay," I said, concentrating. I focused on my power and brought it out of me to create another tornado.

I willed it to be larger. I marveled in its darkness. It truly was amazing. Until I couldn't control it anymore. I let go of it by mistake, not knowing what it would do.

I was sucked into the huge swirl of blackness and wind. I didn't know where I was going.

It was finally over after who knows how long. I opened my eyes and I was in a dark cavern, lit the same way as it was in my recurring dreams.

I stood up and looked around. I drew the knife I had in my boot and carried myself towards the sound of screaming. Leo was here. And I got the feeling Nico was, too.

I inched closer to where Leo would be kept.

I walked a bit more, and finally, after turning a few corners, I found my mother.

She was torturing him somehow-he was curled up in a ball, drenched in sweat and what I hoped wasn't blood.

She held his life in the palm of her hand. He was probably already on his way to death, if that was what my mother intended.

I rushed toward them, hoping to stop it somehow, but I was suddenly grabbed by a huge, yellowed hand. It had sprung from the ground, holding me in its grip. It seemed to be some sort of skeleton.

I wondered what it was, until Nico stepped out from behind my mother. His powers must've been amplified here as a son of Hades. He was possessed.

"Nico, don't do this," I pleaded as the hand holding grew tighter.

Leo was writhing in pain on the ground.

"Ariana," my mother finally spoke up. "why do you always seem to disappoint me?" Her voice was cold, but smooth.

Tears streaked down my face. I closed my eyes, but opened them again to try to find some way to escape.

But I knew that there was no way.

~Leo's POV~

I didn't know much about myself in that moment, but all I knew was that I knew this girl. I knew that the woman controlling me-no, killing me-was evil and that she was killing the girl too.

The space inside my brain that was confused was clouded by pain, a pain I couldn't stop. I wished it would end, but it just kept coming, waves of some sort of magic coming from the woman.

The girl fell limp in the creature's bony fist. The monster threw her down, and sunk back into the ground. It was quiet. The pain ended, as I lay there in the cage, sweating and bleeding.

With a wave of her hand, the cage disappeared and I stood up, slowly. I limped over to the girl, hoping for a sign of life. She was breathing, but slowly.

The boy controlling the monster stepped over, looking menacing. He shoved me out of the way, grabbing the girl and shaking her awake. When her eyes finally opened, he threw her over the edge of the canyon. Her life was hanging by a held hand, a thread of confusion.

"Nico, please," she pleaded. She was crying now, begging for his mercy. His eyes flashed for a moment, going from gold to hazel. Then, they changed completely. His grip grew stronger, trying to pull her up.

But the woman wasn't satisfied with this; she cast a spell and the boy was back to the self I knew, and he did just what I hoped he wouldn't do.

He let go.