The only noise was the occasional sniffles and crying from younger demigods. Sometimes, a demigod would accidentally be elbowed or kicked and there would be muttered apologies. The only other sound was the van's engine.

All of the remaining demigods from Camp who were willing to fight (except the Ares Cabin) were crammed into three vans that the Camp used to help keep up the ruse that we were a strawberry farm. We were all practically sitting on top of one another and it was hot. We were dripping sweat and feeling claustrophobic; there was no light and I had a difficult time sitting in the dark for too long.

Michael sat next to me, clutching my hand tightly the entire time. I could feel the anxiousness radiating off of him and did my best to fill his mind with daydreams that would calm him; I tried to do so for all of the demigods. It was easier to give everyone in the van I was in nice thoughts, but I struggled to help the other two van full of demigods. I could do so, but it was a strain.

The sand was in-between our toes as we stood at the edge of the Ocean, the gentle waves striking the shore. The water flowed over our feet, up to our ankles; it felt so good. The water was just perfect for a hot day like this, cold and refreshing. In sync, we dived into the water, letting the cold run over our bodies. It was heaven. Opening our eyes, we could see schools of colorful fish jetting on the Ocean floor in a group of beautiful dolphins. We laughed and burst to the surface.

The vans came to a sudden stop. The doors opened and the Manhattan day burst into the small, dark compartment. I had to strain my eyes as we got out of the van, jumping down to let my feet hit the pavement. Michael and I did not let go of one another's hand as we got out of the van.

Percy was waiting for us right outside the Empire State Building. He looked grim, which he had every right to. He didn't look any different, but I could sense someone was off with him. As soon as we were all out of the vans, we all just kinda stood in front of him, unsure as what to do next. A woman passing with a baby in a stroller gave us a dirty look and rushed by; I could tell she thought we were hoodlums or something. But really? How could Chiron-who was in his wheelchair-be a threat to her?

Percy spoke up, "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."

He then talked to Argus and Chiron for a minute, before he announced it was time to head up to Olympus. Apparently the gods think hiding a mystical world inside a popular tourist attraction is a good idea, because to get to Olympus, you have to take an elevator ride in the Empire State Building. Some security guard was sitting behind a big desk and surveyed us as we stumbled in.

"School group? We're about to close up," he said. I know he can see through the Mist; he was eyeing Percy's sword as we walked in.

"No," Percy commanded, "Six-hundredth floor."

The security guard looked at each of us closely. His blue eyes strolled our faces and weapons, quickly taking in our appearances and making assumptions. Using my abilities to get in his mind, I knew he wasn't intimidated by us; he'd seen more monsters than the average mortal.

"There is no six-hundredth floor, kid," he mocked Percy, "Move along."

Percy's face tightened and he leaned in, muttering something to the security guard that I couldn't hear. After a moment, the guard hit a button and the gate swung open. Percy motioned for us to follow him to the elevator. We went up in groups of two. I crammed into the first group along with Michael, Annabeth and Percy, and several others. "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. The others looked revolted; I had the urge to dance.

The doors 'dinged,' opened, and I stopped dancing. I'd visited Olympus just once in person, but I'd seen it countless times in dreams and when tracking Morpheus. It was insanely beautiful. Mansions, gardens, mountains and a huge palace where the Twelve Olympians resided (primarily). As we walked across the floating stone path from the elevators to Olympus, I looked down at Manhattan below us. It was like looking at ants.

Michael and I held hands as we walked in the street up to the big palace. A naiad was standing in the doorway of a shop, arms crossed and a scowl on her pretty face. She nodded to us as we passed, backing into the shop and closed the door shut.

Suddenly, blue lights streaked the sky. My company of demigods immediately started panicking. "What is that," yelled Pollux.

We didn't have time to sit and figure out what it was. We scurried up the mountain and into the hall of the gods. Usually, there were others guarding the place, making sure no one could get to the Olympians without an invitation. Seeing as a war was about to begin, the place was abandoned.

We burst into the throne room. The place was empty except for a sea cow in a floating water bubble and a woman at the Hearth in the center of the room. She looked up and smiled, the fire dancing in her eyes.

"Hello again, Percy Jackson. You and your friends are welcome." Our eyes met and her smile got larger,

Percy and I bowed at the same time, "Lady Hestia." Our fellow demigods followed suit and bowed quickly. Hestia's eyes narrowed at Percy.

"I see you went through with your plan. You bear the curse of Achilles," she stated matter-of-factly. Mentally I slapped myself. Of course-I'd heard his and Nico's plan when I was eavesdropping on his daydreams once, but I never thought he'd actually go through with it; it's just plain stupid.

Percy fell to the ground. Annabeth reached out and grabbed his arms before he could actually collide with the floor. He had a muttered conversation with Annabeth quickly and quietly. Percy whipped his head around to look at us, but I was too busy staring at Hestia to notice him. Said goddess locked eyes with me and smiled.

Percy spoke up again, "Um, Lady Hestia, we've come on urgent business. We need to see-"

"We know what you need." A young man shimmered right next to Hestia. The two snakes wrapped around his staff and previous visions of Mount Olymps gave me enough information to know that this was Hermes, the God of Messengers.

"I will leave you now," Hestia said, bowing to Hermes.

"Wait, Lady Hestia, I was wondering if I could speak with you for a moment." Hestia looked up at me, somewhat surprised. She, however, nodded.

Hestia stalked out of the throne room and outside, the demigods departing to let her through. I followed behind her. Once outside the room, Hestia turned casually.

"Is this about how you refuse to heed Aphrodite's warning?"

"Aphrodite doesn't decide my destiny."

"No, but she's typically correct about her assumptions about your future."

I frowned and looked into Hestia's warm eyes. "Are you suggesting as well that Michael is not right for me."

"That would be correct."

My breathing stopped for a moment and I looked away from Hestia, who immediately started rubbing my shoulder soothingly.

"But why is Michael bad for me? I mean…does he cheat on me? Does he pledge his allegiance to Kronos? What?"

Hestia smiled motherly, "He doesn't do anything he can't help, girl. Michael loves you very much, the world is just out of his control."

"What's that mean?"

"I think you know what that means, Violet."

We were silent for a moment, me avoiding Hestia's flaming eyes. She was kind and her warm face was showing me that she didn't want to hurt my feelings, but I couldn't help the pain sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Michael was going to hurt me, unintentionally and something out of his control, but it was going to happen one way or another. He loved me and I love him, but that wasn't enough when it came to destiny.

"Can you answer me one question, then," I asked Hestia. She raised her eyebrows, looking a smidge anxious.

"That depends. What is the question?"

"Who am I meant to be with?"

Hestia chuckled and shook her head. "I honestly don't know. Only Aphrodite does. I know you had a dream about a boy, but there's no way of knowing who he is. You may be able to control the dream world, but not even you can understand the complete depths of dreams."

I digested this for a moment and was prepared to ask Hestia something else, but Annabeth suddenly came running up to us. "Violet, you have to see this!"

Together, the two of us ran off to the sky deck to look below at Manhattan. I looked back at Hestia, but she was gone. All of the demigods were surrounding the sky deck, looking down at the town. "What's going on," I asked Michael as I stood next to him.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but look." He handed me binoculars. I took them gingerly and peered down at the city.

Everyone was asleep. Every single person was passed out either on the sidewalk or in parked cars; it's like they all just suddenly decided to drop everything and take a nap. My first reaction was to be perplexed, naturally, but then I got a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. After a second, I could see sand swirling around with the wind.

"It's Morpheus."

A few demigods' heads snapped in my direction, eyebrows raised, excluding Ryan and Josie. Michael frowned.

"How? Morpheus is simply the God of Dreams; Hypnos is the God of Sleep."

"You don't think I know that? But trust me, this is the work of Morpheus."

Connor Stoll chimed in, "How do you know that?"

Josie rolled her eyes and dropped her binoculars to the ground, turning to face us all. "Just believe, Violet. It is Morpheus. We can tell by the sand left behind. When gods use their abilities, they always leave a little evidence that gods and the children of the specific god can see. When Morpheus uses his abilities, there's sand left behind."

Michael's eyes met mine for a brief second, and then he turned his attention back to Manhattan. "Alright, so Morpheus put all of Manhattan to sleep. But why?"

I shook my head, glancing back down at the sleeping city. "Because the fight is about to start."

*Author's Note*

So, this took a while to finish this chapter up and I made up a whole bunch of crap that isn't in the original series, but you'll just have to live with it. I've been busy with writing a new story, work, family drama, crap like that.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate if I could get some dang reviews once in a while…

XxSamacoyxX