HOLY HESTIA THIS IS A LONG CHAPTER!

19 pages :OOOO

Yeah that's a record for me! Lol

Nico: yup, and don't jump to conclusions

Me: I wish I had thought of that…

Nico: your problem.

Me: oh THANKS Nico.

Nico: anytime!

Me: I don't own any of the characters except my own, or PJO and Twilight

Enjoy the stinkin' chapter, since its up so early.

CHAPTER THREE: I THOUGHT THIS TRIP WOULD SUCK!

Ok, now, being the daughter of the Greek Goddess Hestia, I've seen some WEIRD some, with a capital W. But this? This topped the time a pizza-delivery guy walked out of a volcano when I was on vacation with my mom. (Long story, no time.) This topped the time Uncle Hades asked me to help water Persephone's flower garden and I ruined so badly Demeter made a violent corn stalk attack me. (I still refuse to ear corn to this day - it's violent and hates me. I was cursed my Demeter.) Because what walked out in that wolf's place was the most dumb-founding thing ever.

"Crystal! Why are you out in the middle of nowhere?" my third cousin Jacob Black asked. My jaw dropped. Nico and everyone else was looking at me. Jake was shirtless and barefoot.

"J-Jake?" I stammered, hardly able to speak.

"The one and only!" he greeted, smiling hugely.

"What… the… Hestia… you… you're a… that wolf… HUH!" I exclaimed. He laughed. "Well, now that you saw that, I guess there's no hiding it."

"Hiding… wait, that huge wolf was YOU?"

"Yup. I'll tell the others to introduce themselves," he replied, turning to the other wolves. I was sort of afraid that they were going to tear him to shreds. But he said something that I was too lazy and in shock to hear. The wolves all nodded and backed up into the woods. What came out in their place? 5 extremely-buff guys that looked like Indians. They were all shirtless. Annabeth and I's eyes were glued on the really, really tall guy in the center. He might have been taller than Jake… by half a centimeter. He was clearly the leader. He cleared his throat.

"Hi, uh, sorry for almost attacking you. My name's Sam," he said, approaching us. I told Nico to move, and he did. I held out my hand. They were not human, obviously. I decided to test them. I heated up my hand, nearly to the burst-into-flames point. When he shook my hand, it felt normal temperature. It should have been icy cold. We narrowed our eyes at each other.

"Your skin… it's hot like ours?" Sam pointed out, more like a question. I made that pft sound, and cooled down my skin. Then I noticed that his skin was really hot, but it didn't bother me. His eyes widened.

"How did you do that?" he demanded. I shrugged.

"I have the power… quite literally," I stated simply. Nico and Percy chuckled. Sam raised an eyebrow, and released my hand. He shook Nico's next, and they both flinched away from each other.

"Holy Hades his skin is on fire!" Nico exclaimed, holding his hand behind his back. "It's almost as bad as you were on the train!" he directed that at me.

"Oh my God! His hand is freezing! It's almost as bad as those filthy bloodsuckers!" Sam yelled, rubbed his hand. They stared at each other suspiciously. I shivered at the word bloodsuckers, memories of those two awful vampires creeping back. Nico copied me. They stared at us.

"Bloodsuckers… I would really prefer you not mention those…" I whispered, shivering again. Nico grabbed my hand. Normally I would have been embarrassed, but it was nice to have comfort.

"Why? Did you meet some?" Jake asked, looking worried. I nodded.

"We've met two, both tried to kill her… well, us," Nico said quietly. Their eyes widened.

"How did you kill them?" one asked. I looked up, a dark look on my face. My eyes were flaring.

"I burned them," I said, sounding slightly evil.

"How did you do that without ripping them apart?" Sam asked.

"Oh, that wasn't necessary. My fire is more powerful than any other," I said darkly. Percy gave me oh-great-you-just-blew-it! glare, and I smiled sheepishly. All the Indian dudes threw my puzzled looks.

"What do you mean?" another asked.

"Uh… nothing… anyway, please don't mention vampires."

Jake came up to me. "What, I don't even get a hug from the cousin I haven't seen in 10 years?"

I smiled and let go of Nico's hand. I heated up my skin to match his, and he hugged me. I noticed he was WAY taller than me, by about 9 inches. Well over 6 feet, that was for sure. It felt weird, to have my face buried in his chest, warm and cozy. He quickly released me and ruffled my hair.

"Well, look how big you've gotten! And here I thought I was the only one with a growth spurt!" he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, still smiling.

"Geez, Jacob! What happened to you, with all… this?" I asked, motioning to his whole body. He laughed.

"Oh, you know! Just the major growth spurt and becoming a Werewolf and all… you know, the usual!" he replied sarcastically again. We both laughed. Just as I was getting in a better mood, Nico tugged on my sleeve and motioned for me to join him in a big group huddle about 50 feet away. I followed him, and we spoke in the worlds quietest whispers.

"I think these guys might be the monsters we're looking for," Annabeth whispered. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But… they go to the La Push school. My satyrs said it was at the Forks high school," Grover pointed out. We fell silent.

"What could possibly be worse?" I asked. Really stupid question, I know. I could think of a LOT of things worse than a werewolf. Try the Furies, or maybe the Drakon, or perhaps Typhon? Yeah, a lot of things were worse. They all looked at me like I was retarded.

"Ok, point taken. But I mean, should we transfer to Forks High instead of La Push?" I mumbled. They thought about this.

"I think so. We'll have to find a ride to and from La Push though," Percy agreed.

"Ok, so then it's agreed: we switch to Forks high and look for the monsters there," Grover confirmed. We all nodded and broke up the huddle. When we jogged back over to the guys, they were mumbling and whispering in their own huddle. They came over to meet us a few seconds later.

"So, we hear you guys need a ride to Forks High," Jake said. My jaw dropped.

"How the Hestia did you hear that?" I asked.

"Super werewolf hearing," he smirked.

I sighed. "Well, yes, we do."

"I can provide that. Two options: wake up extra-early so I can drive you, or let us take you in wolf form," Jake held up two hands with each option. I looked at my friends. Some were holding up 1 fingers, others holding up 2.

"Well, we'll try the wolf thing, because no one wants to get up early. If that doesn't work out… then we'll wake up early," I told him. He nodded. It took me a moment to notice that our bags were half-way down a hill, about a hundred yards away. Grover went to go get them.

"Well, I guess we should go get you guys moved into your new place!" Jacob said, going back into the trees. Next thing I know he and his buddies come out in wolf-form again. It still makes me shiver a little bit, even now. Jacob walked up to us, and motioned for us to get on his back. He bent down. I looked at Nico nervously, and he nodded. He climbed on first with his bag, then helped me up. His back looked kind of full, so Sam came up and took Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. They started racing through the woods. I was terrified out of my wits, clinging to Nico desperately. I wrapped my arms around his stomach and buried my face in his shoulder in fear. He removed one hand from Jake's fur and put it on mine. I blushed, but I was still scared. As we raced through the forest at humanly-impossible speeds, I could feel heat. Wherever we were, it was warmer. I peeked open an eye, and saw Percy had a very firm look on his face. We must have been by the ocean. I dared myself to look ahead, and saw a clearing with light shining through. We came onto a beach, and it was pretty hot for Washington. They slowed down their pace. It was about 5 minutes before we got to Jake's house. The wolves let us slide off, then went human again. Jacob led us into his tiny house.

"Dad! We're back!" he called through the house. I saw a man come in, wheeling himself in a wheelchair. His face spread into a smile when he saw me.

"Crystal! How great it is to see you!" he said, clapping me on the back. I smiled.

"Thanks, Billy. You too!" I returned the feelings.

"So, I suggest we get you kids moved into the house next door, then," Billy said. We nodded. Jacob gave me the key. I unlocked the door and stepped into the most amazing house ever. There was a huge, open room as soon as you opened the door. Inside was a huge TV on the wall with an Xbox and a Wii. There were squishy-looking black leather couches and chairs with an oak table in the middle. I also saw a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad rolled up on the floor. The carpet was lavender, with little black swirl designs. I set my bags on the floor, and continued into the kitchen. There was awesome new stuff there, too; a huge fridge and stainless steel stove. There was a dishwasher, too. In the middle was a huge oak table with a black tablecloth. I also found a small bathroom on the other end of the living room. Then we went upstairs. We each got our own rooms, and they were decked out exactly the way we wanted them (courtesy of Apollo).

Jake pointed out which room was who's, and we all ran to them. When I got to my room, which was placed at the end of the hall on the right, there was a sign that read CRYSTAL'S ROOM. Oh, well how handy. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened the door, I gasped. It was my paradise: (A/N: this is what I would want my room to look like in real life, so yeah). The carpet was lavender, the walls painted a pale yellow. The ceiling had a huge rainbow flowing over it, (A/N: hey don't judge me I love rainbows, ok?) and a sky blue background around it. I saw a huge bed in the middle of the large room. It had red bedspread with pillows that had yellow and orange pillowcases. It was a canopy bed, with the canopy part made of metal. Hanging over the edges was a light red veil with glitter powder on it. I saw a door right next to my bed and opened it. It was a walk-in closet half the size of the room. On the right were shirts and dresses, on the left were pants and skirts. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not really girly. But even I love all these adorable clothes! At the far back was every pair of shoes I had ever wanted, all my perfect size. I spent about 10 minutes skimming through the clothes, then went back to my room. On the half that didn't have my bed and walk-in closet, it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Taking up almost the entire back wall was a huge flat-screen TV with shelves built into the wall that held a bunch of video game systems and every single game I could ever want. I walked towards it, and noticed the carpet was gone. When I looked down, I saw that the other half of my room was a total disco pad. There was one of those light up multi-square dance floors replacing the carper with black leather window seats lining the outside, with about a 4-foor space to step onto the dance floor. Above my head was a disco ball. I noticed that the 3-foot space on the wall not occupied by the TV and games there was a stereo, and I noticed huge 3-foot speakers all around the room. I saw that the 1.5 feet not taken up by the stereo was packed with CD's; every CD by all of my favorite artists. I was practically drooling until I saw a karaoke machine off to the side. This was the Holy Grail. I absolutely loved to sing, dance, and be my crazy self. I may suck horribly, but I didn't care. I also noticed a few Dance Dance Revolution dance pads. Wow, Apollo must really like this game as much as I did. I also noticed that there was a curtain separating the awesome disco pad from my normal room. It was deep royal purple. I closed the curtain, and the little disco room became almost pitch black. I felt over on the wall a switch. When I flipped it on, I was amazed. The dance floor lit up in multi-colored squares, the disco ball made little circles all over the place. On the TV screen it said WELCOME CRYSTAL. I noticed that there was a whole stack of Netflix DVD's waiting to be watched. There was all my favorites like Alice in Wonderland, Shark Attack 3, and Jurassic Park. (A/N: yes I have odd taste in movies…) When I walked over to the stereo, I found the Hestia Grail (which is the Holy Grail only better!): An IPod Touch. My jaw dropped. I carefully picked it up. It was in a silver case with my name engraved on it. I saw that it had every app known to man… and several known to gods. (lol had to). I was about ready to faint, when I heard a knock on the door.

"Crystal? Can I come in?" I heard Nico's voice. I quickly flipped off the switch and decided I would surprise him.

"Yeah, come on in!" I invited. I heard the door open and close.

"Whoa… awesome!" Nico said, looking around. "Wait, where are you? And what's this curtain?"

I giggled. "Behind the curtain!"

He cautiously stepped through the curtain, only to find pitch black. I flipped on the switch, and he stumbled back a bit.

"Oh.. This is AWESOME!" he yelled. I laughed.

"I know right? Apollo couldn't have done a better job!"

Then a thought occurred to me: we were only staying for the school year… why did we get these awesome rooms? Last I checked, this was supposed to be a suckish trip looking for monsters. Well, I wasn't about to complain. Nico and I began to dance to our heart's contest to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. I quickly paused the music and went into my walk-in closet. I dug through the racks until I found what I was looking for. When I walked back behind the curtain, I was wearing an afro wig and awesome glasses. Nico's jaw dropped, and he laughed. I began disco-dancing, (which, quite frankly, I didn't know I could do!) when I heard Annabeth come in.

"Crystal? What the heck is the music?" she demanded, then peeked into the curtain. I was in the middle of doing Disco Fever when she broke down laughing so hard she cried.

"Uhh… are you ok, Annabeth?" I asked, taking of my wig. She nodded, still laughing and holding her gut. Then Percy came in to see why Annabeth was laughing so hard. His jaw dropped when he saw my disco pad.

"Like it?" I asked. He just nodded, looking over everything. I smiled hugely. Thanks, Apollo. You did better than I could ever want! I decided to let them mess around a bit while I invaded their rooms. I started with Annabeth's, who was right next to mine. The second I opened the door, I was not impressed. On the walls were huge bookshelves, lines with books in Ancient Greek. To the right was a desk with a little lamp and a big flipbook of grid paper and pencils. Ew, architecture stuff. Her bed was pushed against the wall, and there were big couches in the middle of the room to sit and read in. The walls were painted like a pretty forest, with the banner of an owl (Athena's symbol) over her bed. The carpet was plush white. I quickly left, no desire to look around more. Percy's room was next; I hoped it would be better. Of course… his would probably be water-themed… water, I'm fire… you get the idea. I opened the door, and looked down. The carpet looked and felt like beach sand, with it cutting off a little over half-way for something that looked exactly like real water. Against the walls was a beach mural, up to the point the carpet cut off. Where the carpet cut off on the walls it was an underwater mural. I looked over in the water area and saw a… wait, what that a pool? Oh, just a fountain. I looked inside it and saw a bunch of Gold Drachmas. I was tempted to take one, but I was no child of Hermes, so I left them. His bed had a blue bed spread with green pillows, and all his dressers and tables were sea green. I noticed on his ceiling was a huge trident, his father Poseidon's symbol. The chairs and couches were blue. This was pretty cool, but I still liked my room better. I continued on to Grover's room. When I opened the door, I saw him sitting on a beanbag chair, sighing at a photo of his girlfriend, Juniper. Ok, that is SO cheesy! I thought to myself. He looked up in shock when I opened the door. His room was beautiful. There was a tree - no seriously, an actual tree - in the corner, and a bunch of other plants all around. There was real grass for carpet (weird) and his bed looked like it was stuffed with straw. He had a whole laundry basket full of tin cans. I smiled at him, then closed the door. As I continued to the end of the hall, I reached Nico's room. The door was painted black. I knew Nico was a son of Hades, but I didn't know what to expect. When I opened the door, the first thing that entered my mind: death. Lots of it. I also smelled sulfur, just slightly. I looked around. There were torches on the wall that burned green fire - Greek Fire - all over the place. His bed had a black bedspread with blood-red pillows. I shivered. On the walls were skulls and crossbones. I saw that the interior was decorated like Hades' palace (yes I've been there - long story, no time). It was pretty simple, but still scary. Then, in one corner of the room I noticed it looked… normal. There were some red beanbag chairs gathered around a table. I saw on the table a digital camera and some pictures I had taken for Nico of everyone. I looked at them. One of Percy at the beach. One of Grover, chewing a tin can, trying to smile. A few of Percy and Annabeth. One of me on my vacation. One of Annabeth reading, not even noticing the camera. A group shot of everyone that Chiron took for us. And then… a picture of Nico and I next to each other, smiling awkwardly. I put them down and opened the door. As I was walking out, I saw Nico coming down the hall. I closed the door quickly, and walked casually.

"Hey, you have an awesome room!" I complimented, being party honest. Parts of it were awesome… but others were just plain disturbing. He smiled. "Yours too! We'll have to throw a party in there!"

We both laughed. "Great idea!" I approved. We laughed more.

"I'm going to get my bag from downstairs," Nico said, heading to the stairs.

"Me too," I added, following him. After everyone brought their bags up to their rooms and got settled in, Jacob called us for dinner. We all filed into the tiny house. I was sitting down next to Nico when I heard Jake arguing with a girl from the other room.

"Look, Bella, I'm telling you! She's no threat! Just go with it!" he insisted. The girl, Bella apparently, huffed.

"Jacob Black, you know very well what she's done! I will not have her endangering my family!" she said firmly, sounding like my mom (adoptive mom). Who were they talking about.

"Whatever, Bella. Just try to be nice, ok?" Jake sighed. She nodded stiffly, and took a large spoon out of a drawer. I smelled spaghetti. Jacob came in.

"So, I hope you all like spaghetti!" he said cheerily.

"I love it!" I blurted. I really did though.

"Me too!" everyone chorused. He smiled hugely.

"Well, great! Because Miss Bella here was so gracious enough to make us some!" he announced as a girl with chocolate-brown hair and eyes, probably about 17, walked in with a huge pot of spaghetti. My eyes lit up with delight.

"Wow! This looks delicious!" I chimed. She turned to look at me. There was something… hidden behind her innocent-seeming eyes. She glared at me for just a second then smiled.

"Thank you, Crystal. Jacob has told me all about you!" she replied.

"Really?" I asked in surprise. She nodded.

"Yeah, and I also heard that you were attacked by a few… vampires?" she said sneakily. I almost choked on nothing.

"W-Where did you hear that?" I stumbled. She rolled her eyes.

"Ok, so, obviously you're alive. So put it to us straight: how did you survive?" she demanded. We were all staring at her in shock. I turned to Nico for support. He didn't do anything, just stared in shock.

"Uh.. Well, that's a REALLY long story…" I began. It was.

"Please, do tell us while we eat!" she insisted, and began dishing up our bowls of spaghetti. I gulped nervously.

"Guys, is it alright to tell them?" I asked my friends. No one said anything.

"I guess… I guess we don't really have a choice," Annabeth spoke up finally. I nodded once.

"Ok, well, uh… where to start…" I said, stuffing some spaghetti in my mouth. As I chewed I thought of how to put it to them. We're children of the Greek Gods who have cool powers! Except for Grover, who's half-goat, AKA a satyr! Yeah, that would totally work. I swallowed.

"Ok, well uh, you guys know about Greek Mythology, right?" I started.

"Hercules, the Greek Gods, all that stuff?" Jake asked curiously. I nodded.

"Uh, yeah, all that stuff. Well… you're gonna think I'm crazy, but I swear it's true… see, all those people, like the Gods and such… well. They're real."

Jacob choked on his water, and Bella didn't move, she just narrowed her eyes.

"Ok… and your connection is?" she asked.

"I'm getting to that…" I replied, taking another mouthful. "Well, in those 'myths', the Gods and Goddesses went around falling in love with mortals, right? Well, yeah, that happens too…"

Jake got it. "Wait, so, you're saying that one of these Gods or Goddesses fell in love with… your parent?" he pointed to me. I nodded. He gasped.

"Ok… does that go for the rest of you?" Bella asked, pointing to my friends.

"Erm, yes… except for Grover. He's a satyr," Percy answered for me.

"Ok, so, uh… who are your Godly parents?" Jacob asked awkwardly.

"Poseidon, God of the Sea," Percy said.

"Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War," Annabeth added.

"Hades, Lord of the Underworld," Nico smirked.

"And Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth," I finished.

"Ok… so… how did you survive the bloodsuckers?" Jacob urged on.

"I burned them," I stated. They stared at me.

"How did you do that without ripping them apart?" Billy asked curiously.

"Oh, my fire is more powerful than any other… spare my mother, of course," I replied simply as if it were nothing new, then took another bite of my food.

"So, what… you can set stuff on fire?" Jacob guessed.

"Something like that," I nodded. His eyes widened.

"Now that's some I HAVE to see!"

I laughed. "Ok, ok, after dinner."

"Oh, by the way… should Nico and I show you our… abilities?" Percy questioned. Jake shrugged. Bella seemed to be spacing out. After we all finished dinner, I offered to help Bella with the dishes.

"Well… alright. Ill wash, you dry," she agreed. I smiled. She began to scrub them with warm water. When she handed me the first plate and a towel, I began to dry it. This is taking forever! I complained mentally. Then I got an idea. Well, maybe I can dry it myself… I focused on making the plate dry. I heard Bella scream. When I opened my eyes, I saw the plate melting through my fingers.

"CRAP! WHAT DID YOU DO?" she screamed.

"Oops… I… I tried to dry the plate…" I muttered, picking up the goo which was the plate. I tossed it in the trash can, and everyone came running in.

"What's up? Who screamed?" Percy demanded, ready to uncap Riptide.

"Oh, uh… I attempted to dry a plate…" I mumbled, holding up my fingers which were covered in dripping goo. Percy looked dumbfounded.

"You… melted a plate trying to dry it?" he asked in disbelief. I nodded sheepishly. He sighed, and told the others nothing had happened.

"Uh… maybe you should go with them… I don't think melted plates work very well…" Bella suggested. I nodded and followed Percy. Wow I felt like an idiot. How many people have you met that accidentally melted a plate trying to dry it? None. I noticed that everyone was going outside.

"Hey guys, what are we doing?" I asked them.

"Well, I was thinking we could get it a little training," Percy suggested.

"Yeah, I'm up for that," Annabeth agreed. I shrugged along with Nico.

"Oh, but Annabeth is the only one who won't have an advantage… you know, water, fire, dead armies…" I pointed out. Her face puffed up.

"I don't care if I cant do anything like that! I can kick your sorry butt any day!" she yelled. I raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Oh? Then how about you and I have the first practice battle?" I taunted. She drew her celestial bronze knife.

"Oh, it is SO on!" she said, smirking too now. I pulled out Eruption, and gave it its signature move - a blade of fire. I smiled devilishly.

"Ok, now, this is just practice, so please try not to hurt each other. Whoever is disarmed first wins!" Nico announced, apparently the referee. We nodded.

"Ready…" Percy began, and I took my fighting stance.

"Set…" Nico continued, and I turned on my senses.

"GO!" they yelled at the same time. Immediately I blasted flames out of the end of my sword like a flamethrower all around Annabeth. Amazingly, before they could get too high, she jumped over the. She came at me with her knife. I couldn't use Eruption close-range, so I pulled out my short, 1 and a half foot sword. It's blade was heated to 100 degrees. As she came at me, I half-expected her to do her normal move; a slide to the side and go for the legs. But she didn't. I held my ground, and she came right at me. As I quickly realized her new plan, I knew I would need something to stop her from hitting me. I concentrated as hard as I could, and combusted. I knew this would make me tired, but I needed the defense. She frowned, looking for a different approach. I took out Eruption again. As long as I kept far-range, I could win this. I surrounded her with flames again, this time too high for her to jump. There was a wall, and the only way for her to go was towards me. She slowly inched forward, swinging her knife back behind her head. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was planning. I took out my knife again. Just as I was ready to charge her, she threw her knife like a boomerang. That was a really risky move. But sure enough, as it got closer and closer an unreal speeds, his knocked my sword right out of my hand. But I still had Eruption in the other, though now I was at a disadvantage. Her knife went right back to her, just like a boomerang. I began to charge her, still having my body on fire. She held her ground. I was about to knock her knife out of her hand when something distracted me. It was Jacob.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" he yelled at us, coming towards me.

"Jake, don't bother us now! Get back or I'll burn you!" I warned. He kept coming closer. I shot flames out of my sword again, but Annabeth skillfully dodged it. I didn't see where she had gone to in the smoke. Next thing I knew, my flaming body was put out and Eruption lay on the ground. Annabeth had her knife to my throat, and Jake looked ready to pounce on her. She smiled.

"I win!" she announced. I cursed.

"My Gods Annabeth, you really are good!" I complimented.

"Thanks, you too. That was a tough battle!" she replied. She tossed me back Eruption and my sword. I pocketed Eruption, and put my sword back in its sheath. I looked up and saw Jake, along with the rest of the guys, staring at us in wonder.

"You… how… fire…" Sam was almost unable to speak.

"Daughter of Hestia. Duh," Nico said sarcastically. I laughed.

"How… what…" another guy began. Awkward.

"Uh, yeah… I'll explain later… well, our first day of school is tomorrow. I for one am going to get ready for that!" I announced, and headed back to the house. I climbed the stairs, and entered my awesome room. For the first time, I noticed another door. I slowly opened it. Inside I found my own luxury bathroom. There was a huge bathtub - no, I think it was Jacuzzi bathtub - and a huge mirror on the wall. It had those little lights around it like move stars have, along with every kind of makeup ever on the counter. There was a toilet (obviously) with a purple seat cover and a matching purple rug. Next to it was a large sink, where I spotted my toothbrush. I saw across from the toilet was sort of like a bookshelf, but it had towels on it. How awesome is that? A Jacuzzi for a bathtub? I sighed happily. When I say down in front of the mirror, I found a magazine full of different hairstyles. Talk about epic! I quietly closed the door and plopped down on my bed. I picked up my IPod Touch and began flipping through the apps. I quickly found something that would keep me occupied for hours: Bubble Wrap. I began tapping the screen and popping the bubbles. I sat there for about 15 minutes doing so, until it was time for lunch. But something surprised me.

"Hey, guys. We're going over to Bella's house for lunch!" Jake announced.

"Oh, uh, okay…" I said nervously. I saw Bella had a rusty old red truck parked in front of the house, and Jake had an old rabbit.

"Er, can we all fit in those little cars?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I hope so. Crystal, Nico, and Grover? You ride with me. Percy, Annabeth? You ride with Bella," Jake instructed. I nodded, and followed him to his tiny old car. Grover sat in the front, while Nico and I took the back. It was about a 15 minutes drive, though Percy, Annabeth, and Bella didn't arrive til 5 minutes after we did because her truck is so slow. She told her dad we were all here, and he cleared off the table. And when I walked in, bam, what's the first thing that hits me? The smell. I know the smell anywhere after encountering it so many times. Everyone filed into the kitchen. I was the last one in, and the most terrifying thing I have ever seen was looking my straight in the eyes.

Well? What did ya think? I hope you liked it! Cuz it's another cliffhanger! You can probably guess what it is, though… anyway, remember: the more reviews I get, the faster I update!