Sorry I haven't updated in a while… Being sick takes its tolls. Also, I've been super busy. I won't bore you to death with the details. Then I won't have anyone to read my fics!:) Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy!

Ch. 4

Calypso

I was extremely tempted to bang on the table and yell at the rest of the group, but I couldn't or the other people here would probably be pretty ticked. Still, I had to figure out how to get the mini storm and hurricane to stop, or pandemonium would break out.

I turned to Piper, who was on the Gray Sisters' Taxi side along with Jason. I whispered my plan in her ear once I got her to stop yelling at Annabeth. She nodded and began to sing: Sleep, my child, and peace be with thee, all through the night… Everyone stopped and stared at her, but the effect of her charmspeak was too powerful, and soon everyone was asleep. Only the demigods were awake, but sleepy, as I explained that we would be taking the Danger Express, otherwise known as the Gray Sisters' Taxi.

Clarisse, who was the only one who didn't seem affected by the singing, looked conflicted. She was obviously trying to decide whether to argue or agree. I could hear her mumbling,"But if we take the Taxi, I can threaten the sisters, but if we take a chariot, I can yell at the enemy, but if we…" Clarisse's eyes narrowed as I yawned and began to nod off, and she honked "WAKE UP!" right in my ear. Not only did she wake me up, everyone else at the table shot up in shock. "That's better," Clarisse said with satisfaction, and turned toward the front, heading to check on the dragons.

Peleus

After Clarisse finishes her rant, she comes back outside. She gives Laurie a message to fetch Pork Pie and Blackjack but stay at cap herself. I watched them take off, and Clarisse calls out,"Remeber tell Chiron to get Nico ready! Shadow traveling will be helpful!" A group of mortals give her weird looks as they pass. I have no idea what the mortals think I am, so I try to shrink like Festus. The best I can do is press against the wall.

I envy Festus. He gets all the cool things programmed into him. I'm a flesh-and-blood dragon, but my dream is to be a mechanical one. Impossible, I know, but the gods might grant my wish if I could get it through. Right now, my plan is to communicate through Festus, who would tell Leo, who would tell the Council, but now my only source of communication is unable to communicate. Stupid kidnappers and their stupid dream-crushing effects.

Anyway, back in reality, Clarisse is opening Festus from his suitcase form, and everyone else comes out the front door. Good. The mortals were most likely flipping out still over the hurricane and thunderstorm Percy and Jason made. Hey, dragons can bend to over to see stuff too, ya know! Everyone jumps on my back and we take off, spiraling above the city and back to camp to pick up Nico. Jason says Nico is gonna be a vital part of this mission.

Nico

Why does everything have to be so sudden? I had just got back from visiting my dad when Festus and Peleus swooped in and Percy started yelling at me to get on and Annabeth shrieked,"It's a matter of life and death!" Like I didn't know enough about that already. Two pegasi came charging toward us as I hopped on Peleus and the two dragons joined wings, with the pegasi huddling underneath. I concentrated, and the beasts charged toward the trees, which were rife with shadows. I poured my energy into our transportation, and we dissolved into the darkness just before we crashed into the trees. Suddenly, we were standing on a sidewalk in front of Central park, right where Javier had said he was.(The group told me what he had said before we left, so no, I don't have creepy telepathic powers-not that I didn't have creepy powers already.)

Annabeth let out a piercing whistle and two smoky headlights came wheeling out of the sky, then joined together to form a NYC cab. I pulled out a backpack with the front pocket filled with drachmas. The pocket was almost as big as the back one, and the back one was huge.

We all got inside and the cab took off, the dragons and pegasi speeding along beside us. Jason and Piper looked like they were going to be sick, but Percy and Clarisse were grinning like insane jack-o-lanterns. Annabeth was trying to say something, but I couldn't understand her, or hear for that matter. Nothing was hearable over Percy and Clarisse's whoops, Piper and Jason's pleas to slow down, the roar of the engine, the rush of the blood in my ears, or the dragons. Gods, those dragons were so loud, I was shocked that there was no attention paid to them whatsoever. If I were a mortal and I saw that, every police and military unit in the tri-state area would be chasing us before we even got out of Chelsea. That would be saying a lot, since the pizza place was there.

Anyway, Annabeth was writing something on a piece of scrap paper and passed it to me. The note said: The three sisters are scared of children of Hades. Also, if you can get their eye, you'll have some more leverage. Get some info. Just show them that shadow trick you did at the pavilion. I glanced back at Annabeth and nodded. Let the games begin.