Geez.. who would have thought the last two months of school would be the busiest? Here's the new chapter. R&R!

Ch.5: Danger

Leo

My head pounded as I tried to sit up, failing and falling back down. I struggled to open my eyes and get a glimpse of my surroundings. I shivered. Wherever I was, it was really cold. I finally forced my eyes open and tried to sit up, but I found I was chained to the wall, both my hands and feet. My clothes were in tatters, but they were only my PJs. Where in the world was I, and why was I here? Then all the memories came flooding back. The nightmare, my walk, the light, the person. I knew I had recognized the person, but now I couldn't remember who it was.

I took in my surroundings. I was in a small room, lit by a single flickering lightbulb. The walls were bare, and there was a huge stone slab fitted into one wall. I jumped as suddenly the door began to slide open with a horrible grinding noise. When the screeching and shrieking of the door finally stopped, I let out a sigh of relief, and I was horrified to hear my breath rasping I my chest, and suddenly I couldn't breathe. Then a clicking sounded from outside my room, the sound of crutches. A figure appeared in the doorway, so hunched and twisted he barely passed for human. The figure's face was shrouded in shadow, but he looked up, and I could see it. The person was male. But his face was so hideously scarred that he barely looked human.

His eyes burned into mine, and with a jolt I recognized him. The person standing in front of me was the half-blood I resented most. I had hoped to never see him again. My voice dripped with venom as I spat,"You shouldn't be alive." Suddenly the red hot pain I had felt when I was captured bored into my skull, and I got out one last word before I blacked out. "Octavian."

Piper

My nightmares were horrible that night.

I stood on the edge of a cliff, the wind blowing in my face. Leo stood about 30 feet away, an expression a mix of shock and hatred obvious on his face. I felt an icy wind blow behind me. Leo looked up, and his face suddenly froze with fear and contempt. I glanced back, and my fists balled; I knew exactly who it was. Khione, the goddess of ice and snow, had a personality that went with her power. She was bent on destroying Leo because of his power over fire.

Her dark eyes glittered with malice, and she unleashed a storm of frozen shards on Leo. He tried to use his fire, but Khione pressed harder and put it out. Her pressure pushed him closer to the cliff. I tried to cry out, but my voice was useless. The storm winds screeched around him, avoiding the figure standing in front of him. The person dashed to take cover behind a large rock. Khione released a furious blizzard, pushing Leo over the edge. I wailed, and this time my voice and body worked. I dashed to the edge, but it was too late. The snap of Leo's broken body echoed off the cliffs, his shriek could be heard for miles.

I bolted upright in bed, forgetting where I was until I looked around. The hotel room was crowded; most demigods were sleeping on the floor. I checked my watch. 6:30, not time to get up yet. As far as I could tell, no one was up yet anyway, but then I heard a soft sigh. I looked over to the other bed. Jason was facing me, and Percy was asleep on his other side. "Finally, someone's awake. I was beginning to think morning would never come. Did you have a nightmare?" he asked. I nodded. He sighed again. "I did too. But I don't want to talk about it. Why don't you go first?" I groaned inwardly. I really didn't want to talk about it, but I would have to describe it to the others anyway. Might as well get some practice.

"Well, I was standing on the ed-" That's as far as I got before Percy cried out, thrashing in his sleep. He shot up, his eyes wide open and filled with terror. He was breathing hard. He moaned and shuddered. Annabeth, whom I didn't know was even awake, slipped out of her sleeping bag and picked her way over to a shivering Percy. Some of the fear dissolved from his face at the sight of her, but he was still obviously shaken. Annabeth took his hand and led him to the room door. They shut the door softly, but it still roused Nico, who rubbed sleep from his eyes and mumbled,"Is it time to get up?" I checked my watch again, and it said 6:55. Now we could start gathering up our stuff to leave.

I nodded to Nico, and Jason and I got out of bed and began picking our way through the sleeping bags, rousing the sleeping demigods. I woke Frank first. We had run into him and Hazel in Albany, and when they heard what we were doing, they refused to stay behind. So Percy had whistled for his pegasus Blackjack and another named Pork Pie. We were currently at a hotel in Montpelier, Vermont.

Frank groaned as I shook his shoulder." What…" he muttered, and I slapped his face. He shot bolt upright and cried,"Gimme the pancakes and no one gets hurt!" Hazel jolted awake and glared at him. "Frank, you and your pancakes will be the death of me!" she hissed. I cheerfully said," Well, on the bright side, you woke everyone up, so now that's done. Get up and get ready. Let's move out!"

Everyone rushed around, collecting their stuff, and in the confusion, I didn't notice that Annabeth and Percy were still in the hallway. Once everyone had their things, I threw open the door to leave and was met with a shocking sight: Percy lying on the ground, unconscious, and Annabeth fighting bravely despite being surrounded by 6 or 7 dracaenae. Her bronze knife was in her hand and she was clearly desperate, but when she saw us her eyes lit up and she fought with renewed strength.

While everyone else rushed to help Annabeth, I dashed over to Percy and checked his wounds. He had a large gash in his side, but his cut hadn't been caused by Celestial Bronze, only steel, as the monsters' spears were made of it. I pulled some nectar out of my backpack and drizzled it on the wound, then did the same with my canteen of water. The combined effect of both liquids healed the gash to where Percy only had a scar on his left side. By then all of the dracaenae had been vaporized, and Annabeth dashed over to help me carry Percy. We shot downstairs and out of the hotel doors, where the dragons and 2 pegasus had been waiting for us. We leaped onto our rides and took off, hearts pounding and breathing hard.

Percy had woken up by then, so once we were safely soaring away from Montpelier, Annabeth decided to tell us what had happened. According to her (with Percy interrupting sometimes to add something she forgot), she had taken Percy into the hallway to calm him down. He told her he had a bad dream, and had just finished explaining when the door across from our room and out came about 15 dracaenae. Percy and Annabeth had only vaporized some of the monsters and were just adjusting to their shock when one of the snake women shot forward and sliced a gash in Percy's side. "Then they surrounded me and that's when you guys came in," Annabeth finished.

"We were lucky no one else heard us and came out into the hallway," remarked Hazel.I nodded and added,"By the way, Percy, you weren't the only one that had a dream. Jason and I did too." I described my dream, and the whole time Jason's eyes kept getting wider, and Calypso's face paler. When I finished, everyone looked absolutely horrified. Jason whispered,"That's the exact same dream I had."Annabeth closed her eyes, then snapped them back open. "Wait, then shouldn't we be watching out for-" Suddenly, the dragons roared and flipped over, trying to turn around, the 2 pegasus following as a biting blizzard came out of nowhere. "KHIONE!"