This is my longest chapter yet. 6,000 words total! It took me forever to write. It is the start of the Titan's Curse. Nina and Apollo finally make up. I changed a few things like in the Capture the Flag game because I don't want Percy and Thalia to fight. Other than that, everything is the same or at least similar. Thank you for your review, AlexLovesDanHowell. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 40: Forgiveness

During the next Quidditch game, dementors swarmed the field. Harry passed out. Dumbledore did this spell that made Harry float more slowly so he didn't get hurt. Unfortunately, his Nimbus 2000 flew into the Whomping Willow. There was no saving it.

The day after McGonagall came around asking everyone who wanted to come home for Christmas, I got a letter from my brother.

Dear Nina,

There's an emergency. Grover found two really powerful demigods. He needs our help to go get them. Please come home. Thalia and Annabeth are coming too. They're up in Maine. If you don't come home, I will fly up with Blackjack and drag you home.

Love,

Percy

I already told McGonagall I was going to stay. I ran out of the Great Hall and up to her office. I started pounding on the door.

"What is it, Miss Jackson? You should be down having lunch with everyone else."

"I need to go home for Christmas Break," I panted. "Family emergency."

She seemed shocked by my answer. "O-of course. If that is all, you may go." I turned around and left. I ran up to my dorm to start packing. Why couldn't you send that letter yesterday, Perce?

A few days later, I was sitting in a car with Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Sally on our way to Maine. Annabeth sat up front with Sally and I sat between Percy and Thalia. I hadn't seen my brother or cousin since late August, yet none of us were talking. We were all too nervous. Sally was talking. She always talks when she's nervous. By the time we got to Westover, the military school that the demigods were at, she had told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story about me and my brother.

Westover Hall looked like Hogwarts. It was nowhere near as impressive, though. It wasn't as big either. "Oh yeah, this'll be fun," snorted Thalia.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" asked Sally as we all clambered out of the car. I walked around back with Thalia to grab the bags.

"No thanks, Mom," Percy said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay, Nina and I can just call Blackjack and Silvermist."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just worried about you, Percy." Percy and I were the only ones who noticed she hadn't said she was worried about me. I looked up in time to see Percy glare at my mother. I gave him a soft smile.

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson. We'll keep them out of trouble." Annabeth smiled reassuringly at Sally. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright dears. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson. Thanks for the ride," said Thalia. Sally waved and pulled out of the parking lot. We were officially stranded in Maine. How lovely. "Your mom is so cool, guys," laughed Thalia once my mom was out of sight.

"She's pretty okay," Percy answered. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?" I looked back at Thalia. She was looking at the ground. She didn't answer the question. I wonder what happened to her mom. Annabeth said she had met Thalia while she was on the run. Maybe Thalia was on the run too.

When we walked inside, all I could see were weapons. There were tons of guns and swords all over the walls. It seemed to be a little overkill. There was definitely a fight coming. I jumped when the doors slammed shut behind us. This place was creepy. We hid our duffel bags behind a column. There was music coming from the other end of the hall. That must be where the dance was. We started walking to the doors at the end of the hall when two teachers walked in front of us. One was a man who had two different colored eyes and was clean shaven. The other was a woman with a wispy moustache. Yup, very backwards in my opinion. Both had short, grey hair. "Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Um..."began my brother. We so did not plan for this. "Ma'am we're just-"

"Ha!" the man interrupted. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shal be eee-jected." He had a french accent and pronounced the J like in Jacques. Thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," she said. "We go to school here. I'm Thalia, that's Nina, she's Annabeth, and this is Percy. We're in eighth grade." What the Hades was Thalia thinking. Now we'll get punished even worse. I didn't think that punishment here was just a detention.

"Mrs. Gottschalk, do you know these students?" Her name is Gottschalk? You have got to be kidding me.

The woman blinked. "I...yes. I believe I do, sir. Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. Christina. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?

Grover came running in before she could finish. "You made it! You-" he gasped. He stopped when he saw Mrs. Gottschalk and the man. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh-"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood? What do you mean they made it? These students live here," said who I can only assume was Dr. Thorn. He didn't seem to entirely believe that. His aura was funny. Maybe he is the monster. Grover nodded and quickly explained how he meant we made the punch. Grover ushered us to the gym and I had to stop myself from looking back at Dr. Thorn several times. I could sense him watching us. It freaked me out.

When we got to the gym, I hugged Grover. Grover had gotten little taller, but otherwise looked the same. He was wearing a black T-shirt. I couldn't make it out at first, but eventually I unscrambled the words just enough to make out WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure if that was the motto of the school or Grover's rank. "So, what's the emergency?" I asked, still looking at the shirt.

"There's a monster hunting down the two half-bloods I found," Grover said after taking a deep breath. Finding one half-blood was pretty rare. Chiron had all the satyrs scouring schools from fourth grade to high school. These were desperate times. Kronos was rising and we needed to have enough half-bloods to fight him. We were losing campers and fast. "A brother and a sister," Grover continued. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time though. I need help."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"One," Grover said, looking a little nervous. This must be a bad monster. "Everytime I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

"Right," said Thalia. "These half-bloods are at the dance?" Grover nodded. "Then let's dance. Who's the monster?"

"Oh, you've just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn." I was right. I gulped nervously and placed my hand on my hip where Mov was resting. "There they are," Grover said nodding to a pair of Italian kids sitting up on the bleachers. I knew those kids.

"Bianca and Nico di Angelo," I said.

"You know them?" Percy asked me.

"I met them in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The gods only know how old they are."

"Do they...I mean, have you told them?" asked Annabeth,

Grover shook his head. "So let's grab them and get out of here," said Percy. He started forward, but I put my hand on his shoulder to hold him back. Dr. Thorn wa standing in front of them. He definitely had not been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?" I asked.

"We're all very powerful. Mingle. Act natural and let your scents confuse him. But, keep an eye on the di Angelos."

"Should we dance?" asked Annabeth.

Thalia nodded, grinning insanely. "Ugh," I groaned. "Who chose the Jesse Mcartney?"

"I did," Grover said. He seemed slightly hurt.

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"Thalia snorted.

"Green who?" asked Grover. Thalia and I stared at him open mouthed. Who doesn't know who Green Day is.

"Never mind," she sighed. "Let's dance, Goat Boy."

"But I can't dance."

"You can if I'm leading." Thalia dragged a terrified Grover away. Annabeth and Percy left me to go dance with each other. Well, I'm on my own now. I looked around the gym, trying to find a cute guy my age. A blonde boy with blue eyes smirked at me and began to walk over to me. Wow, he really looks like Apollo. Oh no, Apollo! Would dancing with that boy be considered cheating on him? I quickly sat down on the bleachers. I spread my aqua dress out over my knees. We all had dressed for the dance, Grover having warned us ahead of time. I was wearing a matching pair of ballet flats with a pure white bow on the top that was covered with white sparkles.

"Hey, my name's Aaron Fisher. You look like you could use someone to dance with. What's your name?"

"Christina Jackson," I said. Aaron offered me his hand. I stared at it for a second. It's not like Apollo and I are actually dating. We're just supposed to get married. Besides, it's just a dance. I reached up to take his hand. He pulled me up and wrapped his arm around my waist. A slow dance came on. He began to sway me back and forth. He was a really good dancer. I focused all my attention on not stepping on his feet.

"So, Christina-"

"Call me Nina. I hate Christina."

"Right, Nina, what grade are you in, I don't remember seeing you around with the other freshmen."

"Oh, I'm in eighth grade." That's what Percy said. I don't know how grades work here in America. We go by years at Hogwarts. Please don't let eighth grade be freshmen, whatever that is.

"Ah, so you are a year younger than me." I sighed in relief and nodded. The song ended and he gave me a twirl. He was about to take me to another dance, when I felt a tap on my back.

"Hey, Nina. What's up?"

I turned around and saw Nico. "Hi Nico, I'm just dancing with Aaron here."

Nico glanced around me to see the older boy. Aaron scowled at Nico for interrupting our dancing. I frowned at him. "Well," continued Nico, "c'mon, I want to show you something." He grabbed my hand and began pulling me over to his sister. I waved apologetically at Aaron and followed Nico. Dr. Thorn scowled at me. I ignored him and sat down with Nico. Bianca smiled shyly at me.

"Hey, Nina. Didn't think we'd see you again. What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Bianca," I laughed. "Now, what did you want to show me, Nico?" Nico began showing me all his mythomagic cards. I was shocked they both remembered me. I didn't think they would if we ever saw each other again. I hadn't thought we would see each other again either.

When Nico had finished showing me his cards and figurines, Bianca began to talk again. "I saw you dancing with Aaron Fisher," she said. I nodded my head. "Be careful with him, I heard he's a player. He jumps from girl to girl faster than Nico eats spaghetti." Nico blushed and I laughed.

"It was just a dance, Bi, don't worry."

I didn't notice Dr. THorn come up behind me until one of his hands was taking my knife from its sheath and the other was covering my mouth to keep me from screaming. "Come with me now, demigods," he snarled at Bianca and Nico. They quickly stood up.

I bit Thorn's hand and he pulled it away from my mouth. I managed to say, "Run!" before he stuffed a piece of cloth in my mouth, effectively gagging me. He grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back with one hand. He grabbed Nico's shoulder and began shoving us along. Bianca followed us to make sure her brother and I were safe.

Thorn led us down many hallways. I could feel his hand getting bigger and his grip tighter. He was transforming into his monster form. I kept struggling, but it wasn't working. Eventually, he had us outside. He disappeared and we all turned around. Bianca held Nico close to her and I pulled my wand from its holster. "Lumos," I muttered. I lit it up and almost jumped back off the cliff when I saw Percy right in front of me. He pulled me into a hug which I gladly returned. We looked at Bianca and Nico and tried to comfort them. Bianca pointed to behind us. My brother and I turned around. "Oh!" I said.

Dr. Thorn was standing behind us. Except, he no longer was Dr. Thorn. He was the Manticore. Great, just great. Percy pulled out Riptide. Dr. Thorn still had Mov. He brandished it at us. I used the water in the air to grab the knife. I pulled it out of the air. Dr. Thorn scowled at us and shot something at us. Percy tried to dive out of the way but it was too late. A thorn from the manticore's tail embedded itself in my brother's shoulder. "Yes, Perseus and Christina Jackson. His accent made the J in my last name sound funny. I couldn't stop myself from giggling. It was just so funny! "I know who you two are. Thank you for coming out of the gym. I hate school dances, and middle schoolers and high schoolers together in a dance just make them worse." Bianca yelped as another thorn flew at us and embedded us in my arm. I cringed as I pulled it out. It burnt so much. It was coated in poison. "All four of you will come with me. Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw." I gulped, please let the others find us.\

As we walked, Percy closed his eyes. "What are you doing, Jackson? Keep moving," hissed Thorn. I grabbed his arm and led him along. He whispered his thanks and began to concentrate again. I didn't know what my brother was doing, but he better hurry. "There is a clearing ahead. There we will summon your ride."

"What ride?" Bianca growled as she pulled Nico closer to her. "Where are you taking us?"

"Quiet you insufferable girl!" Thorn snapped at her. I growled at him.

"Don't talk to my sister that way!" yelled Nico. Bianca and I quickly shushed him. Percy kept doing whatever it was he was doing.

"Halt," shouted Thorn. We all stopped and turned to face him. I pulled Nico behind Bianca and me. Thorn pushed Percy to the end, but Bianca quickly caught him.

"What is he?" asked Bianca. "How do we fight him?"

She was brave. "I-I'm working on it," Percy whispered.

I took out my wand. Thorn wanted to hide, I'll give him something to hide from. "Incendio!" I cried. Fire burst from my wand. The flames shot into the center of the clearing. Thorn just managed to jump aside and not get burnt.

"I'm scared," mumbled Nico. Thorn growled and jumped toward me. I flinched back and would have fallen off the cliff if Nico wasn't there. Percy stretched Riptide out in front of Thorn. He hissed and lurched to the side. He backed up.

"Stop talking! Face me!" sneered the manticore. He pulled out a walkie-talkie. Pressing the button, he said, "The package-it is ready to deliver." That didn't sound good. I looked back over the cliff. Maybe, I could take the di Angelos and jump. They would be safe as long as they held on to either me or Percy. "By all means, Daughter of Poseidon. Jump. Save yourself."

"What did he call you?" asked Bianca.

"I'll explain later," I whispered back.

"You do have a plan, right?"

"Nope," I replied.

"I would kill you before you could reach the water. You do realize who I am, do you?" Thorn prompted.

"Luke," Percy gasped. "You work for Luke."

Thorn told us about the General. Who is he? Maybe, he's a titan. I shuddered, I didn't want to meet him. Somehow, I knew that's where Thorn wanted to take her. "Where are you taking us?" asked Nico.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that game you play with with those silly dolls and cards."

"They're not dolls! They're figurines!" snapped Nico. "And you can take your great army and-" I clapped my hand over Nico's mouth. The gods only know what words he learned in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. We didn't have a chance to say anything else when an invisible force slammed into us. Annabeth. I saw Thalia run in behind Thorn with Grover. Aegis was on her left arm and in her right hand, was her spear. Electricity crackled up and down it. She looked absolutely terrifying. I was so glad that she was an ally. There was no way I would willingly go up against her.

"For Zeus!" she shouted. Thalia slashed and stabbed at Thorn. I was really impressed by her. I heard a helicopter in the distance. Really not good. Grover began to play his reed pipes. Thick weeds began to wrap up Thorn's legs and tangle them up.

"Who are you people?" demanded Bianca.

"A manticore?" Nico gasped as he stared at Thorn. "He's got 3,000 attack power plus five for saving throws!"

"This isn't the same as mythomagic, Nico!" I shouted as I rushed in. "THis isn't a game. We could very easily die." I slashed at Thorn and left a good sized gash on his chest. He slashed at me with his claws. I just managed to jump out of the way. The skirt of my dress whipped around my legs in the wind and Thorn almost managed to grab it to pull me forwards.

Silver arrows flew from the woods as Thorn finished shredding the weeds off his legs. The archers rushed from the woods. The youngest was maybe 8 and the oldest was 15. They all had silvery parkas and jeans. An auburn-haired girl was in the front. Together, they all fired arrows at each other. "The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

"How wonderful," Thalia grumbled. I glanced at her curiously before turning back to the battle. A bronze-skinned girl stepped forward. I had met her once when I was 9. She and Artemis had taken me to the movies. Her name was Zoe Nightshade.

"Permission to kill, My Lady?"

"This is not fair," wailed Thorn. "Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," the auburn-haired girl said as she stepped forward. Artemis, I hadn't seen her in over a year. I had missed her. "The hunting of wild beasts is within my domain. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast. Zoe, permission granted." Zoe let her arrow fly. Thorn leapt towards us and Annabeth jumped on his back to knock him out of the way. Together, they tumbled off the cliff. Artemis thrust out her hand and the helicopter exploded.

Artemis stepped forward and I bowed to her. "Do not bow to me, my friend." I looked up at her and she pulled me into a hug. "I have missed you, Nina. As has my brother."

"I missed you too, Artemis, although I cannot bring myself to believe what you say about Lord Apollo."

"Ah, yes. He told me about your last encounter. Come, let us talk away from the eyes of the others." Artemis told her Huntresses to set up camp then led me into the woods. "Why is it that you are so mad?"

"Why is it that neither of you thought it prudent to tell me of the prophecy?" I retorted.

"You know, I hate when you answer with another question. We did not know you were the daughter of Poseidon until a few weeks before we picked you up from the train station a yer and a half ago. I cannot say I know why my brother did not tell you of the prophecy then, but it was not the reason we chose to befriend you. You are a closer friend than even Zoe, my lead Huntress. And I do not think Apollo has ever loved anyone as much as he does you. Now, tell me what you know of the prophecy."

"All I know is that Apollo and I are supposed to get married."

"Hm, that is what Ares told you? Well, there is much more than just that. I will let Apollo tell you as he will be coming to pick you, your friends, and my Huntresses up and taking you to Camp Half-Blood. We should be getting back. I do not want to see what will happen to your brother and the satyr when left in the presence of my Huntresses for too long." I laughed and we stood up, running back to the clearing. What else could there be to the prophecy?

When we got back, I saw many tents set up around the fire I had created earlier. Artemis brought Bianca and Percy into the biggest one. I sat with Thalia and she told me about her experience with the Hunters. Skittles sat on my shoulder and I told Thalia of any input my owl had. Thalia laughed at most of my owls comments. When Artemis, Percy, and Bianca stepped out of the tent, Bianca was dressed in the silvery clothes of the Huntresses. I was saddened slightly by this. My friend wouldn't get to enjoy camp. Poor Nico, he won't get to have his sister by his side.

Artemis walked up and stood next to me. We stared out towards the east. Slowly, a light began to rise. We all shut our eyes as the bright light hurtled to us. When is had dimmed, I opened my eyes. Right in front of me was a cherry red Maserati Spyder. It was my dream car. If only it was purple.

On the opposite side of the car, a blonde teenager got out. He walked around and smirked at us all. I glared at him slightly then stopped. Artemis said he didn't know I was the daughter of Poseidon. There is no reason to be mad at him. Then again, once he found out who I was he didn't tell me the prophecy. Okay, there is a reason to be mad, but I'm going to hear him out. Yeah, I'll just stay cool until he explains. I took a deep breath before looking up at Apollo. He looked the same as I remembered him. The only difference was his smile didn't seem as bright. This was just temporarily blinding. On a good day, his grin could give you sunburn.

Apollo was in his 19-year-old form. Still 6 years older than me. "Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot." I scowled at her, she was talking about my future husband even if I didn't like him very much at the moment.

"He is the sun god," Percy whispered back.

"That's not what she meant," I groaned at my brother's stupidity.

"Little sister!" Apollo laughed. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried." Thank the gods, he still hasn't noticed me.

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine Apollo. And I'm not your little sister." I was so used to seeing the twin archers the same age. It was weird seeing one 12 and the other 19.

"Hey, I was born first!"

We're twins! How many millenia do I have to argue about-"

"So, what's up? Got the girls with you I see. You all-" he stopped mid sentence. Uh oh, he had finally spotted me. Everyone was looking around for the reason he had paused. I looked up into his blue eyes. They were the same color as the sky when there are no clouds. I had never noticed how beautiful they were. "Hey, Sparkles," he whispered. Somehow I knew I was the only one who heard him. "I missed you." I broke the eye contact and looked at my feet. I noticed my shoes were soaked. Apollo's car had melted the snow.

"Hi," I murmured. Everyone seemed to give up on their hunt for Apollo's reason to stop mid sentence. I knew Artemis had known the reason and was just being polite when she turned away. I think it was the same with Zoe. SHe told him of our predicament. Apollo nodded and began to take a headcount of the campers.

Let's see, Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia was blushing insanely and I scowled at her. Apollo and Artemis were the only ones to notice and they both shot me knowing smirks. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus' girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you?" Thalia didn't seem too happy when Apollo said that. "Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember this one time-" I turned my scowl towards Apollo. He grinned at me. "Percy Jackson," he said, rounding on my brother.

"Yeah, I mean...yes, sir." Apollo just stared at my brother like he knew something the rest of us didn't. Then, he turned to me.

"Christina Jackson." I looked up at him. "You're hurt." I looked down at the cut on my arm where the spike from the manticore had been. "Here, let me heal it." Apollo held out his hand and I cautiously stepped forwards. He gently placed his hand where the wound was and closed his eyes. His hand began to glow with a golden light.

"What's the prophecy?" I asked him. He looked up at me, opening his eyes.

"The first born daughter of the sea shall be the sun's true love

Born into two different worlds,

She will face many challenges

She will learn much from the twin archers

And will save all those who are innocent

She shall be the sun's one true love"

"That's nothing like what Ares told me. He said that we were to be married. That was it. Nothing about us actually loving each other."

Apollo smiled sadly at me. "I should have told you the prophecy before I brought you to camp. I'm sorry, Sparkles. Please don't hate me."

"I don't think I ever really could hate you. You mean too much to me." He grinned and let go of my arm. It had been fully healed before he had even told me the prophecy, but no one needed to know that.

"Right," Apollo said to the group at large. "Everybody in." Zoe and the rest of the Huntresses filed into the back of the bus. Apollo had transformed the Maserati into a small bus so we could all fit in. The rest of us sat in the front. For some reason, Apollo let Thalia drive. Not good, she's afraid of heights. She had only ever told two people: me and Luke.

Apollo had to explain to Nico how the Romans couldn't afford all the temples so had gotten rid of Selene and Helios and given the job of sun and moon god to him and Artemis while he set Thalia up at the wheel. He sat down in the front seat across from the driver. I was in that seat. Unfortunately, it was only made for one person. Apollo lifted me up and placed me on his lap. Percy didn't seem too happy about that. I didn't mind at all. I hadn't slept at all in 24 hours and Apollo really was comfier than even the beds in Hogwarts. I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up to someone poking me. I groaned and opened my eyes. I jumped back when I got a face full of Apollo. Sadly, this caused me to land on the floor of the bus. Everyone else was filing off the bus looking slightly queasy. Everyone except Nico. The kid was bouncing up and down. I wonder what I had missed. Apollo scooped me up off the floor and I curled up back into his chest, ready to fall back asleep. He laughed at me. When he carried me off the bus, I could practically feel everyone's eyes on me. Apollo put me down and waved at his children. They waved back cautiously, but were still very confused about why their dad had just carried me off the sun chariot. Oh well. I waved to Apollo before walking off to go find Chiron.

I found Chiron with Grover, Nico, and Percy on the porch of the Big House. "What was that with you and Lord Apollo," demanded my brother. Nico looked confused by what was wrong with me falling asleep on top of a god. Ah, children and their innocence. It's always so refreshing. Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. "Do you know about the prophecy?" Chiron asked me gently.

I nodded. "The first born daughter of the sea shall be the sun's true love

Born into two different worlds,

She will face many challenges

She will learn much from the twin archers

And will save all those who are innocent

She shall be the sun's one true love"

Chiron nodded. Percy looked shocked. "Wait, what?"

I sighed. "Percy, I, the first born daughter of the sea, or Poseidon, am destined to fall in love with Apollo. I was born into two different worlds, the godly world and the magical world. I have faced many challenges and will probably face many more. I have been taught a lot by the twin archers, Artemis and Apollo. I am supposed to save innocent people's lives."

Percy nodded his head slowly before saying, "Fine, but I'm not happy about that. Apollo has a reputation as a player god." I rolled my eyes at my brother. I don't know if he realizes this, but our dad does have an immortal wife.

"Grover, perhaps you should take Nico to see the orientation film."

"Orientation film? Is it G or PG?" asked Nico. "'Cause Bianca's kind of strict."
"It's PG13," laughed Grover as he led Nico out of the room. The rest of us told Chiron the whole story. Chiron wanted to send out a search party, but Mr. D. refused. He didn't want to lose any more campers. Chiron sighed and sent us outside.

The campers were all getting ready for the capture the flag game that we have with the Huntresses every time they come to visit. Even the Aphrodite cabin was getting involved. Normally, Lav and Vati were the only ones who helped out. Silena was muttered something about stupid Huntresses who don't believe in love and how she was going to show them. You go, girl! Thalia and Percy decided co-lead. That is so not going to work. They argue all the time. Not good for us. Thalia told me to stick with Nico and show him the ropes. I was going to do that anyway no matter what she told me to do. I gave Nico Mov to fight with and I told him he better not lose it because that was my only knife. He nodded eagerly and I showed him a few moves with it. I summoned my bow and quiver from my bracelet.

I led Nico out to the other side when I heard Chiron blow his horn. When I saw a Hunter trying to cross the stream, I froze the part they were in. They were stuck. She glared at me and I stuck my tongue out at her. "Cool!" grinned Nico. "Can I do that?" I laughed at his eagerness.

"Probably not, only children of Poseidon can do that and I don't think you're my half brother. You don't have the eyes that every child of Poseidon has." Nico frowned, but then started asking about the powers of all the other demigods. I laughed and told him all I knew. Suddenly, I saw Thalia running towards us with the flag. I started to run next to her with Nico trailing behind us. A bunch of campers got behind us and began to defend Thalia from the Hunters.

We were almost to the stream. I could still see the Huntress frozen in the water. I saw Zoe running at us with the Camp flag. As soon as she touched the water, I froze her feet in place. She was barely a few inches from the Hunter's side of the forest. I froze the entire stream, and Thalia slid across to victory. We won! Chiron blew his horn and I hugged Nico and we jumped up and down, laughing. "Campers win!" he shouted. Campers: 1, Hunters: 55!" Alright, those were some pretty bad statistics, but we won. Thalia and Percy joined me and Nico. We looked kind of funny, what with all of us wearing armor, but we didn't care. The campers lifted Thalia and me up on their shoulders and started parading us around the clearing. They froze when one of the bushes rustled.

From behind the bushes, something I hoped to never see again appeared. The Oracle in all its mummified glory. I walked towards Zoe and green mist started to seep from its mouth. I didn't know it could walk. I'm sure Apollo would be happy about that. "I am the spirit of Delphi. Approach seeker and ask." The campers put Thalia and me down so they could cover their ears. I just watched Zoe step up.

"What must I do to help my goddess?'

"Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

The Titan's curse must two withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

Everyone looked at each other. Not even the monsters in the woods were making any sounds. I decided to break the silence. "Well, that was ominous."