Believe it or not, there was not one single part of me that wanted to see Mr. Charon or Hades. I know. Shocking. It was inevitable that they'd turn my already horrific day into a monumentally horrific day. I could picture it now as I drove towards Los Angeles; we'd arrive at D.O.A recording studios in about two more hours, then beg to get into the underworld for free again. Charon would undoubtably ask for the remainder of our golden drachmas–which we didn't have much of– and Hades would probably cast us away after we returned his spear without so much as a thank you. There wasn't really anything to look forward to.

    The road stretched out in front of us was empty and obsolete. Everything in my body wanted to sharply U-turn and drive straight home to Santa Barbara and completely block out the past week of my life. I was completely, one hundred percent, totally and entirely exhausted. Surely, I wasn't the only seventeen year old girl who would much rather spend her Thursday night at the mall or sleeping at home instead of driving down the highway to hell, literally, but a promise was a promise. And, as much as it pained me to say this, Percy was right. Of course I'd never tell him this, but what he said the night before our quest was true. Nothing could stop me from being a hero, or helping others for that matter. It was who I was. Being a hero was in my blood.

  Nevertheless, I tried to occupy my restless mind with a multitude of trivial topics. It was mid June, which meant I only really had two months left at camp. Assuming I survived the rest of this quest, obviously. After that, I was free to go home to finish off my senior year of high school. Just thinking of getting a fraction of my normal life back made me smile from the inside out. I pictured myself booking my senior portrait appointment, dressed in a silly oversized cap and gown and posing with a faux diploma. My mother would probably get the pictures framed and upholstered before shipping them out to as many distant relatives as humanly possible. As we passed by the dark ocean, I began to think more and more of my parents. Not just John and Crystal, but I thought of Zeus too, surprisingly. He was probably sitting on his enormous platinum throne, counting down the days until I'd return his master bolt and my uncle's trident. Maybe he was watching me right now. Maybe not. My thoughts began to drift once again, back to camp—specifically to Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I began to think of the prophecy the Oracle had read to me in her possessed state. Her ancient voice kept repeating itself over and over in my head like a broken record.

     "A son of the sea will unleash at hand
Annihilation to a giant beneath land."  

     That line was about Percy and his giant of a brother, Antaeus. Check.

    "Beware the daughter of the wise one's seduction;
    Only she will lead to pure destruction." 

      Okay, that was about Annabeth. Check.

    "The daughter of the sky will bear an oath to the only half mortal king of ghosts," I repeated as I drove on the dark highway headed back to Los Angeles. Paris, Danny and Percy were completely passed out in the back seats, leaving Nico and I alone and wide awake in the front.

    "Huh?" Nico looked at me and frowned. I hadn't even noticed I was actually reciting the prophecy out loud. He had been fiddling with the silver skull ring on his right middle finger the whole ride back. Nico Di Angelo wasn't really much of a talker and I didn't blame him. From what I gathered, the guy has had a pretty rough life compared to everyone else. It was pretty common for demigods to be considered "troubled" kids. Trouble and misfortune follows us everywhere we go.

     "Sorry...I was trying to figure out the prophecy from camp. The Oracle of Delphi said that exact line to me. I think she was talking about me and you since I promised I'd get your dad's spear back."

     My former enemy studied my face with his father's same charcoal black eyes. Nico's were less intense, and maybe even friendlier, but they were unmistakably similar. Cold and still as night.

  "Thanks, Orion. For keeping your promise to me. It kind of sucks when people break your trust. Especially for me. I kind of...really have a problem with holding grudges."

    "I couldn't tell," I sarcastically replied. "Is it your fatal flaw?"

    "That obvious?" Nico laughed. I'd never even seen him smile before. Like I said, daily misfortune makes for a pretty unhappy life sometimes. The sight of Nico actually having a good time made my heart instantly warm. For a moment I really thought everything was going to be okay. Everything was going pretty well; then I thought of Annabeth. Flashes of stone cold grey eyes and a menacing voice vibrated though my head vividly. Nico sensed the shift in my mood almost instantly.

      "You're thinking of her, aren't you?"

       I nodded but didn't speak.

    "Her life aura was...different. It wasn't like the one I saw around Paris when she was dying in that underwater arena. It was the exact opposite. I can't explain it but I know it was really, really powerful. Almost like a God's," Nico shook his head as if he were baffled. "Whatever is controlling Annabeth isn't human." His mouth stretched out in a wide yawn and his pale eyelids began to flutter over his dark eyes. He didn't speak again for the rest of the night.

    The kid really had a talent for picking bedtime stories, I'll give him that.

     ***

    It was four o'clock in the morning when a killer tree decided it wanted to fall right in front of my car. Instinctively, I jerked the wheel to the left, sending my car spinning off the road and into the mysterious Californian forest surrounding us. Everything was one big blur of green, light blue and black; then the car came to a sudden, seatbelt jerking, toe curling stop.

    "Is everyone okay?" I turned around to face my friends. They were all pale faced and shaking with fear. Heavy breaths filled the interior of my vehicle.

    "Now that's a wake up call," Danny said.

   Percy got out of the car and began to walk towards the fallen pine tree in the middle of the road. No one else was around us, thankfully. It was just five kids and a smoking car in the middle of an old road in northern California. Nothing unusual.

    "Hey everybody watch their step," Percy warned as he inched closer to the tree trunk. I peered behind his shoulder, curious as to what he was looking at.

    The tree trunk was cut perfectly, indicating that it had probably fallen on purpose. Someone had cut it down with the intention of hurting us. We weren't alone. The very thought of someone watching us sent a deep chill down my spine. My eyes scanned the periphery of our location, but there wasn't anyone around us. It was all mountains and large trees. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep getting to me.

   Out of nowhere, Paris's let out a piercing scream. The sound cut straight through the deafening silence of the California countryside. Percy, Danny and Nico had vanished, leaving me alone. My half-blood sixth sense kicked in without hesitation. I immediately turned to face the deafening scream.

    Staring back at me was a woman with, what seemed like, a million multicolored snakes on her head instead of hair. Other than that, the lady could've been a former contestant on America's Next Top Model. Her airbrushed skin had a healthy bronzed glow to it and her plumped lips were a natural shade of rose. With every second that passed by the woman's eyes would change color. One minute they were an icy shade of blue, then they'd shift to a deep burgundy before fading into an iridescent green.

   She was holding Paris's body in one arm while her perfectly manicured hand was clamped over my friend's mouth. Paris's grey eyes were wide with fear. This woman had to be who I thought she was.

"Medusa?"

The woman's eyes flared orange. "Why does everyone always assume I'm Medusa? I know we're sisters, but give me a break. Is it the hair? Ugh, I knew I should've wrapped these things up. I'll tell you, a monster can't even make a name for herself anymore," the woman rolled her eyes. She had a slight Valley Girl accent and spoke like someone off of a popular reality T.V show on the Entertainment channel, but I couldn't think of who.

    "I'm Euryale, you demigod brat. One of the three Gorgon sisters." She looked at me as if I was supposed to know what in Hades she was talking about. Frankly, I was more interested where my friends were. Percy, Nico, and Danny were nowhere to be found.

"What have you done with my friends?"

Euryale gave me a sympathetic smile and opened her mouth, but it wasn't to speak. She screamed. However, this wasn't just any ordinary horror movie worthy screech. It was the shrill, disoriented shrieks of every single friend I'd ever had and every person I'd ever loved. I fell onto the asphalt below me, clutching my ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise.

  "Orion! Help us," the voices pleaded as if their lives depended on it. "Save us, Orion! Please! Hurry!"

   "Stop it! Please, make it stop," I looked up at Euryale. The Gorgon's eyes flickered bright red. She was enjoying every second of this, no doubt. But why?

   Suddenly, Nico Di Angelo's voice was quietly murmuring in my ear. Even through the deafening screams and my hands glued to my ears, I could still hear his whispers loud and clear.

   "Listen to me, Orion. This isn't real, it's a trick. Focus! Keep her stalled for a little while longer. Just trust me."

    Undoubtably, I placed all of my faith in Nico Di Angelo. It took every ounce of strength in my body to pry my hands away from my ears and look Euryale in the eyes. 

Paris's eyes were clamped shut. I could tell she desperately wanted to cover her ears like I had, but Euryale's grips kept kept her arms firmly pressed against her sides. She was being forced to listen to the terrifying screams too.

    "What's the matter?" Euryale's mouth was still wide open. "Scared?"

    She talked to me as if I were a pathetic child. The woman really thought she was better than me because she was some monster. That didn't scare me. She didn't scare me. She angered me. Her tone alone was enough to send me over the edge. The screams of my loved ones only served as motivation to send this monster into the depths of Tartarus. 

I began to create crackling sparks of blue electricity at my fingertips while willing and bending each and every wind current around us to my will. The pine trees around us began to sway violently, as if a tornado was right behind us. In a blinding flash of light and wind, I stretched my arm out and blasted Euryale back a good fifty feet. Paris was immediately released. My friend's temporarily unconscious body was now in the center of the road.

     Euryale rose to her feet and wiped a dark green substance from her lips. Gorgon blood. There was something valuable about it, but my ADHD brain wasn't concerned with the lessons I learned in Greek History back at camp. Right now every ounce of my focus was invested into
killing this monster.

    "What's the matter?" I stuck out my bottom lip and pouted at Euryale. "Scared of a demigod brat?"

     The woman bared her teeth and snarled before charging at me at a furious speed. Her velocity was enough to knock me off the ground and send me spinning mid air. I landed on the hard asphalt below with a bone crunching thud.

    OW.

      "It's sweet, really. The lengths you would go to just to protect such weak, pathetic little half-bloods," the gorgon kicked my stomach, sending a shattering pain across my rib cage.

    "What do you want from us?" I groaned.

     "It's not what I want. It's what we want. Our army, that is. You didn't think you were getting away from Chaos and Kronos would be that easy, did you? They let you go on purpose. You see, they made a vow to eliminate each and every demigod standing in their way. Surely, a smart girl like you will understand."

     Chaos and Kronos? I knew I recognized the names from somewhere but I could hardly think with the flashing pain coursing through my body.

    Euryale bent down to brush her hand along Paris's peaceful face. She was still knocked unconscious from the lightning bolt I summoned earlier.

    "It's a shame. Such a beautiful girl doesn't deserve to die such a painful death. Oh well, nothing personal." Her hand curled around Paris's neck, lifted her off the ground, and began to squeeze. To my right, I began to hear the battle cries, roars and petrifying noises of Annabeth's monster army. They had found us. And they were going to kill us, starting with Paris.

    "No!" I began to cry out. It was my worst fear coming to life; the people I cared about were dying in front of me and I couldn't do a thing to stop it.

     Suddenly, I heard the roar of what sounded like the ocean. And the crackle of fire. Percy and Nico stood at the entrance of the woods with a tower of gurgling water the size of a large building and an equally as large wall of wild flames. Danny stood to the side with a giant baseball bat in his hands. At least he was trying.

   Every monster stopped in its tracks to look. They were in awe at the power of the sons of Poseidon and Hades, and truthfully, I was too.

My body was still recovering from Euryale's tricks, but I rose to my feet. With my head held high, I stood in front of the army of monsters and showed them I was ready to fight alongside my friends.

   "You want a fight? Come get it," Percy dared the monsters to come at him. 

There was a brief pause, then they charged. Nico willed the earth in front of him to rise, knocking out ten monsters with just a flick of his wrist and sent them hurling into the wall of flames behind him. 

I quickly pulled my sword out of my pocket and charged at the nearest beast in front of me, a woman with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle. With one swift slash I had sliced her body in two and she immediately began to vaporize into golden dust. I turned and proceeded to knock out an entire wave of enemies by manipulating the strong wind currents around me. I clenched my left hand in a fist and the air around me began to spin. 

I was creating a full blown cyclone in the middle of a road. The wind currents began to intertwine around themselves faster and faster, engulfing all the monsters in its path. 

   Out of the corner of my eye I caught Percy hurling a thrashing ocean wave at the group of monsters coming towards him before engulfing Euryale in a wall of water. Danny then moved Paris out of the battle zone to keep her safe and set her aside, menacingly waving his bat in front of any monster who dared go near them.

    I began to charge towards another monster but stopped dead in my tracks. Without any warning, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.

 I looked down warily, expecting to see a cut or a scrape. But I was wrong. What struck me wasn't anything as blissful as a sword. It was an arrow stuck straight through my naval. 

  I had been shot.