The wind rustled in your ears as you urged Sapphrenia to fly faster as you held onto an unconscious Annabeth. Nico stared intently at you as he watched as you tried to stay strong while you were panicking inside. Not wanting to admit it, but he started to develop feelings for your fiery character. He shook his head as he remembered Will. Will, his boyfriend back at home, the boy who helped him through so much. The only one who understood him. The only one he thought he would ever love. What would he do if he started to have a crush on you? He couldn't do that. . . not to Will.

You felt Nico's eyes on you and turned around to face him, a questioning look on your face. He shrugged and turned his head to look at the ground below you. Rolling your eyes, you turned back to look down at Annabeth. Her blonde hair was sprawled out over your arms, her face was scrunched together as she slept. You held back tears as you remembered how you didn't keep your promise to Percy.

Percy! Gods of Olympus! What will he do when he finds out what happened?! You blew out some air in frustration as several scenarios played in your head as you pondered more on the thought. You shivered as you imagined an outraged Percy throwing things into walls. Guilt coursed through you as the very thought struck you.

Seeing the sun come up, you began to feel tired. You ushered Sapphrenia to fly lower to find a place to rest as dizziness came over you. After a few minutes of looking for a place to land Sapphernia made way to a small meadow and landed onto the soft green grass.

After landing in the meadow, you lead Sapphrenia, who carried Nico and Annabeth on her back, to a small cave and rested there for a while. Your body ached as your back hit the hard stone floor. Glancing over your shoulder, you saw Annabeth sleeping near you. Her shallow breathing made you worry about her health. Gazing behind her, you saw Nico's reassuring gaze. You gave a nod in thanks and laid down to rest.

☠

The sun glowed gold in the light blue sky. Birds chirped and sang sweet melodies as a tender breeze blew by. The sweet sugary scent of flowers and grass came to you as you breathed in the scenery around you. Trees stood around the meadow as if they were warriors ready to defend their home. Out near one of the many hills crept a fox sneaking up to a doe. To the left, a herd of deer ran across the land. To the right, lied your campsite. You gave out a long sigh as you trudged through the tall grass in your shorts and T-shirt, you carried your w/o/c in your (dominant) hand. Considering that you are paranoid, you worried about bugs crawling up your legs and arms. You shivered at the thought of having a tick latch onto your skin.

When you made it to a clearing you stopped and bent down to the ground. You looked at the moist soil from the morning's dew and found deer prints. Why didn't you just go to the herd of deer and get one? Well, considering that you wanted to stay alive in order to save your mother, you chose to find one roaming around solo. You followed the imprints to a forested area and looked around for any sign of life and stilled your breathing as waited for what seemed like hours.

Hearing a twig snap, you quietly turned towards the noise slowly. When you finished rotating your body, you saw a fourteen-pointer male white tail grazing. You readied your stance and prepared you w/o/c. with one final movement, you slyly advanced towards the white tail. Its ears perked up at the sound of your low breathing and light footsteps. Lunging at your prey, you killed it instantly. The buck fell to the ground with a swift thunk! and closed its eyes. After a few sorrowful minutes you saw its chest no longer move and the sound of its breathing stop. You gave out a cheer and cleaned it out so that you could bring it back to camp to eat.

After carrying the meat back to your temporary camp, you began to prepare it before cooking it. You left the fire unattended for a few minutes to go check up on Nico and Annabeth. Making your way back inside of the cave, you stopped when you heard Nico and Annabeth's voices.

"Annabeth?" Nico asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought that you liked someone only to find out that you may have feelings for someone else. Say the opposite gender?" he asked, his voice sounding distant and nervous.

"Is this your way of saying that you don't think that you like Will anymore and that you think you're in love with someone else?" Annabeth questioned tiredly. You can almost imagine her raising an eyebrow at him and smirking.

"Quite possibly." Nico responded shyly.

"Knew it." Annabeth muttered loud enough for you to hear.

"How?" Nico asked, surprised by her sudden outburst.

"Oh no you don't. It's my turn to ask questions now. You had your turn." Annabeth replied, a jest could be heard in her voice. "Who is it." Annabeth urged. It wasn't a question. Knowing Annabeth, it was a command.

"I have a feeling you already know." he replied as you heard shuffling come from someone's moving feet.

"I might. That still doesn't mean that you answered my question though." You heard Nico sigh as more shuffling came to your ears. 'What's he doing, summoning the dead by pacing?' you thought to yourself. Well, considering that it's Nico we're talking about, he probably is.

Not wanting to intrude anymore, you headed back to check on the food. You heard the soft crackling of the fire and smiled to yourself as you saw the meat cooking. You checked the inside by carefully tearing a piece off after washing your hands.

"Dinner!" you called as you placed the food down on some paper plates you had packed before hand.

Nico and Annabeth stumbled out of the cave and you saw their eyes lighten up at the sight of food. You snickered and gave them their food as you sat back and closed your eyes. Feeling eyes on you, you peeked your eyes open. "Yes?" you asked lazily as you looked at your friend and your sister.

"Why aren't you eating?" Annabeth asked. You gave her a confused look and looked back at the ground. Feeling her hard gaze on you, you looked back up.

"Not hungry I guess."

"Oh no you don't, not again." Annabeth replied as she glared at you. "You are eating three meals a day. You are not going to skip, do you understand?" You gave her a small smile and rolled your eyes.

"Relax. I already ate." Annabeth narrowed her eyes at you and gave you a look that said 'Does it look like I was born yesterday?' "Hey," you began with your hands up, "I ate some berries from earlier." Annabeth rose an eyebrow at you. "I did!" you answered defensively as you showed her your stained index finger. You heard Nico chuckled and glared at him."I'll be right back," you said as you got up and walked towards the stream. You sighed as soon as you felt that you were far enough away from their hearing. "Hopefully those berries will be enough." You whispered as you looked down in your pocket. "Demeter, please bless these berries. Please allow them the power I hope to use them for," you prayed as you felt the earth groan in response. The berries in you pocket glowed and shimmered. You smiled as you saw a cup form from the stones in front of you. Remembering your dream from the night before, you thanked your mother for being caring for once.

"She'll help me, right?" you asked your mom.

"Yes. She owes me a favor, she'll help you." your mother responded with a sad smile on her face. A tear slid down your cheek. How your own body betrayed you was still a mystery. "My child, it is alright. I know you are trying your best. Your friend and sister are also trying. I understand. Do not blame yourself." she told you gently. You didn't know why, but it was evident that Athena had a better connection with you than with her other children.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I wish that you were free so that we can actually talk, just how we used to. I'm sorry for not being strong enough, for not being able to get to you faster.." you sobbed.

"Y/n, I know the time is coming where you will find me. But until then, you need to stay the girl I know you for." she assured you. You nodded and looked at Athena once more. "Goodbye Mom, I hope I will see you soon." you told her as you felt yourself begin to wake up.

"Goodbye my child, I love you."

"I love you too."

When the memory faded you began to squish the berries into the bowl. "Demeter, I thank you for your help. This elixir will surely help us find my mother." you told the goddess as you saw her light form into a body.

"You're welcome. I've never met such a well mannered demigod. Particularly a child of Athena. They always go on about their studies, never caring for the beauty around them. No wonder your mother favors you, you are somehow connected to all the gods. Are you sure you are not my daughter?" the goddess teased as she smiled down at you sweetly. You smiled and thanked her as she finished.

"Now that it's made, how do I use it?" You asked.

The goddess smiled and approached you gracefully. "You take a pinch of this and sprinkle it over the bars of her cell. The acid in the berries and sugar in the mint leaves should melt the metal away."

"Thank you!" you told her gratefully as you saw her turn into light once more. You pulled out an empty vial and poured the substance in it. "Good thing she enchanted the vial before I put it in." you muttered to yourself as you saw it glimmer. Hearing footsteps from behind you, you hurriedly put the vial in your pocket.

"Y/n, what are you hiding?" Annabeth asked. You nervously took a step back and felt the cool feeling of water on your heels.

"Nothing," you responded as you tried to mask the alarm on your face with an innocent look.

"Y/n...." Annabeth began.

"Annabeth, if I was hiding something from you I would tell you. You trust me, don't you?" you questioned as you faked an innocent look.

Annabeth sighed as she looked at you and your foot in the stream. Your eyes followed hers and saw what she was looking at...your soaked jeans. "Why don't we get you some dry jeans? I don't know why your foot is in there, but if you want to go like that I'm fine with it." You felt your face turn red with embarrassment as you got your leg out of the water and followed your sister back to the cave.

"Hey, Nico, see anything yet?" Annabeth asked as the two of you approached him.

"Nope...nothing. all I've seen so far is the wildlife and grass, you?" he responded as he gestured towards the grassy meadow beyond you.

"No," she muttered quietly as she directed her steely gaze upon you.. Your eyes widened and you looked at Nico alarmed. You saw a blank look on his face and sighed with relief.

"Annabeth, I told you already, if I was hiding something from you I'd tell you. Plus, you're way too smart to hide things from...so why bother?" you stated as you crossed your arms across your chest. Annabeth nodded her head thoughtfully and walked away, leaving you and Nico alone.

"Well...this is awkward." he replied as awkward tension filled the air.

"You're telling me." you answered back as you looked at your shoes. "Well, if you would please excuse me, I must go change my jeans." you said as you walked away from a very confused Nico.

☠

An hour later you were packing up your stuff and making sure that Sapphrenia was doing alright. Slipping the vial into a secret pocket that was located in your jacket, you looked around to make sure no one was watching.

After making sure that you had everything, you called out to Annabeth and Nico, saying that you guys were getting ready to leave in five minutes. Hearing both of their "okays," you walked back over to Sapphrenia and began to pet her muzzle. She leaned into your palm as you gently stroked her smooth mane and rubbed the side of her neck.

You heard heavy footprints approach you and turned around to be greeted with an exhausted Annabeth and Nico. Chuckling quietly, you helped them onto Sapphrenia as you prepared for flight. You laughed to yourself as you felt the wind against your skin. Beautiful scenery was racing below you as you rode on Sapphrenia's back. Suddenly, the air grew cold and the wind became violent. You frowned as Sapphrenia neighed in displeasure.

Dark cumulonimbus clouds swirled around in the sky. Urging Sapphrenia forward, you saw where the source of it was coming from. Your focus landed on a small fallen house that had a dark presence kind of feel to it. Your gut told you that the house may look small, but underneath was something dangerous. You became anxious as you approached the house at an alarming rate. Seeing something dark emerge from out of the shadows of the home, you watched in alarm as it reached out its long lanky arm to grab you. Sapphrenia reared as the cold dark hand of the shadow grasped onto you and dragged you further down into the earth....