𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋

𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐋 𝐜𝐡𝟒|It could be worse... right?

Disclaimers: These are not my characters or original ideas; they belong to Rick Riordan

Hazel

Frantically, I shook Nico awake. He gasped and grabbed his sword on impulse. Looking around with wide eyes, he focused on me and gripped my shoulder. He stood up and sighed.
"Nightmare?" I asked.
"Yeah. This one was... I'll tell you later," he said when he heard shouting outside. We ran out and arrived at the scene of a small battle.

A rhinoceros Frank charged through the monster lines; six monsters disappeared into dust. Nico and I ran to join the fight. I told him not to exert too much energy - we still had a few more shadow travel jumps to go.

Soon, it was over. Pretty much everyone got away with a couple of bruises, so we decided to have a quick break before moving again.

Half an hour later, we linked up arms and faded into shadow.

But this time, we arrived at camp. This was a good thing, but we were confused. How did we get here? I ran to Nico - he didn't even look tired. "I didn't picture here?"

"I did," a God said. He had flawless tanned skin, blond wavy hair and a grim smile. "You're welcome. Come quickly, we have a lot to talk about."

A small stream of campers came out of the big house. We were greeted with a mixture of smiles and uneasy glances. I spotted Leo and waved. Amongst them, there was Piper, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Will, Rachel, Clarisse, the Stoll brothers and Chiron himself.

"We need to hold a meeting," the centaur said. Before I could nod in agreement, a wave of monsters charged up the hill.

___________

A few campers even rolled their eyes as we ran to greet them in battle. There was loads of them. I had no idea where they were coming from. I called Arion. A few seconds later, I was charging to the crowd on horseback.

Adrenaline pumping, I manipulated the mist so the monsters thought they were falling. A few shrieked and looked down. The Apollo cabin took the opportunity to fire arrows while they were still. I'd been practicing with Frank.

Speaking of Frank, he was a rhinoceros. He ploughed through enemy lines and sent the monsters back to where they came from. I felt the small stub of his firewood grow warm. It made me feel better. I would protect it with my life. He doesn't need to worry about it anymore. I would never let it burn.

Percy fought with Annabeth in sync, as they had many times before. He whirled around and fought like a demon, destroying everything in his path. Annabeth covered him and yelled at the Ares kids, giving them complex battle instructions.

The Greeks style of battle was so different to ours. I loved it and hated it. It made me love the beauty of disorganised chaos, as their fighting styles were incredible. But I was a Roman, always would be. Always a daughter of Pluto.

I swept through enemy lines and swung my cavalry sword, killing the monsters instantly. I loved Arion's speed. I heard a scream. Looking to my left, I saw Piper on the ground. Jason rushed towards her and vaporised all the monsters surrounding him with lightening.

He looked so exhausted though, as if that tiny burst almost made him pass out. I picked up Katropis and killed the last monster with it.

We took Piper to the infirmary and Will checked on her head as she woke up. "She should be absolutely fine. There'll be a big bruise there from being knocked out but that's nothing some ambrosia can't fix," Will said assuredly. "Thanks," Piper smiled and the four of us made our way to the Big House.

I sat down next to Frank around a massive table. I received a series of smiles and nods before the meeting began.

Chiron cleared his throat and the hum of conversation came to a close. "It's great to see you all again. Glad to see you are well. But we don't have much time. Sorry this is a rush, but I'll get straight to the point. We need two quests."
"Two? Why? Don't we just get a prophecy which can indicate the location of the fleece, and then go and get it? Then it's sorted, problem solved?" Annabeth said, becoming more and more confused and uncomfortable as she spoke, eyeing Apollo's appearance. Chiron sighed,"Apollo will
explain."

"The fates themselves indicated to me some things. The war isn't over. You can feel it, Rachel, can't you?"
Rachel looked around the room, fingers fiddling with the bottom of her jacket. She nodded.
"The prophecy is incomplete. Why? Because Gaia is still alive."

So many people began talking at once. The room buzzed. I could feel the confusion and anger and anxiety in the air. It was so thick that I could cut it with my sword. I grabbed Frank's hand, thinking I would pass out. He gripped it hard and we exchanged a look. A look of fear. "At least it can't get any worse - right?" he said, unsure.

Apollo held up a hand for silence. Reluctantly, the room obeyed. This was only after Clarisse yelled "Shut up, you No-Brain Half-Bloods!" she looked scared. Almost as an after thought, she added quietly, "And judging Apollo right now... that's not all."

Apollo smiled at the daughter of Ares before continuing what he had to say. "And Thanatos has been captured again - the doors of death are open."

Another eruption of talking. Frank put an arm around my shoulder and whispered, "Okay, it could definitely get worse."