| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

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 akrasia

(n.) lack of self control

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It was morning the next day, and Nico and the other had just landed near the adamantine source. It was in Rubio Woods, Chicago, probably buried deep under the vast field.

They all filed out of the Argo IV, chatting a bit, before Annabeth stopped them by stretching her hand out.

"Quiet. Do you hear that?" She whispered, frozen. They all silenced and listened to the woods. Nico could faintly hear some whispering noises, but they didn't sound like they were from humans.

"You! Son of Ares! Work harder!" He heard a female voice yell harshly from the other side of the bushes. They all peered their heads and saw a raven haired girl shouting at a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. That wasn't the only thing they saw, though.

Wraiths. They were draped in a think black cloak with skeleton ghost like bodies, and Nico could feel the despair and hatred coming off them. Another girl, who looked just like the first except for her blonde hair, stepped up.

"Come on, daughter of Hephaestus! Work harder!" The blonde girl shouted, her hands on her hips. They all looked roughly about the same age as Nico, but something in him thought that they had more power than they let on. The Wraiths were guarding the area as the demi-gods collected the adamantine for weapons. Annabeth cursed.

"We need to find a way to somehow get just a bit," She whispered quietly. Nico wasn't paying attention to her, though. Something else caught his eye. Or someone.

"Elizabeth, Jessica, last time I checked, who did Eris name her top general to lead this mission?" A hauntingly familiar voice said snarkily.

A pale girl with short choppy white hair stepped towards the two girls who he assumed were Jessica and Elizabeth. Celeste. A wave of emotions crashed over him. She's really here. With them. Rage filled him imminently, but so did curiosity. Why was her hair now white and short? Did she just say she was the top general?

The others seemed to recognize her as well. A thick silence fell, many eyes darting between Nico and Celeste. Annabeth cleared her throat.

"We need to distract them somehow, so we can sneak in and get some adamantine. The question is, how though?" She asked, rubbing her temples. Percy shot up.

"Maybe me and Jason could-"

"No more tango dancing! For the last time!" She said sternly, crossing her arms. Nico's eyes were still on Celeste, whose head suddenly shot up. She turned and looked at him straight in the eye.

Oh sh- he immediately ducked down, which caught the others attention.

"Nico, what is it?" Frank asked, noticing his sharp movement. He gestured towards Celeste, and the others saw that she was looking directly at them. They all ducked as well, crouching on the ground.

"She saw us! What are we going to do?" Piper hissed, trying to get out of sight. Jason let out a sigh.

"We have to go in. She'll alert everyone about us," He muttered quietly. Annabeth was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"We can't fight the Wraiths, we don't have any sure way of defeating them. There is a possibility with the demi-gods, though," She strategized.

"Nico, could you summon some of the dead to help us fight?" She asked him. He didn't hear her. His thoughts were focused on Celeste. Annabeth waved her hand in front of his face and he blinked.

"What? Oh, sure," He mumbled. Piper drew out her dagger, Percy took out Riptide, and everyone else started to prepare.

"On the count of three," Annabeth whispered.

"1,"

"2,"

"3!" She yelled, and they all charged out. Nico summoned zombies and skeletons from the ground, Frank shape shifted into a bear, and Leo's skin went on fire. A few demigods turned to them, their eyes wide, and screamed.

"We're under attack! Fight!" Jessica yelled, the Wraiths perking up and starting to hover towards them.

"Stay away from the Wraiths!" Annabeth repeated, dodging a demigod that was trying to shoot her with arro w.

"Watch it!" He complained to Leo. The son of Hephaestus backed up, and the two of them were too distracted to notice an arrow flying, which nicked him in the neck, which caused a small stinging pain. They both tensed as a boy with bow and arrows came down. One of Nico's zombies snuck up from behind hit him in the head, which knocked him out unconscious.

Nico saw Hazel on the ground, her hands pressed against the Earth as she pulled some adamantine out of the ground. It was a huge chunk, enough to satisfy them all for weapons. He turned and saw Jessica and Celeste looking at the battle unfolding.

"Such a shame. We might loose a few lives," Jessica commented sarcastically. Celeste shot her a glare. Before Nico could even register it, Jessica pulled out a dagger and implied Celeste's stomach, which made the white haired girl buckle down and start coughing up blood. Jessica gave her a sly grin before walking into the shadows, leaving the white hair girl struggling for her life.

He saw her go unconscious, and his heart skipped a beat. Why did he care about her? She had left them all to die, right?

"Wraiths, demigods, retreat!" A boy Nico didn't recognize yelled, which caused the enemy to go back and flee. Piper and Annabeth appeared at his side, breathing heavily. They had their fair share of scratches, although Nico couldn't help but feel guilty that he only had one little scratch.

"Oh my gods, what happened to her?" Hazel asked, pointing to Celeste's body which was pooling out blood. Nico hid his emotions.

"One of her generals; Jessica I think; stabbed her in the back- literally," He said stoutly. Hazel let out a gasp.

"We can't just leave her here to die! Even if she betrayed us," Hazel added that last part quietly. By now, everyone was looking at her body.

"That is, of course, if she's still alive," Jason added hastily. Nico bitterly went up to her to check her death aura.

"She's still alive, but barely," He said grimly. Annabeth bit her lip. She was basically the brains of the squad- would it be wise to heal an enemy?

"Bring her to the Argo IV. If we have adamantine, it can probably be used to restrict her powers," She added in hopefully. They all hesitantly picked her body up and brought her to the Argo IV.