So you know, I hate this chapter (I always hate the character extras for some reason...sigh) but they are a "filler" I guess...
@MisterPerfect1: yeah go GIRL POWER. lol (;

Character Extra 6: Annabeth

Annabeth was the only one not covered in monster dust. Around her lay overturned cars, fires, and screaming mortals.

She caught Percy’s eye, and he had the same guilty look as her. Everyone else around them was staring at the mess, their eyes gaping at the scene.

Suddenly, Annabeth heard the chop-chop-chop of a helicopter. She looked up into the glinting afternoon sun and saw a Channel 7 News Helicopter going towards their way.

She glanced at Ariel and saw that she also noticed the helicopter.

“Is the car still working?” Ariel asked Percy.

Annabeth watched him go inside the car and check the engine. Surprisingly, she heard the car come to life, hearing it purr.

Ariel took out a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked her, his face scrunched up.

“That helicopter… I think they spotted me.” Ariel replied, sounding nervous.

“Well, what are you guys waiting for? Get in the car!” Annabeth told them, and they all scurried inside, the tinted glass blocking the helicopter’s view of them.

Percy started driving, and Annabeth looked around the wreckage she passed. There were bodies over the highway, and it took them at least thirty minutes to get out of there.

She heard herself let out a big sigh. She was still thinking about her weird behavior yesterday towards Percy. Was it really jealousy, or nervousness?

Annabeth noticed a big green sign that said “Welcome to Virginia, Folks!” They were entering the state of lovers, which seemed ironic to her after what had happened the past few days.
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Ugh, I hated that extra. :\ But I promise you, the next chapter will be MUCH better! I'll post it tomorrow probably.

I thought it was super awesome! That is great! Love it! Post soon!

nice!

The extras aren't that bad. Are you gonna break up Piper and Jason? Cos they're not an important couple.
Can't wait for the next chapter! :)

Wow just finished reading this and it's extremely awesome.

hmm maybe you should break up
*coughpercabethcoughcough*

:) Kewlz I like the car accident :)

lol thanks guys and I can't tell you who I'm breaking up... it's a surprise :)
lol @_Aphrodite_ you liked the car accident? lol
Well, this chapter is certainly A LOT better than that extra... so enjoy! :D

Chapter 19: Ariel

As soon as Ariel had stepped in the back seat of the car, she fell asleep. This time though, a dream didn’t visit her.

It was nighttime, and the scene seemed to be in Virginia. There was a sign that she could see and it read, “You are now leaving Virginia, the State of Lovers.”

The vision shifted to a campsite, where a small fire was lit. Two people were sitting next to each other, a puffy coat around their shoulders. They seemed to be relaxed and anxious at the same time, and Ariel wondered why. Then, with a shock, she realized that the two people were her and Nico. They both had some gashes and cuts, and she wondered how they got them. She saw the form of herself in her vision lean towards Nico.

The scene then shifted to a dark day, in the afternoon. There was a swirling mass of ocean around seven people. Ariel saw two monsters, and she recognized them as Charybdis and Scylla, as Annabeth had told her.

Charybdis’s mouth was open, and she was sucking up the whole ocean, including major monuments, such as the Empire State Building, the Taj Mahal, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

What she saw next terrified Ariel. Someone, she didn’t know who, jumped inside Charybdis’s mouth, and the other six were shooting weapons inside the mouth, and in a blinding flash, Charybdis and Scylla were injured and left the other six alone. The person who had jumped inside, a sacrifice, wasn’t to be seen, and there was a terrifying silence that was somehow loud in her ears.

Ariel woke up with a start, her head banging on the ceiling of the car. She cringed and rubbed her head.

She heard laughing next to her and looked at who it was—Nico. He was clutching his stomach and pointing at her, laughing the loudest cackle from a son of the Death god.

Ariel rolled her eyes. “As if you haven’t bumped your head on the ceiling of a car before.”

Nico wiped a small tear from his eye. “You should’ve seen your face. For a full hour you were peaceful and then BOOM the next minute, your eyebrows scrunch together and you wake up and this happens.”

Ariel didn’t say anything. The last part of her vision was still in her head, and it was confusing. She guessed that the seven people were demigods, possibly all of them in this quest. What she was confused about was why there was a sacrifice; why did they need that person to go inside Charybdis’s mouth?

Ariel wished she could solve her own puzzle, but knew that the future would come soon. So far, her visions had been correct, and for once, she hoped that this one was wrong.

There was something that also disturbed her about the vision she just had. She had caught a glimpse of the person who had jumped in, and now just realized that the person was a girl, a girl with long, dark brown hair.

Ariel touched her own hair. She swore it was the same length as hers, and the only other person who was a brunette was Piper. But, she always wore her hair in braids, and Ariel doubted that she would ever wear her hair loose.

It was getting a little dark, the sky a pretty pink. According to Nico’s iPad, they were still seven hours away from going into North Carolina.

It was silent in the car, and Ariel desperately wanted to know what the mortals were thinking of her, where her mom was, and if she was glaring at any other news reporters named Bob.

“Nico, could I use your iPad for a sec?” She asked him.

He was in the middle of playing a game, and Ariel noticed it wasn’t Angry Birds. It was some game called Tap Tap Revenge 4.

“Yeah, one sec. I need to finish this.” Nico replied, his eyes fixed on the screen. His fingers were flying everywhere, his movements a blur. Ariel rolled her eyes and snatched the iPad away from him, and in return she received a bunch of cursing and a sixteen-year-old with his arms crossed looking like a five-year-old.

Ariel cautiously tapped the screen to the internet, and typed in channel 7 news live. There was a live update video that popped up, and she closely listened.

“Um, Nico, I think your iPad’s broken, ‘cuz I can’t hear anything.” She told him, nervously tapping the device on her lap.

He rolled his eyes at her. “You do know you can raise and lower the volume, right?”

“Um, no.”

He sighed as if this was something obvious she should know (which it was), and she could hear the voices of the people on the screen in the video.

Ariel started the video from the start, and she saw the same reporter, Bob, talking on the highway that they had fought on.

“Yes, that is right. We have been contacted by the Virginia police that there were seven strange teenagers in an Audi car driving on a highway that was attacked. They are suspicious, and some sources have said that the fugitive Ariel Fosters, daughter of Martha Fosters, was with them.”

The screen then turned to a helicopter view of the scene, and as Ariel squinted, she saw the seven of them with what seemed to be guns, shooting the griffins—except they weren’t griffins; they were huge pigeons.

“As you see in that clip there, we have reports that these teenagers including the fugitive, Ariel, were shooting down pigeons and some had bombs with them, that eventually exploded and then the highway was major chaos. I have a driver here with me who witnessed this.”

The camera turned to a man whose clothes were burnt, and his head was also bleeding. Ariel cringed with guilt, and she could feel Nico also watching the video intently.

“Sir, you said you witnessed the attacks by these teenagers. What is your name, and what did you see?”

“My name is Walter Kugler, and I was just driving on the highway from work with my five year old son. The car next to me, an Audi, had the seven teenagers inside. At first, I thought they were innocent, but then they suddenly crashed into me and my car… it spun around and we crashed into another car, and another, the three cars smushed together on the side of the highway. I was stuck on my side of the car, so I got out on the shotgun side and saw that the teenagers had pulled over to the other side of the highway and got out guns and bombs and started shooting them at huge pigeons. Why, I have no clue, but suddenly one of the bombs fell out of someone’s hand, and it exploded everywhere. It had come close enough that I myself got partially burnt—“

The man pointed to his head and continued. “My son… my five year old son… he didn’t survive the crash.” The man broke down in front of live TV, and Ariel felt crushed.

“I am so sorry, sir. There are reports that approximately twenty people have died so far, but there might be more…”

Ariel exited out of the video, her shoulders slumping. They were responsible for the lives of the mortals, the ones on the train and now the highway. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and soon they turned into full-out sobbing.

She could feel Nico tense up and uncomfortable, and felt him awkwardly put his arm around her, bringing her closer to him, her head leaning on his chest.

Ariel breathed in his cologne, which strangely kind of smelled like a dead British officer’s stench. It was mixed with something else, something pleasant, and that balanced it off.

She could feel the others look at her, but all Ariel could feel, see, or hear was guilt.

First comment! Oh yeah!

Good chapter and I hope Ariel doesn't die. Post soon!

Ariel and Nico. Such a good couple. But I think that their relationship shouldn't start so quickly. I've always liked Nico. But Ariel. She should be an actual Heroes of Olympus character.

Ariel is such an awesome character. I wish she could be in the actual Heroes of Olympus. And I think that you should take Ariel and Nico's relationship a little slower. Nico isn't the romantic, so I think that you should take a few more chapters to bring it out of him. And please keep the serious Nico di Angelo. Adios!

This is a really good story hollister girl! Post soon please!

Oh please post soon!! This story is sooooo good!

2 more comments, and I'll post again later. thanks everyone :)

@MisterPerfect1: Yeah, I know they shouldn't start their relationship so quickly but this is a one-time fanfic and something surprising will happen in the end... so in order for that to make like a really big impact, Ariel & Nico have to click kind of fast. But I agree when you say it shouldn't start out fast, and I'll try to keep Nico serious (it's hard for me to keep his character, plus any other characters that RR wrote). But I'll try my best. :)

Comment

Comment. You never said they have to be from 2 different people did ya?

^ lol I guess not.. teehee so I'll post right now I guess :)

Chapter 20: Nico

When Nico woke up, he was drooling—on Ariel’s shoulder. He spazzed out and bumped his head in the process, waking her up.

She stared at him and laughed. “Ha! I’m not the only one who bumped a head on the ceiling.”

Nico wanted to slap himself for spazzing out, and he hoped Ariel didn’t notice the little present he gave her—his drool.

But, she did. When she turned around to face him, her eyes crossed to meet the little present and looked questioningly at him.

Nico placed his burning cheeks on the cool window, avoiding Ariel’s eyes. He had never felt this embarrassed before, not ever.

It was dark out, with a touch of pink across the sky. It was 4:30 PM, and they still had a long way to go.

Nico sighed. He was thinking about the quest, the prophecy, and Ariel when he noticed something moving outside. There were trees all around the car, and he could swear he saw a shadow following the car’s every move.

Nico’s focus instantly became more alert. He tried to see what was out there; it could be a monster, or worse—monsters, plural.

“Percy, pull over to the side.” He told him.

Percy glanced at him through the mirror. “Why?”

“I think there’s someone stalking us.”

“Is it a monster?”

“Well, that’s what I want to check, dummy.”

Percy sighed and reluctantly pulled over. The car lights were blinking, and Nico beckoned for Ariel to come with him to check who the stalker was. She came out behind him, taking off her bracelet and raising her bow.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can.” Nico told the others, but noticed all the other demigods were snoring.

“Be quiet and stay behind me.” He ordered Ariel.

They walked through the woods, Nico trying to figure out where the shadow had gone. They were walking for what seemed like hours, and he felt stupid.

‘Maybe it was just my imagination… Maybe I was just hallu—‘

His thoughts stopped when he heard a twig snap behind him. He whirled around to find a hellhound lunge at Ariel, who had made the noise. She was caught by surprise and went down.

Nico heard her curse, and before he could react fast enough, two more hellhounds came and also lunged at her. Three heavy monsters were on a girl who weighed twice less than them, possibly more.

Nico tried to get his sword, his fingers fumbling in the dark. Meanwhile, he could hear the heavy breathing of Ariel, and noticed her bow was a few feet away from her, too hard to reach.

He wasn’t that good at archery, but did take some classes. Nico grabbed the bow and prayed to his dad and Apollo for a good shot.

When he released the bow, Nico’s eyes were closed, but he hoped for the best. His fingers hurt, and he wondered how Ariel could release and shoot it so gracefully, so accurately. When he opened his eyes, there was one less hellhound on top of Ariel, and Nico let go a huge sigh of relief.

But, when he looked closer, Ariel’s face was paler than his, her breathing coming in little breaths. Nico cursed himself for being so slow, but managed to take out his sword this time and attack the hellhounds who didn’t even pay attention to him.

He offered his hand to Ariel, who grabbed it shakily, her legs wobbly and her body shivering.

“Can you walk?” Nico asked her.

“I’ll try…” She replied, walking alongside him, each step wobbly. Ariel made three steps before she fell down.

“Um, I can’t walk…” She told him, blushing.

“I can piggyback you, if you’re okay with that.”

“You sure? What if I’m too heavy for you?”

Nico squinted at her. “What, you don’t think I’m strong enough?”

“Nope.” She replied, her eyes a childish glow.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m still piggybacking you.” Nico beckoned Ariel to get on his back, and she did so reluctantly.

When he stood up, he grunted.

“See, I told you I was too heavy for you!” Ariel told him.

“I can handle you fine, you’re a twig.”

Nico could feel Ariel was reluctant, but he just wanted to get back to the warm and cozy car.

It didn’t take much for them to get lost. Nico could swear he passed the same tree three times, but then again, every stupid tree looks the same.

“Are we lost?” Ariel asked, the most obvious question Nico heard in his life.

“No, we’re already inside our nice luxury car.” He told her sarcastically.

Nico felt her get off of him, and she stood face to face with him. “Why don’t you use your iPad to get directions?” She asked him.

“Well, smarty, I left it back in the car.”

Ariel sighed. “I guess we’re just going to camp here for the night. We’ll look for the others tomorrow morning; I bet they’re still snoring in that car right now.”

Nico snorted. “You got that right. I guess we’ll just starve for the night ‘til morning. Hopefully, they’ll present us with ten fluffy hot pancakes ‘cuz I’m hungry.”

Ariel rolled her eyes. She reached for some branches, and rubbed them together, lighting a small fire. Nico noticed she was still shivering, and he wished he’d brought that blanket in the car.

Instead, he took off his puffy coat and when they both sat down, he put it over them, their shoulders touching. Nico didn’t mind, and it was actually kind of cozy and nice being alone with Ariel.

“Nico, you’re bleeding.” She told him, her eyes widening.

He looked down at his arm, which had a strange cut. Nico shrugged. “Must’ve been the hellhound.”

Ariel looked unsure, but she murmured a healing hymn anyways, which made the cut fade.

“Thanks.” He told her, his eyes on her own cuts.

“No problem. And yes, I will heal myself.”

They sat like that for a while, with Ariel murmuring another healing hymn, and Nico could see most of her cuts go away.

He wished he had his iPad right now; they could have been playing Angry Birds, just like the night before.

“Thanks for saving me back there, with the hellhounds. I should have been more alert.” Ariel said to him quietly.

“Hey, I’m just being myself, the awesome son of Hades to your rescue.”

She laughed quietly, and then sighed. “I just don’t get why so many monsters are attacking me lately—it’s not like I’m that important.”

‘Of course you’re important.’ Nico thought. ‘You’re probably the kid of the prophecy.’

But, he didn’t say that out loud. Instead, Nico tried to cheer her up a little. “It must be your smell.”

“My what?”

“Your smell. Maybe your demigod stench is stinkier than the rest of ours.”

Ariel giggled. “Or, maybe it’s just because I’m around you so much, and your stench is floating to me.”

“Oh yeah, sure. Like I smell that bad.”

“Well, you did smell like a dead British officer with a hint of AXE cologne.”

“Well, you smell like stinky monster dust with a hint of what’s that store? Oh yeah, Victoria’s Secret PINK.”

“Well, you smell like you bathed in the River Styx with Cerberus, who hasn’t taken a bath.”

Nico scrunched his face up at that one. “Well, you smell like a—a—“

Ariel smiled. “Anyways, you know, I just wanted to tell you thanks… I feel like such a weakling with everyone trying to protect me.”

This time, Nico did speak what was on his mind. “You’re not a weakling, Ariel. That’s why you’re on this quest. There’s a reason why Apollo personally requested you be on this quest, because you’re powerful. Possibly even more powerful than me, and I’m pretty amazing.”

Nico could feel her smiling. He could feel her come closer to him, smelling her perfume. He turned around to find that their lips met, and even though it was cold out and they were lost, it was the best—and first—kiss of Nico’s life.
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TEEHEE! :D

Amazing!!!! Post asap!!!

Post more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please

Awwwwwww! Oh no, I'm turning into Aphrodite! *cue thunder* Not like that's a bad thing or anything! Still, I'm glad they finally got together. That was so good that I want MORE! Please post again soon!

LOVE IT!!!! YAY THEY ARE TOGETHER!!!!!

That's so cute and insanely awesome.

CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO CUTE I AM CRYING HAPPILY!

Awesome and anico forever.

Aw, da wittle woveburds <3 so cute Post Soon!