Demigod major: Why me?

The day the Earth shook: Haley's POV

Haley’s POV

Today was going to be a big day. Well, for Alex anyway.

Nico told me we were going to teach her to raise the dead.

O Joy, here we go.

We were standing out in the yard near the back of our cabin, next to the woods but still in plain sight of everyone. It seemed so calm and peaceful.

Too bad the prophecy says otherwise.

I saw Dakota talking with Percy and Annabeth again, looking so happy and carefree.

I wish I could be over there with him, wrapped under his arm, snuggled against his strong lean chest.

I snapped out of it when Nico went, “Hellooooo? Earth to Alex.” And snapped his fingers. She looked at him as if she had just been woken up. I guess she was thinking of something entirely different then her own boyfriend.

Sheesh, the very thought of Nico dating her was weird. Not saying I didn’t approve, Alex is a wonderful girl, but I guess I was only scared Nico would end up getting hurt.

Or worse.

“Sorry, I was just…thinking.” She said, a little nervous looking.

“Okay, well Haley and I are going to teach you how to summon the dead.” Nico looked paler than usual as if he didn’t get much sleep, and his expression said he didn’t want to do this, but knew it must be done.

Alex got excited. “Okay, let’s do it.” She walked over to stand beside me. She didn’t stand too close as if I were a freak. The truth was, to everyone, my skin literally felt ice cold. The air around me felt cold. Even I looked cold. But Dakota and Nico were the only ones who didn’t seem to notice.

“Okay, how does this work?”

Nico began to drone on about how your position and different things, so I tuned out and peered over my shoulder at Dakota again. He saw me and waved smiling, his smile. The smile he used only when he was with me. I sheepishly tucked my hair behind my ear and waved back, smiling shyly.

I looked back at Nico, who was in the middle of his summoning.

He stopped and Alex asked, “Why’d you stop?”

“No use in using all my energy to bring the dead up when their not needed, right?”

“True, True,”

I turned towards her. “Okay, now, watch me.”

I stood forward and closed my eyes, concentrating. I lunged myself forward, pushing my arms forward and upward. I then dropped my arms and opened my eyes, stumbling a bit.

Nico laughed, “Show off. You always have to lunge don’t’ you? You do realize that takes more energy, right?”

He walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. I stood up straight.

I laughed too. “Yeah, that’s true…..But it’s more fun that way! I feel like a Jedi!” I shouted. I swear I heard Dakota giggle from across the yard.

We all laughed hard, Nico nearly doubling over, obviously knowing about my strange obsession with Star Wars.

We eventually stopped, becoming serious once more. Or trying to.

“Okay, your up.” I said, me and Nico looking at her. The feelings of Nico right now where probably Worry, Fear, Dread, Curiosity, Love, Pride, and a bunch of other mixed emotions. I guess you could say me and Nico had a bit of a connection to each other. If one of us was lost, go ask the other and you’d probably find us in no later than a day.

I motioned her forward, and Nico smiled at her reassuringly.

She closed her eyes and began to summon the dead.

It was the scariest thing I had ever seen in my life.

I swear the sky and everything around us turned a shade of crimson red, like in cartoons when something bad happens and the setting all goes one color.

I saw ghosts and monsters beginning to rise from the underworld, from every little plot of land. Gruesome hands shot up, and began climbing. But it wasn’t just a few.

It was the entire Underworld. Straight from Hell.

I saw people screaming and running, taking cover as the ghosts grabbed at them.

The pegasi thrashed and whined as the dead reached for them. I looked frantically for Dakota. He was no where to be found. I heard a defiant scream, one only coming from someone she knew. Someone she loved.

Dakota.

But then I saw something truly horrifying, something I will never forget.

I saw my late parents, Mom and Dad, waving and smiling at me. I froze and shook my head, but they stayed. But then disappeared into thin air.

All of a sudden, things went back to normal. The ghosts evaporated down into the earth. The peagsi stood quietly. For a whole minute, the camp was absolutely silent.

Everyone had known what happened.

I looked at Alex and Nico. Nico had a tight grip on her forearms, looking even wilder and paler.

She looked straight at me. I probably looked as if I was going to have heart attack.

She looked back at Nico. “What…What happened?”

I felt everyone in camp staring at us, thank God I had my back to them.

Nico stayed silent.

“Nico,” Alex pressured, “What. Happened.”

“You…..You summoned the entire Underworld. Everyone. How…..How in the Hades did you do that?!?!”

Everyone remained silent.

Alex looked horrified. ‘What….what have I done…?” she said, looking around the damaged camp. I simply stared at her, feeling colder than usual and probably alittle sickly.

Then someone shouted, “We need a medic over here!”

Everyone turned and saw Percy and Annabeth, peering over an unconscious black-haired boy, who was over a crumpled piece of earth and whose arm looked bent in a way it wasn’t suppose to.

Then I realized.

I ran forward, tears in my eyes pushing past people. I finally got there, tears flowing freely down my face, kneeling down and cradling his head in my lap.

Dakota…..My sweet, wonderful, anything-a-girl-could-ever-ask-for……was lying on the ground, crumpled together, possibly dead. I simply sobbed and held his head to my chest, everyone in the camp absolutely silent.

A/N'Don't own Alex!!