I woke up to people yelling. "It was Potter's fault!" I heard Sev's voice.
"That will do, Severus." That was Dumbledore's voice. I opened my eyes and sat up. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"
"Of course not! I would have heard them!"
"Well, there you have it, Severus. Unless you are suggesting Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see a point in troubling them any further." Sev turned around and stormed out of the room.
Minister Fudge said, "Fellow seems quite unbalanced. I'd watch him if I were you, Dumbledore." I snorted, Sev had just been acting. Both he and Sirius had told me stories of when they were teens and how they had acted like they hated each other. All three adults turned to me. Madam Pomfrey bustled about me, giving me potions and mumbling about how she should get a plaque that said 'Nina's Bed'.
"Ah, Miss Jackson," Fudge said, sitting in the chair next to me. "How are you feeling?"
"Minus the headache, I feel great."
"You weren't, well, you know, bitten by the werewolf, were you?"
"I don't think so. If I was, it was after I passed out. But, right now I don't feel any pain other than my headache so I'm going to guess I wasn't bitten."
Fudge nodded. "Would you mind telling us what happened out there, Christina? When we found you, Remus was still a werewolf and wouldn't let us anywhere near you until he changed back. He was curled up into your side when we got there," said Professor Dumbledore.
I decided against telling the two men about the nectar and ambrosia mixture. "Well, there were dementors all over the place, so when Professor Snape ran down to help Harry and Hermione, I was left on my own. I ran into the forest, forgetting about Ron, and just went where my feet took me. I ran to a clearing where I saw Professor Lupin. He wasn't looking at me, so I tried to back away. He started to sniff the air and then turned around. When his eyes landed on me, I completely froze. It felt like I literally couldn't move. He started to run at me, but I still couldn't move. He pounced on me and knocked me to the ground. That's when I hit my head on a rock. Professor Lupin started sniffing me, and I was paralyzed. I was so afraid he would bite me. Every time I tried to move, he would growl at me and then keep on sniffing. Eventually, he climbed off me and curled up into my side. I passed out then."
Fudge nodded before leaving. Dumbledore gave me a smile with that annoying twinkle in his eye. He left too and Hermione, Harry, and Ron came over to my bed. Harry and Hermione filled Ron and me in on how they had freed Sirius. I was impressed with how they had saved Sirius and Buckbeak. I was very happy that Buckbeak had been set free.
The next day, when I was let out of the Hospital Wing, I went straight to Professor Lupin's office. I knocked on the door and it swung open. Inside, I saw my professor packing all his things away. "You're leaving?" I asked as I stepped inside, the door swinging shut behind me.
He turned around and smiled at me. "Yes, don't worry. You'll still see me. I'm going back to Camp Half-Blood. I used to stay in the Big House when I was a teenager. I can't risk biting anyone else, Christina. I was so close to biting you."
"But you didn't. Besides, you won't have to worry about that anymore. The most you'll feel on the full moon is a mild migraine. That stuff I left out for you was a mixture of ambrosia and nectar. A few years back, Chiron found out that if you feed a werewolf a mix of the two immortal foods while they are in their wolf form, they will stop being able to transform on the full moon. You'll still have all the other symptoms, though."
"Thank you Christina, but it is too late. Last night, someone let slip that I was a werewolf."
"That's not very nice. Why didn't you bite me?"
"Werewolves bite people because they feel threatened by people. Well, at least the ones that don't follow Lycaon, the immortal king of werewolves, or Greyback. He's a wizard werewolf who prefers to bite children. He bit me when I was four because my father angered him."
"Well, I'm off. See you over the summer, Nina." Professor Lupin walked out the door. A few seconds later, he stuck it back in. "Oh, and call me Remus. I'm not your professor anymore now am I?" I grinned and waved at him. I ran up to my dorm to pack and tell Lav and Vati what happened last night and today. Madam Pomfrey refused to let them in to see me.
On the train, Ron begged me to go to the Quidditch World Cup with him and his family. I sighed and gave in. Vati and Lav flat out refused to go. I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to go. We are preparing for a war after all.
When we got off the train, we waved goodbye to the Golden trio, Neville, Luna,Fred, and George. I overheard Harry threatening his relatives with Sirius. Apollo was picking me and the rest of the Skittles trio up in his chariot, so we all ran outside to wait for him. He was already there in a Hyundai Elantra. Why he chose that car, we will never know. He waved to us from where he was leaning against the passenger door of the car. He was texting someone, probably Hermes. When he finished his text, he stuck his iPhone in his back pocket and pulled me into a hug. I heard Lav and Vati giggling behind me as I hugged him back. He opened the door for me and while I was climbing into the front seat, I gave Vati and Lav my best death glare. Lav and Vati climbed into the back as Apollo got into the front.
Apollo kissed my cheek before he started the car and started driving to a secluded area where we could get into the sky. I blushed and Vati and Lav started to giggle more. We made small talk during the long, er, flight back to New York. Apollo dropped us off in front of Goode High School. We were picking Percy up from his Orientation Day and then we were all going to see a movie. Apollo waved as he drove off to the front of the Empire State Building.
As soon as Apollo drove away, I noticed the smoke coming from an area of the building. I sighed, that had to be Percy. Lav, Vati, and I ran off to where the smoke was coming from. Percy jumped out of a broken window and fell on top of me. I groaned as I shoved him off. A red headed girl jumped out the window. "What did you do this time, fratellino? And who is your amica?"
"Oh, Rachel-Christina, Lavender, and Parvati. Nina, Lav, Vati-Rachel. Um, she's mio amica. I guess."
"Hi. You are in so much trouble. AND you still owe me an explanation!"
Police sirens were coming up FDR Drive. "Fish Face! We should go," Vati said.
Rachel pulled out a permanent marker and wrote a phone number on Percy's arm. "Call me and explain, alright. Now go, I'll come up with a story that it wasn't your fault. Just go!"
Rachel ran back to the school. I hoped she came up with a good excuse. We seriously needed to tell Sally's boyfriend about the greek world. HIs name was Paul and he's an English teacher at the school Percy just set on fire. Our day out was just wrecked. In the taxi ride to camp, Percy explained to us about the empousai. Why do the monsters never give demigods a break.
When we got to camp, Lav and Vati left to go talk to Silena and Padma who had been picked up by Mr. D. Percy and I went to the arena to train together. My heart almost stopped when I reached the arena. In the middle sat the largest hellhound I had ever seen. I mean this thing was the size of Hagrid's hut! It was insane! Percy charged it with Riptide when out of nowhere another sword blocked his strike. "Woah there," the man said. "Truce!"
"That's a hellhound!" mia fratello shouted. Another man walked up behind the second one. The second man I recognized. He had sandy hair and green eyes. He seemed way younger than when I last saw him.
"Remus!" I shouted. He smiled and waved at me. He was laughing at the other man.
"She's harmless," laughed Remus."
"That's Mrs. O'Leary," added the first man. He named a hellhound Mrs. O'Leary? Hey, I've got a pet owl named Skittles, I can't judge.
Percy blinked. "Mrs. O'Leary?"
At the sound of her name, the hellhound barked again. I realized something. She didn't want to rip us apart, she wanted to play. The first man grabbed an armored manikin and threw it. The hellhound named MRs. O'Leary chased after it. "Good girl! Get the Greek! Get the Greek!" Did he have to say it like that? "My name is Quintus. I guess you already know Remus."
I nodded and said, "Christina Jackson but everyone calls me Nina."
He stuck out his hand and I shook it. "Percy Jackson," my brother said as he shook hands with Quintus then Remus. "Nina's told me a lot about you Remus." emus gave me a quizzical look.
"Hey, you were one of my favorite teachers." He rolled his eyes at me. Who knew teachers did that. Then again, he did grow up with Sirius. I'll just blame Siri.
Quintus began to explain how Mrs. O'Leary was his pet. He had trained her since she was a puppy. She must be a really young hellhound. But then how did she get so big? Chiron showed up and told Percy and me that Grover had requested that we attend his hearing. I was confused by this. What could Grover possibly have done wrong?
Percy and I climbed up on Chiron's back and he cantered through the forest. Even after playing Capture the Flag in here for two years, i didn't recognize the parts of the forest we were going through. Eventually, Grover put us down in front of three fat satyrs. We were behind Grover who seemed to be telling them a story. Annabeth, Clarisse, and a girl I recognized as a dryad were standing next to us. The dryad was crying and Annabeth had her arm around her. Dryads tears are green like chlorophyll. Annabeth looked at us and mouthed the words 'Grover's girlfriend'. Wow, and he didn't think to owl me! Annabeth whispered, "He'll be fine, Juniper," in the dryad's ear. Oh, I remember her. Her tree is near Zeus' fist. It's this pile of rocks that were named after Zeus but look like a pile of deer droppings. Chiron won't let us rename it 'Poop Pile' because it would be disrespectful to Zeus since it was already named it after him.
The ridiculously fat satyrs gave Grover one more week to prove that he had heard Pan. Juniper looked ready to charge them, but Clarisse held her back. That's a new one, a daughter of the war god holding someone back from a fight. Grover turned around and Juniper escaped from Clarisse and ran to give Grover a hug. My satyr friend wrapped his arms around his dryad girlfriend and buried his face in er auburn hair. Aw, they are so cute together! When Juniper let go of Grover, I gave him a quick hug. Percy gave him a high five.
A conch horn blew. Oh no, it was time for inspection. Every Friday, one of the councillors has to go around and inspect every cabin for cleanliness. Percy and I weren't exactly neat and the cleaning harpies only come around at the end of summer. This meant the cabin was just as messy as it had been over winter break. Percy looked at me and we both ran to our cabin, getting ready to shove things under the beds.
It turned out we didn't need to shove things under our beds. An old friend was in the room cleaning it already. "Tyson!" I shrieked as I launched myself at my baby brother. He laughed and caught me.
"Yay, you are still wearing the necklace I made you."
"Of course, Ty, I never take it off."
Percy was staring at the wall behind his bed. He turned to Tyson, grinning. "You fixed the shield!" I looked over Percy's shoulder to see the shield Tyson had made him after we traveled across the Sea of Monsters. A manticore thorn had severely damaged it over Christmas and it didn't open fully.
Tyson was wearing a flowery apron and latex gloves. I looked around to see our cabin was spotless. The salt water fountain in the corner was glistening. On the ceiling, bronze hippocampi were hanging on almost invisible threads. On the window sills were beautiful sea anemones and plants from the bottom of the sea. A fresh ocean breeze was blowing through the cabin. It had never looked this nice as long as I had been at camp. We got full marks from Silena.
When we sat down at the Poseidon table, Tyson asked about the giant crack in the floor. I was curious too. It wasn't there last I saw. Percy looked around before whispering quietly to us. "Nina, you remember Nico, right?" I nodded. He had disappeared after he found out Bianca died on the quest. "Well, I promised to protect his sister and I failed. She died."
"So he put a crack in the floor?" Tyson asked.
"No, these skeleton warriors attacked us and Nico told them to go away. The crack opened up and they fell through. Nico is a son of Hades. You can't tell anyone." Tyson and I nodded our heads to show we understood. Chiron brought Grover over to discuss things with Percy, so Tyson and I went so he could show me the things he had made in Atlantis.
After dinner, Quintus gathered us all around him. He put us in pairs of three for the game we would be playing. I was with Annabeth and Percy. Wew ere supposed to chase a bunch of scorpions down, looking for the one that had the golden laurel tied underneath it. That meant we would have to kill them. My team and I ran out into the woods and we ended up near Zeus' fist. We began looking for scorpions. It didn't take long to find them.
There were 6 scorpions running around. 4 of them cornered us. We were backed up against Zeus' fist. These things in front of us were disturbing. Quintus had said their technical name was a blast-ended skrewt. I could see why. There tails would blow up and shoot them forwards. I found a crack in the rocks and slipped through. Annabeth and Percy came through after me. I yelped as I felt the ground disappear and we all fell down.
I looked up to see the hole we fell through close up. I looked around but couldn't see farther than a foot in front of my face. "Nobody move," gasped Annabeth. "We're in the labyrinth." I froze. "Look for a delta symbol. If you find it, put your hand on it. It will open the passage back up." I quickly began scouring the walls.
"Found it!" shouted Percy. I heard some fumbling and the hole reopened. I could see a ladder leading up through it. We all fumbled up the ladder through the dim light. When we got up, the sun was setting. That's not right, its only 6. The sun shouldn't set for another hour. I heard people looking for us. We ran in the direction of their voices.
I was pulled into a bear hug, I mean dog hug, by Sirius Black when we saw the others. He explained how we had been missing for nearly an hour. I was confused. We had been down there 5 minutes tops.
Clarisse began to speak and everyone looked over at her. "You were in the Labyrinth. Time passes differently there."
Chiron grew very grave. "We will have guards there. It is a way into camp that will not be blocked by the monster barricades. This is bad."