Poseidon Is My Daddy (Book #1 of the Daughters of Olympus Series)

The Next Day

   The next morning, the Romans left. I gave Reyna and Hazel big hugs. 'Thank you guys so much for fighting with us.' I said. 'Of course. We're always ready to help allies.' replied Reyna. 'Reyna.' called Frank, he was at the top of the hill at the door of a black minivan. Reyna and Hazel gave a small wave and left. After breakfast, we all returned to our regular schedules. When I was in archery, Alani approached me just as I had nocked anther arrow. 'Julie?' she said sheepishly. Was this chick scared of me? 'Yes?' I did my best not to be irritated, I should at least hear what she has to say. 'Um, I'm really sorry about how I treated you all this time. It was just, you're so smart and pretty and talented and athletic. And since I knew I could never be like you, my solution was to make you feel horrible about it; and I really regret it.'  I searched for any hint of sarcasm or evil in her voice but she was really, sincerely sorry. 'It's okay. I forgive you; and I'm sorry too for yelling at you in front of the entire camp and calling you flat-nose and insulting you.' I said. 'I don't blame you,' said Alani, 'I deserved it. I hope we can be friends Julie.' 'Me too.' She smiled and walked to the target next to me.

   That day, during free time, Nico and I were walking on the beach. I was holding on to his arm and he had his hand around my waist. We were quizzing each other seeing how much we knew about each other. I found out that Nico was born in the 1940s and he found out that I had braces in 6th grade. "Okay,' I said, 'You'll never guess this one. What is my middle name?' 'Ooooohhh. Emma?' he guessed. 'Nope.' 'Bailey?' 'Not even close.'  'Shakira.' 'What?' 'I give up. What is it?' 'It's Regina.' 'That's Latin for queen.' 'Mm-hm.' We walked for a while then Nico said, 'Okay, I have another one. Where am I from?' I took a second, 'Is it somewhere in Italy?' He nodded. 'Um. Milan?' I guessed. 'No. I'll give you a hint. It's really popular.' 'Venice?' 'How are you so good at this?' he blurted out; I laughed. When we were at about the middle of the beach, Leo came barreling towards us. 'Julie! Julie! Come quick!' Leo ran into me head-on and we toppled over in the sand, knocking the wind out of each other, but I was pretty sure I had it worse. Leo rolled off of me as quickly as possible and started groaning and rolling around in the sand, 'That sucked.' 'You can't talk. I was at the bottom.' I wheezed. 'Need to... get to... the top of the hill.' Leo panted. We ran to Half-Blood Hill. 

   There was an unconscious  girl in a black shirt, black jacket, black jeans, with an eyebrow piercing, lip piercing, silver jewelry and black military boots. She was also really pale; she was like a girl version of Nico. Nico stared at her with such intensity that I that she would burst into flames or something. Then, a black glyph was floating over her head, draining the area around her of all color and warmth. Nico suddenly looked as if he'd seen a ghost. The girl stirred and came to and started looking around with clouded eyes. 'What? Where am I? Who are you?' I knelt down next to her, 'It's okay. You're at Camp Half-Blood. You're safe. What's the last thing you remember?' She took a second, 'I was being chased by this giant bat thing and I hiked up this hill and passed out.' Everyone was quiet, 'What's your name?' asked Leo. 'My name's Dakota.' Nico gasped with wide eyes, 'No it can't be.' he whispered, 'You're supposed to be dead.'