holy shit it's been a while. sorry about that I totally forgot that I even had an account here. i'll give you this little tidbit while I frantically try to think of a good way to wrap this puppy up.

Madison welcomed the blast of icy air, trying to cool the heat from her cheeks. What am I doing? She thought angrily to herself as she marched down the streets of Berlin, Germany. I have a world to save, and powers to figure out- I can't waste my time flirting with the most gorgeous demigod of the century! Besides, him and Brains have a history as long as a my leg! Feeling successfully chastened, she made her way to one of the many hostels that were around every corner; they seemed like the German version of McDonalds.

She wracked her brain, trying to remember the words she needed. "Hallo, ummm… Ich brauche ein Zimmer für die Nacht."

The pretty brunette at the desk gave her a sunny smile. The ladies' pearly whites hurt Madison's eyes. "Natürlich! Haben Sie ein eigenes Zimmer oder ein gemeinsames man sich wünschen?"

"Umm… " She thought desperately; what did 'eigenes Zimmer' mean again? "Ja! Ja Ich möchte ein eigenes Zimmer. Wie viel kostet das? Ich habe nur amerikanisches Geld." She put on a sad face, trying to play the part of a homeless traveler in a foreign country. It wasn't that hard.

"In US-Dollar, etwa 40." The lady gave her another blinding smile. Jeez, where did Germany get these people?

Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Madison pulled out 60 dollars worth. Perfect. "Bitte schön." Madison said, hoping her pronunciation wasn't as horrible as she thought.

"Danke! Genießen Sie Ihren Aufenthalt!" The girl trilled, giving Madison a key and a Cheshire cat smile. Having no idea what the lady just said, Madison just nodded, a friendly smile on her face and took the key, heading up the stairs.

Sagging against the closed door, Madison let out a huge breath. It had been a long day. She'd woken up in a stolen hotel room, wandered around the town - which one was it? She couldn't remember, but she'd sensed a monster's presence. She'd rushed to the scene only to find a group of Halfbloods getting their asses kicked. Knowing that all it took was a touch, she'd swooped in to save them, planning on leaving as soon as the drakon was dead. But no! Her luck was nonexistent, so she'd ended up getting knocked out and dragged to the Golden Group's hideout.

Her head ached. Praying to all the gods - the ones that didn't hate her at least - Madison went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet mirror. Empty. Cursing, Madison stormed out of the dingy bathroom and flopped onto her bed. Within five minutes, she was already asleep.

The air was heavy with rage, pressing down upon the occupants of the massive cave. Hissing echoed off the cavern walls, bouncing on and on into the inky blackness. Madison shivered, goosebumps racing up her arms. Usually, she wasn't bothered by the cold, but this was different; it was pure evil that was giving her the chills.

"Are they making their way to usss?"

"Yes, I suspect they shall be here in 3 days time."

"Excellent. And the trap isss ssset?"
"Yes, Mistress."Madison wrinkled her nose. What kind of wacked up relationship was going on here? A deep, throaty cackle echoed throughout the darkness, bouncing off the walls and filling the Halfblood with dread.

"Sssoon thosse pathetic demigodsss will be within my grassp and I will be free once more!"

With a strangled gasp, Madison lurched out of the bed she'd been sprawled on, sword drawn.

Thanos, the name of the blade, had been a gift from her father; it was the only thing that reminded her that he actually cared about her. Ironically enough, the sword was cursed; whoever the blade was wielded against would suffer their worst fears and nightmares, trapped inside their own head until the owner of Thanos chose to set them free.

Obviously, it came in handy - not to mention that it was invisible to everyone but its owner... but at a price. Thanos was constantly in her head, goading her to draw the blade and drive her foes to insanity with fear. Most of the time, she could push and cursed sword out of her head, but sometimes the blade's grip was too strong and she found her hand twitching towards its hidden location on her hip.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Madison focussed on what she'd just learned: Gaea knew about the demigod's quest and was setting a trap for them. They were so screwed. She angrily ran a hand through her flyaway hair as she paced the room like a caged tiger. How was she supposed to warn the others, when half of the group trusted her as much as they'd trust a monster? "That's the million dollar question." Madison grumbled to herself as she rolled her shoulders in preparation for Shadow Travel.

Closing her eyes, Madison brought the image of Argo II into focus. Zooming in like a lense on a camera, she pinpointed exactly where she wanted to go and- shadows engulfed her as she flew through the darkness and landed gracefully on the deck of Leo's war ship.

Pulling her now wind-blown hair into a high ponytail on the crown of her head, Madison assessed her situation. By the look of the rising sun, it was almost seven- the demigods would still be asleep. Knowing that if she wandered around while they slept, there'd be trouble, Madison perched herself on the railing of the ship, daringly swinging her legs over the ledge and took in the breathtaking view, content to wait until at least one Halfblood awoke and saw her.

"You came back. To be honest, I wasn't completely sure you would."

She couldn't stop the smile that quirked into place at the sound of his voice. "I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate to be predictable." Her smile grew at the

sound of his soft chuckle; she had a feeling it wasn't something that happened often. Without turning, she continued their conversation. "How long do you think my frayed peace with your friends is gonna last? A week? A day?" Her voice had a bitter tone to it, so she attempted to soften it with a dry chuckle. It didn't really work.

"I'm not sure. All I do know, is that we need you." Madison could hear the silent 'I need you' loud and clear.

"Don't worry - I'm not going anywhere. Not until Gaea is defeated, at least." She answered his silent question, wanting him to feel safe; wanting him to know that someone was in his corner. "How much longer will the Golden Group be asleep?" She laughed, turning to face him. He looked haggard, his black hair mussed; shadows rimmed his eyes. Eyes that had seen and done so much. Her heart twisted in her chest, an emotion she wasn't used to churned deep inside her: sympathy. Gods, he was too young to be in this war - they all were too young. Attempting for humor, she grinned. "Jesus, Nico - you look horrible."

He grinned back. "Right back atcha, sis." Huh - a nickname. She rolled it around in her head until smiling softly in approval.

"Getting clawed by a drakon will do that to ya." She muttered, self consciously hiding her face from view. "Is it really that bad?" She resisted the urge to pick at the scab forming on her forehead.

"Even daughters of Hades can be vain - who would've thought?" He said drily. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to look presentable - it's not like I get a lot of company with my situation in life." Madison defended stiffly, but her smile ruined the whole indignant effect. He laughed again, sounding happy and carefree. "Hey- do you wanna go on a field trip?" She asked, taken aback by her own spontaneity.

His grin widened; she took it as a yes.

"Then get your emo butt over here!" She laughed at his mock scowl. Carefully, oh so carefully, she placed her slightly shaking hand on her brother's clothing encased shoulder. A quiet sigh escaped her lips as he remained untouched by her powers. "Close your eyes." She leaned over to make sure he was listening before closing her own violet eyes and bringing into focus the destination she had in mind.

Hot, dry air washed over them, grass brushed against their legs and Nico could hear the trumpeting of - an elephant? Unbelieving, he opened his eyes.

Madison and Nico were standing in a grassy plain, and not 10 feet away from them, a troop of elephants meandered past. In the distance, zebras could

be seen galloping away in terror from a pride of hungry lionesses. Monkeys screeched from above them in the trees, shaking the branches in an attempt to scare them off.

"No way." He breathed, overwhelmed by the whole scene. "Are we in Africa?" He'd never been out of the country before; he couldn't Shadow Travel that far or risk killing himself by using too much power.

"Nigeria, to be exact." Madison smiled at the sight of her brother's child-like wonder - a sight, she thought, was rare to see. "Do you like it?" She asked, fidgeting.

"It's incredible! How can you make it this far? I can barely cross the states, let alone the world." He turned large, dark eyes towards her.

She shrugged, not exactly knowing how to answer. "I've been doing it for long time, is all. Like everything else in the world, you just gotta practice to perfect it." She resisted the urge to ruffle his hair, so she shoved her hands in her pockets instead. After a time of just drinking in the exotic atmosphere, she reluctantly said. "We should probably get back, they're probably sending out the search parties now." She smiled grimly at the thought of Brains waiting for her, dagger drawn.

Nico nodded, still taking in the awesome view. "They probably haven't even noticed I'm gone."

Madison's head snapped over so quickly, she almost got whiplash. "Nico, you know that's not true. They care about you. They need you. Without you, they wouldn't have the information about Gaea they have now. You are important, so don't you dare think otherwise."

Her half brother's eyes widened at her sudden change of tone. "Woah, take it easy, sis." He raised his hands in the sign of truce. "No need to go all mama bear on me."

She sucked in a deep breath before smiling at him. "Sorry, I just - you are important Nico." If she was a normal person - or as normal as a demigod could get - she would've grabbed his hands in her own to prove a point. Instead, she clenched them into fists inside her coat pockets.

"Let's get you back, huh? Besides, I've got stuff I gotta tell the whole crew." She carefully reached out and touched his clothed shoulder as they both melted into shadow.

yay! half-brother/sister bonding! sorry if my German is awful, I haven't taken it in years. hope you like it. ALSO - if anyone wants to help write it/adopt this story, all you gotta do is ask. honestly I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with this one...