Artemis had passed out right after she said 'Night', which, by the way, I have no idea what she was talking about. Anyway, we had to leave. A bunch of the Gods got this like, worried, knowing look, and after that, Hermes told us that this was confidential, and we had to go. So, now Chiron, Thalia and I were making our way back to camp half-blood. Argus seemed like he was driving faster than usual, and I wondered if he knew what the gods were talking about, and about Artemis. Or if this was something else entirely.

"I can't believe we were let off that easy," Thalia said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I bet Athena or Hera would have asked for us to at least be punished if we weren't interrupted," I replied, shuddering at what they could have imagined.

"Do you have any idea what 'Night' is? Who it could be?" asked Thalia.

"No. Not a clue. Annabeth is who you want to ask for that," I replied honestly. Chiron was just sitting silently in the front seat, keeping his thoughts to his self.

Suddenly, Argus rounded a turn, and that's when I realized how fast he was going. We seemed to be going at least 80, and I knew Argus never ever went over the speed limit. When we pulled up to Half Blood hill, I got out of the car right away. Thalia did the same, and walked over and stood by me. I felt a chill in the air, and it wasn't normal. I glanced over at Thalia, who looked equally uneasy.

"You feel it too?" I asked, noticing her discomfort.

She nodded. "This is serious. We need to ask Annabeth, like now."

Chiron got out of the car and immediately shed his wheelchair, which he had adorned to go into the city with. I glanced at him, and noticed him looking up. I did the same, wondering what he was looking at.

I didn't see anything, really. "What are you looking at?" Thalia asked, curiosity in her voice.

I shook my head. "Nothing, I guess. C'mon, lets head in. Chiron! We're gonna go talk to Annabeth. We can tell her what happened, right?" I said, turning around.

Chiron's face was serious and grim. "Even if I said no, you would still tell her. Go, child. I have things I need to get done, as well," he said, before trotting off towards the big house.

I shrugged at Thalia, getting a little pang of pain in my shoulder in the process. Another burn mark, probably. I glanced up uneasily as we walked towards the cabins, wondering what Chiron was looking for.

There was still a fire lighting the pavilion area in the cold, dark night, so we used that to find our way towards Athena's cabin. I knocked, with Thalia right behind me.

One of Annabeth's brothers opened the door, and I asked immediately, "Is Annabeth in there?"

She must have heard my voice or something, because suddenly the brown-haired grey-eyed boy was pushed aside, revealing Annabeth. She rushed forward and gave me a bone-crushing hug, and then pulled away.

"So it went ok? You guys are ok?" she rushed, brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face. Even with slightly tousled hair, she still looked beautiful. Particularly in the shorts and tee she was wearing, a cool blue that brought out her stormy grey eyes.

"We're fine, Annabeth. They let us off. But that's not the important thing right now," I said, glancing at Thalia.

Thalia stepped forward. "Let's find somewhere to talk. Percy, let's go to your cabin. Mine's too empty and lifeless," she said.

Back in my cabin, Thalia and I told Annabeth what happened to Artemis, and she was shocked. "But Artemis is a pretty capable goddess," she said. "And she doesn't have any enemies. Who would want to do this?" she asked, curious.

"That's why we're asking you," I said, sitting on the bed next to Annabeth. Thalia was just leaning against the wall next to us, with her arms crossed. "Apollo asked her, and all she said was something about Night. And something about someone wanting her domain, or something like that."

I could see the gears churning in her head. She did look pretty when she thought, though. Her eyebrows scrunched together a little, and she got this determined look. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she jumped up.

"Come here," she said, pulling us outside. She looked up into the sky as Chiron had done, and I wondered what I was missing. "There," she breathed, looking shocked.

"What?" I asked, looking around the starry sky.

"The moon. It's not there. Well, it's there, but there's an eclipse, kind of," said Annabeth. "We can't see it. It's hidden."

I looked around, and sure enough, there was no moon. "So? The moon has a phase where it's hidden." I looked over at Thalia, who looked like she was piecing the clues together as well. Her electric blue eyes were piercing, and deep in thought.

Annabeth shook her head. "No. Right now we should be able to see about half the moon. And there isn't another lunar eclipse for another few months, and we wouldn't be able to see it from here anyway. If it's what I think it is, then the gods are in trouble," said Annabeth.

"Who?" I asked, frustrated with everyone keeping me in the dark.

"Nyx," Thalia said, shocked. "The ancient goddess of Night."

Annabeth nodded. "Exactly. And if it is her, this is bad. All the gods, even Zeus, fear Nyx. She is debatably the most powerful deity in the earth's history."

I was shocked. I didn't even know much about Nyx. She was just mentioned in Chiron's class, he said we didn't know much about her. "But why does that mean the moon is hidden?" I asked, confused.

"It's a power play," said Annabeth. "She's basically showing off, and saying she's back. Plus, Artemis is invading her domain. The moon is part of night. So, she blocked out the moon with darkness, and in doing so she drains Artemis's power and shows the god what she can do. But we don't know what she wants yet. She may be happy just to have her night sky back," Annabeth contemplated.

I nodded. "Well, whatever it is, it's not good. The gods were not happy, I can tell you that. Apollo especially was pretty freaked."

Thalia began to walk, and talked as she strode away. "Well, I'm going to bed. I've had enough to deal with for tonight, and it's late. If you're right, we will have plenty of time in the future to deal with Nyx. So good night, Seaweed brain, Annabeth," Thalia said. I turned and faced Annabeth, who was standing, looking worried.

"You ok?" I said, stepping closer.

She looked up. "I don't know. It's just, will we ever get a normal summer? And with Kronos on the rise, Nyx is not helping. I just don't know how the gods will be able to deal with two powerful titans."

Percy shrugged. "But Nyx wasn't evil or anything, was she?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Most people say she just kept to herself, but if anyone upset her or got in her way, then she would be angry and unleash her power on that person."

"So maybe she can help us?" I asked, hopeful.

Annabeth smiled. "I doubt it. But if she did side with us, there is no way that Kronos would beat us. After all, Nyx is Kronos's aunt," she said.

I smiled back. "Maybe unresolved family issues will crop up." Suddenly, I felt a pain in my head, and I doubled over, grasping it.

"Percy?" asked Annabeth, crouching to help me. She reached out to me, and I reached out to push her hand away. After all, I was ok, it was just a headache. But when I did that, she fell back, and was frozen. I looked up. She looked shocked, like she was trying to tell me something. She was tense and couldn't move, like Thalia.

Frantic, I just moved my hands back, and she started breathing heavily, and standing up.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry, it was an accident-" I began to say, reaching out again. She flinched when I reached out, but didn't react or freeze like she had. Still, I recoiled.

"Fine, Percy. I know. I'm just gonna go to bed. I'll see you in the morning," she said, before hurrying off, her blond curls bouncing as she strode away. I was left alone, in the dark, in the cold. I looked at my hands, and felt cursed. It's not like I wanted to learn how to do that! I couldn't help it.
I knelt down in the grass, and was suddenly overcome with curiosity. If I could do that to people, I wonder what I could do to plants.

I reached out, and focused on the water flowing in the grass, and in the roots. I closed my eyes gestured with my hand, imaging all that water just pulling on what was containing it. I opened my eyes, and saw all the grass flattened to the right. I tried moving it back. Suddenly, all the grass moved back. I laughed, getting a small power high. Suddenly, I found myself focusing on the water too much. I found myself wishing for the water to be out of it's trap, so that I could use it. And, to my horror, that's what it did. Water was exuding from the ground and the grass leaves, but all I could see was the dead, lifeless plants before me, that were just a moment ago teeming with life.

And all I could do was picture Annabeth, lying dead like that.

Hmmm . . . don't know if I like this. I'm just kind of free-writing, you know? Don't own PJO