Young Writers Society

       I woke up right next to Sadie and Will, Sadie adopting a worried look on her face. Her worried look turned to joy as I awakened, and nearly suffocated me in a hug. "Can't--breath--" I choked out.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, immediately letting me go, plonking my head on the ground. I gasped in pain and she looked down, blush creeping up her face. Handing me some ambrosia, she watched as I gulped it down and immediately felt better. Feelings of warmth and security flowed through my veins, filling me with energy. Although when I tried to sit up, a agonizing pain shot up my arm and I collapsed, sweating and my face white.

"What happened?--" I asked, coughing a little. 

"Well, Will and I jumped off the cliff like you said, and Will managed to gather enough concentration to slow time and allow us to drift to the ground, as if we had a parachute. Then, we heard you screaming, and looked up to see you falling to the ground. All we did was stand there, until we realized we were going to be hit on the head and I dragged Will to the side. You landed on your arm, but you had already fainted--"

Will chuckled.

"--and we were waiting for hours before you finally woke up." Sadie finished. She tugged on her hair, looking at me, waiting for my reply.

"Oh, thanks," I mumbled, and tried to get up. Again, the pain crept up my arm, but I gritted my teeth and hauled myself up against the cliff. I walked towards Sadie, my arm bending in an awkward direction. Sadie noticed it and shook her head.

"With that arm twisted like that, you'll never be able to fight with your left arm again," she muttered, then called to Will. She explained that she was going to hold me down and Will was going to wrench your arm back into place. I shuddered, and tried not to run away screaming. They got in their places and Sadie held me down lightly with her hands. Will then grabbed my arm and smirked.

"This is going to hurt," he said, then brought it back into its socket. I screamed and nearly broke my friends' eardrums. 

"Geez," Sadie said, trying not to laugh. "What are you doing, auditioning for an opera?" At that I chuckled, which turned into a fully-developed laugh. I hadn't laughed for so long, facing all these monsters and demigods and this quest, knowing that I was gonna die in a few days. I had fenced myself in, not allowing anything to reach me. It felt good to let myself out.

"Yes, wanna hear me?" I asked, playing along. I then did a very bad impression of an opera singer, throwing my hand on my chest and my other hand up. Sadie laughed even harder, while Will just stood off to the side. "C'mon, Will, laugh!" I encouraged, but he didn't seem to hear me. He was looking behind me, staring at something enough to make him scream. I slowly turned around, and my happy mood immediately vanished when I saw the giant cyclops behind me. It had smelly breath, like your mom's burnt chicken mixed with sour milk and Hades's Gym Shorts. Trust me, that does not smell good. It roared, breathing again, and I could smell his breath about twenty feet away. I wrinkled my nose. Well, all I could do was fight and breath through my mouth. So I got the monster's attention.

"Hey, ugly, when did your mama have you? In 1601? You've got enough wrinkles." I yelled, and  unfortunately, it worked. It zeroed its one eye on me and roared again. Mouth breather! I sidestepped as he curled his hand into a fist and smashed it where I was just standing. "Hey, where were you born? In the sewer? Of course, no sewer can fit you, but I bet you enjoyed showering with toilet water!" I taunted, giving him notion where I was. It trampled everything in its path--and didn't hesitate. He leaped to where I was and before I could react, he grabbed me in his calloused, green, dirt-covered hand and brought me to his mouth. This time, when he roared, I nearly fainted from the smell. "Ugh, shut your mouth!" I screamed. Big mistake, I thought, when he opened his mouth and held me over it. Surprisingly, he dropped me and growled in pain. I fell fifty feet in the air, slowed down time, and lightly landed on the floor in a cat-like position. I turned and saw Nico di Angelo, my Italian friend, battling the monster with his Stygian Iron sword. I grinned and rushed to help.

"So, when did you get into this mess?" he asked me loudly.

"When I heard I was going to die if I didn't," I answered coolly, slashing the cyclops's foot.

"Harsh," he proclaimed, and I nodded. Nico was more comfortable around me than anybody else, and I appreciated it. Sadie ran over to us and started dashing around, sticking her sword anywhere she could. She even stuck it where the sun doesn't shine. Nico and I grinned at that. We finally managed to get enough injuries on the monster and watched it run away, growling. 

I high-fived Sadie and asked Nico, "How did you get here?"

"Well, I was visiting my dad's palace," he started. I still didn't know how he could hang around Hades and the Underworld so much. Oh well, he was Hades's son.

"And my dad was talking to me about how I should be brave and show people what you're worth, blah blah blah," he continued, and I giggled. "Suddenly he stood up and said, 'Somebody needs you,' and sent me rocketing upwards to the surface. I was scared to death. No pun intended," he added. 

"That was still a bad pun though," I remarked and turned to Will. "Hey, ignorance, come join the club!" I shouted. 

"I'm coming," he shouted, running over.

"So, where d'ya wanna go?" I asked my friends. None of them answered. Except for Nico.

"I'll stay with you for a little. Then I'll shadow travel back to Camp Half-Blood," he murmured. He was a lot quieter around my other friends.

"OK, thanks, but where?" I asked, getting frustrated.

"Why, to New York, my friend." Nico answered.