My body crashed to the floor, my mind was already asleep and pulled directly into a dream

In my dream, I saw Nico.  He was alone in the gardens of Hades. He'd just dug a hole in one of Persephone's flower beds, which I didn't figure would make the queen very happy, but she did enjoy redecorating. So maybe. I was surprised he didn't see me. 

"You gonna tell me this is a dumb idea?" He finally snapped. 

"No. You know I would, though. So have at 'er." 

He didn't say anything else, just nodded his head once. I could feel the pain and sadness and bitterness rolling of him in waves. I was beside him in my dream Sight state and watched what he was doing. He poured a goblet of wine into the hole and began to chant. "Let the dead taste again. Let them rise and take this offering. Maria di Angelo, show yourself!"

White smoke gathered. A human figure formed, but it wasn't Nico's mother. It was a girl with dark hair, olive skin, and the silvery clothes of a Hunter. It must have been his sister. 

"Bianca," Nico said. "But—"

"Don't summon our mother, Nico," she warned. "She is the one spirit you are forbidden to see."

"Why?" he demanded. "What's our father hiding?"

"Pain," Bianca said. "Hatred. A curse that stretches back to the Great Prophecy."

"What do you mean?" Nico said. "I have to know!"

"The knowledge will only hurt you. Remember what I said: holding grudges is a fatal flaw for children of Hades." 

I agreed with her, poking into the past was not a good idea, but the words curse and great prophecy caught my attention. Now I kind of was intrigued. I didn't say anything. 

"I know that," Nico said. "But I'm not the same as I used to be, Bianca. Stop trying to protect me!"

"Brother, you don't understand-"

Nico swiped his hand through the mist, and Bianca s image dissipated. 

"Nora? You're still with me?" 

"Yes. You're sister has a point poking around the past can bring up old pain and hurts, but I told you before, Nico, I will support your decisions. As stupid as they are. I'm here for you." 

I swear I saw a tear try leak down his pale cheek. I wish I could  hug him. He took a shaky breath and steeled himself. He straightened up and spoke again.

"Maria di Angelo," he said again. "Speak to me!"

A different image formed. It was a scene rather than a single ghost. In the mist, I saw Nico and Bianca as little children, playing in the lobby of an elegant hotel, chasing each other around marble columns.

A woman sat on a nearby sofa. She wore a black dress, gloves, and a black veiled hat like a star from an old 1940s movie. She had Bianca's smile and Nico's eyes.

On a chair next to her sat a large oily man in a black pinstripe suit. With a shock, I realized it was Hades, himself. He was leaning toward the woman, using his hands as he talked, like he was agitated.

"Please, my dear," he said. "You must come to the Underworld. I don't care what Persephone thinks! I can keep you safe there."

"No, my love." She spoke with an Italian accent. "Raise our children in the land of the dead? I will not do this."

"Maria, listen to me. The war in Europe has turned the other gods against me. A prophecy has been made. Possibly two prophecies! My children are no longer safe. Poseidon and Zeus have forced me into an agreement. None of us are to have demigod children ever again."

"But you already have Nico and Bianca. Surely-"

"No! The prophecy warns of a child who turns sixteen. Zeus has decreed that the children I currently have must be turned over to Camp Half-Blood for proper training, but I know what he means. At best they'll be watched, imprisoned, turned against their father. Even more likely, he will not take a chance. He won't allow my demigod children to reach sixteen. He'll find a way to destroy them, and I won't risk that!"

"Certamente," Maria said. "We will stay together. Zeus is un imbecile."

I couldn't help admiring her courage. I liked her. But Hades glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Maria, please. I told you, Zeus gave me a deadline of last week to turn over the children. His wrath will be horrible, and I cannot hide you forever. As long as you are with the children, you are in danger too."

Maria smiled, and again it was creepy how much she looked like her children. "You are a god, my love. You will protect us. But I will not take Nico and Bianca to the Underworld."

Hades wrung his hands. "Then, there is another option. I know a place in the desert where time stands still. I could send the children there, just for a while, for their own safety, and we could be together. I will build you a golden palace by the Styx."

Maria di Angelo laughed gently. "You are a kind man, my love. A generous man. The other gods should see you as I do, and they would not fear you so. But Nico and Bianca need their mother. Besides, they are only children. The gods wouldn't really hurt them."

"You don't know my family," Hades said darkly. "Please, Maria, I can't lose you."

I was surprised how soft he looked at this mortal wife. He really did love his mortal wives or girlfriends- still was weird they had godly wives or husbands and still had consorts with mortals. But In those few seconds, I believed he loved her. He stayed long enough to have two children with her, which was unheard of, though Travis and Conner Stoll had the same mother, Castor and Pollux were twins, but I couldn't remember how many other gods had stayed had children with the same person. I watched the scene with a heavy heart, knowing something terrible was going to happen. I could feel it in my bones. 

Maria touched Hades lips with her fingers. "You will not lose me. Wait for me while I get my purse. Watch the children."

She kissed the lord of the dead and rose from the sofa. Hades watched her walk upstairs as if her every step away caused him pain. A moment later, he tensed. The children stopped playing as if they sensed something too.

"No!" Hades screamed. But even his godly powers were too slow. He only had time to erect a wall of black energy around the children before the hotel exploded.

The force was so violent, the entire mist image dissolved. 

When it came into focus again, I saw Hades kneeling in the ruins, holding the broken form of Maria di Angelo. Fires still burned all around him. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled. Little Nico and Bianca stared at their mother uncomprehendingly. Nico clung to his sister's arm. The Fury Alecto appeared behind them, hissing and flapping her leathery wings. The children didn't seem to notice her.

"Zeus!" Hades shook his fist at the sky. "I will crush you for this! I will bring her back!"

"My lord, you cannot," Alecto warned. "You of all immortals must respect the laws of death."

Hades glowed with rage. I thought he would show his true form and vaporize his own children, but at the last moment he seemed to regain control.

"Take them," he told Alecto, choking back a sob. "Wash their memories clean in the Lethe and bring them to the Lotus Hotel. Zeus will not harm them there."

"As you wish, my lord," Alecto said. "And the woman's body?

"Take her as well," he said bitterly. "Give her the ancient rites."

Alecto, the children, and Maria's body dissolved into shadows, leaving Hades alone in the ruins.

"I warned you," a new voice said.

Hades turned. A girl in a multicolored dress stood by the smoldering remains of the sofa. She had short black hair and sad eyes. She was no more than twelve. I didn't know her, but she looked strangely familiar. 

"You dare come here?" Hades growled. "I should blast you to dust!"

"You cannot," the girl said. "The power of Delphi protects me."

With a chill, I remembered, she was the girl I had seen in a dream, she had given out the Prophecy in the throne room when Zeus forced this agreement. I realized then I was looking at the Oracle of Delphi. This was the boho hippy grandma from the Big House Attick back when she was alive and young. Somehow, seeing her like this was even spookier than seeing her as a mummy.

"You've killed the woman I loved!" Hades roared. "Your prophecy brought us to this.'"

He loomed over the girl, but she didn't flinch.

"Zeus ordained the explosion to destroy the children," she said, "because you defied his will. I had nothing to do with it. And I did warn you to hide them sooner."

"I couldn't! Maria would not let me! Besides, they were innocent."

"Nevertheless, they are your children, which makes them dangerous. Even if you put them away in the Lotus Hotel, you only delay the problem. Nico and Bianca will never be able to rejoin the world lest they turn sixteen."

"Because of your so-called Great Prophecy. And you have forced me into an oath to have no other children. You have left me with nothing!"

"I foresee the future," the girl said. "I cannot change it."

Black fire lit the god's eyes, and I knew something bad was coming. I wanted to yell at the girl to hide or run.

"Then, Oracle, hear the words of Hades," he growled. "Perhaps I cannot bring back Maria. Nor can I bring you an early death. But your soul is still mortal, and I can curse you."

The girl's eyes widened. "You would not-"

"I swear," Hades said, his voice rising  cutting her off, "as long as my children remain outcasts, as long as I labor under the curse of your Great Prophecy, the Oracle of Delphi will never have another mortal host. You will never rest in peace. No other will take your place. Your body will wither and die, and still the Oracle's spirit will be locked inside you. You will speak your bitter prophecies until you crumble to nothing. The Oracle will die with you!"

The girl screamed, and the misty image was blasted to shreds. I also let a scream out, I felt something deep in the pit of my stomach, something was twisting. I felt the green mist rising, the horrible taste the sour green candy, hot sauce and metal all mixing together. I wanted to throw up. 

Nico fell to his knees in Persephone's garden, his face white with shock. Standing in front of him was the real Hades, towering in his black robes and scowling down at his son.

"And just what," he asked Nico, "do you think you're doing?" He turned his purple flaming angry eyes to me. "You have a lot of nerve coming here, half blood" He spat. "Leave my presence!"

A black explosion filled my dreams. Then the scene changed.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was walking along a white sand beach. She wore a swimsuit with a T-shirt wrapped around her waist. Her shoulders and face were sunburned.

She knelt and began writing in the surf with her finger. I tried to make out the letters. I thought my dyslexia was acting up until I realized she was writing in Ancient Greek.

That was impossible. The dream had to be false.

Rachel finished writing a few words and muttered, "What in the world?"

I can read Greek, but I only recognized a few words before the sea washed it away:

  Περσεύς.  Λαμπερό Φως

Percy's name and the meaning of my name, shinning light. Rachel stood abruptly and backed away from the surf.

"Oh, gods," she said. "That's what it means."

She turned and ran, kicking up sand as she raced back to her family's villa. She pounded up the porch steps, breathing hard. Her father looked up from his Wall Street Journal.

"Dad." Rachel marched up to him. "We have to go back."

Her dad's mouth twitched, like he was trying to remember how to smile. "Back? We just got here."

"There's trouble in New York. Percy and Nora are in danger."

"Did he call you?"

"No . . . not exactly. But I know. It's a feeling."

Mr. Dare folded his newspaper. He was looking at her, he was a hard man to read. He looked stern and closed off, it was crazy how my mother and him could be related. She seemed warm and open and happy, like Lee Fletcher, and Apollo. Mr. Dare was the opposite. I also wanted to know how much he knew of the gift of Prophecy in my mother and how much he recognized the same gift in his daughter. Maybe that's why he didn't like Percy and me, could he also see through the mist? Maybe, but unlike my mom and Sally he didn't believe it. I didn't know...maybe I never would. 

"Your mother and I have been looking forward to this vacation for a long time." He finally said. His voice was sharper.

"No you haven't! You both hate the beach! You're just too stubborn to admit it."

"Now, Rachel-"

"I'm telling you something is wrong in New York! The whole city . . . I don't know what exactly, but it's under attack."

Her father sighed. "I think we would've heard some thing like that on the news."

"No," Rachel insisted. "Not this kind of attack. Have you had any calls since we got here?"

Her father frowned. "No...but it is the weekend, in the middle of the summer."

"You always get calls," Rachel said. "You've got to admit that's strange."

Her father hesitated. "We can't just leave. We've spent a lot of money."

"Look," Rachel said. "Daddy..." She switched from demanding to the big puppy dog eyes. "Percy and Nora need me. I have to deliver a message. It's life or death."

"What message? What are you talking about?"

"I can't tell you.

"Then you can't go."

Rachel closed her eyes like she was getting up her courage. "Dad... let me go, and I'll make a deal with you."

Mr. Dare sat forward. Deals were something he understood. "I'm listening."

"Clarion Ladies Academy. I'll- I'll go there in the fall. I won't even complain. But you have to get me back to New York right now."

He was silent for a long time. Then he opened his phone and made a call.

"Douglas? Prep the plane. We're leaving for New York. Yes... immediately."

Rachel flung her arms around him, and her father seemed surprised, like she'd never hugged him before.

"I'll make it up to you, Dad!"

He smiled, but his expression was chilly. He studied her like he wasn't seeing his daughter-just the young lady he wanted her to be, once Clarion Academy got through with her. Maybe he did know of the gift and he was trying to squish it out of her before she ended up like my mother; dead. 

"Yes, Rachel," he agreed. "You most certainly will."

The scene faded. I mumbled in my sleep: "Rachel, no!"

I was still tossing and turning when Thalia shook me awake.

"Nora," she signed, leaning over the bed to make sure I could see her. I just groaned and rolled my head in her direction. "You drool in your sleep. Come on. It's late afternoon. We've got visitors."

I sat up, disoriented. The bed was too comfortable. My head felt thick. But I did feel better. Whoever brought me to the bedroom made sure it would be full of afternoon sunshine, helping rejuvenate my exhausted body. I had no cuts or broken anything, but I was exhausted. 

"Visitors?" I asked, before rubbing the sleep from my eyes and shaking the sleep from my brain.

Thalia nodded grimly. "A Titan wants to see you and Percy, under a flag of truce. He has a message from Kronos."

"Oh goody." I signed with a scowl. "Where's Percy?" 

"Waiting for you downstairs." She signed back, looking slightly leery and handed my my chest plate and helmet as I marched out of the bedroom to meet with the emissary. We marched down the hall she handed me a muffin and a to go cup of coffee. I nodded in thanx. I always hated waking up after Sight Dreams, I could hear and talk in them, but then my reality was silent and disorienting. I felt alone in my head. The one Prophecy rattled around my head...

To call  truce a promise must be. 
To break the peace a war ensues.
I

nnocent lives be at stake.
The despairing seeks vengeance.
The broken will be cursed.
The seeing shall die but live endless days,
Until she who sees brings peace to it all.

I had a horrible feeling that this prophecy had something to do with Zeus, Hades, The Oracle, my mother, Rachel and me.