***quick update! Enjoy. And feel free to be a Grammar Nazi. I might not get to editing it right away but it helps me out :)***

Chapter 23

LEO

Leo sighed in annoyance and set down his tools one more time, thoroughly annoyed with his project. Chiron wouldn't allow any TVs or cell phones that gave off signals which would attract monsters, so Leo was trying to create one that wouldn't. He was sick of having no idea what Dance Moms was.

He was about to leave the workshop and go home for dinner when the TV flickered to life. He hadn't touched anything; it had turned on on its' own accord. He rushed toward it, trying to figure out what had happened.

He squinted in curiosity at the image on the flatscreen. It was almost like a mirror of the scene behind him, except he was doing other things. Before he even knew what was happening, he was being pulled into the TV screen, right through it, and into the version of him on the other side.

"What the-" he muttered as he looked around. Everything appeared the same as before, except the TV was now off. He pressed the power button over and over again, but it wouldn't turn back on. As a final resort, he hit the side of the thing (hey, it worked sometimes), but he still had no luck. His project hadn't exactly been a success before, but at least it had turned on at one point.

"Well that's just great," Leo yelled out loud, chucking the remote down on the counter. As he did so, some sparks flew out of his hands in anger. They caught on the corner of one of the blueprints he had sitting there and a small flame slowly began to spread. Without even hesitating, he grabbed the paper and threw it on the ground, stomping on it to snuff it out.

But as he stomped, more sparks flew and caught on various things. Frantically, Leo ran to the sink in the corner and turned it on full blast, grabbing anything that could serve as a container and dumping water on the flames.

It was no use. The fire was spreading to quickly, flames licking up every piece of paper, wood, fabric, anything that could burn. Leo cursed, grabbing at a few of his best projects and running toward the door to escape when he heard a voice.

"Leo!"

He froze.

It couldn't be.

Why would Calypso be in his workshop?

"Leo!" he heard again.

It was definitely her.

"I'm coming!" he yelled. "Where are you?"

Could his day get any worse?

"In the middle of the workshop! Caleo's with me!"

Actually, it could.

When he finally found the source of his wife's voice, he was standing in front of the little metal shed in the middle of the workshop that stored some his tools and smaller projects when he wasn't using them.

His heart dropped as he saw the flames licking up the sides. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that metal shouldn't be burning like it was, but he was too distracted to put much though into it. The lock and the hinges on the door were melting, melding into one seamless metal wall until there was no way out at all.

"Leo!"Calypso screamed. "The fire's spreading! I'm immortal but Caleo won't survive! You need to hurry!"

As if Leo needed a reminder.

"I'm going to get help!" he decided,knowing that he would need to get the fire out before he could really do anything else. Maybe Percy could help.

When he reached the door, he grabbed the handle to wrench it open.

But it wouldn't.

He banged on the door over and over, pounded it, hit with the nearest metal pipe he could find, but it wouldn't budge. He feel back helplessly, no idea what to do when a memory hit him.

He was eight years old. He was trying to use his powers to protect his mom but instead... he had lit the workshop on fire. He had tried everything in his power to get his mom out, but he failed. She was gone. Trapped in her own fiery grave.

With a sudden wave of anger, he jumped up. He would not let that happen to Caleo. He couldn't.

He rushed back to the center, trying to steady his breathing and calm himself down as much as possible with the current situation.

"Is Caleo okay?" he yelled to Calypso. For one heart-stopping moment, she didn't answer. And Leo, in his anxious, guilty state, feared the worst.

"He's fine. But not for long. It's spreading quickly," Calypso warned him.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief, but set to work quickly. He had an idea. "Just keep him safe. I'll get you out."

He touched the metal quickly, just to see how solid it was. The heat hurt a little, but he couldn't actually burn.

The wall wasn't liquid, but it was beginning to melt just enough for his plan to work.

He grabbed a drill, sharp knife, metal clamp thing he didn't know the name of and a thin but sturdy sheet of fire-resistant metal. He cut a long strip out of the metal and the two ends together into the shape of a hoop. He clamped it together, grabbed the remaining metal and raced back to the shed where his wife and son were trapped.

Turning on the drill, he placed a whole in the middle of one of the walls and stuck the knife into it, cutting out a large circle. He secured the hoop in the circular whole and stood back.

"Climb through the whole," he instructed Calypso urgently. "Here, hand me Caleo first."

He grabbed the sobbing baby through the little window, and quickly shaped something that slightly resembled a half-sphere with the metal he had left. He placed Caleo in the object and held him up to his chest, the metal protecting his baby from the flames. He held Calypso's hand as she stepped out, reading to rush toward the door, though he still had no idea how to get it open.

Thankfully, he didn't need to figure it out, because right when he touched her hand, the scene faded out and he was back in his flame-free workshop, panting and sweaty. He collapsed against the wall, head in his knees. He had no idea what had just happened, but somehow he knew that it wasn't real and that Caleo and Calypso were both safe at home.

And just a half an hour ago his greatest worry had been wether he'd get to watch Dance Moms for not.

***

NICO

Nico was sitting with Rachel right after she recited the prophecy. She was unconscious, but he wasn't severely worried as it had happened before and she had woken up just fine.

Instead, he was thinking of the prophecy.

After many months of rest

We will be put to a final test

Eternal life, we do seek

And it will be granted in double a week

The wise must outsmart her greatest fear

The pretty shall save the one she holds dear

The lightning will rescue a city from his own

The water will find his love in the sea foam

The dead shall rise for two of their young

The flame must save his wife and his son

The shifter will change through many a figure

And the prophet shall all of these tests configure.

***

It sounded like each of them would be put through a test before they could become immortals or something. Nico was wondering what his would be like when he blacked out.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of what seemed to be a huge junkyard. Except that instead of being filled with dirty trash, it was made up of random pieces of armor, broken weapons, bits of machinery, and in the corner, a giant robot that had to be at least fifty feet tall.

Confused, Nico looked around. He figured this must be part of his test, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

He forgot all about the prophecy and the tests when he heard Rachel's voice.

"Nico!" she yelled happily. "I found Hades-the one Mythomagic figure you don't have!"

A wave of deja vu swept over him, and for a moment he couldn't figure out why.

A Mythomagic figurine. A huge junkyard. A giant robot.

Bianca...

He hadn't been there himself, but he remembered the story Percy had told him very well.The story of Bianca's death.

"No!" Nico cried, but it was too late. Rachel had grabbed the little figurine and was walking toward him, smiling like she had the best gift in the world for him.

He whipped his head around, and indeed, the robot was lighting up, activating itself.

"Rachel!"he yelled. "Put that down and run!"

"What?" she asked, confused, not having seen the robot yet.

"Drop it and run!" She did as he asked, but the robot was already coming after her.

Nico thought quickly. Bianca had died by electrocuting the robot and shutting it down. She had saved her friends, but not herself.

Was Nico willing to do that for Rachel? Would he even be successful? He wasn't very good with machines.

There had to be another way.

He could the powers he had as a son of Hades.

Summoning a boulder from the middle of the junkyard, he levitated the rock and aimed it at the robot's torso. With all his might, he sent it flying in full force.

The machine brushed it away as if it were nothing more than a fly.

"Crap," Nico muttered, having no idea what do to next. He didn't want to get in that robot; it seemed stupid, and almost like an insult to his sister's death.

"Tell her," a rumbling, robotic voice said.

"What?" Nico asked in bewilderment as he started at the great machine that had just talked to him.

"Tell her your secret,"the voice rumbled.

"What secret?"

"You know."

He did? What was he supposed to tell her? I mean, he had told her almost everything except-oh. That.

Great.

"Rachel, wait up!" Nico called as she ran away. His voice was shaking.

What would she think after he told her that he had had a crush on Percy? I mean, he was over him now, and he liked Rachel. Still, he didn't know what her opinion was on that sort of thing.

Was there another way? He knew this wasn't the first time he had thought that, but still...

"No," came the robotic voice again. "You have to tell her."

"Tell me what?" Rachel panted when she was back by Nico.

"Nothing. I won't tell her," he declared, facing the robot.

"Then she dies," it said simply and began slowly making its way to Rachel.

Nico stood there for a moment, frozen in fear, torn. The robot approached ever closer.

"Stop!" Nico finally yelled.

"Tell her," he repeated.

"I-"

Rachel looked at him expectantly.

"IhadacrushonPercy," he mumbled quickly under his breath. The robot stopped.

"What?" She asked.

"I had a crush on Percy," he said louder, more clearly. To his relief, the robot began to shut down down. "Now you can feel free to hate me like everyone else."

"Why would I hate you for having a crush on Percy one time?" Rachel asked as she rushed toward him. "I did too!"

"Um, thanks," Nico replied awkwardly as she hugged him, but he felt better than she would ever know that his secret was finally out and she didn't hate him for it.

***hope you guys enjoyed it! Next chapter should be exciting :) You'll get to find out each demigod is becoming the god or goddess of. Tell me your thoughts!***

Oh one more thing: For my other book Facebook for Demigods, I'm running out of ideas so I thought it'd be cool if I did a question and answer thing. Tell me some questions you'd like to ask the demigods and include them :)

Have a lovely day/night/morning/afternoon/evening!