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 yon an early death. But your soul is still mortal,

and I can curse you."

 

The girl's eyes widened. "Y ou would not — "

 

"I swear," Hades said, "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. Y ou 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. Y ou 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. 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?"

 

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

 

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was walking along a white sand beach. She wore a swimsuit