Cara

“How many of them can actually fight?” Cabin Ten didn’t exactly have a reputation for being the warriors of Camp Half Blood. 

Silena’s face hardened. “About half, maybe a little more. The others would be better used as spies…” she got a faraway look in her eye and then shook her head. I got an uneasy feeling, but willed it away. You’re just being paranoid, I told myself. “Our skills don’t always translate to battle very well.” I could tell she was more than a little self-conscious about her cabinmates. 

“Hey, I’ve seen you fight during Capture the Flag. And last summer, during the battle. People may look down on Cabin Ten, but that’ll be their last mistake.” 

Silena gave a half-hearted smile, but I could tell she didn’t feel it. “Thanks, Angie. I’m glad you’re with us.” 

Now it was my turn to feel inadequate. “Happy to help.” 

Silena raised an eyebrow and looked at me as if she was looking through me. “You don’t think you’re good enough, do you?” 

I was so surprised, I couldn’t even form a response. She just smiled—a real smile this time. I was struck by how beautiful she was. 

“You wish you were with Percy, in the middle of the action.” 

“How did you—” 

“Gift from mom. We’re really good at reading emotions.” 

There was no use lying to her. “Yeah.” I admitted. “I feel like I don’t really know what my place should be in all of this.” 

“Well,” she took a deep breath, “right now, your place is here. With us. Defending the Aphrodite Cabin. Let’s be real, Angie—we need you.” 

“That’s not—” 

“You don’t have to do that. It is true. Maybe the Athena or Apollo Cabin could defend their tunnel with barely more than ten campers. Heck, probably all the other cabins could with less than we have. But not us.” She sighed. “You and your abilities more than double our chances of survival. If you weren’t here…” Silena’s face got grave. “I don’t think many of us would make it through the night.” 

Her words hung heavy in the air. 

“I hope I can prove you right, then.” 

She smiled at me, and something like peace washed over me. “You will.” 

That's when I slammed into one of the Aphrodite girls, who had stopped marching. 

“Ugh!” She shouted. “Watch where you’re going!” 

“Drew,” Silena snapped, “Not now.” 

The Queens-Midtown Tunnel was about a hundred feet away from us, and the whole cabin had stopped and was staring at it. Rosie jogged to the back of the group. 

“Sil, Angie,” she looked more nervous than I had ever seen her. “What’s the plan?” 

Silena turned to me, and I realized the whole Cabin now had their eyes on me. Under normal circumstances, being stared at by a group of the most gorgeous demigods in existence would’ve been enough to make my mouth go dry. But now, I had bigger problems. 

“We hold the tunnel.” I said, my voice radiating confidence I didn’t feel. “Make a perimeter, hold the line. Two lines—the confident fighters in front, those with other skills in the back. Use anything you can—perfume bombs, makeup to obscure their vision. Charmspeak them, if you can. Hopefully, no monsters even come through that tunnel. But if they do, be ready for anything.” 

Rosie raised an eyebrow at me. “What do you mean?” 

“I’m going ahead. I’ll see what's on the other side and stop them, if I can.” 

“Angie, you can't possibly take all of them by yourself.” Rosie’s words were charged with power. I almost folded, then shook it off. 

“I’ll do what I can to cut down the threat.” 

“Rosie’s right,” Silena stepped forward. “It’s too dangerous. We have no idea what’s on the other side. Let’s do this—you go ahead, Rosie and I will follow fifty feet behind. If you get overwhelmed, we’ll be there to support you. Drew,” She turned to the beautiful girl with the sour expression, “you lead the rest of the cabin here. Hold the line, be ready to fight anything that comes through that tunnel. Do not let them past you.” 

Drew’s face got serious and she nodded. 

I knew it was a good plan, plus, it was almost impossible to say no to Silena Beauregard. 

“Okay.” I relented, then turned to the rest of the group. “You heard your counselor! Form ranks.” The demigods stood at attention, clutching daggers and perfume bottles. 

“For Aphrodite!” Silena yelled. Her siblings echoed her. She then turned to me. “After you, Captain.” 

The tunnel was brighter than I thought it would be. 

I walked in first, knowing Silena and Rosie would be following behind me in five minutes. It was strange to go into the tunnel on foot. I had to walk around idle cars with mortals sleeping inside. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach—if the fighting moved into the tunnel, the monsters wouldn’t discriminate between mortals and demigods. People would be crushed where they slept. My resolved strengthened. I had to stop the fight before it got that far. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t a weekday and it wasn’t rush hour, but there were still more cars than I would’ve liked. 

I didn’t go too fast, choosing stealth over speed, but I knew this tunnel pretty well. With no traffic, you could drive the whole length in about three minutes. I figured it would take about twenty-five for me to walk the length of it, but I was ready to encounter anything down there. 

As soon as I stepped into the tunnel, an uneasy feeling crawled over my skin. I hated being underground—a side-effect from being a child of Poseidon. Anything to do with Zeus or Hades’ domains, and Percy and I were out of luck. The farther I walked, though, the better I felt, until suddenly a calm washed over me. I could immediately sense it—I was underneath the East River. I forgot this tunnel went underwater, I thought, but I was glad it did. Even though I wasn’t touching the river, just being surrounded by it made me feel sharper, more ready for battle. I knew that I had a huge resource to draw from, if the need arose. 

I got about halfway through before I saw trouble. 

Well, I heard them before I saw them. 

Coming around a curve, I could hear the clanking of armor and the whisper of voices. I ducked behind a stopped car and crouched, watching the road ahead. Soon, two soldiers came around the bend—two demigods. My stomach dropped. Fighting monsters was one thing. I had trained for that, I was used to that. They disintegrated, returned to Tartarus and would eventually reform. 

Demigods didn’t do that. 

The life left their eyes, blood stained their armor. Their bodies fell to the ground with a sound I could never get out of my ears. And they stayed there, motionless. 

They made their choice, I reminded myself. But it didn’t make me feel any better. 

I made my plan—wait until they got close and then strike. Knock them out if I could, eliminate them if I had to. There didn’t seem to be anyone behind them, so I figured they were scouts sent ahead to get information. I wouldn’t let them be so lucky. 

I held my breath, waited for the exact moment, and then sprung. I took them by surprise, so I was able to hit the one closest to me on the head enough to daze them. One more strike, they were out cold. I turned my attention on the other one, who had her weapon drawn and ready to attack. I didn’t recognize her, but I knew my brother or Annabeth might. 

I thought about this girl sitting around the campfire singing the same songs I had, running through the forest playing capture the flag. And now here she was, wearing the colors of Kronos, my enemy. Fighting me with hatred and murder in her eyes. 

I blocked her attack with my sword, pushing her away. I sized her up quickly—she was strong, but slow. She made deliberate, powerful strikes. I tried not to think about who her godly parent might be. 

I used her strengths against her, dodging her blows and wearing her down. Soon enough, she was panting, and I was just getting started. I feignted to one side, spun on my toes, and came around the other, hitting the back of her head with the butt of my sword. She cursed, spinning around wildly. Big mistake. It was clear she had some training, but not enough. She was crude and sloppy. I caught the hilt of her sword with mine, sending her weapon flying. She looked at me with fear in her eyes, and then it turned to anger. 

“Just do it, traitor!” 

“Traitor?” I was so surprised, my voice came out strangled and confused. 

“What have the gods ever done for us? You serve them blindly!” She raved. “Kronos will—” 

But she didn’t have the chance to finish her rant before I struck her on the head, hard. Her body crumbled to the concrete below. 

Argus rummaged around in the back of his van. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much standard issue—the same kind of round shield we used in capture the flag. But when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from sky and buildings to the Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere close to us.

"Whoa," Percy said. "A video shield."

"One of Daedalus's ideas," Annabeth said. "I had Beckendorf make this before—" She glanced at Silena. "Um, anyway, the shield bends sunlight or moonlight from anywhere in the world to create a reflection. You can literally see any target under the sun or moon, as long as natural light is touching it. Look."

We crowded around as Annabeth concentrated. The image zoomed and spun at first, so I got motion sickness just watching it. We were in the Central Park Zoo, then zooming down East 60th, past Bloomingdale's, then turning on Third Avenue.

"Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there."

"What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?"

"No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like someone much older. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!"

"Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.

Annabeth passed her hand in front of the shield, and another scene popped up: FDR Drive, looking across the river at Lighthouse Park. I said a silent thank you in my head to Percy for dragging me all around New York the last year. 

"This will let us see what's going on across the city," she said. "Thank you, Argus. Hopefully we'll see you back at camp . . . someday." Annabeth gave him an awkward hug, and then he grunted and got back in his van, the two other harpy drivers following his lead. They swerved away, weaving around clusters of idle cars that littered the road, and we were alone. 

Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, and she came bounding over.

"Hey, girl," he said. "You remember Grover? The satyr we met in the park?"

"WOOF!"

“You found Grover?” My voice interrupted the one-sided conversation and Percy turned to me, half a smile on his face. 

“Ya, I found him. He’s okay.” He turned back to the hellhound. 

"I need you to find him," he said. "Make sure he's still awake. We're going to need his help. You got that? Find Grover!"

Mrs. O'Leary gave Percy a sloppy wet kiss and then raced off north. He was wiping the slobber off his face when Pollux spoke, crouching next to a sleeping Policeman. 

"I don't get it. Why didn't we fall asleep too? Why just the mortals?"

"This is a huge spell," Silena Beauregard said. "The bigger the spell, the easier it is to resist. If you want to sleep millions of mortals, you've got to cast a very thin layer of magic. Sleeping demigods is much harder."

Percy stared at her. "When did you learn so much about magic?"

Silena blushed. "I don't spend all my time on my wardrobe."

"Percy, Angie," Annabeth called. She was still looking at the shield. "You'd better see this."

The bronze image showed Long Island Sound near La Guardia. A fleet of a dozen speedboats raced through the dark water toward Manhattan. Each boat was packed with demigods in full Greek armor. At the back of the lead boat, a purple banner emblazoned with a black scythe flapped in the night wind. I'd never seen that design before, but it wasn't hard to figure out: the battle flag of Kronos.

"Scan the perimeter of the island," Percy said. "Quick."

Annabeth shifted the scene south to the harbor. A Staten Island Ferry was plowing through the waves near Ellis Island. The deck was crowded with dracaenae and a whole pack of hellhounds. Swimming in front of the ship was a pod of marine mammals. At first I thought they were dolphins. Then I saw their doglike faces and the swords strapped to their waists, and I realized they were telkhines—sea demons.

The scene shifted again: the Jersey shore, right at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. A hundred assorted monsters were marching past the lanes of stopped traffic: giants with clubs, rogue Cyclopes, a few fire-spitting dragons, and just to rub it in, a World War II-era Sherman tank, pushing cars out of its way as it rumbled into the tunnel.

"What's happening with the mortals outside Manhattan?" I said. "Is the whole state asleep?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't think so, but it's strange. As far as I can tell from these pictures, Manhattan is totally asleep. Then there's like a fifty-mile radius around the island where time is running really, really slow. The closer you get to Manhattan, the slower it is."

She showed another scene—a New Jersey highway. It was Saturday evening, so the traffic wasn't as bad as it might've been on a weekday. The drivers looked awake, but the cars were moving at about one mile per hour. Birds flew overhead in slow motion.

"Kronos," I said. "He's slowing time."

"Hecate might be helping," Katie Gardner said. "Look how the cars are all veering away from the Manhattan exits, like they're getting a subconscious message to turn back."

"I don't know." Annabeth sounded really frustrated. She hated not knowing. "But somehow they've surrounded Manhattan in layers of magic. The outside world might not even realize something is wrong. Any mortals coming toward Manhattan will slow down so much they won't know what's happening."

"Like flies in amber," Jake Mason murmured.

Annabeth nodded. "We shouldn't expect any help coming in."

My stomach dropped. 

Percy and I turned to the group. They all looked stunned and scared, and I couldn't blame them. The shield had shown us at least three hundred enemies on the way. There were forty of us. And we were alone.

"All right," Percy said. "We're going to hold Manhattan."

Silena tugged at her armor. "Um, Percy, Manhattan is huge."

"We are going to hold it," I said, backing up my brother. "We have to."

"They’re right," Annabeth said. "The gods of the wind should keep Kronos's forces away from Olympus by air, so he'll try a ground assault. We have to cut off the entrances to the island."

"They have boats," Michael Yew pointed out.

An electric tingle went down my back and I snapped my head to Percy. He looked at me at the same time, like our minds were connected. 

“Remember the rivers.” We said at the same time. 

“I’ll take care of the boats.” Percy said, his voice sure. I wanted to argue with him—I wanted to help him. I didn’t want him to take on this burden alone. 

But then Hestia’s words rang in my head, and I knew I had to let him. It wouldn’t be good to disagree with him in front of everyone. Plus, Athena had warned him about the rivers. Deep down, I knew this was Percy’s fight. I swallowed my pride and nodded. 

Michael frowned. "How?"

“Just leave it to Percy.” I answered, and when I looked to my brother, I saw he was smiling. I hadn’t seen him smile in gods-knows-how-long. 

"We need to guard the bridges and tunnels. Let's assume they'll try a midtown or downtown assault, at least on their first try. That would be the most direct way to the Empire State Building. Michael, take Apollo's cabin to the Williamsburg Bridge. Katie, Demeter's cabin takes the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Grow thorn bushes and poison ivy in the tunnel. Do whatever you have to do, but keep them out of there! Conner, take half of Hermes cabin and cover the Manhattan Bridge. Travis, you take the other half and cover the Brooklyn Bridge. And no stopping for looting or pillaging!"

"Awwww!" the whole Hermes cabin complained.

I couldn’t help but be in awe of my brother. He was so commanding as he handed out orders, holding the attention of forty demigods with raging ADHD without even trying. It was so clear he was born for this—he radiated power and authority and control. I had never been prouder. 

“Angie—” hearing my name brought me back to the moment. “Take the Aphrodite cabin to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel."

"Oh my gods," one of the girls said. "Fifth Avenue is so on our way! We could accessorize, and monsters, like, totally hate the smell of Givenchy."

"No delays," I said. "Well . . . the perfume thing, if you think it'll work."

The Aphrodite girls squealed, and three of them kissed Percy on the cheek. 

"All right, enough!" Percy shouted as he closed his eyes. "The Holland Tunnel.” He said. “Jake, take the Hephaestus cabin there. Use Greek fire, set traps. Whatever you've got."

Jake grinned. "Gladly. We've got a score to settle. For Beckendorf!"

The whole cabin roared in approval.

"The 59th Street Bridge," Percy said. "Clarisse—"

"We'll take that," Annabeth stepped in, saving Percy from an embarrassing silence. She turned to her siblings. "Malcolm, take our cabin, activate plan twenty-three along the way, just like I showed you. Hold that position."

"You got it."

"I'll go with Percy," she said. "Then we'll join you, or we'll go wherever we're needed."

I raised my eyebrows at her. Somebody in the back of the group said, "No detours, you two."

There were some giggles, and even I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face. 

"All right," Percy said. "Keep in touch with cell phones."

"We don't have cell phones," Silena protested.

I reached down, picked up some snoring lady's BlackBerry, and tossed it to her. "You do now.” 

“You all know Annabeth's number, right?” Percy started, “If you need us, pick up a random phone and call us. Use it once, drop it, then borrow another one if you have to. That should make it harder for the monsters to zero in on you."

Everyone grinned as though they liked this idea.

Travis cleared his throat. "Uh, if we find a really nice phone—"

"No, you can't keep it," Percy said.

"Aw, man."

“Percy!” I shouted, a sinking feeling forming in my stomach. “You forgot about the Lincoln Tunnel.” 

My brother cursed. I remembered what we saw in the shield—A Sherman tank and a hundred monsters were marching through that tunnel right now, and he'd positioned our forces everywhere else.

“I can take it.” I offered, but no one looked happy about it. 

“Angie, I can’t let you—” 

Then a girl's voice called from across the street: "How about you leave that to us?"

I knew who it was right away, although I had never met her before. A band of thirty adolescent girls crossed Fifth Avenue. They wore white shirts, silvery camouflage pants, and combat boots. They all had swords at their sides, quivers on their backs, and bows at the ready. A pack of white timber wolves milled around their feet, and many of the girls had hunting falcons on their arms.

The girl in the lead had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess's tiara, which didn't match her skull earrings or her Death to Barbie T-shirt showing a little Barbie doll with an arrow through its head.

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried.

The daughter of Zeus grinned. "The Hunters of Artemis, reporting for duty."

There were hugs and greetings all around…or at least Thalia was friendly. The other Hunters didn't like being around campers, especially boys, but they didn't shoot any of us, which from what I’d heard, was a pretty warm welcome.

“You must be Angie.” Thalia said, extending her hand to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” By the expression on her face, I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not. 

“Nice to finally meet you.” I said, shaking her hand and trying for a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.” 

“Don’t believe a word out of your brother’s mouth.” Thalia said, and this time a wide smile spread across her face. I relaxed. 

"Where have you been the last year?" Percy asked, coming up and giving the girl a hug. "You've got like twice as many Hunters now!"

She laughed. "Long, long story. I bet my adventures were more dangerous than yours, Jackson."

"Complete lie," he said.

"We'll see," she promised. "After this is over, you, Annabeth, your sister, and me: cheeseburgers and fries at that hotel on West 57th."

"Le Parker Meridien," Percy said. "You're on. And Thalia, thanks."

She shrugged. "Those monsters won't know what hit them. Hunters, move out!"

She slapped her silver bracelet, and a shield spiraled into full form. There was a golden head of Medusa molded in the center that was so horrible, the campers all backed away. I couldn’t help but let out a yelp. 

The Hunters took off down the avenue, followed by their wolves and falcons, and I had a feeling the Lincoln Tunnel would be safe, at least for now.

"Thank the gods," Annabeth said. "But if we don't blockade the rivers from those boats, guarding the bridges and tunnels will be pointless."

"You're right," Percy said. I looked at my brother, but his gaze was set on the group of demigods all around us. All of them were grim and determined, and my heart clenched. How many of us would be returning to camp? I tried not to feel like this was the last time I'd ever see them all together.

"You're the greatest heroes of this millennium," Percy said, rousing them. "It doesn't matter how many monsters come at you. Fight bravely, and we will win." He raised Riptide and shouted, "FOR OLYMPUS!"

He slung an arm around me and walked closer to the group of demigods, all of which looked very nervous. I didn’t blame them—it was the largest group of half bloods I’d seen outside of camp, and we were probably sending off so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew we were here. Not that that matters anymore, I thought. 

Annabeth came up to us, her laptop slung on her back. I would’ve thought it was strange if it was anyone else, but for her, it made total sense. 

She frowned at Percy. “What is it?” 

"What's what?" he asked.

"You're looking at me funny."

I snapped my head to my brother just in time to see what Annabeth was talking about. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open slightly, the hint of a smile pulling at the corners. He looked like an idiot, and I had an idea why. 

"It's, uh, nothing." He turned to the rest of the group, and I wiped the smile off my face. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."

Our old mentor shook his head. "I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned."

"But you're our leader."

He smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."

A surge of pride welled in my chest as I looked up to my brother, whose arm was still around my shoulders. He straightened up as he looked around at the other campers, who were all staring at him expectantly. It was as if he was just realizing what we had all known for ages. 

He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. We've got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we can't take no for an answer."

Convincing Zeus didn’t sound like an easy thing to do, but Percy said it with such confidence that I actually believed we could do it. I followed him to the doors of the building, walking side-by-side with him. Right before we crossed the threshold, Chiron blocked our path and shook Percy’s hand. 

"You'll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses." Something about those words sent a shiver down my spine, but I didn’t have time to think about it before he turned to me. 

“Follow your brother, defend him well. Defend Olympus. Not all heroes get the same glory.” He shook my hand next, and I tried to ignore the sinking pit in my stomach. I’d never thought of myself as a defender, I wasn’t trained as a defender. I was trained as a fighter. 

But even so, I nodded and attempted a smile. 

“Lead them well. I know you can.” 

Surprisingly, he was talking to both of us. 

“Let’s go!” Percy shouted to the campers, and I ripped the shells off of my neck. 

We decided to go up the elevator to Mount Olympus in two groups. Percy and Annabeth took the first, I took the second. I was more than happy to, since the Apollo kids went in the second group. We would only be a minute behind the first, but it gave me a little time to talk to Cady again. 

“You ever been to Olympus?” I asked her, my voice low. 

She nodded and gripped one of the knives on her holster. “A few times. For the Solstices. It’s beautiful.” 

“I’ve never been.” 

She cracked a small smile at me. “You’re in for a treat.” 

Just then, the doors slid open and the horrible disco music clicked off. 

My breath caught in my throat. 

In front of me, a path of floating stones led through the clouds up to Mount Olympus, the actual, original Mount Olympus, hovering six thousand feet over Manhattan. In the distance, the mansions glittered gold and white against the sides of the mountain. Gardens bloomed on a hundred terraces. Scented smoke rose from braziers that lined the winding streets. And right at the top of the snow-capped crest rose the main palace of the gods. It was the most majestic, beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was so taken by the sight that I didn’t realize anything was wrong until I heard Cady’s voice. 

“It’s so quiet.” 

“It’s not usually quiet?” 

She shook her head, her face solemn, and I didn’t ask anymore questions. 

I walked up to Annabeth and Percy, the rest of my group following behind. Percy seemed relieved at the arrival, but Annabeth seemed annoyed. I wondered what conversation they had been in the middle of. 

We made our way across the sky bridge into the streets of Olympus. The shops were closed. The parks were empty. A couple of Muses sat on a bench strumming flaming lyres, but their hearts didn't seem to be in it. A lone Cyclops swept the street with an uprooted oak tree. A minor godling spotted us from a balcony and ducked inside, closing his shutters.

We passed under a big marble archway with statues of Zeus and Hera on either side. Annabeth made a face at the queen of the gods.

"Hate her," she muttered.

"Has she been cursing you or something?" Percy asked. Last year Annabeth had gotten on Hera's bad side, after the Labyrinth, but Annabeth hadn't really talked about it since.

"Just little stuff so far," she said. "Her sacred animal is the cow, right?"

"Right." Percy answered. 

"So she sends cows after me."

I tried not to smile. "Cows? In San Francisco?"

"Oh, yeah. Usually I don't see them, but the cows leave me little presents all over the place—in our backyard, on the sidewalk, in the school hallways. I have to be careful where I step."

“That’s disgust—” 

“Look!” Pollux cried, cutting me off and pointing to the horizon. "What is that?"

We all froze. Blue lights were streaking across the evening sky toward Olympus like tiny comets. They seemed to be coming from all over the city, heading straight toward the mountain. As they got close, they fizzled out. We watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem to do any damage, but still it was strange.

"Like infrared scopes," Michael Yew muttered. "We're being targeted."

"Let's get to the palace," Percy said, breaking us all from our trance. 

No one was guarding the hall of the gods. The gold-and-silver doors stood wide open. Our footsteps echoed as we walked into the throne room.

Of course, "room" doesn't really do it justice. The place was the size of Madison Square Garden. High above, the blue ceiling glittered with constellations. Twelve giant empty thrones stood in a U around a hearth. In one corner, a house-size globe of water hovered in the air, and inside swam the Ophiotaurus, half-cow, half-serpent. I had heard a lot about the creature from Percy, so I wasn’t surprised when he walked over to it, speaking gently as it mooed. 

I walked toward the thrones, most of the demigods following me, and a woman’s voice floated across the hall. 

“Hello again, Andromeda Jackson. You and your friends are welcome.” 

I broke into a smile and bowed at my patron. “Lady Hestia.” 

Everyone followed my example. 

Hestia regarded me with her red, glowing eyes. “I see you have let your brother walk his own path. I am proud of you. You must not falter in this.” 

I felt my cheeks flush hearing her speak to me this way in front of the whole camp. But I wasn’t in the hot seat for long, as the goddess turned her intense eyes to my brother.

"I see you went through with your plan, Percy Jackson. You bear the curse of Achilles."

The other campers started muttering among themselves: What did she say? What about Achilles?

"You must be careful," Hestia warned him. "You gained much on your journey. But you are still blind to the most important truth. Perhaps a glimpse is in order."

Annabeth nudged Percy. "Um . . . what is she talking about?"

I glanced to the floor as eyes began to turn to me as well. Cady elbowed me in the side. 

“Did you know about this?” 

Before I could respond, Percy cried out and his knees buckled. Annabeth and I barely caught him in time before he crashed to the ground. 

“Percy! What happened?” She yelled. 

"Did . . . did you see that?" he asked.

"See what?"

He glanced at Hestia, but her face was expressionless. She stayed focused on Percy, and as much as I wanted her to, she wouldn't look my way. 

"How long was I out?" Percy muttered.

Annabeth knit her eyebrows and glanced at me with a worried look. 

"Percy,” I started, “you weren't out at all. You just looked at Hestia for like one second and collapsed."

Everyone’s eyes were on Percy. I could feel his panic. But when he spoke again, he sounded sure. 

"Um, Lady Hestia," he said, "we've come on urgent business. We need to see—"

"We know what you need," a man's voice said, and everyone looked around to see where it came from. Suddenly, a god shimmered into existence next to Hestia. He looked about twenty-five, with curly salt-and-pepper hair and elfish features. He wore a military pilot's flight suit, with tiny bird's wings fluttering on his helmet and his black leather boots. In the crook of his arm was a long staff entwined with two living serpents. I had never met Hermes before, but I knew it was him. 

"I will leave you now," Hestia said. She bowed to the aviator before gliding over to me. She placed a warm hand on my cheek, loving and kind, and looked down at me. I didn’t even care that everyone was staring. “Remember what I’ve said. Remember who you are, and remember that your time will come.” 

And with one final smile, she disappeared into smoke. 

When I looked back at the scene in front of me, the god of messengers did not look happy. 

"Hello, Percy." His brow furrowed as though he was annoyed with him, and my brother bowed awkwardly. 

"Lord Hermes." he sputtered out. "Hello, George," he said after a few moments.  "Hey, Martha.” 

I assumed he was talking to the snakes, although I didn’t know for sure. 

There was more silence, before he spoke again. "Um, Hermes, we need to talk to Zeus. It's important."

Hermes's eyes were steely cold. "I am his messenger. May I take a message?"

Percy glanced over to me, and I could tell this wasn't going the way he had hoped. Behind us, the other demigods were getting restless. I knew what he was about to do before he spoke. 

“You guys," he said. "Why don't you do a sweep of the city? Check the defenses. See who's left in Olympus. Meet Annabeth and me back here in thirty minutes."

Silena frowned. "But—"

"That's a good idea," Annabeth said. “Connor and Travis, you take half. Angie, you take the other.” 

The Stolls seemed to like that—getting handed an important responsibility right in front of their dad. They usually never led anything except toilet paper raids. "We're on it!" Travis said as he began to herd half the group out of the throne room. I glanced back at Percy, my eyes unsure. I wanted to stay with him, I wanted to be at the center of it all. 

Not all heroes get the same glory. 

Chirons voice rang in my head. 

Not every battle is yours to fight. 

Hestia’s words swirled next. 

“Okay.” I said finally, glancing at the demigods who were left. They all turned to me, looking at me the same way they looked at Percy. I swallowed my worry. 

“Demigods, on me!” 

The last thing I saw before leaving the throne room was Percy’s proud smile as he nodded at me. 

I snuck back into the throne room about fifteen minutes later, leaving my group of demigods with the Stoll Brothers. I couldn't explain it, but something deep inside told me I needed to go back, needed to be with Percy. 

I walked in to see Annabeth crumpled at the feet of her mother’s throne, sobs filling the air. 

I was at her side in an instant. 

“What happened?!” I came in so fast, I startled both Annabeth and Percy.

He explained the conversation they had with Hermes, told me everything he said about Typhon and the war and Luke. How the gods wouldn’t come to our aid, how we were on our own. There was a long silence before Percy spoke again. 

 "Annabeth," Percy said, "it's not your fault. I've never seen Hermes act that way. I guess . . . I don't know…he probably feels guilty about Luke. He's looking for somebody to blame. I don't know why he lashed out at you. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

“Hermes lashed out at Annabeth? 

She stared at the hearth like it was her own funeral pyre. 

Percy shifted uneasily. "Um, you didn't do anything to deserve it, right?"

She didn't answer. Percy’s eyes strayed on the bronze knife strapped to her arm as if he was seeing it for the first time. A chill went up my spine. 

"Percy," she said. "What did you mean about Luke's mother? Did you meet her?"

He nodded reluctantly. "Nico and I visited her. She was a little . . . different." He described May Castellan, and the weird moment when her eyes had started to glow and she talked about her son's fate.

Annabeth frowned. "That doesn't make sense. But why were you visiting—" Her eyes widened. "Hermes said you bear the curse of Achilles. Hestia said the same thing. Did you . . . did you bathe in the River Styx?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Percy! Did you or not?"

"Um . . . maybe a little."

For the second time that day, accusing eyes landed on me as Annabeth asked the question, “Angie, did you know?” 

I couldn’t meet her eyes. “Um…maybe a little.” 

He told us the story about Hades and Nico, and how he'd defeated an army of the dead. I noticed he left out the part about her echoing voice, but since that was something I didn’t even understand, I let it slide. When he finished talking, Annabeth shook her head in disbelief. 

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I had no choice," he said, getting slightly defensive. 

“And you let him go through with this?!” She turned on me. 

"It's the only way he can stand up to Luke." I countered. 

"You mean . . . di immortales, of course! That's why Luke didn't die. He went to the Styx and . . . Oh no, Luke. What were you thinking?"

"So now you're worried about Luke again," Percy bristled. Annabeth’s eyes narrowed. 

"What?"

"Forget it.” Percy said with finality. "The point is he didn't die in the Styx,” he continued, "Neither did I. Now I have to face him. We have to defend Olympus."

Annabeth was still studying Percy’s face, like she was trying to see differences since his swim. "I guess you're right. My mom mentioned—"

"Plan twenty-three."

She rummaged in her pack and pulled out Daedalus's laptop. The blue Delta symbol glowed on the top when she booted it up. She opened a few files and started to read.

"Here it is," she said. "Gods, we have a lot of work to do."

"One of Daedalus's inventions?" Percy asked. 

"A lot of inventions . . . dangerous ones. If my mother wants me to use this plan, she must think things are very bad." She looked at my brother. "What about her message to you: 'Remember the rivers'? What does that mean?"

Percy shook his head. I furrowed my brow, trying to think of what Athena could mean by that. As usual, I had no clue what the gods were trying to say. Which rivers was he supposed to remember? The Styx? The Mississippi? Maybe…

Just then the Stoll brothers ran into the throne room.

"You need to see this," Connor said. "Now."

The blue lights in the sky had stopped, so at first I didn't understand what the problem was.

The other campers had gathered in a small park at the edge of the mountain. They were clustered at the guardrail, looking down at Manhattan. The railing was lined with those tourist binoculars, where you could deposit one golden drachma and see the city. Campers were using every single one.

I looked down at the city. I could see almost everything from here—the East River and the Hudson River carving the shape of Manhattan, the grid of streets, the lights of skyscrapers, the dark stretch of Central Park in the north. Everything looked normal, but something was wrong. I felt it in my bones before I realized what it was.

"I don't . . . hear anything," Annabeth said.

That was the problem. I had only lived in New York City for about a year, but in that whole time, it had never been quiet. 

Even from this height, I should've heard the noise of the city—millions of people bustling around, thousands of cars and machines—the hum of a huge metropolis. You don't think about it when you live in New York, but it's always there. Even in the dead of night, New York is never silent.

But it was now.

"What did they do?" Percy’s voice sounded tight and angry. "What did they do to my city?" Percy pushed Michael Yew away from the binoculars and took a look. Katie stepped aside from hers to give me a turn. In the streets below, traffic had stopped. Pedestrians were lying on the sidewalks, or curled up in doorways. There was no sign of violence, no wrecks, nothing like that. It was as if all the people in New York had simply decided to stop whatever they were doing and pass out.

"Are they dead?" Silena asked in astonishment.

Ice coated my stomach. A line from the prophecy rang in my ears: And see the world in endless sleep.

“Thank you for coming so quickly.” Chiron began, his tail swishing. “There has been a…development.” He turned to Annabeth, a sight I had seen many times this summer, and the blonde girl knew what to do. I don’t know when it had happened, but I realized in that moment how much of a leader she had become for us. The other campers may have looked to Percy, but the counselors looked to Annabeth. 

“Percy left me a message.” She said simply, and all the air left the room. “It was…vague, but one thing was clear—it’s time.” 

For a few seconds, no one spoke. And then everyone started talking at once.

”What did he say?” Travis demanded. 

“Time? Like, for real?” Jake Mason yelped. 

I shared an uneasy look with Cady, whose face was hard and would’ve been impossible to read for anyone else. I looked around the room—every counselor was present, even Silena, except for Clarisse. I got a sinking feeling. 

“Heroes!” Chiron shouted, stomping his hooves. The room went silent. “We must act quickly. Annabeth,” he turned to the daughter of Athena. “Please continue.” 

“Percy said to meet him at the base of the Empire State Building as soon as we can…” she took a shaky breath and shot a nervous glance to Chiron. He nodded. “All of us.” 

“The whole camp?” Micheal questioned. 

“And leave us defenseless?” Connor countered.

”We’re gathering at Olympus?” Katie spoke over them. 

“I know it seems unwise!” Annabeth shouted, quieting the chaos. “I don’t fully understand, either. But…I trust Percy. We trust Percy, don’t we?” She looked to me, which I didn’t really notice until every other head turned towards me, too. I swallowed the lump in my throat. 

“Of course.” My voice sounded more confident than I felt. “If Percy has a plan, it’s one I’ll follow.” I took a shaky breath. “To the end.” 

The counselors straightened up and gripped their weapons. Their eyes shone with new determination. I could only stand their gaze for a few moments before turning back to Annabeth. “Lead the way, Wise Girl.” 

Annabeth cracked a smile, but her eyes were sad. “Mobilize your cabins. Prepare for anything. Everyone, and I mean everyone over ten, is leaving in thirty minutes, max.” There was a moment of tense silence while she made eye contact with each of us. “Understood?” 

There were nods and murmurs of agreement. 

“Good.” 

She turned to Chiron. 

“Now is the time to summon your courage.” He spoke. “For your parents. For Olympus. For Camp Half Blood. You are ready, heroes.” He gave us a sad smile. “May the fates go with you.” He spoke a blessing over us in Ancient Greek. “Now go!” 

His sudden shift in tone jolted me out of my fear and spurred me into action. The counselors began scrambling out of the room, talking excitedly as they went. I caught Cady’s arm as she tried to rush by. 

“If I don’t see you before—“

”Stop talking.” She cut me off before pulling me into a hug. “I’ll be with the archers, with Michael.” She pulled away as the words tumbled out of her mouth. “Will is taking the medics.” I tried to ignore the tears brimming in her eyes. I tried to ignore how badly she was trying to force them away. 

I found myself nodding as I tried to quickly process everything she had said. 

She was going with the archers—not the medics. She was incredibly talented with a bow, one of the best in the Apollo cabin. I knew that. But she was a better medic. She had been given unique gifts by her father, and the fact that Chiron had chosen to put her with the fighters made my stomach drop. The reasoning was clear—we needed all the help we could get. We needed fighters—not healers. 

“That’s good.” I said firmly. I saw something in Cady’s eyes set. 

“It’ll be okay.” I didn’t need to ask how she knew I was so worried. “We’ll win this.” 

I attempted a smile. “We have to.” 

We held each other’s gaze for a moment that stretched beyond time before I pulled her into another hug, quick and intense. Who knew what was about to happen? Who knew what we would face, how long we would be fighting? 

Who knew if we would ever see each other again? 

“Cady, whatever happens, I just wanna say…” the words caught in my throat, but I forced them out. “Thank you for being my friend.” 

I heard as she stifled a sob against my chest. She took a breath like she wanted to say something, but then stopped herself. She didn’t speak again until she pulled away, and when she did, her face was determined. Her cheeks were wet, but her eyes were dry. 

“I’ll see you on the other side.” 

“Either in this life or the next.” 

I knew we shouldn’t, with everyone hurrying around us and the conch sounding outside and everything so tense, but we laughed. Just for a moment, but it was enough. 

“Gotta reach Elysium somehow.” Cady said with a shrug. I laughed again, so I wouldn’t cry. 

“Cadence!” Micheal Yew’s voice carried over the chaos of the room. I barely caught as she rolled her eyes at the sound. 

“Hold fast, Angie.” Cady said with finality. “You’re ready for this. Step out of the shadow.” 

I didn’t have to ask her what she meant. 

“We’re gonna be okay.” My voice was desperate, more like a question than a statement. She smiled at me. 

“Yeah, we are.” 

And with one last squeeze of my hand, she disappeared out of the rec room doors. 

We were all assembled on Half Blood Hill in thirty minutes exactly, loading up into the three white vans that would take us into the city. Annabeth and some of her siblings were directing campers, shouting seat assignments and making sure everyone had everything they would need. I was watching a fight break out between a child of Athena and a child of Apollo who was adamant she needed two extra bows with her, when a voice behind me made me jump. Spinning around, I saw the young, expectant face of a little girl with curly, strawberry hair and freckles dotted along her cheeks. I smiled at her, and the tense, terrified expression she wore softened. 

“Hey, Marigold. What’s up?” I bent down so that I was at eye-level with her. I knew she was eleven, but she felt younger. Or maybe I felt older. 

“I can’t find Andrew. Or Emily. Or Katie.” I recognized the names of her siblings. “Can you help me?” 

I tried to keep my face steady, being careful to not show her how much she was breaking my heart. 

“Of course.” I took her by the hand, the one that wasn’t clutching a small dagger with vines swirling around the hilt, and walked over to the son of Athena who was still yelling at the Apollo kid. He hardly batted an eye when I took the clipboard out of his hand to check the seating assignments. 

“Here, bus three, with the rest of the Demeter kids.” I smiled down at her and ruffled her hair a bit. “Do you want me to take you there?” 

She nodded, barely meeting my eyes. 

“Mari! There you are!” Katie shouted as we neared the van, scooping the small kid up in her arms. I made it a point to ignore the tears in her eyes. “Haven’t even left camp yet and you’re already scaring me half to death.” 

“It’s okay, Katie.” Marigold said in a soothing voice. 

“Were you scared?” Katie asked as she cupped the small girl's face in her hands. 

“A little, but then I found Angie. And I knew I’d be okay.” 

I felt my stomach drop as Katie smiled up at me. Percy was so good in these situations, so good at being a leader. I was counting down the minutes until we were all reunited and he could take up that position again. 

A single choice shall end his days…

Who would they all look to when Percy was gone? Me? I felt my hands start to shake, and was thankful when I heard Annabeth’s voice call out across the hill. 

“All demigods to your vans! This is your final call! To the vans!” 

The daughter of Athena spoke with authority, finality, the gravitas of a military commander. And yet, no one moved. Her voice rang out over the silence, as if the words magically froze everyone in place. The younger campers squirmed and held onto their siblings. The older campers looked over the fields, the woods, the circle of cabins, the lake, the big house, with a somber longing. A nostalgia for something they hadn’t yet lost, but knew they were about to. Some held hands. Some leaned their heads onto their friends, siblings, significant other’s shoulders. Silent tears fell down hardened faces. 

And then a small voice began to sing. 

It was Lyric, Cady’s little brother. He was young, but not too young to come fight with us. Just barely twelve, if I remembered correctly. He had been at Camp Half Blood since he was five, and this life was the only one he had ever known. 

He was clutching Cady’s leg as if he never wanted to let go. The melody floated over the hill like a golden thread, filling all of our minds and hearts with a sense of peace and purpose. The words were old, the melody ancient, and yet I understood every word—the heritage from my father translating the Ancient Greek as it wove its way through the grass, danced with the flowers. One by one, the other children of Apollo began to sing along, and even some older campers who knew the song from years around the campfire. It was a song of bravery, of heroes and valor and fighting for one’s home. It was a song of courage, a blessing. It was a prayer for safety. A prayer to return home. 

The song ended, and the only sound was the breeze blowing through Thalia’s branches. 

“It is time.” Chiron’s steady voice broke our trance. We all loaded into the vans in silence, double-checking our armor and weapons as we went. I played with the shells of the necklace my father gave me, fiddled with the solitary camp bead on its thick cord. I was riding in the van with Annabeth and her siblings, and we all watched out the windows as we crossed the threshold of camp. I saw the trees and houses and berry patches blur by, my head jumbled with everything we were about to do, everything we had done. I stole a glance at Annabeth, but she was so focused I didn’t dare interrupt her thoughts. Especially not now. 

I found myself, surprisingly, praying. To Hestia and Apollo, two gods I felt always looked out for me, but mostly to my father. I knew he was busy fighting his own war below the surface, but something about having a connection to him made me feel stronger, more at peace. Even if that connection was only one-sided. 

We were almost to the Queens-Midtown tunnel when Annabeth’s phone rang. There was a collective gasp, and she flipped it open faster than I’d ever seen anyone answer a call. I knew who it was before she spoke—there was only one person who would be calling Annabeth at a time like this. 

"Percy, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!" My heart clenched at my brother’s name. He really did it, just like my dreams told me—he survived the Styx. 

I heard his muffled voice on the other end, crackling with the reception and his puberty, but I couldn’t make out the words. 

"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. But, Percy, what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended, and there's no way the gods—"

More muffled words, quick and sure, and then the line went quiet. Annabeth stared at the phone in her hands. 

“He hung up on me.” Her voice was a mix of shock and anger. 

I couldn't help but let out a laugh. For a terrifying second, I thought she was going to lunge at me. And then her face broke into a wide grin and she doubled over. Her siblings followed, and soon the whole van dissolved into giggles. 

“I only know one person who would be stupid enough to hang up on Annabeth Chase.” Malcolm finally got out between fits of laughter. 

Despite my fear, my feet moved me forward. Soon I was on the bank of the river, The River Styx, something in my brain whispered. I had never been to the Underworld before, but I had heard plenty of stories. I knew it was not a place to be messed with. 

I looked around, trying to figure out why my dream had taken me here. Over the past year of knowing I was a demigod, I had learned that dreams were usually more than they seemed. 

Finally, I saw them. 

Two figures on the opposite side of the river, talking on the bank. No, not two, three. One of them was shorter than the others, with shaggy hair and a black blade at his side. In the darkness, he almost had a silver glow around him. 

Nico. 

Next to him, a little taller, stood a boy I would recognize anywhere. 

My brother. 

The third figure I had never seen before, but I could just make out Greek armor and a plumed helmet held under his arm. The strangest part was the arrow sticking out of his calf, just above his ankle. I didn’t have to think too hard about who it was. 

The three of them seemed to be discussing something, and whatever it was, Achilles wasn’t too happy about it. Suddenly he vanished, leaving Nico and Percy alone on the shore. They talked some more, and I tried to call out to them, but no sound would come out. Great, I thought. I love when I can’t talk in super-freaky-demigod-dreams. 

Maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t scream, though, because as I watched my brother step into the River Styx, I was pretty sure I would’ve ripped my vocal chords to shreds. He disappeared into the green liquid, and everything in my Daughter-of-Poseidon body told me that was not anything you would want to take a bath in. 

I watched the still river and felt like I was being torn apart from the inside-out. The seconds felt like eternities as I waited to see Percy emerge from the deep. And then my skin began to tingle, and then prickle, until out of nowhere, a burning crept its way over my entire body, staring at my fingers and moving up and out. I fell to my knees—the pain wasn’t unbearable, but it hurt. But it also didn’t. It was strange. I could feel heat on my skin, feel the tingling and pounding, but it was like I was numb at the same time. I felt like I was being dissolved in acid, but also like I was in a cold ice-bath. I was feeling it, but I wasn’t. I realized the amount of pain Percy must’ve been in, and tears began to fall down my cheeks. Not for me, but for him. 

I was about to give up all hope of ever seeing my brother again when all of a sudden, the pain stopped. I felt a tightening in the small of my back, like a string was pulling me from that very spot. I could just barely make out a voice in my head, or, the echo of a voice. A girl's voice. A girl I knew. The pounding in my head lessened, and everything was calm again. 

Seconds later, Percy burst up from the water. 

I watched as Nico rushed to him, my brother a crumpled heap on the sand. Nico looked concerned, and I didn’t have time to get a good look at him before a loud voice boomed across my dream, 

“THERE!” 

My eyes snapped open to the sound of the conch shell ringing over Camp Half Blood. 

I rebelled against the new day by getting ready slowly, dragging my feet all the way to the dining pavilion where I sat alone for breakfast. Percy had been at camp so infrequently that summer that I was used to it, but knowing where he was now, and what he was doing, made his absence even worse. Everytime I closed my eyes, I got flashes from my dream. I felt the tingling on my skin. 

I scanned the sparse crowd for any familiar face, but the only source of comfort I could find was the Stoll Brothers at the Hermes table, and even they had bags under their eyes and weren’t talking to each other. I knew Cady wouldn’t be there this late—she was probably on the archery range by now—but I was hoping to see Annabeth or Rosie. Neither of them were there. I did, however, make eye contact with Chiron, who I quickly looked away from, but it was too late. He gave me a concerned look, and as soon as I began to focus on an apparently very interesting piece of bacon, I heard the sound of his hooves clomping on the marble floor. 

“So it’s true, then?” His voice was low despite how few campers were in the pavilion. 

I nodded, not really sure what to say. “They left yesterday. Late afternoon.” 

I almost told him about my dream, but something told me that would only make him worry more than he already was. Besides, it was already done. 

Chiron let out a heavy sigh. “He is our greatest hope, now. Na ton koitáxoun me kalosýni oi moíres.” 

May the fates look kindly on him, my brain translated for me. 

“Do you think it will work?” I knew it was a desperate, unfair question, but I didn’t care. Chiron’s eyes got sadder than they normally were. 

“I think it's dangerous and extreme, but yes. If Percy succeeds, which I believe he can, it will bring us one giant step closer to victory. However…” his tail swished nervously, “it is a difficult burden to carry. One that can lead to ruin just as easily as it can lead to glory.” It wasn't often that I was reminded of how long Chiron had been around, or how many demigods he had seen rise and fall. “He will need to remember who he is through it all.” 

I let that sink in, swallowing a piece of bacon with his words. 

“It’s Percy.” I said finally. I thought about the chord I had felt attach to the small of my back. The strange echo I heard at the same moment, an echo that sounded like a familiar voice. Somehow, I knew it was connected. “I know he will.” 

“I’m just thinking about how in a week all this will be over.” I kept my eyes on the dark waves in front of me, but I could feel that Cadys’ were trained on me. I wished I could just walk into the sea and run away from it all, but I knew things weren’t much better under the waves. 

“Four days until your birthday.” Her voice was more somber than I had ever heard it. What she should’ve said was “four days until Percy’s birthday.” It didn’t matter that we were twins. His was the one that counted. 

“Four days until the end of the world.” I was trying to make a joke, but Cady didn’t laugh. 

“Do you ever think about the mortals?” I asked after a couple minutes of the waves being the only sounds between us. 

“What?” 

“They have no idea their whole world is hanging in the balance right now. They have no idea what's going on, the war we’re fighting, the battle that will determine the fate of…everything. They have no clue what we’re about to do for them. They just think there’s some really bad storms.” My words spilled out and I didn't try to stop them. There was no point censoring myself with Cady. 

She was quiet again before chuckling lightly, which caught me by surprise. “I think about them all the time. I think…I think that’s who we’re really fighting for.” 

I finally turned my head towards her, and I could see a look of resolute determination on her face in the pale moonlight. 

“We have to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves,” she continued, “whether that’s the gods who are too busy or mortals who can't know the danger they’re in.” 

I let her words settle on me as a smile crept onto my face. I thought about how much older she looked in the shine of the silver moon, and how much she had taught me about the world we shared in the past year. So much of the half blood I was, or was becoming, was thanks to her, Percy and Annabeth. 

“That’s very heroic, Cady.” 

She shrugged, her expression unchanging. “It’s our job.” 

I had never thought of it that way before, but as soon as she said it, I knew it was true. If demigods had one purpose in the world, it was to span the gap between the gods and mortals—to fight both of their battles. It always had been. 

My gaze wandered from the waves to the sky above and I began absentmindedly searching for stories in the sky, the ones that Annabeth had taught me—anything to get my mind off everything that had happened that day. My eyes landed on a new constellation, the form of a hunter who seemed to be a little older than a girl—Zoë. Percy had told me about her, how she was a Huntress of Artemis who had died fighting the Titan Atlas while defending him and, ultimately, the gods. 

Her place was in the sky now, as Beckendorff’s was underground. Along with Lee Fletcher. And Castor. And so many others that had been lost in the past year. 

Would I, too, find my own place amongst them soon? Would I join my namesake in the sky with my brother close behind as our souls found their way, hopefully, to Elysium? 

“I only met her once.” Cady’s voice once again saved me from my thoughts. I peeled my eyes off the sky and turned to her. 

“The Hunter?” 

She nodded. “I saw you looking at her. She was strong, and brave, and very wise.”

“Do you think we’ll end up there someday?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, and Cady furrowed her brow. 

“Angie…”

“I guess there’s already an Andromeda constellation, so probably not—” 

“Angie!” Cady cut off my pathetic attempt to downplay my question. “Why would you say that?” 

I met her eyes and immediately wished I hadn't. Something about them made me drop the walls I always had up. Maybe it was because I was so close to the sea, which always made me feel more honest. Or maybe it was the inherent vulnerability of being under the night sky after midnight. Or maybe it was just because Cady had become the closest thing to a sister I had in the past year. 

But whatever it was didn’t matter as I let out a heavy sigh and took a deep breath. 

“I don’t think I’m walking away from this, Cady.” 

Her eyes got sad. 

“You’re gonna be okay.” 

I started getting flashbacks to my conversation with Percy just the night before that had sounded a lot like this. I heard his words echoed in my own.

“I wish I could trade places with him. Take what is supposed to be his.”

The words were a lot harder to say than I thought they would be. Cady was quiet, but I knew she understood who I was talking about.

“It should be me, anyways.” I finally got out. 

“Why would you say that?” 

“Can you imagine a world without Percy?” 

Her eyes fell to the sand and she took a deep breath before answering. “No.” 

I wondered if she was remembering those awful two weeks last summer like I was. The time we feared we had lost him for good. 

“Me neither. I don’t…I don’t think I’m supposed to live in a world without him. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know. So if that means I give my life so he lives, it’s what I’ll do.” I had never been more sure of anything in my entire life. 

“Angie—“

“No, Cady. I’m serious.” I met the girl's eyes, and all I saw staring back at me was fear. And pain. And heaviness. Eyes that were usually as bright as the sun, kind and shining with her father’s light, were as cold and dark as the moon. 

“It should be me.” I kept talking in the heavy silence. “Percy’s the hero, he’s the one everyone needs. If he was gone, camp would never be the same. You know it’s true, you felt it last year. Everyone would be…lost.” 

Cady looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. 

“No one needs me that way. Maybe…” tears filled my eyes as I started to verbalize the one thing I had known for so long, but could never utter, “maybe that’s why I was sent here so late. Maybe that’s my destiny. To save my brother, the real hero, so he can fulfill his purpose. Fulfill the prophecy. Maybe I’m supposed to be the spare. And—” my voice broke— ”maybe that’s not a bad thing.” 

“Angie, we’ve talked about this.” Cady’s eyes were filled with exhaustion. 

“I know! But this time…this time these thoughts aren’t coming from Kronos. It’s not because I don’t think I’m good enough. It’s because I think I am. Just maybe. Maybe I’m enough to save him. To give him a future. To give everyone a future.” I watched as Cady's eyes filled with tears, her shoulders slumping even more. She stayed silent, as if she could tell there was more I needed to say, and I took a deep breath. 

“For my whole life I never knew where my place was. It took me fourteen years to find it, to be shown it. And I know I haven’t been a part of this world for very long, but from the second that trident appeared over my head, I stepped into a shadow I didn’t even know was there. And I spent a long time resenting that shadow, even if I wouldn’t admit it. But the past few months, few weeks really, I realized—maybe that’s the point. Maybe if I can be a shield for Percy, somehow, that will be enough. Maybe I was brought here—“ 

“You weren’t brought to camp just to die.” Cady's words were sharp, cutting like the knives she loved to throw. 

“But what if I was?”

Cady just sighed. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

“What?”

“I can see it in your eyes. There’s something you’re not saying”

I took a deep breath, wondering if I was that bad at hiding my feelings or if she was just that good at reading them. 

“Hestia visited me this afternoon.” 

“Hestia?”

“Ya, like the goddess.” 

“I know who Hestia is. But why did she visit?” 

“She…” Now that I had to put it into words, I was having a hard time making sense of it. Between helping Percy prepare to leave, and feeling the need to be strong for the other counselors and younger campers after Beckendorff’s funeral, I hadn’t had much time to process her words. I told Cady everything the goddess said—the parallels between the original Andromeda and myself, the way that the fates of my brother and I were tied just as Perseus and Andromeda’s had been. I told her about the warning she gave me, how I shouldn’t fight Percy's battles. 

“She said that learning to yield is powerful, and sometimes more important than fighting.” She was quiet for a while, probably trying to untie all the words I had laid in a tangled mess at her feet. 

“What does that even mean?” 

“I have no idea.” I began tracing my fingers in the sand, doodling seashells that didn’t hold their shape. 

“There’s more, isn’t there?”

I let out a sigh—keeping any secrets around Cady was hopeless. 

“I told you she warned me. But what that warning was…I’m really scared, Cady.” 

My best friend's eyebrows pulled together as a concerned frown grew on her face. She reached a hand over and gripped mine tightly, the feeling grounding me and giving me the strength to continue. 

“She said that I needed to learn to control myself, learn to yield, or I would ‘doom us all.’ Those are the words she used. ‘Doom us all.’” 

“That’s encouraging.” 

Cady’s words were so dry, I burst into laughter. She quickly joined me, both of us unraveling as we howled into the night. It must’ve been a ridiculous sight—and we were getting too loud, I knew it. Soon the harpies would find us, but we didn’t stop. We laughed until tears pooled in our eyes and our sides hurt. 

It felt strange. There was nothing to be laughing at, really. Percy was gone. We were at war. The titans were getting closer by the day. But even so, we were laughing. It was almost as if we could forget it all, even just for a moment. 

But then that moment ended. 

Our laughter died and soon the sound of the waves was once again the only thing between us. The air grew heavier, and with it, my heart. The lightness the laughter had brought flew away on the wind, and we were left alone in the black night once again. 

“I wish I knew what she meant.” 

“I think…” Cady hesitated, as if she was afraid to keep going. “I think she was pretty clear, actually.” She turned to face me again, and her eyes were that mixture of gentle and serious that I had only ever seen her pull off. “You can’t fight Percy’s battles for him. When the time comes…maybe you step aside.”

I shook my head. “I can’t do that. Maybe…Maybe that’s not what she means.” 

Her eyes got sad. “You need to realize that you’re not Percy.” Those words would’ve been harsh coming from anyone else. “You don’t need to be Percy. You said it yourself—ever since you got here, you’ve been living in his shadow, a shadow you didn’t even know was drowning you. And sometimes I wonder if you stay there because you think you have to. Because you think you’re not worthy of the sun.” 

Tears rushed to my eyes quickly as her words knocked the air out of my lungs. 

“But believe me when I say this, Angie—everyone is deserving of their place in the sun.” She managed a smile, and I swear the stars shined brighter. “You don’t have to live in Percy’s shadow. It’s like the myth—your destinies are intertwined, Percy’s success is yours. That means that you can do different things, be different people, and still stay connected. You don’t need to stay in his shadow for that.” 

“But what if—” my voice caught and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling onto my cheeks. “What if I don’t do enough, and he dies. What if I don’t try and protect him, and we lose him.” 

Cady took a deep breath as if the very thought pained her. “If Percy is…fated to die, there’s little we can do. But we don’t know that. Prophecies are tricky, and hard to understand. And the more we try and change them, or work against them, the quicker we make them come true.” She looked into the sky before continuing. “What if you interfere and that ends up causing more harm?” 

A sense of hopelessness washed over me. “I don’t want to live without him.” 

I saw a tear streak down Cady's cheek. “I know. But someone has to keep on living when others die.” 

I felt my eyebrows pull together as a terrifying thought crossed my mind. I had never considered that I would live past this week, past my sixteenth birthday. I had made up my mind that Percy was the one walking away from this, not me, and I was determined to do anything I could to make that happen. 

I hadn’t considered other people might be thinking the same thing, might be making those choices, too—regardless of what other people wanted. 

“You don’t think you’re walking out of this either, do you?” 

Cady dropped her head, staring at the sand. “I know I’m not.” 

“Cady—” 

“You’re not the only one who wants to protect people.” Her head snapped up, and I saw a harshness in her eyes. “This is what I’ve been trained for. My siblings walk away from this. You walk away from this. Gods willing, Percy walks away from this. But not me. Not if I can save them.” 

My head felt like it was spinning. No no no, it screamed. This isn’t right. It as to be me, it has to—

“They need you, Cady.” 

She shook her head. “Nobody needs me. They'll miss me, sure. But they’ll be alright. They’re strong.” 

“I need you.” Desperation and fear were swelling in my chest as I choked back a sob. “I can’t do this alone.” 

“You’re not alone, Angie. You never have been. And even when I go, you never will be.” 

Her words weren’t making sense to me, and panic rose in my stomach as I thought about the very real possibility of losing Cady and Percy within the next week. And Annabeth. And Rosie. And—

I was about to break into hysterics when I felt Cady's hand on my arm, with it the familiar feeling of her magic spreading across my nervous system. Usually I didn’t like when Cady used her gifts on me without asking, but in this moment, I was glad. I couldn’t go down that spiral. I would be falling and falling into the darkness for days—that was a bottomless pit I knew I would never be able to climb out of. 

“Thanks, Cades.” I breathed out as her healing touch calmed my anxiety. I took a deep breath, my first one all day, and met her burdened eyes. 

“You’re gonna be okay, Angie. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Maybe we all walk away from this.” But I could tell she didn’t believe her words. “But even if we don’t, you’ll still be okay. Maybe staying behind is what you were sent for—if there’s still a Camp Half Blood in the next week, they’ll need someone to turn to. They’ll need a leader. They’ll need you.” 

I shook my head instinctively. “I’m not—” 

“But you are, Andromeda. You’re Percy’s sister. You’re Poseidon’s daughter. Whether you like it or not, that power is already within you. Everyone else sees it. It’s about time you start seeing it, too.” 

It was all too much. I clenched my eyes shut and forced myself to listen to the waves, to think of nothing else but the sound as they crashed onto the shore. No more wars, or battles, or prophecies, or doomed brothers, or self-sacrificing best friends. No more gods and titans and doomsdays. Just the sand under my fingers and the sea in front of me. 

It didn’t work. 

“I’m not who everyone thinks I am. I can’t be what everyone needs me to be.” 

I eventually found myself on the archery range. It was empty, which was extremely odd. I had never seen it so quiet—Apollo had a lot of kids, and they were all talented archers. You could always count on someone practicing their gifts while the sun was still shining. 

But not today. I guessed that a lot of the campers wanted to go back to their cabins or do something to take their mind off the funeral. I didn’t blame them. 

I pulled out the throwing knives I always kept on my belt—four beautiful bronze blades with golden hilts that glinted in the light. 

They had shown up on my doorstep last November with my name on the package, and Percy had been extremely jealous. I reminded him that he didn’t use throwing knives, but that didn’t seem to change his mind. The only thing accompanying the gift was a small piece of pristine white paper, no bigger than a business card, with a beautiful, golden and shimmering symbol of the sun on it, almost like the one in Tangled. I looked down the empty hallway, shrugged, and picked up the package. I waited a few days before opening them, just to make sure it wasn't some sort of trap, and found that they were perfectly balanced and fit in my hand exactly. I still hadn’t found out who sent them, but I had an inkling of an idea. 

I still wasn’t fantastic at throwing knives—Percy and I were notoriously bad at ranged weapons—but I had gotten a lot better in the last year. I usually hit the target, and one out of every fifty or so times I would hit the bullseye. I considered that an impressive improvement. 

Cady had insisted I train in the weapon in case my sword ever got knocked out of my hand, she said a demigod should never be caught defenseless. I didn’t need to worry about losing my weapon anymore, thanks to the gift from my dad, and even without a sword I had learned to wield my abilities enough to always be able to defend myself, but what started practical soon turned comforting. I usually gave up on anything that I wasn’t immediately good at, but I had decided to stick with this one, and it was nice to see my hard work was starting to pay off. It felt good to have something to work at, something I had to struggle in. Something I could see improvement in—it gave me a sense of control over my life. Which, as a demigod, didn’t come often.

I had just loosed my first knife when a rustling in the grass behind me made me whip around. 

“Juniper!” I called when I saw the elfish face. “You’re lucky I didn't have that knife in my hand anymore.” 

“I know!” she squeaked. “I’m sorry, Angie.” She stood up from where she was crouched in the grass. “I shouldn’t have been sneaking, but I need to talk to you.” 

I gave her a curious look. Now that she was closer, I could see her eyes were tinged green—chlorophyll from crying, I told myself. 

“Is this about Grover?” I tried to keep my voice gentle, but she let out a small sob at the mention of her boyfriend’s name. 

“The naiads told me that you were going through Chiron’s reports this morning and there was a report from a protector in Canada and he mentioned Grover in it.” Her words came rushing out, getting closer to hyperventilating by the second. 

No secrets here, I thought. Those naiads are the worst gossips. 

“I did see a report, yes. It was talking about how—” 

“Can you come with me, Angie?! I can’t be away from my tree for too long.” Even though she asked me a question, she didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed my wrist and started dragging me towards the woods, and I gave up any hope I had of retrieving the golden knife stuck in the target. 

She didn’t stop running until we had come to a small clearing near her tree. I could see Zeus’ Fist standing tall in the middle of it and the sight sent a shiver up my spine. It had been a full year since the Battle, a full year of tension and loss and war. The clearing was a reminder of my first few weeks at camp, and a reminder of how far I had come. But it was also a reminder of my failures. 

“Now, what were you going to say about Grover?!” Juniper looked so hopeful, I didn’t know how to break the news to her. 

“Well, the letter didn’t exactly say anything about him.” 

“What?” 

“It was from a protector, Gleeson Hedge, I think, asking for Grover’s help. It was addressed to him. I don’t know why it ended up here.” 

“But—” Juniper looked like she was about to cry again when a voice startled both of us. 

“Ah ha!” I turned to see an old, fat satyr waddling towards us with surprising speed. He had a smug look on his goatish face. “It is obvious he has run away from his duties, abandoned us all. Trust me, nymph, you are better without that traitor.” 

Juniper’s green skin took on a red hue, and I wondered what it would look like for a tree nymph to fly off the handle. I didn’t know Grover well, I had only spent a little time with him last summer, but I knew he was Percy’s best friend. I knew he was brave, and funny, and was there for my brother when no one else was. In short, I knew I wasn’t going to put up with this old goat talking about him like that. 

“That’s not true, umm, whoever you are.” I snapped at him. 

“Whoever I am?!” He sounded utterly offended. “And just who are you?” 

“This is Angie Jackson!” Juniper announced proudly. “Percy’s sister.” 

The satyr’s nose crinkled. “Of course I should’ve guessed by her impertinence.” 

If I knew what that word meant I was sure I would’ve been offended. 

“Nice to meet you…” 

“Leneus! Lord of the Wild and Member of the Council of Cloven Elders!” 

I only caught about half of what he said. 

“Oh, alright. Sounds important.” 

He let out an aggrieved huff and stuck his nose in the air. “It is important, thank you—” 

His sentence was cut off by a small boy in black jeans and an aviator's jacket appearing out of nowhere. Leneus let out a scream. 

“Whoa, am I interrupting?” The pale boy looked more tired than I had ever seen him, and the sight of him made my stomach drop. On one hand I was glad that the conversation with the angry satyr had come to an end, but on the other, I knew what him being here meant. I knew what was about to begin. 

“Hey, Nico.” 

He gave me a small smile. “Hi, Angie. Nice to see you again. Know where Percy is?” 

I had gotten used to that question in the last year. “No, sorry.” 

“Will someone explain to me what's going on?” the satyr asked in the most annoying voice possible. Juniper ran and hid behind her tree. 

“Sorry, there’s usually no one here.” Nico said in a sheepish voice. “I came to see Percy.” 

The satyr let out a huff and rolled his eyes. “I have heard far too much about that upstart today.” 

I was about to tell the old goat off when a large hellhound came bounding through the trees and barrelling into the clearing. I reached for my necklace instinctively and was about to pull on it when I saw the glimmering collar around her neck. My hand relaxed as Mrs. O’Leary ran up to Nico and began to lick his face excitedly—which is quite the sight when the dog's tongue is almost as big as the boy. The son of Hades broke into a wide smile, but Leneus and Juniper weren’t as pleased. 

I was too busy laughing at the sight to see the boy jogging behind the hellhound, but when Nico perked up and nodded to someone behind me, I spun around. My heart beat a little faster when I saw who it was. He cracked a smile when he saw me, but his expression was immediately replaced with confusion. I understood why—he was walking into a strange quartet. 

"Will someone—what is this underworld creature doing in my forest!" Leneus began shouting, waving his arms and trotting on his hooves as if the grass were hot. "You there, Percy Jackson! Is this your beast?"

"Sorry, Leneus," Percy said. I swore I could hear the faintest hint of laughter in his words. "That's your name, right?"

The satyr rolled his eyes. "Well, of course I'm Leneus. Don't tell me you've forgotten a member of the Council so quickly. Now, call off your beast!"

Mrs. O’Leary let out another bark, shaking the ground a bit. Nico had found a tickle spot right behind her ear. 

The old satyr gulped. "Make it go away! Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!"

Juniper turned toward my brother. "Percy," she sniffled. "I was just asking about Grover. I know something's happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble. I was hoping that Leneus—"

"I told you!" the satyr protested. "You are better off without that traitor."

Juniper stamped her foot. "He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"

Percy had just opened his mouth, probably in protest, when the hellhound barked again. Leneus’ knees started knocking. "I . . . I won't answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!"

Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up. "We'll walk the dog,” he volunteered, “Won’t we, Angie?" He turned towards me with an expression that told me he wasn’t asking. I pushed away the feeling of cold dread that crept up my spine whenever I was around him. 

“Umm, sure!” Percy looked uneasy as he shot me a cautious glance. I nodded at him, and he looked back to Juniper. Percy and I were getting better at communicating without words, twin stuff, I guessed, and I knew what he was trying to tell me—be on your guard. It’s not that we didn’t trust Nico…but as children of Poseidon, we had to be a little more careful around the other kids of the Big Three. Especially since Hades didn’t like Percy all that much. 

He whistled, and Mrs. O’Leary took off like a shot to the other end of the grove. Nico raced after her, and I took that as my cue to follow. 

When we finally caught up to the hellhound, she was sniffing around some boulders the way she did when she was about to, uh, relieve herself, so Nico and I gave her plenty of space.

“You’re nervous about what comes next.” Nico spoke, his voice grim. It wasn’t a question. 

“Yeah.” I couldn’t meet his eyes. 

“It’s the only way, Angie. The only way Percy has a chance against Luke.” 

I knew he was right. But that didn’t stop me from hoping. “What if there is another way? Maybe there’s something that I can do—” 

“Angie, how many times do we have to go over this?” 

I snapped my head towards him, desperation filling my eyes. “Everyone keeps telling me the same thing! But I won’t give up on him! Not until—” my voice broke and I took in a sharp breath. “Not until I can’t fight anymore.” 

Nico’s eyes softened, and he looked more sad than usual. Which was saying something. “I understand wanting to hold on to him. Trust me, I do. but you have to let go. You have to believe when people tell you this is his fight. The things that are coming…” he got a faraway look in his eye, like he was looking through me into a scary future. “We’ll need you.” He focused on me again. 

Nico was always saying strange things. Being a child of the underworld, he spent most of his time underground, talking to ghosts. And ghosts could see more than livings could, sometimes even into the future. Nico always knew more than other demigods, but he had learned quickly that most of the time, those things were for him alone. It was almost impossible to get information out of him. 

“Everyone keeps saying that, too. But it doesn’t make me feel better.” 

Nico cracked a small smile, and I noticed the way it made his dark eyes shine. When he didn’t have a permanent scowl on his face, he actually looked pretty kind. “I know. But give it time—sometimes the only way to understand something is by going through it.” 

I considered the small boy, and decided he was much too wise for a twelve year old. 

Mrs. O’Leary, finished with her business, bounded up to us and nearly knocked me over. We pet her for a little bit before Nico turned his head in a curious way before announcing, “Let’s head back.” 

I didn’t question him. 

We reached the clearing in time to hear my brother say, “I've got worse enemies than overweight satyrs." 

"Good job, Percy.” Nico said as he walked up to him and Juniper. “Judging from the trail of goat pellets, I'd say you shook him up pretty well."

Percy gave him a weak smile, and I could tell he knew why the son of hades had come calling. "Welcome back. Did you come by just to see Juniper?"

Nico blushed. "Um, no. That was an accident. I kind of…dropped into the middle of their conversation."

"He scared us to death!" Juniper said. "Right out of the shadows. I heard that Angie got a note about Grover when she was going through Chiron’s reports, but it didn’t say anything helpful.” She sounded so dejected, but immediately perked back up. “But, Nico, you are the son of Hades and all. Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Grover?"

Nico shifted his weight. "Juniper, like I tried to tell you…even if Grover died, he would reincarnate into something else in nature. I can't sense things like that, only mortal souls."

"But if you do hear anything?" she pleaded, putting her hand on his arm. "Anything at all?"

Nico's cheeks got even brighter red. "Uh, you bet. I'll keep my ears open."

She nodded glumly. "I hate not being able to leave the forest. He could be anywhere, and I'm stuck here waiting. Oh, if that silly goat has gotten himself hurt—"

Mrs. O'Leary bounded back over and took an interest in Juniper's dress.

Juniper yelped. "Oh, no you don't! I know about dogs and trees. I'm gone!"

She went poof into green mist. Mrs. O'Leary looked disappointed, but she lumbered off to find another target, leaving Nico, me, and Percy alone. The atmosphere immediately shifted into something tense and dark. My brother turned to face me, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

“I think I need to talk to Nico alone for a bit. Stay here?” 

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. “Yeah, okay. Just…just don’t leave without saying goodbye.” 

His eyes got sad. “I won’t.” He ruffled my hair a bit, and this time, I let him. Nico gave me a small smile, his face still a shade of red, before the two boys turned and walked deeper into the woods. 

I sat in a small meadow that was on the edge of the clearing we had been standing in, passing the time making and unmaking small flower crowns. Katie Gardener had taught me how to make them, although mine were never as good as hers were. I knew I should be doing something more productive, like practicing my throwing knives, running sword drills, or even working on strengthening my abilities, but I couldn’t make myself do any of that. It all felt too heavy. Just as I was about to get up and walk back into camp, assuming Percy had forgotten about me, he came running back into the clearing. 

“Angie?” 

I made my way over to him quickly. “Are you leaving?” 

I could tell by the look in his eyes that the answer was yes. 

“It’s time.” He didn’t have to say more. 

I threw my arms around his neck and didn’t try to stop my tears from soaking the shoulder of his orange Tshirt. He held me close, smoothing my hair and whispering some comforting words that I wasn’t paying attention to. Before long, he pulled away. His eyes were red and wet. 

“Don’t go.” 

I knew it was selfish of me to say. I knew it wasn’t fair. I knew he didn’t want to be anyone’s martyr just as much as I didn’t want him to die. He didn’t ask for any of this—and he didn’t need any more reminders of how close to the end he was. 

“I have to, Angie.” Percy sounded exhausted. Now, just the two of us, he let his shoulders slump and there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. 

“You know It’s the only way to stand a chance against Luke. If he’s invincible, then I have to be, too.” He continued. “We’re no match for the Titan army. You know that. This comes down to me and Kronos.” The words sounded like they were coming from someone else, his eyes faraway and distant. I recognized them as the ones Nico had told him, almost a year ago. 

“But it’s not fair!” I sounded like a petulant child, but I didn’t care. “It’s not fair that it has to be you.” 

Percy sighed like he was disappointed I was only now figuring this out. “It’s not.” He admitted. “But the life of a demigod isn’t fair. Especially for a child of the Big Three. It’s…it’s just our fate.” 

He tried to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear, but I flinched away from him. 

“But I don’t want to lose you! I can’t lose you! I don’t know how to—” the words caught in my throat, a sob taking their place. I dissolved into tears, and before I knew it, Percy’s arms were around me. I didn’t try to fight him. 

“Can I tell you a story?” 

It was such a strange thing to say that it caught me completely off guard. 

“What?” My voice cracked. 

“A story my mom, our mom, told me when I was very small.” He began. “And one I’m sure she would’ve told you. It’s the reason why she named me Perseus in the first place.” 

“Because he was a hero?” 

Percy chuckled. “That’s what I thought at first, too. But no. Because, against all odds, he is one of the few heroes who managed to find his way to a happy ending.” I thought about that for a moment. His happy ending was living a life with the person he loved, Andromeda. I wished that could be true for Percy and me, but the thought felt too far away to reach. 

“When he was a very little boy,” Percy continued, “he and his mother were placed into a wooden chest and cast out into the sea by a very angry king. Alone. Afraid. And at night, his mother would whisper in his ear: ‘Hold fast, Perseus. Brave the storm that was made to break us, for we are unbreakable. As long as we have each other.’” 

Percy whispered as he smoothed my hair. My breathing began to steady. 

“As long as we have each other.” I echoed. “Don’t go where I can’t follow.” 

Percy chuckled, probably remembering the time I forced him to watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies this past year. I had always loved that quote, and after he heard it, it had become our mantra.

 “You’re such a nerd.” There was a smile in his voice. A comfortable silence fell over us as we held onto each other, not knowing when either of us would get to hug our sibling again. When he spoke again, his voice was low and gentle, but very sure. 

“So…hold fast, Angie. That’s what mom said to me when I first came to Camp, when I was figuring all this out. Hold fast. Brave the storm.”

“Hold fast.” I echoed, wanting the words he was saying to sink into my heart and find a permanent place there. 

 I had only known Percy for about a year, but in that time, he had become a part of my soul. The thought of losing him tore me apart. Every fiber in my being was screaming at me to hold onto him forever, to never let go. I wanted to beg him to take me with him, plead to take his place. 

But I knew it was no use. In that moment, I knew I wasn’t strong enough. But Percy was. 

And more than that, I knew Percy would never let me. This was a journey he had to take on his own, and I would just have to find some other time to save him further down the road.

I let go of him and looked into his sparkling eyes, identical to mine. 

“You can do this.” I put all the power I had into my words. “I’ve never believed in anyone more than I believe in you.” 

He managed a smile. “I’ll see you again.” 

“I know you will. We are unbreakable, as long as we have each other.” 

I swore I saw tears begin to pool in his eyes, but I didn’t say anything. He pulled me into another hug, tight and quick, before letting go and messing up my hair. And this time, just this once, I let him. 

My thoughts drifted to Percy—would I be singing the same dirge over my brother before the week was done? Embroidering his funeral shroud with a trident and seashells and setting it ablaze? 

Would he be doing it for me? 

Would Annabeth and Cady do it for the both of us? 

Or would there be no one left to light our funeral pyre as the world is plunged into darkness and the Age of the Titans begins? 

A sob welled in my chest and I knew it would’ve been easier to try and stop the tides than stop it from erupting out of me. A desperate, strangled sound shattered the quiet beach. 

I'm too young for this. We all are. 

And yet, here we are. 

I clutched a hand over my mouth, forcing my breathing to steady. I couldn’t let myself spiral, I couldn’t let myself stop moving enough to get in my head. I couldn’t just think of myself—this was so much bigger. There was nothing I could do to stop what was coming. Events had been set into motion now that couldn’t be stopped, and even if I chained Apollo’s golden chariot to the ground, I would still be sixteen in five days. And the world as I knew it would be gone forever—in one way or another. 

But maybe you can still save him, that insistent voice in my head whispered. 

“I should have known I would find you by the sea.” 

My sword was in my hand in an instant as I spun around to face the voice that spoke from behind me. I felt foolish when I saw who it was, but the smiling woman in the plain gray dress didn’t seem at all phased by my jumpiness. 

“Lady Hestia, I’m so sorry.” I whispered the command, and my sword returned to being a puka shell necklace. 

“I should not have snuck up on you, not at a time like this. You are right to be…on high alert.” 

I would’ve said paranoid. 

“What are you doing here?” I knew I should be showing more respect to a goddess, but at the present moment I was too tired and sad to care. 

“You are not at the funeral.” 

I felt a jolt of guilt rush through me. I knew I should be there. I knew I was being selfish. “I…I was going to go. I was going to be there—for Percy. He’s speaking. And Silena. But then I was walking and my feet took me here.” 

It wasn’t a lie. I had intended on walking to the campfire, but somehow I ended up on the beach. Actually, I had found myself there more and more lately, retreating to the sea when it all became too much. And considering the decision I had made earlier that day in my head, I guessed I would be coming there a lot more in the next few days.

“You worry for your brother.” 

I looked at Hestia like she was crazy, but she just looked at me with gentleness. I had never worried about anyone, or anything, more than I worried about Percy. He wasn’t just half of my soul—he was the better half of my soul. He was everything good and beautiful I had within me. I would rather never see the ocean again than walk this earth without him by my side. 

“Of course I do.” I said finally. 

Hestia took a step towards me, and for the first time I realized how tired she looked. She was a gentler presence than the other gods, but she still always radiated power and strength. 

But not now. Now, the glow in her eyes was dim and the concern on her brow was clear. She took my hands in hers, and I felt a jolt of power surge in my fingertips. It wasn’t everyday I was touched by a goddess. 

“You must let him fight his own battles, Andromeda.”

I felt confusion flood my face and I dropped her hands. 

“What?” 

“Do you know the story of your name, my dear?” 

My head felt like it was swimming, bouncing from one emotion to another. 

“Of course I do.” 

“Tell it to me.” 

I gave the goddess a curious look, but she simply sat down on the sand and motioned for me to do the same. As soon as I joined her, a small campfire appeared between us and a faint smile crossed her lips. 

“Andromeda was a mortal princess whose mother boasted that she was even more beautiful than the Nereids.” I began. “This made them jealous, so Poseidon sent a sea monster to ravage the coast of her kingdom. Her father, the king, desperate to save his people, decided to sacrifice his daughter in order to placate Poseidon’s wrath. Andromeda was chained to a rock, but before the monster could devour her, the hero Perseus, who was flying overhead, saw her, fell in love with her, and decided to save her. He slayed the monster, saving both Andromeda and her kingdom.” 

Hestia nodded. “And then what happened?” 

“The two got married and were happy together. Perseus got his happy ending, unlike most heroes.” 

Hestia moved the logs around with her bare hands. “You know what I see in that story?” 

I was beginning to feel impatient. 

“I see the story of a girl who was forced to bear the punishment of her parent’s failures.” Hestia continued. “A princess sacrificed through no fault of her own, but so that her kingdom may live. I see the wrath and jealousy of the gods, and the pride and folly of mortals. And who is caught in the middle of it all?” 

“Heroes.” The word took the air out of my lungs as I spoke it. 

“Children.” 

As Hestia's voice reached my ears, I willed myself not to cry. 

“But Andromeda’s fate was not set—she was rescued. Everyone focuses on Perseus’ deeds in that story, while no one talks of hers. 

“What did she do?” My voice was full of curiosity. I was beginning to feel a connection with the Princess who shared my name. 

“You see, I remember that time well. I was there. I was saddened by the rashness of my brother in sending the sea serpent, but that is another story. You know what has stuck with me?” 

My attention was now fully on the goddess. 

“I remember a young, scared, brave girl who was willing to do whatever it took to save her kingdom. She knew the fault was not hers, but she also knew she was the only one who could set things right. So when Zeus told her father that sacrificing his daughter was the only way to save his kingdom, she agreed without a moment's hesitation. She never wavered, never flinched, never cried a single tear as she was led to that rock and chained.” 

Maybe we weren’t so similar—I had cried enough tears to form a new river this week alone. 

“But that's not fair!” 

“No, it wasn’t. But her humility and boldness caught the attention of the gods, some of which took pity on her. They pushed Perseus towards her, and in doing so, they intertwined the fates of the two. Yes, he may have slain the monster, but she was the one who saved the kingdom.”

“What are you saying?” I wasn’t in the mood for any more riddles or prophecies. “That I need to sacrifice myself?” 

Hestia shook her head. “Im saying that Andromeda understood the power it requires to yield, and also, the power yielding gives you.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

The goddess smiled kindly at me, which made me want to scream. “You will. Just remember—not every battle is yours to fight. You have a great destiny ahead, but so does your brother. And just like Andromeda and Perseus of old, the two are intertwined and woven together. His success is yours as well. Your failure is his. But be careful to not take his burdens onto your shoulders.” 

Anger flashed in my chest. “I won’t just sit here and do nothing. I can't just watch him die.” I said through clenched teeth. 

Hestia sighed. “No, I suppose not. But I will warn you, Andromeda Jackson—you must learn to recognize the times you will need to control yourself. You must learn to yield. Or, I’m afraid, you will doom us all.” 

We hadn’t talked about the prophecy much before tonight. We hadn’t talked much about the war either. This whole year, most of our conversations had been focused on the happier side of being a demigod—if that was even a thing. Talking about training and myths and sharing stories about all the adventures Percy had been on. Even when we were fighting empousai on the elevated train or demon pigeons in Central Park, we could always find something to laugh about. Whenever the darkness did come up, Percy would get quiet and pull away. And I didn’t like to see him like that. So I tried not to mention it. 

“When I was younger,” he continued, “I wished it wasn’t me. I wanted it to be Thalia, or even Nico, for a while. But then last summer, something clicked. I knew it had to be me. I knew I didn’t want anyone else to have to carry that weight, to have to go through it.” 

“We don’t know what it all means, Perce.” Even I didn’t believe my own words, and I was quiet for a long moment before continuing. “And…” 

“And?” 

“And…it might not be you, after all.” 

“It is me.” 

“But it might—” 

“A single choice shall end his days—” 

“That might not be about you!” 

“It’s me because I choose it. I won’t let you take it for me.” 

“And you think I want to let you take it for me?” 

He was quiet, as if he had never considered that before. 

“Do you think it's been easy for me to watch you go through all this?” I continued, the words running out of my mouth before I could think about them, before I could stop them. “You have no idea how hard this has been. Seeing you waste away, retreat into yourself. You think I didn’t notice that you’ve hardly eaten the past few months? That you haven’t been sleeping? You think it's easy for me to know you’re at home while I have to be here, pretending that everything’s okay? That everything’s normal?” My breathing was becoming ragged. “You have no idea how badly I want to take it all away from you! I don’t—” my voice broke, " I don't want to lose you. Not after I just found you.” 

I didn’t know when I had started crying. 

When Percy spoke again, his voice was low. 

“Angie, I know. And I don’t want to leave you. But…” He took a deep breath, “But I know it's me. I can feel it.” 

I hated it. I hated it more than I had ever hated anything. 

But I knew he was right. 

We sat in silence for a long time. 

“Angie, I need to tell you something—” 

“Percy, please, I’m tired.” 

“I need you to listen to me, Andromeda.” He had never called me by my full name before. “I need you to hear this.” He waited for a protest that never came. “The only reason I can even begin to be okay with this is because I know I’m not leaving anyone behind. Not really. Mom, Annabeth, Rachel, Grover, Tyson, our friends at camp—I know they’ll be okay. When I’m gone, I know they won't be alone.” 

Every word felt like a dagger in my heart. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“They’ll have you, Angie. When I’m gone.” 

“You are not going to die, Percy. Don’t talk like that.” 

“But I might! And if I do, I need to know they’ll be okay. I need to know you’ll watch over them, you’ll be here to lead them.” 

“I’m not a leader, Percy.” My voice sounded weak.  

“But you are.” His voice was so sincere, I almost believed him. “You may not see it yet, but I do. They do. One day, they’ll look to you. And when they do, you'll be ready. I know it.” 

The thought of that almost scared me more than the thought of losing my brother. 

I felt desperate and terrified and angry and terrified. People kept telling me this, kept saying I would be something someday, something I knew I could never be. Something I knew I’m not. I was starting to get tired of hearing the lies. 

“Well that’s not going to happen because you’re gonna be okay.” 

I heard him sigh in the darkness, long and sad. He was quiet for so long, I thought he had fallen asleep. 

“I will be okay. And you will, too.” 

“Percy?” 

“Goodnight, Angie.” 

I bit my tongue and choked back a sob. 

“Goodnight.” 

But I didn’t shut my eyes for a long time. 

Breakfast next morning was quiet and depressing. Percy and I hardly spoke, and the sky was gray and overcast. That was unusual—the magic of camp usually kept rain and bad weather away. It was as if things were so dark, so heavy, so sad, not even magic could stop the clouds. Everyone knew what was coming and people kept glancing at the path to the campfire—and it wasn’t for a sing-along. 

Percy’s morning chore had been to go through Chrion’s reports, but I knew how much he hated doing that. I told him he could go with Annabeth as she inspected the cabins, since she hated that chore, too, and I would go through the reports for him. He seemed grateful, giving me a sincere smile and a hug before jogging along the path to catch up with the daughter of Athena. 

I didn’t love going through the reports, either, but I didn’t hate it as much as Percy. Plus, it was worth it to make his life easier—if only by a little. I knew he hadn’t gotten to see Annabeth much that summer, and I knew how much that was bumming them both out. I walked down to the canoe lake, sitting on the beach and letting the waves lap at my feet, and began to go through the stack of papers next to me. 

There were messages from demigods, nature spirits, and satyrs all around the country, writing about the latest monster activity. They were pretty depressing, and my ADHD brain kept drifting off and wondering if I had made my bed before the inspection that morning.

Little battles were raging everywhere. Camp recruitment was down to zero. Satyrs were having trouble finding new demigods and bringing them to Half-Blood Hill because so many monsters were roaming the country. Percy’s friend Thalia, who led the Hunters of Artemis, hadn't been heard from in months, and if Artemis knew what had happened to them, she wasn't sharing information. I decided not to share that with Percy—he didn’t need more to stress about. 

I took a break from reading and looked out to the water. Usually the sight of the shimmering blue was enough to take away any bad mood I found myself in. But lately, the water had just been making me sad. It reminded me of everything good, which just made me think of everything that might be taken away from me soon. It reminded me of my brother, and everything he’d taught me, and how he had been drifting further and further from me, from everyone. It made me think of how I might lose him in a few days.

It also made me think of my father, which always brought up complicated feelings. I had decided last summer that I did love my dad—and I decided to believe he loved me, too. Even if he didn’t show it very well. Even if I had felt abandoned by him all my life. Even if I felt like he chose Percy over me. Maybe even loved Percy more than me. 

He’s a god, I had to remind myself. The god of the seas. The seas that cover seventy percent of the world. It’s amazing he even talks to you at all. 

Especially now, since he was fighting his own war and had been for a year and Percy and I weren’t allowed to help at all. 

It would be nice if he talked to me more, though. 

A wind blew past and picked up one of the papers in the stack. As I scrambled to save it from the gentle waves, I realized it wasn’t a paper, really, but a huge maple leaf with a hand-written note scrawled on it from a Satyr in Canada. 

"Dear Grover,

Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil badger. Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you? 

—Gleeson Hedge, protector."

I felt a tightness in my chest. I didn’t know Grover well—I had met him a couple of times at camp last summer and hung out with him whenever he was in New York throughout the year, but I knew how important he was to Percy. The two had an empathy link, and though I would never tell anyone, I had always felt like a shred of the chord that connected the two of them was also somehow connected to me. I wondered if it was because Percy and I were twins—we had begun to joke that we were the same person in two different bodies. The same soul split in two. 

I had heard stories that demigod twins were different. Special, even. And sometimes, when I knew exactly what Percy was going to say before he opened his mouth, or I got a cut on my arm sparring and I watched as Percy winced at the exact moment, I wondered if what they said was true. 

I tucked the maple leaf in my pocket and made a mental note to give it to Percy. No one had seen Grover in two months, and I knew it was weighing on him. 

I heard heavy footfalls stomping along the paths from the strawberry fields to the lake, and the sounds of someone angrily kicking the plants as they passed. I hoped there were no satyrs or children of Demeter around to see the destruction I was sure was happening behind me. I had taken my shoes off and was letting the water lap against my feet, heightening my senses and giving me a pretty good idea of who was stalking towards the water. 

I heard her stop and gasp when she got to the edge of the sand, right when I would’ve been in her view, and then I was positive about who it was. 

“What did he do this time, Annabeth?” I didn’t even bother to turn around. 

I heard the footsteps trudge through the sand. My suspicions were confirmed as the blond girl plopped down next to me, keeping her eyes on the water. 

“Everything!” Her voice was tight, like she was trying very hard not to cry. Knowing Annabeth, I figured we only had about thirty seconds until she lost that battle. 

“How did inspections go?” I tried to keep my voice light, but it didn’t do much. Annabeth let out a groan. 

“Fine. You got a three.” 

“Damn. Did I forget to make my bed?” 

“And Percy’s clothes were on the floor.” 

I nodded and we sat in silence for a bit, neither of us looking at each other, until Annabeth spoke. Her voice was small and tired. 

“I’m just…so scared.” 

I finally turned to her, and I saw streams of tears running down her cheeks. 

“I know.” 

She let out a sob, hanging her head and surrendering to her sadness. I placed a careful hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't pull away, began to rub her back. We had only known each other for a little over a year, but that can be a very long time when you’re a demigod. 

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I said, doing my best to keep my voice calm. 

She took a few shaky breaths and sniffled before speaking. “Percy and I got in a fight.” 

I nodded, even though my brain was screaming, duh!

“We had finished inspections and were walking back to the Big House when he brought up a dream he had. A dream about Rachel.” 

She said her name as though she was the one trying to destroy all of Western civilization and not Kronos. I actually liked Rachel a lot—she was cool, funny, chill, and artistic. Plus it was super refreshing to have a mortal friend during these times. But I knew why Annabeth didn’t like her. It wasn’t that hard to figure out. So I kept that to myself. 

“What did he see?” 

“She drew pictures. Pictures that she shouldn’t know about. Pictures that make me very worried.” 

“Pictures of what?” I knew that Rachel loved to draw, and I knew how good of an artist she was. I also knew she was clear-sighted, and could see through the Mist just as well as demigods could. 

“Luke as a kid, just before he ran away. The Empire State Building surrounded by an army, Typhon on his way to destroy it.” She said those words with such little emotion, like she was talking about what she had for breakfast. Like they didn’t hold the weight of the world. 

“What could it all mean?” 

Annabeth buried her head in her hands. “I have no idea.” 

“Well, they must be important.” 

She looked up at me suddenly, her eyes red and puffy, but harsh and stormy. The only eyes that scared me worse when they got like that were my brothers. “That’s what Percy said.” 

I took a deep breath, knowing I needed to be careful with what I said next. “What else did you talk about?” 

Her eyes softened a bit. “He asked me what I would do if I were Kronos, and I said I would use Typhon as a distraction, a way to get the gods away from Olympus, and then attack it directly.”

“Well, yeah. Obviously that’s what he’s doing.” 

“Except Zeus won’t listen to us.” 

I waited for a peal of thunder that never came. 

“And then I told him that we would just have to be ready to defend Olympus and Camp when the time came, with or without the gods. And then he made some stupid comment about his soul getting reaped, and I said we should’ve never told him the prophecy because he always runs from things when he's afraid, and he didn’t like that very much, and then I—” her voice broke, and she took a sharp, shaky breath in. “And then I called him a coward.” 

If anyone else had admitted that to me, I would have drowned them in the lake. I let her words hang in the air, taking them all in. It was so clear she wasn’t just talking about the battle ahead, and it was equally as clear that Percy had no idea what she meant. Or maybe he did—but knowing my brother, he wouldn’t do anything about it. Not now. Not when he thinks his days are numbered. 

“And then I said that if he didn’t like our chances, and didn’t like our company, he should go on that vacation with Rachel.” 

She sounded so miserable, and when I looked over to her, her face was streaked with tears. 

“But you didn’t mean that, did you?” 

Annabeth choked back a sob. “Of course I didn’t.” 

I pulled her into me, letting her cry into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her. We were the same age—well, her birthday was about a month before mine—but she had always felt so much older. So much wiser. At first, I thought that was just because she was the daughter of the wisdom goddess. But then, after getting to know her, I realized that was just her. 

She was always so strong, so put-together. She always had everything figured out, everything under control. She was everything I wasn't, everything Percy wasn’t. I looked up to her. I went to her with my problems and she always had the answers. Seeing her so broken, so lost and confused and unsure, made me feel like my whole world was spinning out of control. I racked my brain for the perfect thing to say, but then I heard Cady’s voice like a whisper in my head: 

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone is just be there for them. 

“It’s okay, Annabeth. Just give it some time. We still have time. He’ll be okay.” 

Sometimes they don’t need words—they just need you. 

“IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT LOOKING AT IT, I’LL HAVE YOUR HEAD, CLARISSE!” 

“YEAH RIGHT, MICHAEL, AS IF YOU COULD EVEN REACH MY HEAD!” 

I rolled my eyes and inched along the wall, taking my seat next to Cadence Hayes and squeezing her knee. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and even with all the horribleness going on, the sight of my best friend made me smile. She managed a weak one back, looking tired and annoyed as she watched the shouting match. I sighed and didn't even bother to whisper as I spoke to her, 

“The chariot? Again?” 

Cady nodded. “Isn’t it always?” Even though she was in the Apollo cabin, she told me she thought the feud with the Ares cabin was dumb. And I agreed. It was. 

“You would think they could let it go by now. I mean, it's not like we have bigger things to worry about than a stupid argument.” I was talking loud enough for the whole room to hear, and I saw Travis Stoll crack a smile. Clarisse’s head whipped to me. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand anything about battlefield honor, Jackson. This is more than just an argument. It’s about pride.” 

A year ago, the daughter of Ares’ glare would’ve stopped me dead in my tracks and made my blood run cold. But now, after facing more monsters than I could count and seeing real horrors, the sight just made me angry. Especially her bringing up the battle a year ago, when I was so new and barely knew how to fight and was stuck wounded in the forest. But I had grown since then, and proven myself, and I was not going to let anyone talk to me that way. 

“You two are being ridiculous! Don’t you see we have bigger problems than a stolen chariot?” 

“It’s not stolen!” Michael screamed, slamming his bow on the table. 

“Yes it is!” 

“It’s our loot! If you don’t like it, you can kiss my quiver!” Michaels’ ferret face looked funny trying to be so serious. 

“Enough!” I stood up and yelled, and at the same time the coca-cola can in front of Clarisse exploded, shooting the soda spray everywhere, but mostly on her. I hadn’t meant to turn it into a geyser, but I wasn’t mad about it, either. 

“That’s IT, Jackson!” Clarisse lunged across the table, but I backed up and positioned myself behind a chair. Around the table, people were trying not to laugh—the Stoll brothers, Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner. Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile. Only Cady didn’t look amused, and she was on her feet and by my side quickly, saying things to try and calm both of us down. I wasn’t listening to her, though, and neither was Clarisse. All the laughter only seemed to make Calrisse even more upset, and I got ready to explode the can in front of Connor, which would’ve gone right up the daughter of Ares’ nose, when someone yelled from the doorway. 

"STOP IT!" the voice shouted. Everyone froze, including me and Clarisse, and turned to look at the only person who could’ve stopped the room like that. "What are you guys doing?"

I couldn’t meet my brother’s gaze.

Clarisse glowered at Percy. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk. And tell your sister to control herself and not get involved where she's not wanted." Her last words stung more than the tip of her electric spear, which I had felt more than once during Capture the Flag. 

"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.

"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."

It was at that moment that I noticed the daughter of Aphrodite in the room, her eyes puffy and tear marks streaking her cheeks. I hadn’t even seen her before, she seemed so small curled into herself, with her knees at her chest. Silena was usually someone no one could ignore, she radiated power and beauty and kindness, it was as if you couldn’t help but watch her. But now she seemed a hollow shadow of herself, and the glow of her skin that was usually ever-present had turned gray. She was staring vacantly at the ping-pong net, an untouched cup of hot chocolate in front of her, and I couldn't believe she had to be there. Or maybe she wanted to be here, just so that she wasn’t alone. 

"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded. He had missed a lot that summer. 

Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."

"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.

"What issue?" Percy asked.

Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"

Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters—"

"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and fight when you need us, and not complain!"

"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.

Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D—"

"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, "our director is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."

"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are any of you going to side with me?"

Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes. I stared at the bubbling mess of coke on the table and felt a pang of embarrassment. 

"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost . . .Anyway, I apologize. To you. Nobody else."

Silena didn't seem to register her words.

Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."

Her words hung heavy in the still, silent air, and all the counselors were too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.

Finally Michael Yew piped up, "Good riddance."

"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"

"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"

“Can someone get a towel?” Pollux cried. The soda was slowly making its way towards the son of Dionysus, and I rushed off to the corner where we kept cleaning supplies and began to soak up my mess. 

Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced. I watched Percy give Annabeth a questioning look, to which the blond girl just shook her head. I wished Percy hadn’t been gone so much this summer—maybe we all wouldn't have felt so hopeless about the fight ahead. 

I was about to apologize for exploding the coke can when Chrion spoke again. 

"Now," he continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy—the Great Prophecy."

It was like the air was sucked out of the room in an instant as some counselors gasped and other’s jaw’s flew open. We had been hearing about the prophecy for so long, years for most of them, and although they had an idea of what it said, very few knew all of it word for word. 

The mood darkened as Annabeth slipped Percy an old, dry, rolled-up piece of parchment. 

He took a shaky breath—I couldn’t believe how calm he looked—and began to read: 

"A half-blood of the eldest dogs . . ."

"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's gods. Not dogs."

No one laughed. No one even moved, which was a showing of how serious the situation was. Even though pretty much every demigod had dyslexia, and I knew Percy’s was way worse than mine, we never hesitated to tease each other about it. 

“Well why don’t you do this?!” Percy shouted, clearly stressed. 

“No, no…you can do it. Go on.” Annabeth gave him a weak smile, and that seemed to steady him. 

“Okay.” He looked down at the paper for almost a full minute and then kept reading. "A half~blood of the eldest gods . . . shall reach sixteen against all odds . . ."

Percy hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling crept up my spine, as if the room was freezing. 

"And see the world in endless sleep,

The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."

Was that it? What could it mean…a cursed blade? And endless sleep, was that death? Could the whole world really end in a few days? 

"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."

Percy’s eyes flicked up to mine, and I gave him a single nod. They returned to the paper. 

"A single choice shall. . . shall end his days.

Olympus to per—pursue—"

"Preserve," Annabeth said gently. "It means to save."

"I know what it means," Percy grumbled. His hands were shaking. "Olympus to preserve or raze."

The room was silent. There was a pit in my stomach the size of the Grand Canyon, and I felt like all the air had been kicked out of my lungs. I willed the tears out of my eyes, but they came anyway. 

A final choice shall end his days? His days? 

Any hope I had of being the child of prophecy and saving Percy from his fate felt like a distant dream, and a hopelessness crept into my chest. 

Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"

"Not raise," Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means destroy."

"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."

"Got it." Percy spoke, his voice low. My heart felt like lead. "Thanks."

Everyone was looking at Percy with pity, concern, or even fear, but I couldn’t bear to meet his eyes. I looked instead to Chiron, who closed his eyes as if in prayer. 

"You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy.” He spoke, his voice burdened. “You've had enough on your shoulders—"

"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyway?" Percy interrupted. I felt like someone stabbed me in the heart. "Yeah, I get it."

Chiron gazed at him sadly. I remembered how old he was, and thought about how many heroes he had seen come and go, live and die. 

"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."

"Sure," he said dryly. "A single choice shall end his days. That has tons of meanings, right?" I fought back a sob, but the tears started rushing down my cheeks anyway. 

"Maybe we can stop it," I was hardly aware that I had spoken out loud until I saw all eyes on me. "The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. Maybe we could find this cursed blade and…and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?" Even I wasn't convinced, but I had to try. 

"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time—"

"No." He folded up the prophecy and shoved it into his pocket. He looked defiant and angry, and I didn’t blame him. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"

Annabeth’s hands were shaking. Another tear rolled its way down my cheek. “Percy—” 

"Let's move on," My brother interrupted me. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."

Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"

He told them about what had happened on the Princess Andromeda, and how it had confirmed our worst fears, and how Kronos had shown Percy a silver scythe pendant he’d used to communicate with someone at camp. 

Silena started to cry again, and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.

"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might be a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke—like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well."

Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly. "Um, I mean, it could be anybody."

"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies. "Like one of Luke's siblings."

Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.

"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and . . . and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.

Hot chocolate and coke trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.

"She's right," Pollux said at last, the words of someone who was no stranger to grief. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."

Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the Princess Andromeda won't stop Kronos forever."

"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."

Percy scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?" I had forgotten that Percy had spoken with our dad, and that pang of jealousy came back. 

He and Annabeth looked at each other like, It's time. I always hate it when they do that. 

"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your . . . mortal friends."

The counselors around the table looked at me questioningly, and I just shrugged. Not everyone knew where Percy had been disappearing to this summer, and I didn’t feel the need to explain. 

"Tell me what's happened," he said.

Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where we usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."

The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano—Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying "—even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."

We knew all about last year’s explosion—Percy had caused it. And then he’d gone missing for two weeks and everyone thought he was dead. Well, everyone except for me. 

But this explosion was horrible. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole. I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States. The sight made my blood run cold. 

The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.

"It's him," Percy said, his voice hollow. "Typhon."

Chiron simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. Here is what is happening today."

Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path—ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys. Most of us knew about the destruction Typhon was causing, but we hadn’t seen it yet. The sight made us all gasp. 

"Monumental floods," an announcer was saying. "Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant—just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swat them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some kind of huge bird—a monstrous owl—dived in to attack the giant.

"Are those . . . the gods?" I said.

"Yes, Angie," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward—toward New York. Toward Olympus." So the rumors had been true—the gods had left Olympus to fight their greatest enemy. 

Percy spoke next. "How long until he gets here?"

"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father, who has a war of his own to fight. And Hades, who hardly leaves the underworld."

"But then who's guarding Olympus?" My words tumbled out. 

Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus." Everyone looked sullen and I knew he was right. 

"It's a trick," Percy said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."

Chiron looked at him gravely. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not." 

"We have to defend Olympus," he insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."

"He did," Travis Stoll reminded my brother. "But you sunk his ship."

Percy didn't look convinced. He glanced at Annabeth, a quick look, but a whole conversation seemed to pass between them. I could practically read his mind—what if Kronos had let them blow up the ship so we would lower our guard? Think his plan was thwarted? Only to deal the final, horrible blow when we least expected it? But then I saw his eyes dart to Silena, and I knew he wouldn’t say those words out loud. 

"Maybe you're right," he said, though I don’t think he believed it.

I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus, and there was nothing Percy or I could do about it. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.

Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, my brother was going to die when we turned sixteen—which just so happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.

"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night."

He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared, but the images were still burned in my brain. 

"That's an understatement," Percy muttered, but I think everyone heard. 

“Percy!” I squealed as I rushed forward and flung my arms around him. I had a strange feeling about an hour before that I needed to go to the beach, that my brother would return that afternoon. I had learned to listen to my twin intuition, it usually never let me down. 

I could tell something was very, very wrong as soon as I saw him. He stood still as I hugged him, his arms limp at his side. When I pulled away to look at him, his face was sullen and his eyes were puffy. A sinking feeling filled my chest. 

“Oh gods, Percy. Did…” 

He shook his head. I stepped away. 

“I’m so sorry.” 

“The mission was a success. We blew up the ship. But Beckendorf—” his voice broke, but he gathered himself, "Beckendorf didn’t make it off in time. I couldn’t save him.” 

“He knew the risks.” I didn’t know what else I could say. “He’s a hero.” 

Percy’s face was as hard as stone. 

“I saw dad.” He said flatly. “I saw his Kingdom. His palace.” I fought back a pang of jealousy. “The war down there is pretty bad, they’re not doing well. Oceanus is getting closer and closer, and I’m not sure how much longer—” 

The sound of a conch shell rang out across the sand. 

“Shit.” Percy breathed out. Our reunion was about to be crashed. “Who’s on lookout?” 

“Connor.” I said, glancing back at the tree I knew the Stool brother was hiding in. Sure enough, he was climbing down it and quickly clambering over the sand dunes. He would be at our side in no time. 

“I’ll fill you in later.” He looked back at the water and rubbed his eyes. “Ange?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m glad you’re the first person I saw.” 

I gave him a weak smile and placed my hand on his arm. Thankfully, he didn’t pull away. 

The dark-haired son of Hermes was by our side quickly, wearing his usual crooked grin and bounding excitedly. 

“Percy!” he yelled. “What happened? Where’s Beckendorf?” And then he saw Percy's dark expression, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out . . ."

“Let’s get Percy to the Big House.” I interrupted, and Connor nodded, seeming to get the message. We climbed the sand dunes together, and soon enough we could see campers about a hundred yards away, running up to us excitedly. By the time we made it to the dining pavilion, Percy stopped walking and faced the throng streaming toward us. 

“No use trying to hide anything.” He said, his voice burdened. 

As I waited for the crowd to reach us, I looked out across the valley and thought about what Camp looked like when I first saw it, what felt like a thousand years ago. 

From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley. On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, what once was Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches, magically protecting the camp from its enemies. I thought of the stories Percy told me about how they retrieved it. The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here—curled around the tree trunk, lending up smoke signals as he snored.

To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake, one of my favorite places at camp, glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins—one for each Olympian god—made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Farther south were the strawberry fields, the armory, and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane.

I had only been here for a year, and sometimes that fact caught me by surprise. It had all become so normal, this crazy world of monsters and gods that I once thought were just stories but now knew were very, very real. Sometimes it was hard to remember what my life was like before I found out who I really am. 

In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You could see it in the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill.

There weren't as many at camp as even a year ago, and Percy told me that it was even less than it had been four summers ago, when he arrived. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others—though we tried not to talk about them—had gone over to the enemy.

The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.

Chiron galloped into the pavilion first as the campers opened a path for him. He had been letting his beard grow out over the summer, and only then did I realize how wild it had gotten. 

"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where . . ." 

Annabeth ran up right past him and grabbed Percy’s arm, not caring that she interrupted Chiron.

She looked a mess. They were all doing so many combat missions recently, she hardly had any time to think about her appearance, much less trying to look good. Her curly blonde hair was a tangled mess and there were perpetual dark circles under her stormy gray eyes. But even so, I watched as my brother’s eyes lit up as he saw her. I saw the way he stood up a little straighter as she ran towards him. I wondered if the two of them would ever get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other, and if they did, maybe something beautiful could come of it. 

"What happened?" Annabeth grabbed Percy’s arm. "Is Luke—"

"The ship blew up," he said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where—"

Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which hadn’t been weird for Annabeth, but definitely wasn't like the daughter of Aphrodite.

"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.

My heart sank, and I saw Percy glance helplessly at Chiron. Annabeth seemed to notice, too, because she started shaking her head, looking at me as she put her hand over her open mouth. 

The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House—"

"No," she muttered. "No. No."

She started to cry, and then broke into sobs, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. The energy in the pavilion dropped from frantic to sullen in a matter of moments, like the air was sucked out of the entire world. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.

Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She was dressed in her blood red combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but in that moment there was no one else that could’ve comforted Silena. They had one of the strangest, but coolest, friendships at Camp and she put her arm around her, speaking gently. 

"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes after that, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see Percy now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.

Only Annabeth, Chiron, and I stayed behind.

Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."

"Thanks," he replied numbly. "Me too."

Chiron put a hand on Percy’s  shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"

Percy sighed heavily, like just thinking about reliving everything caused him pain. But even so, he started to speak. 

He told us about what had happened on the boat, and his confrontation with Kronos. I shivered remembering my own conversation with the Titan just a month before. He told us about the dream he had while he was passed out—seeing the Titans on Mount Othrys talking about explosions and storms and the gods answering their challenge. He said he saw Krios, Atlas, and another golden Titan Percy didn’t recognize. And then he explained how he had been woken up underwater by our half-brother, Tyson, and brought to our father's palace. When he stopped talking, I got the sense that there was something he wasn’t telling us, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring it up in front of Chiron. 

There was a long silence before the centaur spoke, his voice sounding ancient. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."

"Poseidon mentioned another threat," Percy said. "Something even bigger than the Princess Andromeda. I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."

Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.

"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.

"One more thing." My brother took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy."

Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth—all of it. Let's go to the attic."

When we got to the big house, Chiron told Annabeth and Percy to go into the attic and retrieve the prophecy. Then he turned to me. 

“Go and tell Carsen to call a war meeting, and if you pass any senior counselors on the way, inform them and send them to the War Room, immediately.” 

I nodded and ran out of the big house as fast as I could, not wanting to argue. As I flew by the infirmary I risked a glance inside, but wasn’t surprised to see it empty. I knew Cady wouldn’t be in there, she usually took the night shift and spent her days training the rest of her cabin, but it still would've been nice to see a friendly face. I shook my head, reminding myself I had a task to do, and ran towards the center of camp. 

I didn't stop until I reached the lookout tower, a giant structure resembling a treehouse in the heart of camp that overlooked the whole valley. From the top of it, you could see just about anywhere in the Camp, including its borders. Since I arrived, it was always manned, day and night, with a camper stationed to look for possible threats. It was also the place that they sounded the conch from, signaling meals and other events.

I looked up at the massive structure that stretched into the sky, took a deep breath, and began climbing the wooden ladder. I hated doing it, and I hated heights, since every foot into the air brought me closer and closer to Zeus' domain. But the Lord of the Sky hadn’t blasted me with a lightning bolt for climbing the tower yet, and I figured he had bigger problems to worry about than watching his pesky niece encroach on his territory. 

I reached the top, panting and sweaty, and found Carsen sitting with binoculars up to her eyes. The daughter of Hermes had light hair which she usually wore in a ponytail with freckles on her cheeks. She had been at camp longer than me, and although she was quieter than her siblings and liked to keep to herself, I knew her to be kind and wicked with a sword. She whipped around when she heard me, her weapon in her hand and ready to strike. 

“Angie?” I got the sense she wasn’t used to people in the tower with her. 

“Hey, Carsen. Chiron sent me. We need to call a War Council.” 

She nodded solemnly and picked up the large conch that sat on a low shelf. I felt a thrum of power radiate from the shell, like I always did when I was around anything from the sea. She raised it to her lips and let out three short and very loud calls—a signal that all senior counselors would recognize. A signal that would send them straight to the war room. 

“Thanks.” I said with a weak smile as I turned to start my trek back down the tower. Once the conch sounded, we only had minutes to get to the Big House before the meeting started. 

“No problem…Angie?” 

I turned back to her. 

“Is it true? About…about Beckendorf?” 

My heart sank into my stomach hearing his name. I had no idea how word had reached Carsen already way up in her tower, but I didn’t ask. I just nodded. 

“Yeah.” 

She looked down and let out a heavy sigh, muttering a phrase under her breath. “May his soul find rest in Elysium.” 

I didn’t realize she had spoken in Ancient Greek until she switched back to english. “I’m glad Percy made it back, though.” 

I managed a smile at him. “If we hadn’t been on the water, I would’ve been a goner.” 

Percy just shrugged. “That doesn’t discount what you did do. There have been plenty of times I could say the same thing.” His eyes got far away then, as if he was lost in thought, or trying to think of the right thing to say. 

“Angie?” He said finally. 

“Yeah?” 

“Just…be careful. Don’t listen to anything he said, don’t let his lies get in your head. I hope—” he took a deep breath and then looked me in the eyes. “I hope you never actually feel like that.” 

I almost answered him truthfully, but when I looked at him, it was like he aged ten years. His eyes were so heavy, his face was so burdened. His shoulders were slumped. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. 

“Of course not.” I lied, trying very hard to make it believable. I was a pretty good liar, but lying to Percy was different. It was like lying to myself. 

He sighed deeply, walking over to the light switch and turning off the lights without a word. I listened as he crawled into his bed, and waited for him to say goodnight. 

Silence hung in the air, the only sound the tossing and turning coming from my brother's bunk. Eventually I closed my eyes and drifted into a fitful sleep. 

July came and nothing changed much. We filled our days with training, although with noticeably more military drills than normal, and people floated in and out of camp depending on the missions that were assigned. The Fourth passed with our usual fireworks celebration on the beach, but it just didn’t feel the same. Everyone tried to be happy, and pretend the pretty lights in the sky took away the fear that was growing in our hearts, but with all the forced smiles and light laughter, there was still that darkness hanging over our heads. 

Percy and I sat alone on the beach away from everyone, and we hardly said a word. It had been harder for him to be around the other campers, he confided, since they all wanted to know what was happening in the War outside. They came to him with their questions, their expectations, their hopes, and Percy took the full burden onto his shoulders. And try as I might, there was nothing I could do to get him to share that weight. 

And then there was The Prophecy. That was one thing nobody talked about, but was always on everyone's minds. It was always implied, always unsaid, always there between the lines. I wanted to talk about it, wanted to tell Percy that maybe, just maybe, that burden wasn’t his. Maybe it was mine. 

And I think other people thought that, too. 

But no matter what, the thing I could do was stay by him. Let him know I was there. Because I always would be, and I told him that much. He had even started to pull away from Annabeth, perhaps the one other person who could truly understand what he was going through. That worried me the most. 

He didn’t get sent on another assignment until halfway through the month, which I was glad about. But then he was gone again, five days this time. And when he came back, with cuts on his arms and a black eye, he hardly said a word for days. He would walk around camp with a fake smile, which I could see through but apparently no one else could, and participated like normal. 

But then he would get back to our cabin, and his face would fall and his eyes would go dark. He would say next to nothing to me, and I learned not to push him. We stopped playing rock-paper-scissors at night, and sometimes I could hear the quietest cries coming from his bunk. I fought the urge to crawl in the covers with him, to hold him close and tell him everything would be okay. I came close a few nights, even sitting up and putting my feet on the ground, but then the cries stopped and Percy faked sleep. The message was clear—he would rather take on the pain of the world than let someone he loved share the hurt. 

I finally understood what Annabeth had meant almost a year ago when she told me that loyalty could be a very dangerous thing. 

He started disappearing more often—the rest of the campers thought he was on assignments, but I knew that half the time he was really just at home. Usually this wouldn’t have been allowed, but these times weren’t usual. 

Chiron had let him take breaks from camp, seeing the physical and emotional toll it was taking on him. Most days I couldn’t think of the pressure on my brother without breaking down. We were only fifteen, and yet he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, literally. Everyday we inched closer to our sixteenth birthday, and with it the inevitable battle that would either end in the destruction of the world as we knew it or victory. But either way, it would probably end with the death of me or my brother. Or both. And we knew that. 

Despite Percy trying to assure me that he was the child of the prophecy, I never could get the idea out of my head. And most days I was grateful that it probably was him, but other days I just wanted to take it all away from him and take it myself. Not for the kleos, but to see my brother really smile again. 

The worst part of the summer was the end of July, when Cady, Rosie, and Evan had been sent on another mission. To my annoyance, they listened to Chiron and didn’t tell me anything about it, although I almost got Rosie to spill the beans once or twice. Clearly it didn’t involve water, since I was noticeably left out this time. Or, it did, and Chiron just didn’t want to risk me running into Kronos again. I had never told him what the Titan said, but I got the feeling the centaur somehow knew the words had gotten under my skin. Maybe he didn’t trust me to not give in—and deep down, I couldn't blame him. 

Not only were my best friends gone, but Percy had also taken an extra long visit home, one that I begged to join him on but Chiron wouldn’t allow. This meant I wandered around alone most days, going from training session to training session by myself. Thankfully Annabeth was still at camp, so the two of us spent a lot more time together than we normally would. 

We had come a long way in our year of friendship, and now I found myself confiding in her almost as much as I did in Cady. There were just some things, especially about Percy, that Annabeth could relate to more than anyone else, and so I found myself following the Athena cabin around like their lost little puppy. No one seemed to mind—Percy had been doing that for years. 

I was walking back with Annabeth and her siblings from one of our mythology classes when a younger camper ran up to me, a child of Demeter, I thought. 

“Excuse me, Angie Jackson?” 

I smiled down at the girl, who couldn't have been more than twelve. “Yeah?” 

“Could you help me?” 

I shared a glance with Annabeth, who smiled and nodded. “We’ll see you at dinner.” she said, motioning for her siblings to keep walking. I turned back to the young girl. 

“Of course. What do you need?” 

“Follow me!” 

She took off running in the direction of the forest, and for the briefest moment I faltered. The thought that raced through my mind made me shake my head—it was a ridiculous thought. A possibility so indicative of the times, it made me sad that it came to mind. This girl isn't leading you into a trap, I chided myself. She's a fellow demigod, and she needs your help. 

I took off after her. 

Eventually I caught up to her at the edge of the woods. She was panting slightly from the run, and for the first time I noticed how small she was, even for her age. My heart went out to her—she should’ve been on the playground, not doing military drills in the middle of a war. 

“So, what’s the problem?” 

“Just in here.” She continued, taking me towards the creek that ran through the trees. 

The closer we got to the water, the more I could sense something was wrong. When we finally got to the clearing, I let out a gasp. The creek had risen a lot, flooding its banks and changing course—and it looked like it was only getting worse. 

“Whoa.” I breathed out. I saw a small group of campers and an assortment of satyrs and nymphs just at the edge of the water. I followed the young girl to them. 

“I got her!” She said triumphantly. 

“Thanks, Marigold.” Katie Gardner, the Demeter cabin counselor said, giving her a smile. She turned to me. “Hey, Angie. We, uh, have a problem.” 

“I can see that…did someone make a naiad angry?” 

Katie sighed and glanced over to one of the boys standing by the water. “What gave it away?” 

I let out a chuckle and shrugged. “What happened?” 

“Well, we were trying to plant some new blackberry bushes along the edge of the forest, but the soil conditions were too dry. One of my siblings had the brilliant idea to, instead of moving the bushes, ask the river nymphs if they could create a smaller creek to run along the edge. You know, for the bushes. 

I inhaled sharply. I was one of the only campers who knew the naiads well, and I loved hanging out with them, but I also knew they could be incredibly prideful—as most creatures of the water had a tendency to be. 

“Let me guess—they didn’t like that very much?” 

“Not at all.” Katie confirmed, shooting daggers at the sandy-haired boy. 

“I said sorry, okay?” 

“You offended the river nymphs, Andrew,” I thought I remembered the child of Demeter’s name, “it's gonna take more than an apology.”

“We were hoping you could talk to them.” Katie pleaded. “If this continues, we could have a real flood on our hands.” 

“And we don't want Chiron finding out, do we?” I added. 

A couple of the younger kids, including Andrew, looked down in shame. Katie just chuckled. 

“Exactly.” 

“Oh, I’m sure he already knows.” I said, cracking a smile. “Andrew, with me. The rest of you, talk to the nature spirits and see if they can hold back the water in the meantime.” 

“Can’t you just stop the flood?” the small girl, Marigold, asked in a timid voice. I bent down to her eye level. 

“I could, but that would make the naiads even angrier, and they’re my friends, so I don’t want to do that.” 

She nodded, as if that made perfect sense. I stood back up and made my way to where the creek was supposed to run, wading through the flooded banks. Andrew skulked behind, staying a good distance from me, and balked by the water’s edge. 

“Keep up!” I called. “It’s just water, you’ll be fine!” 

“But the water is mad at me.” 

I couldn't help but laugh. But however ridiculous it sounded, he was right. The water was angry, and the closer we got to the creek, the angrier it got. And before you ask—yes, water can feel angry. Or happy. Or sad. Just trust me. 

This water felt angry and offended. I saw the source of those feelings sitting at the bottom of the rushing water, her arms crossed. The current was strong as I walked toward her, as if it was actively trying to push me away. And it probably would have if I weren’t the daughter of the sea god. 

“Hey, Teifi.” I recognized the naiad. “I heard some silly boy asked you to divert your creek?” 

She shot out of the water, standing up with her hands on her hips and fury on her face. 

“Yes! That one!” She pointed accusingly at Andrew, who cowered. “Can you believe it?” 

“They just don’t understand how much work all this is.” I sympathized with her, gesturing to the water. 

“It’s so rude!” The water gushed even faster. “No one ever appreciates my hard work. I keep this creek clean, and they trample through it during their ridiculous Capture the Flag. I keep the fish and frogs happy and healthy, and they don’t even bother to comment on how beautiful they look. I keep it running, and they ask me to change its course! They get to enjoy the results of my labor, but do they ever thank me?” 

“I bet they don’t.” 

“They do not! And you’re the only one who bothers to say hello and pop underwater for a chat.” 

“Well, most of them can’t breathe underwater, so…” Teifi raised a questioning eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. “They just don’t understand.” 

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Demigods. They never do.” The water started to calm a bit, but not enough, and it was still rising, flooding the bank of the creek. “And whenever they do talk to us, they’re always asking for things. ‘Oh, can you retrieve the arrow I shot into the river?’ ‘Hey Naiad, can you create a new stream so that we can water our blueberry bushes—” 

“They were blackberry bushes.” 

I shot Andrew a warning look. 

“Ridiculous!” Teifi cried. “Well, they asked for more water, so I’m giving it to them.” She crossed her arms, a self-righteous look on her face, and part of me didn’t blame her. 

“I am so sorry that we haven’t been respectful to you, and all the other nature spirits.” 

She looked skeptical. 

I cleared my throat. “Right, Andrew?” 

“Oh, um, yes. Right!” He took a nervous step forward, wading into the water. I could feel how hard he was straining to not fall over. “I’m sorry I asked you to make a new creek. I didn’t know how rude that would come across, and that wasn’t my intention.” 

Teifi’s hard expression softened ever so slightly, and the current around his feet lessened. 

“It’s just that, I don’t think any of us realize everything you do for camp.” Andrew continued. “I had no idea you were responsible for the things in your river as well as the water.” 

“Well, duh!” She sounded just like a normal teenage girl. “Who do you think makes sure the tadpoles turn into frogs?” 

Andrew shrugged. “I guess I thought it just…happened.” 

The naiad scoffed. “Well, now you know better!” 

“Yes, I do.” He took another step forward, and I was glad when the water didn’t push back. “And I’ll tell all my siblings, and the other campers. We need to respect you Naiads more, and the other nature spirits.” 

He gave me a nervous look, and I nodded and smiled. He was saying the perfect things all on his own, and a small part of me was proud. 

Teifi gave him a curious look, as if she was sizing him up. “And you’re being sincere?” 

Andrew nodded quickly. “I am.” 

She looked at me, and I gave her a quick nod in reassurance. Then she broke into a smile. 

“Well that’s all I was looking for! An apology and a little respect go a long way.” 

The Naiad stretched out her hand and immediately the waters began to retreat. I felt a release of tension, as if the water had been holding its breath, and then it all got calmer. I felt the rush at my feet, and before I knew it the creek was in its right place again. 

“Thanks, Teifi.” I sighed. “We really appreciate it.” 

“And this whole time I thought you were the only one at this camp with a good head on your shoulders.” She winked at Andrew, who blushed and looked away. “Maybe I was wrong.” I let out a chuckle, which she returned. “I’ll see you around, Angie!” 

And then she dived into the flowing waters, leaving me and the son of Demeter alone. 

“That was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.” He said slowly. “And not just because of the naiad.” He cracked a smile, and I rolled my eyes. I knew my reputation at camp—the words terrifying and unpredictable were thrown around way too much, if you ask me. But it was usually all in good fun. 

“Didn’t you fight in the battle last summer?” 

“Well yeah, but I was trained for that! If it weren’t for you, I think she would’ve drowned me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “She definitely would’ve drowned you. But that's what I’m here for!” 

Andrew smiled, although I think it was in spite of himself. 

“Thanks, Angie.” He said as we made our way back to the clearing where everyone else was gathering. 

“No problem. Just try not to offend anymore Naiads, okay?” 

“I’ll do my best.” 

“Angie! Whatever you did, it worked.” Katie Gardner cried as she rushed toward the two of us.” Thank you, thank you, thank you! Gods, that was a close call. Juniper told me it was Teifi? Yikes, that is one Naiad you do not want to make angry.” 

“Don’t thank me, thank Andrew.” 

“Huh?” The strawberry blond boy looked at me, confused. I nodded at him with a smile.

“He apologized to Teifi and told her we don’t appreciate them enough. He said he would tell the other campers everything the nature spirits do for us and how we should be more thankful.” 

Katie looked at her sibling like she was seeing him in a new light. 

“Andrew, that’s great! I’m so proud of you.” She threw her arms around him. “As children of Demeter, it’s our responsibility to lead the way for all demigods when it comes to nature. You’ve taken an important step today.” 

The younger boy was beaming now, and I couldn't stop my own smile. 

“Maybe I can say something at the campfire tonight?” 

“I know one of the head Apollo campers pretty well, I’m sure I can make that happen.” I assured the boy, who then ran off to tell his other siblings what had taken place by the creek.

Katie and I were quiet for a moment, her watching her siblings with a sense of pride. Katie had always been around, but the two of us didn’t know each other well. We saw each other more now that I was one of the counselors for the Poseidon cabin, but those interactions were mostly at our weekly war meetings. Even so, we got along great, and I thought of her as one of my friends at camp.

 It was nice to see her in her element. I had never noticed it until then, but she was such a good and natural leader. Her siblings looked up to her, and she was always thinking of the good of her cabin. It had never struck me before, because she was such a different leader than Percy or even Annabeth—the two people I looked up to the most. She was quiet, and calm, but wise. And obviously powerful. I had seen the Demeter kids do some crazy things with vines and plants. She just expressed her power in different ways. 

“Thanks for what you did for Andrew. I can tell he feels sort of like a hero now, like he saved the camp from the flooding creek.” Katie said it lightly, but she wasn’t entirely wrong. I know the grudges the Naiads held, they told me all about them. 

“It was nothing. I just talked to Teifi. You know how we can get when it comes to water.” 

She looked at me curiously. “We?” 

“Oh, I mean, people and spirits who are connected to water. We all kinda have a tendency to be temperamental and impulsive.” 

“Do you think of yourself as one of them?” 

I had never really considered it before, and it was never a feeling I had to put into words. “I feel like I understand them, in a way. They get their power, their source of life, from the same place I do. Well, almost. I would maybe say the sea is even more impetuous and unpredictable. Unforgiving.” 

“Hmm. That’s an interesting thing to say.”

I watched as the Demeter kids broke into laughter all together and I sighed. “Sorry you got me instead of my brother.” 

Katie turned to me, confusion on her face. “What do you mean?” 

“Because he’s away from camp, so you had to come to me for the water problem.” I was letting my insecurities spill out, flood the banks like the creek had. It was strange for me, but something about Katie brought it out. 

“Angie,” Katie shook her head and laughed lightly, “I would’ve gone to you even if Percy were here.” 

“What?” I couldn’t understand why she would say that. 

“He could’ve handled this just fine, sure. He would’ve made the water retreat and saved the day. He would’ve been the hero. But he couldn’t have done what you did.” 

“I don’t…”

“You really don’t see it, do you?” 

I turned my head to her and she let out an exasperated sigh, as if she could read my mind. 

“It’s what you just said. You think of yourself as connected to the water nymphs, the water itself. You’re a part of both worlds. Plus, do you think Percy would’ve talked to the Naiad?” 

“Well, maybe?” 

“Right, maybe. Everyone knows you’re pretty much the only one here who has a good relationship with them. They scare your brother…like most teenage girls do.” 

We both dissolved into giggles before Katie composed herself. “And he would’ve talked to Andrew, and explained why Teifi did what she did. He’s always been good with the younger kids. But you,” she smiled warmly at me, like sunrays over a wheat field, “you connected with the Naiad and Andrew. You gave him the confidence and chance to step up, own his mistakes, and fix them. You gave him the chance to be better. You let him be the hero. And you did it in a way that didn’t hurt Teifi’s ego and make the whole situation worse. Not many people could’ve done that.” 

I let her words wash over me, trying to believe them. I understood what she was saying, but try as I might, I just couldn’t absorb them. It was like there was something deep inside of me that they bounced right off of, and a small voice whispered that Percy still would've been the better choice. Hadn’t the last year—the last fourteen years, actually—shown me that he always was? 

“Thanks Katie.” 

“You still don’t see it, do you?” 

I turned to her and didn’t try to hide how I was feeling. 

“Anything to add, Angie?” 

My friends shifted and stared at me. 

“I…umm…I saw Kronos.” 

The centaurs' eyes went wide. 

“You saw him?” 

“And talked to him.” 

“Oh.” He was trying very hard to not look nervous, but he was failing. His tail swished. “What did the Titan Lord say to you?” 

“He wanted me to join him. I said I wasn’t interested, and then I hit his ship with a giant wave.” I was trying to seem unaffected, but my voice was shaky. Again, Cady gave me a look like she knew there was more to the conversation. Chiron gave me the same one. 

“Anything else you should let me know?” 

I shook my head quickly. “No. Well, he already knew who I was. That was creepy.” 

Chiron nodded. “I’m sure most people in our world do. The second forbidden child of Poseidon in the last few years. Word gets around.” 

The second. The words rang in my ears. 

“Well, congratulations on a successful mission.” Chiron continued. “We’ll have another meeting tomorrow to go over the details of what you discovered. But for tonight, return to your cabins and get some sleep. I’m very proud of you all.” He made eye contact with all of us and smiled, and I squirmed under his gaze. “Oh!” He held up four golden rods that looked like rulers. “Don’t forget your hall passes, don’t want any of you getting eaten by harpies!” 

I opened the door to Cabin 3 slowly, not wanting to wake Percy if he had made it back to camp. I wasn’t sure what time it was exactly, but I knew it was past midnight. 

I had barely closed the door when I felt arms wrap around me and lift me into the air. 

“Thank the gods!” I heard the voice of my brother cry as he buried his head in my neck. “When I got back to camp Chiron told me about your mission. I’ve been worried sick all day!” 

I laughed and hugged Percy back just as tight. “Worried about me? I’ve been worried about you for a week!” 

He finally put me down and let go of the hug, but kept his hands on my arms. “My little sister going on her first big mission without me? Of course I was a wreck!” I wasn’t used to seeing Percy so shaken up, and now that I was getting a better look at his face, he did look rough. I guessed his mission had been pretty taxing, and I made a mental note to ask about it tomorrow. 

“I’m hardly your little sister. We’re the same age!”  

“I’m older than you!” 

“By nineteen minutes!” 

Percy shrugged and laughed. “It counts.” 

I knew he was joking, like we always did about this subject, but after what Kronos had said to me earlier something about his words stung. I had always been second to Percy, even in birth. My smile fell, and he noticed. 

“What’s wrong?” His face was suddenly deeply concerned. 

“Nothing!” I tried to lighten up. “Just tired, that’s all.” 

He gave me a look like he didn’t believe me, but didn’t push it. “Alright, let’s go to bed. But I want a full report on your mission tomorrow, every little detail!” He tried to ruffle my hair, but I dodged his hand. 

I smiled at him as I made my way to my bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas. My clothes weren’t wet, anyways. 

I looked over to where he stood in the middle of the room and held up my hands, ready for our nightly rock-paper-scissors ritual. “Ready?” 

He smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I got the lights.” 

I broke into a wide smile as he sent the room into darkness. I think it was the first time Percy had turned the lights off in months. 

“Goodnight, Percy.” I said as I heard him climbing into his bed. “Thanks for waiting up for me.” 

“Of course, Ange. I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

Camp was buzzing the next day. With Percy and Annabeth returning from their super-secret mission and us coming back from ours all within 24 hours, the other campers couldn’t help but ask a million questions. Questions we couldn’t answer, of course, but everyone was glad to see us all come back safely and mostly unharmed. I tried to put on a smile and seem grateful to be back, but those closest to me could tell something was wrong, and they spent all day trying to get it out of me. 

Cady asked to go canoeing with me during free time, and I knew it was just because she wanted to get me alone. Cady didn’t like being anywhere near the water, let alone on it, but she knew it was my favorite place to be. Despite myself, I agreed and soon enough we were paddling out on the gentle waves. 

We were drifting in the middle, me waving and gossiping with some of the naiads, when Cady cleared her throat. 

“Are you okay, Angie?” 

I kept my eyes on the blue, leaning over the side of the canoe. 

“Of course I am.” I tried to sound chipper, but it just came off as fake. I could practically feel Cady rolling her eyes behind me. 

“Ever since we left the Princess Andromeda yesterday, you’ve been off. And don't pretend you’re not, because I can see through you.” 

I finally sat up and looked at her face. It was full of care and concern. Everything in me was screaming to lie and keep my defenses up, to not let her in. 

I decided to come clean. 

“Yeah, okay. I’m not alright.” 

“What happened on that boat?” 

“It’s a ship, actually—” 

“Oh whatever! You and Percy are the worst about that.” 

I cracked a smile at her and she cracked one back before getting serious again. “But really, what happened?” 

I took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start. “Well, Kronos said some stuff that kind of got to me.” 

She nodded, giving me space to keep going. 

“He wanted me to join him, and gave some…interesting reasons.” 

“What did he say to you?” Her eyes were murderous. 

“He said…he said I could be the greatest demigod to ever live. That I could be more powerful than Percy, that I should be more powerful than Percy, but my father abandoned me. That Poseidon chose my brother instead and gave him the life I deserved. That I’m worthless in the eyes of the gods, but to him I could be great. He told me to turn my back on them, like they turned their back on me. He said that if I joined him, I would be able to become who I’m meant to be.” 

She looked at me for a long moment, like she was studying me. Then she broke her silence with a sigh. “I don’t know about ‘meant to be.’ I know I should put more stock in the Fates, but when you see what I see, I’ve learned it’s less about what's meant to be and more about what is. And what isn’t.” She looked out to the waves and then back at me. “Is that what you want? To become great? Is that what you believe?” 

I shook my head. “I don’t know.” I had never felt more lost in my life, and that was saying a lot. “I don’t think it is.” 

“Well, what do you think about all that?” 

I took a long moment to think, letting my hand trail in the water. I glanced down at the naiads, one of them taking my hand and using it to spin themselves like they were dancing. I smiled down at them, reminded of everything I had been given by this crazy family at camp. Everything I had been given by my father, all the wonderful things from his world. 

But at the same time, the sting of the abandonment I tried to push away persisted. There were also awful things that came from this world, horrible burdens I had no choice but to carry. I had tried to bury those thoughts for a year now, but hearing Kronos say them out loud tore open old wounds. I took another shaky breath and spoke. 

“I believe in my friends. I know that much. Deep down, if I’m honest with myself, I did feel abandoned. Sometimes I still do. My dad explained to me why he did what he did, assured me that he loves me and was trying to protect me. He tells me I have a great destiny ahead, and all my struggles are necessary in order to reach it. And all that’s great, but it doesn't take away all those years of feeling different and alone.” Tears were filling my eyes and spilling out faster than I could stop them. I sat in the canoe and let my sobs erupt out of me, not caring what anyone else thought. I had been holding in so much for so long, that once the floodgates were open, there was no closing them again. After a while I calmed down, and took another shaky breath. 

“I don’t know if the gods care about me.” I continued. “I don’t know if they care about any of us. I think they do. I want them to. But I know we are who we are because of them. And I know we care about each other. And I know that I never want to turn my back on this family.

“His voice has just been in my head all day, and I can’t shut him up.” I finally choked out. I felt so drained, and hopeless, and tired. I had never been that open with anyone in my life, and it left me feeling vulnerable, but strangely strong. Like something about sharing had made me feel a little less alone, regardless of if Cady understood me or not. It felt good to have someone else I could be honest with. 

Cady reached forward and took my hands, and I let her. Usually I pulled away from physical affection from anyone except Percy, since he was the only person I ever let see me struggle, the only person I let comfort me. But Cady and I had been through so much—she was there with me on my very first day of this journey. If anything made me believe in the Fates, it was her. 

She squeezed my hand gently until I looked up at her, only love and gentleness in her eyes. 

"Everyone here is going to tell you that the gods love us,” Cady began, “and that they do things we don't understand because they know more than we do. And that they're busy, but they’re watching us. And they're going to tell you about destiny, and prophecies, and struggle. And Kleos."

She shrugged and looked up to the sky, as if thinking of what to say next. When her eyes met mine, I had never seen them look so certain.

"And that's fine. And maybe it's true. I don't know about anyone else's parents, but I can tell you that I know for sure that my dad loves me. And he loved Lee, and when we saw them all at the winter solstice, and things were tense and horrible, he made a point to find me and Will and Michael and tell us that he cared, and he was watching. You know your dad loves you, don’t you? And he loves Percy. You can feel it.” 

I nodded, a tear rolling down my cheek. She was right, I did know that. 

She squeezed my hand again. 

"Replace Kronos’ voice, his awful voice, with one you know. With your dad’s, your mom’s, Percy’s. Telling you that you are strong, and capable, and powerful, but not because you were meant to be, in another life, but because you are. In this one.” 

I managed a smile, and then leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. I held her tightly, not knowing how else to show my gratitude. 

“It’s just so hard sometimes. I don’t feel very strong.” 

“I know.” she said simply, holding me tightly. “But you don’t have to feel something all the time to know that it’s true.” 

We stayed there for a long while, just holding each other, until the dinner conch rang. We paddled back in silence and walked to the dining pavilion hand in hand. When we walked up the steps, I felt someone ruffle my hair from behind me, and I knew there was only one person alive who would dare to do that. 

“Where have you two been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere—” 

I whipped around and threw my arms around my brother, squeezing him tight. A few of the campers passing by gave us strange looks—usually the only time people saw me make physical contact with someone else was when I was pushing them down during sword sparring—but I didn’t care. 

“Whoa! What's this about?” Percy asked while laughing. 

“No reason.” He gave me a strange look, and then noticed how red and puffy my eyes were. I could never hide when I had been crying. 

“What's going on? Are you okay?” 

“I am now.” I shot a smile to Cady. “I’ll tell you tonight, don’t worry about it.” 

He raised an eyebrow, but let it go, slinging an arm around me and leading me over to our table. We ordered blue soda from the magical goblets and got in line to make our offerings. When it was my turn, I scraped the biggest, ripest strawberry on my plate into the fire. 

“To Poseidon. And Hestia. Thanks for everything.” 

The air around me smelled of salt and a breeze rustled my hair. I looked down into the flames and saw a face smiling back at me. 

The uneasiness in the pit of my stomach was still there, the words of not good enough and second-place and worthless still rung in my head, but I told them to shut up. I pushed them away. A part of me knew the pain of it all would never fade completely, but I could choose to not let it control me anymore. At least a little, day by day. 

As I was walking back to the table I heard a voice in my head, a familiar one I hadn't heard since my fifteenth birthday. A man’s voice, deep yet kind. Like an old sailors. 

“I love you, my daughter. And I’m very proud of you. Never forget that.”