I was stood on the cliff at Camp Half-Blood. Summer was almost over, and the sun was setting in the sky, casting ominous blood-reds overhead. In the distance, I could hear the waves crash gently against the rock, and from somewhere behind me, the campers could be heard singing over the camp fire.

"This is insane," I commented with a small breath.

Hera shrugged a shoulder, as though she couldn't careless anyway. She was stood in her usual silk dress, green this time, her train slithering across the grass behind her. Her hair was pinned back a little hastily, and she kept drumming her fingertips into the side of her stomach like she was anxious to get as far away from me as possible before she ruined her plan and killed me on instinct.

I gulped hard and shook the thought away. "You realise you're not even supposed to be here, right?" I clarified.

She glowered at me furiously. "I do not take orders from you, half-blood," she spat. "The others have tested you, now it is my turn."

"I'm not finishing the tests," I replied stubbornly, flinching when her eyes flashed in anger.

"It is my right!" she demanded. "You will hear me, and you will do this, or that poison in your blood will be the least of your worries."

I managed a soft scoff. "Going to kill me faster?"

"There are worse things than death, Acacia Grace," she promised me, in a sinister tone that made me shiver. "Just look at poor Heracles." The thought of what she'd done to him didn't make me feel any better. In fact, I was fairly sure he been driven insane and forced to harm his own family.

Knowing Thalia and Percy were now being threatened right in front of me, I gulped again and set my expression. "Get it over with," I grumbled.

Hera's jaw locked angrily, but she squared her shoulders and turned to face me. "Your test, Acacia Grace, is to fix the mess you have made."

For a moment, all I could do was stare at her incredulously. Then my jaw snapped shut and I laughed strangely. "I've made?" I clarified.

She ignored me. "Family is the most important thing to me," she warned. "And you've torn mine apart. Zeus is furious with Apollo. He believes it is his fault you are so willing to accept your own death rather than take a place on Olympus. Artemis is equally annoyed with him, and will not even consent to being in the same room after losing her precious wolf, Sasha, who has disappeared and cannot be found. Hermes is as close to an outcast as possible for an Olympian god, and even when he is present, no one takes him seriously. Apollo and Ares continuously fight, made all the worse because Apollo continues to blame Aphrodite for his own problems. Frankly, it's all rather boring and I suggest you fix it. Quickly."

I blinked. "How do you suppose I do that?"

"There are several solutions I can think of," she admitted helpfully. "Either you hurry up and die, and then perhaps that will unite the gods against the titans, or you make your peace with Apollo and Artemis."

I let out another stunned laugh. "We'll try the first, shall we?"

She glowered. "And if that doesn't work," she started, stepping forward threateningly, "you won't be here for me to punish, now will you?"

I got the message. Loud and clear. Make amends with Apollo and Artemis, or Thalia and Percy were in serious trouble.

Three months later, I still hadn't made any progress.