(A/N: Thank you for all of your thoughts on my story- it helps me write better. Although, I do wish to point out that some things you may be critizing have already been addressed in my previous Author Notes. Please read them.

Also, I addressed that this story seems very wobbly and.. well not very good at the moment. The end of this chapter and everything after, I intend to be much better. I'm aware I added a lot of unnecessary things, but that's how I chose to wrote it anyways.

Enjoy! :) )

I sat in the living room of the Big House along with Piper and Chiron.

"Okay, Piper," Chiron said. "Please explain to us what you saw."

I kept my hand on her shoulder for support.

Piper looked down and scrunched her eyebrows together. "I... I'm not sure what it was. It was a large, dark figure. It was gory, too. When I was pulling back my arrow, I caught it out of the corner of my eye, and once I turned my full attention to it, it sped towards me and then vanished."

I looked at Chiron with worried eyes. Is Piper okay?

After a moment of silence, Piper continued. "Seriously, how'd you guys not see it?"

"I..." My eyebrows scrunched and my lips pressed together in thought. I remembered that that exact look is the one Percy described as my I'm-thinking-of-something look. "What do mean by gory?" I asked Piper, searching for a more specific description.

"Like... The body seemed disfigured, cut up maybe? It was very bloody. But it was very unidentifiable."

I hummed in thought. Then it clicked.

I breathed in. "Cut up? Bloody?"

She nodded.

"What are you on to, Annabeth?" Chiron asked.

I really didn't want to say it, but I had to. "What if... It was Kronos." They exchanged weird looks.

"Think about it," I continued. "This whole Kronos Curse thing is going around. And he appeared gory but not necessarily identifiable- Could easily be because of his previous form before the Battle of Manhattan. Plus we all know he's been in Tartarus- that place doesn't exactly do kind things to you. We also know that he has the ability to manipulate in his own ways. He could've just been in Piper's head."

Silence.

"But why my head?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I know this is far-fetched but what else makes sense?"

Chiron sighed heavily. "I suppose for now that's what we'll be going with. And we'll just tell the rest of the campers that Piper was having some sort of... light psychotic break."

Piper shrugged her shoulders unbothered.

"And please remember to only keep this within your little circle, eh?" Chiron added.

We both nodded.

Turns out neither the boys or my team won Archery- The team full of Apollo kids won. Shocker.

I lay in bed that night with a million thoughts running through my mind. My head was nestled into the crook of Percy's neck as his arm was around me, holding me against him.

I had told him the conversation in the Big House from earlier; His reaction was just about the same as their's.

But now we were both lying in bed on the verge of sleep. So I thought.

"Hey, Annabeth?"

"Hmm?"

"I just want you to know... I am so beating you tomorrow during rock climbing."

I looked up at him wide-eyed. His mischievous smirk was tugging at his lips. "Oh really?"

His eyes danced with mine. "Oh yeah."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

He grunted. "Well, I know that we're gonna beat you, so."

"Alrighty, Seaweed Brain." And I knew that we were gonna beat them. But I didn't say it.

He kissed the top of my head. "Will you still love me after we crush you?"

I laughed. "Sure."

"Yay!" he said with a hushed voice.

It was pretty bold of him to think that he could beat me. (Only thing he's better at is sword-fighting, and he knew it. Or he would eventually.)

Wednesday : Rock Climbing

After breakfast the next morning, Reyna agreed to practice sparring with me (both Hazel and Piper were busy practicing rock climbing). I knew I might've been rusty in combat, and considering that the sparring competitions were tomorrow, I wanted some extra practice. Besides, I was already completely confident in my climbing skills.

I had grown to be an expert in fighting with a dagger, but only a newcomer to the idea of fighting with one each hand. I chose to use the latter today anyway.

Reyna had her usual cavalry sword with her hair braided elegantly down her back. We both agreed to end the spar once the one of us was disarmed (we were also allowing to use other parts of our body).

"Ready?" I asked.

"Always am," she replied confidently.

A smirk played across my face as I readied into position.

Reyna lunged towards me, swinging her sword in an arc. I blocked with my left dagger and ducked. She parried into another strike but I continued blocking, playing defense; Playing offense using daggers wasn't exactly easy, or sensical.

I came close to knocking Reyna's sword from her grip, but failed. I continued blocking each strike and side-stepping. As one of her swings came in diagonal, I dodged and kicked her in the gut, setting her back. I bent down to sweep my leg, hopefully resulting in her collapse, but she easily jumped away. Her next move came down on me and I saw a chance- I crossed my arms in an X for a block and pushed out, twisting her sword right out of her hand.

I got excited for a second, until the daughter of Bellona caught her weapon before it could clang onto the hard ground.

She raised her eyebrows at me.

I gave her a look that said I'm impressed.

We continued on with our usual strikes until I decided to change it up a bit. As she struck her sword at me with a vicious point, I stepped aside and grabbed onto her opposite shoulder. I climbed onto her back with a bold leap and twisted myself. (I'd seen this move multiple times in marvel movies from Black Widow.)

I was in the process of taking Reyna down when I noticed two figures enter the arena, losing my focus. I stumbled off her back and onto the ground. She saw her chance, and struck down onto me, but I blocked. We stayed there, with her on top of me, trying vigorously to disarm me.

The familiar voice of my annoying boyfriend sounded from the entrance. "Woo!" he cheered, though I wasn't sure for who. Ugh, he was distracting me.

"Shut up, Percy!" I called.

"Shut up, Percy," he mocked. That boy was so going to get it.

I tried my best to keep focused. Reyna and I both surged with more power at the same time, resulting in the both of us being disarmed. At the same time.

I got up in a huff, making my way to Percy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, annoyed.

"To practice," he said with his annoying twinge of sarcasm as he gestured to Jason next to him.

"But... Now that we're here..." he trailed off.

I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

"I think we should have at it."

"Oh you're so on, Kelp Face."

"Owl Head."

Another round of sparring? Sure. I went with my daggers again, hopefully having an advantage over Percy since he's never fought me with two daggers.

I noticed Reyna and Jason strapping on armor together- I guess they decided that they'd spar, since Percy practically ditched Jason.

We readied into position.

"You sure about this?" I asked.

"Oh yeah."

I lunged, slicing at Riptide. Percy easily dodged and thrust his 3-foot-long sword at my gut. I side stepped and continued blocking and dodging as Percy kept striking again and again. I noticed that my twin daggers threw him off slightly, but still not enough.

As he came at me from an angle, I ducked, then quickly grabbed his arm and pushed him against the nearest wall, which was luckily just a couple feet away.

"Hey!" he protested. "That's not fair!"

"What do you mean?" I asked sincerely, using my dumb-blond voice. Although I knew exactly what he meant. I leaned in close, pressing our bodies together.

He swallowed. "Pushing me against a wall isn't fair. We're supposed to be sparring!"

I smiled and bit my lip as I looked up at him. "Are we?" Keep in mind that I never let go of my daggers- If I let go, I'd lose.

Percy squinted his eyes at me. "What are you trying to do here?"

"You know." I pressed even closer to him. My nose was almost touching his and our heavy breathing mixed. My hands were by his sides- Still holding my daggers. Our eyes locked. "I've missed you."

Percy's chest was heaving up and down- Whether it was from sparring or just me, I wasn't sure. A small grunt escaped his mouth as he dropped his sword to hold my face. He crashed his lips onto mine.

I won.

I let him believe this little scam for just a few more seconds, then I abruptly pulled away.

"I win!" I exclaimed with a huge grin spread across my face.

Percy's eyebrows knit in confusion. He looked down at Riptide and at the two daggers still in my hands.

"I- But you- Wait!"

"Ha!"

"That's so unfair!"

"I don't think so. You were disarmed. I was not. Plain and simple."

"I am so getting you back for this."

I laughed. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain."

A slight smile tugged at his lips before grabbing Riptide and leaving the arena.

That was way too easy.

I stood with my team before the Lava Rock Wall (A/N: I don't remember the formal name they had for it lol).

I was still rattled with confidence; I'd conquered this thing multiple times. If I didn't win, I'd lock myself up in the cabin for weeks out of embarrassment and shame, not daring to speak to a soul for at least a month. So, in other words, I was quite determined to annihilate all of my opponents.

I wasn't very aware of how good my teammates were at rock climbing- specifically rock climbing with lava flowing everywhere. I could only hope for the best.

"Alrighty, campers!" Chiron announced. "I see you're all excited for this one!"

I looked around and saw everyone buzzing with energy. Across the way, the boys were standing around all smugly. Oh gods, they were about to be disappointed.

"The goal here is to grab that flag first!" Chiron continued, and pointed to a bright orange flag at the top of the wall.

"Whichever team has grabbed the most flags wins. Only four rounds to prove yourselves! One person per team goes at a time. Good luck! Once I blow this horn you may all start!" And he blew the horn.

Piper was first, and with her smaller frame, she was able to move quicker. She was doing really well, until one of her feet slipped. She was going so fast that her mind didn't give her time to process that she didn't have a hold, so when she let go to grab another ledge, she began falling down. Hard.

"Ooooh!" the crowd said in unison as Piper hit the ground.

"Piper!" I raced over to her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" she announced. Though, the way she hesitantly sat up with a grimace laid on her face, I had to disagree.

I looked across the way and noticed Jason resisting the urge to run to Piper's side, but I guess he figured it'd be pushing it since we're competitors as of right now. And Piper wasn't dying.

Frank was going for the boys right now, but he was surprisingly behind. Thank gods.

By the end of the round, a Demeter kid had managed to reach the flag before everyone else.

A satyr came by to whisk away Piper, tending to her wounds.

I was still determined, especially since it was now Hazel's turn. I had a feeling in my gut that she knew exactly what she was doing.

When the horn blew again, Hazel sprinted up the wall, wasting no time. Her scampering up the wall was so swift, it left me truly impressed. She was neck and neck with Emma (I had no idea she could climb like that).

Jason was doing well, but he was nothing compared to Hazel. Her smaller figure reached the top of the wall, and with a final leap, she snatched the flag from its standings and held it up for all to see.

Reyna, Piper, and I all whooped loudly.

"Yeah, Hazel!!" I screamed.

Reyna was pumping her fist and Piper continued screaming randomly. (She also had ice on her thigh and ankle)

Even Frank was cheering. (They're so cute.)

Next up was Reyna. And also Leo.

"I just want to point out right now," she said to me. "I'm not a good rock climber. So you might want to prepare for embarrassment."

"Okay," I replied with a small chuckle. Reyna? Not good at something? That sure is a first.

And boy was Reyna right. As far as I knew, the daughter of Bellona could achieve anything and everything- That was one of things I admired most about her. But rock climbing? Total nope. She wasn't last though, thankfully.

On another note- Who knew Valdez could rock climb? I had a feeling that he spent more time with Emma here than he let on. I watched in horror as the scrawny son of Hephaestus snagged the flag right from its place.

"What the Hades?!" Piper exclaimed.

Leo smirked down at her.

My shock still hadn't subsided once it was my time to rock climb- the last round. If we got this flag, we won. If the boys got it, they won. My determination was through the roof; It heightened once the realization hit me that I was going against Percy.

If I let that Barnacle Head (who I unfortunately love with all my heart) beat me, I would never hear the end of it.

At this very moment, I regretted every second I spent mentoring Percy during past summers for climbing. I wanted to bang my head against the wall.

But when Chiron blew the horn, my regret switched into pure intent on only one thing- Winning.

I leaped onto wall, easily finding ledges for my slim hands and feet. I climbed around the lava, using my flexible body to make larger steps and swift dodges. I could hear the cheering of all the campers below, increasing my adrenaline.

I began to near the top of the wall and my need for that flag suddenly became essential. I took one long stride before popping my head above the final ledge. 8 feet away stood the flag.

My heartbeat sped up at least 90% when I saw Percy right in front of me on the other side of the wall. We both froze for half a second before regathering our priorities.

"No!" I involuntarily screamed when he launched from his grip the same time I did. I pushed passed him but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back. Was that even allowed?

That flag was literally right in front of me. How was this so difficult? As Percy made his move towards it, I jumped onto his back.

"Hey!" he protested.

From down below, the crowd's cheering grew to at least ten more notches.

I kicked the back of his knees, and watched proudly as he crumpled to the ground.

"Ha, Perseus!" I untangled myself from his body and ran towards the flag. "Kiss my a-"

I was rudely interrupted when Percy dragged me by my ankle. I fell right on my face. That son of a bitch.

Anger and desperation flooded throughout my veins. As he continued his way to our prize, I took a final lunge, attaching myself onto his waist and pulling him down with me.

"Oof!" he grunted. I couldn't help but smirk.

I twisted myself out from under him but I kept a foot planted on his back, preventing movement.

I leaned down toward the flag. The muscles in my arm were straining as I stretched much farther than an arm should. But alas, I held possession of the prize!

I held it up, with my foot still mashing my boyfriend. I decided to be a little considerate, and removed my foot from his back. He stood up, glaring daggers at me. I only smiled back- That annoying Don't-mess-with-me smile.

Yet another win for me and the girls. 2-0.

Thursday : Sparring

Thursday was, long story short, tiring. And quite frankly, disappointing.

My team endured a long fight during tonight's challenge, but were overcome with defeat, eventually leading to the victory of the boys.

Now our score was 2-1; We were still in the lead but if they won tomorrow's challenge- it'd be a tie between us. I wouldn't allow that.

As I snuggled under the covers of our bed, Percy finally came back from the showers.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Finally decided to come back?" I asked teasingly.

"Actually, Chiron held me back."

"What?" Curiosity filled my brain.

"Yeah. He actually specifically told me to tell you about it right away."

I sat up in the bed. "Well get on with it then."

Percy sat down beside me. "Remember that incident with Piper on Tuesday? The same thing happened to a camper named Chloe after sparring tonight. She's also a daughter of Aphrodite."

I looked down at my hands, letting my mind fall into thought. Another daughter of Aphrodite? That can't be a coincidence. And what did Kronos- or whoever it was- want with them? Or just the camp in general?

"You've got your I'm-thinking-of-something face on," Percy pointed out.

I ignored his comment and continued letting my gears churn.

"It has to be Kronos," I said. "It has to be."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I mean, what else? And most likely, if he's trying to find another host body like he'd done before, it would make sense for him to go after Aphrodite children. Charmspeak."

Percy didn't say anything, just stared off into space, clearly in his own world of thought. I could tell he was thinking of the Battle of Manhattan. I wanted to tell him it was gonna be okay, but things aren't and most likely won't be. And he knew that.

Friday : Capture the Flag

I sat on the edge of my actual bed in Cabin 6 with Reyna, Piper, and Hazel surrounding me. I haven't been in here in forever.

We were discussing our plans for Capture the Flag. Dinner began in fifteen minutes, so we had to start wrapping it up.

The basic outline of our plan was we would branch out. The idea was to confuse other campers by stumbling around in desperation- They would think we lost our way and our group fell apart terribly. If they find out we didn't actually lose our team, we result to plan B: knock 'em out. Then we each search for the flag on our own, which is okay since we could all hold our own perfectly fine.

Once one of us caught the flag, we would still wonder through the woods nonchalantly, hiding the prize in our shirt or whatever. Whoever catches the flag, although seeming to be lost, will actually be searching for the rest of the group (you have to come out of the woods as a whole group or your victory doesn't count).

"I think the plan will work perfectly," Hazel commented.

Reyna nodded. "Let's just hope none of us get into actual trouble. That'd be bad."

"We won't," I reassured. "Every one of us has proven we can hold our own by ourselves. But, all of you have to act lost, but not too lost. Everyone suspects elaborate plans from me, so they'd know immediately that something was up."

Everyone nodded.

So it was settled.

After dinner, the whole camp raced to their respected cabins to grab their personal weapons and armor.

Now, we were all lined up before Chiron, in front of the forest.

"Okay, demigods! Last challenge tonight. You all know the rules," he announced. "Everyone get situated. We will begin shortly." He galloped away to speak to some satyrs- Probably checking to make sure everything is set correctly.

I turned to my team. "Y'all ready?"

"Born ready," Piper said with a look of determination. Reyna and Hazel nodded, mirroring Piper's expression.

Next to us, the boys were whispering vigorously. Their tone implied arguing. And a lot of it. Boys.

Chiron trotted back to his original spot and cleared his throat. "I hope you all are ready! You are all released in 3... 2..."

We all waited anxiously for our director to say the word.

"1!"

And we were off, all speeding into the woods in hopes of victory. Groups flanked, some huddled, but we were the only one to completely disband.

I continued jogging through the jumble of trees lonesomely. I have to admit, it was odd being alone during Capture the Flag, but I forged on, hoping the rest of my team was doing well.

I finally stopped my short journey after I knew I was set deep in the forest. By now, I had the entire place mapped in my head from all my years at camp- But I wasn't the only one: The Stoll brothers, Clarisse, Percy. I decided that although the others had been here just as long as me if not longer, Percy was still my biggest threat.

I quickly recognized my surroundings. Now, I had to choose where to go from here. I began a trail to my left, searching for anything and everything. That's when I heard a bunch of footsteps coming from the other side of me.

Oh gods, I thought. Now was the time to play dumb-blonde. Just act natural, Annabeth. Lost.

I quickly asked myself, What would my face look like if I was separated from my group?

I decided that I'd probably have some scowl to my expression. A determined, hard look. So that's what I put on, ready to face whoever would be approaching.

Pretending to be searching aimlessly, I notice the figures emerge from the almost-total-blackness.

The Stolls.

"Annabeth?" Connor called out.

I acted surprised. I'm not sure how anyone could be buying this, but they seemed to.

"Huh? Oh!" I said.

"...What are you doing?" Travis asked skeptically.

"I lost my group," I said with despair. I face-palmed lightly, to show my disappointment.

The brothers glanced at each with pure confusion.

"Is this part of some sort of evil plan?" Connor asked.

I opened my eyes as if I was taken-aback. "What?! No! I actually lost my team. I'm just retracing my steps."

"I'm not buying it," Travis whispered to his brother. I rolled my eyes in my head.

The Stolls would be one of the hardest to convince. They know me. They know I always have some genius plan. Everyone expects it, which can sometimes make it hard to actually execute the plan.

"Wait..." Connor said half to himself and half to Travis. "If she was actually lost, wouldn't she be trying to hide that? There's something fishy goin' on here..."

Fuck.

Time to resort to plan B.

I swiftly lunged at Connor. I grabbed him by the shoulders, using him as leverage to kick Travis in the gut. I spun around knocked Connor off his feet. I took no time stealing his rope. I reached for Travis, grabbing his arm and twisting it in an inhumane way. He screeched in pain (wimp, I didn't break it). I proceeded to judo-flip him, landing him right next to his winded brother.

I pushed them against the nearest tree and tied them to it using their own rope. Evil? Maybe. Cruel? Definitely. I also made sure they couldn't reach the knot.

"Sorry, guys," I said, shrugging and walking away.

They just groaned in response.

I continued on. Sometimes ducking behind bushes so a passing team wouldn't see me, or picking up supplies other groups had dropped.

I wish I could know how my teammates were doing. What if one of them already found the flag and were venturing around, scouring for one of the others? Now would be a great time to have a source of communication, but alas, there was none. I pushed the thoughts from my mind.

I came across a clearing- a small one, but still a clearing. I didn't remember ever seeing this before...

I noticed an odd carving on one of the trees. I squinted, trying to see clearer. It appeared to be... an L? Well that doesn't make sense. But since it was so dark, I couldn't see any better.

I backed up from the tree.

And I immediately regretted it. I ran into another a boy. Instantly, I whipped around and drew my dagger. Then I realized it was only Percy. Wait... It was Percy!

I immediately had him in a headlock.

"Where's the rest of you?" I demanded. This could be a trap.

"Wha-? No-" He choked out. I realized he couldn't speak and weakened my grip. I judo-flipped him to the ground. (Two judo-flips in one day? Score!). I held my forearm to his throat threateningly.

"They're not with me!" he exclaimed.

I squinted skeptically, daring to deepen my press on his throat.

"I swear!" he said frantically with a slight edge of panic. "Will you please get off of me?!"

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"When am I ever to trick you?"

I loosened my press and my gaze.

He sighed in relief. I got up and offered my hand. He took it.

"Have you ever seen this part of the forest?" I asked.

Dusting himself off he said, "No. It seems... off. I don't know, it just gives me a weird feeling."

His instincts were always spot-on; I had the same exact feeling.

Suddenly, all of my thoughts of the competition left my mind. "I-I was checking out the carving on that tree over there before we bumped into each other." I pointed in the direction.

We both walked towards it in curiosity.

"I can't tell what it is," I said.

Percy reached in his pocket and uncappped Riptide. The faint glow of his sword provided light to see the carving correctly.

I studied it, running my fingers along it, but came to realize what it was.

The blood in my face drained.

"What? What is it, Annabeth?"

"It's... It's a scythe."

The Kronos Curse.

I retracted my finger from the bark. We both backed away.

"Isn't that- that thing where time loops n stuff? That thing you were talking about the other day?" Percy asked.

I gulped, then nodded. He could see the fear panned across my face.

"Well, how do- we can just go back to Camp and tell Chiron right? I mean-"

I shook my head slowly. "There- There's something here. Now."

I tensed at the snap of a brach off to my right. I grabbed Percy's wrist for reassurance of his presence. I kept my dagger ready.

"Annabeth, I don't see anythi-"

And before he could finish his sentence, a crimson red glow appeared where the scythe carving was.

"No, no, no..." I muttered.

More glows appeared, all on other trees, surrounding us. This was bad. Very bad.

"Run," I said, but it came out so small, I doubted Percy could hear.

I began backing away quicker and soon my steps grew faster, all while dragging Percy with me.

"Run!" I shouted. "Percy, run!"