"You know it was for your own good right?" James blurted.

I'd been in the sword arena the entire time, clumsily fighting with anger and frustration. Behind me a dozen dummies had already been perished and decapitated. Luke would probably scold me later for wasting such training equipment, but I went on with slashing the practice straws.

"We had to do it to you. Mary and I... Lucn insisted that we had to make sure we could trust you to not get us killed in battle. Doing that test to you... it was the only thing we were able to do. Victor, are you even listening to me?"

I grunted, swinging my sword toward the abdomen of another dummy. It sliced in half without a second. "Leave me alone." I growled.

"Victor, we have to talk about this. What happened yesterday? In the room when we told you to kill-"

"I said leave me alone!" My sword tip danced around and met the apple of James' neck. He crossed his eyes and froze like stone on winter's night. I held my breath and counted to ten, calming down and turning back to my training. "Just go away James."

Footsteps. The scratching of metal. Running. The dummy in front of me cut in half by sword fighter James Walsh. "Stop being a baby." He spat. "Man up and talk to me about it."

My fist tightened around my sword and I lunged, challenging James on a one on one spar. He was ready and our weapons caught in midair, both of our muscular arms rippling at the veins.

"What you had me do was inhumane." I chocked out. I made a swipe for his legs.

James backed away in time and headed for my chest. "Demigods have to be inhumane. Its what sets us apart from the mortals."

I sidestepped and kicked him in the side. He refused to double over and clutch his stomach. "No. What sets us apart is that we're better. We're children of the gods for crying out loud! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"No! The gods don't even claim us so why should we care about being their children?" James high kicked me and I stumbled back, my bottom crashing on the floor and weapon dropped somewhere. No squeal came out when the cold metal of my opponent's sword touched my neck. "Dude, what's your problem anyway? It's just a freaking boy that you killed. He should mean nothing to you!"

Chest rising and falling. Eyebrows scrunched and tired. Eyes aching and desolate.

"Oh my gods." James pulled back his sword and let it clatter to the ground. He stared at me with olive eyes that would never understand. "You knew that boy didn't you? The kid that you were told to kill... You knew him!"

I rolled on to my side and stood up, walking past him without a glance. "His name was Reeves Seever. We shared a cabin at Camp Half Blood."

"Were you two close?"

"No."

James followed me to pick up my sword. I put it away hastily. "What happened in the room then? When you tried to kill Reeves?"

I made my way out of the sword arena and toward the dorm hall. "He's a powerful son of Hecate." I stated bluntly. "What the hell do you think that bastard tried to do to me?"

James stared at me for a moment. I looked away. "He read your mind didn't he? That's what Jolene used to be able to do; read minds I mean."

I cocked an eyebrow. Ginger haired Jolene was a daughter of Hecate? Were all red heads witches then? Whatever. "Yeah. Reeves dug into my mind and sucked out all my memories He looked at all my weakest moments and discovered my secrets. I had to shoot him when he got close to discovering my fatal flaw." Lie.

"I'm sorry." James voice was so small he was almost timid. Almost. "At least it wasn't traumatizing."

"You think?" I whipped around with an irritated face, stopping him in his puny tracks. "You think having to kill someone after you witness them being bullied for years is not traumatizing? You think having two people push a gun into your hands and tell you to kill an innocent life is not traumatizing? You think having someone pick into your head, discover all your secrets and make you relive all of your most agonizing moments and feel all of the painful emotions you tried so hard to push away is not traumatizing?! Damn Walsh! You got a nice definition of traumatized there."

James gaped at me, mouth open. He blinked for a moment and found someway to regain his virtue. "Okay, fine." He grunted. "Yes we made you go through that. We made you feel pain, loss, and devastation just for the sake of the Army. And you know what's the worst part? The thing that we took away the most?"

"The fact that I wasn't a murderer?" I spat. "The idea that I've never killed someone? The truth that I don't kill blameless lives?"

"No. Your innocence." James burst out. He pointed a finger at my chest. "We made you give up all those things so that we would finally dig deep enough to take away your rotten, good for nothing innocence. And you know why we did that? Why he needed that?"

"Earning trust is not worth taking away innocence." I hissed.

"It wasn't because of that." He flicked the hair out of his eyes and I could finally see his upper face. I could finally see the deep white scar running across his eyes and nose, the battle wound that marked those olive green irises for life. "We did it because like it or not, you're gonna have to do it again. You, Victor Wolfbane, are going to have to kill hundreds of more half bloods when we go to war against the Olympians. You're going to have to see your old friends and family again on the battle field and this time they won't be so friendly. You'll have to kill them and maim them and this situation with Reeves was just a practice run for when we finally hit the flames. The real run starts when dynamite is finally set to Camp Half Blood. So get a grip Victor and come to terms with it. You. Are. A. Murderer. Live with it!"

James Walsh walked out on me and I was left alone. Solitude in my own thoughts has never felt so much like prison.

)()***************()(

Knock, knock. "Can I come in?" Female voice. Soft and sweet. Pitch perfect.

Dorm door closed. Eyes making sure its lock was in place. "No." I said.

Picking of metal, knob turning. Red headed, emerald eyed, freckle faced Jolene. Daughter of Hecate. Reeves half sister.

"Whoa, whoa!" I said, standing up from my bed and walking up to the girl. "Not cool lass. Get out!"

"Sorry I couldn't help but to let myself in." Jolene held up a bronze key that slightly shimmered in the light. "Magic items always have their quirks don't they?" She smiled, her eyes scrunching up from her high cheekbones. She still had that twelve year old face on a teenage body.

I raised my eyebrows. "You have a magic key?"

Jolene flipped her hair. "It unlocks any and every door. Pretty handy when you're trying to invade someone's privacy." She stretched a smirk. Ha. Ha.

My mouth twitched in a sarcastic smile. "Nifty toy you have then."

Jolene grinned. It was weird seeing her happy without the need of a wine bottle. Demigods can't get drunk off alcohol, but they can from grapes or wine. (Hence the fact why we grew strawberries at Camp, not grapes.) "You didn't come to band practice today. I was sent to check on you." The red head excused herself to a seat on my bed, fingering the bedspread idly. I blushed when she caught sight of wolf Pillow Pet.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine." I tried to hide my pink cheeks and nodded toward the door. "So you can leave now."

"It doesn't work that way Victor." Jolene lowered her tone. She flickered her finger at the door and it magically slammed shut. The clicking of the locks told me that we were trapped. I tried unlocking it but the knob wouldn't budge. The witty witch imprisoned me inside my own sanctuary.

"How does this work then?" I leaned against the door with my arms crossed. "You tell me how we're going to play this game so that I can get it over with and slam your ass out of my room."

"'Slam my ass' out of the room?" Jolene tilted her head. She smirked. "Is that your British way of saying you're going to bang me?"

"What? Gods no!" I threw my hands in the air and looked around. What was wrong with this lady? "Its a way of saying-"

"Calm down Victor, geez." She tossed a pillow at me and I deflected it. "I was just joking. You got to lighten up man."

I snorted. "Yeah well we all know how that works after killing someone."

"Oh yeah I heard about that." Jolene leaned back on her arms and crossed her legs. She grinned like she was proud of me. "So how do you feel about killing your first life?"

"You mean other than lied to, cheated, and deceived?" I narrowed my eyes, radiating my best 'I hate you' glare. "I'm just peachy thank you."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll get used to it Wolfbane."

'Used to it?' Gods dammit. "What makes you think I'll get used to it, sorcière?"

Jolene rolled her eyes. She was getting good at being patient with me. "Because if Mary, Lucn, and I got used to it, then so can you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She crossed her arms. "Didn't they tell you anything about what happened to them?"

What did she mean? "They haven't told me anything."

Jolene closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She locked eyes with me, blazing emerald green meeting artificial forest brown. I sobered up. "What I am about to tell you Victor, you cannot tell anybody. You have to swear on the River Styx that you will keep this a secret."

I gulped. "I swear."

Jolene leaned forward and kept her voice low. Chills crawled down my back when I realized how serious this could be. "Lucn was the second one of the band to come to the Princess. He was eleven when it happened, and he came with his little sister Lola.

"Now Lola was severely disabled. She was schizophrenic and got really bad delusions like every other day, not to mention the voice inside her head that nobody could even begin to understand. Lola would attack other soldiers thinking they were monsters and she'd have to be tranquilized for the safety of the crew. She'd poison food, maim soldiers, even set herself on fire. All because the voices told her to do it. Lucn would try and get Lola on meds to stabilize her mental condition... but it just got so bad that he was debating on giving up Lola to a mental hospitals.

"Well before Lucn could decide to do anything for his sister, she went missing. Lucn just woke up one day and poof. She was gone. Rumor has it that Lola's insanity drove her to jump overboard into the sea; others say she was eaten by monsters on the ship. No sign of her appeared until Lucn had to do his test. The same one you did: Shooting a demigod. Only Lucn didn't have to kill a stranger.

"He had to murder his sister."

The gun was glued to his hand, Lucn's wild blueberry eyes open wide in astonishment. He couldn't stop his trembling hands and ragged breathing. I wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was alright. 'You killed the demigod.' I wished I could say. 'You're a soldier of Kronos now. Congratulations.'

Instead I stayed silent behind the unclaimed child.

"Jolene." Luke locked eyes with me. "Take the body and throw it into the sea. Report back to me when you're done."

I bowed my head. "Yes sir."

Luke guided Lucn out of the room and far away from the corpse. The glassy eyed look on Lucn's face couldn't have said it better: 'I'm scarred for life.'

Once they were gone I took a deep breath and started for the dead half blood. The body in the chair was erect and covered with a burlap sack; a bloody bullet hole where its head was. You couldn't tell who it was when Lucn had to do his test. He just pulled the trigger in one swift motion and kept silent.

I was trying not to gag when I untied its dead limbs from the chair.

Just one look. I was tempted. Just one simple look to see who it is...

Glancing left and right even though I was the only one in the room, I unmasked the dead stranger and nearly screamed:

The dead eyes of schizophrenic Lola were staring back at me.

"That's insane!" I blurted.

"Is it?" Jolene questioned. "What would you do, Victor? If you're only family was as mental as Lola? Would you keep up the blind hope knowing that she was forever a danger to herself and society? Or would you end her pain, finally strong enough to kill her, only when her death happened to your complete deception? You tell me." Jolene leaned back, her hair covering her blazing eyes. I was ready to slap her.

"But that's... that's wrong!" I argued. "Its sick and wrong and devastating and just plain inhumane!"

Jolene shrugged like it was no big deal. "We're half bloods. We're supposed to be inhumane. Its what sets us apart from the mortals."

That's exactly what James said.

"What happened then?" I asked. "Did Lucn find out that it was Lola?"

"Of course he did!" She said. "He caught me in the lie."

As much as I wanted to stay mad, I couldn't help but to feel sorry for the lad. I mean, having to kill someone is one thing. But when you find out later that it was your sister? Gods, how worse can it get?

"You should imagine what happened with Mary though." Jolene's voice was like ribbons: Brushing against your skin until they slithered around your neck and chocked you. I was that gripped.

"W-what happened with Mary?" I stammered. "How bad did it get? Did she have to kill her mum or something?"

Jolene scoffed and shook her head. She gazed at the wall, thinking far away. "No, it wasn't that bad. She just... had it rough:

"Before Mary and Molly had come to the Princess, their family life was devastating. The girl's had had an older brother, but they don't remember much about him. They also had a mum, though she was rarely home since she was a drug addict. One night when Mary and Molly were home alone, a monster came and attacked them. The girls got separated and well... Mary's life fell through the cracks.

"While Molly was safe in a neighboring foster home, Mary had been kidnapped by some folks in an infamous biker gang. She had served as their house slave for a year before the Latina managed to escape. When she did, she found Molly, figured that her mother and brother were dead by now, and the girls hitched a seat on the Princess. It doesn't end there though.

"You see, Mary is seriously protective of Molly. She wouldn't let anybody mess with her sister or train with her until Molly eventually confronted Mary about it. Before that though it was epic chaos of murderous glares from the girl. And well... of course Mary would be even more protective of Molly when their test came. So Mary tried to make a deal with Luke."

"Let me take Molly's kill." Mary burrowed her eyes into blue eyed leader. She was putting up her best sympathetic face, her best tear gaze that said 'pity me.' "Molly can't handle killing a half blood. You have to let me do it for her. Please Luke."

I stood silent in the corner of the room, watching this all happen. Molly and Mary were due to have their tests done tomorrow evening. How the word had gotten out to Mary, we had no idea.

"I'm sorry Mary but no can do." Luke shoved the Latina out of the way and continued on the walk to his desk. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to interfere. "Just let it drop."

"Please Luke!" Mary threw herself at the leader, nearly close enough for a kiss. Oh my gods if their lips smacked I was going to barf.

"I'll do anything." Mary pleaded. "Anything, whatever you want. Just don't let Molly face something so horrible. I have to protect her from that!"

Luke's nostrils flared. Ooh his patience was wearing thin. Run Mary, run! Before his tempter roars!

I kept my mouth shut.

"Get her out of here, Jolene." Luke shoved Mary in my arms. I caught her before she could fall. "Don't let me see her in my office again."

"Yes sir." I responded.

With one last dirty look at Luke, Mary obeyed and left. It was up to me to shove the door in her face as a message that she isn't welcome.

Mary deflected the door with her foot and stood face to face with me. I gulped and wondered what harm she could inflect if she was this close. I still had no idea who her godly parent was and I wasn't willing to bet that she was some harmless child of Demeter.

"I will find a way." Mary lowered her voice."Molly will not kill somebody. I'll find a way to do it for her if it's the last thing I do."

"G-good luck then." I blurted. Gee, I sure sound fierce don't I?

Mary scoffed. She looked me up and down and drew her voice to a whisper. "You don't have to follow Luke around like a lost puppy you know." She advised. "I know about your past Jolene. You don't have to always be in the shadow of a man, working as his slave and property. You can take care of yourself."

I tried to keep the strain out of my voice. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She snorted. "For a soulless ginger, you're a horrible liar."

I slammed the door in her face. "So are you." I whispered.

"So Mary ended up taking Molly's kill?" I guessed.

By now I was so deep in Jolene's story that I was laying down my bed, pillow in my arms, and looking up at her with round eyes. I felt like a little girl being told a bedtime story.

"We think Mary took Molly's kill." Jolene said. She kept her tone hushed. "But the band doesn't know for sure. I tried talking to the girls about it but the subject was quickly changed and I never got the chance again. Why? Do you think Molly killed someone or that Mary took double lives?"

I remembered when I'd done my test and how Mary threatened me about telling Molly. I sighed when I realized that Molly was still just as innocent as when she first boarded the ship. "Mary shot two bullets for two bodies." I stated. "That brave girl..."

Jolene scoffed. "Brave my ass! If Mary was really tough she'd suck it up and let Molly do her test. She'd be strong enough to watch her sister shoot somebody."

I shrugged. Jolene had a point. "What about you then? You said that your's, Mary's, and Lucn's were the worst. So what happened to you?"

Jolene got that deer in a headlights look and stood up abruptly. She stalked toward the door. "That's for me to know and you to never find out."

"Jolene no! Wait!" I chased after the red head but she had already unlocked the magic door and stepped out into the dorm hall. I called after her: "The boy I killed was your half brother you know!"

That got her to straighten up. She turned around on her heel and faced me, eyes blazing in panic. "Which half brother?" She said carefully.

"Well, who do you think?"

Whispers. "Was it... Reeves?"

Silence.

"Oh my gods..." Her face collapsed into her hands and she let out a sob. "It was him, wasn't it?"

I clenched my teeth and bit my tongue but I couldn't help it. As the duty of a moral half blood, it was my job to aid a demigoddess in despair.

I walked up to Jolene and wrapped an arm around her, careful to keep our chests from touching. "Yeah... it was Reeves. I... I killed him." It was strange saying it out loud. Compared to Mary and Lucn, my test had been a piece of cake. They're the ones who deserved to mourn over their kills. Not me. Guilt seeped onto my shoulders just like that.

Jolene quietly lifted up her head, fiery locks of hair framing her eyes. Her face was dry. "I'm not going to cry over Reeves... Its just... he was a good boy you know? A little troubled maybe... But he had it in him. Reeves was promising."

Uh huh. Reeves is promising as much as I am a male.

"How long did you know him?" I asked casually.

Jolene shrugged and wouldn't meet my eyes. "I ran away from Camp when I was twelve. Reeves was about eight back then."

I was ten when I met Reeves. He was eleven. Jolene didn't witness any of his bullying. Good grief. "He dug into my mind you know." I said blindly. I had been carrying that secret so heavily that I just needed someone to confide in. Someone I could trust. "Reeves... He looked at all my old memories and tried to get my secrets out of me."

Jolene's eyes went wide in disbelief. There was throbbing pain beginning to etch into my head and I pushed the girl away, backing against the wall. "Stop doing that!" I shouted. "Your brother already got into my head, not you too!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Jolene panicked and grasped her head, running her hands through her hair. "Sorry I just... I forgot that children of Hecate could do that. I forgot all about the little things we could do when we're not realizing it."

"You call mind reading 'little'?" I hissed.

Jolene shrugged, her distress now gone. "Mind reading, telekinesis, illusion bending; It all falls under the category of magic talents. Just depends on how strong your powers are on what you can do. No biggie."

Well that's a nice piece of information there isn't it? "So what can you do then?" My eyebrows twitched at this.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes playfully. "Well if I told you then it wouldn't be a secret now would it?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Touche..."

"I have to go." She began to turn away when I caught her arm. She pulled away.

"Wait." I insisted. "I want to know more about the Princess and the people here. Are you willing to come by tomorrow and talk to me?"

Jolene pursed her lips as though she had just eaten a sour lemon. Her teeth grounded against each other. "We'll see." She answered.

I watched her go, memorizing the bright red of her hair and tantalized way she carried herself. She reminded me so much of someone I knew... but I couldn't place my finger on it...

"You like her don't you?"

I turned around and found Molly standing behind me. She was carrying a bow and set of arrows. She looked like she'd just come back from archery practice and was heading to her dorm. I pushed away the thoughts of her Native American resemblance. "I guess..." I said. "Jolene's a good person."

Molly nodded, her eyes giving off an extra shine. "Oh... okay." She sounded hurt.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Okay..." I had no idea what to do. "I'll see you later then."

Molly was acting strange, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Its best to just turn a blind eye when it's needed.

Only a blind eye is what nobody wants.