Nico led me to one of the rooms, and closed the door. "Sit."

I didn't argue, I just sat. I felt panicked. Everything was falling apart.

"Breathe, calm down. We'll figure it out. It's not your fault, this will go away." Nico said seriously.

"How am I supposed to stay here after this?" I hugged my knees to my chest and hid my face in my knees.

"All of this will go away." Nico sat down beside me. "Whatever is going on will be sorted."

"How? We don't even know what is going on."

He looked at me, "If running won't solve anything, will worrying help?"

I took a deep breath, "No." I let go of my legs and straightened. "Okay, so I rant about camp's perception of the Hermes cabin and next thing everyone is on the attack. So it must have been something in my rant."

Nico frowned a bit, "You remember everything you said?"

"I think so." Some bits were a bit fuzzy on the exact wording, but I knew the general idea of everything I had said. I had been playing it over and over in my mind for quite a while before actually saying it.

Nico went and searched the cabinets, then handed me a pad and pen, "Write it down. We'll go through it."

I nodded and quickly started jotting down what I remembered of what I said, trying for the exact wording. I wrote what I remembered, but I was pretty sure I missed at least the exact wording. "Okay, so, I'm pretty sure I started by saying that everyone at camp speaks of the Hermes cabin as a joke."

"Sounds about right." Nico had his sword in his and was standing by the door. He looked like he expected an attack.

That was encouraging. "'They're all thieves' or 'they're just troublemakers'."

"It's okay for you to say it all at once. It didn't affect me the first time. Second time shouldn't be any different."

I nodded a bit, eyes closed, "Yes, the children of Hermes are troublemakers and pranksters, but nobody takes into account the logistics and planning that go into pranks. Or judging who can handle the prank, the ripple effects of it, and the complete outcome. Thieves have to think, because they have to know how they are going to steal and get away with it, and they also have to be able to think quickly." I sighed, rubbing my forehead as I tried to remember.

Nico glanced over, "You said something about him being a patron."

"Right…um…he is the patron of orators, wit, literature, poets, and invention. So…why is it that it's so surprising that I'm smart, and have a good grasp of basic logic? If we weren't smart, our pranks wouldn't work. Pranks, jokes, most are a form of practiced intelligence that messes with the intelligence of our target. Outsmarting our target. So, why does everyone seem to think that the Hermes cabin is a bunch of idiots?" I shook my head, "I think that was it."

Nico nodded slowly, "Pretty sure it's almost verbatim. I'm pretty sure I was right about your memory. Alright, so first is the Hermes cabin as a joke and they're all thieves and troublemakers stuff."

"Yeah. I don't know why that would trigger anything." I started doodling on the page, "Unless they got upset because the whole thing kind of calls them idiots."

Nico had a ghost of a smile on his face, "It does, but it's not like they've never been called idiots before."

"But by a daughter of Hermes, who's been at camp for maybe two weeks?" I shook my head, "It's probably one of the worst insults I could have thrown."

He laughed, but it was somewhat humorless, "I don't think that's it."

"Julia seems to think that I reminded them of Luke." I told him, scribbling out my flower doodle. The only reason I knew about Luke was because my siblings had told me about him. How he had betrayed them. Hurt them. But that he had saved them in the end.

"Hm, I guess it's a possibility. But I doubt it. Most of the campers from who knew Luke have either died or aren't here yet. Some remember the war, but I don't think that they could look at you or hear you and think Luke unless someone helped them make that leap. And I didn't hear anybody say anything. I feel like it's more than that, though. Like there's something else that I just can't put my finger on. Something more powerful than a demigod."

I could hear footsteps coming toward the room.

Nico looked ready to stab whoever it was.

I drew my knife, worried, and shifted into a crouched position. My left arm went numb for a second as I moved, but managed to keep hold of the pen.

Will stepped through, "Try not to stab me, it'd be kind of hard to be your boyfriend if I'm dead."

"You're not allowed to die, idiot." Nico waved him away from the doorway, "What's going on out there?"

"Chaos, there are people squabbling and arguments have broken out amongst couples and cabin mates and…thankfully there haven't been any injuries, but it's taking Drew and Piper's charmspeak, and Drew isn't fully into it. There's some order, and the cabin leaders are kind of taking over. I told Austin, Kayla, and Stacy to go into our cabin and blare Enya. It's one of the few things that can calm the whole cabin that nobody hates." Will rubbed his forehead.

"Did you double check that they were listening to the calm Enya and not the fun Enya?" I asked, tilting my head. I didn't think the fun Enya songs would be very calming, and if that was the goal of blaring her music…

Will frowned, "Oh brother…I don't know…"

I shook my head, "It should be fine, there should be a good mix. Especially if Stacy or Austin turned it on."

"Kayla turned it on…" Will winced.

Nico shook his head, "Run, quickly."

Will got up, then looked at me, "Which is the calm Enya?"

"Find the song 'Drifting' and put it on repeat. Go!" I urged him on, waving my knife. Man, I wish my sword was fixed already. I may not be the best swordswoman in my cabin, but I could at least defend myself better with it. I sat back down, looking over my words from earlier before dismissing them again.

Will ran back out.

Nico shook his head, "I'm pretty sure I have no clue what we were just talking about. What's an Enya?"

"A musician. New age, she does a lot of relaxation music."

"Obscure artist?"

I smiled, "Not exactly." It wasn't a big deal whether she was or wasn't. I was just kind of relieved to talk about something other than me or the situation at the cabins even for a brief moment.

"She's super popular?"

I giggled a bit, "Maybe not super popular, but she is well-known. It's not a big deal if you don't know her. She's not in everyone's taste." Mom loved Enya. I love Enya. Music was a good distraction that I wished I could indulge in right now.

Someone was coming, maybe more than one someone.

Nico prepared to skewer the person if they were hostile.

The door opened, "Sword down, Di Angelo, we're here for the cabin leader meeting." Sherman ordered gruffly.

Nico stepped back, lowering his sword ever so slightly.

Annabeth, Malcolm, Sherman Yang, Jason, and Lou Ellen came in. Some glances were cast toward me.

I was still sitting on the floor, the flat of my knife resting on one knee and the pad and pen on the other, so I suppose I did look a little odd. Especially since there were chairs around the ping-pong table. But sitting on the floor was just something that I had done when I needed to brainstorm. Mom would sit across from me and shoot ideas to me and I would fire back questions or reviews, or build off of her ideas. When we had come in, and Nico told me to sit, I just automatically sat on the floor, knowing that some brain work needed to be done.

Malcolm stood beside me, "Floor more comfortable?"

"Athena cabin need two leaders?" I asked looking up at him.

He grinned and offered me a hand, "Two heads are better than one. Besides, our cabin was the only one completely capable of keeping their heads. Aside from the cabins with only one person in them."

I put my knife away, grabbed the pen and pad in my left hand and took his hand with my right, standing.

Sherman was glaring at me.

Lou Ellen was nervously tapping the table, her gaze fixed on a nonexistent point on the table.

"Nico, is there a reason you're still ready to chop down whoever comes through that door?" Malcolm asked. He still held my hand.

"I just…" He cracked his neck with a turn of his head, and then scowled at the floor, looking disturbed. "I feel like there's going to be a fight."

Sherman grunted agreement.

Annabeth was watching me and Malcolm.

Malcolm dropped my hand, as if he suddenly realized he was still holding it.

Percy, Miranda Gardiner, Clovis, Pollux, Piper, Leo, and the rest of the cabin leaders all came in with mixed expressions, all a little wary of getting stabbed when they were met with a fidgety, guarded Nico at the door.

Nico put his sword away, but was still standing beside the door. Presumably waiting for Will.

Chiron entered, pushed by Will, "Sit down, let's get to this quickly. Ms. Dellaro, you will be representing your cabin."

"What? No, Julia has more experience. She's technically next in line." A sharp pain in my arm made me wince. Please don't make me represent my cabin. Please.

"I knew I should have healed you some." Will muttered, heading toward me.

"Mr. Solace, leave it be for the time being. Ms. Dellaro, Julia has calmly stated that if she had to stab herself to get out of this meeting she would do so. She is currently being treated by a satyr for a stab wound to her leg making you the acting cabin representative." Chiron explained, sounding calm but also disturbed.

She stabbed herself in the leg to get out of this? Are you kidding me? What is wrong with these people?

"Julia, really?" I grumbled, thinking of a few choice words for her.

"What happened out there? Even my cabin is arguing and we can't even…" Clovis nodded off.

Pollux hit Clovis head to the table.

"Mommy!" He yelped, but didn't seem to remember that he was talking before.

"Camp hasn't been this restless and argumentative since the fighting between the Apollo and Ares cabin before the second Titan war." Malcolm said, shaking his head, "This kind of petty squabbling and…"

"Scarier than everyone fighting is an Athena kid being at a loss for words." Miranda said, her voice soft, "That kind of general discord hasn't been seen in a long time."

Everyone was quiet for a moment or two.

"I'm afraid you are correct, Miranda. Discord is exactly what that was." Chiron started, frowning softly at the table.

"Discord?" I felt lost, but Malcolm must have as well because he inhaled sharply after a moment.

"Cassandra, did anyone in your cabin tell you about the Apple of Discord?" Chiron continued, watching me carefully.

I frowned, "Of course, one of Connor's favorite pranks played off of the idea." It was true, but that wasn't why they had told me about it.

"I see," He steepled his fingers, "So they didn't tell you that the Hermes cabin has been guarding the Apple of Discord?"

I blinked a couple times, "Well, they said that they found it in the stash and had been keeping it safe since. But that's about it."

"So you don't know where it's at?"

I shook my head, "No, it's too dangerous for us to know. If it were to be disturbed, or it's protective vessel broken, mass chaos and dis…oh…" I felt my eyes widen as I looked at Chiron's tired face. "Oh, you think it's been…released?"

He sighed, "Do you know anything about the vessel that it was stored in?"

I frowned, trying to remember exactly what Connor said, "Enchanted metal case, special dust that keeps the apple in place and that has some other precautionary measures." Pain shot down to my hand, and up through my shoulder. "Something inconspicuous to throw people off. If anything were to disturb it, it would be drawn to the closest person able to contain it. I mean deliver it." I breathed out, grabbing my arm. That made it worse.

"Cass?" Malcolm put a hand on my shoulder.

Will was coming towards us.

"Will, you cannot heal her." Chiron said sternly.

"Chiron, she's in pain." Will looked distressed at the order.

"If her bone heals, we may never get the Apple of Discord dislodged from her bone. As it is, we'll need Connor. And he's not due back until Sunday at the earliest." Chiron said sadly, "The magic that was used to protect the camp from it, sadly bodes poorly for her. The vessel was damaged, but because she was the closest person able to deliver it, it lodged in the safest place available."

"My bone." I breathed, shakily, forcefully, then I started to breath more easily as the pain passed. "So it wasn't completely what I said that caused the problem, it just instigated it."

Malcolm pulled out a chair for me.

I sank into it shakily, then shook my head to try and clear the fog of pain. "Why do we need Connor?"

Chiron's concern was just about petrifying, "Because the Apple of Discord must, by all rights, be stolen to be obtained with the magic that has been used to contain it. Connor will be able to tell if a demigod is able to do so, or…someone stronger."

My heart sank, "My father."

Percy shrugged, "That's not too bad, I mean, he's one of the nicer gods. And you're his kid, I'm sure he'd help you out."

"Except he wouldn't be able to." I shook my head slowly, "The Apple of Discord is a symbol of power for Eris, goddess of discord. The fact that demigods even have it should be unthinkable. So, it's either break the magic that has subdued the Apple and get it out, but perhaps cause a massacre, or hope that Connor can steal it. My father can't help."

It was quiet as it all sank in.

Sherman swore, loudly and brashly.

When he finished, Lou Ellen spoke up, "What do we do until Connor gets back? She can't be around the campers. Do we even know what the vessel was before the apple decided her arm was a good place to hide? Or how it got into her arm?"

Will shook his head, "It was a spearhead, or, so it appeared. During the chaos of the fire it ended up in her arm. It had cracks, and I was afraid that there might be a chip or something in there. Still…I never expected…"

Nico shook his head, "We should have known it was different when the point was facing toward the entry wound and there was no exit wound."

Leo nervously tapped and fidgeted, "Maybe Lou Ellen and I can fix it?"

"You're welcome to try, Mr. Valdez." Chiron nodded slowly.

"That still doesn't solve the problem of what to do with her until Connor gets back." Sherman growled.

I shrunk a little under the gazes of all the most experienced campers.

Malcolm squeezed my shoulder, silently supporting me.

"We'll have to isolate her until Connor gets back." Annabeth said, her eyes stormy.

Jason shook his head, "We can't do that. That's…"

"We have to, Jason. For everyone's safety, including hers." Annabeth said firmly, "All of us seem able to resist it to some degree, we'll continue training her and keeping her company, but we have to keep everyone else away and the best way to do that is to keep her away."

Malcolm's grip tightened on my shoulder, "And then what? What if Connor can't help her?"

Chiron sighed, "Then she will have to seek Eris, and hope the goddess won't take revenge on us all."