A/N HELLO PEEPS! I have been having about the suckiest day of my life so I'm going to update to make me feel better. DISCLAIMER: I did a swim competition today in a girls category….and I'm guessing Rick Riordan didn't, so therefore I don't own PJO.

Chapter 9: A Circle Divided

Instantly I was alert. What happened? Where was Alex? I slipped on my bracelet and looked towards the door. There was no noise from the bathroom-but there was a sliver of dark gold light spilling out of the slightly ajar door.

The slightly ajar door.

Oh, no.

I shook Hunter awake. "Dude, we have a problem."

"Huh?" He blearily wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Penny? Where's Alex?"

"That's the problem. Now, WAKE UP!"

Hunter finally got out of bed, and we began to sneak down the hallway. After a while, I started to hear noises. I motioned for Hunter to stop. Closing my eyes, I summoned the magic again. It had been a couple nights since I had the last Hecate-style demigod dream, but I still remembered how to summon a Maybe. I began to think about the blue sparks- exploding and combining into a recognizable form- Pearl.

"Mind doing a bit of spying?" I whispered. The blue sparks nodded at me, then ran off. Hunter sood, awestruck.

"Penny-"

"Shh." I closed my eyes again. This time, when I blinked them open, I was seeing through Pearl's.

She sprinted down the maze of hallways and towards the noises. The sounds soon morphed into voices. Achilles…and Alex.

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about." Alex said. His voice sounded strained, like he was going over a point he had stressed before. "I'm not the same Alexander, okay?"

Achilles made a noise that sounded like a hiss. "Do you know what that Alexander did to me? And that wasn't even the name he kept. Paris, he called himself." A short, sharp laugh, like a bark. "Do you know what he did?"

There was a ripping noise. Suddenly, Alex came into view. He was sitting on the floor- slumped, more like- hands shackled and chained to the wall behind him. There was a growing bruise just above his left eye, and from what the magic could see, just about to pass out. He was wincing at whatever the ripping noise had been. Then his stormy gray eyes grew wide.

"In the myth, Paris killed you."

Achilles snarled. It was a feral sound, not human at all. "The myth was right."

"Then how-"

"The Master grows stronger every day, demigod." His breath came in a rattle. "The magic the Master possesses is great."

"Magic-like Hecate?"

Achilles laughed again. "The witch is nothing compared to the Master."

"The master…."Alex's face went slack. "You're a Chaosite."

The sparks around Pearl's vision began flickering, and I knew I couldn't maintain this for much longer.

"Yes, son of Athena. I am. And you are attempting to stop my Master." The rage in Achilles' voice had gone down to a lilt which was still strangely terrifying.

"Penny?"

A voice brought me out of my fading magic-haze. Hunter's eyes were wide. "What's going on?"

I suddenly realized I didn't know the way Pearl had run-but that I did know a way to get to Alex. I offered my hand to him. "Come on."

And in a flash of blue, we were where Pearl had been before. Hunter pulled out his knife and I got out my sword, and together, we barged into the room- just before Achilles completed his slash down with the black sword.

The black sword. My brain flashed back to the day before, on the bus. Isabelle had a black iron sword with a divided circle on it. The same marking was on this blade. Alex was right-we shouldn't be here.

Achilles looked nothing like last night. His breathing was ragged and hard, and his clothes hung loosely off his thin frame. Muscles stuck out on the exposed part of his shoulder, and I saw a tattoo that matched the divided circle on the sword…but no, it wasn't a tattoo. It was branded into his skin.

He roared and came after us.

Achilles' first strike was predictable, and I parried it easily. After that, it got harder. Hunter and I both fought as well as we could- one with barely a week of training, and another with barely a day- but we were still losing, and I was weakened further from maintaining the blue sparks earlier. Then Hunter vanished. My thoughts turned to confusion. Where was he?

I heard the clash of metal on metal. I flinched, but Achilles barely blinked.

Suddenly, a flash of gold joined the cue, and Alex began to fight. I tried to hide the smile on my face. Alex was back in business.

Achilles roared as Alex stabbed him in the heel, where I saw a huge, grotesque scar-probably from the first time he died- and he began to crumble into gray dust- not like any monster I had ever seen.

"CHAOS WILL CONSUME YOU ALL!" he screamed. "YOU CAN NEVER WIN!"

"Yeah, right." I scoffed.

Alex looked up from the mound of ash that was once was a hero. "Hey Penny."

"Hey Alex." We both sounded casual. I wanted to laugh.

"You look like death."

"Ditto."

"You think we can go back and shower?" Hunter asked. He looked like death too.

"You know, I think that's a great idea."

"After that, want to go raid the front for info?" I said.

Alex smiled. "I was thinking the exact same thing."

A/N And we found Alex! And killed Achilles! My day is now substantially better. Now all I have to do is find a bagel…Please read and review!