That night, Micah had a horrific nightmare. He was floating in a dark void in the middle of nowhere, alone. He could feel absolute loneliness gripping at his very soul. Utter lifelessness penetrated his bones, and depression his mind. Every thought he could conjure up was only suffering continually. It was the definition of agony. From this depth, a voice rang throughout.

"Thats right, boy; breathe it in. This is where your so-called 'friends' will lead you. This is how it ends for you unless you leave well enough alone. There is no stopping me, child. Gods and men alike have begged for this judgement for millennia. And I am the bringer of their Salvation. I will be their cleansing waters of destruction. And if you dare challenge me, this is where you are destined to be. Now go: make your choice. I know what you shall do. But for the rest of eternity you will spend suffering, you will never be able to say you weren't warned." The Darkness bellowed at Micah. For a split second, Micah could feel its presence. It felt like the incarnation of mayhem and disorder. And it was overwhelming. Its sheer power made Micah feel like he was going crazy. He felt his head spin, his very thoughts warring against one another. He sat up in a cold sweat, the things words still swirling around in his head. He felt for his ring, and felt a little better when he felt is on his finger. He sat up and rubbed his face tiredly.

'Well, THAT sure helps my decision.' he thought nervously. For a split second, he was half tempted to run away from camp, but he stopped himself. He thought of his 3 new friends, then of the rest of the West. So defenseless. Without a clue of what was coming. No way to stop it even if they did know. Then he thought of the being that had just spoken to him. It felt… infinite. Unending, untameable raw power. There was no running from that thing. No amount of superspeed would get him far enough away from that thing to be safe. So what? I fight it? That sounded just as crazy. No one can fight that. He laid back down, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

BREAK*

Percy woke up and stretched, looking out the window to see brilliant sunrays coming through… right into his eyes. He was about to roll over and go back to sleep, when he remembered.

'Crap.' he mumbled as he hurried to get ready as fast as he could. He ran to the Big House and found Micah just coming outside. He wore a camp shirt and khaki shorts that Chiron had supplied him with the night before.

"Hey, Micah! You ready to go?" Percy asked. Last night, Percy had asked Micah if he would join them for combat practice, and Micah agreed. After all, what else did he have to do? So together they headed to the beach for some agility practice. But when they got there, no one was around. Micah shot Percy a confused look. He simply smiled and called out.

"Hey guys, come out here and meet him!" From the forest behind them, Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank stepped out, led by Reyna. Annabeth was with them as well, standing next to Percy and the rest of the group.

"Well, Micah, you said it yourself; you can't work with a team of strangers. So, I'd like to formally introduce you to the 7 Warriors." One by one, they all shook hands and introduced themselves. After they were introduced, Micah sighed and smiled.

"So, you really want me to join your group?" He said quietly. Jason put a hand on his shoulder.

"Prophecies don't lie, dude; if it says we need you, we NEED you." Micah said nothing, but thought about what happened last night. Then he looked at the group in front of him, all staring at him intently. They genuinely wanted him on their team.

'No, not on their team,' Micah thought with a smile 'In their family' He finally decided, and spoke up.

"Sure. I'm in. What's the worst that could happen?" With that, Frank pulled him into a giant bear hug.

"Welcome the family, brother!" he said happily. When he let go, Micah took a good long look at the group.

"What. The heck. Am I looking at." he stated. They were all confused until suddenly, there was a loud roar, and the group looked up to see Leo and Calypso riding Festus. Ever since the whole Mother Earth incident, he and Calypso had been traveling the globe together sightseeing. Leo jumped down and yelled

"Hola! Mi casa! Tell me I didn't miss anything?" he asked. They all chuckled, except for Micah, who stared intently at Calypso, who was trying to avoid eye contact. Micah finally spoke up.

"Calypso. It's been a while." he said flatly.

"So it has." she said with equal lifelessness. Leo looked back and forth between them, a shocked look on his and everyone else's faces.

"Wait, you KNOW him?!?" Leo said surprisingly.

"Yeah. It was a long time ago, kid. No need to feel threatened. I'm over it." he said with finality. She did not show any emotion, but Leo could tell something was wrong. They stared each other down, waiting for one to back down.

"So…. Moving right along…." Leo said nervously. "Yall rang for me?"

"Yeah, um.. Percy could you explain?" Micah asked, breaking his stare. He turned and started walking down the beach. They all looked at one another, confusedly. Reyna felt an odd want to follow Micah down the beach. She saw the war-worn look in his eyes; he had fought many a battle. It was the same look she saw every morning when she looked in the mirror. Calypso. stomped down the other side of the beach.

"I'll take him.." Annabeth started.

"No, I'll talk to him. I never was good with titans." Reyna said. Annabeth nodded, and took off towards Calypso. While the rest of the group explained to Leo the situation, Reyna caught up with Micah.

"Um, hey. Im Reyna. We were never introduced." she started, sticking out her hand. Micah stopped walking and gently took her hand in a handshake.

"Micah." he said quietly, then continued walking down the beach. He didn't seem angry, but he did look like he was thinking. They walked in silence, until Micah broke it.

"Why." he asked simply. She looked at him in confusion.

"Why what?"

"Why did you follow me out here?"

'Good question. Why DID I follow him out here?' she thought.

"Because you looked like you could use a friend." she finally said. He stopped and looked her right in the eyes. She felt like he was searching her very soul for the answers he wanted, which made the kind of uncomfortable. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, he looked away. More silence.

"You've seen alot of pain in your life, haven't you Miss Reyna?" he asked. She felt herself getting nervous.

"I suppose. When you've lived through a war with Mother Earth, you see plenty of pain"

"That's not the kind of pain I'm talking about." he said softly. Reyna couldn't help her eyes quickly darting to Jason.

"How long ago?" he whispered. She looked at him, eyebrows knit.

"How long ago what?"

"How long ago did he break your heart?" He asked. She felt the blood leave her face, and her pulse quicken.

'Who IS this guy?' she wondered.

"3 years ago, Los Angeles. I was fighting some giant, 1 eyed monster. It wasn't too hard, he was super slow. Suddenly, he turns to a little girl standing nearby. Ruthless thing. I barely got in front of him in time." Micah recalled.

"He got a cheap shot on me, and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was on a beach. With her." he pointed to Calypso.

"She helped me recover, fed me well. We became friends. Then she asked me to stay. The world had nothing for me, I was alone. So I said yes. She seemed happy at first, until I started… moving." he said sadly.

"Moving, what do…." Reyna started. Micah simply held out his arm, and vibrated his hand. It went so fast it started to steam, and sounded like an electronic back massager. Her eyes got huge, but Micah continued, fighting to control his emotions.

"She said she didn't know, and that she knew it was too good to be true. She...she told me we couldn't be together because the gods had a plan for me… told me I was special. By then I understood. So I left, hoping to never see her again. Now, here she is, man in tow." he finished, hurt in his voice. He stood up and walked to the shore, then sat with his feet barely touching the water. Reyna waited for a moment, then joined him. She took a deep breath, then spoke.

"It was at the beginning of the titan war. Before it had begun, Jason and I were both praetors of Camp Jupiter, a roman Half-Blood camp. We were very good friends, and one night, he asks me if I would like to go on a walk with him, so I agreed. We… we stopped on a hill, and laid back, looking at the stars for hours. He… he kissed me that night, under the stars, and I thought I had finally found the one. Then he disappears, taken by Juno to help bring our 2 camps together against Gaea. When he comes back, he's with Piper. I...I couldn't believe it. But I pushed it down, let it go, tried to forget. Until now, I guess." she finished, tears in her eyes. She refused to cry, she wouldn't. Micah stood up and extended his hand to help her. She took and stood as well.

"I guess we've both been hurt, huh?" he asked no one in particular. "Reyna, I know how hard it can be to swallow feelings. You don't have to with me. It's not good to keep it bottled up." he said soothingly. He looked at her and smiled lightly.

"Puedes confiar en mí, Reyna" he whispered kindly. She looked at him, eyes wide. Finally, she cried. For the first time since she saw Jason with Piper, she genuinely cried. She could feel all the pent up anger and hurt pour out with each tear. Micah grabbed her in a hug, and she returned it. They stood there for a while, until she stepped back and smiled.

"Thanks, Micah. If you wouldn't mind…"

"I won't tell a soul." he promised. They walked back to the group together, Reyna wondering just who this guy really was. They had almost reached them, when a sickening scream pierced the air. Micah looked over to Percy, who nodded. Together, the group charged towards the forest to find out just what was causing all he fear and panic.