Raven

Raven sat in the hallway outside the meeting room with her arms crossed over her chest. She was not a child, and she shouldn't have to be stuck waiting out in the hallway like a brat in time out. It wasn't as if she even did anything wrong. So what if she made one of the seven year olds face the truth, she wouldn't have done it if Strawberry Shortcake hadn't been such a bitch. The girl had spent the whole first half of the class patronizing her and then she wanted Raven to help some of the new arrivals understand the history behind famous artwork. Raven just answered their questions with much more detail than Strawberry was expecting. While she pouted, Jackson stuck his head out and appraised her carefully; she cocked an eyebrow and gave a very sarcastic thumbs up.

"Just… Don't leave." Her brand tingled slightly in acknowledgement of the command and she turned to stare down the hallway instead of making eye contact with her glorified babysitter. The door creaked to a close and then clicked shut. Raven peeked over her shoulder just in time to see the door swing back open a fraction of an inch. The conversation from inside trickled out in to the hallway and a Chesire grin spread across Raven's mouth as she slid closer.

"…worrying your friends." The Centaur was using his respectable father-figure tone, and Raven was this close to jumping into the vats of lava just to end the nauseating hypocrisy. A traitorous part of her heard that tone and just- just wanted to make him proud. She hated him for it. So many demigods lacked connections with one or both parents and his playing on those issues was despicable. Tricking vulnerable kids into trusting him by pretending he cared about them, she could hardly imagine anything more despicable.

"There's nothing to worry about Chiron." Jackson was one of those assholes that never had to pretend they weren't assholes; she suspected that was the reason he was such a pathetic liar.

"Son, I know you're still dealing with it, and you should take your time to process it, but talking to someone doesn't make you weak." Of course, this was just another piece of the old man's horse crap, but nothing could surprise her coming from the leader of the mindless Kool Aid drinkers. If her General had to go crying to someone about every stupid problem, he never would have made it without that trait being beat out of him.

"There's nothing to talk about." Again, it was a poorly executed lie, but she still felt a misplaced sense of pride that at least her adversary understood that chats about feelings were about as ineffective as employing children of Aphrodite in battle.

"What happened, Percy?" There was stifling silence and no one seemed to breathe in the space of a moment; Raven slowly started to wonder what the mysterious event they were referring to could be. Could perfect Jackson have done something wrong? "You need to tell someone," Percy started to say something but Chiron stopped him quickly. "I'm aware that the Olympians know, but you need someone you can rely on consistently, and as much as you and your father have bonded over the last few years, he can't be that person to you." Jackson's bonded with the Behemoth of a beach bum? No wonder he's the Olympian's golden boy, he's the only demigod they bother to care about.

"It doesn't matter alright? He lost, we won, and we moved on." She couldn't understand why everyone kept insinuating that this war was actually over. Typhon must have succumbed of course, and Kronos' formation must have been delayed, but there had to be people left fighting. This was bigger than just one battle, this was years, lives, and they were finally taking a stand, fighting for themselves, each other. They couldn't all have lost.

"You and I both know it isn't that simple." The horse seemed to have a better grasp on the situation but his grave tone tickled up the back of Raven's neck and ferociously tried to get her attention. Chiron didn't sound concerned about left over rebels, he sounded destroyed, like they had lost something.

"It has to be that simple; he was hosting Kronos, that's all that matters." Raven's empty stomach made a valiant effort to expel whatever was floating around in there, and this conversation suddenly took on a much bigger meaning. She crawled as close as she could get to the door without being seen and listened as closely as she could. If Luke, if he hadn't, she knew, and the plan, and…

"He was your friend first." Chiron seemed to be choosing his words very carefully, and her hands started shaking. That very first summer…

"He was never my friend." She almost cheered when she heard Jackson denied the lie. They were enemies, completely. Luke was everything good; he was a hero. Jackson was evidence of everything wrong with this train wreck.

"Luke was a camper Percy, people cared about him, he just" That was a lie, such a lie, the people who really cared about him came with him, these people can't do this, they can't spread these lies about him. She can't let them, she wouldn't. The door crashed open with a jarring bang before she even realized she had done it, and Jackson's face was the first thing she saw. He was surprised, naturally, and still a little vulnerable from the conversation she had interrupted, but there was grief in his eyes, and even more importantly, guilt.

"What did you do?" She demanded, her voice cracking as she shouted. She could remember moving but she was suddenly in his face, searching for something. Some answer to the guilt flickering behind his eyes.

"Annabeth." Chiron murmured quietly, but she couldn't be bothered to think about anything other than the boy in front of her and the boy that she would never see again.

"Did you kill him?" She asked, feeling a cold numbness spreading from her chest as she waited for the answer. She felt her fingers twitch at her sides, itching to do something. Jackson seemed to be crumbling in front of her. He just kept shaking his head but couldn't seem to say anything. He was pale and terrified, on the verge of blowing chunks.

"Annabeth, stop." The centaur tried again, but she ignored him with the same easy callousness. There was no one else now, just her and Jackson.

"Look me and the eye and tell me that you didn't murder him in cold blood." She ordered, and the words seem to pop out without any permission from her. Icy cold fury pulsed through her veins and she felt herself tremble as she waited for an answer. She needed revenge, but first she had to know, had to know for sure what had happened.

Jackson didn't break eye contact, but looked at her pleadingly, seeming years younger, as if she could every pity him. Something in her gut told her that all of the signs were already there, but she had to hear it from him. She had to know for certain how the most important person in her life died.

"Annabeth! Come with me." The centaur growled, anger seeping into his tone. His hand on her arm was finally enough to jolt her out of the confrontation. She spun to the centaur and directed her fury at him for just a moment.

"I don't have to listen to you." She snarled, turning her attention back to the shaken teen, but even the moment of removal from the tension gave him enough time to recover a fraction of his strength.

"Go." He choked out, looking at the centaur with more relief than she had ever seen. Her shoulder started to throb as she tried to hold her ground, but with a growl, she stormed out of the room once the pain started to border on excruciating.

Percy

The minute the door closed he lowered himself down to the floor. It was hard to breathe and the room seemed to be spinning too quickly. He was surrounded by flashes of color and everything quickly started to go sideways. Everything that he blocked was rushing back in. He could feel the acid climbing across his skin, and it seemed like everything was rushing, too quickly for him to choke in a breath. He needed to stop, he needed to get himself together, but he couldn't. It was too hard.

Overwhelming guilt pressed in on him, heavier than all of Olympus, heavier than the sky. He felt as if his joints were creaking, about to collapse in on him. There wasn't enough air in the room, and blood was rushing to his ears. Black pressed in along the edges of his vision, and suddenly, there was nothing.

Raven

"How dare you?" She snarled, infuriated. Chiron didn't react, keeping his face stoically calm. She wouldn't put up with that. "You may have been my teacher when I was eight, but that doesn't give you the right to control me. You're a brain washer and a bastard." She hissed, spitting out each word. She had never been so frustrated; she had been just about to get Jackson to break before the maniac had ruined her opportunity. She couldn't take this not knowing.

"You've always had a habit for projecting your anger on to others, I was merely stopping you from causing more damage than you really want to." He said with the quiet certainty of the insane.

"I don't need you looking out for me." And it was true, she had been on her own for years, she didn't need his arrogance.

"I disagree." He said calmly.

"You just wanted to maintain your golden boy's reputation. Wouldn't want anyone discovering he's a murderer." It felt like a good word to say aloud, too ridiculous, too extravagant to be a reality. She couldn't know a murder victim, this wasn't TV, murder made it much less real than killer.

"You shouldn't talk about what you don't understand." The old man advised. She hated him, hated him so much. The only adult she had ever really trusted was the same person who had tried to brainwash her, who had sided with her parents. The disdain written across his feature was painful to see directed at her.

"If anyone would tell me what was going on, I could speak with authority." She argued back, letting herself feel the anger rather than the pain, she was good at that. The centaur just shook his head and changed the subject.

"You won't be allowed to leave camp until Percy and I decide you have been fully reformed. Would you like to spend more time here? The less trouble you cause, the faster you can move on from your mistakes." He reminded her coolly. It was strange, the difference between how he used to talk to her and how he did now, but she guess that happens when a con-man realizes their mark knows they're running a con.

"I don't need to be reformed. I was right. You may not know anything about loyalty, but I won't change sides just because I've been captured." She resolved, glaring back into her former teacher's cool gaze. As long as she remembered who she was, it was easy to keep herself separated from her nostalgia.

"The war is over Annabeth, you have to learn to accept that." He said more gently, looking more disappointed than angry. He still acted as if he cared about her. The liar.

"It won't be over until Olympus is smashed to pieces and rebuilt in real glory." She found the words coming out of her mouth without any permission from her. It had been something she had said so often that the rhythm of the words would get stuck in her head and make it difficult to sleep.

"You're wrong, but I suppose you'll learn that on your own after a while." He sighed. "For now, I've decided to place you somewhere new. You will be assisting your siblings in the creation of our new cabins, Malcolm will collect you in an hour." He glanced out the window, clearly having better things to do than making her life hell.

"No. "She crossed her arms over her chest. Working with Malcolm and the Athenabots wasn't an option, she may have been an architect but that was only supposed to be when she remade Olympus, not made it stronger.

"This isn't a choice, this is your penance." He glanced back out the window, surveying his kingdom like the psycho dictator that he was.

"I did nothing wrong." She spat. She was confident in her choices, and she wouldn't let anyone convince her they were mistakes.

"You planned the deaths of my campers, of your friends. You don't think there is something inherently wrong about that? You don't feel at all guilty for what you've done?" She stared at the ground, refusing to defend her actions any farther. It didn't matter what this man thought of her, she was so much more than his opinion of her, no matter how much it ached to hear what he thought of her. Those were just the buried ruminants of someone else, not who she truly was. A hesitant throat clearing from behind her drew her attention, and she noticed Jackson, a little less pale, but not in great shape. He seemed shaken.

"Don't bring it up again." He ordered, his stony mask told her he was hiding something, and she desperately needed to know what. The ink on her shoulder tingled with pins and needles to alert her to the necessity of following the order, and she ground her teeth silently at the realization that she would have to try a lot harder to find the truth. Jackson knew something, even if he didn't kill him, he knew how Luke died, and she would find out, even if she had to go around him.

They arrived back at Percy's cabin in silence, neither willing to be the weaker one by breaking it. There was the telltale feeling of discomfort as she walked into his space, the kind of awkward that only came after a truth was revealed that no one was quite ready to deal with. She needed some space to think, to process, to plan, and it looked like Jackson wouldn't be leaving any time soon. She cleared her throat awkwardly before gesturing to the bathroom and hiding in the shower. With the water running, she didn't hear him leave.

Percy

"What's up RED?" Percy called out, Rachel didn't bother to see who her visitor was, but merely focused on the rug beneath her. As far as living in a cave went, she didn't have it too bad. The tapestry covering the door was a gift, sent from Apollo to celebrate her new status as oracle, and worked well as insulation. The rugs beneath her were soft and durable, and the mini labyrinth of caves allowed her plenty of privacy.

"Stop calling me that." She said more out of habit than irritation. The nickname had existed since he first put together that her initials matched her flaming scarlet hair, and she could never convince him to let it go. It may have been slightly juvenile but he still enjoyed pushing her buttons. It was nice to feel like a normal teenager for a minute of two.

There wasn't even a need for words anymore, he just sat down on the ground beside her and laid his head on her shoulder, slumping into her smaller frame. The redhead didn't look up from the dancing flames, but still gently brushed his hair out of his eyes. It had gotten longer in the past few months, but still managed to never lay exactly flat.

"I miss my mom." He said quietly. It made him feel weak to say it out loud, but he knew he could trust her. She didn't even react, she just made a soft noise in the back of her throat in agreement. Sally had become a second mother to her over the past year or so. She would welcome anyone who needed it, but she especially took to the other girl, allowing herself to become a confidant about the teen's gift of sight. They bonded over the mist, but Percy suspected a mutual love for embarrassing him was what really cemented the friendship.

"How long has it been?" She asked; he tensed slightly. He didn't like thinking about that either.

"Before Nico and I went back to get permission? My birthday party." He sighed, and the sound was so downtrodden that it made something in him ache. He was still reeling from his earlier attack, and maybe still a little dizzy, but not even Rachel could know about that. It would bring up too many questions, too many things he didn't have an answer for.

"That was a year ago." She told him quietly, but nothing in her tone suggested that this was new information for either of them. She understood that he had always relied on his mom, that she had been his rock for so long, he felt unmoored if he spent long stretches of time out of contact with her. When he started staying at camp full time, so that he could prepare himself for the war, it had been nearly impossible with the shattering amounts of homesickness he dealt with.

"I know." He sighed, and closed his eyes. He let himself slump farther into her, confident she could support part of the weight. "I thought when the war was over I could go back and stay with her during the school year, but with Annabeth here…" He trailed off, it was self-explanatory. His duties had trapped him here, again. Sometimes it was too much to be the perfect hero, he just wanted to be normal for a while.

"Raven." She corrected quickly and with way more urgency than he would've expected. Her eyes finally left the fire and she straightened, making him sit up too.

"What? Why would you care?" He studied her face for clues, it was one that he knew very well, but he still came up empty.

"Ravens are omens of death, Percy. Don't forget that." She caught his eyes as if she was trying to transfer her certainty to him through eye contact alone.

"Since when do you believe in omens?" He asked curiously, for a very practical, albeit eccentric girl, omens seemed a little too fanciful for her. She had visions, she didn't look into crystal balls.

"I'm an oracle, I'm kind of supposed to, aren't I?" She chuckled half-heartedly and a little morbidly. She was trapped in her own role just like him.

"When have you ever done what you were supposed to?" He teased and she smiled slightly.

"One of us should. She's dangerous Percy, I get bad vibes whenever she's around." She pleaded pointedly.

"So do I. That's because she's evil, it's not a supernatural thing, it's a normal thing that tends to happen when someone looks like they're about to commit a mass murder." Unfortunately he was only half joking. He was absolutely positive that Rachel wasn't getting an oracle vibe, just a sane person vibe.

"It's more than that, I just don't trust her." Rachel rarely had a hard time articulating exactly what she was thinking, but she seemed desperate to get him to understand something she didn't fully understand herself.

"Trust me, I don't either. It will be fine." He assured her honestly. There was nothing to worry about, he had his guard up already, and the tattoo. He was the one with the power, even if it didn't always feel like it.

"Hmmm." She murmured, as if she was just agreeing to pacify him rather than actually believing him. "Are you going to the victory party tonight?" She changed the subject easily, though clearly not without intent to go back.

"Probably, are you? Or will it do too much damage to your 'mystical maiden of the caves' rep?" He joked, it was still a little ridiculous, that the girl who painted her whole body for a fundraiser was the same one to host a timeless oracle.

"Maybe, I guess I'll see you there if I decide the damage will be worth it." She smirked, but he could tell from the way she curled her shoulders in that she had no intention of going. It brought him back to reality and out of this warm little bubble of comfort.

"I should get back." He sighed.

"Who'd you leave her with?" Rachel asked nervously, seeming to just then process that him being her meant that she had to be with someone else.

"Grover, but she was in the shower." He said slowly, knowing she wouldn't approve.

"That's was really bad idea," She said sharply, her eyes wide with surprise at his stupidity and her voice high.

"I know." He groaned, before slowly rising to his feet and jogging back to his cabin.

Raven

Raven jumped when she stepped out of the bathroom to find Grover instead of Percy waiting for her. He seemed unsurprisingly nervous. Honestly, it was to be expected if the first time you saw a childhood friend after eight years was when she was your best friends slave. She couldn't pretend that it was any less awkward, or confusing for her.

She had loved her old job, and she was good at it. Breaking down Percy to a page of strengths and weakness had been easy, Clarisse had been easy, but Grover, that had been hard. How on earth could she pretend to be objective about him? Luke was even going to try to recruit him, until he learned of Grover's obsession with finding Pan, there was no way Grover would forsake the gods if it meant forsaking his life's goal. She knew that, but it didn't make any of this any easier.

"Where's Jackson?" She asked sarcastically, and something twisted in Grover's expression before he coached it back to a blank stare.

"He had to go check in with Malcolm about something, you remember him right?" His tone was accusatory, and for the first time she realized Grover was angry. She wasn't the only one who had been hurt here.

"Yeah, I ran into him the earlier." She crossed her arms, and tucked her hair behind her ear anxiously. Grover quickly gave her the once over and his eyes hovered somewhere near hip.

"Where's your knife?" Raven's stomach twisted when she remembered that night in the alley. Grover hadn't been there, but he had heard the story more than once, and he knew everything that blade was connected to.

"Your gods took it from me when they dumped me here." She resorted to her default tone, harsh and cruel, but it was a habit at this point. You had to be harsh to survive in Kronos' camps. You had to be strong, and you could never show weakness.

"I'm sorry," He said, and when she gave him a dirty look, he hurried to add, "I know how much it meant to you." She swallowed and nodded, her throat feeling tight with an emotion like grief, but she couldn't show it.

"Grover, you're the only one who I even marginally trust here." She admitted, and she didn't sound like herself anymore, she sounded about eight years younger and a whole war weaker. "I need to know something." He nodded, and he must have known what was coming because he leaned back against the wall, physically putting as much distance between himself and the conversation as he could.

"What happened to Luke?" She asked, her voice unwavering even as her heart thrummed out a rapid beat in her ears. This might be her only chance to find out the truth, since Jackson had rebuffed her. She knew the answer wouldn't be good, and she almost wished she had held back longer, had avoided the truth and lived in this happy little bubble. As long as she didn't know how it happened, she could pretend that it hadn't. She could pretend that Aphrodite had lied and that she had nothing to worry about it. At the same time, she couldn't deal with limbo forever; she knew that she had to face what had happened.

There were never any good options when it came to Luke, at least no rational options. He told her he had a plan before he chose to host Kronos; that he wouldn't allow himself to be burned up when Kronos finally arrived fully formed. She knew from the moment he said it, that the chances of him succeeding were slim. She had to believe that he had found a loop hole, at least until she knew otherwise.

"He's dead." He said the words darkly, and even though she knew that he was in pain, Grover's tone didn't show it. He just sounded sympathetic. They had been separated for much longer.

"How did it happen?" She asked, her hands trembling. She wouldn't cry; she wouldn't allow herself to, not now, and not with Jackson coming back any moment. Grover just shook his head, and scuffed his hoof along the wooden flooring.

"I don't know, no one does." He sounded so broken, and Raven bit her lip unhappily. "Except for Percy." He tacked on at the last moment, and when Raven's head popped up, her eyes wide, Percy strolled in.

"Hey man, did I miss anything?" Jackson asked, smiling like a charmer at both his friend and the girl he was keeping captive. All she could think about was the fact that talking to his best friend and his biggest enemy required the same degree of deception.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Grover answered too quickly; Jackson just gave them both a skeptical look before letting it slide. He went back to puttering around and Grover just cast a glance over his shoulder as he left.

Everything seemed flipped on its head. The only person who had the information she needed was the same person she despised. She had to get him to open up about something that he hadn't even admitted to his best friend. She didn't know what her plan of attack had to be but she did know one thing.

This changed everything.

A/N: Hello lovely readers, this is one of my favorite chapters to date and I hope you all enjoy it. Just as a note, I wanted to remind you guys that in this verse Raven wasn't on Mount Olympus, she was suffering from a poisoned stab wound with no medical care. There was nothing (that we know of) that could've stopped Kronos from overpowering Luke, no reminder of family to shift the power. As of right now, what happened on Olympus is a mystery. Who knows? Raven might be right. Everybody in this fic' has something to feel guilty about.