I am sorry for the delay, but chapter 13 is here now :)

Traveling above ground made Percy scared. Dangers lay before him, and by going above ground, he was tempting the fate of his life.

He didn't want to die and waste his life. Not only did he have work to finish before he would ever die, but he wanted to live for Annabeth. His soulmate. Annabeth...

Oh gods. A moment of realization struck Percy that Annabeth was no longer there to call him names, or prod him along during reading. She wasn't there at all. Percy only seemed to feel like Annabeth was a presence gone, a lover gone, and an innocent that had vanished because of the greed and vindictiveness of the gods.

They had been betrayed by friends and strangers. But gods? Percy had always encouraged the gods to become faithful and honor-bounding. Now, their promises broke into dust. The promise that he and Annabeth would forever live in peace without the meddling of gods-no-that all the demigods would never be annoyed once more- the words were like a song: strong only when there is meaning, and frail with no will.

So many years ago, the gods had said so themselves: "There is no use. It has been in our nature for too long. We can never change." But Percy had refused to acknowledge the fact, and now Annabeth lay dead, washed off the shores of Camp Half-Blood, and into the ocean that gently lapped her into its realms.

Percy could feel her body sinking into the ocean. Her body- once so alive and warm, but now so lifeless and cold- weightlessly sunk into the abysmal depths of the ocean, waiting to be collected by a minion of Hades.

A tear fell escaped Percy's eye and fell down his cheek. An arm wrapped around him.

He looked up to see his only friends with him in the capsule that would take them to save Lia from the cruel gods.

Yes, Thalia and Nico, his constants. But who was this other boy?

"Who are you?" rasped Percy's hoarse voice.

"M-me?"

"Of course, you." Thalia stared at the opposite wall. Her face was blank and her eyes were void of all emotions.

"I am Andrew."

Nico frowned. "Why are you here?"

Percy nodded. He didn't need to talk to make known that he agreed with Nico's question.

"Well, I am a son of Apate. In ancient times, she was one of the released spirits of Pandora."

Thalia caught her breath. "Okay."

"Apate wad related to all the- bad gods. The god of old age, suffering, doom, strife... I don't know if I'll do a single thing of use to you guys."

Nico started to say something, but Percy hushed him with a single raising movement of his arm. "Continue. P-please."

Andrew nodded. "But- anyways- Apate was the goddess of lying, deceit, and- in Roman times- trickery."

Andrew tried for a shaky laugh. "Which is funny, because I have never been able to trust anyone. Anything I say comes out as a lie. It's impossible to stop! My voice is plagued. Only Lia can stop these lies, and only for certain times, but those times never last. Never."

Thalia and Nico each eyed Percy. A moment of understanding and anxiety passed between them.

Even as a child of tricks himself, he was caught in the center of lies and lying, and nothing was ever true to him.

"Lia." Nico averted his eyes from the sorry sight of Andrew. His shoulders sagged with misery. "Why was she so special to you?"

"She's my friend."

The word came out in a longing tone. He clearly wanted to believe the meaning of the word to be more. But maybe it actually was.

A thump sounded around the capsule; it screeched to a sudden stop.

Percy, with a firm look upon his face, turned towards his friends, who had the same look plastered onto their faces.

One after another, the other three demigods all nodded. Nico, then Thalia, and then Andrew. All of them agreed on the thing that they most feared. The thing that made them shiver whenever in a deep thought.

Everyone thought the same thing: we are going to face this war masked with cruelty and be the face of death itself.