Arrows pierced through the night sky whereas death lingered in the damp New York air. Fire blazed through city buildings and swept through street ways. Demigods stacked up into frighteningly high piles. Telkines and Dracaenae surrounded stupid half horse half human mongrels. A hellhound tackled two nitwit satyrs armed with silly flutes in their hand.

Every demigod marched off the ship with some form of a horse thanks to Kronos. This was Audrey's first time seeing a skeleton horse; those things startled even her. She was the only one who rode on a Pegasus.

In the midst of a large fleet, Audrey could just barely make out Kronos on the front line. He, also, strolled on a massive skeleton horse. The entire Titan side was swarmed by purple banners depicting a scythe. The now silver-haired demigod wore no such markings.

Kronos spoke a great deal with her about proceeding with this plan of hers beforehand. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly as thrilled about it as she was. (Something about it being too dangerous and reckless.) Whatever coaxing that persisted proved useless unless she did something in return for him.

She touched the cold, smooth surface of the necklace laced around her neck. It was a silver piece of fine jewelry Kronos surprised her with the same night she welcomed him on board her vessel. In the middle glistened a chunk of rock so strikingly green people compared it to her eyes.

He said it was going to help her unleash a power even the gods couldn't stop.

When she walked, she held her chin up high. She had to constantly remember to keep her back straight and shoulders pushed back. If she was going to successfully give others the impression of a Sister then she needed to look the part, Scarlett warned. Along with the silver hair, Audrey wore her favorite new leather jacket, cargo pants , and black battle boots. She continued to wear the Hunter gear with knives dangling just below her belt and a bow slung over her shoulder. She looked like one damn good-looking soldier.

But the knives? The bow and arrow? Few people truly understood her weaknesses in these areas just yet. When Scarlett ordered her to shoot the yellow space in the center of the practice target, she not only missed but shot the fire alarm instead. It was all about coordination, she told Audrey, something the demigod thought she mastered completely. If she could pull a handspring single-handedly with a sword in the other hand on top of a railing outside the ship then she could very well blast a damn arrow through a target. Just focus on the target, the girl eventually told her after missing over a hundred shots. The best she could hit that day was the white ring.

Her father was to blame - of course. Nothing new; everything was always his fault. Just the sound of his name made her blood boil. However, Scarlett further confirmed this theory when saying the impatience was in her blood. Daggers were another story, though, she later found. They were small but worked great for up close combat. A lot easier to hide and lighter too. All in all - just in case things turned messy - she kept her sword concealed inside her pocket. It was amazing what magic could do when she learned her Celestial steel sword could conform into a simple black mascara tool.

As her men raged on through the streets, clashing one on one with the enemy, the demigod struggled to keep to her herself. Even as a Centaur speared through three of her men like meat kabobs, it was crucial that she keep her distance. Her disguise was the only thing right now shielding her from any physical contact. And, most of every soldier already knew of her plan as long as they saw her silky, silver locks. But, it would not last for long if she didn't make herself scarce and fast.

The next few minutes felt like the longest for the young demigod. Little to no action took place. Just chaos. Death. She couldn't lie, though, it did boost her drive to kill. With this urge also allowed her to see and interpret things more clearly. It came in handy shortly later when she found wires and nails poking out from the stacks of raw rubble. Underneath all the explosion triggers and vocal madness, one could almost not hear the soft, but deadly ticking rhythm. She dove out of the way just in time before the nasty eruption. The sound of helpless victims echoed clear across the city channel. Ducked behind some thick, brick wall, it was awful to know some of those voices belonging to a portion of her own men she trained. When the awful noise finally seceded, Audrey reopened her dusty eyes to the main body of the city library. The demigod was just strolling down the cold, dismal halls when she heard a new racket from upstairs. It sounded less hectic and disturbing. Curiously, Audrey climbed upstairs. By sure luck, it turned out to be three Camp Half-Blood kids.

She felt the exhilarating urge again all at once. Her muscles twitched compulsively; it was almost a burning thud.

"Help! Someone help!" Audrey used one of Scarlett's old skinning knives to slice a huge gash in her right shoulder before anyone could appear. In just a matter of seconds, she went from looking somewhat decent to severely gruesome. When they found her, her braided hair was all matted up and frizzy, blood spilt all over her now tattered clothes. She pretended to limp just before they spotted her - then tripped.

"It's a Hunter!" One cried.

At least one person bought it. She was instantly accompanied by a boy who helped to lift her up. Shredding real warm tears, the demigod cried, "Please, help us. My Sister is trapped under a pile of bricks from some explosion. I don't know how much time she has left!"

"Where is she?" The older looking one across from her asked. The others helped tend to her wounds. "South of where I came. We must hurry!"

They never expected a thing when she pulled the knife out. The last of them was the most entertaining to watch when he reached the pile of rubble only to run into her sneer and a blade blazing through his thick chest. It took a bit of recovering from laughter in order to hear the others coming.

There were many more than before. About ten? Fifteen? As they approached, she rushed over in a frenzied appearance to the leader's side. Her eyes were bathed in red liquid. "There's more!" Her voice was thick with desperation. She shook the shoulders of the leader watching her. "I took out as many as I could, but there's way too many! We must retreat!"

"How many?" The demigod asked, sternly.

"I don't know - thirty?"

"Monsters? Demigods?"

"Both!"

The girl behind him suggested we follow. Another was more concerned about not hearing anything resembling to a charge or march. Her muscles tensed, her throat ached. After nearly a minute of absent footsteps, many hesitant eyes began to reach for their side.

She could not afford to stall any longer.

She struck the closest one first with a dagger and flung his body at the close knit group behind him. A blond haired girl swung her sword at Audrey but missed by a hair when she ducked. Battling one on four with a dagger only made things worse. Despite the hours she spent learning how to use the weapon, it was no good for fighting multiple players. And then the bow that hung over her shoulder only made things worse.

"Screw this." The demigod was getting frustrated after avoiding her fifth beheading but gaining another sick laceration.

She shot her only dagger at one girl's stomach then swung the bow over her head to strike the next demigod's head. The third demigod struck with her sword but missed striking the bow each time. Audrey successfully dodged each blow until the girl's impatience finally blew through her fellow soldier in his side. The incident gave her enough time to make one last blow in the girl's chest. Ouch.

After taking care of another four demigods, Audrey spotted a nearby fence. It was about a ten foot tall piece of black iron. But most importantly, it was one of the few barriers separating their side from the Titan's. Her muscles were wearing out; she could not keep up with this for much longer.

She seized her chance the following moment she kicked her third man down. Her heart pounding, she sprinted toward the massive fence she knew she could easily climb in just a matter of seconds. She drowned out most of the noise behind her to just a dismal ringing in the ears. Voices could be distinguished, but what they were saying exactly, she wasn't quite sure.

She was more worried about one of them carrying a bow and arrow - and if they did, she prayed to the gods they did not know how to use it. Sprinting across the road, she was just a blink away from touching its rustic iron when the world suddenly collapsed. Audrey suddenly met the grinding taste of dirt in her mouth after her face slammed into the concrete. When she tried to wiggle her legs, she found that a thick piece of string-like rope was tied around her ankles. In a state of panic, Audrey reached for her side only to find herself clean of any daggers and mysteriously missing her unused mascara tool. When the sound of footsteps approached closer, her heart dropped.

Four male demigods hovered over her. All of them armed with some form of blade.

"You little bitch!" One loud, outrageous demigod roared, smacking his heavy, black boot right into her abdomen. Instinctively, the demigod curled into fetal position, and a chain of violent kicking and hitting with the handle of weapons took place. The demigod covered her head, praying for it to end. She never felt so weak and helpless. It felt as if the torture went on for so long. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take it.

The moment the brutal torture ended, screams followed. But because she was on the verge of unconsciousness, the shrieking noise Audrey heard weakened to just a numb ringing. Her eyes still shut closed and her head still pounding from the impact, she failed to seize the open opportunity at this time. A minute surpassed, and the noise suddenly transformed into a smearing of blood.

The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her shoulder. "Ma'am! Ma'am, wake up!" There was a sound of worry in the voice.

A jolt of panic struck the demigod again when she realized someone had approached her. To any normal bystander, it may have looked like a simple reflex of a flinch. Groggily rolling back her eyelids, Audrey tried to trace the face of the voice. Once everything finally set in, she blinked.

She remembered him as one of the men who traveled with them on board her vessel, and as one of the few who knew how to properly handle a sword. He was tall, handsome, and a downright charming young man who both won Scarlett's heart and stole her freedom. His name was Jeremy Blackwood.

"How the hell did you find me?" A violent cough erupted at the end of her question.

His voice was sympathetic. "How badly are you hurt?" In response to her flaring cough, Blackwood hooked both his big hands under her armpits to lift her up; this helped to relieve some respiratory tension. A bloody coat of red then spurted out onto her palm. Damn.

Blackwood had not noticed the outbreak. "You're a tricky person to track down, you know?" He noted after she had finally cleared her throat.

"I had it all under control." She muttered, pushing him aside. But just as she was going to jump back up on her feed, she was rudely reminded of the chains secured around her ankles. Like a child, she exasperated.

Blackwood took her behavior fairly well and kindly unraveled the ridiculous things from her ankles to set her free. "Yeah. You looked like you had it all under control."

"They were going to take me back to camp as captive!" She fired back, relieved to move her legs once again.

"Not from the sure looks of it." He presented her with a hand holding her lost mascara device. Then, by the look in his blue eyes, she knew she looked like hell. "If I didn't come along, they would've surely killed you."

Yeah, just like that kid who shoved a blade through my back, she wanted to say as he helped her back onto her feet until a huge migraine shuffled through her thick skull. Her hands suddenly threw themselves over her bruised and now aching stomach. By the touch of Blackwood's hand over her shoulder to steady her, she feared for sure he was planning to escort her back.

"Where was it?" She asked, snatching her beloved weapon back and feeling the warm sense of relief that she could return to the battlefield headstrong.

"Just over there by that pile of rubble. You must have dropped it when battling that large group. How many was that, by the way? Ten?"

"About fifteen. You took out four of them." Even though she knew he could have a bad cockiness about himself sometimes due to his impressive swordsmanship skills, he made up for it through his slick choice of words.

When the pain finally curled over, a sudden hint of suspicion struck Audrey. "Who sent you?"

He scanned over her battered arm. "We need to get you back into camp." He began to suddenly bombard her with nitpicky questions then like why wasn't she riding or flying on her Pegasus? And why was she headed in this direction, not the one Kronos told her to take?

He knew very well already her recovery was quick and painless through just a simple dip in water. She narrowed her eyes. "Kronos sent you, didn't he?"

The sigh in his voice confirmed her answer. She clenched her teeth. Even though some part of her knew and feared of something like this happening, it still burned like a sharp stab in the back.

Blackwood must've noticed the hostility in her eyes when he replied, "He's just worried about you, ma'am. He doesn't want anything bad happening to you." Apparently, the same day Kronos and she made their arrangement, Kronos ordered him to keep a close watch over her to make sure she didn't do anything stupid – which, of course, she accomplished it, anyway. Go figure.

She knew that wasn't the truth. Repulsed by all the deceitful lies, she said, "You do realize why I'm worth all the trouble, right?"

He said nothing. This upset her even more.

"Well? It's sure as hell not because I'm some ditzy dame!" Like that bitch Selena Beauregard! Every time she was present, it seemed as if she just had Luke or Kronos eating out of the palm of her perfectly, well-manicured hand. No matter how hard she tried, she knew she could never measure up to that amount of beauty and skill of seduction. She found herself shaking her head violently once again only to induce another intense migraine.

"No! I have to be the answer to that stupid prophecy!"

"The prophecy? You?" He scrunched his eyebrows together.

She nodded her head, despite the pain. "Not my brother or that spawn of Hades - me."

"You're birthday is - today?"

"So a piece of paper says," she replied, remembering the birth certificate Kronos handed her the night before.

"But, I thought you were nineteen?"

She gazed out over the sudden burst of flames several blocks out. It seemed so fascinating. "I thought so, too." She replied, captivated. "But, after spending some time out at the Lotus Casino, I'm supposedly short a few years give or take. At least, that's what he says." She can remember Kronos sitting her down to have this discussion with her in private; this was right after he presented her with the emerald necklace.

He joined in her view. "Well - that's interesting. How do you feel about that?"

She paused and cut her gaze over from the powerful, colorful flames to study him. She was starting to see what Scarlett found so captivating about him to persuade her enough to trade in her old life for this new, corrupt one. He was so clueless, and yet. . . For once, she wasn't so sure how to comment. It wasn't a question she often heard and she had to think about it. After all, her age could very well mean the difference in who wins this war.

That's when she heard a familiar roar grumble below their feet. It was not too far from their location. Without a single doubt, Audrey knew it was the Minotaur. He was one of the select guests who joined Kronos in their vital meeting the previous day. Her blood boiled to find out who the fierce beast was battling now after shortly remembering its ill view of the great Seagod's son. Her answer would have to wait.

She curled a tighter grip on the handle of her mascara stick. Slowly, distancing herself from Blackwood, she said, "I'll let you know later!" Something about the noise had apparently restored the young demigod to good shape. After all the high jumps, climbs, and running, she not only felt great, but relaxed; she had just sneaked in more time to do some business before Blackwood caught up with her again. Not a single migraine or throb bothered her again right after either. Even though she was now leaving a trail of blood behind, Audrey was more determined on eagerly tracking down this massive creature who would, inevitably, lead her to her famous half-brother.