Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or Cassandra Clare. I do not own either of these fantasy worlds.

Annabeth tries to convince me to see the medics about my ankle and back, but I insist that I'm feeling perfectly fine. She doesn't look convinced - and it's not the full truth, since my back is absolutely killing me - but I think she finally realizes that I need a new shirt before anything else.

No matter what the others say, I will never get used to people staring at me and whispering as I pass. The whole spectacle is made even more embarrassing by my state of undress and the fact that I'm covered in blood. It looks a lot worse that it is - the demon's claws ripped into my back and jerked me around a lot, so my injuries are undoubtedly gruesome and bloody, though in reality it's nothing a few iratzes can't fix. I decide that being famous is definitely not all it's cracked up to be, especially when you have an annoying habit of embarrassing yourself. Messing up in front of close friends? I can deal with that. But in front of the entire roman legion? Yikes.

Annabeth guides me through the camp and toward the annoying armless statue, greeting people everywhere we go.

"I'm not in the mood, Terminus," she announces as the statue stops us for a pat down (how he plans to pat us down without arms is beyond me, but I get the sense I should just go along with it).

"Annabeth Chase, the safety of New Rome is in my hands. I have been tasked with guarding the Pomerian line and-"

"I get it! Look, I don't have any weapons. I never do. I live here, Terminus, it's about time you start to trust me."

"You, I trust. As for this intruder…" he stares at me intensely, and screams. "WEAPONS! WEAPONS OVER THE POMERIAN LINE!"

Startled, I remove two knives from my gear - I'd totally forgotten about them. I hold up my hands innocently and start to walk across the line, but the yelling only intensifies.

"STOP! INTRUDER! SHE'S TAKING WEAPONS ACROSS THE POMERIAN LINE! SOMEONE HELP!"

Rolling my eyes, I pat myself down, searching every secret pocket and strap as the statue screams for me to just take the horrible pants off (never in a million years), until I finally come up with a tiny bronze knife I had totally forgotten about. I put it in the bin.

"uh… sorry about that. It won't happen again"

The statue is livid. "It better not, or I'll beat you into-"

"Let's get going, shall we?" Annabeth grabs me gently by the arm and guides me into New Rome.

"I hate that guy," she mutters, "he stops me literally every time I enter the city, no matter how rushed I am. Do you know how often I leave New Rome? And I've never brought a weapon back with me. Not once. I mean, I can understand him getting mad at Percy, but me?"

We stop in front of a small house, and she shoves the door open, explaining that they never need to lock the door and Percy always forgets his key anyways. I'm glad we're finally home, since the speed-walking has aggravated my wounds and I can literally feel blood trickling down my back, which is not a pleasant sensation at all.

"Annabeth?" Percy appears in the doorway and smiles when he sees us. "You found her! Thank the gods, we were so worried."

"Yeah, do you think you could tell the others while I help her clean up? She'll explain later."

He nods and heads out the door without saying anything more. Annabeth leads me to the bedroom and rifles around in a drawer, finally coming up with a purple shirt and a sports bra that looks like it should fit me.

"The bathroom's down the hall" she informs me, handing me the clothes. "You sure you don't need any help with your back? I can get you some ambrosia and nectar if you want."

I open my mouth to refuse, but think of the amazing taste of the godly food and change my mind. "Actually, that sounds great. Thanks."

"No problem." She heads off to the kitchen while I go to the bathroom and run a bath. I gingerly peel off my shirt (as it turns out, the only thing keeping it on my back was the blood) and throw it in the trash. The question is whether I should clean up first before applying an iratze… the decision is made for me when I move my arm too far to the side and feel like I've been stabbed again. Yeah, definitely starting with the rune.

I brace myself for the pain as I grab my stele and place it on my shoulder, trying not to move my arms too much for fear of pulling the wounds even farther open. I know I won't be able to reach my back, but some of the deepest cuts are on my shoulders anyway, and one rune should do the trick. I bite back a scream of pain as the skin on my shoulders burns and my wounds knit themselves together. Maybe I should have gone for the ambrosia and nectar after all. At least they're not as painful. Most shadowhunters barely flinch at the sting of the stele, but I'm not exactly a fighter, so the runes still sting pretty badly.

Once finished, I step into the bath and soak in the soapy water until the pain is gone and the water is stained red. Then I get dressed and make my way to the kitchen.

Annabeth is waiting for me with a cup of tea and a small square of ambrosia. I thank her and sit down at the table, dumping a huge spoonful of sugar in the tea. She joins me soon after.

"You look better."

"Yeah. My back's still a bit tender, but the wounds have mostly healed."

"Good." She takes a sip of tea and we sit in silence for a few minutes.

"Mind telling me what happened?" She finally asks.

I sag in my chair as it all comes rushing back to me. Crap. I'm going to have to explain everything to the whole camp. I shake my head. "I just don't have the energy for all this."

She nods. "I understand."

"But I still have to do this, don't I?"

"Not necessarily." I look up in surprise, and she shrugs. "It's almost dinner time. Once you've eaten, you can crash in the spare room if you want. I'll relay the message to the others."

"And I'll wake up to chaos."

"Depends what you're about to tell me."

Chaos, then. "You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course," she takes another sip of her tea, "I've dealt with worse. Now, spill."

I sit back in my chair, exhausted. My stomach growls and I realize I never even ate lunch. "Prometheus," I announce, "he's the one behind this."

Annabeth leans forward. "What?"

I wave my hand in the air, gesticulating lazily. "He's killing mundanes because he thinks we're superior. Wants to start over with shadowhunters and demigods. He thinks you guys'll join him."

"But that's-"

"Insane? Nonsensical? Never gonna work? Yeah, I told him as much."

"You met him?"

"Yeah. He wanted me to join him. Convince you guys to join up too."

"And what did you say?"

"What do you think? I saved my skin. Told him I'd do my best, not that any of that shit would work anyway."

"So he thinks you're on his side?"

"Until I bring an army to stop him."

She nods pensively. "We'll just have to be prepared, then. How much time do you think we have?"

I shrug. "A few days? I don't know. Once he realizes we're still against him, he's gonna turn his forces toward us. He told me as much."

"But didn't you say he wanted a do over? Doesn't he want us alive?"

"The guy's a psychopath. I guess he thinks he can create more humans after he wipes us all out? I don't know."

She nods and takes another sip of her tea. "Prometheus. Do-over. Apocalypse. Got it. Want me to make you some soup?"

I'm taken aback by her offer. "That's it? You're just gonna take it from here?"

"Unless there's anything else you need to tell me."

I think back to my little adventure, trying to remember any little details I might have left out. No, I can't think of anything.

"I should probably speak up at the conference or whatever. Talk on behalf of the nephilim, you know? We didn't think to bring any here with us." In hindsight, that was a pretty bad idea.

She waves her hand lazily, getting up to put water on the stove. "Contact them, then. Send an Iris-message. We'll need you later, but we should be fine for now."

I close my eyes and lean back in my chair, the weight of everything that has happened today finally sinking in. "We are so screwed."

"Oh don't say that," I hear Annabeth say from across the room, "I've been way more screwed than this before." She sounds positively cheerful.

"I don't know how you do it" I sigh, just as the distinct sound of a door opening resonates throughout the house. Annabeth perks up immediately.

"Percy? Is that you?"

"You guys still here?" Is his answer, as he appears in the kitchen. He waves a hand in greeting upon seeing me, and turns to Annabeth, a radiant smile lighting his face. I suddenly feel like an intruder in their home, and start to get up until I remember that Annabeth is still making my dinner.

"I told the others we've got her," he explains, before Annabeth can ask, "we've called a meeting for tonight, to explain what we discussed with the - is that soup?" He darts over to the pot and sighs, "You're the best, Annabeth"

Her eyes dart over to me in a silent question. I sigh and rub my eyes, wanting nothing more than to go to bed and forget about all this until the morning. But my dinner isn't ready yet, and I know we can't just withhold information from Percy until I go to bed, so I resign myself to telling the story one last time.

"Percy, there's something you need to know."

His expression turns serious almost immediately, sensing for the first time the tension in the room. He listens patiently as I recount my entire experience, knowing it's probably best to tell the whole story now that it's fresh in my mind. Annabeth sets the soup on the table while I'm talking, and all three bowls have gone cold by the time I finish my story.

Percy swears in ancient greek, running his hand through his hair. "I guess I shouldn't have expected anything better," he declares.

"Look" I finally say, "I can't ask you guys to break the news on your own. I should really be there. I mean, what will the others think if I'm not even there?"

"They'll think you're tired and need a rest" Percy says forcefully, "nobody is going to judge you for this. Contact the shadowhunters, tell them to come here, and you'll deal with everything else in the morning. Here-I've got a few extra drachma for an IM," he gives me a handful of golden coins and closes my fingers around them. "Just use the shower in the bathroom across the hall, we've set up the lighting and everything so that you can make rainbows really easily."

I thank him, and finish my meal in silence. Percy and Annabeth discuss my story and the coming war, but I'm only half listening. Their hospitality is almost overwhelming, and it makes me feel very awkward, like I'm intruding on something. I expected reluctant help from them. A bit of guidance, and occasional help when I really need it, but overall a minimal contribution to the effort. They are, after all, retired heroes. But what I got instead was enthusiastic help, and more of it than necessary. Their faces when they talk about this stuff… It's almost like they can't wait to get back in on the action.

I disappear to the bathroom, and do as Percy instructed. Sure enough, I only have to turn on the shower for a beautiful rainbow to stretch across the tiles. These guys really know what they're doing. I throw the coin into the tiles.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." The words still sound silly. I pause, suddenly unsure who to call. My first instinct is to contact Jessica and have her relay the message for me, because I really don't want to talk to the consul right now. But that's a lot of work I'm asking her to do, and I'm not sure the Clave will listen to her. Best to brave the consul, though I have no idea how she'll react. Oh gods, she doesn't even know about Iris Messages yet.

"Show me Jia Penhallow. In Idris." Does Iris send messages to Idris? I guess I'll find out.

I get my answer when the consul's face appears in front of me. She starts and stares at me in horror.

"By the angel! Alyssa? What are you doing- what's going on?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but it's urgent. I've figured out who we're up against."

She seems to have calmed down slightly, but still looks extremely unnerved. "Are you sure?"

"Well, he kidnapped me and explained his evil plan, so yeah, I'm pretty sure it's him."

"So who is it, then? Do you know where he is?"

I explain, in as few words as possible, what Prometheus told me. Thankfully, she believes my story.

"We're going to attack him as soon as possible," I explain, "in the meantime, the romans are going to prepare for war, and we're going to alert Camp Half-Blood too. Do you think you guys could come to San Francisco? Kill as many demons and monsters as possible on your way here. Make sure Prometheus knows we're against him. We'll try to draw him out of hiding, turn his attention toward us and away from innocents." I hope that's the plan. I mean, it's not like I've actually discussed anything with the others yet, so I hope I haven't messed anything up by telling the Shadowhunters this.

The consul doesn't look pleased to take orders from a teenager, but she agrees to the plan, undoubtedly realizing that the main priority is the mundanes. I wave my hand over her image and toss another drachma into the shower, this time to send the same message to Chiron.

As much as I want to talk to my friends before they hear the news from someone else, I'm much too tired to talk to any more people. I make my way down the hall to the guest bedroom and collapse, fully clothed, on the bed. I'll deal with everything else in the morning.

A/N: Happy New Year, everyone, and enjoy the Shadowhunters TV show!