(A/N: Mwahaha, I'm great, aren't I? Please, please, PLEASE comment or review either Plan A or Plan B. As I previously stated, I need your guys' opinion for the story. I need to know before I get to the HoO arc because it may or may not affect that part of the story. As well, I'll be making up existentially a vast majority of this chapter.

On another note, I feel like my OC is a Mary Sue so I might change some stuff up because I don't wanna make my story a boring, overly powerful one. Thank you, and enjoy!)

Well, I've done worse things compared to joining Kronos' army. Actually, to be honest, it was a lot better than camp in some ways.

For starters, they had basic plumbing and the dinner conversations did not result in a food fight whatsoever. Well, we just had dinner in our rooms. The bonus was we didn't get attacked by monsters because they were all faithful towards Kronos. Apparently, if they do kill us, they'll be killed as well.

Downfalls were that we had to share one giant room with everyone, well, the people that were the same gender as us. Then, there were bunks.

Overall, I think there were about fifty female demigods and at least a hundred male ones. Way more than Camp Half-Blood. I almost feel bad for what's going to happen. I was friends with some of them, but a vast majority I disliked so it wasn't that bad. Long as my old friends aren't stupid, they won't get hurt.

Later on, around mid-July, I discovered from my roommates that camp had a spy in it the whole time, that's how Luke found out about the quests. Turns out the spy was Silena!

Currently, I was in charge of monitoring camp and seeing if any more half-bloods leave or anything along those lines. Our leader, who was the demigod I fought and got stabbed by, Alabaster Torrington, said it'll be better if I didn't go outside the fortress. Apparently, everyone thinks I'm dead, even my brother and dad.

The day of the fight, Alabaster created a fake body of me, creepy, I know, and hid it. Then, when he was fighting me, he had one of his siblings teleport the body to where I was after he teleported me into the woods. Confusing, I know. There was also a lot of magic mumbo-jumbo, creating a Mistform spirit and sending it to the Fields of Asphodel to fool my dad and half-brother.

"So, how was the funeral?" I asked Silena, examining my nails lazily.

"Um... well, Annabeth was crying more than she did at Percy's," Silena responded nervously, glancing around.

I only started Iris Messaging Silena quite recently, so I was trying to catch up on everything I missed.

"Oh..." I felt bad about that, faking my death.

Well, I didn't really have a choice, did I? I was kidnapped, my memories fixed, then instated into Kronos' army.

Okay, I get joining his army's bad and all, and my reasons for staying are crappy, but it's a lot better than Camp Half-Blood. We can insult the gods freely, we don't do the gods bidding all the time, well, just Kronos and Alabaster, but still, we had freedom. We could leave whenever we want, of course, long as we come back and not betray the army. I could see the appeal now.

The Olympians murdered my family, I can remember it now.

Five years ago, I was returning home from school. I saw the door was unlocked and heard yelling from inside. I pushed open my door just a crack and saw all the Olympians surrounding my brother and my mother, who were forced into a corner. Words were said, I don't recall exactly what, but my brother started crying.

Then, that's when shit got real. A guy in a blue, pinstriped suit, who I later discovered was Zeus, ordered them to 'strike'. All at once, all the gods attacked my mortal family. Lightning, water, grapevines, fire, even a tree sprouted out of the floor and speared them.

Athena turned and saw me, and with a wave of her hand, I blacked out. From there, I figured out she and Hera altered my memories, being the only ones capable.

How could they do this to my family? The only family I cared about? My five-year-old brother, who was just gonna start school, and my mother, who for some reason, I don't have any clear memories of (Hecate said it's probably due to the Olympians messing with it). Gone, dead, murdered by the hands of the Olympians.

How couldn't I hate them and all they stood for?

"What about the others? And my brother?" I questioned Silena, focussing on our conversation rather than my tragic past.

"Your brother disappeared after, Percy said he was heading to the Underworld to look for you. Katie and Miranda were pretty upset too, and I'm not sure about the boys. You know how they are, they don't really show their emotions compared to us," Silena answered with a mere shrug.

I sighed, leaning against the post of my bunk bed. "Well, he won't find me down there, that's for sure..."

"Percy said he felt-"

"You know they just created a Mistform version of me, right? Alabaster created a fake body and everything," I responded.

She seemed surprised by this revelation. "I... I actually didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, whatever," I stated, "anything new in the camp?" I inquired, wanting a change in topic.

To be honest, Kronos' army is great and everything, but I kinda didn't trust the Titans. Okay, that might be countering everything I just said but I just have trust issues okay? For starters, the leader of the demigods stabbed me. Later, I got kidnapped. Lastly, I'm kinda obligated to join their army.

I believe in their cause, but I don't believe in them. I want the Olympians gone, faded, whatever, but I'll do that on my own if I have too. I don't want any demigods hurt, they're just pawns like me. Well, most of them are.

"Um... new in what way?"

I raised my eyebrow, observing her for a moment. "Did something happen between you and Beckendorf?"

"Um... he asked me out."

My eyes widened. "Hey, congrats! I told you he liked you, guess he finally had the guts to tell you."

"Yeah, well, it was during a Capture the Flag game."

"Anything else I should know? Like anything related to planning the battle next year?"

She seemed excited about talking about her new boyfriend until I mentioned the impending war the following year involving either Percy or I.

"No... we still haven't heard the prophecy yet. I think we're gonna start working next year," she answered, twirling a strand of her hair.

"Hm, okay then."

"Arina? Alabaster needs you!" someone yelled from the entrance of the room.

"Yeah, in a minute!" I responded.

Silena raised her eyebrows at me. "Was that Ethan? What's going on between you two anyway? You always seem awkward when-"

I felt my face heat up. "There-there's nothing!" I stuttered.

She laughed. "Okay, say whatever you want. Talk to you later."

"Bye," I said before waving my hand through the Mist and shoving the prism I was using into my new bag.

I got up quickly, rushing towards the door as I slipped on a leather jacket.

Since I was taken so abruptly, I obviously didn't have any of my stuff. Therefore, a couple of weeks ago I was allowed to go out with another demigod to buy some clothes and necessities.

"What?" I asked Ethan as I found him leaning against the doorframe.

"C'mon," he stated before motioning me to follow him.

I walked beside him, trying to avoid eye contact because of what Silena mentioned.

I guess Ethan's cute, but nothing is going on between us. We're just... co-workers? Colleagues? Brothers in arms? Something like that. It's not like he likes me or anything, so what's the point of getting my hopes up for nothing?

"What did Silena say about me?" he inquired as we walked.

"Um... nothing, she was just asking about the soldiers, you, Alabaster, and I were the only ones she knew about," I lied, rubbing the back of my neck.

He shook his head. "You're a terrible liar, y'know that, right?"

"I'm not lying."

"Uh-huh, sure, and I'm King of the Gods," he claimed sarcastically with an eye roll.

"If you were, I would kill you." I summoned one of my blades, twirling it around my fingers.

He held up his hands in a form of surrender. "Woah, well, I'm not, so can you point those away from me?"

"Sure," I stated, transforming them back into a ring.

He eventually led me to one of the strategy rooms in the fortress, puzzling me. Why would Alabaster want me in here?

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble, I think," Ethan stated, probably judging from my expression.

"Wow, adding 'I think' just makes me feel way more assured," I replied sarcastically before pushing the door open.

Inside was several other demigods, Alabaster, and a Titan, Prometheus. They were all gathered around a large table with pieces of paper covering it, pencils lying around on the side dejectedly.

They all turned when we came in, making me suddenly self-conscious. All their eyes were focussed on me, every movement, every breath it felt like they were watching me.

I cleared my throat. "You called me?" I tried to act confident, but I was never an actor. I just didn't want them to realize I was so intimidated by them.

Most of theses demigods were ruthless killers that have been persuaded by the Titans to join their cause and destroy Olympus. They'll probably eat me alive if it weren't for my presenting power and father.

"Took you long enough," one of the other demigods grumbled under their breath.

I glared at them, which made them take a scared step back.

Heh, maybe my dad was right about me scaring the crap out of people. I kinda like scaring them, it's fun seeing them jump.

"I found another job for you," Alabaster stated.

"That is?"

"One of your friends was a child of Athena, correct?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well, we want you to join our strategists here."

Huh, since when am I good at strategies? I doubt Annie rubbed off on me like, at all. Maybe she made me more paranoid and junk but definitely not smarter. Pretty sure I lost brain cells while with Jackson.

"Not to be rude and all, but what makes you think I'll be any good at strategies?"

"Well, you understand the camp better than any of us. You were a year-long camper, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but only for a year and a half, then I lived in the Underworld." I crossed my arms.

"You've lived there the most recently, and your best friend was one of the main strategists. I think you'll be the best for figuring out what would work against the demigods there."

I mulled over this for a moment. "Um... I guess so."

"Good, cause we need you for a mission coming up."

The other demigods began explaining in turns what the mission was about, and how it would benefit our end goal. They didn't go into much detail, all they said was about a shipment of supplies. Previously, Silena mentioned some campers might raid the shipment, so I had to devise a counterattack to it.

"Well, they probably send the Ares cabin, maybe even some of Athena and Apollo too." I paused, thinking.

If we do fail and they manage to successfully raid us, how can we twist it into our success? Maybe we can play with the Ares campers' arrogance or something along those lines.

"What's in the shipment that'll look the most appealing to the campers?"

"Well, there's a lot of ambrosia and nectar-" another son of Hecate, Clement Fledge, began before I interrupted him.

"They get that delivered to them daily, I meant like weapons, gadgets, anything that's unique."

"Um... there's a chariot," suggested Kaila Lovatt, daughter of Hebe.

"Okay, well, if we mess up the raid, they'll definitely take that. Apollo and Ares campers might fight over it..."

"We have a Lydian drakon, only a child of Ares can kill it," Ethan stated, surprising me because he was still in the room.

"There, maybe let them purposely raid it. They take the chariot, Ares and Apollo fight over it. I know the Ares campers, they're way too prideful for their own good. Arguing with Apollo might make them not even consider fighting in the war. Then, we'll send out the drakon, if none of them are there to kill it, it'll immobilize a good portion of the demigods," I explained quickly, glancing at the plans on the table.

There was a lull in the conversation, only being broken by Prometheus.

"What you're suggesting seems plausible and likely to happen. If all goes according to plan, they'll fall for sure," he stated, nodding.

"But we can't just let them raid our shipment!" Clement exclaimed, "We need that stuff!"

"More than we need to defeat the Olympians?" I inquired, raising my eyebrow.

He looked nervous, looking over his notes from a notebook before glancing at Alabaster, who had remained expressionless during the whole conversation.

"Well?" I questioned.

"I agree with your plan. We'll stick with our defences for now, but Prometheus agrees with you. He can foresee some future events, so what you're suggesting will likely occur." He nodded, approving it. "Bring it up to Lord Kronos, he'll make the final call."

We all seemed to agree, some more begrudgingly than others.

"Seems I was right about appointing you as our new strategist."


Several weeks later, it was early September. Around this time of year, most campers were home and going to school. Some, however, were preparing in camp for the upcoming war. It was less than a year away, Percy had turned fifteen, the war was inevitable.

I was sparring against Ethan that day, just cause. I was promoted to head strategist recently and I wanted to celebrate by fighting someone.

"You sure you want to fight me? I'm pretty good."

I rolled my eyes, strapping on a breastplate and greaves. "I beat Percy, almost. You couldn't beat him in the Labyrinth."

"Okay, he tricked me. I was wearing hand-me-down armour, it was heavy."

"So you're saying you're weak?" I inquired, summoning my blades before materializing a shield out of shadows.

"No, and enough talk, let's fight."

Then we began. He focused on defence, so I chose to go on the offence or else we'll be dancing around each other for hours on end.

I shadow travelled behind him, swinging at his legs. He managed to anticipate this and turn around just in time and kick me back. I wasn't knocked down for long before cutting his left cheek.

"How about no powers? Seems unfair to me."

I rolled my eyes, swinging my blade at my arm before blocking a swing to my shoulder. "Uh-huh, sure, you just know I'll beat you."

"Um, no, I can beat you with or without powers." He swung his legs out from underneath me, putting his sword at my throat. "Yield?"

"Ugh... fine," I grumbled before accepting his hand he offered, being pulled up.

"So what about being better than Jackson?" He was mocking me now, grinning.

"Shut up," I spat, pushing him back before taking off my armour.

"Done already?"

"I have a headache," I lied before turning my blades back into rings and exiting the room.

Ugh... he's so annoying and cute. Wait, I didn't mean cute in that way, like, how a Pikachu or something along those lines. Goofy kind of cute, not attractive kind of cute. I don't like him, despite everything Silena accuses me.

I'll stop thinking about him now. I'll just focus on going back to my room.

"Hey Arina," greeted a voice I have grown to loath.

"What is it, Nathan?"

Nathan was this pompous son of Aphrodite that can't stop flirting with me. Dude, I'm not interested, so shut the Hades up! Kinda seeing the appeal of being a Hunter now, I can castrate boys without consequences. Well, there are consequences, but I get a high-five or something like that too. Unfortunately, Artemis leads them so, fuck no.

"Just checking in on the hottest daughter of Hades here." He slid up next to me, putting an arm around me.

Oh gods, I want to castrate him so bad now.

"Um for starters, I'm the only daughter of Hades alive right now." I pushed him away, turning around to look at him. "Secondly, I'm not interested, so back off."

"What? I'm not doing anything, just being friendly, that's all."

"Cut the act." I turned on my heels and continued marching towards my room, ignoring any further catcalls from him.

Just as I was about to arrive in my room, the bastard showed up again.

"What now?" I groaned.

"Can't I just talk to you?"

I was just about to say something in reply before being hit by an actual headache, distracting me and making me shut my eyes.

The headache was one of the worst I had this past couple of months since I joined the army. It felt like someone was trying to cleave open my head with a battle-axe or something, just a spike of pain in the front of my head.

"What the Styx, Nathan?" I heard someone yell, causing me to open my eyes.

Ethan seemed to be holding Nathan by the scruff of his shirt, anger flaring in his eyes. The latter seemed nonchalant, almost amused by the whole ordeal.

"What do you mean, Ethan? I'm just having a nice chat with Arina here, who seems to be having a headache from being in your presence for too long." The corner of his mouth went up into a smirk as he said this.

"You sure it's not from you? She was fine when she was sparring with me, then she talks to you and she gets a headache. You seem to be the stem of the problem here."

"Ethan, I can handle the damn situation myself," I stated as my headache lessen.

"Yeah, back off, Nakamura. Clearly, she wants-"

"Okay, Nathan, I'll give you five godsdamn seconds to get your sorry ass outta here before I send you to Hades myself!" I threatened, composing myself.

"Wait-"

"One," I began as I focussed the shadows to curl around his body.

"Hold on-" A look of real fear crossed his face as he looked up and down the hallway.

"Two," I continued as the ground started shaking.

"Arina, please-"

"Three," I stated as the temperature dropped in the room.

He looked genuinely afraid now, all cockiness gone.

"You should go now," Ethan remarked with a smirk.

"Four," I said as Ancient Greek chanting was heard, coming from out of the shadows.

Just as I was about to say five, he burst into a run down the hall we just came from, not looking back once.

Once he was out of sight, I stopped the chanting and returned the hallway back to normal.

"Wow," Ethan stated, looking at me with a look of shock mixed with either fear or amazement.

"T-thanks," I stuttered, my legs starting to feel like jelly.

I would've collapse if he didn't catch me just in time. He grasped his hands tightly around my shoulders.

"You okay?"

"M-m-maybe," I responded as my headache returned, much duller than before.

"C'mon," he said before guiding me down the hall further.

If I hadn't known any better, I thought he was leading me to the boys' room. However, once I saw the view out of one window I realized we were heading to the minor infirmary.

Due to the lack of demigods here, we had a small infirmary to deal with injuries. Usually, it was a self-serve area so you had to heal yourself unless you got someone else to help you.

Ethan helped me sit down on one of the cots in the room before going off into the cupboards looking for something. A moment later, he returned with some ambrosia and nectar.

I accepted the godly food quickly, ingesting some of it immediately. The moment I got it in my body, I felt a lot better and less exhausted than I was after I summoned all that stuff to scare Nathan.

"Thanks..." I stated, fiddling with the bottom of my shirt nervously.

"Yeah, no prob," he answered, glancing at the door before sitting beside me.

An awkward silence followed that, which I hated. Silence always meant thinking or looking, which never go well together. I hate when people just stare at you instead of talking, or the fact you have no clue what they're thinking about. They could be criticizing you mentally and you might not even realize it!

Okay, I have serious trust issues now that I think about it.

"Um... how did you know Nathan was there?" I inquired.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something. I saw him bothering you and noticed you got a headache."

"How?"

"Well, you furrow your eyebrows like this." He demonstrated himself, making me laugh by how ridiculous he looked.

"I do not look like that," I argued.

"Um, yeah, you do."

I rolled my eyes, rubbing my arm. "What did you want to ask me?"

He looked away when I asked this. "Um... it's nothing."

I tiled my head to the side. "What is it?"

He turned to face me again, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to tell you... I liked you, and I mean like like. I wanted to ask you out."

My mind went blank as I tried comprehending what he just said to me.

He said he liked me, like in a non-friend way. Do people straight up tell people this? Is this a prank? I don't think it's April Fools but-

"Uh, come again?"

Yes, that was my wonderous response to this revelation. I asked him to repeat it. I am such a genius like it's implausible.

"I said I liked you."

Ugh... I heard it right the first time. Wait, how do I respond to that? I should've listened to Silena when she gives me love advice! Who knew it would come in handy one day? All I know is how to reject guys, which was taught to me by my badass hunter friends. Also, scare them.

"Um... cool?"

He deadpanned. "Your response is... 'cool'? Is this like you trying to friendzone me?"

"Um... I don't know yet."

"What do you mean by, you don't know yet?"

"Well, I honestly don't know how to respond to you telling me that. A guy never asked me out before."

He raised his eyebrow at this statement. "I thought you and Jackson were- never mind."

"Wait, what? You thought Percy and I were a thing?"

"Well, you guys seemed really close and stuff."

"No, no, no, no, no, he was just a friend. He has a crush on Annabeth anyway," I denied his claim.

"Anyway, about you saying 'I don't know'."

I fidgeted with the bottom of my shirt, thinking. What do I mean by that? Do I like Ethan? I'm not sure, maybe? I've never liked a guy that long, maybe one year at the most, and that was once.

"Well," I began, gears whirling in my head.

I'm an ambitious person, that's what my friends said. Also hella stubborn and impatient. Maybe I can give a relationship a try, maybe I'll learn a thing or two about trusting people again.

"I do like you, you're pretty cute after all." After I said this, we both blushed. "And if you asked, I'll say yes. I would go out with you."

His eyes- I mean eye lit up when I said this. "Really?"

"What? You expected me to say no?" I inquired skeptically.

"Well, I didn't know what to expect. You're unpredictable, y'know that, right?"

Huh, I'm unpredictable? Since when? According to who? What?

"Well, I guess we're dating now."

He smiled. "Yes, we are."


I was made almost deaf by Silena when I told her what happened, which got me some weird looks from my roommates.

"You should've listened to me when I gave you that advice."

"Well, you gave me that advice for other guys!" I argued.

"Still, it works for most guys. If they ask you out or tell you they liked them, you should probably give them an honest response. You-"

"Yada, yada, I don't think I need to know anymore. Who knows how long my relationship with Ethan would last?"

Surprisingly, it lasted longer than I thought. I've heard stories about your first love being short and sweet, but mine was much longer and... yeah. Um... I'll get into that later.

After my conversation with Silena, Ethan snuck into my room and asked me if I wanted to hang out after lights out. Naturally, I said yes.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked down the mountain.

"Somewhere special."

"If you're taking me to Mount Olympus and have a weapon to kill every Olympian, then I'll marry you."

He snorted. "Where can I get a weapon like that?"

"I don't know, Walmart?" I joked.

He laughed, throwing one of his arms around my shoulder before pausing. "Um... is it-"

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. Thanks for asking anyway."

We continued walking like this until we reached a peak. It was surrounded by eucalyptus trees, but it was far away from the Garden of Hesperides fortunately.

"So, what are we doing here?" I inquired.

"What? I just can't sneak out at night with my girlfriend?"

"Hmm..." I tapped my chin, pretending to think. "Depends on the context."

He rolled his eyes before grabbing my hand and pulling me down to the ground so we were sitting.

"But seriously, why?"

"Gods, you weren't kidding when you said you never dated anyone before."

"Well, I'm only fourteen."

"I thought you were fifteen." He looked mildly alarmed, making me laugh.

"I'm turning fifteen in December, idiot." I flicked my finger against his forehead.

"That means I have to get you two gifts then."

I blushed again. "You don't have to get me anything."

"Sure I do, I would be a crappy boyfriend if I didn't."

"It's months away, you don't know what's gonna-"

He turned me around to face him. At that moment I realized how close we were to each other, barely an inch away from one another.

"You should be more optimistic." Then, he kissed me, right on the lips.

My mind went blank the moment his lips touched mine. Honestly, I couldn't explain how I felt at all at that time. How do you even explain your first kiss to someone?

I pulled away first, staring back at him, wide-eyed and speechless.

"Sorry," he stated, looking away sheepishly.

"No, I j-just didn't expect it," I said, finally regaining my ability to speak.

He looked back at me, a playful smile on his lips once more. "You wanna do that again? Unless you-"

This time, I initiated the kiss, interrupting him mid-sentence.

I felt goosebumps going up my arms as I fell on top of him, our movements becoming more passionate by the second. My body felt like it was tingling as we broke for a breath of air before going back full force.

He pulled away this time, whispering into my ear. "Maybe we should go inside soon."

Just his voice against my ear made me feel all tingly again. I had to control myself from putting my hand inside his shirt despite the fact I desperately wanted to.

"Y-yeah... we should..." I agreed reluctantly.

What? I've never had a boyfriend for starters. Secondly, I never kissed someone like this before, or in general! Of course, I was eager to do more of it and maybe even make-out! Well, I guess I should be careful and all, but what's life without a little risk?

We kissed for a couple more minutes, but they felt like seconds to me. We were finished before I knew it.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back to your room." He offered me his hand, which I gratefully accepted as he pulled me up.

We walked by towards the fortress without talking, just his arm around me and me leaning against his chest.

"That was... nice."

"Pfft? That's all? It was just nice?" he exclaimed, feigning offence.

"Well, what do I compare it too? I never had a boyfriend, nonetheless kissed someone," I stated in my defence.

He rolled his eyes, pecking me on the forehead before steering me towards my room. "You're adorable, you realize that?"

"Ha, as if, I am a vicious killing machine," I declared before kissing him quickly and walking into my room, "night!"

"Night," he whispered before walking down to his room.

I tiptoed around my roommates' bunks, slipping into mine without changing my clothes. I avoided making any noise unless I wanted a rude awakening tomorrow.

As I laid in my bed, I couldn't stop thinking about kissing Ethan. I still felt his lips against mine whenever I closed my eyes and felt my body on top of his. I could feel his hot breath against my neck, making my whole body tingle as goosebumps reappeared on my arm.


In December, a little after my birthday, Ethan got me a late present. He claimed it 'had taken longer than expected' to make or something. Naturally, I felt ashamed that he got something made for my birthday while I didn't even know when his was.

"Please! Just tell me!" I begged as we walked through a park.

We were having another date before he went off on a mission to retrieve something from the Underworld. I would've been chosen, but, my father could've sensed me entering the Underworld which would raise too many questions considering I'm 'already dead'.

"Nope, I don't want you to worry about it." He shook his head, not revealing his birth date to me.

"How about the month? Just tell me the month."

"Well, I was born in 1992 if that helps." He offered me a cheeky grin, which led me to playfully slap in the shoulder.

"I already know that, dingus. How the Hades can you be older than me?" I questioned, crossing my arms, glaring at him.

"C'mon, does it really matter when my birthday is?" He slipped his arm around my shoulder again.

"Yes, it does. You said you got something made for my birthday! What am I gonna do for yours then? Like, I'll feel guilty and stuff..." I grumbled.

"Rina, it's fine."

Rina was the nickname he started calling me around mid-November, and I was cool with it. To be fair, there weren't that many options for nicknames. Zombie Girl? No, that's weird. Ri? Doesn't look like it's pronounced r-ee. Na? Okay, that's just a straight-up weird one.

"It may be for you, but not for me."

"Okay, I'll tell you then if it makes you feel better."

My eyes lit up. I uncrossed my arms

"After I give you my gift."

I recrossed my arms, glaring at him. "Stop doing that."

"You're cute when you're angry." He pecked my forehead again, moving his arm away from my shoulder. He slipped his hand in mine, making me uncross my arms, pulling me along with him to a bench by the water overlooking the San Fransisco Bay Area.

"Ugh... you keep on calling me cute and adorable, which I'm not by the way."

He sighed, pulling me down so we sat facing each other on the bench. "If I tell you my birthday, would you stop being mad?"

"I'm not mad."

"Yes, you are."

I rolled my eyes. "Let's get on with it then."

He smiled. "Happy late fifteenth birthday." He handed me a square, flat box, about the size of my palm. It was navy blue and had a red ribbon going diagonal along the top and bottom corner.

"Um... can I open it?" I tried to hide the fact I was excited to open it and see what took him so long to give to me. As well, I'm incredibly impatient.

"Go ahead."

I pulled the ribbon off the top and bottom, sticking my finger under a small notch on the side. I pulled the lid up, it popping back quite easily once I pushed it high enough, staying attached to the box due to hinges.

I stared, dazzled by the item inside. It was a bracelet, but not a regular one. It had six charms hooked on it, which were all either gold or silver from the looks of it. The actual bracelet was a silver chain, I think.

"Wow..." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I said the first word that popped in my head.

"Yeah... I got a friend of mine to make it. I bought the bracelet, but they made the charms," he explained, avoiding my eyes and flushing.

I blushed as well, amazed that he would do this for me even though we've only been dating for barely three months. "I c-can't believe you got this for me."

"You like it?"

"I love it." I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug before kissing him again.

"Glad you like it." He scratched the back of his neck, still looking flustered.

I carefully took it out of the box, unclasping it carefully before wrapping it around my right wrist.

"Lemme help." He held the bracelet flat out, letting me put my wrist on top. Then, he wrapped it around and clasped it shut.

"This is... beautiful." I held up my wrist, admiring all the charms.

"Five things that reminded me of you, and one thing to remind you of me," he elaborated as I examined each charm.

The first gold one was of a tiny, old-fashioned camera.

"For your love of photography."

The next one was silver, which was two bones crossed over each other.

"Your dad."

The third one was golden and it looked like a bird of some sort with little engravings in the tail feathers.

"A phoenix, your favourite mythical animal."

"You know what my favourite real animal is?"

"Peacock," he responded, pecking me on the cheek.

The fourth one was of a silver constellation, the Big Dipper.

"You love astronomy, don't you?"

"It's one of the many things I dabble in."

"I gave you a bow once and you missed like, thirty times."

"I dabble, doesn't mean I'm any good."

The fifth was of a golden heart with some words engraved on the bottom.

"A heart with the words 'Forever and Always' to show my love for you."

My cheeks went bright pink in a second. He never said he loved me before, ever. He said I was cute, hot, sexy even, but never love. I never even said it back to him.

"Then the last is a scale for me."

It was a simple silver scale, perfectly balanced with nothing on either side.

I pulled him into a kiss. "I love you too."

We kissed for a couple of minutes before pulling apart, both of us blushing as the sun began to set on the cold December evening.

"Maybe we should get back to the fortress. Y'know, I have a mission and all next week, Alabaster wants to brief me and get a strategy from you."

I rolled my eyes. "That's a stupid reason for us to stop kissing."

"Yeah but this is a really important meeting. Apparently, Iapetus is coming along to help me steal your father's sword and rally some of the creatures down there."

"Ugh... I'll be way better than you to rally the spirits of the Underworld, like, I've known them for half a year."

"You know why." He offered me his hand, pulling me up from the bench.

We walked hand-in-hand for a bit until we neared a tree with a big enough shadow.

"We can always-"

"I'm fine with shadow travelling." I clasped his hand firmly before pulling us into the shadow, envisioning us appearing in the strategy room Alabaster told us to meet them in.

We appeared in the room, seeing everyone else gathered around the table talking.

"Hope we didn't miss anything." I deposited the box into my pocket before pushing my way through the other strategists to see their plan so far.

"Nothing, we're just discussing possible entries," Kaila responded as we stared at a crude map of the Underworld.

"What are some entrances we can use?" Clement asked, me being the only one that lived in the Underworld.

"There are three entrances I can name off the top of my head: the one in LA guarded my Charon, the one in Manhattan that has to be accessed by music, and the one through Tartarus." I studied the map, trying to remember if there were any other ways.

"Manhattan's out of the question, same goes with the LA one. Charon isn't being persuaded to side with the Titans, and I'm not sure if we're able to access Tartarus." Clement shook his head before looking to Alabaster for approval.

"He's right, unfortunately. No demigod can enter through there, and if they did, Hades will know for sure," Alabaster agreed.

"Are there any smaller locations?" Ethan inquired, joining in.

"Well, the Labyrinth, but it was destroyed. Honestly, though, I don't-" I froze as an idea appeared in my mind.

"What?" Kaila questioned.

"Well, there is one entrance we could try, but it's far more-"

"I don't care how difficult it is. What is it?" Alabaster snapped.

"The goddess Melinoe has a cave she uses to enter the world of the living to haunt people. She might be willing to help if you offer her something good."

Alabaster tapped his chin. "Okay, let's go with that. Any other entrances?"

"No, there might be small pockets here and there, but otherwise it's hard to get there unless your dead." I paused, thinking. "Well, you could easily shadow travel there via hellhound as well. However, if my father figures out you stole his sword, he'll lock the whole place down, meaning you can't shadow travel out."

"Well, why don't I just go with a hellhound, and if he locks the place down, I go to the Melinoe?" Ethan suggested.

"Yeah, that could work." I nodded in agreement.

"Okay, brief Master Iapetus about this," Alabaster ordered him, waving off.

My boyfriend nodded before flashing me a smile and leaving.

I stared at the door after he left before the others brought me back to the meeting.

"Um... what else?" I tried fighting the blush on my face, focussing on the rough sketches on the table instead.

"We need a plan for the upcoming war in the summer. We have some ideas but we're not-" Clement began before I interrupted him again.

"Wait, we're still gonna do this war in the summer? What about winter? If we do it later in the year, I'll be turning sixteen and it makes me eligible for the prophecy," I pointed out.

"Yes, it would, but the gods would know something's up. Anyway, the distractions already set into motion."

The distraction was for the gods. While we sieged an attack on Mount Olympus and Manhattan, Typhoon, who Jackson woke up, will be keeping the Olympians busy. Fortunately for us, not all the Olympians will be participating in this battle so it'll make it more likely Typhoon will defeat them.

According to our sources, Hades is keeping Demeter and Persephone in the Underworld during the fight. As well, Oceanus has joined the battle and is attacking Poseidon's kingdom, meaning that pathetic god is going to be busy underwater the entire time.

"Okay then, what else?"

"Well, you said the Ares cabin is angry at the Apollo cabin, so that might prevent them from fighting in the upcoming war."

"Yeah, might, they might actually fight though, so keep that Lydian drakon back just in case," I stated.

"What about all the mortals? They can't see through the Mist, but they're probably gonna see like a terrorist attack or something," Kaila mentioned.

"We could kill them," Zeke Sharp, son of Nike, suggested, crossing his arms.

"Um, no," I disagreed, "our fights with the Olympians, not the mortals. Not their fault all-powerful beings live near them."

"Okay, what do you suggest instead?" he questioned, "Evacuate the whole godsdamn city?"

Suddenly, the Great Prophecy popped into my head. However, one of the lines stood out to me. It seemed important and logical that we follow through with it. What's the point of fighting a prophecy? As well, we do have the god of dreams on our side.

"'And see the world in endless sleep'," I quoted.

"What?"

"That's what the Great Prophecy said. What if that means we need to make everyone sleep in New York? Can't Lord Morpheus do that?" I inquired.

"He can put mortals to sleep, yeah, but not on that large of a scale. New York is gigantic," Kaila said.

"Okay, maybe just the area around the Empire Stae Building? Like, only Manhattan? Then, we can have Lady Hecate put a spell over the entrances and exits, making everyone divert course or something?" I suggested.

"We could, but we need to run this over Lord Kronos and both gods," Alabaster stated.

"Yeah, I'm fine with waiting."

"But what if they say no?" Clement questioned.

"Why would they? The Fates themselves decreed this. The prophecy literally says sleep, that has to mean something, right?" I argued.

"These are just speculation, you can't be certain of anything," Zeke countered.

"It's a solid plan and makes logical sense!" I retorted, slamming my hands down on the table.

"Uh... Arina? Can you please calm down?" Kaila asked.

I turned and saw the shadows in the rooms wrap themselves around everyone else. I quickly stopped it, making them all disperse before getting glared at by Zeke.

"That's enough, Arina, you're dismissed for now," Alabaster ordered, "actually, you're all done for the day. We can't continue until Lord Kronos agrees or disagrees with this plan."

We all exited the room, heading in different directions. Of course, the only exception was Kaila and I because we were shared a room.


Ethan's mission to the Underworld was a complete disaster once Thalia, Nico, and Percy intervened. Apparently, my step-mother sent them after Ethan and Iapetus. Soon, they caught up to them and started fighting. Oh, and this is when the whole thing went downhill fast. Iapetus fell into the River Lethe! Now, he doesn't know who he is and is basically useless to us now.

Due to the fact his mission failed horrible, my boyfriend got in a lot of trouble, but I managed to persuade Lord Kronos to give him less of a bad sentence. From the daimons, children of Nyx, they told me that Iapetus chose to fight the demigods while Ethan wanted to return with the sword. With this new information, Lord Kronos just made Ethan be in charge of feeding the monsters.

After he came back, we exchanged late-Christmas presents to each other. I got him this ring with our names and the message on my heart charm carved into the inside. However, he got me a new sword from the Underworld made out of Stygian Iron.

"Okay, what's the big romantic plan?" I questioned sarcastically as we laid beside each other on the cliff of our very first kiss.

It was February now, Valentine's Day to be exact. We decided not to get each other anything and do something together instead that I was... comfortable with? I'm not sure how I feel about it.

We were planning on getting matching tattoos, one on my left shoulder and one on his right.

"Nothing, remember? Unless you wanna fight some monsters, then I'm sure Alabaster can spare a few."

I shrugged, staring up at the partly cloudy sky.

I wanted to get the tattoo, totally, but doesn't it seem like a really big step for five months? It seems so... permanent as well, and it was.

Yeah, there's laser surgery or whatever, but we're doing this magically with one of the other demigod's help. They're gonna do a special spell thing or whatever on our arms, like, I didn't even know children of Hecate could do that.

Am I ready for that kind of commitment? Whenever I commit to something, it never ends well for me. One example? My commitment to stay with my family instead of running away with Annabeth, Luke, and Thalia. What happened? My mother and brother were killed by the Olympians. Need another one? Well, my life at camp. I was committed to helping the Olympians until I discovered what they did to my family. Nothing good in my life has ever lasted long.

"Hey, earth to Rina, come in Rina." Ethan waved his hand in front of my face, shaking me from my inner musings.

"Hm?"

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"The tattoo."

There was a pause.

"You don't have to get it if you don't-"

"I do want it," I said, which was the truth.

"Then what's wrong?"

"I... just think this a big step. I like the idea, yeah, it's cute and romantic-"

"Kinda sexy too," he pointed out with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever, but still. It's pretty big and I have no clue where we're-"

"Y'know you have serious trust issues, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, considering the Olympians altered my memories and I've been lied to by the people I thought I could trust."

"Well, I think you have commitment issues too."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

He turned his body so he was lying on his side, facing my ear. I turned to face him as well, our noses bumping into each other.

"I get you have some issues in your past about it. You're family dying, the Olympians being jerks, but shouldn't you give us a chance? I love you, you know that. I promise I'm not gonna break up with you-"

"What about me? What if I-"

"If you were gonna break up with me, I don't think you would've agreed to this tattoo thing. Unless this is you breaking up with me." A mild look of worry crossed his face, creasing his eyebrows and making me realize how close we were.

"N-no... I'm just-"

"Be more optimistic." With that, he kissed me, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling me closer to his body.

It started as just a kiss, but then it went into a full-out make-out session on the edge of the cliff near a fortress for the Titan of time.

I felt so alive at that moment, his hands running down my back, grabbing me by the waist. His hot breath against my neck, his lips running down my collarbone, I've never felt so... awake? No, that isn't a word to describe it. More like, in the moment. I've never felt so cemented in my whole life.

Naturally, we were interrupted.

"Ah-hem?"

We both looked up, seeing Damien Alcatraz, our 'tattooist', standing over us with his arms crossed.

"Sorry, what time is it?" Ethan pushed himself up first, untangling himself from me. He stood up, automatically offering me his hand.

I accepted his hand, getting pulled up with ease.

We walked hand-in-hand as Damien went over our agreement and design.

"So, if I do this for you two, I'm gonna get first mission choice then?" he double-checked.

"Yeah, we'll suggest you for every easy and-"

"Oh, I want every mission possible. I'm aiming to become a lieutenant," he corrected me.

"Yeah, whatever, what else you want?"

"Hm... I'll get back to you about that."

"Only two things, remember? The mission choice and one other thing," Ethan reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Damien rolled his eyes. "This is the design you want?" He held up the sketch Ethan drew that we collectively agreed on.

It was both of our parents' planetary symbol interlacing. It would've looked messy if we chose different colours, but we decided on doing black for the lines. We wanted something to represent us, and our parents seemed like the perfect fit. Death and balance. Revenge and riches.

"Yep, any problems?" I questioned.

"Nope, just double-checking so when I'm halfway through, you guys don't start saying it's wrong." He rolled up the drawing and tucked it into his pocket.

"We could say it to just fuck with you," I pointed out.

"If you did I'll turn you both into pigs and feed you to the monsters."

I rolled my eyes.

We kept on walking until we arrived at the room we had set aside for the tattoo. There was painting stuff inside and some ambrosia just in case it took up too much of Damien's energy. Soon, Ethan and I rolled up our sleeves so Damien could paint on the base.

"Who's the least ticklish out of you two?" he questioned, setting up the paint and his brush.

"Him," I stated, pointing towards Ethan.

"Okay, I'll just need to paint it on one of you and I can just duplicate it."

Not long after, he got set to work. I watched as he drew the strokes. Down, across, across, across, circle, half-circle, cross, and then one last cross.

"Hold still," he ordered me as his hand started glowing.

He replicated Ethan's and put it on the opposite shoulder for me. Then, he started chanting in Ancient Greek, both symbols glowing before fading, looking completely dry.

I touched it experimentally. I pulled my hand back, it was clean. "It worked."

"You seem surprised." Damien started snacking on a square of ambrosia while Ethan grabbed a wet sponge and rubbed it against the marking.

He pulled back the wet sponge. The tattoo stayed.

"Thanks," I stated.

"Hey, just keep your end of the deal and I'm chill with it," he replied to us before waving us away.

Ethan and I walked out. Just as we were going to turn down a hall, he grabbed me by the waist and kissed me. I was so startled I pulled back.

"What was that for?" I questioned, "Well, I enjoyed it but still," I added more politely.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this. I love you." He kissed me on the forehead before we held hands. "Let's go on our date now."

(A/N: I never wrote a kissing scene before so... hopefully that wasn't too bad? Right? Also, I'll add a link to the image in my bio if you're unable to see the image for the tattoo. I couldn't find an actual picture of it so I just drew it quickly on my tablet that's cut off on the side. I didn't put this in the beginning because it might spoil somethings. Anyway, thanks for reading and supporting my story!)