Realisations Spilled All Over

The campers finally moved after the shock had ceased. With a lot of shouting and yelling, the children of Apollo managed to assist Annabeth by forcing her to chew on the ambrosia so she could regain her strength. They had helped her all the way up until they'd reached the infirmary, including unnecessary profanity along the way.

Yet, Annabeth's current state didn't divert the campers' attention—they looked as though they forgot Percy wasn't the Hero of Olympus anymore. He had completely deserted that heroic title after running away from camp, anyway. Even Faith was casting him sorry looks as questions—both intriguing and disturbing—were shot his way without giving him a moment of silence and peace for himself.

"Is it true? You visited the goddess of memory?"

"What was your quest like? With a Hunter, I mean?" What did that even mean?

"Did you and Annabeth together again? Some sorta love triangle, huh?" Excuse me?

"What happened? What was that on your brow? It was glowing!"

Percy acknowledged that last one. He unconsciously brought a hand to his forehead, remembering the warm feeling that had spread from his neck to his fingertips when he'd conjured a Fyrmarc—a real Fyrmarc! It had felt real too; its magic was living and thrashing inside him, casting tingles on his skin.

"Percy!" The son of Poseidon let out an oomph when he found himself nearly knocked over by a pair of arms hugging him. Percy couldn't stop his smile upon seeing Estelle hugging his waist tightly, as if she didn't plan on letting go any time soon. He ruffled her hair, beaming.

A particular daughter of Zeus's mane of choppy black hair came in sight. Thalia shooed the other campers away with a few vulgar curses thrown in, making Percy laugh half-heartedly.

Thalia looked somewhat glad to see him, but there was a crease of worry evident on her face. Despite that, she smiled at him thinly. "How was the quest? Annabeth didn't look too good over there."

Estelle finally let go, her eyes darting to Faith. "I'll go get Aegeus for you—he misses you as much as I do," she added excitedly, bolting away as many others threw her looks. Percy smiled self-consciously.

Thalia turned back to them, raising an eyebrow. "No . . . mental difficulties on your quest, I assume? Or, daresay, new feelings?" Percy sheepishly flushed, not knowing what she was on about.

"Let's just say Chase and I got in good terms," said Faith coolly, letting her hand drag down the beast's silken wings. "Actually, in our quest prophecy, she mentioned something about how I'll be meeting an . . . ah, an unfortunate event. It didn't happen yet though. But you know prophecies—can't really avoid them, can you? I think it's just a matter of time before it happens to me, eventually."

Percy sensed the hunter's discomfort, prompting himself to edge a bit nearer—the only way of ease that he hoped looked appropriate at the time. Faith markedly noticed this, as the glanced at each other for half a second before looking away, embarrassed.

Thalia, on the other hand, was downright oblivious as she pressed on, "What was supposed to happen to you, anyway? Like, specifically?"

"We aren't sure," Percy cut in hurriedly, feeling Faith's stare on him. "Annabeth said she was just sharing her thoughts, that's all. Anyway, I'm surprised you're not asking about Lucius. He's a wyvern. We met him half-way during the quest."

Thalia caught on almost instantly, raising her eyebrow at how quick he switched the topic to another. "Lucius? How'd you come up with that name this time?"

Faith appeared to be more than thrilled to talk about something else. "Lucy isn't ours. He's, er, Lloyd's. Y'know, Jackson's git of a brother? We think there's more wyverns out there, and the Dark is planning going to use them as weapons against us in the war."

War, he mused wryly. It sounded so . . . normal. Like children going to war was normal.

Thalia looked thoughtful for a moment, admiring the wyvern that seemed only obligated to let Faith stroke his mane. "There's . . ." she hesitated, her daring stare fixing on him. "You need to explain a lot of things, Perce. A lot's happened while you guys were gone. News fly by fast around here."

So this must've been what she was so anxious about a while ago.

"Everyone looks so . . . careful," noted Percy in an undertone, not really sure if Thalia understood him. But he was right, though—there was no camper, Roman, nor hunter that was walking around without three or four companions by their side. No one was alone—they were all in clusters.

"There's been a lot of campers here that's gone missing ever since you left," murmured Thalia, fumbling with the zipper of her leather jacket. "Grover's search parties found nothing. Reyna even conducted a search in Camp Jupiter, but no one found a trace. They just . . . disappeared. Out of thin air."

Percy couldn't help but share a knowing look with Faith. "Nico's one of those people, isn't he? Malcolm, too?"

Thalia's face portrayed both surprise and suspicion shot right at them. "How'd you know? There's a rumour going about that Hades has fled the Underworld and went to Olympus instead to hide with the other gods. That'd mean the Underworld's not safe right now, so I don't think Nico would want to go back there."

He frowned upon seeing somebody trying to snoop in on their conversation—catching every word that they were saying.

"Not here, Thals," mumbled Percy, fixedly glaring at the camper that scuffled away. "Let's talk somewhere more . . . private."

"Wouldn't you want to hold a meeting with Chiron and the other cabin counselors?" pondered Thalia, crossing her arms at him in an opposing way. "I don't think we can hide what we know from the others for too long. They deserve to know."

"We can't!" Faith cried out as their heads whirled towards her faster than a viper's. "I—we can't possibly trust all of them, I mean."

Thalia made a face. "Why not?" she asked, then her face contorted into a disappointed one. "You two are hiding something. It's obvious enough that you guys found out about something serious in your quest. What is it?"

Don't, he begged silently, hoping Faith was getting the message by the alarm in his eyes. Don't tell her.

The Percy he knew years ago would've told them who the traitors were right away. But now . . . Nico and Malcolm weren't bad people. He knew it by heart. He didn't want others to think of the two as enemies—not yet, not now.

Faith hung her head low, steering clear of Thalia's intense look as she obnoxiously ran her pink-tipped fingers over Lucius's veined neck.

"Lucy needs to be treated and fed," the healer said offhandedly, eyeing the sunken red gashes on the charcoal flesh. "I'll go and do that. I don't think anyone else could approach him without running the other way."

The healer flashed him a winning smile. Percy could have snorted right there and then, watching as Faith pulled the steely wyvern away. Upon seeing Lucius, the campers parted to give way right off.

"I can't believe that woman." Thalia sighed before glaring at him, as if it were his fault Faith had left. When Percy tried sending a pout her way, her nostrils flared impatiently.

"Fine," he groaned exasperatedly. "I'll ask Chiron if we could hold a meeting."

"And?"

Percy rolled his eyes at her. "And I'll tell you everything that happened on our quest, blah blah, blah. But I need to drink water first before I die of dehydration."

"Son of Poseidon, dying of dehydration." Thalia snorted loudly, leading him back to where the cabins were. "How very tragic."

*.·:·. ✧ ✦ ✧ .·:·.*

Percy was still doubtful with leaving Lucius in the Artemis cabin. I mean, sure, he trusted the darn beast, but the way it would look at him sometimes made it seem like he was its lunch.

Faith had reassured him about it, telling him that absolutely nothing would go wrong. When Percy mentioned something about how she was the one who was mistrustful of the wyvern in the first place, she sent him her middle finger sticking out.

It didn't take much time to gather most of the cabin counselors in the Big House. Two seats, which usually belonged to Annabeth and Nico during their meetings, were deserted. None of the cabin counselors mentioned it; they simply let it sit in the dark.

Thalia grew fidgety when more and more people entered the Big House.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" Percy gestured to an empty seat right in front of her. It was his spot whenever they had meetings; but at the moment, he could care less.

Thalia shook her head, sneaking subtle looks every so often at the crooked stairs that led to the next floor above. Instantly, Percy was snapped out of his stupor once he heard the clicking of hooves against the floor. He didn't even know the others were already there, staring at him with curiosity drawn on their faces.

Chiron met their eyes. One by one. "We've come here to trust one another of everything you know that may help us get through this war." The centaur's unfaltering gaze settled on Thalia. As if he was accusing her of knowing something they didn't.

"Are we here to talk about the disappearing campers, or their quest?" Reyna's thick, emboldened voice bounced off the walls. Percy thought she looked older—more tired, even. The slight grey circles under her eyes told enough.

Chiron waved off a hand, a twinkle in his peaked eyes. "Both."

And so they did.

The Praetor told them of what he already knew—the campers mysteriously disappearing, and how they tried everything they could to track them down. Both camps were searched, and yet nothing was to be found, as if they had gone off the face of the earth. Even the night guards have reported that no one has tried escaping from the camp.

Judging by the look Percy exchanged with Faith, they both knew how and who was doing this.

"A drachma for your thoughts, Percy?" He cringed internally as Chiron called his name, though his face remained expressionless. Their eyes were glassy—Percy remembered what it felt like to have his memory erased. He had gone along with it, even if the gaping holes of where his memory was supposed to be were calling out to him.

"Actually, yes," said Percy quietly, rubbing his palm as an attempt to calm himself. "Someone's shadow-travelling them away, to the Underworld. That's what the Dark is using as their base, or something like that."

When he had mentioned the Underworld, there were already protests that rung from almost everybody. He doubted that they even heard the rest of what he'd said.

Faith looked as agitated as he did when someone called him out for lying. "He's telling the truth, and you're going to deal with it whether you like it or not," the healer mustered out, narrowing her eyes at them. Was that really a mole on the side of her face, or was it a piece of dirt?

"So, what I've been hearing is true." Everyone quieted down, shifting their gaze towards Will Solace as he spoke near-silently, "Do you think they're keeping Nico and the other missing campers there? As hostage?"

Percy nodded stiffly, catching the guilt-ridden look the healer sent him. "I know it sounds crazy to believe," he started with bated breath, "but there's this goddess that's in control of the Underworld at the moment. Lady Aphorei."

You think she's terrifying? Percy thought brusquely. Wait until you find out that the she-devil isn't even our true enemy in this war.

"Animus," Jason blurted out, sharing a knowing look with Hazel and cutting off Percy's train of thought. "We Romans have heard of Aphorei, but we refer to her as Animus. Goddess of memory and all that, but not very well-known. Last time, Annabeth said . . ." He paused, skeptical but continued further, "She said that our memories must've been erased after we told her that we had no clue about this demigod she kept mentioning. There are like these . . . blank gaps in my mind, and I thought maybe she was right about our the memory part. Being erased."

Confusion arose in the small, cramped space they were in. Of course they'd be baffled—it wasn't every day that you realise your mind had been meddled with.

A particular daughter of Aphrodite had enough courage to speak up first. "That's impossible," said Piper in a higher voice than usual. "How . . . that goddess you're talking about—how can she have erased some part of our memories without us noticing? I thought Annabeth was just going insane last time, really—"

"She wasn't, trust me," said Percy irritably, scowling. The topic they were delving in—he wasn't sure if he was rather comfortable with talking about it. When he shifted his gaze to Faith's jumping leg and obvious twitching, he could tell she was as disturbed as he was.

Clarisse La Rue fixed him with an irked look. "You're telling us we're amnesiacs now and you failed to return our memories back?" She pulled a mocking face. "That's so, huh? Then what in Hades was your stupid little quest for? To frolic around Los Angeles and return with . . . with whatever the hell was that flying beast you now own?"

Faith glowered at her sharply, keeping her mouth shut. Percy took the lead, snatching everyone's attention on him, "Lucius's kind, wyverns—they could offer us a ton load of help in this war. The prophecy, our quest prophecy, mentioned a few lines—"

"Still doesn't explain the purpose of your whole darn quest, Prissy," sneered Clarisse, and even if the other cabin counselors jibed at her to shut up, they all knew the daughter of Ares had a point.

"'Seek the ones they enslave to breed,'" Faith quoted the prophecy as her face slowly turned into an awe-stricken one. "That's it! In our quest, we thought that we had to somehow persuade Aphorei to our good side, but that wasn't the point at all."

"What?" Percy blurted simultaneously, his voice blending in with the other confused mutters in the room.

Faith didn't look somewhat affected from the confused stares she got. "What I meant was we had found out about the wyverns—remember the quest prophecy, Jackson? The wyverns are the ones the Dark enslaves to breed as a weapon against us. The last line too had mentioned the Wielder, 'awakening at a time of need.' That's you, just this morning, when you saved Chase."

Each and every one that had heard the healer flinched back at the mention of the 'Wielder.' What made Percy even more puzzled than he already was now was when bewilderment filled those brindled eyes of Chiron's. Were they afraid of him? As to what role he had in the war?

If Chiron really was frightened, there was no proof of it adorning his face even as he spoke, "The one you have brought into the very heart of this camp . . . is a wyvern? Lucius, you called it?" There was a sort of displeased feeling that lingered within the centaur's stone-hard tone.

It was Percy's turn to flinch. "He's not dangerous, we swear. Lucius, I mean. He belonged to Lloyd Draco. You guys wouldn't know him, because of your memories erased and all."

"We know," said Hazel softly. "That's a lot to take in; even for us, Percy. I don't think the other campers would take this as lightly once they hear their mind has been messed with."

Obviously, he thought again bitterly, I know what it feels like to have your memory be taken.

But . . . Percy. She'd called him Percy—the same thing she had done when he talked to her about how Lloyd was most probably plotting something horrible that one time. He vividly remembered the daughter of Pluto being riled of his complaints, saying he was being melodramatic and the poor boy (Ha! Lloyd Draco, a poor boy) had done nothing wrong. The others had followed Hazel's example, putting all the blame on Percy.

His gaze shot up as heat spread in his neck and face. He was sure his face was burning when he found every pair of eyes on him. Faith may have looked as if she were suffering from second-hand embarrassment, but there was also a riled-up ire sparkling in her amber eyes. What have they said?

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" he squeaked out, trying to fight back the pink bloom that spread on his face and neck.

It was Jason's unsparing gaze that dug beneath his skin. "I said you're the Wielder, aren't you? Aren't you supposed to have a plan for this? To get our memories back, and rescue the missing campers? To win this war?"

Percy's temper had risen almost instantly, and he was sure everyone knew it was bound to burst. His sea-green eyes filled with a heated storm raging in its bluish flames. "You think this is my fault? Just because a prophecy chose me again to become—what? To become the leader of another war?" His voice was a dangerous, swindling thing. "Do you have any idea how tired I am of all . . . all this? How much I wish someone else was chosen instead?"

A mellow hand clasped around his other, which was firmly pressed against the table. Percy recognised the touch enough to know who it was, but his steel-bent gaze remained on the son of Jupiter.

"Quit it," Thalia snapped, shooting a cold stare at her stubborn brother. "You too, Jason. Back off. We're all in this together for gods' sake. Percy doesn't carry the burden alone."

Percy could still feel the unleashed rage swirling inside him, pulling and pulling. Pleading to be released with anguish. He dropped his gaze hastily, pulling Faith's wrist to where it was moments ago, which had been laying upon his own hand.

It was embarrassing. He could feel the others' stares alight with interest at the their little bit of interaction. Percy could care less, and he hoped so could Faith. It was oddly comforting to him, in a way. He hid a smile when the healer didn't pull back.

Jason mumbled a quick apology that they supposed was sincere enough.

"Do refrain from arguing." The way Chiron's eyes shone was way different from how he had spoken. "We have come here to trust each other, have we not? The Bo—"

Percy jolted, his hand immediately making its way to Riptide hidden in his jean pocket. His eyes settled abashedly on a black void that slowly simmered into a tall steel-faced man behind the others, making it so he was the only one who could see the soulless figure. The man's eyes sparkled with both amusement and sobriety as he stood with a regal kind of composure by the stairs. There was a scarlet symbol burning on the man's forehead too. Who was—how did that—

"Are you all right?" asked Faith, her brows creased in worry.

Percy hollowed his cheeks, his gaze still planted on the silent man as he ignored the many stares he received. He jutted his chin out, his thumb hovering over his concealed sword as he spoke in his most composed tone possible, "Who's that, and what's he doing here?"

They all spun their heads to where he was gawking at. Percy expected most of them to retaliate and pull out their weapons on whoever that man was, but was speechless when Thalia confusedly said, "There's no one there. It's probably just a trick of the light."

Trick of the light, my arse, he thought wretchedly, he looks pretty human to me, thank you very much.

Percy really, really wished he could speak up and tell them of who—or what—was standing right behind them. Instead, with obscenities in his head, he found himself tongue-tied as panic rushed through his veins.

"Sorry," he muttered faintly, an icy chill seeping through his very bones as he watched the said man's outlines flicker before disappearing like some sort of glitch. Gone, just like that. "Yeah, it—it was just a trick of the light. Continue please."

"As I was saying—" There was a glint in Chiron's eyes that told Percy the centaur had seen the damning man with his own eyes. "—the Book's whereabouts are now in safe hands. I, admittedly, am ashamed I have not figured out sooner who was in possession of it."

"Book? Are we talking about the Book of Fyrmarcs here?" asked Piper blandly, earning a stern nod from Chiron.

Percy's attention was not entirely on the centaur; he kept glancing to the spot where the mysterious man had been seconds ago, thinking it would reappear again. When he swivelled his head around to Faith, he found she was throwing him looks whilst Thalia was nervously looking straight-down towards the floor.

They looked pale, and it took Percy a few seconds to interpret Chiron's words. The damning centaur knew where and who had the Book—

Chiron gestured to Thalia expectantly with a small smile. Percy could tell she was trying to keep a straight face. "When I said to trust one another, Thalia Grace, I meant it."

Bewilderment lifted higher and higher in the air from the perplexed campers. When Thalia turned her head in Percy's direction with every agonising second, as if asking for permission, he weakly nodded. The others weren't supposed to know about where the Book was, but—

"What's Chiron talking about?" Reyna's rich voice silenced the bashful whispers. "Thalia?"

The daughter of Zeus looked resigned, waving an indignant Faith off with a hush. "Well . . . it's a long story, actually, so I'm going straight to the point. Well, er, Malcolm had found the Book of Fyrmarcs in the Oracle cave and told Annabeth about it—"

"Malcolm? As in, Malcolm Pace?" someone had asked incredulously before receiving a shrewd shush and a nod.

Thalia stoically continued in an inept tone, "And she had come to me a few days after that, telling me to hide it and trust no one—"

"Typical her," another one had commented slyly, earning sharper shushes from three or four people.

"But when Annabeth, Percy, and Faith had gone off to their quest, I sought help from someone." Thalia paused, wincing as Faith and Percy recoiled in disbelief. They hadn't been informed of this.

"You did what?" The healer looked murderous as her eyes flashed—did they always look so golden under the faintest of lights? "What do you mean you sought help from someone while we were gone?"

Everybody stayed quiet as they looked about, shying away from the healer. Thalia ignored Faith, continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted at all, "And so, we decided to hide the Book here."

Percy held back his scoff. Of course it was here, in camp. That was obvious enough, and nearly everyone knew that, but—

"Here?" Jason asked, appearing as clueless and lost as the others were. "Like, here here?"

"Here, Jason." Percy caught the strain in Thalia's voice. "Like, literally. The Book of Fyrmarcs is here, in the Big House, as we speak."

The muffled gasps and dumbfounded looks would've made him laugh if it weren't for all the seriousness of the situation. Many others had started whipping their heads around, as if expecting to find the ancient Book somewhere within the undignified mess and clutter in the Big House.

"This stays between all of us in here, all right?" demanded Thalia, her voice rough and unforgiving as everybody looked at one another before meekly nodding. "No one else should know about this. It's too risky. Do not tell anybody else."

Clarisse was the first to get over the shock, chortling as her head went atilt. "Ha! I'm going to take a hazard guess and bet that you hid the Book in Room Number Three."

Thalia's cool disappeared, her mouth going from gaping and closing within a few seconds that left everyone to ponder in befuddlement. "When—how did—"

"I may or may not have found out about the room a few years ago." Clarisse glanced up innocently before brushing her fingers over her stretched knuckles gently. "Even most of the things I store there are mine. Wonderful place it is, honestly—so much mess that you'd give up trying to find whatever you want in there the moment you look at it."

Thalia seemed to be at a loss for words before she dipped her head low, avoiding their gazes. "Oh. Er, I didn't know you knew about it."

"Most of us don't," Katie assured her, trying to meet the daughter of Zeus's gaze suspiciously before she gasped. "Oh, gods! That explains what you were doing when I found you here last time! It was the day the Chimeras attacked, remember? You—"

"What?" That caught Percy's divided attention as he looked up so sharply he swore everybody heard the crack from his neck. The son of Poseidon only allowed a second for himself to regain his composure before muttering, "Sorry. Er, there was an attack, you said? Chimeras?"

"About a dozen, it seemed like it," said Reyna, her bottom lip sticking out in a disappointed frown. "Leo was on guard duty that morning, and he said the Chimeras came from inside the camp. No one got hurt, if that's what you're asking."

"Who did it, then?" prompted Percy, nervously twiddling with his fingers. "Did Nico and Malcolm disappear the day after the attack?" Too specific. You were too specific.

He felt Faith go rigid beside him as all life seemed to leave her face. He knew they were both thinking about the same thing. Could it be? No, Nico and Malcolm wouldn't purposely attack the camp. They had just saved their lives, they proved to Percy that they were good people, but what if—

Something in Reyna's face told him she knew, and Will did too. The expression on his face was not pleasant. "Nico and Malcolm would not have organised the attack," the Praetor said so acridly that the others didn't even hesitate to stay clear of her. "And to answer your question, yes. They did disappear a few days after the attack, but so many other campers did too. No one would have betrayed our side."

Well, except for a certain demigod named 'Lloyd Draco,' he disappointingly sighed, shaking his head. How great it would have been, if Percy had killed Lloyd then and there in the train. The damning idiot deserved it, as revenge for . . . mum. Sally and Paul. But would they have approved of him, murdering someone in cold blood?

He gulped the knot that emerged on his throat, realising that Faith hadn't spoken for a good fifteen minutes since she'd last jibed at Thalia. She had been deathly still and muted the whole time—her face was all scrunched up, her lips were tight-pursed, and her stare seemed to be piercing the blank wall.

"It all fits," breathed the healer all of a sudden, peering up at Thalia in utter disbelief as the rest turned their heads to Faith in confusion. "You. You didn't answer my question. Who did you ask help from to hide the Book, Thalia?"

Everyone was silent now, fixing the daughter of Zeus with riveted stares. Percy took a breath sharply, hesitating to ask the healer what she was on about, but—

Chiron held out a hand, beckoning Thalia to speak up as if encouraging a child. She mumbled something, but it was no more than a silent movement of her lips.

"Say that again?" urged Percy, internally praying the hunter hasn't damned them all with whoever she confided in about the Book.

Thalia inhaled unsteadily before casting Will an unblinking look that was enough to make all of them grimace. "Look, we didn't want to take risks, okay? We didn't trust anybody, so . . . so he sent the Chimeras that day." He? "It gave me enough time to hide the Book here. Now that he's gone, I keep thinking it's all my fault, and . . . I'm sorry. It was Nico."

Their reactions weren't pleasant in the simplest of ways. Reyna and Hazel looked vividly horrified and furious as they slowly connected every fallen piece of the puzzle together, one by one. What made them all startled was the expressionless face Will wore—so carefully blank, as if he was trying to slowly comprehend what he had just heard.

As all sound seemed to drown in indignant protests directed towards Thalia, Percy found time to quietly whisper in Faith's ear, "Don't tell them." Don't tell them that they've joined the Dark.

It was all he could do to repay what Nico and Malcolm have done, even if the son of Hades had failed in rescuing Faith's brother. They had tried, and it was all that mattered at the moment.

A rush of icy cold danced on his skin when the healer doubtfully gave Will an unreadable glance. She didn't say anything—she only nodded back with pity drawn on her face.

"You knew!" exclaimed Jason, wheeling around to face a beguiled Chiron. "You knew, didn't you? That was why you didn't let us look for whoever was behind that Chimeras attack!"

The bemused centaur did nothing but send him a secretive smile as Hazel muttered thoughtlessly, "Of course. Those Chimeras—they're ruthless, but their loyalty lies with Hades. It's no wonder Nico could easily control them to do what he wanted, but . . . you think that had to do something with his disappearance?"

"No," Percy said quickly before he realised his mistake. Yet, it was true, anyways—it really had nothing to do with how Nico disappeared off the face of the earth.

"How can you be sure of that?" Hazel leaned forwards slightly, her palms facing the table steadying herself. There was a tautness in her voice as she cursed and added quietly, "Didn't you say Nico was being held hostage in the Underworld? You went there in your quest, right? Why didn't you rescue him, when you got the chance?" That was a lie. I'm sorry.

Percy didn't know what to answer this time—telling the truth would mean admitting Nico had joined the Dark. Unwillingly, of course, but he doubted the others would believe him if he said so. They'd think the son of Hades was a traitor, just like Percy had before.

He started a mantra of thankful prayers when Faith stepped in, cutting them all with her edge-clipped tone, "We didn't have enough time to get him out of there. It was too dangerous, and I know that you're aware of what Aphorei could do."

Percy realised then how many plot-holes they had left in the made-up story he and Faith fed the campers. No one wondered how they had managed to escape the Underworld, and it was irritatingly bothering him how each lie after lie was swallowed without hesitation.

Hazel's lips formed a thin line. "So, that's it? When Aphorei attacked you, you ran away? Was the quest just for you guys to figure out that the Dark now owns wyverns and to trigger Percy's inner Wielder?"

"Well, when you put it like that, it just sounds stupid," muttered Percy. Faith jabbed him in the arm with her elbow, and the fact that she was still wearing that damned fit top and skirt slowly dawned on him—holy Poseidon! Even her leggings did nothing to hide her slender bodice.

Faith didn't seem to notice—in fact, she looked rather comfortable with what she wore. "Actually, we might have missed a part on what happened in our quest. The time Jackson and I had considered Lucius as our own was also the time when Chase was captured," she went on smoothly, challenging them with her own collected stare, "if anything, I'd bet Chase knows more than I do because she'd been at the Underworld way longer than I have."

Hazel wasn't the only one considering the healer's words this time. Percy tried to subtly make eye contact with Faith, silently hoping she wouldn't spill too much information that might render the others distrustful of them.

"Annabeth . . ." Piper looked up at them, the fairly dim light hitting her face that was tight with misgiving discomfort. ". . . Annabeth was a prisoner? In the Underworld?"

"We hadn't known," Percy added feebly, digging his back into the crumbed wall. "We didn't know where Annabeth would be after she was captured, and the Underworld was the only place we were sure to go at the time. We got lucky, and she happened to be there. We managed to escape, and Annabeth got hit by Aphorei, and . . ."

Horror fell upon him with a gut-wrenching crash, his eyes impossibly wide as all color left his face. Annabeth was hit by Aphorei. No, she couldn't have . . . had they interpreted the prophecy wrong?

Daughter of the Marked, beware, for seconds of moments be ensnared.

That was it; that was their quest prophecy. Had Annabeth been the daughter of the Marked, not Faith? The healer looked absolutely fine, and she didn't look like she had lost any part of her mind yet. But that would mean that Annabeth had been—

The campers caught on quickly, staring at Percy expectantly with alarm dawning upon them.

"Annabeth had been hit?" Thalia asked with incredulity shining in her eyes, her face matching his own. "She's been hit by Aphorei? We're talking about the same goddess of memory here, right?"

When Percy met Faith's wary gaze for once, she was clasping and unclasping her fists as she grew fidgety. "No, no, no . . . ," the brunette muttered, shuffling from foot to foot, "the quest prophecy had said the 'daughter of the Marked,' was going to lose their memory, and Chase had said it was me, but . . . we thought something must have gone wrong because I don't feel any different, or—"

"You're telling me, if Annabeth wakes right now, she won't remember anything?" Hazel looked as aghast as the rest of them. The humid mist in the air wasn't making their moods any better. "She—she must remember something, right? Remember, Percy, when you lost your memory? You . . . you remembered her name."

Percy nodded rigidly. He couldn't help but think . . . what if Annabeth remembered him as someone else completely? Someone who treated her with tender care and affection once, even when they clearly don't have the same feelings for one another anymore?

The thought of being the prophesied Wielder made him slightly better. It meant he could just draw some sort of Fyrmarc and hope it'll return Annabeth's memory back; and hopefully, the others' as well. But yet again, Percy was sure the Fyrmarcs had its limits—but so did Aphorei's magic.

Everyone was looking at him now, wide-eyed and demanding. They wanted him to do something about this, as if his abilities were some sort of thing to use to solve every problem that was thrown on their path—

"I think Annabeth would only remember until the war with Gaea," he said bluntly, not meeting their eyes.

If anyone knew mental torture, it would be Aphorei. The goddess would know what buttons to push to make him relive every single memory that he hated—but treasured. Because those very same memories had made him happy once.

If Aphorei wanted Percy to hurt, then she'd make him hurt when Annabeth wakes up and starts treating him again as her lover.