Loralai

I tried to catch up with Damien, but he was quite fast when he wanted to be, already inside the cabin by the time I got there. At first, I didn't even see him, finally spottin him sittin at a stool over in the kitchen, starin at the countertop.

"Leave me alone." He growled without even turnin around. The sound of hate and hurt in his voice make me choke with guilt, but I swallowed it down as I edged forwards. He didn't seem to even react as I slowly sat next to him, not saying a word.

"Damien, I-" I tried, but he simply glared over at me, cuttin me off.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You're sorry and you didn't mean to. Whatever. Save the speeches for someone who cares." He spat, standing up and stormin out of the kitchen, into the boy's room. At first, I was pretty heated about how he had just dissed me like that; but the mental image of his horrified face reminded me that, for this moment, he had a reason for actin the way he was. After giving him a moment, I followed him, surprised to see him shovin his clothes into a duffle bag hurriedly.

"Wow, you really don't know what 'go away' means." He laughed bitterly, refusin to even look at me. I felt a white hot ball of anger rise from my stomach, makin me so heated my skin felt itchy.

"Damien... Damien I..." I tried, but he wasn't even halfway payin attention as he continued packin his stuff. When I finally couldn't take it any more, I threw my hand out towards him in a huff.

"Stabit" I called, a purple aura formin around Damien and freezin him in place. I dragged my hand across the room to his bed, releasin him. The moment I extended my ring finger, he jolted back to life, lookin around in surprise. I waved my hand, a chair zippin in from the kitchen and landin behind me.

"Damien, we need to talk." I commanded, takin a seat across from him. I guess he realized that he wasn't goin to get out of this, crossing his arms silently. I took in a deep breath.

"Look, whatever I did... whatever you saw... I feel straight awful. I never meant any of that to happen. I truly am sorry." I admitted, but Damien had this fiery look in his eyes as he sat forwards on the bed.

"Do you have any idea what you did to me? Do you know how long I've spent repressing... memories. How long I've been running from nightmares?!" He asked in a hushed, angry voice.

"No, I-" I began, but he cut me off.

"My life is nothing like yours; my dad didn't just go through a little depression and then ask me back; He was a monster, worse than all of the Chimera and Gorgons out there. I-I hate him so badly. And I was glad he was gone. I buried that part of me with him when he died, and I really thought it was over; but here you come with your teen-witch powers, yanking out the one memory I prayed I would never have to deal with again. So excuse me if your apology doesn't really mean all that much to me." He spat in a whisper, standin back up and continuin to shove his stuff into a bag. For a few moments, I really didn't know how to respond, but eventually shook the daze.

"So you're leavin the team?" I asked, Damien havin the gall to laugh.

"The team. The Camp. I'm done here." He explained, and to be honest, I couldn't help my heart from droppin. Out there, in the mortal world, demigods don't survive for long. The thought of Damien goin out there alone, fighting against all forms of vile monster... I couldn't even try to think of how long he'd last. I grabbed his arm as he shoved by, feeling him tense up, and the air around us droppin a few degrees.

"Damien, please-"

"Either let go or I make you." He said flatly. After a second, I decided to let him go, and just in time as Annabeth and Mary walked into the cabin, both lookin quite confused.

"Damien what's going on here?" She demanded, but he straight ghosted her; that is, until her hand shot out, holding him back by the chest before he could blow by. I don't think I've ever seen a human being or demigod look as fierce as Annabeth did in that moment, except for maybe the matching glare Damien had plastered on his face as he stared at Annabeth. Again, I could feel the air cool down all around us as Frosty steam came off of Damien.

"Take your hand off of me. Now." He growled murderously, but Annabeth didn't look even the slightest bit afraid as she stepped straight towards him, looking equally as unhappy.

"Damien, you need to calm down. Now." She commanded. He didn't like that response all too much, his knuckles poppin as he clenched his fist.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I suggest you mo-" Damien was cut off violently as Annabeth delivered a swift chop to the back of his neck, his eyes rolling up into his head as he flopped to the floor. Just then, Percy opened the door, instantly greeted by the sight of Damien on the floor and the rest of us lookin shocked, confused, and saddened. Percy didn't say anything, choosin instead to grab one of Damien's arms, Annabeth takin the other and carryin him into his room and closin the door. I was tryin to hold back tears when Percy and Annabeth came back out, and I must have been doin a lousy job because Percy was starin at me like my puppy had just gotten kicked.

"You did nothing wrong, Loralai. He just needs some time." Percy promised, but even though I nodded my head, inside I felt as though I had completely screwed everything up; I mean, Damien was goin to be a hard nut to crack even before all this, and it seemed like he and I had genuinely made some progress this mornin; now I feared it was all for naught. Would he still want to be a part of the team when he woke up? Would he even still want to be at Camp? Could he ever forgive me? All these questions were racin through my head as I mindlessly followed Percy and the rest of the group back outside of the cabin, leavin Damien alone.

"You know that this wasn't your fault, right?" Annabeth asked from out of nowhere. I glanced over and tried to smile.

"Yeah, well... I'm not sure you'd be sayin that if you'd been there." I whispered, but Annabeth wouldn't hear any of it, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Look, when I was a younger, there was this kid who came to camp that really got on my nerves. At the time, I thought that I was completely ready to go on my first quest, and all the signs pointed to me being next in line to become a true hero. But the this boy showed up; powerful, but confused and way out of his depth. Still, he was chosen to go on this amazing quest, and I was stuck playing sidekick. It also didn't help that his dad and my mom didn't get along very well at all. Needless to say, there were more than a few times that I was quite a bit more harsh with him than I needed to be; and there were a couple of times when I felt like maybe I had pushed him too far or been too sharp and bitter towards him. But the thing you've got to remember is that we halfbloods are a lot tougher than most people. Damien especially is about as tough as they come. Never convince yourself that you've done or said something that you can't resolve." She said. She was totally right; I needed to spend less time givin up a more time tryin to fix the problem at hand. I took in a shaky breath, tryin desperately to calm myself down before looking over at her.

"The kid... the one you were mean to; did he ever end up forgivin you?" I questioned, Annabeth confusing me a bit when she laughed like I had just told some inside joke.

"I don't know. Ask him." She whispered with a smirk, catching up with Percy and grabbing his hand. Percy glanced over at her with a sweet, small smile, and I felt my heart rate accelerate about a million times. I knew that I had messed up pretty badly, accident or not. But I also had to believe there was a way to patch things up with Damien; I just had to keep on tryin.

Damien

I woke up laying on the cold, concrete floor of a dark, musty old room. Memories started flooding back to me; of what Loralai had done to me, of how Annabeth had taken me by surprise and stopped me. As I pulled myself to my feet, I honestly didn't know what I was feeling; anger, sorrow, hatred. I still couldn't get over the horrifying vision of my father that she had dug up from the darkest corner of my brain. I had her on the ropes, and in a desperate attempt to come out on top, she had cast some stupid spell that brought my worst nightmares to life. I clenched my jaw, trying desperately to calm down, but I just felt so... so...

"Enraged. This anger is eating away at you, isn't it? It demands to be released; demands to be freed." A voice called out of the dark. I whipped around, greeted by what at first and second glance I took as the angel of death. He was a thin, pale man, wearing a brown hooded jacket that dropped down to the ground, and was literally holding death's scythe. There was something sinister about his eyes; they were shining a bright golden color, but even still I'd never seen any eyes that looked so... hateful. It honestly made my skin crawl, but I tried my best to force the feeling down.

"Um, do I know you?" I asked, the man shaking his head with a twisted grin.

"No, we've never had the pleasure. Though I feel as though we've known each other for quite some time." He explained, snapping his fingers. Instantly, we were sitting at some fancy restaurant, the man having changed into a silk suit and tie. He looked so much more civilized, but no less evil as he sat there, eyeing me up and down.

"Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this day?" He asked with a smirk, forming a piece of shrimp and chewing it slowly. I don't know how to explain what I was feeling other than that it felt like my whole body was on edge for a reason my brain didn't understand.

"I don't understand - who are you?" I asked, but the man didn't seem to care much for answering my questions, acting as though he didn't hear me at all.

"Since the beginning of time. And trust me, it's been a long, long wait." He reassured, cramming another piece of seafood into his mouth and chewing slowly. I honestly was totally lost, and I could tell that it annoyed the guy, who sighed deeply.

"Right; I keep forgetting how dull you people are." He confessed, rolling his eyes and continuing to eat.

"Since the beginning of time, I have been waiting for the perfect vessel to which the last remaining portion of my essence would be able to graft to. Admittedly, I got a bit... overzealous the first time; that boy and I were never really a perfect fit." The man admitted, wiping his face with a napkin.

"Look, dude; I don't know who you are or what kind of crazy game you're playing, but I don't have time for it." I yelled, shoving out my chair and storming off. The moment I thought I had gotten away, I found myself somehow traveling full circle, right back to the same table, my chair already set back up. The man was smiling at me like I had just put on some kind of show.

"There it is; that icey-hot fire in your eyes and soul. That's what makes us so compatible." He explained. I'll be honest; my skin crawled when he said the word "compatible", and I felt like I was suddenly in danger.

"Who are you?" I demanded, the man raising an eyebrow, like my threats intrigued him but nothing more.

"Ask Percy Jackson about the blade you chose as your own; he'll tell you all about me." He said with a crooked grin. That sword again; what was it about that thing that seemed to have everyone on edge?

"And you think I'm some kind of... vessel. For

what?" I questioned. The man's twisted, evil smirk made me feel like I genuinely didn't want to know the answer.

"For me; or at least, what little remains of me." He grumbled lowly, making me step backwards and nearly trip as my head felt like it was swimming.

"Look, I don't care who you are, I'm not gonna become anyone's vessel! I belong to me and no one else." I insisted, but he simple smirked.

"Really? Where do you think we are right now?" He questioned, reality setting in before he even continued.

"We're in your mind, Damien. I'm already here. In fact, if you could remember, you'd realize we've already had this conversation before. And you said the exact same thing last time." He laughed, taking a drink from a cup of wine that seemed to just... appear. I felt like I was going to puke, trying desperately to convince myself it was all a dream, but deep down I knew it wasn't. I whipped around, glaring at the intruder.

"How did you even get into my mind?" I shouted, the man leaning back in his chair.

"Oh, you know the answer to this one; when did your nightmares start?" He fired back. I tried to think back; when I arrived at camp, when I was chosen for this stupid team, when I- suddenly all the pieces fit into place.

"The sword. They started right after I got that thing from the Armory. " I whispered, the man standing up suddenly.

"Bingo. And here I was beginning to think you were dull." He admitted. I couldn't wrap my head around what I was hearing; somehow, I'd been possessed by some kind of spirit or-

"A spirit? Really? Do I look like a Spirit to you?" He asked incredulously.

"How did you-"

"We share a mind now, kid. Your thoughts are my thoughts." He explained. I wanted to charge at him and freeze him into nothing, but for some reason my feet weren't obeying my commands. He looked down at them with a grin, glancing back up at me.

"You can't overpower me; believe me, you've tried." He admitted.

"And don't worry; as soon as you wake up, you won't remember any of this ever even happened." He reassured. For some reason, I knew that he was right; I was beginning to remember all of our previous conversations, until I finally hit a name; and to be honest I'd never been more scared in my entire life.

"You-you're him. Kronos." I stated in shock, the man simply raising his hand.

"We have a winner! And as much as you want to scurry off and try to run from your problems, I can't let you do that. We still have a mission to finish." He explained.

"What mission? What do you want from me?" I yelled.

"Patience. You'll find out I n time." He whispered, snapping his fingers, the world around me instantly going dark.

I woke up feeling like someone had just run a thousand volts of electricity through me. I knew I had some crazy nightmare about... something. I just couldn't remember what. Memories of what had happened this morning flooded my mind. After having some time to cool off, I realized maybe I had been a bit too harsh with Loralai and Annabeth. Sometimes when I get angry I just kind of... lose control of myself. I pulled myself out of bed, making my way to the door of the cabin. I knew deep down I couldn't just run; after all, what good would it really do to try and escape memories? I started walking

down the gravel path to the training arena; I had a lot to apologize for, and a lot of work to do. After all, our team had a mission to accomplish; and like it or not I had to make sure I was ready.