Yeah, I know I said I'll have a rec, but stuff came up. Sorry about that.

Now, the fallout. We have another quiet chapter after who knows how many fights. Frankly, I prefer these quiet ones more. Also, new milestone! Yay!

Note: I do NOT own PJO or HOO. Otherwise, I wouldn't be uploading this here.

Chapter XL

The camp was deathly silent, even though it was barely evening. Tanya walked in between the spaces present between the tents, noticing just how silent the entire area was. It was unsettling to think that it was all due to their own mistake.

The older demigods had disappeared into the confines of their tents the moment they had returned from the battle. None of them looked like they wanted to talk to anyone else. She decided that it was best to leave Malcolm be, even if she did crave the company of someone she knew. Her siblings were definitely not close enough to count, and the three she had come to the camp with had remained at camp, too young to accompany her.

She could almost feel the regret and depression hanging in the air after the reveal of what had truly happened with Perseus. The newer demigods weren't taking it so hard, but they were angry at their counsellors for what they had done, along with being regretful for choosing to believe them.

On the other hand, she didn't even want to consider what the immortal demigods felt like. To know that the person they had thrown out of camp had been completely innocent, to know that they had willingly chosen to believe the rumours about him, it must have been cutting them up from the inside.

Because it always looped back to that. They had willingly chosen to do so. Brandon had explicitly stated that it had to be done of their own free will, and since the gods hadn't refuted it, she was inclined to believe that he was telling the truth.

Suddenly, her urge to see Malcolm took a step dive. She didn't feel like visiting someone who chose to believe lies about the person he had known for years. The Vapour and Brandon's innate abilities may have played a part, but they could only have gotten a hold of him if he had a seed of jealousy within.

She turned back around, choosing to walk to her own tent. She shared it with one of her siblings, but she knew that the rest of her cabin would probably have gone to a more secluded spot. It seemed like they were the only ones who weren't crushed by the development. In fact, they seemed to have become invigorated by the sudden new source of gossip that was readily available to them.

Such moments made her wonder how she could have been a daughter of the love goddess. It was obvious that she didn't share many traits with her mother, and it disgusted her to see how her siblings were treating what was supposed to be a serious matter. Moments like these made her wish that she had a counsellor like Lady Piper to keep them in line.

She shook her head once more. Lady Piper had also been one of those who had betrayed Percy, or she guessed it should more accurately be Lord Perseus, during the time at camp. What made it even worse was that she hadn't even been at camp the entire time. She assumed that there were still some traces of the Vapour present when the rest of the seven had arrived along with Nico, and that Brandon had probably sneaked some into the Roman camp as well, but given the fact that they had only heard the second hand accounts of what had transpired, it was almost doubly damning in comparison.

Tanya didn't know who she could rely on at the moment. The relationship she thought she had built with Malcolm was crumbling before her, and she hadn't been in camp long enough to trust anyone else. She simply crashed into her bed, far too exhausted after the emotional toll that had been extracted from her. She needed to rest, and hopefully it would all be clearer once she woke. It was most likely just wishful thinking, but one could hope.

Artemis' eyes never strayed from the pools of green and red before her, trying to decipher the emotions swirling within them. However, just like the previous time, she couldn't seem to get a grasp on what exactly he was feeling. Thankfully, he hadn't lowered his face even after she had released her grasp on his chin.

Her words still hung in the air, yet Perseus hadn't responded. The one emotions she had managed to find amid the storm present in his eyes was one of hesitation, something she knew wasn't going the be easy to overcome.

"Perseus, please," she said. "Don't bottle everything up within yourself. I will not judge you like I did in the past. I promise."

His eyes showed a hint of hope, but she could see that a hint of doubt still remained. "How can I know for sure? I cannot erase the memories of what happened last time around. It's far too painful for me to forget so easily."

She sighed in frustration, knowing that it was going to be extremely difficult for her to somehow pull it off. In the back of her mind, an idea sparked, but she almost instantly discarded it as being ludicrous. However, another look at his darkened eyes told her that it would be necessary if she wanted to make him open up once more. After all, whether she liked it or not, she was one of those who contributed to him being so closed off.

She released deep sigh, before taking the plunge. "I swear on the River Styx that I won't break Perseus Jackson's trust, and to keep secret whatever he may tell me in this meeting unless I have express permission from him to reveal it."

The thunder booming in the background wasn't enough to distract her from the absolutely flabbergasted look on Perseus' face, causing her to snap her fingers in front of him to bring him back to reality. A part of her found it strangely hilarious, causing her to suppress a snort at the sight.

"Why.. why did you..." he tried to say, his tone conveying the true extent of just how taken aback he was.

"Because, Perseus, I've wronged you far too many times in the past," she said. "I want to correct the mistakes I made, and that cannot happen without some trust between the two of us. Now please, will you finally tell me why it's so hard for you to talk to the demigods?"

She could see his resolve crumble, and she knew that, after all this time, he was going to tell her why he was avoiding the confrontation.

Thalia sat on her bed, staring blankly off into space. Her hand was holding a picture that had been taken in Camp right after the Titan War. She was standing next to Annabeth, her hand wrapped around the shoulders of the daughter of Athena. Behind them, a person stood, but their face had been blackened out, looking like someone had burnt that particular part of the image.

A tear fell on the paper as she realized what she had done. Kelp Head, I'm so sorry, she thought, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to make up for the pain she had caused her cousin. Her innocent, completely blameless cousin.

She had cracked when she found the note under her bed so long ago, and hadn't stopped to think whether Percy would do such a thing or not. She could still remember the devastation on his face when she told him that they weren't cousins anymore, but in her anger, she had assumed that it had all been an act. Not anymore.

Her conscience wasn't giving her any reprieve either, constantly replaying the memories of how she had treated him while he had been in the hunt the first time around. She cringed as the memory of her pushing him down before calling him a traitor flashed across her eyes, before she realized that all the insults she had hurled at Monaxiá during his tenure was actually her stabbing a knife further into Percy's heart. She could remember the beginning of the quest, how she had questioned him whether he had forced Artemis into a marriage with him. Another barb that she had unknowingly thrown towards the person who had always treated her as family.

He would never do something like that. I should have never accused him of it, she thought miserably, before realizing that she didn't know what kind of person he was anymore. Had their betrayal pushed him off the rails, causing him to become a bitter god who wouldn't hold back anything while trying to hurt another? From the stories she had heard about how he'd humiliated Hercules, it seemed so.

But during the months in which they had travelled together, there was no such indication. Thalia guessed that his treatment of Hercules was payback for what he'd done to Zoë, along with how he'd let his own demigod son die at the hands of the Nemean Lion. Of course, it could also be her desperately trying to cling onto some connection to the person she had known. Now, she had no idea what drove him, and why he would do something. It was a sobering thought, since they had once known each other so well they could finish the other's sentences.

A dull throb of pain was present in her chest, almost as if her heart was literally breaking. She now understood why it had hurt to reflect on her memories with him. It was the Vapour, trying to ensure that she wouldn't notice the discrepancies present in the recollections.

But it shouldn't have reached there, she shrieked within the confines of her mind, punching her pillow to no avail. I should have seen it sooner! I could have... I could have done something.

But you believed it so quickly, whispered her conscience. What guarantee is there that you would have done anything?

She had no response, instead pulling up her knees as even more tears slowly made their way down her face, causing her vision to blur as she was lost in her past once more.

Perseus sighed before her, his shoulders sagging as some of the tension left him.

"I can see the hurt in their eyes," he said. "I can see that they've realized what they have done. But even so, I can never bring myself to trust them ever again."

"Because they did it of their own volition," Artemis supplied.

He nodded, looking even more defeated than before. "You've read the same scrolls I have. We both know that if more than a certain amount of free will is taken away from the individuals, the Vapour of Lethe will be useless. The decision has to be made on their own for it to take effect, and seeing as how every single one of them turned on me, it's quite obvious how they felt.

"Rachel was the only one who believed me," he added in a soft whisper. "I had to tell her to not say anything so that she would be safe. Even after I became Monaxiá, I would visit her on occasion, and she had voluntarily made an oath to never reveal my identity. And those bastards had taken her before her time," he growled, his eyes once again beginning to light up.

Artemis grabbed his arm before he could do anything, knowing that he could easily lose his temper in such an insecure emotional state. A small part of her mind was suspicious as to what exactly Perseus had done while he was alone with her brother's Oracle, but she quickly realized that any feelings he had were strictly platonic. He had seen her as a very close friend, nothing more.

"Calm down, Perseus. You've had your revenge against them, haven't you," she asked, slowly letting go of his arm as he relaxed.

"Not as much as I wished, but it will have to do," he ground out, but she knew that his flaring temper had been brought under control.

"You were telling me about how you felt about their treatment of you," she pressed. She knew it was probably still a very sore spot for him, but she had to keep him talking. Anything to ensure that he didn't slip back into his reclusive shell.

He breathed deeply, centering himself once more. "Yeah, I was," he replied. Artemis waited patiently for him to continue, knowing that they were reaching some very personal feelings. She didn't feel qualified to do it, but in the end, she needed it, Olympus needed it, and most importantly, Perseus needed it.

Annabeth was sitting on a couch, the others strewn about the tent. Jason and Piper were holding each other's arms, while Frank and Hazel were sitting on one single couch. Leo had Calypso holding him in her arms, while Nico was sitting to the side, Will holding his shoulder. All of them had one similarity: the haunted look that dominated their features.

She could feel her hands trembling slightly as she clenched her fists to try and reassert control over herself. Her mind was in complete disarray as the complete implications of what had happened went through her mind.

He was innocent. All this time, he was innocent. That one thought refused to leave her mind. And they didn't have a single excuse as to why they did it. She knew that the Vapour would only be effective if they retained their free will. And they had chosen to believe the worst of him.

To her side, Hazel burst into tears, Frank immediately wrapped her in his arms, but he didn't look much better himself. Annabeth couldn't do more than watch, unable to say anything to comfort her. How could she when she was close to breaking down herself.

"He... he never did any of it," Piper said, her voice barely above a whisper. "All these years, and he's stayed on the side-lines, allowing us to believe that he'd done it."

"It's not like he could have changed our mind, could he," reassured Jason, but the tremor in his voice was enough to tell her that he wasn't truly believing his own words. "The Vapour would have prevented us from knowing what truly happened."

"But we should have never doubted him in the first place!" Leo yelled, his voice choked with emotion. Calypso tried to soothe him, but it wasn't working very well. "Why did we doubt him? What were we thinking?"

"We weren't," said Frank, his face devoid of any emotion. It looked like he was trying to deal with it by burying everything deep down. Annabeth knew that it wouldn't work for long.

"I thought he would actually say that about Bianca," Nico whispered, his aura of death slowly shifting to one of gloom. "I thought he would go that low."

Annabeth tried to cheer them up, although she didn't feel much better. "Look guys, all we can do is ask him to see if he will ever forgive us for what we did. There's nothing else we can do about it."

She tried so hard to be her usual logical side, but it proved to be ridiculously difficult when it was about someone that had been so close to her in the past. She could feel the pressure crushing her as she tried to keep her calm, even though she could feel it slipping.

Nico laughed, a hollow sound that made every single one of them feel even worse than before. "And who in their right minds would ever forgive us for what we did?"

She replied, "If anyone would, it would be Percy."

She knew she was grasping at straws. Even he wouldn't forgive someone who had done everything they had. She was hoping that Percy would have some trace of the easy-going person he had been in the past, but she also remembered how he was when someone hurt him badly. Even if he was the same as he'd been, which was a near impossibility, things weren't looking good for them.

All she wanted was for things to go back to how they had once been, but she knew that there was no chance of that ever happening. He was an Olympian now and, from what she remembered, had been married to Artemis for almost a century. Of course, that was one of the most sensitive topics on Olympus, and she didn't want to dive into that.

She still remembered how one of the minor gods had begun to spread the rumour of Percy's reaction when Hermes had told him that she had been seeing someone else on Olympus. She had managed to quash it quick enough so that not many people heard it, but she knew it was true.

A part of her blamed her mother for the situation she had found herself in, but she couldn't place it on anyone but herself. In the end, she had made every single decision, and all of them had hurt Percy in the end. Knowing that he hadn't even gotten angry when he found out that she had been cheating on him, and instead accepted it with a weariness that told them that he was long past the point of caring was probably worse.

She wrapped her hands around herself, trying to hold her emotions in. All of her choices were crashing into her, and she didn't know what to do anymore, even with all of her wisdom and knowledge. She desperately hoped that she would wake up and find that the day had been nothing more than a horrible dream, but she knew that she wouldn't be so lucky.

All around her, the rest of them bore similarly desolate expressions, knowing that they had cut their ties with and brutally hurt the person who had never broken their trust.

"It hurt to know that they would believe such things about to me so quickly," Perseus said, his head dipping down as his eyes stared at the floor. Artemis had an urge to tug his chin up, making him face her again, but she knew that doing so was basically inviting him to retreat once more. She had to make sure that he didn't go too far past his comfort zone if she wanted to get through to him.

"Is that why it hurts so much? Because you always tried to show that their trust in you would never be betrayed and they didn't do the same," she enquired her voice still soft and kind. Anything harder would either set him off or cause him to back away.

He shrugged, looking like he was slightly conflicted. "That's definitely part of it, but also the sheer speed of the incident. Even Brandon admitted that he expected it to take longer, but look at what happened. They almost played directly into his hands, and that is probably what truly hurt. They didn't even ask me if I had an explanation. Evert single time they accused me, they didn't give me any time to respond before moving away.

"I guess they were afraid that I was about to go dark. After seeing what I'd done in the past two wars, they thought that if I went to the other side, it would be almost impossible to stop me. So they wanted to throw me out and then they wouldn't have to worry about seeing me go down that path." His voice had dipped in the middle as he struggled through his words, but he had recovered slightly towards the end. After all, he had to face his demons. Hadn't he wanted closure for so long? Now that he had it, he wasn't going to back away any more.

He turned to look at Artemis, his eyes showing his gratitude for her sitting by him and listening to him pour his heart out. He was going to always be indebted to her, and he had seen something he had never expected. She had directed her softer demeanour towards him.

The moon goddess took his hand, squeezing it slightly. The action took him by surprise, but it definitely wasn't unwelcome. After what he'd went thorough, he needed the physical contact.

"None of it was your fault, Perseus," she said. "You didn't do anything wrong. All of the blame lies squarely at the feel of those who had chosen to believe Brandon."

She knew that she had also believed the worst of him back then, but she hadn't known him as well at that time. Now, she still wouldn't say that she knew him as well as the others had when the incident occurred, but even she could say that he would never do anything like what he'd been accused of.

He allowed her words to wash over him, feeling both relief and guilt. He was glad that another person believed that he had been innocent in all of it, but a small part of him felt bad that they would want to crucify those who had been with him at camp.

He crushed that emotion quite rapidly, knowing that it was simply his nature trying to raise its head. After all the years that had passed, he had to say that what they'd done was almost unforgivable. Anyone else would have held a grudge against them for the rest of their existence. He had to be different, of course.

It didn't mean he would simply forget it. He had partially forgiven them, because no matter what, he couldn't forget that they had been under the influence of the Vapour, which would have prevented them from being able to reflect on what all happened.

But even then, they would never, ever get back to the level of trust he had once placed in them. After they'd destroyed it so thoroughly, he would never be able to believe that they would never do it again if a similar situation arose. Their actions had come back to bite them, and he wasn't going to change it.

He met the silver eyes of the goddess standing before him, before giving her a grateful smile.

"Feeling better, Perseus," she added, drawing her hand away from his.

"Call me Percy. And yes, I do," he replied.

Grover was sitting on the stump of a tree that had been felled ages ago, his reed flutes hanging limply against his neck. On normal occasions, he would have been playing the gifts he had received from his father, but at the moment, he didn't have anything close to the required spirit.

He had been Percy's oldest friend. They had known each other since he had gone to Yancy Academy at the age of twelve, and ever since them, they had always been close. He should have known that he would have never been able to do everything that had been laid at his feet, but there was nothing he could do about it anymore. The dice had been rolled, and he had to deal with whatever he ended up with.

He felt a small amount of bile rise up in his throat as he felt the slight emptiness that still existed in his mind where he used to have the empathy link with Percy. Usually, he would never notice it, but now that he was reflecting on his former friend, there was no way he could miss it. He had to deal with the knowledge that he had played a role in kicking him out of camp, along with sullying his name as time passed.

Now, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. The knowledge of Percy being innocent had been the largest upheaval he had ever experienced in the past century, which left him unable to decide what he should do next.

Part of him wanted to reach out to Percy, begging him to forgive his folly and for them to go back to how they had once been, demigod and satyr facing the world before them. But it was not to be. He knew that there was no chance Percy would ever take him back like that, and he was now an Olympian. There was simply far too much that had changed for them to reconnect after so long.

He sighed, slowly standing up before moving towards the camp of the other nature spirits. He could only hope that they would survive their upcoming encounter with Tartarus so that he could try to make it up to Percy somehow, even if it never worked.

Percy's eyes stared at hers, the gratitude evident in the green and red orbs. It was an emotions she would never have assumed he would direct towards her, but it seemed like the day was meant for unexpected occurrences.

"Is there anything else about them that you have to get out," she said, knowing that if he kept something quiet, it would gnaw away at him forever.

He shook his head. "No. Anything that's left is either more about emotions than words or something I'll have to tell them directly. It won't be something I can do here."

"So you'll talk to them?" she asked, hoping that he would. All of them needed it, and not just because they had to win the war. It was an issue that had been building up for a century, and it had to be resolved as soon as possible.

He slowly nodded his head, the movement measured and thought out. "I think it's time. I've delayed it for long enough," he said. He stood from his bed, tapping the centre of his armour thrice. It quickly retracted into his pendant once more, leaving him in his normal attire. He reached for the hood of his cloak, before slowly moving his hand away. Artemis could recognize the gesture for what it was. He was not going to hide anymore.

She stood as well, waiting for him to exit the tent. He slowly moved towards the flap, opening it before stepping out. She waited until he'd moved a fair distance from the entrance before she herself left the tent.

The evening sun was slowly approaching the horizon, casting a dull orange glow across the landscape. She could see the approaching darkness of night on the opposite horizon, the stars slowly beginning to be seen. It felt weird to not have either her or her brother's chariots up there, but it was something that had to be done.

They made their way to the main tent, knowing that it would have to be a private meeting at first. The other demigods could be informed of his decision later. First, he would have to talk to those who had personally known him during the time of the incident.

They slowly entered the massive structure, seeing that the other Olympians were already gathered. Artemis went to take her place, all the while noticing that Hestia had already gone to wrap her son in a hug. He may have been adopted by her, but the ritual he had chosen made him just as much her flesh and blood as if she had birthed him herself.

"Are you okay, Percy?" she asked stroking his hair lightly. Artemis watched as some of the tension disappeared from his face as he leaned into her touch.

"I'm fine, mom. It was just a sudden shock, that's all," he reassured, although every single one of them knew that he was simply trying to play it down.

The goddess of the hearth looked mildly annoyed for a moment, before tapping his head lightly. "I do not appreciate you trying to hide something from me, young man," she said sternly, before pulling him back into a tight hug. Her warm eyes met Artemis' own, a surge of gratitude present it them. She understood what her aunt was trying to convey. She was grateful that someone had been able to draw her son out of his shell.

Hestia slowly let go of him, before slowly heading back to her seat. Percy stood in the middle, but he didn't look like he was fearing anything like he did when he had been in a similar position in his demigod days. Instead, he stood straight, meeting each and every single one of them in the eyes.

"Tell them to come here," he said, and there was no question who them referred to. "We need to put this behind us."

Malcolm lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling yet not truly seeing anything. His mind was stuck in the past, flashing through the memories of the days that had led up to Percy being kicked out of camp.

I didn't trust him, he realized. After everything he did, a part of me still didn't trust him. I instantly assumed that he could turn on us like that.

He wanted to blame the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena, but he knew that it was an extremely weak argument. He had been blind, and that had been the cause of his actions. Now, he could never fix them.

He realized that he had travelled in Percy's company for the past two months, yet he had never shown any outward sign of anger or hatred towards either him, Reyna and Dakota. Even now, Percy always put the needs of the many above what he himself wanted.

He didn't even want to know what Tanya thought about him at the moment. The young daughter of Aphrodite had looked up to him as a role model, and now that image would have probably come crashing down before her. His mistake was going to affect him for the rest of his immortal life, he knew that.

He glanced at the person he was sharing his tent with. Reyna was in a similar state as he, her eyes focused on the ceiling yet not truly seeing anything. He turned back, lost in his own thoughts once more.

The praetor of Rome was fighting her own demons. She kept grappling with the bald fact that her former co-praetor, the one she had excommunicated from the entire legion, the person whose name itself had been hidden away, was blameless of all the crimes that had been attributed to him.

She clenched her hands, feeling a small amount of pain lace its way up her nerves. She should have known better. Romans prided themselves on their loyalty to their leaders, and she should have known that Percy would never have been able to climb so high so quickly if he harboured such intentions within himself.

Yet, she still turned on him, even though all she had were second-hand accounts as to what had truly transpired in their opposite camp. She should have done her own research first, but she had been so terrified that he was going to become an infinitely worse version of Octavian that she had let it cloud her judgement. And look where that had gotten her. She had lost ties with the most loyal person she had ever known.

The two of them were slipping into such thoughts once more, when a sharp knock was heard from the outside of their tent. They jerked up, instantly on their guard, ready to attack if need be.

Instead, they saw Hermes himself poke his head within the structure, taking them by surprise. They stood there in shock while the messenger god surveyed the two of them, a glint of disappointment and anger in his eyes.

"The council requests your presence," he said briefly. "You are expected to arrive within the next ten minutes." With that, he left, not giving them any time to come up with an appropriate response.

The two of them glanced towards one another, before slowly making their way to the entrance, ready to head towards the main tent, knowing that was where the Olympians were most likely to be.

They reached the tent, yet hesitated before entering. They felt that it wasn't yet the right time to do so, and it would be better of they waited a little longer before the did so. It was difficult to explain why they felt like that, but they chose to trust their instincts on that occasion.

It seemed that their instincts were right. In the distance, they saw a number of figures approaching their location. As they drew closer, it became clear exactly who they were.

Grover was trotting along, gnawing on a metal can as he went. It was a sign of just how nervous they were that they never commented on it.

Next came Thalia, her hunter garb and tiara standing out among the rest. However, her usual cocky expression had been replaced by one of pain and sorrow, akin to what was on their faces as well.

Behind her, he could see the six of the prophecy, with Nico right beside them. Calypso was holding onto Leo's arm, trying to soothe him although she didn't look much better herself. Will was standing next to the son of Hades, just as despondent as the rest.

Behind them, in ones and twos, came the other immortal counsellors who had been around during Percy's time. Clarisse was next to her husband Chris Rodriguez, the only non-counsellor who had been granted immortality. Travis and Connor Stoll were present as well, along with Katie Gardener. It was a testament to just how destructive the two wars had been that there weren't any more.

From the Roman side, he could only see Gwen coming forward, even though she hadn't been so close to Percy. Despite the offer to make the centurions immortal, most of the Romans preferred to rotate them frequently with only Dakota and Gwen being able to maintain their positions for so long. The others had passed away, either due to old age or because they simply hadn't been able to survive the Giant War.

All of them stood outside the tent, eyeing the imposing structure with quite a bit of uncertainty. Malcolm could feel his hands shaking, but he held his nerve as he turned to the others.

"I guess it's time," he said, the tremble I'm his voice ruining what was supposed to be something that gave the others hope. Instead, all it did was make them feel even worse than before.

He quickly moved forward, choosing to take the lead. The tent flap opened before him, allowing him inside the Olympians' strategy room. He could see that they had cleared out the entire area, instead replacing it with seats to make it look like they were in a council meeting. But here, they had lowered themselves to be at their height instead of towering over them. It made them feel more approachable, but it also made the anger and disappointment in their eyes feel all the more personal.

However, their eyes were drawn to the person standing in the middle of the room. The cloak was something all of them recognized, along with the symbol over the right shoulder. But unlike before, his hood was thrown back, allowing them to see his face once more.

All of them took in the changes in his appearance since the last time they'd seen him. He had grown up, looking to be in his late twenties, with a stronger jaw and sharper cheekbones, giving him a more regal appearance. His hair was even longer than they remembered, tumbling over his forehead in messy locks. A short beard covered what used to be clean-shaven cheeks, making him look even more like Poseidon. He had grown taller than before, with his frame filling out as well. All in all, he cut an imposing figure.

The biggest difference, however, were his eyes. They were not the sea green that they remembered. Instead, there were equal amounts of green and red, which made them wonder what had happened. After all, Malcolm and Reyna remembered him controlling fire, which seemed like the complete antithesis of a son of the Sea.

But that wasn't what truly caught them. They could see the change in the light within his eyes. Where they once held so much mirth and joy, they were now weighed down with decades of experiences. When they finally locked onto them, all of them noticed how they dulled even more, pain flashing through the orbs.

"Well then," he said, his voice low as the gathering before him flinched at his broken tone. "I see you're all here now. Sit down, let's talk."

*Rubs hands together* Isn't that nice? I told you they aren't getting off easy! Percy's going to face his figurative demons in the next chapter, and we'll see how Dakota had broken out of what controlled him. I know it's much shorter than the previous ones, but I felt that this was a perfect place to cut it off.

Please review.