Camp Jupiter holding cells,

"Hey! Hey, guard! Hey, hey! Heeyyy!" Daímonas called from his cell. "C'mon, guard, answer me! Hey! Hey! I'm gonna keep calling 'till you answer!"

The guard of the cell was doing everything he could to keep his cool. He used all of the breathing exercises they taught him so he wouldn't lose it with any annoying detainees, but this one was trying his patience.

"Hey! Hey! Do you even know WHY I got sent here?" Daímonas asked.

"Because you trespassed in Roman territory and assaulted several gods." the guard said in a monotone.

"Exactly! So, what makes you think I couldn't escape this cell?"

"The fact that you haven't done so in the past 30 minutes."

Daímonas was quiet for a moment. "Damn. you're right. What am I still doing here?" He picked the lock in about 4 seconds and stepped out of his cell. "Thanks for reminding me. See you later!" and he walked out, leaving the guard standing there, dumbfounded.

Daímonas made it out of the building before the guard collected himself. "Hey! You can't just do that!"

"But I did. Goodbye!" and he took off running. He sprinted through the camp before changing his trajectory to the portal back to Camp Half-Blood. He jumped in and was sucked through.

"WEEEEEE!" Daímonas cheered.

'Aaahhhhh!' Percy screamed in his mind.

He flopped out of the other side of the portal in a heap. He lifted his head, a crazed smile on his face. "That was AWESOME! I don't think that will EVER get old."

He sat up and looked around. There were several campers who had been walking nearby and were now staring at Daímonas with confused expressions. He waved, got up, and walked to the big house.

'Hey, Percy?' He asked his alternate aspect.

'Yes?'

'When are you coming back? I'm obviously not very good at this, and it's not very fun.'

There was silence for a moment. 'I don't know. Soon, I think. I… I'm not ready yet.'

'...okay'

He was brought back to reality by Chiron. "Woah! Easy there, you were about to run into a wall."

Daímonas blinked. He was, in fact, about to run into a wall. "Oops. sorry. I was talking to Percy and that takes a lot of my concentration."

Chiron nodded. "Alright. Did you deliver your message?"

Daímonas frowned. "What message?" he paused. "Oh! That message. Yeah, I think so. Hey, why didn't you tell me Jason and the others became gods?"

Chiron paled. "You met them?"

Daímonas nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! They were great. Until Jason touched me. I'm not good with… touching. At all." his face darkened. "Hundreds of years in a place like that will do that to you."

He stayed like that for a minute before going back to a wolf smile. "Anyways, I think they got the message."

Chiron looked concerned at his outburst but nodded anyway. "Good, good. Alright, in light of your news, I have called the hunters to camp. In case we get attacked, they would be good to have at our side."

Daímonas nodded. "Oh, you're definitely getting attacked. Percy once made me do a 'stealth mission' whatever that means. I got some intel that indicates that camp is one of the first targets. Actually, both camps. Their plan is to kill the hunters and then the camps."

He frowned. "Percy doesn't like that. Is Thalia still with the hunters?"

Chiron nodded. "Yes, she will be arriving with the rest of them."

Daímonas beamed. "Awesome."

Camp Half-Blood arena, several days later

Thalia and the rest of the hunters had arrived at camp. However, it seemed a bit empty to Thalia.

She jogged over to the big house to ask Chiron. "Chiron! Hey, Chiron!"

"Yes, my dear, hold on!" he called back. A minute later, he rolled outside and greeted Thalia. "Hello, how are you?"

Thalia looked around nervously. "Um, good. Where are all the campers."

Chiron made an 'o' with his mouth. "Oh. The arena. Our… "guest" has quite the training routine. Most of the campers go to watch him train.

Thalia frowned. "Guest?"

Chiron cringed. "It may be best if I just show you." As they moved towards the arena, Chiron explained the situation as best he could.

Thalia's frown only grew. "So you believe this Daímonas guy?"

Chiron nodded. "It will make more sense when you see him.

They arrived at the arena and were blocked by a crowd. "Move aside, move aside!" Chiron called. Some people obeyed, but most were transfixed by a commotion in the center of the arena.

"HEY! MOVE IT!" Thalia shouted. People immediately listened. Thalia smirked, happy she still had that effect on people. She and Chiron moved to the front of the crowd and Thalia froze.

In front of them, was what looked like her long-lost cousin. He was attacking several bronze training dummies. They swung a random assortment of weapons weakly at him. He was ducking and dodging and rolling.

He sliced one dummy in half at the waist, before decapitating another and dismembering a third. He stabbed one of his swords into the last one, pulled it out, did a flip, and threw it into another dummy.

Not taking a break, he swept a dummy off its feet and stabbed it. He pulled the sword out and in one fluid motion cut another dummy vertically in half. He didn't even look winded.

He put the sword in a sheath on his back before retrieving the other. He turned to the crowd and gave a smile. Thalia was shocked at how different he looked. His eyes were poisonous green, his cheeks gaunt, his ribs poking through his scrawny body.

He walked with a slightly uneven gait, and when he got closer she saw his arms were covered in scars. His hands were calloused and his face had several more scars.

Thalia opened her mouth. "Percy, what… what happened to you?"

Daímonas frowned. "Percy's not here right now. He'll be out eventually, but not now. I am Daímonas. Did Chiron not explain that? I told him to..." he trailed off and his eyes grew unfocused.

Thalia waited for a second before waving a hand in front of his face. "Per- Daímonas, are you okay?"

Daímonas shook his head. "Ugh, sorry. Having a voice in your head telling you to not be so… 'you'… is very annoying." he frowned. "Yes, you are." Thalia couldn't tell who he was talking to.

"Um, who are you talking to?" she asked tentatively.

Daímonas looked at her again. "Did I say that out loud?" his eyes grew unfocused again. "If we weren't the same person, I would kill you for that… no I don't!"

Thalia waved her hand in front of his face again. "HEY!" he looked at her. "Stop talking to yourself! And what do you mean Percy doesn't want to come out?"

Daímonas made an 'o' with his mouth. "Oooh. That means that he isn't ready yet. He has been in a… hibernation, of sorts, for a long time. But it won't be too long."

Thalia frowned, but let it go for now. Daímonas grinned. It was creepy and inhuman, a far cry from what she remembered her cousin's being.

"He'll be back soon, but until then, you're stuck with me."

Thalia sighed. "Wonderful."