Chapter 22: We have a fiery evening

POV: Percy

For a moment I was too confused to even complain about my rips getting crushed. Tyson was here? And he remembered? That couldn't be right, could it?

Tyson sat me back down again and started clapping with his hands. His big calf-brown eye was full of excitement.

"Brother knows my name, yay."

"What are you talking about, of course I know your name?" I asked bewildered.

What I said only managed to make him even more excited – if that was even possible – and he bounced across the room, the floor shaking with each jump. I lowered the sword I somehow had managed not to drop under his bear hug.

I found an answer to my unasked question when I met my mother's eyes. She glanced at Tyson and gave a small shake of her head. Going by the fact that he smelled like a New York City alleyway, and still wore his tattered jeans, grimy sneakers, and plaid flannel shirt, I figured that mom must have made a detour to pick him up before coming here. And he didn't remember, just was his normal excited self. Mom must have told him about me though.

A hand pushed me through the door from behind and Annabeth squeezed past me.

"Guess it wasn't the chair that was thrown after all," Annabeth said a moment later with humor in her voice.

I followed her gaze across the room – and all the dirty laundry and beer cans – and couldn't help but laugh. Slumped against the wall was none other than Smelly Gabe, and I couldn't say I was overly sorry at not having to deal with him.

After having to suppress lashing out against Zeus just know, I didn't think I had the nerve to.

"You are pretty," Tyson said coming over again, giving Annabeth a curious look.

I remembered him having said the same thing the last time the two of them had met. This time she didn't react in disgust though but gave him a kind smile instead.

"Thank you, Tyson," she said. "I am Annabeth. It's nice meeting another of Percy's siblings."

She didn't even complain when he touched her blond hair in fascination.

"How about we sit down and eat something first," my mother offered. "Then we can talk about what we're going to do from here on out."

Dinner turned out to be a rather eventful occasion.

It was somewhat weird seeing Tyson this young again, but then again, his personality hadn't changed much.

After having finally calmed down, Tyson was sitting with Allapsar and Carine, chatting animatedly. He also seemed to still be afraid of Grover and his "itchy goat fur". Not that I could blame him - Grover had barely given Annabeth and me a greeting before he had disappeared into his own mind - by the way he was muttering incomprehensibly.

Nico and Bianca were still in the Underworld with their father, as Nico would still take some time to finally wake up again. But mom said Hades had promised he would let somebody drop them off at Camp in a week or two.

Dinner itself was somewhat sparse. Gabe obviously didn't know what a well-balanced meal was, so we had to do with the little things that mom was able to scrap together.

Sometimes while mom was making food, Gabe had started groaning and somebody got the bright idea to throw the empty beer cans at him to shut him up again. Tyson even switched to full ones after he realized he liked the sound they made when they hit much better.

I was sitting with Grover – who was still a terrible conversation partner – and Annabeth and pretended we didn't see what they were doing.

Having a bunch of ten-year-olds make a contest out of who could hit a passed-out man the most, should probably be a rather disturbing thing to watch, but since it was Gabe and I figured that he would likely still end up as a statue, I couldn't say I was able to bring myself to care. It wasn't hurting anybody after all.

Well, except Gabe maybe.

Mom stopped their game soon enough though. She had come in with the food at the exact moment that Tyson's throw had hit Gabe straight at his weal spot. After that, she gave all of us a big lecture on how to appropriately behave, even if it was around people like Gabe.

I wasn't surprised that it made me feel guilty. Mom's lectures always did. It did make me wonder what Gabe could have done that made her actually go through with using Medusa's head on him in the first place though.

After we had finished our food, the topic finally switched to more important matters.

"So, honey, how did it go?"

"It was… alright, I guess," I answered unsure how to describe it.

Weird? Confusing? It was a lot of things. We did end up warning our parents and the other gods but what exactly each of them was going to do with this knowledge we would have to wait and see.

"Unusually productive, I would say," Annabeth added.

We then went and shared pretty much everything but our conversation with Aphrodite. Annabeth and I had an unspoken agreement to never speak of that one to anyone ever. It was embarrassing enough as it was.

My mother took all the information in stride. After everything she went through with me, everything short of me getting at least maimed or somebody killed would be good news to her. Her only comment about Rachel was that she couldn't wait to talk with her again. I got assigned to ask Calypso for some moonlace again, as she really loved the one I brought back the last time. As for the topic of Hera, she didn't say anything, but I could tell that she would have a thing or two to say to the goddess should they ever meet.

What did confuse me was Grover's reaction to being told the Council of Cloven Elders would in the future no longer have any power over him anymore. He hardly reacted to the news before he got lost in thought again. What could be more important than his name holding more power in gaining the nature spirits' support in saving nature, now that he knew where to find Pan?

After we had finished our tale and mom had told us how they had "bumped into" Tyson, my eyes traveled over the three actual children across from us, stopping on Thalia's miniature double. We hadn't revealed Thalia's imminent revival yet, as we were not really sure how she would react. We didn't know what had happened that made Thalia run away, or what her mother would have had to say about her.

Noticing my gaze, she crossed her arms and her features turned guarded. If she was anything like her older sister, Carine Grace wouldn't like getting questioned by us. Yeah, it probably would be more productive to ask Thalia herself instead.

Deciding to delay this topic for a while longer I instead turned to my mother.

"We should probably head back now. There's still something we will have to do in Camp," I said knowing that she would understand what I was talking about. "It would be best if the others stayed the night?"

She smiled at me. "I can handle it, dear, and I have a few… ideas, for what we could do after the summer," she said giving the children a glance. "There will also be Nico to consider. I'll tell you as soon as I was able to figure it out."

She had a gleam in her eyes. Knowing her, I could harbor a good guess what she was planning.

Annabeth seemed to understand too, because she said, "My mother should be coming over for a visit sometime soon. You'll have an open favor with her in Percy's stead."

I had the feeling my mother would put it to good use.

"We'll send somebody over to fetch them tomorrow morning. I have somebody special in mind. Knowing her, she'll likely volunteer anyway," I said.

Best let Thalia handle that herself. I knew better than meddling in her past and family life. I liked living after all. Not that I didn't really want to know what exactly happened.

After saying our goodbyes, Grover, Annabeth, and I took a taxi back to Camp.

Before we started hiking up Half-Blood Hill though I asked the question that had kept me wondering the entire afternoon.

"Grover, what has put you in such a frenzy since we left this morning?"

He didn't seem to have heard me at all. He just kept walking ahead with unfocused eyes. I stopped and watch him run straight into a tree.

"Ouch!" he said, finally snapping out of it, rubbing his head. Then he turned on us and started complaining, "You couldn't have said anything?"

I just shook my head. "That's exactly what I just did, but you didn't react. What's wrong? You have been really distracted the whole time."

"I have?" he asked while scratching his head in embarrassment. "Sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said. "But what's up? Something wrong?"

"No. Yes… I don't know where to start. I have to pack my backs and start searching immediately-" he begun but got agitated real quick, so I cut him off before we lost him again.

"Hold on, goat boy, not so fast. Start searching?" I asked. "What are you talking about, we already know where Pan is?"

Grover took a deep breath. "Yes, I know, but I realized it earlier. We know where Pan is, but what about Faunus? Or Inuus?"

Next to me, Annabeth took a sharp breath. "His Roman forms."

Of course. If the other gods had a split personality, the same could have happened to Pan, and with him being weakened had he been able to piece himself together?

"But that still doesn't mean you would have to search for them. Shouldn't they still be in the same body as the other gods are?"

"You said Faunus and Inuus," Annabeth mumbled, and I could see her mind working. "He hasn't a single Roman form but multiple. You think that it is possible that at least one of his Roman parts is out there as well?"

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

Annabeth shrugged, looking unsure. "I don't know. Maybe? If the disparity between them is big enough, that is. Like the one Kronos caused between Nike and Victoria. Being split into three parts? I would assume the Greek half to be stronger and absorb the other two, but I don't know."

"That's what I thought as well, but I think it might not have happened like that," Grover said while pulling a grimace.

I couldn't say I liked the sound of that.

"This split into multiple parts, it sounded familiar. It's not quite the same, but I think Zeus got the idea from it at least," Grover said. "Do you know why there are exactly three satyrs in the council of Cloven Elders?"

I couldn't say I ever had thought about that. Why were there three furies, or three fates, or three sons of Kronos, or … There really wasn't any point in wondering why immortals seemed to favor the number three.

I glanced at Annabeth who looked like she had a guess but was waiting for Grover to explain first.

"You are saying he has that from Pan?" I asked.

Grover nodded. "Exactly. See, there are different tribes of satyrs. Three to be exact. Each of them represented one of the three aspects of Lord Pan, and each tribe would have one council member representing them. At least that's how it was supposed to be. There were disagreements and the tribes ended up splitting apart, so there are more now. But they would still be a former part of the three original tribes."

"I didn't know there were other satyrs outside of camp. Why did you never tell us anything about that before now?" I asked.

Grover pulled a grimace again. "Most don't paint us in a particularly favorable light, so we don't like talking about the other tribes. There's one, that let's say, I wouldn't want to have any of them look for demigods, especially not girls. Another tribe always had been carnivorous, but for some reason, they ended up developing a taste for satyr meat, so well..."

Right, I wasn't particularly keen on mentioning any of my flesh-eating and monstrous relations either.

"Anyway, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about. This split into a Greek and Roman aspect, Pan has been doing something similar for a far longer time. Splitting himself into a triad called the Panes," he explained. "They each represented one of his aspects, and each had a different personality, they were the first leaders of the Cloven Council. They also each fathered one of the three tribes, which is the reason we are so different from each other."

"You think that's why there are three instead of two aspects now too," Annabeth said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Because those are actually the three Panes, not Greek and Roman forms. And they would be of equal strength then."

"But if that was his ability in the first place, shouldn't he be able to unite those Panes again without problems?" I asked.

"Not if whatever the gods did, messed with his ability as well," Grover answered, shaking his head sadly. "It wasn't supposed to be held up for a long time but him splitting and reuniting whenever it was needed or he felt like it. But if he can't…"

It would have destroyed who he was and weakened him extremely. More than any of the other gods at least. It could also explain his supposed death later. Without his full power to protect it, it would have only fastened the demise of his domain.

"Ok, let's say - hypothetical speaking - that you're right, but then shouldn't anybody have found them if they were out there?"

He shook his head. "But nobody found Pan either. Maybe they could actually be killed, maybe his other parts faded already. I just don't know. What if I could save him by helping his parts heal as you did with Nike and Victoria?" Grover said giving us a desperate look. "I'm still going to rally the nature spirits to help restore nature because that is something he was right about, but I'm sorry, I have to go and look for him again."

"Don't worry about us, we understand," I told him, giving him a smile.

"Percy's right, of course we understand that you have to go," Annabeth agreed. "But can we still ask you to stay the next one or two days before you leave? We really could use your help with our plans for tonight and tomorrow."

He nodded relieved. "Of course, thanks a lot, guys."

We started climbing the hill again, but when I looked at Annabeth, she was watching Grover's back, a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

She bit her lip, most likely wondering if she should reveal her thoughts, but she seemed to have decided against it because she just shook her head.

"It's nothing, just a bad thought."

I didn't try to dig deeper but whatever it was she had thought off, by the face she had made, I just hoped she had been wrong.

PJ&AC

Our return to camp put everybody in a good mood – hearing the gods won't destroy the world does that – but there still was an underlying tense atmosphere as well.

It wasn't difficult to figure out what it was about. There were quite a few new campers thanks to us, something the Hermes cabin showed they were extremely unhappy about.

I could see Luke's and Kronos' machinations behind the entire thing. It was the perfect trap. Had we revealed Luke as the spy and the gods attacked him, they would have played right into Kronos' cards and would have lost the support of a lot of the demigods in camp. Even now it was more likely than not that they would leave, if we didn't do something, and soon.

Having our good deed end up resulting in even more campers leave with Luke wasn't something I wanted to see. Luckily, we had prepared for that, and by the time of breakfast tomorrow, the mood would have turned in our favor again. At least if everything went according to plan, that is. But this plan had already worked once, so it would surely work again, right?

We had needed Chiron to pull us out of a mob of campers who were giving us congratulations and were asking too many questions about what had happened on our quest. But even Chiron had trouble doing so, only when he hinted at there not being a party possible if not somebody actually prepared one. It worked like a charm and everyone scattered to help with the preparations immediately.

I had almost forgotten how excited people had been about quests. Before everyone had realized they liked it better when there wasn't the permanent threat of Kronos hanging over our heads that is.

"Now then, there is somebody waiting for you here that wants to meet you," Chiron told us while we walked.

"Mr. D, you mean?" I asked.

Was he already finished? Couldn't have been that difficult then.

"No, Mr. D said he would be busy until this evening. Something about you causing him extra work. He seemed to be in an awfully good mood though, far better than he had been since he started here, at least. He was also sipping wine without getting blasted. You wouldn't happen to know something about that?" Chiron asked.

We shared a glance and shrugged.

"Not much."

He gave us a bemused look, knowing better than to ask. Chiron never had a problem catching a mischievous camper at something they weren't supposed to do.

The door to the Big House opened, and a strangely familiar-looking satyr stepped out.

"Uncle Ferrrrdinand!" Grover shouted, jumping into the goat-man's waiting arms.

"Grover, my boy, look how you have grown."

Chiron gave a happy smile at the two then turned to Annabeth and me. "Now then, I have preparations to make, but the big house is empty at the moment, so why don't you relax for now. You certainly deserve some peace. We can talk about the details tomorrow."

Then he left, trotting down the path again, leaving us alone with Grover and Uncle Ferdinand. I almost felt bad about the fact that most of the "details" he wanted to speak about wouldn't tomorrow be relevant any longer.

We didn't want to impose on Grover's reunion, so after allowing his Uncle a short moment to offer us his gratitude, we made ourselves scarce and disappeared inside leaving the two of them alone.

The first thing we noticed inside were the signs of people living here. I remembered Chiron telling us that the new campers were staying in the infirmary for the moment. Looking around they didn't seem to only be in the infirmary though. I knew this couldn't be a permanent solution, so it was a good thing we had thought of something.

The second thing we noticed, was that we weren't as alone as Chiron had said.

"Aunt Hestia," we greeted the girl sitting next to the hearth.

"Hello again," she said smiling at us. "Why don't you sit down and ask your question?"

I shared a surprised look with Annabeth, but we followed her offering and sat down.

"How did you know?" Annabeth asked what both of us had been thinking.

"I could tell that you had wanted to ask me something earlier but were prevented by the number of people that had been wanting to talk to you. Now children, what is on your mind?"

Well, if she openly asks, I should just answer her right?

"We want to build a cabin for you," I answered.

"I do not have the need for a cabin, so why?" she asked, but she wasn't looking at me. Instead, her eyes were focused on the flames in front of her.

I was silent for a moment, then making a decision, I said, "I could say that you deserve to have an honorary cabin like the other Olympians, but you're right, you don't need a cabin. There shouldn't be honorary cabins in camp anyway, not while there are so many children of other gods forced to stay in the Hermes cabin because their parents aren't considered important enough to get one."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "We're not asking this because we want to honor you. It's just that we can't simply decide to build new cabins without permission, or we risk angering the gods. Except for your cabin, that is. Nobody would dare openly question your right to have an honorary cabin. So, we want to ask for forgiveness for using your name like this, but would you allow the children without a cabin to stay in yours if we were to build it?"

Hestia just kept staring in the flames. For a moment nobody spoke, then instead of giving us an answer, she asked another question, "Then why didn't you ask? Earlier you were in front of the council. It would have been the perfect opportunity to ask, so why didn't you?"

She was right, we had actually considered it, but in the end, we had decided against doing so.

Next to me, Annabeth spoke up. "They do not appear to care enough to make sure all of their own children reach safety, so why should they care about the children of those they see beneath them?" she asked. "And even if they considered it, they would never have accepted to grant cabins for all of the gods. What good would it do, if we were only able to get permission for a few? If they were to pick who deserves one, and who doesn't? It would only result in alienating the ones that didn't get one even further."

I could tell that she agreed with us, but Hestia looked to be conflicted about something. We had to convince her somehow, so I went on where Annabeth had stopped, "And because this is something, we shouldn't have the need to ask for. Each of us should have the right to have their own home here. Not be guest in somebody elses."

Annabeth nodded. "We've decided to do it like this to send a message. That we'll no longer accept this unfair treatment like this. We understand that our parents cannot help us, as they are not allowed to interfere in our lives. But then they should not have the right to decide how we should live those lives, and what we are allowed to do in our own home."

She still looked conflicted. I wondered why, until I remembered something I had heard before. Hestia had given up her throne to Dionysus. She was someone who would put her own desires last to keep the peace. She didn't want to agree with us, because it would likely result in problems sooner rather than later, but she probably also was of the opinion that what we did was the right thing to do.

I respected her for being able to put her own desires last, but all she did with it, was treat symptoms and not help fix the cause itself.

So, I told her what I thought, "I know that the only thing you desire is to keep the peace in your family. It might sound funny, but I think sometimes to actually get peace, you have to fight for it."

Now she looked up for the first time since we had started our conversation. When she met my eyes, she looked surprised at what I said. There was a flicker of… something, in her flame-filled eyes.

The fire in the hearth reacted to her sudden change in emotion. The flames in both the hearth and her eyes turned wilder, hotter. No longer gentle, they held a fiery glow in them now. But even now I didn't feel afraid of her. She still lacked the anger and hate Ares' had shown. What they held, was power though. Proof that she too was one of the children of Kronos.

These were the eyes of a guardian who had the determination to do protect what she cared for with everything she had.

Annabeth was able to put a name to her sudden change. "Vesta."

The moment Annabeth had whispered the name, the goddesses' power spiked, and the hearth exploded outward. I didn't have time to react when flames washed over us, nor was there any need to.

We were surrounded by fire, but it wasn't hot, but of gentle warmth. The flames were dancing wildly, yet they filled me with a feeling of serenity.

A moment later everything was looking like it had before. There weren't any scorch marks, and the hearth was gently burning again. Hestia was standing in front of us, her eyes closed.

"You're wrong," she finally said.

Then she opened her eyes looking at us again and I knew I hadn't imagined what had just happened. They looked as gentle as ever but radiated more power than they had before. It was a shame she had sworn eternal maidenhood because her power wrapped around me like a warm protective cloak, that made me think she would have made a good mother. It reminded me of the times my mother had wrapped me up in a blanket.

She smiled. "At least in one point. You have done nothing that needs forgiveness. What you asked shows far greater respect for what I stand for than it does insult me. My cabin will be open for anyone who seeks a place at the hearth."

I let go of the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia," Annabeth said. "We will build a cabin big enough to have enough room for everyone that needs it."

"Right. And if any of the gods want to complain about it, then they should just build bigger cabins themselves," I added grinning.

Hestia chuckled. "Now, I think it is time for you to go. Do what you feel you must to protect your family, but children, do not forget to enjoy your life as well."

PJ&AC

Later that night, after the burning of the shrouds, the party in our honor, and the camp-fire sing-along, Annabeth, and I found ourselves standing atop of Half-Blood Hill next to Mr. D. We had left Grover behind to stand guard near the cabins to watch that a certain someone didn't give us the slip while we were busy.

"Well, I hope the two of you enjoyed partying even though other people had to work hard because of you," he grumbled, though he only sounded half-serious.

"We're terribly sorry for your loss," I said.

"As you should be," he answered, pretending he hadn't seen me roll my eyes at him. Then he gave us a stern look. "Now then, I have finished my part. I have created an arch in the middle of the canoe lake, that will function as a connection to the waters around Ogygia. Right now, it is still closed, and it will stay that way until you decided to open it. Afterward, Calypso may come and go freely and move within the boundaries of Camp. Though only you two, as well as anyone Chiron, Calypso, or I have allowed may visit Ogygia itself."

We nodded our heads. "Thank you, Mr. D. We'll open it and visit her some time tomorrow. What about Thalia?"

"She should appear within the next few minutes and wake up shortly after. I don't know what you've planned, but you might want to tell the old horse if you haven't yet. There shouldn't be anything wrong with her, but she'll most likely be confused after she wakes up," he said, then shrugged his shoulders. "Not that it is my problem anymore. Doing all this has tired me, Goodnight."

He started leaving when Annabeth spoke up again, "Thank you for doing this and thank you for saving her in the first place."

He hesitated a moment, then started walking again. "I'm certain I have no idea what you're talking about. If I did, you would be welcome though, Annabel," he said without turning around.

I wasn't quite sure if that meant it wasn't him, or if he just didn't want people to know he actually cared. There wasn't long to think about it though, because he ended up being right with his assumption, and a few minutes later the roots of the tree parted, and we were able to pull Thalia out of them.

We kneeled down on the ground and I ended up having Thalia's head lay on my lap, while Annabeth carefully administered her nectar.

We didn't have to wait long for her to start waking up.

"Thalia?" Annabeth whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Annabeth?"

Good, she at least remembered Annabeth at least.

Thalia started moving, but immediately stopped and groaned.

"Careful, you just woke up, don't overdo it," I berated her gently.

"Percy? What… where?" she mumbled; her eyes still unfocused.

Looked like she remembered me as well after all.

We helped her sit up and lean against the pine. "Here, now drink," Annabeth said.

After finishing maybe half the bottle of nectar Thalia's eyes started focusing again.

"You alright? How much do you remember?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia frowned, looking around, trying to orientate herself.

A moment later she seemed to have remembered something at least, because she jumped up, and started stomping in direction of the cabins. She was staggering slightly but pushed onward nonetheless.

"… kill him. Burn … to … ground."

I couldn't hear everything she grumbled under her breath, but I figured she must be talking about Luke. Why would she want to burn him to the ground though? That didn't make much sense at all.

"Hold on. Thalia!" I exclaimed, grabbing her arm, ignoring the electrical shock she gave me that was strong enough to make my arm tingle.

She whirled around, a rage-filled expression.

"I know you're angry at Luke, but you can't just kill him. At least not yet," Annabeth tried to calm her.

Thalia's stopped, her face still looked angry. "What? Luke's at camp?" she asked confused, then her eyes widened. "Wait! What's the date? What year is it?"

That only confused us. She wasn't trying to kill Luke? Who else did she have enough reason to kill in camp? Then the second part of what she had said earlier came back to me.

"Your sister is alive," I blurted out. "She's safe with my mother right now."

Thalia froze. Then Annabeth and I had to catch her as her legs gave out under her and she collapsed.

Her shoulders started shaking and we carefully set her down again. I realized that she was crying silently.

I couldn't say how long we sat there, holding her shaking form, none of us speaking until she finally had somewhat calmed down again.

"Wh-what happened," she hiccuped, pulling away from us.

Annabeth handed her a tissue, and I started explaining how we found her sister and finally met her brother while pretending I couldn't see her wipe away the tears and snot. Or the fact that her hand was shaking.

She didn't interrupt me until I had finished, when she suddenly grabbed the two of us, pulling us into a hug again. "Thanks," she whispered, barely audible.

It was only a single word, but it was filled with so much emotion, there was no need for her to say anything else to tell us how she felt.

"So… who are we going to kill and what do you want us to help burn down?" I asked when she finally let go of us again.

Thalia gave a weak chuckle.

"Only my father and his wife. I thought burning down their cabins was a good start."

"Ah, well about that, I don't have anything against burning down Hera's cabin, but can we maybe burn down somebody else's instead of Uncle's?"

Thalia snorted. "What? You scared? And after you just promised. I feel so hurt and disappointed now."

I gave her a smirk. "No, it's just that it would feel like a waste after all the effort I put into not insulting him today. So, can we burn down like Ares' instead? He already hates me. Hmm, I don't want to get on Clarisse's bad side though. Apollo's maybe? He actually likes us and would probably even forgive us if we tell him we had to blow off some steam."

Annabeth rolled her eyes at us. "How about we don't burn down any cabins? We'll be going to be busy enough without having to add "rebuild burned down cabin" to our to-do list."

"Kelp Head offered," Thalia said putting the blame on me.

"Just trying to make you feel better, Pinecone Face," I shot back.

"You better set your priorities straight. You can do that when we have more time at hand."

"Works for me, how about you?" I asked giving Thalia a shove with my shoulder.

Thalia just smiled. "It's good to be back."

Having stopped Thalia from going on a rampage before she started, it was time to finally have this talk about Thalia's past.

"Now, I know you don't really want to talk about it, but-"

"Guys! He's just left the cabin with a bag," Grover's voice suddenly came from behind us.

I suppressed a groan as all of us turned to Grover's Iris message. At least it hadn't happened while we were still calming Thalia down.

"Hey Thalia, good to have you back," Grover said, either not seeing it in the light, or doing the safe thing and ignoring her puffy red eyes. "But it will have to wait till later. If we want to do our plan, we have to do it now."

Thalia sniffed one last time and rubbed with her arm over her eyes. "This is about Luke, right? Then we'll talk later. Let's go, the two of you can explain the plan on the way."

AN:

Not sure when exactly I will be able to upload the next chapter. I'll try next Saturday but I will not make any promises.

Next chapter: We start a war