HECTOR

It was well past midnight by the time they were done finalizing the details of the insanity that was their so-called plan, and to Hector's surprise, once he threw all logic out the window, it was almost a decent strategy.

At some point in the night, after all the commotion from dinner had died down and almost everyone had returned to their usual activities, whether it be by the campfire or elsewhere. Percy had offered the siblings to stay in his cabin for the night since it was technically their cabin now too. Annabeth and he had agreed to get the remainder of their things from Cabin 11. Helena had begun to object but the boy with sea-green eyes had cut her off.

"With Chiron gone and no one to enforce the curfew, I'm pretty sure everyone's still by the campfire so I don't think we'll have any trouble sneaking in, but even if we do run into one of the Hermes kids, I think it's probably best they see either of us instead of the girl who almost split their brother in two." Percy said nonchalantly, as Annabeth let out a small giggle.

Helena sighed as she slumped back onto the small bunk bed that they had set up against one of the windows facing the cabin's door and nodded. Despite her defeatist attitude, Hector could tell she was secretly glad she didn't have to walk all the way across the field in the middle of the night, and he suspected Percy had noticed it too. Without saying much else, the boy left with the blonde tailing behind him, and a soft smile on his lips.

Kassandra had already fallen asleep on the top bunk while they had been busy debating when the best time for them to take the pegasi and the chariot was. Hector had wanted to ask why they couldn't just get a regular RV for the 50-hour road trip, but he'd gotten the feeling the couple would've found the idea ridiculous. Meanwhile, Helena has insisted the entire time she wasn't tired, even though the dark circles around her eyes suggested otherwise. Hector wouldn't have known, but he'd assumed making the entire earth shake required a good amount of energy. As he sat on the small bed across from Percy's, he turned to his older sister who had given in to her tiredness, with her honeyed curls scattered across her pillow, and with her arm covering her eyes. He laid down, facing upwards, and focused on the intricate designs plastered on the ceiling. The different shades of blue and abstract shapes of different sea creatures made Hector feel as if he was underwater. For the first time since he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, he'd felt comfortable with the silence that surrounded him.

"I can hear you thinking all the way from over here." Said Helena interrupting his thoughts, her voice sounding groggier than it had just a few minutes before.

"I'm not thinking about anything." Hector replied without turning to face her.

"That's impossible, you're always thinking about something, that's why you're a huge nerd." She replied, and out of the corner of his eye he could see her stick her tongue out at him. The gesture made him smile, he had almost forgotten what her constant teasing had felt like and it reminded him of better days.

"I can't help thinking about what you said." He replied.

"What did I say?" She replied with some of the playfulness from earlier leaving her voice.

He swirled the thought inside his head, wondering what the best way to articulate it into words was. The more he thought about things, the more he felt that whatever piece of the puzzle he was missing, was right in front of him. The raid in Washington, the man from California, his sister's memory, and now the lockets; they were all connected somehow, he could feel it in his gut, he just didn't know how.

"The thing about Annabeth. I can't make sense of it, what does she have to do with anything?" He finally said.

As the words left his lips, an inexplicable sense of dread rapidly spread through his body. He was beginning to come to terms with the fact that the world was a whole lot crazier than he had previously thought it to be, and with this realization, the wilder the theories in his head got. As the group had discussed the ways in which they would sneak out of the party to meet, Hector couldn't help but become fixated on the thought that maybe, despite his initial reaction, his parents had lied to them. He didn't want to think about what that could mean, not when they couldn't even be there to explain the situation themselves. On the other hand, maybe this could explain why he had always felt like the odd one out of his family, maybe there was something to be said about finally getting an answer to the questions he had never dared to ask. He thought about it for a second, but then wondered if he saw himself belonging to the Poseidon cabin or being remotely similar to someone like Percy in all his grandiosity. It seemed that either scenario would only confirm one of his worst fears, that he was always meant to feel inadequate no matter what he did. The pain behind his eyes heightened as he tried to focus on the shadows on the ceiling once again. With the despairing thoughts still circling in the back of his head, he secretly hoped that once they left Camp Half-Blood, things would start making sense and everything would fall into place.

"I don't know either. Your guess is as good as mine little bro." Helena said slowly, as she turned to her side, curling up against herself, like a small cat.

He had not wanted to push Helena on what she'd meant when she had said Annabeth had been in their old house. Hector feared that if he confronted his sister, she would just shut him out again, and the last thing he wanted was to be left in the dark again. Ever since that night, he had tried his hardest to conjure up any memory he had of that time, searching within the depths of his mind for the slightest indication of what Helena had meant; but how could he remember something that had happened when he was three years old? All he knew was one day his parents had packed everything, they had made him, and Helena get in the car, and without saying much they had driven off. Years after the fact, his sister had shown him an old internet article from that year stating the house had burned down with a family inside. At the time, he couldn't help but feel a strange connection to the event, and relief they hadn't stayed there. The conversation had been fleeting, and neither of them had thought to bring it up to their parents. Now, Hector was tempted to retrace every event and every conversation in his mind, looking for clues. For some reason, his sister was connected to this big mystery in a way he and Kassandra weren't, he just had to find out what that reason was.

"Do you think he'll help us? Do you think we'll find them?" He asked, his voice getting lower until it was almost a whisper as he spoke.

He waited a few seconds, but his question was met with silence. Hector turned, only to notice Helena was fast asleep, even though she was still wearing her camp shirt and jeans. He turned back to face the ceiling, but this time he closed his eyes, letting his heavy eyelids drop. He could still feel the pain lingering, now focused on the middle of his forehead, the migraine slowly building. All his life he'd gotten headaches, pretty intense ones too, but they had never lasted for so many hours. He thought about the man who had told them to come here. The one who had found them on the worst day of their lives, and to whom they probably owed their lives. The man who'd instructed them to find the son of Poseidon and the daughter of Athena, before they were overcome by darkness. As his thoughts became more sparse and less coherent, his willpower finally gave in to sleep, last thing he heard was hearing the soft click of the cabin's front door.

Hector could hear the loud sizzling sound, as the woman laid another strip of bacon on the pan, making his mouth water. She had her pulled back into a messy bun, and while she moved the food around with a wooden spatula, she hummed an old Don McLean song. A small smile formed on her lips, as she took a sip of coffee, turning back to face him. He was sitting on the kitchen island, a notebook with poorly drawn chemistry diagrams before him. The woman turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They should be back any minute now, but if they aren't, there will be more bacon left for us." She said, whispering the last part with a smile.

Hector avoided his gaze, trying not to look up, trying not to look at her. He felt like he couldn't breathe, much less move. He knew exactly where he was. The woman's expression changed into concern. Hector could feel her eyes fix on him, and he tried to fixate on the sizzling sound coming from the stove. He didn't want to see her or listen to what she had to say. He didn't want to live through this dream again.

"Hector, are you feeling alright?" She said, her voice once again breaking his concentration.

He didn't speak, he didn't think he could even if he wanted to. She waited a few seconds, but he remained motionless, forcing his eyes to focus on the small drawing of an atom. He didn't want to be back in that house, during that day, but his mind was playing tricks on him again. He wished he could do something, wake up, leave the house, anything, but it was always like this. Hector could feel the pressure behind his eyes building as the headache formed. He shut closed his eyes and took off the glasses he'd been wearing that day.

"I'm fine, it's just a headache." He mumbled although it felt like his body was on autopilot.

His mother walked towards him, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel before gently touching his forehead. He didn't dare look her in her eyes and bit into his lower lip until he drew blood, a knot forming in his throat.

"It doesn't look like you have a fever." She said softly, and Hector already knew what would happen next.

He had to warn her or try at the very least. He forced himself to look at her, to meet her eyes with his, and for a moment she looked like she didn't recognize her own son. She didn't let go of him, but the softness in her eyes was gone, instead, they were replaced with a sternness Hector had never seen before. He could feel his headache worsen by the second until it felt like someone was drilling wholes all over his head. He wanted to pass out, he'd never felt such intense pain, but he knew he had to tell her. As if fighting against his own body, Hector opened his mouth to speak, forcing the words to come out.

"Run." He whispered before everything went white.

Hector woke up with a halt, sweat covering his forehead. His quick breathing slowed as his eyes focused on his surroundings, he was alone in the Poseidon Cabin. He no longer felt the soul-wrenching pain behind his eyes either and his heartbeat had begun to go back to its normal pace. He couldn't help but think he was going insane, that he was so fixated on the worst day of his life he kept revisiting it every night. But this time, it had been different, this time he hadn't just been an observer going through the motions. This time he had warned her. He knew it made no difference and what he did now didn't matter, but a small part of him felt relief for at least trying. Hector wondered if he was finally coming to terms with what had happened that day but pushed the thought aside. Deep down he knew, he would never come to terms with it.

Hector got dressed and headed to the dining pavilion where his sisters were having breakfast with Percy and Annabeth. He grabbed some coffee and an apple before sitting down at the table with the two demigods and his siblings, but he didn't touch either. Kassandra was asking Percy if he could really talk to horses, meanwhile, Annabeth was sketching something down on a small notebook, and Helena was finishing the last of her pancakes. It struck Hector how drastically different this was from any other time he'd had breakfast, and how familiar it was all at once. He thought about his dream and wondered why, since he'd gotten to Camp Half-Blood, his dreams had only gotten more and more vivid.

"So there's one thing I haven't figured out yet-" Kassandra spoke, her mouth half-stuffed with chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes - "how do we make sure Lena doesn't go all San Andreas again?" she finished with a gulp.

"Well, she doesn't have to not use her powers, she only has to learn to control them." Percy said with a smirk.

"Okay, and how do I do that?" Helena asked, crossing her arms over her chest. He shrugged.

"You should've felt something in your gut when you caused that earthquake, like a pull, almost like you really needed to pee. I'd say, 20 percent of it is skill and the rest is just your demigod instincts kicking in." He responded, to which Helena rolled her eyes.

"Great, that really clears it up." She responded sarcastically, and Percy laughed.

"I can try to teach you if you promise not to let fall between any cracks. I'm not a huge fan of the underground." He said, shifting slightly in his seat.

Hector saw Annabeth reach for Percy's hand without looking up from her notebook, before speaking up.

"You should probably head to the stables while it's still early-" She said gesturing to Percy, Helena, and Kassandra- "You probably have like an hour before Butch shows up." She said, and Percy nodded.

He kissed the blonde girl on the cheek before standing up and leading the way to the stables, the other two girls trailing behind him. Hector watched as they faded from view. That was the first step of their plan, to teach Helena and Kassandra how to work the pegasi so that they could sneak into the stables during the night and get them ready for their departure. Helena had asked last night why didn't Percy do it, since he seemed to be better fitted for the job, but both he and Annabeth had agreed that either of them sneaking out in the middle of the party would've caused too much unwanted attention. Instead, Helena and Kassandra would do it. The green-eyed boy's reasoning was that the winged horses would respond kindly to any of Poseidon's children, so the girls shouldn't have much trouble. Hector, on the other hand, would be the one responsible for causing the diversion that would let Annabeth and Percy sneak out unnoticed. If everything went according to plan, they would be able to leave camp sometime around midnight, just as the fireworks obscured them from view.

"You should eat something. It'll be a long day and even a longer night." Annabeth spoke, looking at Hector's untouched apple.

He shrugged, holding it in his hand. "I'm not really hungry." He responded nonchalantly.

The girl's piercing grey eyes shifted onto him, and Hector felt his stomach turn to knots. He hadn't noticed how intimidating Annabeth could be. She tapped her pen impatiently against the table, as she waited for him to say something else.

"I didn't sleep well." He said, shifting his gaze away from hers. Something about her made him feel uneasy, although he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

The girl nodded, wispy, blonde hairs sticking out of her ponytail, and curling around her face.

"Let me guess, you had some hyper-realistic dream about your parents?" She asked, fixing her eyes back on her notebook.

Hector looked at her, taken back by the forwardness of her question. Even though he suspected most demigods knew they hadn't arrived under the best of terms, it was still unnerving to hear someone ask point-blank about his past.

"How did you know?" He asked.

She tilted her head slightly to the side, her grey eyes softening. Her expression reminded Hector of a similar gesture Kass did whenever you asked her something she thought was so obvious it barely dignified an answer.

"You just have that look to you." She replied.

"What look?"

"The look that says you can't stop thinking about them." Annabeth replied and Hector bit his lip. He didn't understand why talking to her was so simple, yet so difficult at the same time.

"I didn't mean to upset you." She said in a soft voice, closing her notebook. "Percy won't ask, but if we are going across the country and risking our lives to get you there, I need to be sure we can trust you." She said, an indiscernible edge lacing her voice.

Hector shook his head.

"What do my parents have anything to do with this?" He replied although he suspected the girl wasn't fooled quite so easily.

"Everything from where I'm sitting. You want to go out west because you think they're still alive, but from here, all I see is three demigods with some of the most powerful magic I've ever seen, a whole lot of questions, and not a lot of answers." She said twirling the pen with her fingers, a seriousness in her voice that was enough to send shivers down Hector's spine. "I don't know how, but I kept seeing your sister, Helena, in my dreams, so I know about the house. I saw the attack. I was there."

Hector took a deep breath before meeting Annabeth's bright, grey eyes.

"I know"- He said- "I saw you. You were dying…"