What now? Nico thought. He had stormed away from the dining pavilion before his mind had a chance to catch up to what he had done, and now that he was alone, the realization began to overwhelm him. He paced back and forth, his footsteps drumming the same insistent rhythm of his thoughts: I can't believe him; I don't even know who he is anymore; there's no way Will could have acted alone; Percy knew it was him, so why didn't he just tell me?

"Percy." Nico stopped pacing. I should apologize, he reasoned to himself. That was how Nico found himself standing outside the Poseidon cabin, one hand on the doorknob, pushing open the door with a "Hey, Percy."

Percy and Annabeth both whipped their heads to face Nico as he entered, and Nico immediately felt like an intruder on their very special moment. He started to back out of the door, pulling it shut before him. "Oh- My bad. I'll come back later." Before he could get all the way out the door, Percy beckoned him back in.

"No, it's okay, Nico," Percy said reassuringly.

"Are you sure…?" Nico asked hesitantly, not wanting to ruin Percy's chances at mending things with Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded emphatically, jumping up to usher him inside with a warm hand on his back. "Yeah, Nico, it's fine. You, however, came in in a rush. Is everything okay?" She asked, noticing the urgent tone of his voice when he came barging in.

Nico nodded in response, but he became unsure of himself and quickly shook his head instead. "I know it was Will."

Annabeth pulled the door closed behind Nico and turned, narrowing her eyes as she considered what he had said. "What was Will? What do you mean?"

Percy was silent, staring at Nico until Nico caught his eyes and quickly looked away. His face ached slightly at the memory of the night before, of Will's insatiable fists against his flesh. Percy hadn't wanted Nico to find out that his boyfriend was responsible for his injuries at the risk of adding more stress to Nico's relationship with Will.

When no one spoke, Annabeth looked between the two of them and, judging from both of their sheepish expressions, came to the correct conclusion. "Don't tell me Will Solace did that to you?" she demanded of Percy, sitting back down on the bed beside him.

Percy had a hard time meeting her eyes, yet he quietly replied, "Yeah, it was Will."

"And why would Will do something like this?" Annabeth continued, wanting to draw the information out of the two of them.

Finally, Percy allowed himself to lock eyes with Nico, exchanging a knowing glance.

"Do you want to tell her, or should I?" Nico suggested.

"Tell me what?" Annabeth insisted.

"I may or may not have kissed Nico..." Percy finally mumbled after taking a few painfully long moments to think about it.

Annabeth didn't say anything at first, giving Nico time to languish in the furious blush that was coloring his cheeks. He stared determinedly at the floor of the cabin, completely unwilling to look at either Percy or Annabeth.

"It was just a playful little peck," Percy shrugged. "Nothing to be concerned about."

Annabeth interrupted Percy with uproarious laughter. "Concerned?" she cackled. "I figured this would happen sooner or later!"

Nico stared at Annabeth, completely taken aback by her response. She's gone crazy, he decided.

"Why is this so funny to you?" Percy asked, feeling a bit hurt and confused by her reaction.

"I knew this was coming! Piper owes me fifty bucks."

"You bet on this?" Percy exclaimed.

Nico said nothing at first, his eyes once more roving over the floorboards as Annabeth continued laughing. Then, remembering the reason he had come in the first place, "There's something else," he blurted, capturing their attention, "I broke up with Will."

"You what?" Percy and Annabeth said in unison.

Nico moved to sit at Percy's desk, swiveling the chair around to face the two of them. "He's changed," he shook his head disappointingly, "This isn't the same Will I know. And I couldn't let him get away with hurting you again."

Percy found himself unable to look at Nico, suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. This was precisely what he had been trying to avoid. He didn't feel that he deserved an advocate after everything he had done.

"What happened?" Annabeth prodded.

"I told him if he touched Percy again, I'd make sure he ends up in the worst part of hell."

Percy winced at Nico's words and slumped backward on the mattress, the weight of his remorse heavy in the pit of his stomach.

"Aw, Nico, I'm sorry it had to come to this. Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, her eyes darting quickly to Percy before returning to Nico.

Nico shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Will's an asshole." He spun around in the chair once or twice to distract the anger boiling inside him.

Percy rubbed his hands over his bruised face, ignoring the throbbing pain as he pressed down into his eyes. He chuckled. "You're not wrong. Good for you for standing up for yourself." Taking a deep breath, he sat back up, having repressed his guilty feelings for the moment to get past Annabeth's suspicions.

Annabeth stood and crossed over to Nico, gently placing her hands on his shoulders, and kissed the top of his head. "I'm here if you ever need to talk, Nico," she offered before turning back to Percy. "Now I have to go collect my dues from Piper." She gave him a wink and happily skipped out the door.

As soon as Annabeth was gone, Percy's happy façade turned sullen. "Theseus was there too," he disclosed. Percy recounted the previous night's events, beginning when he and Nico parted ways. When Percy was finished, Nico pointed to the dark stain on the floor in front of the back door to the cabin.

"Is that where it happened?" Nico raised an eyebrow, and Percy nodded.

"Yeah, I should probably clean that up." Percy shrugged. "What I can't figure out is how they knew about the kiss."

"It was probably Theseus getting into Will's head," Nico reasoned. "Which would explain why Will's been acting this way."

"My list of enemies keeps growing," Percy said wryly, rubbing his neck out of habit.

"Where's your necklace?" Nico asked, taking notice of Percy's naked throat. "Did Will break that too?"

Percy stopped rubbing and looked down, suddenly remembering his missing camp necklace. "No, I lost it a while ago," he said slowly. "I don't know where it is."

"How exactly did you lose it?" Nico asked, intrigued by this new mystery.

"I went to sleep, and when I woke up, it was gone," Percy replied. "I just assumed it fell off or something, but I haven't been able to find it."

"And you don't find that a little suspicious?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. I lose stuff all the time."

Nico rubbed his forehead. "Right."

After the events of the previous twenty-four hours, Percy was more than a little reluctant to participate in Capture the Flag that afternoon. Unfortunately for him, the game was compulsory for camp leaders. Considering the shit he was getting from the other campers, he felt he shouldn't push his luck by trying to skip. He tried to keep his head down as he collected his armor and weapons, grateful that no one had yet approached him to ask what had happened to his face. He finished fastening the last buckle on his chest plate just as Frank and Hazel approached him.

"Hey, Percy," Frank greeted him excitedly. As a child of Mars, being team captain was a great opportunity to showcase his skills, so Frank was in an especially good mood.

"Hey, Frank," Percy replied, offering him a small smile before quickly averting his eyes, trying to distract from his still-bruised face.

Frank was shocked to see that Percy was injured but based on Percy's demeanor, he decided not to ask what had happened. Instead, he offered, "Why don't you take it easy this game, Percy? You and Hazel can take the border."

"I can still play, Frank," Percy protested but stopped when Hazel put a hand gently on his shoulder.

"It'll be fun, Percy, come on," she said and smiled.

Percy sighed in acceptance. At least this meant he wouldn't have to put too much effort into the game.

The forest was quiet around them. So far, Percy and Hazel had not seen or heard any sign of the other team, so they were both feeling very relaxed, content to stroll between the trees and chat with each other. Hazel had graciously not mentioned Percy's beaten face, and Percy was glad not to have to come up with another cover story to explain it away. He was sick of lying to his friends.

"Did you fix things with Annabeth?" Hazel asked carefully. "I saw you leave breakfast with her this morning."

"Yeah, we talked things out," Percy replied. "Everything's good again."

"Good," she said with a nod. "I don't need you two breaking up on my watch."

Percy chuckled, swinging Riptide back and forth as he walked. "Not a chance."

Suddenly, Percy tensed when he detected a slight movement in the distance. He held out his arm silently to gesture Hazel to stop and drew his sword in front of him, taking a couple of slow steps toward the disturbance. He dropped his sword arm when Theseus stepped out from behind a tree a few yards in front of them, walking toward their border.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Percy muttered, causing Theseus to turn towards him and Hazel with surprise.

"Well, well, well. Long time no see, Percy," Theseus drawled. "Nice face. What happened to it?"

"Mind your own business," Hazel warned.

Percy put a hand up to stop Hazel, shaking his head. "Don't bother."

Theseus scoffed and kept walking, getting closer and closer to the border.

Percy quickly swiped Riptide upward, pointing the sword in Theseus's direction. "Don't you dare take another step," he threatened.

Theseus stopped walking. "Or what?" he challenged, rolling his head exaggeratedly to the side so that he was looking directly at Percy just as he took another step.

"You think you're so tough," Percy scoffed in annoyance, his fist clenched tightly around Riptide's hilt.

"Did you already forget about last night, or did we hit you too hard?" Theseus said condescendingly.

"You did that?"

Percy and Theseus both turned to Hazel in surprise. Her comment had even caught Theseus off-guard, and he cocked an eyebrow as he stared at her..

"You did that to Percy?" she repeated the question, her voice much more hostile this time. She tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword. Her blood boiled at the idea that a complete stranger dared to come into her camp and attack her friends.

"Who me?" Theseus asked, amusement coloring his voice. "Of course, I did," he spat, "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Before coming to camp, he had had so little contact with demigods that he found any interaction with them an entertaining opportunity to watch their minds work. He was thrilled to be able to watch as Hazel made the connections.

"Why? Do you just enjoy tormenting others, you sick freak?" Hazel raised her sword and threw down her helmet.

Theseus scoffed at her boldness.

"Hazel, stop. He'll rope you into this mess, too," Percy warned her.

"What mess? What else has he done to you, Percy?" Hazel demanded, not taking her eyes off of Theseus.

Theseus only stared at her as Percy delved into his thoughts. The grip on his sword loosened as Percy tried to find a way to explain the current ridiculous turn of events he's gone through in the past couple of weeks.

"Percy's been a very bad camper," Theseus frowned, "He deserves to be punished for it."

"Shut up!" Percy snapped, taking off his helmet and chucking it away from him. "You have been nothing but a pain in my ass since you've gotten here. What do you want from me?"

Hazel suddenly dropped her sword arm, a look of incredulity on her face. "The bathhouse. Percy's consistent injuries and outbursts. You're the one who's been setting Percy up this whole time!" The more she spoke, the angrier her voice became until she was nearly shouting. The ground around her feet started to glisten as various gemstones emerged from the earth. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened since she had learned to control her emotions better.

Percy stared in relief as Hazel spoke. He had spent so much energy over the past days trying to convince anyone to understand what he had been going through, and the frustration had worn him down.

"You did it! You figured it out!" Theseus said, pitching his voice up like talking to a small child before rolling his eyes and returning his voice to its usual tone. "So what. Stay out of my way." He spat.

Hazel shook her head slowly, chuckling in disbelief. "Aw, Theseus," she pouted her lips, mirroring his condescending tone. "It's okay that you're obsessed with Percy."

Theseus tensed up.

Hazel continued, returning to her normal voice, emboldened by Theseus's silence. "You don't scare me. I hope you know that you can never be him. You are nothing compared to Percy." She over-enunciated the word, savoring every sound.

Theseus snapped. A deep growl erupted from his throat, and he lunged at Hazel, bearing his sword. Before he could make contact, his blade clashed against Riptide. Percy had stepped between them and was glaring at Theseus.

Hazel hadn't flinched. "Like I said," she began, leaning over Percy's sword toward Theseus as she spat the following word: "Nothing."

Theseus leaned forward too. "You annoying brat-"

"That's enough!" Percy interjected, shoving Theseus away so roughly he stumbled over a tree root. He twirled Riptide as he slowly approached Theseus.

He was fed up. For days, he had been a target of Theseus's machinations, and this was his opportunity for a bit of payback. He approached slowly and swiped his sword toward Theseus, who parried but continued to back away. Percy swung again, quickly falling back into the comfortable rhythm of a fair fight. Up until now, Percy had been at a disadvantage, forced to submit to Theseus's torment to preserve his reputation at camp, but he wasn't afraid this time and would not be holding back.

As he advanced, water began to drain up from the ground around him, soaking up from the damp soil and leaching from the grass and trees, creating whip-like streams of water writhing around his feet as he walked.

Theseus watched as Percy drained the plants of their water, leaving their leaves crisp and brown. "What makes Percy Jackson so deserving of eternal glory?!" Theseus snarled. This was not the way he had expected this confrontation to go, and he was disturbed that Percy seemed to have the upper hand on him. Theseus watched as the water snaked around Percy, and a thin stream whipped toward Theseus, just barely catching him, nipping his ankle and causing him to stumble again. His eyes widened in shock as he managed to regain his footing.

Did I underestimate this kid? Theseus wondered to himself before answering his own question with a resolute, no, there's no way. However, he had never faced this ruthless, unrestrained version of Percy before. He had heard what Percy was capable of, but to see it in action, to be on the receiving end of that kind of power, was a completely different experience. Percy was closing in on him, his body wreathed in water, a sadistic glint in his eyes, and for the first time, Theseus allowed the tiniest doubt to rattle his confidence.

Percy began to speed up his attacks, alternating blows from Riptide with lashes of the water whips as he continued to advance. He did his best to keep his face blank but couldn't help adopting a faint smirk of satisfaction. He sent another whip hurtling toward Theseus, catching him diagonally across his chest, the water slashing through the armor on his chest and leaving it hanging off him. Theseus didn't have enough time to react to his new vulnerability before Percy descended with more hits, moving so fast now that Theseus couldn't even process where all the attacks were coming from. Water lashed at him from every angle with such speed that he had no way to defend himself against it. His chest plate fell to the ground, a rope of water smacked his wrist, loosening his sword from his grip and sending it flying into the brush. Another snaked around his thigh and pulled his leg out from under him, sending him crashing onto his back on the ground, forcing all the air from his lungs in one sharp grunt. One by one, tendrils of water grabbed both his arms and then his legs, slamming them back into the ground and holding him prone, a prisoner of Percy's superior power.

With Theseus securely in place on the ground, Percy approached leisurely, taking time to enjoy the fact that this time he had his enemy on the ground beneath him. Percy dropped Riptide onto the ground with a soft clang, and he knelt over Theseus, grabbing the front of his shirt and hoisting him up so that they were face to face. Theseus glared back at Percy, but his eyes betrayed him with the slightest hint of fear, and Percy reveled in it.

There followed a silent conversation between them, communicated through their intense expressions.

You have no idea what I can do, Percy expressed.

Go ahead, enjoy it. You've won this battle, but I'll win the war.

A twig snapped next to them, and Percy looked up suddenly, catching sight of the clearing around them, which had filled with other campers who were watching with a mix of horror, shock, and amazement. Percy did not have time to register what this development meant for him before a pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders and violently yanked him off of Theseus and dragged him a few yards away. The water holding Theseus down dissipated back into the ground as Percy lost his concentration.

"What the hell are you doing?" Frank bellowed at Percy, who struggled against his grip.

"Let go of me, Zhang," Percy snapped as he struggled against Frank to stand. With difficulty, he managed to wriggle out of Frank's grasp and scramble to his feet. He shoved Frank's chest, pushing him away.

"What was that!?" Frank reiterated angrily. "What were you planning to do, kill him?"

"No! Are you crazy?"

"Are you?" Frank shot back. "We've been looking for you for the past 10 minutes. The game is over. It ended, Percy! Why were you still fighting? Didn't you hear the horn?!"

Hazel ran up to the two of them and stood between them. "It's fine, Frank! Percy was only defending me-"

"Defending you? Why would he go to these extremes just to defend you? It's just a game."

"It wasn't part of the game, Frank. Theseus is the one who's been causing trouble at camp, not Percy," Hazel explained.

"Not you too," Frank sighed exasperatedly. "Sounds to me like Percy just wanted an excuse to show off his power. And he picked the new kid to use as an example."

"What?!" Percy and Hazel responded at the same time.

"Again, are you fucking crazy?" Percy shouted.

"What's with you and your superiority complex?" Frank squared up to Percy and shoved him in the chest, forcing him back a couple of steps. "You're already the big hero, you have so much influence, and it's never enough for you. You're so selfish," he moved to shove him again, but Percy batted his arm away, "always showing off, using the people around you to boost yourself up. We get it, Percy." Frank tried to push Percy back again, and again Percy grabbed his arm, this time pushing it away with more force. "You're an amazing person with unbelievable superpowers." He took one last step toward Percy and grabbed the straps of his armor with both fists, nearly forcing Percy onto his tiptoes as Frank pulled him closer. Frank's voice devolved into a snarl, "What more do you need?"

Annabeth jumped in before the scene could escalate further, pushing Frank away from Percy and placing herself between them.

"Enough! Both of you," she ordered. "This isn't the way to resolve this." She spun around to scan the campers who were still standing crowded around the group. "What are you all still doing here? Don't you have better things to be doing? Go away."

The campers reluctantly began to disperse at Annabeth's command. Hazel grabbed Frank's arm and led him away from the scene, wondering how she could change his mind.

Percy marched over to where he had dropped Riptide and collapsed it back into a pen. As he forcefully shoved it into his pocket, he caught sight of Theseus in the receding crowd, his arm slung over Will's shoulder.

Will looked over at Percy simultaneously, and they caught eyes. His gaze roved over Percy's face for a moment, taking account of his injuries before sending him a self-assured wink.

Percy ensured that he had Will's attention before he spat on the ground next to him.