"Percy Jackson!" Jason bellowed, his voice amplified by Zeus' outrage, which coursed through his body upon discovering the perpetrator. He charged out of the cabin with no regard for his surroundings; he slammed the heavy bronze door out of his way with such force that the impact fractured the marble wall behind it, leaving a series of deep cracks in the white stone.

Campers stopped what they were doing to watch as Jason stormed to the Poseidon cabin and threw open the door. The sound awakened Percy.

"Huh, who-?" Percy sat up, rubbing his eyes against the sudden harsh morning light. "Jason? What are you-" Before he could finish his question, Jason grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him off the bed. Percy began thrashing his body to wrench himself free from Jason's grasp, but Jason held on, dragging Percy across the floor toward the exit.

"What the fuck, Jason?!" Percy blurted, now fully awake. He gripped one hand around Jason's wrist, and the other clawed at his forearm. Percy thought back to everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, searching for some explanation for Jason's behavior. Sure, they had argued earlier, everyone had said some mean things, but this was a huge escalation. "Let me go!" he snarled.

Jason didn't say anything.

"So you woke up on the wrong side of the bed. That doesn't mean you have to take it out on me, asshole!"

They reached the front deck, and Jason hurled Percy down the steps. A crowd of campers had already formed in front of the cabin, drawn in by Jason's unexplained outburst. Percy landed in the dirt before the other campers while Jason, still standing at the top of the steps, towered over him.

"You think you're funny?!" Jason finally voiced.

"Yeah, actually, I do," Percy said like it was a matter of fact, an irritated look on his face. "What's your problem?" Percy gestured angrily in Jason's direction, not bothering to stand up.

"I can't believe you would do something like this! That's low even for you!"

"What are you talking about?!"

Jason bolted down the stairs, predatory eyes locked on Percy. "Do you know who you're messing with?!"

"I don't give a shit!" Percy roared over him, completely baffled by the situation at hand. He couldn't imagine what had upset Jason enough to react this way. The humiliation set in now that the initial shock of getting dragged out of his bed had worn off. His image had already taken some damage through his own actions in the past few weeks, but Jason was taking this too far for his liking. He had thrown Percy down the stairs. If Jason had wanted them to be good leaders, this was a hell of a way to set an example. That hypocrite.

Fed up with Jason's childish antics, Percy started to stand up. He only got halfway up before Jason gripped both his shoulders and forced him back down to his knees.

The movement left Percy speechless, and his humiliation turned to outrage. "I didn't do whatever it is you think I did!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Jason pointed an accusatory finger at Percy.

"I'M NOT LYING!" Percy shot back, swatting Jason's hand away from his face.

"Explain this!" Jason shouted, and he chucked something at Percy's chest.

Annabeth and Piper were walking back toward the cabins after their traditional early morning stroll around the camp. As they passed the dining pavilion, Annabeth noticed fewer people than normal sitting down for breakfast. As a matter of fact, the whole camp seemed to have less activity than usual for this time of the morning.

A young camper ran by the pair of them, and Annabeth grabbed his arm to stop him. "Hey! Where is everyone?"

"There's a fight!" the camper replied excitedly. Annabeth let go of his arm, and the camper darted away in the direction of the cabins.

"Oooh, a fight!" Piper shook Annabeth's shoulder enthusiastically. "We gotta go watch!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, Piper. I'm not going to waste my morning watching two idiots fight each other."

Not willing to take no for an answer, Piper grabbed Annabeth's hand and dragged her after the other camper. "Come on, you party pooper. It'll be awesome!"

They reached the cabins to find that a considerable crowd had already gathered, shielding the action from their view.

"Ugh, I can't see from here," Piper whined, tiptoeing back and forth behind the last row of onlookers, unable to get a good vantage point.

"What a shame," Annabeth replied blandly. "Can I go back to my cabin now?"

"Oh no, we're getting to the front." Piper grabbed Annabeth's hand again and dragged her forward, shoving people out of the way as they carved a path through the crowd. Finally, they reached the front, just in time to see Jason throw a camp necklace at Percy. Dumbfounded, they watched in silence.

Percy looked down at the object where it had fallen in front of him and recognized it as his missing necklace. "What?" He snatched it up and looked back at Jason. "How did you even find this?! I lost this two weeks ago!" His mind raced to make sense of the situation. Is this some sick joke? First Theseus, then Will, and now Jason? What is with everyone's obsession to make him look bad? "Did you steal my necklace?!" he demanded, gripping the necklace in his fist.

Something in Jason snapped. This was supposed to be his big confrontation, but Percy's accusation seemed to have turned the tides, and Jason felt the situation fall out of his control. Just like Percy to make everything about him, Jason thought bitterly.

Even when Percy wasn't there, Jason had been forced to listen to everyone lamenting his absence. Jason's arrival was overshadowed by Percy's disappearance. Jason himself would always be second to Percy.

Jason clenched his fists. The air around him had begun to shimmer with static electricity, and the hair on his arms stood on end. The longer he thought about Percy, the hero, the favorite, the more enraged he felt and the more dangerous he became. The wind whipped around him and Percy, and thunder rumbled in the clear morning sky. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the ground right beside Percy, shaking the earth and leaving a patch of blackened grass inches from Percy's leg.

Annabeth screamed Percy's name.

"Fuck!" Percy cried out, scrambling away from the blow. His heart raced in response to his unexpected near death. The people standing closest to the front of the crowd had fallen over each other in their haste to get away, and Percy saw that many of them were casting fearful glances at Jason. He thought that even Jason looked a little shaken by what had happened, but he immediately shook it off.

"Careful, Jackson, the next one won't miss."

"What do you want from me, Jason?" Percy had to force the words out.

"Don't act so innocent," he drawled scornfully. "You destroyed my cabin."

"What-"

"You decapitated my father's statue! You defiled it!" He spat.

A sea of murmurs and shocked whispers washed over the crowd of campers. Then, almost in unison, they turned and started running next door to the crime scene to see the destruction for themselves.

Faintly, the campers' reactions could be heard as they saw the ruined statue.

"Damn, Jackson!"

"How could he do something like this?"

"Why would I- I don't- that's not- Why would I do that?" Percy stumbled over his words, taken aback by Jason's accusation.

Jason scoffed and stepped forward as though he was about to say something else, but Percy interpreted the movement as a threat. Already scared and on edge from the rest of their interaction, Percy reflexively flicked his wrist. A blast of water erupted from the lake and collided with Jason's side, sending him flying back away from Percy.

The crowd had mostly reformed just in time to see Percy's attack.

Jason coughed and spluttered as he tried to get the water out and regain his breath. After a few moments, he was able to stand up and advanced toward Percy again. "What the fuck, Jackson-"

However, before Jason could make a counterattack, Chiron galloped up to the scene. "Enough!" he bellowed, stepping between Jason and Percy. The crowd around them fell silent. "What is the meaning of this? One of you speak before I send you both down to Hades!"

Percy rushed to his feet. "Do it," he spat. Any fear he had felt had dissipated, replaced with anger at the whole situation. Jason had humiliated him over and over, and now Percy was the one about to get in trouble for defending himself. His rage gave him courage, and he figured he didn't have anything left to lose.

"I haven't seen him in a while. I'd love to catch up," he continued. "Maybe he'll even come drag me down himself!" Percy chuckled, losing a sense of himself. He spread his arms wide and addressed the Lord of the Underworld. "Hey, Hades! You up for a visit!?"

The silence was deafening. No one knew how to react to this unhinged Percy, and some people expected Hades to crawl out of the ground then and there and smite Percy for talking to him like that.

Finally, Annabeth broke the silence. "Percy!" she hissed. "Do you have a death wish?"

Percy snapped his head to face her. "Maybe I do."

Percy turned to Chiron to gauge his reaction to the outburst and saw that the centaur was fuming with anger that Percy had called his bluff.

"Big House. NOW."

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Percy was on his feet, shouting at Jason over the renowned card-playing table on the porch of the Big House. They had stopped yelling at each other long enough for Chiron to escort them away from the cabins, but as soon as he had asked them again to explain, the argument began again in full force.

"And who else would it have been, Jackson?" Jason shot back, slamming both hands down on the table between them. "Washed up, second-rate hero? Who else would that be about? You're using my own words against me!"

"You're out of your mind." Percy slammed his hands down as well, leaning in menacingly. "It. Wasn't. ME!"

"Okay, enough, both of you!" Annabeth had been standing by the porch railing with Piper, watching the exchange and trying to rub her increasing headache out of her temples. She finally interjected before the brawl reignited, stepping forward to push the two apart. "Both of you need to calm down." She took a deep breath and turned to Jason. "Jason. Calmly. How do you know it was Percy?"

"BECAUSE HIS FUCKING NECKLACE WAS THERE!"

"Boys… please–" Chiron pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I TOLD YOU I LOST IT!"

"Percy!" Annabeth warned, placing a hand firmly on his chest, pushing him further back from Jason.

"Jason, calm down," Piper snapped from her place by the railing. She straightened up, trying to gauge if she needed to step in.

"Okay, when did you lose your necklace, Percy?" Annabeth asked slowly like she was talking to a toddler.

Percy looked at Annabeth, and although he was still angry, he was able to keep his response calm. "About two weeks ago. Around the same time that Theseus showed up."

Jason turned and smacked the chair beside him, sending it backward into the railing. "BULLSHIT!"

"JASON GRACE! I will not tolerate this behavior, especially from you!" Chiron stomped one of his hooves, and the group quieted immediately. Once he had their attention, Chiron sighed and crossed his arms, glaring at them in turn. "I do not know what happened, and judging by this display, I doubt I ever will, but this behavior is unacceptable, and you will be punished for your involvement."

Percy rolled his eyes and plopped down in one of the chairs while Jason groaned in annoyance.

Chiron's eye twitched with irritation. "I will be adding extra chores to each of your schedules, and you can start by cleaning up the mess in Cabin One. Together."

"What!"

"No!"

"SILENCE!" Chiron stomped again and pointed away from the house. "Now leave."

Chiron was reaching the end of his rope between all the infighting and the destruction of camp property. It was one thing that his star students were the ones disrupting the peace with their arguments and flagrant displays of power, but he was frustrated that he didn't know the real reason for sure. He had his suspicions, of course. Percy had mentioned his necklace went missing around the same time Theseus came to Camp. Even Chiron had noticed the way things began to go south soon after Theseus arrived. Could it be a coincidence? Certainly, but he couldn't know for sure.

Everyone left the Big House and went their separate ways: Jason and Percy (reluctantly) to go clean up Jason's cabin, and Annabeth back to the Athena cabin to busy herself with one of her projects. Piper thought that a snack might help her wrap her head around the day's events, so she grabbed some peanut butter crackers from the camp store and headed to the dining pavilion. She sat down by herself at the Aphrodite table and soon became lost in thought.

Hazel walked by to see Piper staring intently at her peanut butter crackers and decided to check in. "Hey, Piper, do you need help opening those?"

"Huh?" Piper looked up, startled. "Oh no, sorry. I was just thinking."

Hazel slid into the seat across from her. "About what?"

"I've never seen Jason get so angry. And Percy." She scoffed. "I don't even know what to think! I want to believe he didn't do it, but his necklace was at the scene. And the words…who else could it be but him?"

Hazel shuffled in her seat. "Piper, I need to tell you something."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Hazel, what is it? You're scaring me."

Hazel rolled her eyes playfully. "No, I'm serious. It's important. Let's go to my cabin."

Nico was lounging on his bed in the Hades cabin when they arrived.

"Nico, get out, please."

Nico looked up from the book he was reading and took out one earbud. "What? Why?"

"I have to talk to Piper."

"Why do you have to do it here?"

"Because, Nico," Hazel replied through gritted teeth. "Now, get out."

Nico groaned and slammed his book closed, muttering to himself as he walked out.

"Sorry, Nico," Piper said apologetically.

"Yeah, whatever."

Hazel and Piper sat down on Hazel's bed across from each other. Hazel closed the cloth partition, and the obsidian walls glinted green from the Greek fire torches.

"So, what's so important?" Piper asked. "The suspense is killing me."

Hazel recounted her experience in the woods with Theseus during Capture the Flag, not sparing a single detail. She explained that Theseus was the real person behind the attacks on the camp and that he had been planning to frame Percy for them all along. Piper listened intently, gasping where appropriate and saving her questions for the end.

"So the bathhouse, all the fighting, and the statue?"

"All Theseus. And I'm betting it was Theseus who stole Percy's necklace and planted it at the scene," Hazel concluded.

"You're kidding," Piper replied. "It all makes sense!"

There was a timid knock on the cabin door, and the girls turned abruptly to see who was there. Nico poked his head in.

"Can I come back in now?"

Hazel sighed. "Yes, Nico. You can come back now."

"You're lucky you're my sister," Nico grumbled as he flopped back onto his bed.

Percy was exhausted. First, his public humiliation in front of the whole camp, second, being accused of something he didn't do AGAIN, and third, being punished for defending himself in a fight he didn't even want to be in.

He and Jason had cleaned up the cabin just like Chiron told them to, without any more outbursts. They had made an unspoken agreement to swallow their pride, get the job done, and never speak to each other again, which was fine by Percy. Jason was certain that Percy was behind the vandalism, and there was no hope of convincing him otherwise. All Percy wanted to do now was get into bed and fall asleep and not have to think about this day anymore.

He got all ready for bed, turned out the lights, and pulled back the covers on his bed. He was just about to lay down when a voice behind him made him jump.

"Perseus Jackson, what the hell did you do today?" Nico growled.

"Nico! Come on, man. I can't do this right now." Percy turned to face him, squinting to see Nico in the dark room.

"What are you trying to do talking to my dad like that?" Nico snapped, shoving Percy square in the chest. "I just spoke with him. He's asking questions, Percy."

Percy sat down on the edge of his bed and slumped forward, placing his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Nico, I didn't mean anything by it. I just kinda… lost it." He sighed. "It's been a long day. Can I just go to bed?"

"Oh, you kinda lost it?! You've gone insane!" Nico threw his hands up in disbelief. "You've caught my father's interest, and that's dangerous." His voice lowered ominously.

"What, just because I taunted him?" Percy rolled his eyes. "Give me a break."

"Rompicoglioni," Nico cursed, gesturing his hands angrily in front of him, "because you destroyed Zeus's statue, for gods' sake! What were you thinking?"

Percy's head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. "I didn't." He stood up, looking down at Nico angrily. "You of all people should know that."

Nico stood his ground. "Oh really? What about what was spray-painted on the base then?"

"You think I'd be so obvious?" Percy spat. "You know me better than that."

"Prove it then," Nico challenged.

Percy stomped over to his desk and grabbed his necklace that he had yet to put back on, tossing it at Nico's chest. "Jason found this at the scene."

Nico caught it and stared at it for a moment before realizing what it meant. He gripped the necklace in his fist and looked back up to glare at Percy. "Why didn't you lead with this?!" he shouted.

Percy couldn't help but laugh at Nico's stubbornness. "I'll remember that next time."

Nico tossed the necklace back at Percy and sat on the bed with a tired huff, but his anger had faded. "I'm serious, Percy. You can't talk to my dad like that. Now that he's taken notice of you…," he sighed. "Just watch your back."

Percy scoffed, grinning. "Is that a threat, Di Angelo?"

"Yes. What else would it be?"

Percy woke up earlier than he usually did the next morning but regrettably found he was unable to go back to sleep. After rolling around for another half an hour, he gave up and got out of bed instead. Maybe he could at least meet up with Annabeth and talk about what happened the day before. After he and Jason finished in Cabin One, he had taken the rest of the evening to calm himself down and relax, knowing that Annabeth would understand if he didn't come to explain himself right away. He knew she would be awake at this time of the morning, so he left the cabin to find her.

After checking the Athena cabin and the dining pavilion, which Percy thought would be the most likely places to check, he still hadn't found Annabeth. He was feeling discouraged; the camp was only so big. Luckily, as he was walking down the steps of the dining pavilion, he recognized one of Annabeth's siblings coming in for breakfast.

"Hey! Uh-" Percy called out to the other camper, but he struggled to remember his name. The boy turned around, and Percy took it as a message to continue. "Hey… um. You."

The son of Athena raised an incredulous eyebrow at Percy. "Percy, you've known me for six years."

"Yeah, I know your name." Percy scoffed, trying to play off the fact that he actually did not know his name.

The camper crossed his arms. "Oh yeah? What's my name?"

"Oh, uh. Mmm... Mm-Mark?" Percy drew out the name and hoped for the best.

Mark just stared at him.

Percy took the silence as a bad sign and tried again. "Mmm… M-Michael? I know it starts with an M."

Michael shook his head in disappointment, expecting more from his sister's boyfriend. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen Annabeth?" Percy asked in one breath, desperate to remove himself from this situation.

"She should be at the Big House." Michael turned and walked away.

"Okay, thanks!" Percy called to the camper's retreating back and sprinted to the Big House.

Percy heard muffled voices coming from the back of the house when he walked in, so he followed the noise, hoping to find Annabeth there. As he approached, he heard the voices become clearer, and he could pick out Chiron and Jason speaking. Intrigued, he came closer to the closed door, the search for Annabeth suspended for a moment.

"What do you propose we do?" Percy recognized Chiron's voice.

Jason responded, "Chiron, he's gotten into fights with almost everyone at Camp. Percy is becoming unpredictable and dangerous."

In the hallway, Percy rolled his eyes. They weren't my fault, he thought bitterly.

"Just look what he did to my father's statue!" Jason nearly shouted.

"Jason, you don't know that it was him for sure." Percy's eyes widened when he heard Annabeth's voice inside the room. He was glad that she seemed to be on his side, but what was she doing there in the first place?

Jason again. "I have all the evidence I need, Annabeth. I just know it was him."

Why were they even talking about Percy anyway? And why wasn't he invited to his own trial? How could they discuss what to do about Percy if Percy wasn't there to defend himself? Percy's stomach tied itself in knots as he listened, not exactly sure what emotions he should be feeling at the moment.

"Speaking as someone who has been a victim of Percy's new-found aggression, I think we should be taking this more seriously." Will is there too?! Percy felt his heart beat harder in his chest. Why was Will invited and Percy wasn't? Percy clenched his fists. "I propose we kick him out of Camp."

Percy's blood ran cold. His clenched fists started shaking at his sides. Assigning him more chores was one thing, but kicking him out of Camp Half-Blood? Is that even allowed? Percy wasn't sure, but he didn't want to be the first to find out.

"Shut the hell up, Will."

Percy took a step back, staring at the door in shock. That was Nico's voice. Nico, who had been his primary supporter these past few weeks. Would Nico have told him about this meeting? How many others had he been to without Percy's knowledge?

Can he trust Nico?

Percy had heard enough. He turned abruptly, but his exit was blocked by a decorative table holding a small statue, which he bumped into, sending the statue crashing to the floor. Percy froze as he heard the voices from the other room fall silent at the noise. His throat tightened, and his heart pounded in his chest. He felt his breathing pick up, worried that if he was found eavesdropping his punishment would worsen.

The door opened, revealing Annabeth standing in the doorway. "Percy?"

"Annabeth… I wasn't- I. Uh. I, um. Sorry," Percy choked out, continuing to back away.

"Percy, are you okay?" Annabeth asked, scrunching her eyebrow together with concern.

Percy's breaths came in quick huffs, and he finally bolted from the hallway, out of the house. Once he was outside, he hoped that the panic would subside, but he started to feel dizzy as soon as he stepped off the porch. He thought his heart would explode from his chest for how hard it was pounding, and he pressed one hand against it, willing himself to calm down. I feel like I'm dying, he thought. What's going on?

The group from the meeting ran out of the house, Annabeth in the lead. She reached to touch his shoulder, but he quickly brushed her off, stumbling a few more steps away. Before he could run again, his legs went weak, and he fell to his hands and knees on the ground.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, her voice scared.

Percy couldn't stand, his heart still beating too hard, and on top of that, a small crowd had begun to form around him as the other campers came to see what the commotion was. He shut his eyes tight, shaking his head to try and get rid of this feeling.

"Oh, come on! He's faking it! Always gotta be the center of attention, right, Percy?" Will shouted.

Chiron stepped forward, trying to shoo the crowd away from Percy, but no one moved, too engrossed in the scene to leave.

Percy felt trapped like the crowd was pressing in on him. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. His fists clenched in his hair, staring down and wishing the crowd would disappear. Finally, the roaring in his ears became too much, too loud, and he slammed his hands down on the ground. He could feel the water in the earth around him, and he brought his hands up, pulling it out as he went.

"Get away from me!" he cried. He swept his arms out at the people surrounding him in one motion, and the water followed his gestures, blasting the unsuspecting crowd and pushing them away.

With some of the tension in his chest gone, Percy collapsed to all fours again, his back still heaving with laborious breaths. Tears burned his eyes, but he was too exhausted to cry.

Annabeth rushed to Percy and put a comforting hand on his back. This time, he didn't push her away. Instead, he leaned into her touch, wrapping his arms around her in a tight, insistent embrace.