SOPHIE
"How are we going to get him back?"
The question echoes through the room, everyone pondering an answer. I sigh, knowing that this'll eventually turn into a 4 or 5 hour debate. Tam looks at me knowingly. His shadow moves onto mine.
'We never get anything done like this'
I hate to agree but I have too. 'I know, and it's infuriating! How will we manage to get him back if we can't even make a plan?'
'We don't. When I was with the Neverseen, I learned so much about their organization. They know everything, or at least it seems like they do. They have spies everywhere, and where they don't have spies, they have people who watch the every move of that place. They can get information from anywhere. But the thing is, they're not unbeatable. I think that we can win this war. They have information, but so do we. and I'm waiting for a chance to share all the information I got while working with the Neverseen."
I smile a little bit. I have never heard Tam sound so optimistic. He glares at me from across the room, and I realize he heard that. I blush, then shift my body so that our shadows aren't touching anymore. I clear my throat. Everyone turns to look at me.
"So, since Tam is back, he apparently got lots of information from his time with the Neverseen. Should we listen to him now?"
Tam gives me a funny look. 'Should we really talk about this in front of the Councillors?'
'Oh right! You weren't here for this. Well, some of the Black Swan are now Regents. Me, Biana, Dex, Wylie, and surprisingly, Stina. We actually work really well together.'
He nods, satisfied. His hoarse voice rings through the room. He repeats what he said to me in my head, and then adds, "I know how Lady Gisela is going to make him do what she wants." We all turn towards him so fast that we get whiplash. He takes a deep breath. "She's going to do what she did to me. But not with ethertine, with a new type of stone that she's made. She calls it Sadistic Stone."
Ro snorts. She has been really mad since Lady Gisela took Keefe. She blames herself for not being ready. This is the first noise she's made that wasn't a scream. "Sadistic Stone? Is she serious? That is the worst name for anything, ever. It's like calling ethertine, I don't know, Light Rock. That is super stupid."
Tam sighs. "She names it Sadistic Stone because it is made from obsidian mixed with Vespera's blood. And since Vespera is an Empath who doesn't feel emotions anymore, it's like a paradox. Paradoxes are the best for binding people and forcing them to do as you want them to."
I want to scream. Even if we get him back, how are we going to get his bonds off of him? I look around and see that everyone else is having the same thought I am. I voice the question.
Tam narrows his eyes. "I'm not sure. She said something about it not being perfect yet, and that it was too easy to break. So that's a good thing, isn't it?"
We all nod hesitantly. We don't want to get our hopes up too high and then have them come crashing right back down on us. That would not be good.
Grady looks at the clock. "Oh! It's already 11:00! Sophie, you are going to bed right now!"
I sigh and roll my eyes. "Fine." I stand up, and Sandor follows me up to my room.
"Miss Foster… I know how much you care for that Keefe boy. And I want you to know that even though I hate him, you can still talk to me about him if you want to. I am your bodyguard, but I am willing to be here to discuss your," here he swallows, "romantic life if needed."
I roll my eyes, but secretly, I'm touched by his offer. I know how much he hates the thought of me liking someone. "It's fine, Sandor. Thank you for the offer, but I think it would get awkward if we were to talk about romantic stuff. And by the way, I do not like Keefe." 'I like Fitz' echoes through my head. But I don't feel the same flutter in my stomach that I normally do.
PERCY
"HAZEL! FRANK!" I yell in delight as I see them come through the magical border. "You're here!"
Hazel and Frank look up at me, before running down the hill and tackling me in a hug. "You idiot! Why didn't you IM us for the past month?"
I choke under them. "Guys… can't… breathe."
Frank gets off of me and lifts Hazel up as well. "We missed you so much! We haven't seen you in forever. Reyna is here too, and boy, is she mad. You are in for it when you see her."
I gulp and curse (in Greek, of course) under my breath. Then I hear a yell across the camp. "PERSEUS JACKSON! I SWEAR TO ALL OF THE GODS THAT IF YOU EVER JUST ABANDON CAMP JUPITER LIKE THAT AGAIN, I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON TOP OF THE LEGION'S STANDARD INSTEAD OF THE EAGLE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
Reyna comes barrelling down the hill. She stops right in front of me and glowers at my terrified face. Then there's a stinging pain in my cheek. I whip around to see that there's no one there. "Annabeth!"
She appears, holding her Yankees cap in her hands. "Yes, Seaweed Brain?"
"Why'd you slap me?" I pout, giving her my baby seal face. She only laughs. I scowl. My baby seal face works on everyone else, why not her? My girlfriend? The one I love most in the world? I reach my hand towards my pocket for the ring. I'm gonna propose to her today. In front of all the demigods of the camps in America. That'll show everyone how much I love her.
My face goes blank. "Schist," I whisper softly. I forgot the ring at home. The most important day of my life, and I FORGOT THE RING!
I turn towards my friends. "Um, guys?" They don't answer, still chatting away. "Guys?" Still nothing. "GUYS!" They all turn towards me. "I forgot something at home. I'm just gonna vapor back and get it, so don't wait up. I shouldn't be long."
"Okay!" "See yah, Perce!" "You'd better be back by the time all the Romans are here, Seaweed Brain."
I chuckle at the last one, wave, then vapor travel to my apartment. I open the door, and stifle a scream.
"MOM! PAUL!" My parents are lying on the ground, blood pouring from their stomachs. I rush towards them, trying to staunch the bleeding. "No, no you can't die."
"Percy…" my mom gurgles. "Percy, we're going to die, you can't stop it."
I sob, tears running down my face. She can't die, not my mother. She was there for me when I needed her, she's my only normal family. She CAN'T DIE!
"Percy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm leaving you like this. Here, take this." She reaches into the pocket of her old blue jean and pulls out something that looks like a marble. On a closer look, I see that it has little gems inlaid in it.
I turn my attention back to my mother. "You are not going to die. You are not allowed to die. I am going back to camp and getting someone from the Apollo cabin who is going to heal you. If that doesn't work, I am going to Apollo himself to fix you. If you die, I will go to Hades to get you back!" My voice rises to a yell at the end.
My mom laughs softly. "Percy, I'm going to die. It's okay. Don't go to Hades for me. Swear it on the Styx."
I shake my head, tears blurring my vision.
"Percy. Swear it."
I choke. "I swear on the River Styx not to go to the Underworld to get back the souls of the dead." Thunder rumbles in the distance. I continue, "Please Mom, hold on until I come back from camp. Please, please, please." I vapor travel to the boundary of Camp Half-Blood. And I scream.
All over camp are dead bodies. Greek, Roman, satyrs, demigods, legacies, everyone, lying on the ground dying. I run to the middle of camp. The Seven and the youngest campers are in the arms of an army of monsters.
A cyclops turns towards me. "Ah! The man of the hour. Perseus Jackson. Now you have a choice. Come with us willingly, or they all die."
I glare at them. "Come on, Perseus. Drop the sword."
I reluctantly drop Riptide. I walk towards the monsters slowly. The cyclops laughs and turns toward the other monsters. "Kill them."
I watch in horror as the monsters brutally kill the youngest and closest of all of my friends. Then my vision turns red as I roar to the sky.
