TAM

I watch silently as Percy cries. People (*cough, Keefe, cough*)may think I'm a soulless monster, but I'm actually just good at hiding my emotions. I do feel bad for Percy, I just don't show it.

So, if Percy is a demigod, and he is the last of his kind, that means there were more before. That means that all the other demigods were killed, probably within his memory. And knowing Percy, he probably blames himself for it. And it's probably not actually his fault. Stupid Percy.

I let my shadow fall across his, and watch his head jerk up in surprise as I whisper to him, 'I am absolutely sure you are blaming yourself for people's deaths, and I'm also absolutely sure you couldn't have done anything. Percy, from what I know about you, you would do anything to save the life of one of your friends. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT.'

He sighs. "But it is. It really is."

Keefe stares at him. "Are you still talking to Glitterbut?"

Percy grins. "No, I'm talking to Bangs Boy, as you call him."

I groan as Keefe and Percy both smirk at each other in exactly the same way, but I'm secretly glad that Percy has cheered up.

TIME SKIP

Sophie rolls her eyes. "We really need an idea of what the prized possession of each of the species are. We already have elves and humans, so now we need goblins, ogres, trolls, gnomes, dwarves."

Percy scowls. "I still don't like how living creatures are the elves' prized possession. You can't own an animal."

Sophie looks exasperated. "Percy, stop taking us off topic. I think that the gnomes' prized possession is Panakes flowers, so we have some of those. Dwarves are probably magsidian, so we can make a trip to Loamnore to get some of that." She thinks. "SANDOR! HEY, SANDOR! Come over here!"

Sandor snorts, then walks over from next to Silveny and Greyfell, sheathing the sword he was sharpening. "What is it, Miss Foster?"

"What do you think is really important to goblins?"

Sandor looks thoughtful. "Hmm. I would say victory. Goblins are always joyful when they have won a battle or something like that. Maybe an aurified goblin from a battle that was won?"

"What does aurified mean?"

"When goblins die, they get turned into gold."

Percy looks impressed. "That's rather cool. How does that work?"

"I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Now, trolls." Sophie thinks for a little bit. "I'd say probably their troll babies, but we can't get those, so maybe a transportable hive?"
I nod. "Sure, that'll work. I can get some of those from the hive at Everglen by using shadows to break down the illusions."

Sophie smiles at me. "Thanks, Tam."

Keefe cuts in. "Now the hardest one, ogres. We need to get Ro for this. I'll hail her."

He calls Ro, who comes in about 20 minutes later happier than I've seen her in months. She stands in front of Percy and looks him up and down. "So, you're the one who saved Keefe? You don't look very un-puny."

Percy gives an unnerving grin. "Wanna test that?"

Ro smiles, then turns to Keefe. "I like this one. Now, why am I here?"

"What's an ogre's prized possession?"
"Oh, that's a hard one. Maybe my dad's sword? He really loves it."

Percy snorts. "Two things. 1. You have no idea how wrong that sounds. And 2. You have an important dad, too?"

"Yeah, he's the king of the ogres."

Percy smirks lopsidedly. "My dad's the king of the ocean."

Ro just stares, blank-eyed. "What?"

Percy fills her in on everything he told us, which isn't much. Ro whistles appreciatively. "Well, you should probably go to Ravagog with me to get the sword."

Percy sniggers again.

BIANA

"Okay, so Tam and Wylie are going to Everglen to get some of the hive. Biana, Stina, and Dex can go to Loamnore. Marella, Maruca, and Linh are going to Gildingham. So that means Keefe, Sophie, and I are going to Ravagog."

We all shake our heads, still not used to Percy's way of planning. He just comes up with a plan, without planning, and doesn't second guess himself. How does he do that?

Anyways, it seems like I'm going to Loamnore. Oh no. I hated that dark tunnel. And the mud. Ugh. Although, if I'm going with Dex and Stina, that could be rather fun. Mud fights. Just like last time.

"When should we go?" Wylie asks.

"Whenever possible."

TIME SKIP

"Eughhh!"

I roll my eyes. The mud really isn't that bad. It's just wet dirt. Sure, it's gross, but we're going to be perfectly clean in the end, so it doesn't really matter. Stina is such a wimp.

"Hurry up, Stina! The faster we get to Loamnore, the faster we get clean!"

"But it's so gross!"

Dex smiles mischeviously. "If you don't get here in a minute, I'm throwing mud at you."

Stina winces, then walks quickly to the center of the mud pile. Dex smirks, then gets sucked into the mud, followed by Stina, followed by me.

We land in the dark cavern at the bottom of the mud pond, and I check to make sure I am completely clean, which I am.

Dex stomps his feet in a specific pattern, and one of his dwarf guards pops up from the ground. "Could you lead us down the King's Path? Or is it the Queen's Path?"

The dwarf grunts. "Queen's Path. Follow me."

We walk into the dark tunnel, and I feel myself being sucked into the darkness. There is nothing. I can't see. I can't see! "What was that?"

A figure comes out of the darkness. It's-it's my dad! I go to hug him, but he pushes me away.

"You, Biana, are a disappointment. You do not live up to our expectations. Look at Fitz! He gets the top grade in every class. Why can't you be more like him?"

I wince, then shy away from my mother, who repeats the same thing, adding, "Why can't you be as brave as Sophie?"

Each of my family members and friends appear out of the darkness, lambasting me with their disappointed looks and shakes of their heads. I feel like I'm about to scream, when finally light pierces the illusion. Everyone fades away, leaving only Stina, Dex, and the dwarf.

All of us, except the dwarf, are still slightly paranoid. So when the door opens with a creak, we all jump about a foot into the air. Then we all blush when the dwarf raises a very furry eyebrow, unimpressed.

We all bow in front of Queen Nubiti, who just waves her hand. "No need. What did you come for?"

Stina clears her throat. "We need a piece of magsidian to defeat the Neverseen."

Nubiti snaps her fingers, and a dwarf comes up with a shard of magsidian. "This has been cut to absorb light, like the Queen's Path. Please, capture them as fast as you can. We are losing children to these monsters."

I shake my head, thinking about kid dwarves, then bow to Nubiti and exit the throne room. We make our way through the dark tunnel, experiencing our worst fears once again. When we come out, we immediately leap to Everglen, and place the magsidian next to the Panakes petals, ten dollar bill, and the alicorn enclosure. Then we wait for the others to get back.