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I do not own the PJO characters

Damian rushed after me. "Aren't you going to do anything? You're just going to let them take the punishment?"

"When we first started the CTT, we said that if we would ever get caught that the Stoll's would leave me out of it, I would never be suspected. And what punishment, they didn't get to pull the prank, so there was no harm done."

"Don't you feel bad though?"

"Of course I feel bad. I would have taken the punishment but it was the Stoll's decision."

As we walked across the lawn towards the pavilion, people continued to glare at me.

"You would think that after you saved their lives a few times, that they would learn to respect you," Damian said.

"Yeah well, at least they're somewhat putting up with me. I don't blame them though, I am a danger and they're just trying to live their lives. What they don't understand is that I'm also trying to live mine."

After Damian and I finished our lunch, we decided to go for a walk in the woods.

"Why do you like taking walks in the woods anyway?" He asked as we walked along a path we found.

"I don't know, it just makes me feel peaceful I guess."

"I'm surprised you like it out here, you hate bugs and there are tons out here."

"I don't hate bugs," I said.

"You hate bugs."

"Yeah well, that's what bug spray is for." I said as I grabbed a green spray bottle out of my cloak.

"Do you always have that in there?"

"Pretty much." This made Damian laugh. "Hey if you had as many pockets as I do, you'd keep bug spray in them." I scowled.

"What all do you have in them?" Damian asked as he tried to control his laughter.

"Hm, I don't know. Let's see." I started pulling random stuff out of my cloak. Everything from a bandage to a moldy blueberry muffin was stuffed in those pockets.

"How do you forget you have a muffin in there?" Damian asked.

"I was probably saving it for later and just forgot." I continued to pull stuff out and soon found a pocket full of pull-ups.

"Why do you have those in there?" Damian laughed.

"Hey Coral was only two back then. If you remember, I was out of commission for five years."

"How could I forget," he said, "frozen in there, your face was full of shock and fear. Stygian sticking out of the ice. Finally unthawing you, and you immediately destroy those giants. Then almost killed me when I told you Jamie died. You get back to camp and break down, then immediately want to go see your brothers. All while you had just met me. I remember it like it was just yesterday."

By the time he had finished talking, he had gotten closer and put his hand on my cheeks, staring into my eyes.

I don't know if the Immortals had pity on me or just decided I needed a break, but what happened next changed the camp's view of me.

I heard crying nearby. I slowly turned towards the sound. I looked around for a second, then I saw it. A huge hellhound, pushing something up against a tree, trapping it. And the prey? A little girl with black hair, clutching something in her hands.

My feet reacted before my head did. I ran towards the little girl, pulling out Stygian and καλοσύνη. I put myself between the little girl and the beast just as the hound pounced. In one swift movement, I stabbed in an upwards motion, causing the hell hound to go limp. As it dissolved into yellow dust, I turned to the little girl who had tears in her eyes.

"It's going to be okay, I'm here now." I knelt and a smile spread across my face to let the girl know that there was nothing to fear, that the monster was gone.

I slowly unclasped my cloak and placed it around her shoulder to warm her. She was swallowed in the giant piece of cloth. She peeked her head out from under the hood, and with a smile, she crawled into my arms.

"They couldn't get your attention," she whispered, "They want me to give this to you."

She handed me what she was holding. It was a thin metal band with 12 symbols pressed into it. Between the sixth and seventh symbols, there was a single emerald-colored gem, matching my cloak.

"What is it?" Damian asked over my shoulder.

"I don't know." I turned to the little girl, "what's your name?"

"Melody." She murmured.

"Did the Immortals give you this?"

She nodded her head.

"I'm going to take you to the infirmary, okay? They'll help you." She snuggled deeper in my arms, I took that as an okay.

I handed the band to Damian as I stood up. Damian then bent down and picked up my swords that I had dropped. "Thanks" I mouthed.

As we walked back to camp, I gently talked to Melody, telling her all about camp, how much fun it is, how everyone's so nice, and about Chiron, who runs the camp.

We walked into the infirmary to find Will washing his hands while talking to a few of his siblings. When they spotted me, they all stopped what they were doing.

Will turned to us, drying his hands, and said, "who do we have here?"

"This is Melody," I said, "I found her in the woods."

"Follow me, we're just going to give her a quick check-up, make sure she's healthy and not suffering from any injuries," Will said.

As we were walking to a back room, an image shimmered in front of me. It was Annabeth and Percy. I handed Melody to Will who took her to the check-up room, as I turned to face the Iris Message.

"Hey," I said.

"Are you in the infirmary?" Percy asked, squinting at the image.

"Yes, now what do you need?"

"We just want to know when you guys are getting back," Annabeth said, "Frank needs Hazel's help."

"Oh, uh, I'll talk to her. How's Coral doing?"

"She's doing fine, the kids are playing with Leo," Annabeth said.

"Oh, how is Leo doing?" Damian asked as he came up from behind me.

"He's fine, exhausted, and has a headache which he won't stop complaining about."

"Hey!" Leo yelled from the other room, "did you have your head destroyed and healed at the same time? When you have, come to complain to me all you want!" I laughed at this.

I turned to Damian who handed me my swords and I put them back in their necklace.

"I'll go talk to Hazel now," I said, "but one more thing." I looked over at Damian quickly. "I'm not coming back with her, I have something I want to do. I'll be back to Camp Jupiter in maybe two days. Watch Coral for me please, have her Iris message me before she goes to bed please."

"Will do!" Percy exclaimed as he gave a salute, Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"May I ask what you're going to be doing?" Annabeth said.

"I have someone I want to visit." As I said this, I looked straight into Damian's eyes and he seemed to understand what I meant. A feeling of dread washed over his face.

"Okay, well hope we see you soon," Annabeth said as she waved her hand through the image, causing it to disappear.

"Trish you can't!" Damian said a little too loud.

"I have to, I need to visit your mother."

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