"What?"

I couldn't tell who the shouts had come from this time. They'd been arguing over my fate for nearly an hour, leaving me stuck in bed with a throbbing headache.

"You can't be serious. You want to kick her out?"

"She's dangerous!"

The same points had been argued over and over for the last hour. I'd figured out that anything I said would be twisted by whoever wanted me gone, so I kept my mouth shut.

The teams changed with every reason brought up, making it impossible for me to tell who was really on my side. Piper never swayed though, always arguing I should stay. Maybe she really was my friend.

"How do you know that?"

"She's Kronos' daughter!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shouldn't have even spoken, but I was sick of them arguing over my fate like I wasn't even there.

"Kronos is evil." It was Annabeth talking this time, and she was determined.

"So that makes me evil?"

She bit her lip, hesitating slightly. No one here was exactly like their godly parent, and I hoped I was no exception.

"Are you just like Athena because you're her daughter?" Piper argued, her voice incredibly convincing.

"Don't charmspeak me McLean," Annabeth warned, a dangerous undertone in her voice.

"I'm just saying. Do I seem like Aphrodite to you? No. Because we're our own people, regardless of who our parents are."

"Inspirational advice, Beauty Queen. But I don't think that'll make them change their minds." The room went quiet, none of my accusers meeting my eyes. "Oh, come on! You just called me evil, don't develop a conscience now!" No one smiled. "Fine, go back to arguing. It definitely won't cause another hour of yelling."

Annabeth finally spoke. "She's got a point. We're not gonna agree on something like this."

"Then let me go on your quest."

"What?"

"That prophecy? 'Golden daughter shall embark,' That's obviously me, so I need to go on the Argo II."

"Of course! Embark is the technical term for boarding a ship, and your sword and his eyes…Oh it makes so much sense!" Annabeth rushed out of the room, darting up the stairs towards the library.

"Guess that's one vote for me."

"Hold on." Jason held his hand up. "You're volunteering for a quest?"

"If it'll let me stay here." I forced myself not to let my emotions overwhelm me. This was the only place I'd ever felt at home, and now it might be taken away from me.

Piper looked up, concern in her eyes. "You do know it's gonna be super dangerous right? Like, you could die or—"

"Just a normal day."

"But—"

"I'll be fine. This is what we train for right? Quests and stuff?"

"Okay."

"Two votes for stay. Jason?"

"Of course you can stay. But you could be dangerous." Piper glared at him. "What? I'm right! We have to consider every angle."

"Relax. It's only a little insulting. Chiron?"

"I think this one is up to the campers, child."

I looked at Rachel. "I'm no camper, but you should be allowed to stay."

All eyes turned to Leo. "I'm not voting on a person's fate." He sounded angry. "Why shouldn't she get to stay?"

"Because I'm 'dangerous'" I said, glaring pointedly at Jason. His shoulders stiffened, but he didn't speak.

"We don't know that. And it doesn't matter. Isn't camp supposed to be safe for everyone?"

"Of course, but—"

"But nothing. She gets to stay."

Why was he so mad about this? I guess it was good for me, but I couldn't help but wonder. He didn't even know me.

"Very well," Chiron said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "You can stay in one of the rooms in the Big House."

"Great," Will interrupted. "Can you all leave now? She needs to rest."

"What? I'm not even tired," I tried to protest, but Will had already shooed everyone out the door and turned the lights off.

"Go to bed."

I closed my eyes. Exhaustion rushed over my body, pulling me back into the world of my dreams.

It was terrible. Memories that weren't mine rushed through my head. Golden magic tingled around my skin, feeling so familiar yet so alien it made me sick. I sparred with monsters and demigods alike, kicking up the dust around our feet. I sat on a golden throne in a dark castle, humanoid creatures kneeling at my feet.

I watched as half-bloods died, feeling no remorse. I saw a cruise ship explode, not caring about its inhabitants. I stared as golden blood rained down around me, a wicked grin on my face.

But most of all, my father echoed throughout my mind. His cold laugh, cruel smile, callous eyes. The feel of his scythe scaping across my skin.

I hated all of it. My memories, my luck, my life. Especially my father. It was hard to think of him as that, but that was what he was. There was no denying the truth. I was the daughter of Kronos.

I woke up feeling terrible. A change of bandages and square of ambrosia later nothing had changed. But after Will forced half a dozen different medicines down my throat, he finally let me leave the infirmary.

Not that it did me much good. He'd forbidden me from participating in any activities, so I could only walk around camp. Alone.

Annabeth was busy decoding the prophecy, Rachel had gone back to her boarding school, and Piper had to lead her cabin in activities. Hanging out with Jason was not my idea of fun, and I barely knew Leo, so I headed for the woods.

I tried to ignore the whispers as I wove through the pavilions, but they became impossible to ignore. It was like being claimed had stripped me of my armor, and I had become defenseless against words.

'Just ignore them.' It was something my mom had always told me. Or…not my mom. I didn't know anything anymore. But I had to ignore it. One more step. Just survive.

I made it to the woods, taking a deep breath when I was finally surrounded by the trees. I was alone. Or, alone with dryads and monsters, but close enough.

I walked as fast as I could, trying to run far away from the insults. 'Freak!' 'You don't belong here' 'Go back to Tartarus'

I was so focused on trying to escape the taunts echoing through my head, I wasn't looking where I was going and walked straight into something else.

I scrambled away from it, rushing to my feet and drawing my sword. When I finally saw what I had walked into, I dropped my weapon.

It was Leo.

"Oh, gods!" I yelped, quickly kneeling to help him up. "I'm so sorry!" One of my only supporters, and I walk right into them.

"It's fine. I was hoping to run into you anyways," he said, brushing the dirt from his clothing.

"You were?"

"Yeah. Though I wasn't imagining it would be so literal." I giggled at that, covering my mouth with my hand. He beamed. "You like my jokes? Sweet! No one else ever laughs. Come on!" He reached for my arm but stopped himself inches away from me. His smile instantly faded.

"It's okay," I whispered quietly, though part of me wanted to pull away. If the crew was going to trust me, I should trust them.

"Really? I mean if you're sure that's fine but—"

"Do you always ramble this much?"

"What? Oh, no I just—Sorry!"

I chuckled again, crouching to grab my sword. "It's fine. Now, where were you taking me?"

"Here, I'll show you. Follow me!" He dove back into the woods, grinning like a maniac. I sheathed my sword and followed him.

He led me through the woods, weaving through the trees in a well-known path. We broke through the trees, emerging into a clearing with a cave.

"Welcome to Bunker Nine!" he announced, spreading his arms wide.

"So this is where you've been hiding all this time?"

"It's where I've been building all this time. Want to see the Argo II? Seems like you'll be sailing on it."

"Lead the way, Repair Boy." I used the nickname Piper always used for him.

"What? I told Piper to stop calling me that," he grumbled, but he led me inside anyway.

I stopped in my tracks standing in the doorway, just trying to take it all in. The cavern was the size of a warehouse, with a half-built warship standing in the middle. Tables surrounded it, all covered in blueprints and tools. Half finished projects and plans lay abandoned all around the workshop.

"Wow."

"Impressive, huh? Made it myself. The ship. Not the bunker."

I laughed again. "Yeah, I got that."

"Right. So uh, come on." He led me past workbenches, stopping at one covered in golden wire.

"What's this?

"Just something I've been working on. It's what I wanted to show you." He plucked a black box off the table. It looked like a ring box.

"Who are you proposing to?"

"You! Uh, I mean—"

"I know what you meant. What's inside?"

"Right." He pried the lid open, revealing a golden ring settled inside. "Someone left these blueprints here, so I decided to make it with the gold they left behind. And I heard it was your birthday, so…"

"This is for me?"

"Yeah. It's a shield. You just have to twist it the right way," He reached into the box and began fiddling with the gem. "Got it!" The ring expanded, spiraling into a golden shield. "Ta-da! The mechanism took a while to figure out because of the compression, and the springs never—" He paused, the shine in his eyes fading. "Sorry. I'm rambling again."

"No, don't stop! Uh, I mean…you can keep going."

"Really?"

"Really."

He talked for at least an hour, but I listened to every word. He seemed so excited, and it really was interesting. He showed me exactly how everything in the cave worked, even the Argo II. He even told me some things about himself.

"Do you want to see my favorite place to think?"

"Sure?" I held out my hand, letting him lead me away.

I laughed as we ran. I hadn't had this much fun since I had got here. He led me out of the cavern and around the back, revealing a staircase carved into the rock.

"Ladies first," he said with a bow.

I laughed but accepted his invitation. I crested the top of the stairs, finally seeing the view. You could see the whole camp above the treetops. "Wow."

"It's beautiful, huh?"

"Yeah. Imagine stargazing up here."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I do get my best ideas up here. Like that." He pointed to the ring I had slipped on my finger. "That, I came up with right here." He walked over to the edge of the cliff.

"Didn't you say it was from a blueprint?" I asked, walking over to join him.

"Whatever."

I had no idea how long we'd been standing there, but my feet had gone numb when his hand bumped into mine. He went rigid and turned to meet my eyes. My face was burning, and he was blushing too.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay! I just—" I broke off into a scream. His nose had burst into flames. I stepped backwards, my foot finding nothing, sending me toppling over the edge.

My arms went searching desperately for a hand hold, only finding branches. But before gravity could pull me over, a hand grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling, pulling me back onto the stone. I collapsed on top of Leo, my heart racing.

I rolled away when I realized I was laying on him. He sat up but stayed silent. I looked where his eyes had caught, letting out a gasp. The woods were on fire.

It had started right where I had tripped.

Did I do that?

There wasn't time to wonder. The fire devoured the trees faster, the screams of dryads filling my ears.

"NO!" I realized the shouts had come from me as I threw out my hands. Nothing should've happened, but I felt a tug in my gut. A second later we were soaked.

Did I do that?

The answer was obvious, but my brain felt like it had short circuited.

I did that.

We somehow got back to the Big House. Someone had wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.

I did that.

I heard the dim sound of people arguing, but I couldn't tell for how long. My perception of anything was gone.

I did that.

The buzz finally stopped. Someone wrapped their arms around me, and I didn't even flinch. I could tell it was Piper as she leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"You can stay."

I could stay. I could stay.

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry, or run or scream. But I couldn't make myself move. So I just stayed there, leaning into her embrace.

I could stay.