Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series, all rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 3 – An Unbelievable Betrayal

Thalia's POV

The conch horn sounded, signifying that it was time for dinner, so everyone made their way towards the dining pavilion. The atmosphere of the pavilion was the same as it usually was, very loud, people shouting to their friends at other tables and others laughing while talking to their siblings. Its amazing that the pavilion is even large enough for everyone to fit in, especially when they are acting absolutely crazy. Nico and I quickly made our way to the hades table so that we could watch for Annabeth and Aiden, and as expected, they both entered the pavilion together and they both sat down at the Poseidon table and continued talking. This could be a problem, we both knew that Hades didn't care about me sitting at his table or being in his cabin, but we didn't know what Poseidon would think or do to someone sitting at his table. It was considered extremely disrespectful to sit at other god's tables and Annabeth knew this.

I could see that the other children of Athena were confused as to why their cabin leader wasn't sitting with them, some were whispering while others wore disgusted facial expressions when they saw who she was sat with. Malcolm, the second in command of the Athena cabin seemed to be the most confused and annoyed, especially annoyed. He got up from where he was sat and started to walk towards us, probably thinking that we would know what was going on, which we did but we couldn't tell him.

"Hey guys, what's up with Annabeth? She's supposed to be sitting with us and she knows that she isn't supposed to sit at other god's tables, especially with people like him" he said gesturing to Aiden.

I gave Nico a quick glance to see if he understood that we shouldn't say anything yet, not before we find out what is actually going on, he nodded and started eating as if Malcolm wasn't even there. It's good that he understood me, but he still could've helped me with this situation. After a little pause, in which I was looking at Annabeth and Aiden laughing with each other, I finally came up with something to tell Malcolm, something that would hopefully satisfy him until we can tell him what is actually going on.

"I'm not completely sure Malcolm, I think that she is explaining to him how he is annoying some of the campers and that he should probably tone his bragging down a little. You know it must be annoying for her since he is Percy's half-brother and she knows more than anyone how wrong his statements are"

Malcolm looked back over to the two in question, probably contemplating whether or not what I told him was true, sometimes I hate how smart the Athena children are, well, some of them.

"You're probably right Thalia, I know for a fact that Aiden has been getting on my siblings nerves. She better not make a habit out of this though, who knows what could happen"

I gave him a fake smile, luckily this wasn't unusual for me, I didn't go out of my way to smile at people very often, so people saw my fake smile a lot and probably thought it was my real one. He just shrugged and walked back to his table to repeat what I told him. After another glance towards the Poseidon table I turned to face Nico who was now eating his portion of fruit. He is absolutely useless sometimes.

"Thanks for the help by the way"

He looked up from his plate and gave his usual cheeky smile that showed he was happy with himself. Not many people got to see his smile either, only me and Percy got to see it a lot, but others would see it every so often, Will being one of those people since Nico was dating him. We both turned back towards Annabeth and Aiden who were now laughing even louder than before, I can't believe she is acting like this, I've heard his type of humour, it wouldn't even make a clown laugh. Nico seemed to be thinking the same thing as he started aggressively stabbed his steak, it made me feel bad for the cow.

After a minute or two Nico gave me a quick jab in my side to gain my attention, I must have been too caught up in my last thought, stupid cows. The jab was followed up by another, this one was a little harder than the initial one, I guess he wanted my attention, not just to snap me out of my thoughts.

"What Nico, those jabs actually hurt a little"

He recoiled at my statement, unquestionably afraid that I was about to retaliate with some form of electric attack, that made me chuckle.

"Sorry Thals, you were kinda zoned out. I was just saying that Annabeth is as close to Aiden as she can get without being on top of him, and we're not the only ones who have noticed this"

He gestured back towards the Athena cabin who were all whispering to each other, except for the few that were obviously replying to their whispering siblings. They were saying things like 'she would never do that' and 'she is still dating Percy'. Malcolm wasn't joining in with the rumours, instead, he was looking over to us, I say looking, he was actually glaring. I guess he no longer believes what I told him.

Everyone was interrupted by a sudden shout from Chiron and the dining pavilion quickly became silent so that everyone could hear what the centaur had to say.

"Hello everyone, its good to see that you are all happy and getting along with each other…" I swear I saw a quick glance towards the Ares cabin with this statement, "I have some announcements to make, the first one being to the newer members of the camp, if you leave the large hellhound known as Mrs O'Leary alone then she will not chase you"

All of the senior members of the camp basically fell to the floor laughing after this announcement while the campers that it applied to were looking distressed. I guess having an enormous hellhound walking around camp wasn't normal for them just yet. I couldn't see Nico anymore because of the tears in my eyes from laughing so hard but I think I could hear him laughing as well, we were laughing for so long that we didn't notice that Chiron was almost at the end of the announcements. We didn't really care either as we basically knew everything that went on at camp, but the last announcement caught our attention.

"Lastly, the sword training will continue to be conducted by Clarisse until further notice as the normal trainer, Percy Jackson, has yet to return from his quest"

The dining pavilion was over taken by whispers, a rumour was quickly sent around saying that Percy must be dead, if I had to make a guess I would say that it originated from the Ares cabin. Soon enough everyone was discussing this new rumour, many were saying that it was impossible because of how powerful Percy is while others were taking the opportunity to attack him, the main culprits being Aiden and his followers.

"I told you guys, Percy is weak compared to me. I knew that the coward would die on his stupid quest, I bet it was something even a mortal could have done with ease". His followers erupted with laughter and agreement but all I could look at was Annabeth. She wasn't even trying to deny the statements, she was actually laughing with the morons.

Many of the other campers were also looking on in disbelief, Malcolm and Clarisse looked like someone had died, like they didn't recognise the person that was occupying Annabeth's body anymore. Malcolm definitely didn't belief what I told him now.

I suddenly felt the pavilion get darker, I looked around and saw shadows starting to creep in and devour the light, they were never ending. I gave Nico a quick static shock to snap him out of his rage, I was so focused on what everyone else was doing that I didn't notice him going red with anger at the rumour and accusations being made towards Percy. He gave a little yelp of pain due to the shock and then noticed what he was doing, he quickly got rid of the shadows before anyone else noticed and thanked me for snapping him out of whatever that was.

"It's ok Nico, I'm as angry as you are right now but we can't do anything rash, even if I do want to strike them all with lightning until they take it all back"

He gave a small laugh, I could tell that he was having a hard time with Percy being gone, similar to me but in more of a missing your big brother sense. They are really close, I think Percy somewhat fills the void that Bianca left. I knew that Percy wasn't dead, I could feel it, or I at least hope that I would feel if something bad happened to him, I know that we have that kind of connection.

Chiron shouted again, instructing everyone to head towards the campfire. Everyone started to get up and go, most people were still talking about Percy while others were actually listening to Aiden's followers, don't tell me that they are starting to believe them, there's only so many idiots that I can put up with.

I then turned my attention back towards Annabeth who was whispering something into Aiden's ear. She is really starting to piss me off now, how can she be acting like this when she knows that it would break Percy's heart, does she not even care anymore? Aiden smiled and nodded which was followed by Annabeth grabbing his hand and dragging him away from the crowd. I tried to follow them, but they ran around a corner and were gone, I can't believe I lost them. I walked back to where Nico was to explain what happened, they were smart to use the crowd as a distraction.

"I don't know where they've gone Nico, I was following them then they just vanished. They were heading towards the cabins, but they would be found there, I have no idea where they would go"

Confusion came over me as I saw Nico shake his head and roll his eyes, I was obviously missing something… oh, I'm such a massive idiot. How did I forget that, I guess with everything that went on it completely slipped my mind.

"They're heading towards the beach, that's where they were sneaking off to! I can't believe I forgot that!"

Nico was laughing, I hate it when he remembers or knows stuff that I don't, its like when your younger brother understands a joke that you don't.

"Come on Thals, I know you must be tired, but we need to catch up to them"

See what I mean, when he knows that he's caught me out he is almost unbearable. I gave him a little shock that got him to quickly refocus on the task at hand, he then shadow travelled us towards the beach so that our plan could start. Tonight, I will find out what is going on, one way or another.

Annabeth's POV

Sneaking away from the campfire was strangely exhilarating, I never thought doing something like this would give me such an adrenaline rush. I don't feel any guilt or shame and I'm not even worried about being caught, what would they even do to me, I have partial immortality and am with the most powerful demigod that I've ever seen. Maybe that's why I feel like this, because I'm with Aiden, I think I could actually be falling for him.

We continued to run off towards the beach, I grasped his hand as if I was dangling over Tartarus and practically dragging him along the floor because of how alive I felt. He looked like he was having just as much fun as I was which made me smile even more than I already was. The beach was deserted when we arrived, obviously because everyone was at the campfire and didn't dare skip it, wimps. The smell of the sea combined with the feeling of the breeze on my face made me feel refreshed, like I had just woken up from the best night's sleep possible. The sea was perfectly calm, no waves could be seen anywhere allowing it to shine beautifully under the gaze of the full moon in the cloudless sky. The light reflected from the water lit up the beach in a way that made it look like it was one of those carefully designed beaches from a cliché love film, adding to my feeling of astonishment. It would have been a great night to be alone and sit on the soft sand, combing my toes through it, pondering the events of the day, but because I was with Aiden, I had a feeling it would be more than a great night.

"I can't believe that we're doing this, I would never do anything like this normally, I'm too much of a good girl"

I smirked while saying this, hoping to get a reaction out of Aiden which I definitely did. He stopped and pulled me down onto the sand so that I barely missed falling directly on top of him, much to my dismay, and we both ended up laying on our backs laughing like we were just normal teenagers without a care in the world. He then got up slightly so that he was leant over me while resting on his left elbow, his beautiful black hair shining in the moonlight and his sea green eyes staring straight into mine.

"You know, you don't look like much of good girl right now. You look like you just snuck out of your house to meet up with a boy that your parents don't approve off"

Another smile crept its way along my lips, what is it about him that makes me feel like this?

I was now sitting up, facing the sea, trying to figure out my emotions and eagerly waiting for him to talk again, his voice was enchanting and smooth unlike anything I had heard before. After a little pause, I decided to speak so that he wouldn't get bored and leave, would he even do that?

"Dinner was a bit crazier than normal tonight, don't you think? Especially after I sat with you and the announcements"

Aiden was now staring across the sea instead of hungrily staring at me, this made me a little annoyed then I wondered what this night actually felt like for him. Sure, it made me feel amazing but with him being the son of Poseidon I imagine the sea and the breeze made him feel incredible, I wonder if I make him feel the same way that he makes me feel. This flawless image of him was then disrupted when he responded.

"I'm not sure, it seemed like everyone was just as crazy as they usually are, but I guess you would know better than me since you've been here longer. I did notice that there was an increased amount of rumours going around though", he turned and smirked at me this time, a handsome smirk.

My cheeks reddened but I was unable to turn away from him. "I heard a lot of my siblings talking about us. I wonder what reasoning they came up with to justify me sitting with you, they think I'm perfect so they definitely wouldn't think that I sat with you just because I wanted to"

Aiden shrugged in response, I could tell that he didn't care what others thought about him. He only cared if they said that he was great and powerful, not if they were trying to tell him that he's not, I admire him for that. He knows what he is and won't let anyone else tell him otherwise.

"I heard a lot of them mention my weak little half-brother, they still seem to think that he's this incredible hero. None of them see that I am much more powerful than he ever was, I don't even believe that he did anything that they've told me about. I hope he is dead on that quest of his, then everyone will see what I mean!"

The mention of Percy in such a way should have angered me, I am his girlfriend but for some reason I see what he means. Everyone at camp thinks Percy is the strongest demigod to have ever lived even though most of the time it wasn't him who did the stuff in the stories. I was with him for almost every single quest and I did so much more than he ever did but I didn't get nearly as much attention. Then he has the nerve to ignore that attention as if it's nothing!

"You're right Aiden, Percy is weak, all that stuff that people say he has done is a lie, he was always surrounded by people like me and Thalia and we ended up doing nearly everything! He wasn't even the one to defeat Kronos in the first place, Luke did! Then he gets given all of the credit and acts all humble, ruining the opportunity to get the praise that I deserve"

"I thought you were his girlfriend? Aren't you supposed to defend him?", an even larger smirk appeared on his face than before, "Anyway, he doesn't deserve someone like you. How did he ever trick you into caring for him, how did he trick anyone into caring for him?"

I had to think for a moment when he asked me this. I have no idea how I ever cared for Percy, sure he acted like he would do anything for anyone, but it was never actually him doing anything, he was useless without me. That must have been it, I pitied him, he made everyone pity him, even the gods. I never actually cared for the weak son of Poseidon.

"I never did care for Percy, he just made me pity him Aiden. He is so weak that I felt like I had to help him, and I guess he just managed to manipulate me into going out with him. It worked for a little bit but then I just used him to get attention, like I deserve but then he acts humble and I loses it! It was never his to lose!"

The anger that I now felt towards the fraud son of Poseidon was the most anger that I had ever felt. I now see everything that Aiden has been saying about him to be true. I didn't even realise that I was digging my hands into the sand until Aiden grabbed them in his, I instantly calmed down physically, but my anger increased which I didn't even think was possible. How could someone as weak as Percy get all the praise when Aiden is so powerful and everything that a hero should be! From his stories everyone should be able to see that he has done so much more than Percy and that he deserves their praise!

"Calm down Annabeth, I'll prove to everyone how weak Percy is if he ever comes back to camp. I'll beat him in everything that he does and show everyone that I am the most powerful demigod to have ever walked the Earth!"

He explained this while displaying his control over the sea, it was no longer perfectly still instead it had large waves crashing into each other. I could see the concentration on his face telling me that it was difficult to do, this just proves even further that Percy is a fake. He could never control the sea like he does without cheating if it took Aiden this much energy and focus! I was so caught up in this thought and anger that I didn't notice him stop and turn to speak again.

"I take it this means that you're going to break up with him if he comes back"

This was more of a statement than a question, but it was true. I felt no positive emotions towards Percy Jackson and I now realise that I never did, I only used him for the attention that he was given.

"You're right Aiden, I am going to break up with Percy Jackson. I like someone else much better than him anyway, someone who is much more powerful, someone who will correctly use the praise that they get, someone who is exactly like me"

I crawled closer to Aiden while he was smiling widely at what I had just said. I have no regrets whatsoever for what I am about to do.

I stopped within an inch of his face and looked into his beautiful sea green eyes, eyes that were brighter and clearer than Percy's. He smiled again then I leant in and kissed him. The kiss was incredible, it was as if nothing else existed and it was only us. My lips fitted perfectly into his and the kiss went deeper than anything that I have ever experienced. I knew in this moment that I had never really kissed anyone before because none of my previous kisses felt anywhere near as good as this. He seemed to be thinking the same as he let out a little moan in pleasure. In that moment, I knew for sure that I didn't and never did love Percy Jackson.

This moment was perfect, I wanted it to last forever but of course knowing my luck, the moment didn't stand a chance.

3rd Person POV

The air around the couple suddenly became aggressive, almost dragging the two away from each other, then there was a loud bang as if someone had struck something with a whip. This caused the pairs attention to be dragged away from each other and Annabeth quickly grabbed Aiden and pulled him out of the way of a large projectile. If you hadn't been watching there was no chance that you would have seen what it was but for those with a keen eye, you could clearly identify the projectile as a lightning bolt.

Annabeth was recovering from the quick roll she had to do with Aiden, she had ended up landing on top of him this time and didn't know whether to be angry or grateful to the person who had tried to kill them. She settled on angry when she finally realised what it was that was thrown and who by. She looked up and saw a very pissed off Thalia stomping towards them with Nico trying to catch up to her.

Thalia's face was the reddest anyone's face could ever be, redder than a ripe tomato but what showed that she was extremely angry was the blue sparks that were flying off of her in all directions. Now Annabeth knew that she should be scared but her pride wouldn't allow it, instead she stood up and started shouting at the quickly approaching storm.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING! THAT COULD HAVE KILLED US YOU BITCH!"

You wouldn't think it was possible, but Thalia's face went even redder, no one should be within a mile of her right now, not even a god. This was even more evident when she started yelling.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A BITCH YOU DISGRACEFUL, PITIFUL, SORRY EXCUSE FOR A DEMIGOD! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING? YOU KNOW THAT PERCY DESERVES ALL OF THE ATTENTION THAT HE GETS BECAUSE HE IS THE ONE WHO COMPLETED ALL THOSE QUESTS AND TASKS, NOT YOU! HOW DARE YOU TRY TAKE CREDIT FOR IT ALL, HOW DARE YOU CHEAT ON HIM!"

Nico had now caught up to Thalia and was using his own strength and his powers of the surrounding shadows to slow her down to prevent her from killing the couple. Now don't get the idea that he isn't angry, he would very much like to open a fissure and allow it to swallow Annabeth and Aiden, but he knew that it would cause a lot of trouble. He instead chose to stop Thalia from doing something that would ruin her life.

He was succeeding in preventing her from getting close to the couple until Annabeth decided to open her stupid mouth again, how can a daughter of Athena be so stupid he thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about Thals, I'm just at the beach with my boyfriend, enjoying the beautiful view. You're the one who decided to interrupt us for no reason whatsoever." She said this with a noticeable smirk on her face, but she meant to do it, to anger Thalia even more.

There were even more sparks coming off of Thalia now, the sand around her was burning when they reached the floor, but she couldn't throw any more lightning, not because she didn't want to but because Nico had strategically placed himself between her and the cheater.

"I SWEAR TO GOD NICO, GET OUT OF MY WAY SO THAT I CAN KILL THEM BOTH!"

The words thundered throughout the air as if her dad had thrown his own master bolt, but Nico still didn't move, partly because the electric Thalia was giving off had paralysed him where he stood.

"No Thals, you need to calm down before you get yourself in trouble. They are not worth your time, she has made her choice, an incredibly stupid choice but its too late to take back now!", Nico made sure to turn and look into Annabeth's eyes as he spoke the end of his sentence.

Something everyone knew about Nico was that he gave off an aura of death and fear that caused everyone to be afraid of him, but he learnt to control it and reduce it so that he wouldn't make the other campers uncomfortable. However, this situation had made him so angry that he allowed his full aura to be felt, Thalia was too angry to feel it, but Annabeth and Aiden could. They had started to back away from him slowly with looks of absolute terror on their faces, Aiden looked like he had actually died because of how pale he had gone, he even stepped behind Annabeth for protection, but she wasn't much better.

After a minute or so, Nico gained control of his emotions and reduced his aura to what it was normally but the damage to the couple was already done. They now truly feared Nico and what he was capable of, so much for Aiden being the most powerful demigod.

Thalia had now calmed down slightly to the point where she could speak again, instead of just wanting to electrocute them where they stood.

"YOU NEVER DESERVED PERCY, ANNABETH. HE IS EVERYTHING THAT PEOPLE SHOULD ASPIRE TO BE AND YOURE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE!"

Annabeth, recovered from her fear-stricken paralysis but not daring to look at Nico, smirked at Thalia, so much for realising that she should be afraid.

"I deserve everything that I get Thals. I'm the hero of Olympus, if it wasn't for my constant guidance and knowledge, the stupid fraud son of Poseidon would have died long ago. I deserve the attention of everyone, and the gods and Aiden here will help us get it. He is after all the most powerful demigod and so much better than Percy, I can tell that just from that kiss"

The way in which she calmly spoke this infuriated both Thalia and Nico but also seemed to bring Aiden back to the land of the living. He had just been standing behind Annabeth listening to the confrontation between the ex-friends.

"You know she's right guys, I'm so much better than my stupid brother. Just admit it now then I won't have to prove it to you later and waste us all time", the smirk he wore could make anyone want to punch him in his hideous face.

"YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO PERCY! HE COULD BEAT YOU WITHIN A SECOND, YOUR CONTROL OVER THE SEA IS SO LITTLE COMPARED TO WHAT HE CAN DO. YOU NEED TO JUST FACE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE WEAK AND WILL NEVER BE ANYWHERE NEAR POWERFUL!"

Thalia managed to yell all of this without even pausing to breathe, the anger that she felt was unparalleled with anything that was alive or anything in the underworld. She was getting ready to throw another bolt of lightning but was stopped when Nico put his hand on her shoulder.

Aiden took this chance to try show her that she was wrong and that he was even more powerful than either of them. He had slowly started to draw in the sea towards them to attack them in the most dishonourable way he could imagine but he wasn't even smart enough to accomplish this.

Nico had quickly noticed what he was doing an had used his powers over the shadows to push the water back down the beach and kept doing so to prevent it from coming anywhere near them. The look of concentration and the rage on Aiden's face gave him the greatest feeling of accomplishment that he could experience in this situation.

"That shows just how weak you are Aiden, I would never be able to prevent Percy from drawing the sea towards us, he would have drenched and beaten me by now but preventing you is a walk in the park"

Aiden's face was red with anger towards the son of Hades and so was Annabeth's. She couldn't believe that he dared to insult her boyfriend right in front of her like she wasn't there but then he turned towards her and the fear she previously felt came rushing back.

"I'm disgusted just looking at you Annabeth, I thought you were one of the good ones, but I guess I was wrong. I've seen you trying it on with other guys for months, but they were all smart enough to stay as far away from you as possible!"

Just before Aiden was able to try say something in reply to the harsh words spoken to his new girlfriend, Thalia had started to once again conduct electricity and was preparing to shoot it at the couple after quietly listening to the exchanges. Nico wasn't in any position to stop her now as he had taken a few steps out of her way, thinking that she had calmed down, but he was wrong. Luckily for them all, the sound of heavy footsteps came charging towards them and Chiron arrived looking less than pleased with the rest of the cabin leaders.

"What are you children doing away from the campfire! You guys are supposed to be setting an example to the other campers and what on earth was that lightning bolt!"

Campfire – 10 Minutes Earlier

Chiron's POV

I was looking around the campfire for Thalia and Nico, I needed to talk to them concerning Percy. I was very worried that he hadn't come back from his quest yet and I was going to ask them whether or not we should send someone to look for him, knowing that if anyone would want to go, it would be them two.

I looked around the entire campfire twice and they were nowhere to be found, neither was Annabeth and that new camper, Aiden. I don't like that kid at all, for being Percy's half-brother he is as far from him as he could get. He was arrogant, self-centred, boastful and much more, it absolutely disgusts me but whenever anyone says something, it has no effect.

Anyway, is was unusual that Thalia, Nico and Annabeth would sneak away from the campfire, they never broke rules unless it was necessary like sneaking off on a quest to save the world, what if they are in trouble!

As if on cue, a large lightning strike could be heard from the beach, why can't those children ever tell me when something is wrong. I sighed at this thought but was forced to quickly recover when the campers started to panic and grab their weapons.

"EVERYONE STAY WHERE YOU ARE! You will all stay here while me and the cabin leaders go find out what that was. All senior campers protect the perimeter of the campfire and the younger campers. Cabin leaders follow me to the beach"

We quickly made our way towards the beach, ready for a fight if that is what we were running into. What could have made its way into camp and how? The minotaur? A hellhound? I guess we'll find out when we get there.

As we approached the beach, I could see the four who were missing from the campfire but there was no monster, I guess they could have killed it but there was no dust anywhere to signify that a monster was even present. Thalia and Nico stood next to each facing Annabeth and Aiden, but both of their faces looked like they had just seen their worst enemy, what has just happened here? Guess I'm just going to have to find out.

"What are you children doing away from the campfire! You guys are supposed to be setting an example to the other campers and what on earth was that lightning bolt!"

3rd Person POV

Before Thalia could speak, Nico quickly answered not wanting to give Annabeth any of the attention that she craved so much. The way he saw it, they shouldn't let anyone know what happened here today so that she couldn't get any attention because of it.

"Nothing is going on Chiron, nothing at all, we are all just fine. Thalia and I were just about to leave"

As soon as he finished talking, he grabbed Thalia's hand and shadow travelled them away but after a couple of minutes, another lightning strike could be heard from the forest.

Chiron, now incredibly confused and slightly worried turned towards the two that were left. He quickly noticed that they were holding hands but decided not to say anything, he was one of the people who saw Annabeth as a perfect person because he knew her for so long.

"You two get back to the campfire now! I will talk to you later after I gain some idea of what happened here today. The rest of you head back with them"

He had almost forgotten that the rest of the cabin leaders had come with him, expecting to have to fight a monster or two. Instead they had just stood there, silent as a mouse watching the scene just as Chiron had. They all started to head back towards the campfire and Chiron once again noticed that Annabeth and Aiden were walking while holding hands.

Now he started to think about what could've gotten Thalia and Nico so clearly enraged but he didn't think that Annabeth was capable of something like that. He once again elected to say nothing and heard yet another lightning strike from the forest, then he too headed back towards the campfire thinking about what had just occurred.