Disclaimer: All characters, settings, or other story components taken from the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo series belong to J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. I do not own any of the aforementioned. I do not intend to use this story commercially.

A/N: Yay! Two chapters in one day! This chapter is short, but it makes more sense to split it like this. With a little bit of luck, I will get the next chapter out today, too! Please read and review!

"You know, I used to hate group hikes," Leo remarks from beside me. "But none of them were at all like this."

I laugh, pushing a branch out of our way. "I'll say."

We're near the front of a long chain of campers walking through the woods. Just ahead are Piper and Hermione, deep in conversation. In front of them are Percy and Frank, and Annabeth, Nico, and Hazel are in the very lead. I've asked them to retrace the steps they took when they were fighting the hellhound.

"I think we were going a little more to the left!" Leo calls, hands cupped around his mouth.

"Were we?" Percy asks, looking around at the trees. They stop, clustering together to discuss which way to go. Leo jogs ahead to join them.

I turn, watching as the campers behind us come to a stop. Right behind me, Luna is chattering about something to Will Solace, who looks mildly interested. Behind them, a couple of campers from the Hecate cabin are arguing about something with Harry, Ron, and Neville. They're followed by a clump of kids from the Hephaestus cabin who are carrying the net. Behind them are the campers from the Hypnos cabin and the others that volunteered to come, including a group of demigods who, according to Leo, came with Frank and Hazel from the Roman camp in California.

"Sophy!" Annabeth calls, waving an arm. I start and turn. "We're going again!" She and Hazel drop back a bit to walk with the other girls, and I jog a bit to join them.

"Are you sure we should be taking this many people?" Annabeth asks as I catch up.

I let out a breath. "Yes," I say, turning with her to watch the campers behind us. "I don't think the Watchman can transport enormous groups like this. Otherwise, he would've done all sorts of things to cause major problems."

"Hang on." Hazel turns to me, a finger raised. "You said that the Watchman could transport people over space and time, yes?"

"Yes," I echo.

"So, why hasn't he transported any of us over time yet? Why only over space? He could've practically decimated us that way, but he hasn't."

I pause, stumped. Hermione and Annabeth exchange baffled expressions. Piper's forehead creases in thought.

Suddenly, it hits me. I inhale sharply.

"Hermione." I turn to her. "What would you have thought if you'd seen the hellhound in the Forbidden Forest without any explanation? Or if you'd ended up at camp and I hadn't found you?" I turn to look at Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel, who are starting to look stunned. "Or if you'd ended up at Hogwarts with no explanation as to how you'd gotten there?"

There's a brief pause.

"If everything had happened right," Hermione says in a tiny voice, "the Watchman could've started a war."

We walk in silence for a moment.

Annabeth is the first to start talking. "If the Watchman decided just make all heroes vanish, the gods would be alerted to something wrong. But with a war on our hands, no one would be paying attention to whatever the Watchman would be doing."

"Gods," Hazel murmurs, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"That's actually really clever," Piper remarks. "I mean, he's evil. But it's clever."

"Hey!" Leo calls from up ahead. I look up. The boys have come to a complete stop a ways ahead of us. We hurry to catch up.

"Check it out," Leo says, grinning like a maniac. We come up beside him and stop.

A trail of broken branches and trampled undergrowth cuts across our path. Above my head, a couple of silver arrows are buried in a branch, and a few trees to our right are scored with claw marks.

"We found it!" Annabeth says, brushing the hair out of her face. Frank and Hazel high-five.

I step out into the middle of the path, looking both ways. They must have come through here fighting the monster, I reason.

"Which way?" I ask, turning back to the others.

Percy points to the right. "That way."

We start again. The signs of battle are clear as we walk along: silver arrows, claw marks on trees. One branch has a shard of what looks like gold buried in it. Behind us, the campers are beginning to fall silent.

"Here we are," Percy says.

We've come to a clearing disconcertingly similar to the one in the Forbidden Forest. The middle is empty, save for a couple of trampled shrubs and one fallen log.

Campers are coming into the clearing from behind us. The group of Hecate campers brush past me, still arguing with Harry, Ron, and Neville. Hermione rolls her eyes and hurries to join them. On the other side of the clearing, the Hephaestus campers have set down the net.

"That's everyone," Hazel says as the Roman campers file past me.

"Right." I push past a couple of Hypnos campers, making my way to the other side of the clearing. Hermione has broken up the argument; the Hecate and Hephaestus campers have started to spread out the enormous net. A couple of them have already backed up to the trees.

"Tie that end there to that branch behind you!" I call, edging around Harry and Ron. "Sorry, sorry." I squeeze past two Hecate girls. "Try to tie the ends about," I hold my hand up at my chest height, "this high. Yes, that branch there would work."

The other campers have found spots along the edge of the net. As the campers on my side tie their ends off to trees and branches, they go around the clearing to help. The middle of the net has already begun to drag on the ground.

"Hermione!" I wave my arm. "We need to charm it up! Hermione!"

"What?"

"We need to charm it!" I point at the center of the net. She nods, drawing her wand. A couple of the campers yelp when the dead center of the net starts to rise up into the air, lifting off of the forest floor. She ducks into the dome and I follow, helping her cast charms to secure it to the highest branches.

"That's it," Annabeth says from behind me. I turn. The campers have finished securing the net; it sits above the clearing like an enormous golden dome.

I check my watch and almost curse. "It's noon. Thalia and Jason and the others will be ready. We need to hurry."

"We need to hide, right?" She starts across the clearing toward some of the Hecate campers. "Start hiding the net!"

I turn the opposite way, winding my way through the campers. Above us, the net is starting to fade out, turning the color of the treetops and the sky. The dome is starting to clear; demigods are ducking under the edge of the net to hide in the surrounding trees. I start toward the center of the clearing.

"I'm ready when you are," Nico's voice comes from behind me.

"Alri-"

"Not quite yet!" A girl calls from opposite him.

I rock on the balls of my feet, alone in the empty clearing. It's disconcerting, knowing that I'm surrounded by my friends, but not being able to see anyone. I wish Liliya were here.

"Okay!" she calls again. "We're all hidden.

I take a deep breath, lifting up my chin. "Right."

I'm the one you want, aren't I? I try to broadcast my thoughts out, out so the Watchman can hear. Not the one that you want, but I'm the one standing in your way. My eyes narrow. I can feel sparks dancing at my fingertips. So, what are you waiting for? The silence hangs like fragile glass. I'm right here.

The air is completely still.

The faintest shadows start to pool around my ankles, little wisps of blackness clinging to my boots.

All of the sounds of the forest have quieted completely.

My vision darkens the faintest bit, and then again. The faint shadows have reached my knees.

Somewhere in the woods, a bird chirps.

My vision is fading into shadows.

Panic climbs into my throat. Nico? Nico?!

The shadows at my feet harden, suddenly, jerking me back into the clearing. Out of my peripheral vision, I can just see Nico, his forehead creased, concentrating hard.

The shadows soften, then freeze, then soften again. In front of me, the faintest of shadows have began to take on form: a tall figure, one hand outstretched toward me.

Nico thrusts out his hand in the same gesture.

An enormous, echoing, crack! echoes through the forest. My vision tears; I'm suddenly seeing three forests, the images laid atop one another. The shadows darken, coalescing into a corporeal figure.

Everything suddenly blurs, and I'm dropped into a sea of memories.