"This is pointless."

I sighed heavily, rubbing my temples as Zoe Nightshade continued to glare daggers across the table at Thalia. My sister didn't look much happier, her arms folded across her chest from her spot between Percy and Clarisse.

The head of every cabin in camp had been called by Mr D, who was currently sat at the head of the table beside Chiron. Apollo had forced me into the chair beside him at the other end where he could, in his words 'keep an eye on me.' On either side of us, the campers and hunters were scowling at each other.

"The prophecy said campers and hunters had to work together to prevail," Thalia insisted, leaning against the table.

"The hunters can manage fine alone," Zoe scoffed. "We must go to save our goddess, and this is wasting our time!"

"You need our help!" Percy snapped.

"Why would we need your help?" Bianca Di Angelo, the newly made hunter, said with a touch of distaste. I couldn't help scowling at her. She wasn't so quick to hate us when we were saving her life earlier. Apollo elbowed me pointedly.

"Because the prophecy says so, and have you ever tried to out run a prophecy?" Thalia sneered. Zoe didn't seem to like it – even I winced, avoiding look at Apollo as best as I could – but I could tell Thalia had finally gotten through to her.

"We don't have much time," Chiron said softly. "This Friday is the winter solstice, which means you only have five days left." My hands tightened around the arms of my chair and my lips pursed.

"Artemis must be present at the winter solstice," Zoe frowned. "She has been the most vocal on taking action against this rebel army. Without her, the gods will lose another year's preparations."

Mr D scowled at her. "Are you suggesting the gods don't work very well together?"

I scoffed loudly before I could help it, and Apollo elbowed me sharply again as everyone shot me a look. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"Acacia Grace is right," Zoe stated without so much as a flinch. "The gods do not work very well together."

Mr D flicked his eyes between us, looking on the verge of argument for a moment. Then his eyes settled irritably on Apollo's smug smirk and he shrugged a shoulder. "Point well made. Continue."

"Now we must decide who will be going on the quest," Chiron sighed, leaning forward against the table. Clearing his throat slightly, Apollo reached forward and grabbed my forearm, pulling me into the back of my chair with a pointed grin.

"I agree," Thalia nodded. "Acacia's out."

"Traitor," I scowled at her, yanking my arm away from Apollo.

"Three Hunters and two campers," Percy declared. "That's fair, right? If the Hunters and Campers have to work together to prevail?"

Zoe shifted in her seat awkwardly. "Very well. A small group may work best if we are to move at speed. Though that still leaves the question of where we are travelling?"

"The bane of Olympus shows the trail," Apollo recited, yawning widely. Everyone stared at him, as though waiting for more of an explanation, but he'd already lost interest and was flicking through tracks on his iPod. Once, a long time ago, that would have annoyed me a great deal. Now though, I noticed the small frown between his eyebrows and the way his eyes didn't move over any of the text in front of him.

"One shall be lost in the land without rain," Beckendorf muttered, shifting in his chair. "Sounds like you should avoid the desert, anyway." There was a mutter of agreement.

"What about the Titan's curse?" Silena blinked. "The Titan's Curse must one withstand…"

"Sounds painful," Clarisse scoffed.

I sighed. "Delicate as ever, Clarisse." She gave me a half-hearted shrug, her eyes hovering over the scar on the side of my neck. My eyes tightened. "That was Luke, not a Titan. It's not me."

Apollo flinched. "She's right. Not her."

There was silence for a second. "What about the whole one shall perish by a parent's hand thing?" Grover gulped. "Who's parent would kill them?"

Percy shot me a look and Thalia's eyes dropped to her feet. I knew what they were both thinking. Technically, none of us should have even been born. According to the Great Prophecy, we were a threat to Olympus. It was entirely possible that Zeus or Poseidon could kill one of us.

"Artemis went west and followed the trail of a monster," I said, clearing my throat and shaking the thought away as quickly as I could. "That's the way you need to go. So, which Hunters are going?"

Zoe regarded me cautiously for a moment. "I will go, as will our best tracker Phoebe. And I think… Bianca."

Bianca looked stunned, and more than a little scared. "Me? But … I'm so new."

"What better way to prove yourself," Zoe replied, sounding remarkably nice, by her standards at least. "And the campers?"

"I'll go!" Grover suddenly shouted, jumping to his hooves and knocking into the table. "Anything for Lady Artemis!"

She frowned. "You're a satyr."

"Hey," Thalia glowered at her. "He's still a camper. Besides, he's perfected that tracking song now, right Grover?" He nodded enthusiastically, and I saw the resilience drain out of Zoe's shoulders. She nodded wryly. "I'll go, too," my sister added.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Percy scowled.

"No," Zoe snorted darkly at him. "We will not have a male hero accompany us on this quest."

"What about Grover?"

"He's a satyr, that's different."

"Hey!" Grover protested, a little hurt.

"But I need to go on this quest!" Percy insisted angrily.

"Percy!" Chiron interrupted. "This is the Hunter's quest. They should be able to choose their own companions, as you have for your quests in the past. Zoe, you will travel west with Phoebe, Bianca, Grover and Thalia. You'll leave at first light tomorrow morning, and may the gods – present company included, I hope – be with you."

With that, everyone made to stand up, most muttering hurriedly under their breaths about what the quest meant and who they thought would die along the way. My eyes hovered over Thalia in worry for a moment, but she only smiled tightly at me and nodded once before disappearing with Grover and the Hunters.

"They'll be okay," Apollo mumbled at me quietly.

"Some of them," I corrected sourly. "I'm not stupid, don't lie." He frowned, but I'd already stood up and marched out of the room, scanning the dissipating crowd for signs of Percy. My lips pursed when I realised he'd disappeared completely, and I knew he was thinking about Annabeth.

Taking a deep breath, I broke into a run and headed straight back to the cabins. I knew when I'd been alone in Cabin One that that was sometimes the only place I could go to be alone and away from prying eyes. So I skipped up the steps to the door of Cabin Three and rapped sharply on the door. "Percy?" I called. "Percy, are you in there?"

No response.

"He's down by the creek!" Clarisse called loudly and I turned to see her spinning her spear in her hand. "Sulking by the looks of it."

I sighed heavily, skipping back down the steps and striding toward her. "Just … lay off him for awhile, would you?"

"Not likely," she scoffed, turning away again. I scowled after her for a second, before heading down to the creek to find him.

He was sat on the bank, skipping stones across the even, level surface. A frown sat over his eyes as the sun set in the distance. My lips pursing, I moved forward and lowered myself down to the ground beside him. "Hey," I greeted with a tight smile.

"Are you going to tell me it was a bad idea to offer to help the Hunters, too?" he grumbled.

"No. I think you already know that. Actually, I was going to ask you for help."

Percy sighed heavily and shot me a look. "That was my second guess."

I shifted. "I'm sorry, but I haven't got a choice. Apollo's watching me like a hawk, he isn't going to let me leave camp."

"So you want me to leave for you?"

"Not exactly," I grimaced. He lifted an eyebrow. "I need you to help me break out."

He blinked, speechless for a minute, in which time I could do nothing but stare but with a grimace and hope he wasn't going to explode as much as Thalia would do. Then, finally … "Are you insane?" he snapped under his breath, wide-eyed.

"No," I retorted. "But I have to do this, I can't just sit here!"

Percy twisted to look at me properly. "Acacia, they have enough people for the quest," he insisted, despite everything he'd been arguing for for the past hour. "You don't need to do anything, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"I already have!" I scowled back, and his face straightened. I gulped hard. "Percy, I know this is risky, but I can't leave things like this, alright? Between Artemis's request and Hera's threat, I-"

"Hera?" Percy blurted angrily. "What has she got to do with anything?"

I cursed myself internally, my muscles tightening strangely. "Nothing," I lied.

"Acacia," he warned through his teeth.

"I messed up, okay?" I groaned. "You think Apollo is just going to sit back and watch me die? I have to do some form of damage limitation, and if that means following Artemis's request and helping her, then I'll do it. Please, Percy. I wouldn't be asking if I had any other choice."

He cursed, running his hands over his face and letting his eyes bore into mine. "Fine," he eventually sighed, dropping his hands to his lap. "On one condition."

I grimaced. "Err, sure?"

"I'm coming with you," he frowned. "If you're helping Artemis and Annabeth, then I'm coming too."

"Great," I sighed. "So what now?"

Percy took a deep breath. "Now we break out of a camp protected by two immortal gods and hope they don't kill us both."

I stared. "Right. Should be easy."