(A/N) Shortest. Update. Ever. I'm trying to squeeze in as much chapters as possible before I go away later for Thanksgiving. I really want to make you guys happy!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

Annabeth POV

"Nice sword." Jason looked at me, his eye glinting murderously. He knew I was teasing him, after all he had stolen the sword just in case he needed to defend himself. He picked it up and looked over the Celestial Bronze blade with a frown on his face. I saw that he wasn't holding it right; two of his fingers, most likely the fake ones, were out of place. It was like how someone may hold a pencil wrong, only that if you held a sword wrong it could cost you your life in battle. I had to admit, I was hesitant to let Jason get away with this. I could easily report it to Chiron and the sword would be confiscated. I knew that the poor guy was just trying to be normal again, but he had yet to learn that there are some things that don't go back to the way they were. He needed to understand that.

"You're holding it wrong." Nico butt in before I could say anything. He adjusted Jason's fingers so that they were gripping the hilt properly. The son of Jupiter's frown deepened but he didn't object. I studied his face for a moment and realizing that he was developing little crinkles in the skin whenever he moved his mouth. At first I thought they were smile lines, but at further inspection I realized with a wrench of the heart that they were, in fact, frown lines.

"Why steal it anyway?" I dared to ask. I could see Nico bite his lip and study Jason's face for a reaction, but the son of Jupiter remained poker-faced.

"I'll need all the protection I can get. Nico and I are interrogating Percy in a few moments." he replied icily. I immediately felt indignation building up inside of me. Why were they so set on picking apart my boyfriend? Couldn't they just leave him be? He had the right to keep secrets and he didn't have to spill all of his personal life to a lost cause. But what if one of those secrets involves the murderer of Travis Stoll? a voice in my head asked. I quickly swatted it away. Percy was innocent. I was sure of that. How can you be so blind? the voice demanded, but it remained silent after that.

"Then I'm coming with you. He'll be more likely to spill if I'm around." I insisted, placing both hands on the table and raking my gaze over the two boys.

"This could be dangerous, Annabeth. Life-threatening, even." I threw my hands up in the air at Nico's remark. I was sick and tired of being warned of danger. I'd uncovered the Athena Parthenos and defeated Arachne all by myself. I braved Tartarus and defeated Giants and titans. My life was dangerous just as it was, and more danger piled on top of that wouldn't make any difference.

"If this job is so dangerous, then Jason shouldn't come!" I regretted the words as soon as they left my lips. The son of Jupiter bent his head and placed the sword back on the table, his blue eye glassy with tears. The Jason before the Shadow's Song would've just laughed it off, but I had yet to keep reminding myself that this new Jason was like fragile glass; one misstep and he'll break into a million pieces. There were already visible cracks on the surface, but if you kept stressing them they'll eventually cause the glass to shatter. I was a horrible person.

"I guess you're right. I am useless. I'll just get in the way. You and Nico can go, and while you're at it can you return the sword for me?" he said in a quiet voice and left the Athena cabin, leaving the sword lying dejectedly on the table. The hurt in his voice had nearly made me crack and a wave of guilt crashed down on top of me, pulling me under. I touched the hilt of the sword, which was still warm from Jason's grip on it. I picked it up and looked at the door, which Jason had not bothered to close. I could see his blonde streak of hair making its way towards the Zeus cabin, and if I squinted I could see the slump of his shoulders and the hang of his head as he basked in his own shame.

"You shouldn't have said that." Nico growled. "We shouldn't have come here in the first place. We are a team, Jason and I. We were planning to crack this case together, and we thought it would be wise to seek your assistance, but apparently you'll just tear this entire mission apart. In fact, it was Jason's idea to come here; he trusted you and thought that you would offer a helping hand. Jason and I plan to crack this case, Annabeth, both of them. Jason was right; Travis' murder and Percy's personality change are somehow connected, and if you won't help us solve the case then we'll do it without you." With that, he stormed out of the cabin and broke into a sprint, calling after Jason and slamming the door behind him.

I sighed and massaged my temples. What was I going to do? A part of me wanted to crack the code; figure out who killed Travis and why Percy was acting so strange, but another part of me feared what I'd find out. What if Percy was the murderer? What would I do if or when he was exiled? What could I possibly do without my boyfriend, my one and only love? But then again I had to make it up to Jason for treating him like garbage. I couldn't live with the guilt of knowing I'd let the poor guy down after all he'd been through.

When it came down to it, Jason was the stronger one. My feats were nothing compared to his. Sure, I survived Tartarus, but that was when I had Percy. He had been trapped inside his own mind and tortured to the edge of insanity by the manifestation of a horrible disease, and he had to brave it alone. He had to survive with knowing that he was not who he used to be, that he was weaker and not capable of his usual feats. He had so much taken away from him and little reward in return.

If I had been him I would've taken my own life at this point, but Jason had managed to struggle through it, clinging to anything good that came about. I hadn't given credit to him, much like everyone else. He hadn't killed monsters or fought wars to get in the state he was in now, he had been infected with a disease that he allowed to take over his mind. Most would consider that weak, but the fact that he was able to survive made him strong in my eyes. I had to apologize.

-Ω-

"It's okay, I guess." Jason said softly, running a hand through his unkempt blonde hair. I wrung my hands behind my back. After much shed tears, shouting and screaming at Nico to make me leave, Jason had finally let me in so I could apologize. His eye and nose were still flushed pink from crying and his hands were trembling in his lap. His head was bent and his shoulders were hunched. He looked…defeated.

"I'll help you. I'll do anything to make it up to you. Heck, if it comes to the point where we have to torture the answers out of Percy, I will be there to assist you. Please, Jason, I know I don't deserve forgiveness and that you have every right to be angry at me for the rest of eternity, but all I'm asking is that you don't act like it." I pleaded. Jason nodded slowly and rose to his feet, gingerly taking the sword that I had in an outstretched hand. I had retrieved it from the table so he had something to defend himself with just in case things got physical with Percy, but I knew it was mostly because I felt bad that he was normally not allowed to be armed.

With a gesture to follow, he slipped out of the dark and gloomy Zeus cabin. I turned to follow when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to Nico, whose eyes were as cold as shards of ice. "You can get reborn and live one thousand lives and still never deserve the compassion of that boy." he growled lowly. He followed Jason out the door, leaving me stunned and rooted in place. Pretty soon, I followed with a shake of my head.

We marched to the Poseidon cabin side-by-side. People parted and watched with curious eyes as we paused in front of the door. A crowd slowly began to form behind us, like gathering shadows at sunset. They watched us, their interest evident by the sparkle in their eyes and the excited whispers passed among them. Nico raised his hand and rapped on the door, his jaw setting stubbornly. There was a pause and only silence remained, along with the sounds of crickets chirping, leaves rustling, and the distant call of a monster in the woods beyond.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, there was the sound of the door unlocking and it swung open, revealing Percy leaning in the doorway. His hair was tousled, his shoulders relaxed, and his sunglasses glinting in the light of the sun. "What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice filled with amusement. His attention averted to the excitedly whispering campers clustered behind us. "I see you've attracted quite a crowd."

"We need to talk." Jason replied flatly in a surprisingly chilly tone. I'd never heard him speak in such a way. He scanned the crowd with his critical blue eye. In a louder voice he added, "In private." There was a chorus of disappointed complaining that was silenced by an angry look from Nico.

"Sure. Come on in." Percy replied with a scowl and held the door open as the three of us entered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him give me an odd look as I passed, but I kept my eyes trained ahead. He closed the door and I was aware of him locking it from the inside. It was dark in Cabin three, very dark. Black curtains so long they touched the ground covered the windows and obscured all sunlight. I'd never seen them before, come to think of it. Normally my boyfriend preferred the tingling heat of the rays on his back and did his best to soak up as much sun as possible; it was unlike him to cover the windows. Percy usually suggested that we hang out on the beach or in the Athena cabin, but we had never gone to his cabin in the last few weeks or so. I had to admit, that was a little strange.

"So, what do you want?" he asked in a tone that seemed way too harsh for it to be coming from my Percy's mouth. He crossed his arms and a muscle in his jaw twitched with agitation.

"First of all, I can you remove the glasses? It's so dark in here I have no idea why you'd still want to wear them." Nico asked.

"I'd prefer not to." the son of Poseidon replied stubbornly, his voice holding a hint of deadly warning. Something was definitely wrong; that almost sounded like it had a hint of threat in the undertone. Why would Percy threaten Nico just because the son of Hades asked him to take his sunglasses off? He may not have wanted him to see his surgically altered eye color, but then again he should've thought situations like these before he did it.

"It was a rhetorical question." Jason spat. He waved his hand and there was a large gust of wind that sent Percy's sunglasses hurtling across the room. They twisted in midair and landed in Jason's outstretched hand, which the son of Jupiter then tossed behind his back. I had to admit, his wind powers were pretty cool and very beneficial. Percy turned to us and I saw the two boys sucked in a breath. I realized that his red eyes were glowing dimly in the dark, a property that I was almost positive didn't occur when you got your eye color surgically altered.

"How dare you." he snarled, his voice sounding rather feral. In an instant he unsheathed a horrible, jagged black sword that I had never seen him wield before. Nico, Jason, and I exchanged a look that clearly stated: Where's Riptide? "That was very, very rude." the son of Poseidon snorted, though his voice was devoid of all humor. Jason made a low rumbling sound in his throat and I saw him tighten the grip on his sword. His fingers were out of place again and I knew that if, God forbid, it had to come to sword fighting, the first blow would send the sword clattering out of the son of Jupiter's hand. Nico was visibly trying to keep in control. His expression was a mask of indifference and the only way to tell that he was nervous was the shaking of his hands as he gripped the hilt of his Stygian Iron sword.

"Percy," I began in my most soothing and calming voice, "we just want to talk. Put down your weapon." My boyfriend made a hissing sound and lowered his sword, but still didn't put it down. It was good enough for me, but Jason and Nico still seemed a little wary. I tried again, this time rephrasing it, "I want all of you to put down your weapons. This is going to be a peaceful talk." To prove my point, I took my dragon-bone sword and let it fall to the ground, kicking it out of reach. I heard the sound of one sword, two swords clattering to the ground. "Percy-" But he was already on top of me. I let out a guttural screech as he drove the sword into the ground a centimeter away from my ear.

"I gave you a chance, but now you've sided with them. How can I be your boyfriend if you don't trust me?" he whispered coldly into my ear. Nico and Jason groped for their swords in the dark, calling to me and asking if I was alright. There was banging on the door as the campers outside began to suspect something was wrong.

"What's going on?"

"It's locked from the inside…"

"…can't break it down for some reason."

Their worried exchanges only made my heart race faster. Percy looked at me in the eyes and his pupils slit like a snake's. That's when I realized that Percy could be the murderer; sadly, it all made sense. I had been ignorant towards this new, vicious side of him, as the other campers had been as well. Nico and Jason had been the only one with suspicions and now we were fighting in his cabin.

"I'm sorry Percy." I murmured and brought my knee up to his groin. He let out a grunt of pain and that gave me just enough time to wriggle out from under him. It was not long, though, that Percy was on his feet again, his horrifying eyes gleaming with a terribly evil light. Tis was not Percy. This was a monster. But what if Percy is the monster? the voice that I had been trying to avoid talking to asked me. I ignored it as usual and found the hilt of my sword in the dark.

Nico and Jason were beside me as we circled around the son of Poseidon, whose sword was still buried deep into the floor in the spot that he had formerly pounced on me. He couldn't possibly beat us three to one, he was just Percy, and he was unarmed. That's when he raised his hand and his sword flew into it, shining a wicked red in the dim light emitted by his eyes.

"Trinity." he whispered, which I guessed was the sword's name, and the sword set ablaze with Greek fire. He waved it at us with a sinful pirate grin on his face, cracking across his normally beautiful features like a horrible scar. We retreated like scattered mice being scared by footsteps. I let out a growl of frustration, since he didn't let any of us get close; if we even took a step forward we found Percy's blazing blade leveled at our faces.

Jason was at a clear disadvantages out of all of us. Chiron should've trained him to fight with one eye; how to not let people sneak up on your blind spot and other techniques. But Chiron had been a fool, thinking that Jason would just stand off on the sidelines with the younger campers who could not fight if a war began. That was against Jason's nature, and he was more likely to get hurt than anyone else. I made a mental note that if I survived this I would start giving Jason training lessons, whether Chiron and Mr. D liked it or not.

"This is becoming quite boring. Let's ramp it up, shall we?" Percy said with cruel laughter fringing his voice. With that, he lunged and slammed the flat of the blade into Nico's chest. I heard the horrifying crack of ribs breaking as the force sent him crashing into the wall, where he slid to the ground, unmoving. Percy's agility, speed, force, and power were all incredible and surpassed that of everyone else. I had no idea how we were going to beat him.

"Nico!" I cried. That's when I turned to see Percy raising the hilt of his sword. There was a horrible pain as it connected with my skull and everything went black.

-Ω-

Jason POV

Now I usually would insist that I wasn't weak; that I was capable of holding out in a real battle, but now that the battle was actually happening I wasn't so sure. Both of my friends were knocked unconscious and I wasn't even sure if they were alive or dead or not. I was locked in a small, pitch-black cabin with a demonic psychopath that used to be my friend, the only light coming from the sword that he was holding that blazed with a fire that could potentially burn me to a crisp. Yeah. Fun.

On top of that, I was rusty with a sword and he was probably the best swordsman out of all the demigods. I had two missing fingers, couldn't hold a sword that didn't balance right properly, and one eye. He was the extremely physically fit savior of Olympus twice-over. 'Nuff said.

"You're odds aren't that great." Percy said with false pity, twirling the sword like a showoff.

"I can see that." I hissed through gritted teeth as we circled each other, nobody striking out at the other.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's dance, Sparky." he growled and leveled the sword at my throat. I swatted it away with my sword and forced myself to grin just as wickedly as him.

"Right back at you, Kelp Face." I growled in reply and all hell broke loose.