AN: Chapter 10, double digits now!

zsouthwell: Yeah, Zoe will be in the chapter. :D

Haruyuki (Guest): Yep, your OC was great! And there is a poll, but it's closed now.

AnimeXMangaAddict: Thanks! I really like Clarisse, and I'm glad you like her too!

Thantos Daughter: Thank you!

L. Lawliet-Rue Ryuzaki: You're welcome… And thank you.

Rose Daughter of Euterpe: Okay! And thanks!

GuestD (Guest): Thank you so much!

LyingTruth123: Yeah, I'll put her in later, with a twin brother if that's all right with you.

Air Flare: Thanks. I'll try to keep the POV switches at no more than three or four, maybe five, but I just love switching POVs… This chapter only has two, though!

aesir21: You're welcome, and thank you!

MysticLion: Yep. :D

.deceptive: Thank you.

Gold Testament: Yeah, explained in the PM.

jchizzie123: Chaos army won, by ONE. Sorry.

Silver Moon Huntress: Wow! The winning results!

briodeo97: Sorry…

NA (Guest): Sure.

Starstryker97: Thank you. ;D

njbhyguiho (Guest): I'm really, really, really sorry about this, but I started writing this chapter before you reviewed, and when your vote came in, I already wrote the part with Piper and Leo, and didn't want to start over…

Vote Results:

Wandering demigods: 17

Chaos army: 18

Camp Half-Blood: 4

Not traitors: 24

Traitors: 5

Disclaimer: I did just make a bunch of OCs, but Percy Jackson is not one of them.

Chapter 10: Powerful Demigods Appear

Third Person's POV (at Camp Half-Blood)

After Thalia and the Hunters left, the campers just stood around staring at the remains of the Athena cabin. As they looked, an owl flew down from a tree branch nearby, landed on the pile of wood where the doorway used to be, and regarded them with large inquisitive eyes. When it started to glow brightly, the campers averted their eyes. When they looked back, Athena stood in the place of the owl.

"Lady Athena," said Chiron, kneeling immediately.

The campers all followed his example.

Athena's piercing gray eyes skimmed over the kneeling campers, taking the time to look at each of them individually. To the campers, it seemed like she was studying each of them carefully, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. They shifted nervously. The entire camp held its breath.

Finally, Athena broke the silence. "Rise." She turned to survey her demolished cabin. "What happened here?"

"Lady Athena-" started Chiron.

"What happened here?" she asked again.

"Thalia," said Chiron. But before he could continue, Athena interrupted him.

"Thalia," she repeated. "What gave her the impression that she could destroy my cabin, and not face my wrath afterward?" She stormed off in the direction of Cabin Eight.

"No!" cried Chiron. "It was not entirely her fault!" Athena turned to stare him down, but he met her stare without flinching. "Thalia found out that Annabeth, your daughter, cheated on Percy, one of her best friends." Athena winced at this. Most of the campers gasped at the truth. "It was coincidence that she was in your cabin at that time. It could have easily been a couple of trees in the forest."

Athena had a pained look on her face. "If that is indeed the truth… then Thalia is not at fault." Her expression turned hard. "But Annabeth…" She gazed off in the distance. "My cabin will be repaired?"

"Of course, Lady Athena. As soon as possible," said Chiron.

Athena nodded silently. "See to it. I must return to Olympus."

With a bright flash, she was gone.

The campers all heaved a sigh of relief. They had just been in the presence of a goddess whose cabin had just been destroyed, and they were still alive.

They exchanged glances with each other, and then ambled off to whatever activity they were doing. Chiron gave them a reassuring smile, and then cantered off towards Cabin Eight, where the Hunters, and Thalia, were.

"Thalia!" he called, knocking on the door to Artemis's cabin. When no one answered or opened the door, he knocked harder. "Thalia!"

Finally, the door opened. Phoebe stepped out of the cabin with her bow slung over her shoulder.

"Hello Chiron."

Chiron smiled kindly at Phoebe. "Hello Phoebe. I need to speak with Thalia."

"Well… I can take a message to her. What do you need to tell her?" asked Phoebe.

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "I need to speak with her in person, Phoebe… Where is she? Has she gone somewhere?" He squinted suspiciously through the open doorway.

Phoebe reached behind her to slam the door shut. "I suppose you could say that…"

Chiron nodded understandably. "She left, didn't she?"

"Um… Uh, well…" Phoebe stammered.

"Did she leave to go after Percy?"

Phoebe shook her head. "No. She left for the daughter of Athena."

Chiron's mouth gaped open, speechless for a moment. Then, he closed it. "Well, that's somewhat expected. Perhaps she can knock some sense into Annabeth."

"You… you are all right with Thalia going after the daughter of Athena to avenge her friend and cousin?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes," Chiron said simply. "Annabeth… She has changed. Perhaps it is because Thalia never came to camp much to see her. If Thalia finds her, and talks with her, she might see the truth."

"You are worried about her," Phoebe stated.

Chiron nodded.

"You still care about her."

Again, he nodded.

"Why?" Phoebe questioned. "She is a disgrace to women. A man who leaves a woman? That is normal, even expected. But a woman who leaves a man with a pure heart is unheard of."

"Annabeth was guided in the wrong direction," Chiron said. "If certain forces were not working so hard to keep her and Percy apart, she would not have done so. I ask you to forgive her."

Phoebe didn't even have to think about it. "No. I do not know her very well, but her actions show me what she is like. I will not forgive her. The Hunters will not forgive her. And Lady Artemis will never forgive her."

Chiron sighed. "You will never forgive her?"

"In time…" Phoebe paused.

"That is all I ask," said Chiron.

"And that is all I will give," replied Phoebe.

She stepped back into Cabin Eight, and closed the door softly. Chiron sighed again, slowly making his way back to the Big House.

Percy's POV

We landed on a sidewalk, cars streaming past us. I stepped onto the sidewalk. Blackjack devoured a donut that had somehow survived the fight with the hydra.

This donut's delish, boss.

"So," said Nico, getting off Raven's back, "what are we going to do now, Perce?"

I paused. I hadn't really thought of that. "I… I still love her, Nico."

He grinned, like he knew I was going to say that. "Well, let's go, then." He got back on Raven's back.

"Wait… What?"

"We're going back," he said. Raven started off in the direction we came from.

I called him back. "Nico… We can't. I can't put her in danger. Do you have any idea how many monsters five demigods would attract? Especially if three of them were sons of the Big Three?"

He laughed. "Didn't Poseidon teach you how to cover your demigod scent?"

"Huh?" I had never even heard Poseidon mention that.

He frowned. "You seriously don't know?"

I slowly shook my head.

"Wow…" he muttered. "My father taught me… But the only reason he would was that Poseidon was going to teach you, and Zeus was going to teach Thalia…"

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to recall the few months of training at my father's underwater palace. I couldn't remember anything about shielding my demigod scent from monsters. But I could remember multiple times when that skill would have been really useful to know. I could also remember what my father had told me on the first day of training: "I will teach you everything there is to know about water, Perseus."

"He never taught me that…" I muttered. Another betrayal.

"Well, I guess it's okay, since I can probably show you how," Nico said matter-of-factly.

"You can?" I asked, shocked.

Nico shrugged casually. "Sure, Perce."

Maybe that's why he never taught me. Maybe it was because someone else would be able to teach me. It made sense, but I couldn't believe it. Hades only taught Nico… because he was sure Dad would teach me. Did Zeus show Thalia? Or was Nico the only one?

"Okay," I said uncertainly. "Show me."

"Um… Well, it's easier if I just tell you first. Then you can try it. It's pretty simple." I nodded for him to go on. "Well, the Big Three all have their domains, right?" I nodded again. "My father has the Underworld, Poseidon has the ocean, and Zeus has the sky, right? It's really easy. You just draw energy from the domain and kind of… gather it around you."

"So you want me to gather energy from the ocean? What if there is no ocean?"

He sighed. "You really are a Kelp Head sometimes, Perce." I glared at him and he rolled his eyes. "You don't need the ocean. Don't you use water vapor to recharge your energy?"

"Yeah…" I said.

"My father's domain is the Underworld, but up here, it's the shadows. Zeus's domain is the sky, but Thalia can just use the air. And Poseidon's domain is the ocean, but you can use the water vapor in the air," he explained.

"Well… yeah. So how do I do it?" I asked.

"Like I said, it's easy. Can you sense the water vapor in the air?"

I nodded. It was something that came naturally to me.

"You can move it around, right?"

"Yeah," I said, slowly getting it.

"So all you have to do is surround yourself with it, like maybe three inches. You should probably start with half a foot to be sure. It took me a week to get it."

I closed my eyes. I could feel the water vapor around me. I had solidified it and vaporized it again and again in battles against my opponents, but I had never tried to surround myself in it before.

It was surprisingly easy. The invisible water droplets in the air willingly gathered around me. Soon, I had a somewhat protective new layer of water vapor around me, and the air around me was less humid than before. The energy drain was more than I expected, but not enough to make me tired.

I opened my eyes. "Did it work?"

Nico looked around. "Uh… I think so. It-"

A hellhound leapt out of the shadows and tackled him to the ground. It lunged for his throat, but Raven used her claws to carve a gouge in its shoulder. It whimpered in pain, and then disintegrated as Mrs. O'Leary clawed its throat out.

"Guess not," I muttered.

Nico grinned. "I think it worked."

"Right after I tried to cover my demigod scent, a hellhound pounced on you," I pointed out.

"My demigod scent wasn't covered," he said.

So Nico wasn't lying to me. But as happy as I was that it had worked, my thoughts turned dark. If Nico wasn't lying, then Dad was the one who lied to me. "Well, if we're going back, you should cover it now."

I watched as Nico stepping into the shadow of a tree and closed his eyes. The nearest shadows drifted closer to him. They touched him and seemed to disappear. But when I looked closely, I could see an aura of shadows surrounding him entirely. It made him look like he could melt into the darkness any moment. The shadow of the tree was less dark than before.

When I looked at myself, I was surprised to see that even though the water vapor was invisible, it looked like I had a bluish aura around me.

"Cool, isn't it?" Nico grinned at me.

"Yeah…"

Nico panted and put his hands on his knees.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

He nodded, breathing loudly. "It's harder for me," he panted. "Try finding shadows in the daytime. When I go in the sunlight, it gets harder to keep the shadows around me. They don't like the sun. It's way easier at night. You're so lucky. There's water wherever you go."

"No. Not at…" I paused, trying to think of a place where there wasn't water. "Nope, you're right. There's water wherever I go.," I said, trying to hide a smile.

Nico looked at me suspiciously. "Are you-?"

"Nope!" I ran to Blackjack, got on his back, and we took off.

Nico sighed, shook his head, and hopped on Raven. "Come on, Mrs. O'Leary!" he called.

They ran directly underneath us, in our shadow, as we flew to where I had fought the hydra.

As expected, the place was abandoned. There were scorch marks in the dirt, which were probably from the Greek fire Clarisse supposedly had.

"Over here!" Nico yelled, waving me over. He was crouched in the dirt, pointing at something in front of him.

I walked over to him, looked down, and there it was. An arrow was carved into the dirt pointing in a direction that could only be west.

My face broke into a smile. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, Clarisse did have a nice side. Although Annabeth might carve an arrow into the dirt, she had no idea I was following them. And there was no way James would even think about pointing out where he was going. It had to be Clarisse.

"Is that arrow…" Nico trailed off. There were obviously thoughts running through his head.

"Yeah. You know, she does have a nice side, as much as she tries to hide it," I told him.

He stood up. "Clarisse?"

"Yep," I said. "Come on, let's follow the arrow."

This time, I got on Mrs. O'Leary. "Blackjack, fly above us, but not low enough for people to see you're a Pegasus."

Sure boss.

"And don't call me boss," I muttered under my breath. Unfortunately, he heard me.

Of course not boss, he said in my mind before taking off.

Raven and Mrs. O'Leary ran west side-by-side. It didn't take long before we caught up to Clarisse, Annabeth, and James. They hadn't made much progress. We found them arguing barely two miles away from where their small campsite was. Thank the gods… If they hadn't been talking so loudly, Mrs. O'Leary would have literally ran over them. But we stopped just in time and backed around a corner.

"Whew," breathed Nico. "That was close."

"Yeah," I whispered. "You think?"

"No," he said. "I know."

"Yes, Nico," said a female voice behind us. "That was close."

We both jumped and turned around. There were seven hooded figures wearing long cloaks, standing in a V-formation, with two people, one at the tip and one to the right of that person, who carried black bows with intricate silver designs.

Reacting purely on instinct, I uncapped Riptide and whipped it around to slice the speaker in half.

Moving almost faster than I could see, the hooded figures at the tip of the formation stepped forwards and brought the bow down to block my sword. Riptide skidded off the bow with sparks flying into the air, and I somehow managed to keep a hold on it. I used a precious second to look at the figure's bow. It was unmarked. Riptide hadn't even scratched the design.

The figure suddenly pulled out a short sword, still sheathed and swung it towards my head. I ducked, feeling the moving air ruffle my hair as it passed, thankfully, harmlessly over my head.

I swung at the figure again with Riptide. The figure dodged neatly to the side, and as I stabbed again, Riptide found its way in between the stick of the bow and the string. The figure instantly twisted the bow sharply to the side. Riptide was pressed against the string for a second, but as flexible as it obviously was, it didn't snap. My eyes widened as Riptide flew from my grasp.

The figure returned the sword from where it had been and pointed the black bow at me. I was disarmed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nico silently draw his sword. He ran forwards to slash at the figure who had disarmed me. The figure didn't move at all. I was starting to think that the figure was crazy as Nico came closer still, and the figure stood as still as a statue.

When Nico was a split second away from decapitating the figure, the figure who stood to the right of the tip of the V-formation, the one who had spoken and was obviously female, nocked an arrow and shot it.

The arrow sped towards Nico's sword with the speed of Hermes. It hit the blade of his sword, knocking it out of his hand. The arrow, evidently extremely powerful, didn't harm Nico's sword at all.

The figure who had shot the arrow already had another nocked on her bowstring, aimed directly at Nico.

"We're not enemies," she said.

"Then who the hell are you guys?" Nico asked. I knew he was thinking what I was thinking. These guys fight like pros.

The figure who had disarmed me spoke up. "We are part of the Greek division of Chaos's army." The figure's voice indicated that she was female too. "We keep track of prophecies, quests, and other important things. We are here to help."

"What? But- Who…" I stammered. "Who is Chaos?"

She sighed. "Chaos is the first being. He is father of all. He is ruler of the universe."

"Who are you?" Nico asked.

The other figure answered him. "We are regular demigods, just like you, Nico," she said.

"But… But how-?"

"How are we so powerful?" she interrupted. Nico nodded. "We have taken the Oath of Chaos. It makes us more powerful."

"You say you are here to help, right?" The figures nodded together. "So where were you during the second Titan war?" I questioned. "We could've used some help."

They exchanged glances. "You didn't need our help," one of them said. "We only step in when you actually need it."

"So many demigods died in that war…" I said sadly. "You couldn't have just helped a little bit?"

They both looked down. "No."

I sighed angrily.

Then, Nico spoke up. He had an odd expression on his face, like he was trying to figure something out. "If you're regular demigods, then what are your names? Do I… know you? You knew my name."

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel like I recognized their voices, but I couldn't remember where. "Yeah…" I muttered.

"Of course I know your name, Nico. You know me," one of them said.

I stared at the other one, the one who had disarmed me, trying to see under the hood. All I could see was darkness.

She sighed. "Come on, Perseus. Do not tell me you have forgotten me so easily."

AN: Well? Good chapter? I'm pretty sure you can tell who the hooded figures are… Did I make it too obvious?

Review? Please?