Hey, guys, again, so sorry about the delays and irregular updates. I'm drowning in homework (thanks, school), and trying to write this at the same time. I don't know about you, but that's pretty difficult, especially if you've got teachers like mine. Here's your chapter. Sorry if it's a little shorter than usual. I'm flailing in the metaphorical water here.

16/

Annabeth's POV

The sky was still dark. Eos, goddess of the dawn, hadn't risen yet to color the sky pink, and neither had Apollo in his chariot. The stars still glittered brightly above. I ran the constellations through my head: Orion, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Castor, Pollux, Ariadne's crown, Scorpius, Cassiopeia…

"Perseus," I whispered, recognizing the pattern. Sadness washed over me, and I closed my eyes. My hand went to my stomach.

I had patrol duty as an extra chore this week. It was really my little sister Ashley's assignment, but she was only seven; I didn't want her so close to the Order. Not after she got infected with hydra poison.

Patrol members had been doubled in an attempt to make sure we didn't get raided again. The Hermes cabin had suffered serious damage from the fire; so had the forest. Lots of the trees were singed black, and tons of dryads were in the infirmary to go along with half of the Hermes kids.

I was supposed to be guarding Thalia's tree with a few of the campers: Shawn Spencer, Emily Archer, and Tony. The rest of the line was supposed to be patrolled by Nicky Petrelli from Ares, Natasha Abel from Aphrodite, and Brian Bush from Demeter. I could see their silhouettes faintly from where I was sitting.

Shawn and Tony were smushing Emily between them, both their heads on her shoulders. If she was awake, she would've shot them, or maybe just pushed them down a hill, but her own head was resting on Tony's while she dozed lightly, so I assumed they were safe.

I refused to sleep. Gods knew I would only dream. And I really didn't need more of those on my back.

I'd only been seeing memories of the past, anyway. Memories I didn't want; ones I'd tried to shove down, bury deep, so not even I could find them. But as it's been said: "Fate has a way of putting in front of us that which we most try to leave behind." In my case, it's Fates, but same concept.

Something butted against my armored shoulder. I whirled, ready to stab it, but I relaxed when I realized what it was. "Sorry, Peleus," I murmured, lowering my knife. I rubbed his scaly head. "Did I wake you?"

The dragon shook his head, almost humanlike. Then he slithered forward to curl up on my lap, his steamed breath drifting like smoke. I scratched under his chin, and he breathed more steam in pleasure.

"Do you think we can make it through this one, Peleus?" I asked softly.

He opened one gold eye to stare at me. His tail flicked.

I took that for a Maybe. "What I don't understand is how the Order knew exactly when to attack," I went on quietly. "Do you?"

A steady hiss told me he didn't.

My eyebrows drew together in thought. "They knew that we'd all be repairing," I stared off into the distance, my hand automatically stroking his coppery head. "How would they—" It hit me suddenly. A spy! I slapped a hand to my forehead. How did I not see it? It was so obvious! I cursed.

Another spy…who could it be this time? After Silena, I didn't think anyone would dare go down that path. Someone told the Order exactly when to attack, where to pinpoint the biggest ambushes, which people to isolate. This one was worst than Silena. This person was heartless.

I clenched my fists. I would find out who it was. I was a daughter of Athena. This new mole was costing us lives—and he was going to pay.

"Annabeth?" Tony lifted his head woozily. "Why're ya tryin' to give yourself a brain hemorrhoid?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're so stupid when you wake up."

"Shut up, Annie," he yawned, then his head dropped back down, making a clang on Emily's armored shoulder and waking all of them up.

Emily realized they were using her as a pillow and immediately shoved them away. "Get off!"

Shawn yawned so hard I heard his jaw cracked. "Geez, Em, you're such a b****."

"Shawn, unless you want another arrow in you, you'd better shut up," Emily warned. "And this one's not going in your shoulder."

I smiled to myself as they started to bicker. Tony somehow untangled himself from the argument (throwing Shawn to the sharks) and sat down next to me. He grinned. "How's it going, Wise Girl?" I stiffened. He immediately backtracked. "Sorry, I just…got used to that name. I…sorry."

"It's okay," I murmured. "I wanted to hear it again too."

"I just wish I didn't have to say it," he said, shifting back into Tony-mode. "It's weird. No offense."

I laughed. "Whatever Tony."

"So why were you calling yourself stupid?"

That's when I remembered. "Tony! I know why the Order attacks us so precisely!"

"What? How?"

I was about to respond, but Peleus snarled and reared in my lap—and that's when I saw it. Sitting right on my leg, with its eight creepy legs and huge hairy body. I screamed and jumped to my feet.

"What?" Tony yelled.

"Spider!" I screamed. But as soon as Tony crushed it under his foot, there were more—it was like a carpet of gigantic creepy-crawlies, traveling over my feet, up my leg, on my hands. I had a complete breakdown. I screamed bloody murder, swatting aimlessly at the spiders, stomping on as many as I could, but they replaced each other as fast as I could kill them.

Emily screamed suddenly. Shawn let out a yell and tripped backwards over his own feet. "Snakes!" Emily shrieked. She dragged Shawn away from the slithering mass of green serpents. Both of them whipped out their bows, eyes popping with sheer fear, but just as Emily was about to shoot her first arrow, a snake flew from the pile and wrapped itself around her arm. She screamed so loud I thought my ears would explode.

I realized she wasn't the only one screaming. I was still going, automatically slapping at the spider bites all over me. I felt like I was having a heart attack, or a stroke, or a nervous breakdown. I felt dirty. I had to get these things off me.

Tony shouted suddenly. I forced myself to look away from exterminating my skin to see him pinned down by a giant shaggy animal.

In the distance I heard more screaming—Nicky? Natasha? Brian? Maybe all of them. I didn't know. For once, I couldn't think. My brain was shifting into overdrive through the frantic haze of terror.

But somehow, even in the dark, through the spiders, I saw it. A figure creeping towards Thalia's tree.

Without thinking I grabbed the person's ankle. "Help me!" I whimpered. That's when I realized who it was.

Alec Salazar—my own brother—stared down at me, trying to decide whether to save me or not.

"Alec, what are you doing?" a new voice hissed over the screaming of my friends. "We can't take her with us! You know what Anastasia will do!"

"You don't have to remind me! Let's just get the Fleece and go!"

Somehow my brain seized on what they were saying. "You," I gasped. "Spies."

Alec looked at me, chewing his lip the way he does when he's torn between decisions.

"Alec!" Madyson shouted. "Come on!"

And that is the day I learned my big brother Alec was a dirty rotten traitor. He and Madyson made a beeline for the Fleece.

"No," I groaned, but I couldn't reach them.

Suddenly there was a thwacking sound—two of them, like cardboard. Madyson shrieked as the arrow struck her, but she hit the ground and moved no more.

Alec whirled. With a sickening crunch and a scream, the arrow stuck clear through my brother's skull, the tips protruding at each temple, landing him three feet away from Thalia's tree.

I caught a glimpse of my brother's killer just before I blacked out.

The archer was none other than seven-year-old Ashley Richmond, my little sister.

Thalia's POV

I woke up to see the camp on fire. I leaped out of bed and barreled out the door. I grabbed the nearest kid's arm.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded.

"They broke through the border! The Order's invading!"

Like hell they're invading, I thought as I sprinted for my tree. If that b**** Anastasia's back, I'm gonna stab her through the neck. When I got to Half-Blood Hill, I didn't find Anastasia. I found four half-crazed, two dead, kids.

Annabeth was screaming and sobbing in a sea of spiders-crawly, hairy, gigantic spiders, biting and ripping into her skin. Tony Staphili was struggling under the weight of two black panthers on his chest, growling and fighting over which parts they got to eat. Emily Archer and Shawn Spencer were hyperventilating, eyes popping out of their skulls, amid the writhing carpet of snakes around them.

My brain went into autopilot. I dragged Annabeth from the waves of spiders, killed the panthers attacking Staphili, and chopped the snake pile in half. I shook Annabeth's shoulders. "Annabeth!" I yelled. "Annabeth, snap out of it!"

Her whole body was covered in spider bites. She shot awake and shuddered so hard I thought she would break. "Spiders! Alec… Ashley…" she moaned.

I didn't understand. Then I saw that the two bodies were Alec Salazar of Cabin Six, and Madyson Montague of Cabin Ten. Madyson's blue eyes were wide open, but unseeing, thanks to the arrow in her heart. Alec's blood made a sickening red pool over the grass, gushing from the wound in his head. I made myself look away.

But Ashley? Ashley Richmond? What did she have to do with it?

"I killed them," little Ashley's clear, calm voice shocked me. She stood with her bow, face grim. "They were spies."

Then those few fighting-clear seconds were over. I pushed Ashley out of the way and stabbed the empousa behind her, then I attempted to get the three other kids to help.

Staphili was just as traumatized as Annabeth. I tried to get him to get up and fight, but he was practically sucking his thumb. Same with the Apollo kids. Emily was crying her eyes out, and Shawn was rocking back and forth with shock.

"SNAP OUT OF IT GODSDAMMIT!" I yelled, but it didn't do any good. I cursed under my breath.

"They're coming!" someone screamed.

I saw them. A line of thirteen, armor-clad kids, menacing in the flickering light. One shot more flaming arrows into the forest. Another froze satyrs in their tracks. A third impaled nymphs.

I growled. Lightning charged down from the sky and lit up the dark, scattering the damn Order, but I barely left a mark. So I charged the first one. Of course, her sword came up to meet my spear no matter how fast I tried to jab her. She sneered at me with ice-blue eyes. I punched her in the face hard enough that I heard her nose crack.

The blood froze, but it obviously hurt her. Good. I kneed her through her armor, and clinched her in a headlock once she doubled over.

"You're goin' down, b****," I growled. I squeezed harder until she passed out, then I left her to the Ares kids.

As soon as I turned away from her my head was slapped sharply to the side. I felt my cheek; blood stained my fingers. I glared hard at the kid in front of me. I raised my spear. "You wanna fight, rat-face? Or you just gonna stand there?"

I got a punch in the gut for a response, then another one on my bleeding cheek for good measure. I retaliated with a stab in the ribs. I remembered this was the kid who never talked. What was his name? Ricky? Randy? Ryan, that was it.

I charged myself with electricity silently, and when he threw the next punch, I caught it in my own fist, giving him a "shocking surprise." I got him so bad, his eyes vibrated and he dropped.

Of course as soon as one enemy dropped, the Fates dumped another one on me. I found myself face-to-face with a blue-eyed girl who looked like redheaded Rapunzel.

I tried to shock her like I did Ryan, but the girl—whose name was Carissa— was smart;she seemed to memorize exactly how I fought and strike back at my weak points. Pretty soon I found myself losing to her.

She jabbed at my arm; it went completely numb, like a noodle. Then she ducked under my spear and drove her fingers into my side, freezing me. Suddenly I realized she was using pressure points to slowly kill me. I tried to kick her, but she finger-stabbed my leg and it dropped helplessly limp.

Her eyes narrowed. I knew she was getting ready for the kill shot. But just as she was going to jab me in the throat, she choked—and grew a black horn from her chest. Wait, not a horn. A spear.

Carissa coughed blood. The spear retreated. She dropped, and I found Clarisse la Rue standing behind her, wiping her spear clean with a disgusted look.

"Maimer looks out for Mace Can," she told me calmly. Then she charged another Order member.

I realized I couldn't stand still for too long; I speared a couple dracaenae, slashed through a few hellhounds, and fried Clarisse's Order member (which I got a glare for, but I took it as a thank-you).

Suddenly the crowd of fighters—campers and Order—parted for a second. It was like a spotlight shone down from the sky and gave me my answer to keep the Order back.

"Taylor!" I yelled, judo-flipping Michael Morgan away from me. "Pull a rabbit out of a damn hat!"

Tatiana understood. "Protexter nos!" she yelled, but just as a wall of gold materialized in front of us—

"Contador!" a second voice shouted. The golden barrier shattered. A ring of emerald flames etched itself across the grass instead, forcing the crowd of shock-frozen campers back.

A figure in black armor walked directly through the fire, a pale hand raised and glowing. The helmet thudded to the ground, revealing—

"Anastasia," I growled. No one heard me. The apparently risen-from-the-dead/Tartarus daughter of Hecate was glowing with a strange aura as she moved towards Tatiana, a cruel smirk on her face.

I raised my spear, but someone grabbed my arm. "Thalia, you can't attack her. She's got the blessing of Hecate," Nico murmured. I scowled, but I didn't attack.

Anastasia was smiling falsely at Tatiana. "Well, well, well, someone's learned Mother's trade, hasn't she?" She snapped her fingers. Snakes coiled from the dirt and wrapped around Tatiana, like a writhing cocoon up to her chin.

Anastasia noticed Madyson and Alec, still lying by my tree. She pouted. "Someone killed my spies. Was it you, dear?" When Tatiana didn't say anything, she pursed her lips. "Oh, well. Julius!"

Julius Night moved to my tree, probably to take the Fleece, but at that second I didn't really care. That Fleece had brought me back from the dead, and that tree was my home for years. There was no way I was going to let that son of Nyx put his filthy hands on it. I silently sent a bolt of electricity running through the ground (a good conductor) to my tree.

When Julius put his hand on the bark to climb it, he went rigid, convulsed for a couple seconds, then dropped, smoking slightly. I smiled to myself. Anastasia's narrowed eyes zeroed in on me. I raised my spear, shaking off Nico's hand, but Tatiana's voice drew Anastasia's attention before she could turn me into anything.

"You won't get away with this," she said, surprisingly calm.

Anastasia let out a laugh—a high, bubbling peal, like a happy child. "Oh, sweetie, you're so naïve. I've already done it. I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to behead a certain son of Dionysus," she winked, "and then I'm going to burn this camp to the ground. And there's nothing you or any of these stupid campers can do about it."

Tatiana met her gaze calmly. "You have a lot of secrets hidden away, Anastasia."

Anastasia's eyebrow raised, a smirk playing on her face, like she was watching a toddler do something funny. "Oh?"

"You came up with pretty good defenses," Tatiana said. "The one in Russia was hard to dodge."

Surprise crossed Anastasia's face. Then it tightened with anger. Her fists clenched, and the snake cocoon squeezed Tatiana harder. "You didn't."

"Viktor was surprisingly easy to convince," Tatiana dared to smile. "It wasn't that hard."

"I killed her," Anastasia was practically boiling with rage. "I slit her throat myself."

Tatiana was the one smirking now. "Well, you won't believe who brought her back."

"What's she talking about?" The slimy British voice announced Damien Morneau even before he pushed his way into ring of flames. "Anastasia, love?"

Anastasia growled under her breath. "An enemy," she hissed through her teeth. "Mother decreed her a traitor. I was the assassinator."

"I know," Tatiana responded.

"Where is she?" Anastasia demanded. "I'll kill her a thousand times if I have to!" She lunged for Tatiana, but Damien grabbed her by the waist.

"Don't do anything rash, love," he said. "I'll kill whoever this girl is if you want it."

"No!" Anastasia hissed. "If anyone's going to kill her, I'm the one who's going to do it! She should've died years ago!"

"Who are you talking about?" Sofia Foss screeched.

"Me."

A gasp went up from the crowd as another figure pushed her way through the campers. Her face was concealed by a blood-red velvet cloak trimmed in gold. A gold sword hung from her waist.

Anastasia went gray. "It can't be."

The girl snapped her fingers. The cocoon concealing Tatiana fell away, showing red tracks all over her arms and throat, as if the snakes had been burning them into her skin. The girl turned her head slightly. "Thank you, sister."

Tatiana bowed her head. "My pleasure."

A war cry broke the strange haze of shock. Megan Morgan charged the cloaked girl from behind, sword raised to behead her, but she froze and choked midway. She fell back with a thud, with the golden hilt of a dagger in her armored chest.

"I'll kill you!" Michael, Megan's twin, bellowed. He, too, ran at the girl, but with a flick of her wrist and a flash of gold, Michael's throat was ripped open in an ugly, jagged, blood-weeping grin reaching from ear to ear. He dropped next to his sister.

"Who are you?" Damien shouted.

The girl reached up with pale hands and lowered her hood, revealing a girl even more beautiful than Anastasia herself, with golden hair and dark blue eyes. Her face was almost exactly the same as Anastasia's.

"Olga," Anastasia whispered.

"It is Irina now," the girl said. Something about her voice was weird. She had an accent. "You cannot use your true name if your little sestra is hunting you, no?"

"Who?" Anastasia looked completely frozen except for her mouth.

"Rasputin," Irina replied. "He was skilled at leading the dead to the realm of the living, was he not? It was the sole reason he was able to survive the assassination attempts." She pulled something from her blouse—a thin chain with a gold ring strung onto it. What was with all this gold?

"He's…"

"Departed now," Irina answered calmly. "How do you think he brought me back if not at his own expense?"

"You're not going to win, Anastasia," Tatiana spoke quietly. "Like I said, you have too many secrets. Too many mistakes."

"My death was the first." Irina's gaze was frosty. "Attempting Tatiana's was the last." The two sisters raised their hands together.

"NO!" Damien shoved Anastasia out of the way. With one final scream and a flash of light, Damien Morneau shattered like ice, scattering across the ground.

Anastasia was gone.

This chapter was particularly fun for me to write. I think I covered the whole "terror over spiders" thing pretty well, since I'm terrified of them myself. *shudder* Anyway, I think I did good on Thalia's fighting, and Irina's appearance as well. If you didn't catch it, Irina (whose real name is Olga) is Anastasia and Tatiana's eldest sister. You'll learn more about her in the next chapter. FYI, she's Russian. You'll learn about that too.

And about little Ashley? Yes, she's seven. But she's also a daughter of Athena, so that equals HARDCORE right off the bat. She knew Alec and Madyson were double agents, and she knew that before anyone else. She just didn't say anything because she thought she could handle it herself. Yes, by killing them. Not really rational, if you look at it from a normal person's perspective. But it is war, isn't it?

Oh, also, when Thalia yells at Tatiana to "pull a rabbit out of a damn hat" she means do magic. I wasn't sure if you guys would get that...

Darn, almost forgot. Ahem. Will Anastasia return for more revenge? What's with the weird girl calling herself Irina? Why was the Order after the Golden Fleece? Come back next time to find out...