Moon's POV:

Even through the grogginess I could see what was going on while I wasn't in control of my body.

...That has to be the weirdest sentence I've ever seen...

But never mind that. I saw her walking, stumbling in the trees, then the warm face of my mother. She looked so concerned - close to tears, almost. My heart broke then, no matter how numb my conscious felt. I had to be the worse daughter ever. A part of me wanted to reach out and touch her, let her know that this wasn't me. Another part wanted to stay in my darkness though. Like any woman, I wasn't one to admit I was wrong, and that bit of me was stronger than the other, not that I was positive I could move in any form or fashion.

Sighing, or doing what I guess was sighing, I searched for the strength to be able to think for myself. I could think of three people to call on : God, of course, my empathy link with Ellis, or my Grandmother, Athena.

All were options, good options, people who could help. I did ask help from God, first, as it is the only proper thing to do. I could tell that she was draining me and I only had a few sparse seconds left to spare before I was knocked out again. I went with the first person my mind came to, and I prayed to all that was good she got the message.

Audrick's POV:

"This is supposed to my sister?" I asked, mostly to myself as I examined Hayley. Every now and then she would glare to the side, as if at herself, then she would mutter a Greek curse and rub her temples. "Shut it, you!" She'd snap. That wasn't the worst of it, either. That morning she had made her bed, helped me make mine, and fixed up everyone else's. When she talked it was that of a short-circuited robot, like Johnny 5 or something. At breakfast she ate like nobody's business, ordering two extra plates. My sister's calorie-fat-counting personality would never in her right mind eat that much. Not that it really effected how she looked in any way, at least right then. When asked a question, she'd give us a weird look and then run off some long, rant-like answer from a text book. That shocked a lot of people, especially in the Athena cabin - Hayley was smart, sure, but she was never good at spot-on questions.

"Are you okay, Audrick Percival Jackson?" Hayley asked me, tilting her head to the side. It only then occurred to me that I'd been staring at her.

"Oh, um, nothing. Just…lost in thought."

"That makes sense, considering you are -"

"Can you cut the act, Hayley? I mean, seriously. I don't know what you're trying to butter Mom and Dad up for, but quit it, will you? It's starting to freak me out." Had she been drinking in the woods that night and was acting all sweet and nice so Mom wouldn't get on to her too bad?

What was I saying? Hayley wasn't dumb enough to drink, not even in her somewhat rebellious state. That still made me wonder, however: What was up with my bratty sister?

Chelsea's POV:

I coughed, expecting blood. None came, and I regained my balance as quickly as possible, new energy coursing through me.

My opponent was an apparent Ares boy two years older than me, and he wasn't cutting me any slack whatsoever.

"What's the matter, kitten? Too scared to fight back?"

I don't like hurting people, is what I wanted to say, but I'd tried that before and it didn't go over too well. He made a sudden slash, nearly stabbing me in the shoulder. It nicked my arm.

Anger boiled through me. Raising my spear made from rock-hard coral, I made a wild jab towards his lower leg, which he merely deflected.

"Child's play!" he cooed, laughing. I made a growling noise in the back of my throat and lunged myself at him, dropping my spear and my guard in the process. Wiping out his sword, he aimed for my gut, ready to stab me as soon as we collided. I knew it was coming, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.

…

Minutes went by, perhaps hours. I didn't move. I couldn't tell if the blade was lodged in me or not. It certainly wasn't as sharp as I had pictured.

"Kid?" the Ares boy, Tommy I think, called over me. His voice echoed in my ears. "Kid, you okay?"

Since when did Ares' kids give a crap if someone was okay?

My eyes were still tightly shut. "Did I get stabbed by your sword?" I asked slowly, my jaw creaking for some odd reason.

"Made a dent in your armor, yes, but other than that no, it's right here." He held his blade over my face. I thought I saw blood on it, and I bit back a shriek.

"It's my blood, kid. You punched me as you toppled on me, gave me a bloody nose." Tommy knelt closer to me, holding up a piece of bloodied tissue. "Ya see? Now, come on, get up before someone thinks I killed you."

A blurry hand waved in front of my face, and I grabbed it, pulling myself up and wiping my own nose. Tommy sat on one of the bleachers and gave me a sideways grin as he cleaned off his sword. "What's your name, kid?"

"Chelsea Jackson," I answered, shrugging as if it were no big deal.

"Oh, so you're Jackson's kid."

"That's the one…"

Standing up, I realized just how much he towered over me, by at least a foot and half. I was already five foot four. He held out his hand, grinning, saying, "Thomas Rodriquez. Son of Chris Rodriquez and Clarisse LaRue. Our parents used to be enemies."

"Dad might've mentioned something about that." I mumbled, staring at my charred hands. They had gotten burned the night before when I was messing around at the lava wall. I hadn't told anyone about it yet.

"What's up with your hands, there, Chelsea?"

"Nothing," I lied, shoving them in my pockets.

"Don't lie."

"What makes you think I'm lying?" I snapped a little too harshly.

"My dad taught me three important things about women: 1. PMS is a death threat, so always give them what they want that time of the month. 2. Don't look at other women anywhere past their face and neck or the girl'll think you're checking her out and get jealous. And number three – the biggest lie a woman tells is that it's "nothing" or that she's "fine". Now, let me see your hands."

I agreed on all of the above, but I didn't say so. I timidly took my hands from my pockets and showed them to him.

His eyes became intense and wide, a worried, thoughtful, grim look spreading across his features. "Where did you get these burns? What happened?"

I told him what I'd been doing, how I accidently stuck them in some lava. It was almost unbelievable, even to me, but he just nodded along like it all made sense.

"Believe it or not," he said, smiling, "you're not the first kid who's done this."

The redness in my cheeks faded and a light smile played across my lips. "No kidding?"

"As true as true gets." He grabbed my wrist and turned my hands over and over for some time. I think he held on in case I tried to get away, which I wasn't planning on. "I want you to come with me." He finally said.

"Why?" I asked, a little too quickly.

"Just come with me. It's obvious you don't want to go to the infirmary because your parents will find out and that wouldn't be good for your ego nor self-esteem. We've got some medical supplies stocked up in the Hermes cabin; some stolen from drug stores, some for the Apollo's and such, but mostly because we always seem to be getting hurt. I'm sure we've got something for burns as well."

Squeezing my wrist a little, he started to pull me along. I planted my feet firmly in the ground until he got so frustrated of dragging he looked at me.

"Look," I said, "I don't need any charity. These burns'll heal in a day or two. You don't have to do this. Honestly. I'll be fi – "

"Rule number four: If she uses "Fine" to get out of doing something, you know it's actually more serious than previously thought."

"I thought there was only three."

"I learnt that one on my own," He smirked. "Come on."

That time I didn't object.

So...

Has my writing gotten bad or is it just me? I know I'm not putting much into the other twos and such, but that'll come later, I promise. I just wanted to get a little bit away from just Hayley and her Evil Voice Person, to a more realistic thing. Plus, let's admit it - poor Chelsea needed something to cheer her up. :)

Hope you enjoyed!~

~Future