"Hey! Violet! Look at me; I'm going to fall!"

I wanted to punch Percy Jackson in the face. Naturally, he split us all up to cover Manhattan as we wait for Kronos and his army attack. Like most people would have done, he kept Cabins together. And that's where he went wrong. How in the world could you just allow the Aphrodite and Hermes Cabins go off on their own? Doesn't he realize you need to have a balanced mixture of Cabins to keep those with shorter attention spans in order?

The Hermes Cabin was split into two, defending two separate bridges; I was with Travis Stoll and his group on the Brooklyn Bridge. Currently, Leslie Boole (daughter of Hebe) and I are going over a map of Manhattan that we found on our way here. It'd been difficult to keep the children of Hermes within our range of sight and not allowing them to duck into stores, but we managed to get to the Brooklyn Bridge without incident.

Except that I have a feeling that the watch around Travis' wrist wasn't there before.

I snapped my head back to see Travis holding onto one of his brothers, pretending that he was about to fall off the bridge and into the East River below. He had a frightened expression on his face, but I could see his siblings fighting back smiles.

"Knock it off Travis! This is serious!"

He rolled his eyes and steadied himself, "You're no fun," he yelled back to me. I turned my back on him once more and peered back down at the map.

"So Connor and the others are here," I pointed to the map. "It's not that far away; we can always group together if there's too many. And then the Apollo Cabin is pretty near too, so we could always see if a couple of them would act as reinforcements."

Leslie nodded and then moved around to tell the others are back up plans. I folded up the map and placed it in my back pocket. "Who decided you're the leader?"

I turned on the spot and immediately backed up; Travis was inches from my face. His usual goofy, happy, elfish features were twisted into an upset frown, something strange for him. His arms were crossed and eyebrows were raised expectantly.

"Someone's got to take responsibility. I figured that if you're not, then I wi-"

"What makes you think I'm not responsible? I was elected leader of the Hermes Cabin! How can I not be responsible if I was asked to lead my cabin?"

I rolled my eyes, "You keep screwing around Travis! You don't take anything seriously, like just ten seconds ago! You may not care enough that we're in the middle of a war, but I'm not going to go down as easily!"

Travis opened his mouth to retaliate, but Leslie was all of a suddenly there between us. "Quit fighting! This is not the time or place to be arguing!" Travis gave me on last scathing look and turned back, stomping over to a small cluster of his brothers and sisters who were watching with rather entertained expressions on their faces.

Why did it always seem like the children of Hermes always got more of a kick out of things than they probably should?

I turned back to Leslie, "I think we should organize ourselves so we line from edge to edge of the bridge. We should try and stay as tight of a line as possible, so there's less room for people to scurry around us." Leslie nodded quickly and began to move around to establish the order of the line; Travis didn't argue, which I silently thanked the gods for.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A second later, I entered the Dream World. A few of my more defiant captives immediately stood and tensed themselves, but most of them have become accustomed to their "new life." Like Josie and Ryan before them, they realized fighting with me would get them nowhere. Virginia, the fierce daughter of Eros, regarded me coldly, but made no move to stand up to me; Becca, a rather shy and kinder daughter of Nyx, grinned at Virginia with amusement.

"Can we help you," Virginia muttered.

"No, just passing through," I said. The white shifted and the demigods disappeared.

I was looking down at Manhattan, flying over the city like a bird. From this height, I could perfectly see where each cluster of Campers was; it was better than a map.

The sons and daughters of Aphrodite were spraying themselves with designer perfumes and colognes. The children of Athena were anxiously shifting from foot to foot, eyes shifting to dark alleys. The big boys in Hephaestus Cabin were sharpening their swords, sparks flying off of the blades. The Hunters of Artemis stood in a tight circle, holding one another's hands and saying a quick prayer to their goddess. Offspring of Demeter were nervously making small plants sprout up from under the cement. Kids of Apollo were the only ones who seemed collective, calmly standing with their bows strung on their backs.

I pulled my attention away from the groups of Campers and zeroed in on a massive army marching from several different sides of the city; one of the largest groups of demigods and dracaena were heading straight for the Brooklyn Bridge and quickly.

I pulled my mind back to the physical me and my group. The group was lined up, shields and swords at the ready; Travis and Leslie were looking at me expectantly.

"They're going to be here any minute," I announced. They nodded once but visibly tensed. Leslie and Travis gazed over the bridge to watch the horizon. I joined them at the front of the line, transforming my sword and shield; I watched the direction the "soldiers" were coming from.

It was about two minutes later that you could see them marching on the horizon. One continuous black line was traveling closer and closer; they were only a couple hundred yards away when I could begin to make out faces and individuals, not that I wanted to. Remembering that those you're fighting are like you will only make you lose; you must pretend that they're without faces and have no names. That, or you'll falter.

Travis patted me on the shoulder, making me turn around to look at him. He was no longer the happy go lucky kid like back at Camp or even the one ticked that I was taking lead over his Cabin. Travis had fear in his eyes, although he had his other features arranged to put on a brave face. "Good luck," he muttered. I nodded in return and snapped my head back to watch the oncoming army.

Well, the portion of the army Kronos sent to try and push their way into this area of the city.

One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. The line of Kronos soldiers finally reached us. Four breaths. Five breaths. Clang of swords. We spring into action. My fellow Hermes Campers and I are charging at the enemy, swords raised eye into the air and cries issuing from our mouths.

I immediately meet a girl with a long, blonde plait with bright blue eyes; she looks fierce and tough, but I take her down with one easy swipe to the legs. The girl buckles to her knees and hits pavement. In less than the ten seconds we've been fighting, I step over my first defeat and move onto the next. All the while, I'm careful to not look into their eyes and see the human in them.

I wove in and out of fighting demigods. I attempted to help my fellow Campers when they were losing their respective fights, but there was only so much I could do. There were several different demigods attacking me every couple of seconds, and although I could easily take them down, it was taking up all of my attention. But the battle didn't last long.

There were more opposing soldiers than our small group of Campers, but we somehow brought them down quickly; only Lisa, one of Hermes' daughters, was injured enough to have to sit out. Two unclaimed Campers helped her limp back to the main group, who were using the Plaza Hotel at "official" headquarters, to get her some help from one of the Apollo demigods.

The rest of us stayed at the Brooklyn Bridge, tying up those who were too hurt or too exhausted or too embarrassed to run back to Kronos after we kicked their sorry butts. There were only a few who were taken prisoner forcibly, sans a son of Mnemosyne, who surrendered to us within just a few minutes of fighting, too weak to take us on and win; he was currently sitting in-between Travis and Ryan, being watched carefully to make sure he didn't suddenly attack or run off.

I looked out over the water as the morning sun began to rise, Josie standing causally at my side. She didn't have enough time to train properly for a sword on sword battle; I'd only released her from the Dream World minutes before we loaded up into the vans for Manhattan, but she proved to me useful. While Josie and Ryan didn't have nearly as much power as I did in my abilities (given Morpheus is a smidge more important that Phobetor and Phantasos), they had abilities beyond a normal demigod.

Like me, they could get into other peoples' heads; within seconds, they could figure out your greatest weakness, biggest dream, and most dominant fear. Josie and Ryan could play with that and make you see almost anything they wanted you to see. While we were in the middle of battle, they were messing with the opposing demigods' minds, creating their biggest fears and bringing them to life. Once or twice, I saw clowns and large dogs appear out of thin air, scaring the crap out of a couple of the younger demigods. Occasionally, more complex fears appeared, lashing out against certain people, like fighting parents. It wouldn't detour the fighters for long, but it was enough to distract them.

I personally didn't use my abilities that often. Sometimes I would force myself to get into someone's head, to see what was bothering them and how to help, or I would enter the Dream World to browse daydreams to see what my fellow Campers (or enemies) were up to. It was a useful ability, as I was able to let Percy and the others know some of Kronos' battle strategies, but it seemed more like a hinder than a help.

Chiron was the first to help me learn to expand my powers. Before I'd learned I was a demigod, I had nearly *no* abilities, thanks to the fact that I'd never thought of myself as something special. But after I learned the truth, Chiron and I would often sit together, me learning to concentrate hard enough to enter the Dream World and effect those around me. Soon, I had several of my friends helping me to learn the full extent of my gifts; just sword fighting showed me how my powers worked.

Time seemingly slowed down when I fought. My surroundings disappeared and all I could see was who I was fighting, in which they moved very slowly and then I could suddenly, I could see their future movements. I'm not sure how I can see their fighting stances before they do them, but I can. Time went back to normal and I could counter their attack before they had a chance to initiate them.

This was the point in time when I learned how to get into someone's head. I just concentrate a little, everything goes black, and bam! I'm in their mind. Memories, thoughts, likes, dislikes, anything that pertains to the selected person is seen and known; after this small moment, I know everything about them and can use it against them. It's a rather nifty little trick. And apparently, it was Morpheus' specialty.

"Are you okay," Josie asked me quietly.

I snapped my attention away from the river and back to my blonde cousin. She was frowning and looked worried, something I would've never expected to cross her features. Not long ago, Josie was a strong believer in Kronos' cause and swore she'd see the death of me.

"I'm worried."

"About?"

"Michael. I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to him."

Josie frowned more and looked over at a struggling POW who was coming to. "There are chances that anyone can get hurt, Violet. You just have to think positive."

I nodded, but didn't feel hopeful. Michael was the one thing I had to keep me sane. If Aphrodite and Hestia were right, I was going to lose Michael, and quick. It's hard to imagine my life without him and I try not to picture a Michaelless world. He and I have only known each other for roughly a year and been dating for that same amount of time, but I know we have something more than just a typical relationship.

We have no secrets in our relationship. Given that I can get into his head and reveal his secrets, Michael knows it's pointless to keep them; to give him the same respect, I tell him everything about me. Except what Aphrodite told me. That just felt like something I shouldn't tell.

Josie opened her mouth to say more, but suddenly, a girl with short black hair from the Hermes Cabin was running up to us. She put her hands on her knees to catch her breath and after a minute, she breathed out, "Percy thinks that we should all regroup at Central Park."

Travis and I locked eyes from across the bridge and nodded together; the others stood up from where they sat, gathering their weapons and collecting the prisoners. Ryan and an unclaimed boy named Drake gripped the surrendered demigod by the forearms and dragged him along. Travis and I took lead of the group and walked ahead of them in the direction of Central Park.

It was a bit of a walk, but not too terribly far. Along the way, I'd had to help a limping girl of about thirteen who'd twisted her ankle, but didn't think it was so bad that she'd needed to return earlier with Lisa. Ryan was lecturing the girl about being "stupid" and if she's hurt, she should say so and not risk anything. I tuned the two of them out as they argued back and forth and focused on attempting to track all of the Campers via daydreams.

It was hard to concentrate on specific individuals when I was particularly nervous, but I managed to find small clusters of demigods wandering here and there, making their way to Central Park. Some were looking grim and sad. Immediately, I knew we lost someone, maybe a few people.

Central Park came into view a short time later. I breathed with relief as we inched closer and closer to the Plaza. A couple sons of Hephaestus were standing outside the front doors, acting as makeshift bodyguards for the injured inside. We strolled past them and helped the hurt girl to a couch; immediately, a daughter of Apollo named Stephanie rushed over and checked over her ankle. The girl had been wrong-it wasn't twisted. It was sprained. She was insisting that she'd be able to fight when we got back at it, but I doubted that Percy would let her fight if she was hurt; we didn't want people more messed up than they already were.

I left the girl and Stephanie, who was trying to convince her to stay sitting and not walk on her injured ankle, and set off around the hotel to find Michael. I hadn't seen his face in a few hours and I was anxious to make sure that he was indeed okay.

I popped into several different rooms. Some were empty, some held hurt demigods who needed to rest. In a few, Campers and Hunters were sharpening blades and fixings broken arrows; in others, some people were simply catching up on some much needed sleep, as we probably won't have a lot of time in the next few days or so to do the task.

In every single room, everyone said they had no clue where Michael was.

Finally, I stumbled upon Percy talking to Thalia. "Percy," I called out to him as I approached.

He looked stressed and worn, despite the fact that we'd begun the war just a few hours ago. His hair was all over the place and he had a very worried look on his face. Thalia, too, looked extremely worried and concerned.

"What's going on? Are you two okay?"

Percy and Thalia glanced at one another before Thalia quietly muttered, "Annabeth's hurt. She was stabbed." They looked back at a closed door, which I assumed Annabeth was behind and getting some help from Apollo demigods.

"Is she going to be okay?"

Thalia nodded, "Yeah, they're patching her up and Will says she'll be fine pretty soon."

I nodded and breathed with relief; Annabeth could be a little much at times, but I counted her as one of my few and closest friends. After a moment, I remember my big worry and the reason I rushed about the Plaza.

"Have either of you two seen Michael? I keep trying to catch his thoughts, but I can't narrow down on him."

Thalia's already upset expression turned to an even more sullen one and she visibly paled. Her lips parted as if to say something, but before words could come out, Percy step-forward and grabbed my arm, leading me to a sofa. I frowned and glanced around; why were other demigods suddenly giving me looks of sympathy and grief?

Percy sat down next to me and Thalia was instantly on the other side, rubbing my back, which made me feel a little uncomfortable as I barely know her, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings and shrug her hand off. I looked into Percy's face expectantly and found sorrow in his.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this, Violet….but Michael was," Percy gulped and took a few seconds to find the right word, "lost."

My heart sank. "What do you mean *lost*?"

"Honey," Thalia said soothingly into my ear, "there was an accident and in the chaos, Michael disappeared. I'm so sorry, but…we don't think he made it."

With one statement, my world came crashing down. My heart exploded and pain overtook my body. I wished that someone would've just killed me in battle so I didn't have to feel this pain at this moment. My Michael, my love, my world, was gone. Without him, I was nothing, I was dead.

Aphrodite's and Hestia's words suddenly made sense. They'd told me that Michael would break my heart, but it wouldn't be intentional and he loved me very much. As most people don't generally get themselves killed on purpose (unless their suicidal, which Michael was a fairly happy kid so I wouldn't see why he felt the need to commit suicide), this was the thing "out of his control."

I was prepared for the moment Michael broke my heart…but I'd hoped it would be that he fell for a girl who was so obviously much better for him than me, not by death. Michael deserved a girl that didn't have a homicidal father on her trail and someone he didn't have to stand on his tippy toes just to kiss, not his murder.

"Violet? Are you okay?"

I looked up at Percy. There was generally concern and mourning in his eyes; who else did he have to break news like this too? How many others died last night? How many other girls are going to be left devastated? Wetness blurred my vision and I scratched at my eyes.

"Do you need to be alone? Do you want to-" I cut Thalia off my standing up abruptly.

"No…I don't need anything!"

Like an stupid person, I began to run off, Percy, Thalia and several other demigods on my heels. I ran down flights of stairs and out of the Plaza, passing the makeshift guards who yelled at me. Percy, Thalia and a few others burst out of the building, yelling at me.

I stopped a few feet from the building; the others stopped at the doorway. Percy's eyes were wide. "Please, just tell us what you need Violet!"

I choked back a sob that threatened to escape. My body was stuttering as I cried and held back a scream I so dearly wanted to release. How could they ask me if I was okay and if there was anything I need? My boyfriend-the only reason I didn't ditch the gods and go back to a life of petty crime- was dead. I loved Michael and look where they got him.

"What I need right now *sob* is to find something and kill it." I stomped away from the Plaza, sword and shield at the ready as I headed off to where I know Kronos has his headquarters for his army.

*Author's Note*

I stayed up all night just so I could finish this chapter because I wanted to have at least one update before I left for a five day camping trip with family and friends. You're welcome.

So…Violet's a little upset. I'm not really good with the whole *emotions* thing, because I'm emotionally dead and I know next to nothing about relationships. I mean, I had an internet boyfriend once upon at time ago, but that's not anything *real.* So…her whole feelings things…totally b.s., yo. But yeah…

I'm super excited for the next chapter! It's by far my favorite (even thought it's still all up here *points to head*)! I think you guys will get a kick out of it too!

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing (love ya!). Please do it more often…especially the reviewing 'cause I never get any anymore! It makes me sad. And I'm holding my friend Becca hostage…if you want her to return to her loving family who very much wants to see her return with all of her limbs, you'll review….for her sake.

XxSamacoyxX