-Percy-

Addie volunteered to go get the supplies we needed from town. I offered to go with her, but she shook her head. She just said she wanted to be alone for a while.

"Don't worry, I can't go far. I have to stay within a certain radius of the ship and you guys. I'm not allowed to 'wander off'," she said scathingly, putting quotation marks in the air with her fingers. She seemed to be simmering with anger just under the surface, not that I blamed her.

Leo and Annabeth were working on the control panels and wiring, and I was helping Jason and Frank with some oar repairs. We were going to have to go at full speed if we were going to make the trip in the time we had left. The feast of Spes was fast approaching. If we started tonight, nine days from today was the feast. Hazel and Piper went into the dining room to contact Camp.

"So, you trust this Addie?" Frank asked me. I didn't get mad at Frank. He wasn't showing skepticism or judgment; he just honestly wanted my opinion.

"I'd trust Addie with my life. She's saved it more than once since I met her."

"What about what Nico said? Even she said it was true," Jason said. "I have nothing against her, but if she opposed the gods before, how do we know she won't do it again?"

"She can't," I said breathlessly. "Look, you guys trust me and Annabeth, right?"

Jason and Frank both nodded at me.

"Addie's had a really hard life. There is a lot more to her story than Nico let on. I would tell you, but it's not my place to tell it. Maybe, in a way, she did oppose the gods, but I don't think so. She did what she did to protect the ones she loved. Addie is a good person, and I'd trust her judgment no matter what."

Jason dropped the oar he was holding and sat on a crate.

"If you say she's good, then I believe you."

"Still, I do get a weird feeling around her," Frank acknowledged.

"What kind of feeling?" I asked.

"I don't know, it's like…. She's too powerful or something. Like she's not natural. Something just seems out of balance," he stated as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's weird, I know. And if you say to trust her, then I believe you."

I nodded my head. Sometimes, even I got that feeling from Addie. Hazel walked in and sat down on the crate.

"How'd it go?" Frank asked.

"Well, we talked to Chiron, and he said he would try to find Ella to see if she would talk to us, and then, he would message us back. He said she was pretty sure she was at the Oracle's place. She's been keeping a low profile since the Legion was so close."

"Well, that's good at least," Jason yawned.

We worked for a couple of hours, and Hazel helped us when she could. Piper had gone upstairs to help Leo and Annabeth.

"I'm going to run up on deck for a minute," I told the others. "See where we are at on leaving." I started up the stairs, and I bumped into Nico. He looked startled and panicked for just a second, and then his expression faded into smooth indifference.

"Sorry-gotta go downstairs-" he muttered as he edged past me.

"Hey Nico?"

He paused and turned in my direction, a wary look on his face. I was kind of pissed at him for treating Addie that way and part of me wanted to tell him off. The other part was thankful he led the others to the doors. Without him, Annabeth and I would have just left Tartarus to walk straight into Gaia's hands.

"Thanks for leading the others to the doors."

His expression softened for just a moment, and he looked down at the floor.

"No problem, Percy."

I wanted to ask him about Addie, but just when I was about to, a shudder ran through the ship.

"What was that?" Nico asked.

I shook my head, just as a roar echoed loudly.

-Addie-

I felt flipping terrible.

I lost my temper. I was angry at myself, at Nico, at the gods, and I just needed to be alone. That's why I so graciously accepted going to get the supplies Leo needed. Plus, I expected I was the only one who knew how to speak fluent Greek. They might be able to understand it, but they still had trouble speaking it.

Nico had every right to hate me. Right before the Titan War, Zeus sent me to recover an object from the underworld. He did not really need it; I believe he was just doing it to aggravate Hades. Hades was refusing to help, and Zeus wanted to get back at him. Since no god can enter his realm uninvited, he decided to send me. Joy. I was under orders to kill anything that got in my way and to get the object no matter what. I ran into Nico, who attempted to stop me. I did not want to kill him, so I tricked him. It was dirty and underhanded, but it was better than letting him die. I apologized, but it did not do any good.

After that, I can only assume what happened. I'm sure he told his father, who told him about me and what an awful person I am. Children of Hades are known for holding grudges, so I have yet another person who thinks I'm traitor scum.

If standing up for and protecting my brother and praetor makes me a traitor, then fine, I'll take the punishment. What made me mad was that we were trying to save Rome and Greece, not the other way around. Maybe that's what all traitors thought. I did not know, and every time I thought about it, I just got upset all over again. I had dealt with it for a very long time, and I hated when people threw it in my face.

I finished getting the supplies from the hardware store and sent them back to the ship. I scribbled a quick note to Annabeth letting her know that I would not be far behind and stuck it to the supplies before I sent them. I needed a cup of coffee because truth be told, I just wanted to go to sleep, which could not happen.

I stopped into a little shop and got me a cup. I sat down outside, enjoying the summer air. I never got a chance to just rest anymore, to do things that I wanted to do. It was helping me calm down. I closed my eyes, enjoying the setting sun on my skin.

"You aren't following orders," a man said in a sing-song voice.

I opened my eyes to see Janus sitting across the table from me.

"She is too! She'd be in pain if she wasn't," the right head reminded him.

"You should be back at the ship," the left head scolded me.

"Janus," I sighed, exasperated. "What do you want? If you have a message, just give it already. I'm tired, and I don't feel like dealing with it today."

"Testy, testy! Yes, you will definitely choose the dark path," the left head said to me. I raised my eye brows skeptically.

"What dark path? If you really want to threaten me, you should be more specific."

"No, no, no! She will choose light, I am sure of it!" the right countered.

I just stared at him, my gaze deadpanned. I got up, ignoring the god of choice's ramblings, and headed back towards the ship. I cut through an alleyway, and there he was in front of me again.

I was getting mightily fed up with the god of choices today. I was about to choose to kick his butt.

"Janus," I warned.

"We need you to choose. We warned them, but they would not listen to us," the left head told me.

"They are confident!" the right contradicted.

I summoned my daggers and pushed Janus up against the wall. He couldn't tell me what to do, he was a minor god. His eyes widened, and I stared straight back into them. I had both of my dagger crossed over his throat. I could not kill him, but I sure as Hades could make him disappear for a few years until he healed and reformed.

"You better give me some answers instead of vaguely teasing me, Janus. Like I said, I am not in the mood today."

"You will have to make a choice that will define your fate," the right head said hurriedly. "They lead to many more, depending on the path you choose."

"Fabulous. What do I have to choose between?"

"The light and the dark, we do not know any more than that. We are not the Fates," the left head spat at me.

"Great," I said obnoxiously. "Now, who is this "they" you warned?"

Janus started to glow, and I closed my eyes before he disappeared.

Immortals were so damned frustrating.

I kept walking back to the ship. My mind was focused on what Janus had said, and I was tired of being teased with all of this information. What was meant to happen would happen, and no amount of vague suggestions from gods or prophecies was going to change that.

When I rounded the last corner, I froze.

A drakon was staring lazily at me, like it knew I was going to be there. It was about one hundred feet long and as big around as a car. It wasn't the biggest one I had ever seen, but it was the scariest. Three sets of eyes loomed over me, each regarding me as if I was a tasty morsel just waiting to be snatched up. It was a deep forest green; its eyes a luminous yellow. Its middle head roared defiantly at me, and I promptly sent the statue behind me into its face.

Then I ran.

-Percy-

I ran up onto the top deck, and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Addie was running back towards the ship from a drakon, dodging its fangs as it tried to sink them into her. That was a feat in itself because of its multiple heads. Addie rolled, dodged, and slashed at it, always just managing to avoid getting bit. This drakon was fast.

I pulled out Riptide, the others scrambling on the deck. Leo ran to the crossbow and was getting it ready to fire.

"I'll make space," I yelled back at him.

"No, I got it," Jason said from beside me. The others had come up as well, and Hedge was starting towards the ramp, yelling "Die, Monster, Die!" shaking his club in the air. Jason took off, flying towards Addie.

She had lost both of her daggers and had pulled out her sword from the sheath at her back. She slashed upwards at the beast, cutting a large gash into its right head. Jason zoomed in between the heads, snatching Addie just as one set of fangs plunged into the ground where she has been. Jason flew up with her, just out of the drakon's reach. It roared aggressively at them, and Addie sent a nearby boulder into its mouth. The drakon's middle head began choking on it, and the two other heads stared up at them sinisterly. Jason began flying back to the ship, and the two heads that didn't have their mouths full started spitting poison up at them. Addie shielded them the best that she could.

"Any day now, Leo," I said quickly to him.

"They aren't close enough," he said worriedly back. "It's getting too dark, I can't see!"

"Let me," Annabeth said as she replaced Leo at the controls. She took aim muttering something about the distance and the proper angles. She muttered a quick prayer, and she shot the bolt. It hit right where the three heads met, sinking deeply into its flesh. It began disintegrating into monster ash, and Jason landed on the deck of the ship.

"Are you both okay?" Piper asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Pipes," he said, taking her hand. "Addie kept the poison from us."

"Well, you saved me, so it wasn't a problem," Addie countered back. "Thanks," she said looking around at all of us.

I looked at her, and I noticed the fabric on the top of her shoulder was gone. I walked around her, and it looked like she had been burned. There were scars that crisscrossed across her back in thin pinkish-white lines. Spots of her skin were angry red, like acid was thrown her shoulder.

"Uh, Addie?" I said reached for her shoulder.

She swatted my hand away. She moved to the edge of the ship, positioning her back so that no one could see it.

"Nothing nectar can't take care of," she replied nonchalantly. She closed her eyes, holding out her hands. After a few seconds later, her daggers flew back into her hands. She spun them, and they dissolved back into the bangles on her wrists. "So, did you get the supplies I sent earlier?"

Leo nodded his head excitedly. "Sure did. I actually think we are good to go. The stuff that's left can be taken care of on the way."

"Well then, let's get ready to go," I muttered.

Leo started giving orders to everyone, and Annabeth walked up to Addie. She whispered something into Addie's ear, and she nodded gratefully back. Annabeth looked at me, and she gave me an apologetic look. I just nodded my head, telling her to go with Addie. Leo asked me to help him with something, so I walked with him.

-Addie-

"Ouch," I groaned.

Annabeth offered to help me take care of the poison burns, and she was dabbing my shoulder with a nectar-soaked rag. Sometimes, nectar was worse than the mortal wound cleaners. I took a sip from a bottle, letting the nectar work its magic from the outside and the inside.

"Percy probably won't ask about the scars," Annabeth stated. "He's terribly unobservant."

I nodded my head as she bandaged up the area. The drakon had sprayed poison on the top left of my back, right on my shoulder blade. It had eaten through most of the fabric there. I just had not moved quickly enough.

"I've noticed," I laughed. "Thank you, for this. I didn't-" I paused, thinking of how to word it.

"You didn't want anyone to see the scars."

I nodded my head, looking at my feet.

"Do they embarrass you?"

"No, not really," I ventured.

"Why then?"

"I guess I don't want any of them to think badly of their parents. I don't want to have to explain it to them. How do you think it would make Piper and Frank feel? It isn't their burden to bear."

"I think we all realize what our parents are capable of," Annabeth admitted. "We all know that they've done terrible things."

"Yeah, but they have done good things too, even Ares," I admitted grudgingly. I may hate him, but I can acknowledge that he has his place in the divine realm.

Ares frightened me, and I had a lot of issues because of what he did to me. I've spent a long time trying to get over it. Some things still bothered me, but I refused to let him, or any of the gods, have the satisfaction of seeing me damaged. I could not let it rule my life. Apollo's friendship had helped with that. At first, I couldn't stand to be touched by any of them, and I tried my best to hide it. As time passed, it got easier. I wanted to forget it ever happened, and leave what happened in the past in the past.

"You look tired."

I just nodded my head. "I've done a lot of magic today. It gets harder to tap, the more I use. Almost like I have to let myself recharge. I'm running on empty," I conceded to her. I had seriously depleted myself by transporting that many demigods across the world, not to mention all the other little spells and such I had done today.

"Well, why don't you get some sleep? You can use my bed. I'm going to be up for a while."

I fell back on her bed gratefully, shutting my eyes. I rolled over on my stomach, so I didn't put any weight on my shoulder.

"Fine, but you better come get me for a watch in a few hours. I'm going to pull my weight," I grumbled against the pillow. Annabeth just laughed and gently squeezed my hand.

A/N: Sorry its been a few days! I should be able to update at least once more today if my homework cooperates. Grad school is AWFUL.

So, idea time! I'm curious to know what you guys are thinking: What's something you would like to happen in the story?

I love to hear reactions to what I write. If I'm not portraying something right, I want to know!

I had someone ask me about Addie and Ares, and how she seems okay with Apollo touching her. I've never been in a situation like that, and its terrible for anyone who ever has. Yes, Ares forced himself on her. He wasn't the first god to do it nor the last. I kind of explain her thoughts above.

Now for as to why she seems okay with Apollo, this is what I said to her:

There are two reasons why she seems to be okay with Apollo getting intimate/touching with her. One, he knows about her and Ares. He found out about 100 years after the flashback. He's actually the only one that does know. That created a bond, sort of, between them, and she trusts him more than any of the other Gods. It was years before she let him touch her in a friendly matter and felt no apprehension from it. Apollo gets it, I guess. I think if it were anyone else (besides Tiberius, who can't because he'd dead), she would probably panic.
Two, Apollo hasn't tried to do anything beyond kissing/making out with her. I know the gods could be cruel, but I kind of have in my mind this part of them that if you hit the right button, so to speak, they are capable of showing great compassion and love. I hate to sound cliche, but its like they are all powerful and can be insanely cruel, but when they do find someone/something they love, they are gentle with it. If it goes further, Addie may not handle that well, and I think he knows that. But we will just have to see :)

I just wanted to clear that up. I think that is an awful situation to be in, and I feel for anyone who has every had that happen to them.

Okay, long A/N over :D

REVIEW PLEASE!