A/N: PLEASE READ THIS: It's Wednesday here and this coming Saturday, I'll be having my orientation for this job I'm applying for . . . which means that sooner, I will be working . . . which means that there's a good chance I won't be able to continue with this story, or if I do, I will only be able to update at least every two weeks. I know, this is killing me, too, but I have to work. But don't worry, guys, I will do whatever I can to proceed with what I started. Writing is my first love and I'm not going to drop it just like that. Just help me out, okay? Please understand. But like what I said, I'll try my very best to finish this. I still have a couple of days and I promise to update faster.
P.S. If any of you have an extra laptop, kindly send it to me just so I can update faster. Kidding! :D

Ecila404: Sorry about that, but with the things going on, I didn't think a relationship is what Lester needs. :D

JojiBean: Yeah, I just loooove cliffhangers. Thank you again and yes, my dream job is to become a published author. I just hope it will happen soon. :D

Mystic Wishes: You guys may get tired of reading this from me but I will never get tired of thanking you. And I do hope that I get published, too. :D

Potterjay all the Way: I can tell that you're having a lot of feelings about the last chapter, sorry about that. And, um, I'm not perfect. I'm just like everybody else, but I do have awesome readers, like you. And the song . . . yeah, I kind of thought that it would be perfect. I first heard it as a background music for the waltz scene in The Vampire Diaries and when I thought what song I should use, Give Me Love was there. That specific scene was inspired by that scene from The Vampire Diaries. I wanted the ball to be sweet, but still have an air of danger into it. :D

"Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard
Some do it with a bitter look
Some with a flattering word
The coward does it with a kiss
The brave man with a sword"

-(Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol)

WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN 2.0:

DARKNESS ARISING
Chapter 8: FOOL ME ONCE

PERCY

"I found it on the battlefield," was Calypso's answer.

Annabeth, of course, didn't believe her. She stood up and approached Calypso. "You did?" she challenged, her eyes flashing dangerously. "You seriously think we're going to believe that?"

"Annabeth . . ." I whispered.

"It's you," said Annabeth. "It has to be. All of these started happening when you came here. You were the one who let the makhai and androktasiai in, weren't you? And then you lured Percy out tonight to have him killed. You were the one the monster was talking about. You're the mole!"

"Annabeth," Chiron said.

Calypso took a step back. "Do not accuse me, demigod," she said, her vocie shaking. "I would never want Percy to get hurt. Have you forgotten that I was the one who saved him, while you were just watching?"

Annabeth scowled and was about to pounce on Calypso when Chiron stopped her. "Annabeth," he warned. "Be reasonable – "

"I am being reasonable, Chiron!" Annabeth insisted. "You can't honestly think that she's innocent. She almost got Percy killed! And not just that, she endagered the whole Camp!" She turned to Calypso. "I don't know what kind of twisted immortal game you're playing, but I'm going to stop you."

"I have done nothing!" Calypso insisted. "If you really are the daughter of Athena, then why don't you think about this: if I wanted Percy dead, then why would I bring the antidote here?"

"Because you're playing us!" Annabeth yelled. "You brought the antidote to throw the fire off of you and then you're going to make your move!" She circled Calypso, her dagger drawn, while the other one was trying to avoid her.

"Annabeth," Chiron warned. "There are things that require our immediate attention than your meaningless accusations." He turned to me. "Percy needs the antidote, and he needs it now."

Annabeth seemed to remember that I was poisoned went back to my side. She reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly, as if that's going to stop the poison from spreading. "How can we be sure that the antidote isn't going to make his condition worse?" she wondered. My girlfriend, as usual was raising a fair point.

I didn't know what to think about Calypso showing up with the flask of the very thing Chiron just mentioned to have disappeared centuries ago. I wanted to be suspicious of her, but the gratitude of having her save my life outweighs the negative feelings.

"Calypso, if I may?" Chiron asked, holding his hand out to the Titaness. Calypso nodded and handed the flask to Chiron. He held it up to the light, turning the bottle and letting the light reflect through it. For some time he stared at it while I felt the poison sucking my life away. I wanted to tell them to hurry, but I couldn't open my mouth.

Finally, Chiron held the flask to Annabeth. "This is the antidote." Annabeth took it reluctantly. "Apply some on his wound then make him take at least a teaspoonful by mouth. Be careful with the measurement, my dear, for too much can kill him."

I could see the reluctance in my girlfriend's eyes. I shared some of it, too. What it when I took it, it strengthened the toxin, rather than fought it? There were risks, with nothing to pay with than my own life. I knew that if I wanted to survive to see the rising of the sun, I had to take and hoped that Annabeth wasn't right and that Calypso wasn't secretly on Chaos's side.

"Annabeth . . ." I called.

That broke any suspicion she had. She uncorked the flask and let a drop of it fall to the gash on my side. As soon as the liquid made contact, I yelled in pain. I didn't mean to scream, but the pain was instant and great. I could hear the skin sizzling, like it was being grilled. It was as if a white hot iron was being used to saw my chest open.

"Shh," Annabeth whispered, wiping a pair of tear from her eyes. "It's going to be okay. Shh." She leaned down and pressed her lips to my forehead. I focused my attention there, to the feeling of her kissing me, and I found an anchor to fight through the blurring haze of agony that was threatening to pull me under.

Slowly, I felt the pain leaving me. I had my eyes closed. I feared that if I see Annabeth's teary face again, I would start bawling my eyes out and I didn't want to worry her.

"Give it to him orally now," I heard Chiron said. "This will taste a little . . . bad, so you might want to make sure he won't end up throwing it up."

I heard some shuffling to my right and a few seconds later, I felt something cold touch my lips. "Here, Percy, open your mouth," she said. I obeyed and felt a rather warm liquid being trickled to my mouth.

As soon as it passed my lips, I wanted to puke it. The thing was just plain awful. I'd tasted some nasty things before. I was even dared to eat dirt once and that couldn't compare to how the antidote tasted. It was like drinking liquefied coal.

"Cover his mouth, Annabeth," Chiron instructed.

"Sorry about this," said my girlfriend.

She clamped tightly on my mouth, forcing it close and pressed my nose, leaving me no choice but to swallow. The liquid left a burning sensation in my throat. When it reached my stomach, I thought I would pass out. I felt like I just swallowed a ball of needles.

Then warmth spread from my stomach o every part of my body, but most specifically to my left side, where the wound was. I could almost feel it fighting against the poison, giving me yet another chance to live.

When the warmth reached my head, I passed out.

ANNABETH

"What happened?" I asked in bewilderment when I saw Percy lose his consciousness. Terrible ideas came into my mind but I pushed them away, refusing to believe that something bad happened to him again.

Chiron walked to his bed and placed two fingers against his neck. He then took a deep breath. "He just passed out from exhaustion," he said. "The antidote is ejecting the poison from his body but it will not heal his wounds so I suggest you attend to those." I nodded. "I have to go and see if there's anything I can do to assist the Apollo Cabin, if you will excuse me." He turned around and exited the door.

Only then did I notice that Calypso wasn't there anymore. That traitor. I would make sure to confront her after I was done treating Percy.

At the thought of his name, I turned back to him and looked at the face of the boy who nearly died tonight. Tears had welled up in my eyes again but I didn't let them escape. No use in crying; Percy was alive – that's what matters, but I couldn't shake the feeling that when I saved him, I had put him in greater danger. But then again, if I had to choose whether to lose him or save him and wait, hoping that there wouldn't be any bad side effects of having him take the antidote.

I combed the hair back from his forehead and touched the wound on his cheekbone. It was still bleeding. I took a bottle antiseptic and cleaned the skin surrounding it. Then I brought out a bottle of nectar and drizzle some of it on the wound. The skin started to knit itself back together, though I knew it would take a few hours to fully heal.

I turned my attention to the one on his wrist and nearly fainted. The skin surrounding it was blackish-red in color. I knew instantly that this one was deeper than the one of his face. I took the bottle of nectar and experimentally poured some of it into the wound. As I'd expected, there was no response, but I wasn't bothered. This one would heal, only it would take longer, two days the most. I covered it with a patch of bandage to avoid further infection.

Then I looked down to inspect the burn I saw on his left calf. It wasn't that bad but the scorched jean was clinging to it tightly and when I tried to tear it away, Percy squirmed in his sleep so I had to cut the left leg of his pants off. When it was out of the way, I felt relieved to see that the explosion only burned his skin and didn't reach any tissues or nerves. I applied some nectar into it and the angry red blister slowly faded until it was baby pink.

When I was done attending to his wounds, I sat on his bedside and held his hand. Seeing him this way brought back memories when I thought he would die, only a few days ago. That was an awful time, seeing the love of your life slowly slipping away from your grasp. I'd never felt more helpless.

I touched his face and muttered a goodbye. Now that Percy was out of harm's way, I'd deal with the person who put him in this situation.

After kissing Percy, I went out of the Big House and searched for Calypso.

A quick scan of my surroundings informed me that there weren't much damaged infrastructure. Apart from the front porch of the Big House which had a crater on it like a flaming bowling ball smashed into it, and the caving roof of the Amphitheater, the Camp was surprisingly okay.

Near their cabin, the Apollo kids had set up a medical tent, attending to the campers. Among the wounded were Katie Gardner, Clarisse, Jake, my siblings Malcolm and Marie, and surprisingly, Clovis, a son of Hypnos. I thought that kid only spends his entire time sleeping. Lacy, of Aphrodite Cabin was complaining about a sprained arm while Drew was squealing about her ruined hairdo. Will Solace also have a small cut above his right eyebrow but he was busy running around healing others.

Clarisse waved at me, motioning for me to come closer to her. When I did, she asked, "How's Jackson?" she asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "I didn't know you care that much for my boyfriend, Clarisse," I said, teasing.

Clarisse glared at me. "I saved him, so the squirt better not die or I'm going to kill him."

I chuckled, momentarily forgetting Calypso. When I spoke, however, I lowered my voice. I trusted Clarisse, even when we didn't get off with a good start; we still grew to become friends. If there was one person in this Camp that I knew I could trust one hundred percent, it was the daughter of Ares.

"The toxin used on Percy was old," I said. Clarisse sat up quickly, like her right arm wasn't in a sling. "Very old that even Chiron had forgotten about it. He said that there was no antidote in existence, which was made with the same incantation as the poison."

Clarisse frowned. "How the hell did you heal Jackson?"

I leaned closer. "Here's the thing, Clarisse; you have to promise not to tell anybody. This information is dangerous once it gets out, and the other Campers might become targets when they knew about this."

"Then why are you telling me?" Clarisse asked.

I scoffed. "Honestly, Clarisse? The cowardly act doesn't suit you," I said. "Besides, aren't you curious who the monster was talking about as the mole?" I shook my head. "It's Calypso, Clarisse. Promise me to beware of her."

"How can you be sure it's her, Annabeth?" she asked. "I mean, yeah, granted that he's after Percy but I'm afraid you're feelings are clouding your judgment."

"Clarisse," I said in frustration. "She was the one who brought the antidote. She said she saw it on the battlefield."

"And . . .?"

I scowled in annoyance. "Doesn't it strike you suspicious that she, of all people, just happened to have the antidote, when we needed it? Answer this question Clarisse, when did the attack started? The same day Calypso got here; don't you think that's curious?"

Clarisse nodded slowly. "You want me to keep an eye on her."

For the first time, I grinned. "You know me too well," I said.

She shook her head. "Fine. I'll do it. But don't expect me not to report back when I see her sucking face with your boyfriend."

"Oh, shut up," I said. I bid her goodbye and went back to looking for Calypso.

I was on the edge of the beach when I saw her, standing near the shore, her eyes trained on the horizon. I didn't try to conceal my footsteps, if she tried to attack me, then she'd find out what she's looking for.

"Whatever you're doing, stop it," I said when I was close enough. Calypso turned her head and I saw her eyes were red and tears were falling down her cheeks. I didn't believe her innocent act for a second. "Stop that. It's not working on me. You may have Percy wrapped around your fingers but not me. Whatever you're up to, I'll stop you."

"I do not wish to harm Percy," she said, turning her head back to that point she had been staring at. "I would never want to see him get hurt as I care about him. I do not know why you assume that I did lure Percy out to have him killed because that's the last thing I would do."

I chuckled darkly. "Is it?" I challenged. "Then why did you come to him in the middle of the night? Why did those monsters attack the same day that you arrived? Did you really think that the fire you created won't produce smoke that will eventually point to your direction?"

"I have no knowledge why the attack happened today," Calypso insisted. "Or maybe it is something you refer to as a coincidence."

I laughed. "You may not be aware of it but in a life like ours, coincidence is a word without meaning."

"And you may not be aware of it but I'd spent a long time trapped in my island," she said. There was real pain in her voice and for a while, I was in doubt if my accusations were reasonable, but when I thought about all the facts, my theory solidified. "I have longed desired to get out and belong somewhere else. When I was freed and was told that it was Percy who wished to give me my freedom back, I knew that where he resides is the only place for me."

"And you almost destroyed that place tonight," I countered.

She turned to me, her eyes hardening. "I will not repeat this again but I never did anything to endanger anyone here, much less Percy."

I shook my head, getting tired of the conversation. If I won't be able to make her confess by words, then drastic actions were needed. However, as the daughter of the wisdom goddess, it is not in my nature to let others have the last words.

I stepped closer to her and in a voice I tried to keep sweet, said, "I'm onto you, you traitor. Do one more thing to put my home in danger and you're going to wish that you weren't freed from your island." I smiled. "I'm not someone you'll want as your enemy, trust me on that one."

UNKNOWN

Suffocating shadows envelop their bodies, creating a place where nothing existed, producing two figures. One was undoubtedly a woman; long dress billowing behind her, hair that was flying behind her shoulders and chiseled features. The other one, however, was shrouded in thick darkness that it was hard to fully see whether it was female or male.

Explosions went off around them but they weren't in the least bit affected as they were protected by the goddess's power.

"How is everything going on?" asked the goddess.

The second shadow smiled. "Extremely well," the voice said. "They are starting to suspect."

The goddess smiled. "And that is a good thing, my servant. Planting doubts is crucial to our success. We will have the demigods divided among themselves and with that will come their downfall."

"And your rise, my queen."

The goddess settled back on her seat. "It won't be long now. I can feel the new age coming. Kronos didn't aim high enough, taking over Olympus – bah! Such a juvenile goal. I say not just destroy the gods, or their beloved Western Civilization but annihilate the entire planet, now that is a plan!" The goddess laughed. "I will give them, and make them feel the meaning they provided for my name."

The shadow smiled. "Chaos. Beautiful."

Chaos took a deep breath as she visualized the outcome of her plans. An utter success, no doubt, she thought. The demigods were in confusion, thanks to her clever scheme. They were starting to suspect, which was what they really wanted.

And the young hero Perseus . . . he had been saved, which meant that her plan was going exactly how she wanted it to. "That foolish daughter of Athena had no idea that when she just strengthened us when she healed her love," Chaos suddenly voiced out. "Like what you said, she did exactly what we expected her to."

"Yes, my queen. The girl is blinded by what she feels and didn't see the real signs of their doom. In the end, she was the one who made our plan go the way we need it to."

"And only in the end will she realize that her boyfriend's blood, together with the blood of every living soul in the planet, will be on her hands."

They both smiled. The end of things was beginning.

Next - Chapter 9: DO NOT GO GENTLE]