A/N: First, I would like to apologize for making you guys wait, but last week, well, we celebrated Valentine's Day and I went out with my girlfriend and had to take care of some things so I lost some days of writing. Another thing is that I'm, once again, suffering from writer's block. I don;t know why it happens to me often these past few weeks. Anyway, I hope it's over now.

This chapter is frustratingly short, the shortest one I've ever written, but this is, by far, the most parts of this story will affect the outcome. I hope you will still stick with me and not be that disappointed on how short my update is.

WisdomGoddessAthenae: Well, I'm glad you gave it a shot and actually liked it. Thank you for reading my stories!

KK101:Sorry for making you wait for a long time, but the full meaning and purpose of the mark won;t be revealed (beware of spoiler) until the very end, so I guess you'll just have to wait. :D

Juzko Disco:Oh, that's okay. Anyway, to answer your question: Yes, they will eventually show up. :d

Guest (AnonymouslyChic) : First, thank you for the appreciation of my work and for the things that you said. I do hope that someday, my original novels will get published. That's my ultimate dream.
Moving on to the excerpt you posted. Wow. That was amazing, and I'm not just saying it because you complimented my work, but because it is the truth. Even KK101 thinks so, too. When you post it, let me know and I'll read it. :D

arceethefirst: I know, and I'm sorry. But here it is. :D

DON'T JUST READ, LEAVE A REVIEW!

"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects."

- (Herman Melville)

WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN 2.0:

DARKNESS ARISINGChapter 15: DANGEROUS LIAISONS

PERCY

"Lester, don't worry; we're not going to tell anybody," said Annabeth, reassuring the clearly scared demigod. He was trying hard not to show it, but his eyes betrayed him. "I promise that we'll keep this to ourselves until we figure out who can and cannot know. In the meantime, you have to promise us that you will not, under any circumstance, show this mark to anyone. Can you promise me that?"

Lester nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever."

"Are you sure you don't know how you got it?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "I told you, I just woke up from this dream and I already have it. I have no clue as to how, or who put it here."

"Alright. After dinner tonight, you guys will come with us to the Big House," she said, eyeing Skylar and Lester. "We'll talk to Chiron about this."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lester wondered. "Chiron is the leader of this Camp. His first priority is the safety of everyone here. If I show him this mark," he said, his hand subconsciously falling to his lower abdomen, "don't you think he will expose me to everyone as the spy?"

I shook my head. "Chiron isn't like that, at all," I said. "He always looks after us. He will never betray one of us." I shrugged. "I can't say the same thing with Mr. D. He'll love to see us get in trouble, or find any reason to turn one of us into a dolphin just for fun."

"I think we'd better go to the Big House if he isn't there," Skylar suggested.

"We'd better," Annabeth agreed.

"What I don't understand," I said, finally voicing out what I was thinking, "is why Lester would be branded with Chaos's symbol. I mean, granted, he's pretty powerful, but why set him up as the mole? It's not going to make sense. He wasn't here when the attack happened."

Annabeth stared at me like I suddenly sprouted a third arm or a unicorn horn on my forehead. I rolled my eyes at her. She gave me an amused smile before turning back to Lester. "It's obvious, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Though I'm still quite surprised that you came up with that thought – "

"Hey!" I protested.

" – but the reason is pretty evident. They branded Lester with Chaos's symbol to draw the fire away from the real mole. It's diversion. Whoever's inside the Camp must be planning something pretty big that could expose him or her, and luckily, Lester arrived, with the mark. I say this was all planned beforehand, to point to his direction so when things take turn for the worse, all will point to Lester." Annabeth sighed. "Keeping you safe will be hard. We'll need to take extra precautions."

"You don't have to, you know," said Lester in a monotonous voice.

"We don't have to what?" asked Skylar.

"Keep me safe," he answered. "I-I can just go and spare you guys the trouble of having me here. I don't want to be a burden to anyone."

Skylar grabbed his face. "You will never be a burden to us, Lester." He tried to look away but she didn't let him. "Hey, look at me. Every demigod deserves to be helped. Our life in the outside world is extremely dangerous. Do you honestly think that if you leave, I won't go looking for you?"

"That's what I want you to do," Lester said.

"I will never abandon my boyfriend like that," she said, grabbing his hand.

Lester looked down at their hands and pulled his back. "Please," he whispered. "Let's not do that now."

Skylar was confused. "You said yes last night," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You said you will let me. Lester, you're confusing me."

He looked down. "I-I know. I'm sorry," he said, turning around and walking away, his hands in his jeans.

Skylar was about to follow him but Annabeth stopped her. "Leave him for the moment," she said. "Lester is dealing with so many things right now. He's disoriented and confused. The least we can do is give him space."

"I just want to help him," she said. "He's been through so much and I want to be there for him."

"You are, Skylar," said Annabeth. "Lester just needs time to think, okay? All of these can be pretty overwhelming for a fourteen year-old."

"Tell you what," I said, wanting to at least do something. "Why don't you two go ahead and start planning for Saturday? I don't want you guys to be defeated in the first minute of the game," I teased Annabeth.

She gave me a cocky grin. "Aw, Seaweed Brain. I greatly appreciate the concern but no worries; we'll manage to pull through." Annabeth looked at Skylar, who gave her a small smile. "Besides, the captain of red team is known for her winning battle strategies, so I guess we'll be okay. If anything, you two need to get fitted for your casts and wheelchairs because we won't go any easy on you."

"Aw, Wise Girl," I said, mimicking her earlier tone. "I think you have forgotten something. I'm on the same team as the demigod who 'can be as smart as a child of Athena.'" I was quoting her from our earlier conversation. "Something tells me that this weekened's capture the flag is going to be interesting."

"So said a little fish," she said, smiling.

"Annabeth," said Skylar. My girlfriend looked at her. "Our teammates are calling for us."

We looked back to the cabins area. Sure there was the rest of the red team, calling Annabeth's attention. "Go now, little captain," I whispered in her ear. "You don't want to lose a chance to plan. You'll need every second of it to defeat us."

She looked at me. "I'll take that as a challenge." I leaned to kiss her but she stepped back. "Uh-uh, you naughty boy," she said, holding up a finger. "No kisses until you defeat me." With that, the daughter of Athena walked away from me, smirking.

I turned around, grinning, only to see Skylar there, still standing at her spot. "Why are you still here?" I asked her.

"I want to talk to Lester," she said.

"Look, Skylar, I think Annabeth's right and – " I began but she was already walking away. "Nice talking to you, too," I grumbled, trudging after her.

We found Lester sitting at an area of the beach where patches of bushes were growing wildly. His eyes were trained on a distance, almost unblinking. Skylar sighed and sat down beside him. "Lester – "

"Is there any possible way for Percy and I to share our powers?" Lester suddenly asked, cutting off Skylar. She looked hurt and I thought it was pretty douchey on his part to be rude at her like that, but I kept my mouth shut because, frankly, I was surprised by his question.

"What?" asked Skylar, frowning.

"Is there any way for me to have Percy's power and him be able to do whatever I can?" he asked. "I think it's going to help us win the upcoming game."

Skylar and I exchanged a look. I thought he was here, wallowing with thoughts of the possibilities when Campers find out about his mark. Who knew that this secretive half-blood was actually thinking about capture the flag?

Just trying to distract himself, I guess.

"I – " Skylar began but quickly caught herself. "Yes, there is."

Lester raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Can you help us with it? I mean, with being the daughter of the goddess of magic and all."

"I can," said Skylar. "But it's not so simple. It will be dangerous."

"Why is that?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

Skylar sighed. "For me to cast an incantation like that and create a connection between two demigods – especially demigods as powerful as the two of you – I'll have to bind it with a living, breathing creature."

My head hurt. "Uh, why is that?"

"The incantation itself will draw power from a bloodline," she said carefully.

I suddenly regret letting Annabeth go. She would no doubt understand what Skylar was talking about while I was having a really fun time trying to subdue the swirling of words in my head. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that in order for her to cast the incantation, she'll have to tie it to one of our mortal parents," Lester said. "Isn't that right, Skye?" Lester asked her, his eyes uncertain and even when I couldn't understand why, had a hint of fear in it. "By bloodline you mean two generations. One generation to benefit from the spell and one to draw power from."

I looked at Skylar. "Is he right?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Well, that is a very dangerous incantation, Skylar," I said. I turned to Lester. "I don't think we should do it."

Lester shrugged. "I was just suggesting, you know."

"I know," said Skylar. "And even if you're serious, there's no way I will ever do it."

"Why?" I asked.

Skylar looked at me. Even when she was sitting there with the guy she likes, looking all vulnerable, I still saw her as one of the most powerful children of Hecate. There was one time that the Hephaestus Cabin had had an accident. One of their inventions went haywire, and Skylar was the one who managed to stop it from destroying the Camp, something even their head counselor, Lou Ellen, wasn't able to do.

"Because," Skylar said, "for you to severe the connection, you'll have to kill the human life where the incantation is tied to."

ANNABETH

Skylar was looking relatively nervous when she walked in to where we were strategizing for the game.

I looked up and saw this disturbed expression written on her face. She sat down beside me and started fingering the edge of her shirt. "Is there something bothering you, Skylar?" I asked her. "And where have you been? I thought you were following me."

She shrugged. "I wanted to talk to Lester so I came with Percy."

"Anything good came out of it?" I asked.

"All that conversation did was scare me," she said in a low voice.

That caught my attention. I straightened from drawing out a plan and looked quizzically at her. "What do you mean?"

Skylar leaned closer to me. "Lester asked me if I can do anything so he and Percy could share their powers."

I dropped my pen. It made a thud on the wooden table we were using. My teammates looked at me. "You okay in there, princess?" asked Clarisse. She was having an argument with my brother Malcolm.

"Yeah," I answered quickly. I stood up and motioned for Skylar to follow me. "I just need a minute to think."

"Fine. I'll take over for you," she said, looking at me questioningly.

"Thanks," I said. I grabbed Skylar's arm and dragged her to a corner. "What did you tell him? Did you do it? Did you cast the incantation? Because I'm pretty sure from what you todl me that it's complicated and has its consequences and – "

"Annabeth," she said, cutting me off. "You're rambling."

"Right. Sorry."

"And no, I didn't," she said.

I gave a sigh of relief. From what Lou Ellen had told me about the incantations the Hecate Cabin can cast, there were a few that could cause some serious dangers. One of them was the one that Skylar just mentioned. I knew how it worked – how for such spell to work, it had to be bound with a human life.

But that wasn't what made it perilous. It was the fact that the incantation doesn't just connect the powers of the two parties involve, but also their life forces. Whatever happens to one, will happen to both of them.

That's what freaked me out.

If Skylar had done the casting of the spell, both boys would be in terrible danger. They were, no doubt, the two most powerful half-bloods in existence, which meant that they had strong aura and could attract just any kind of monsters. If one dies, the other one will.

"Okay," I said, bretahing deeply. "I'm sorry for freaking out."

Skylar smiled. "That's understandable, Annabeth. I would've reacted the same way if I heard the same thing." She sighed. "I just wish Lester will open up to me soemtiems, you know? I really want whatever's going on between us to work. I care for him."

I patted her shoulder. "I know you do." She smiled up at me. "Where are they, anyway?"

"By the edge of the beach, near the patches of bushes," she answered.

"Alright, I'll just go and see what they're doing. Stay here and plan with the rest, okay?" Skylar nodded and sat back down to her spot. I tossed Clarisse a look before walking away. She looked at me, her eyebrows raised but I shrugged it off.

The pot where Percy and Lester were was hidden from the eyes unless you know it was there. We had discovered it while we were walking down here. From a distance I could see and hear fighting. There were grunts and groans and I couldn't help but smile. I figured those two would immediately start training. Percy may have acted all cocky while we were talking but I knew he was nervous. Most of the time, we fight together on the same team, so I knew this one's going to be different for him.

All thoughts were cut off from my mind as soon as I saw the two of them. My eyes widened and my blood turned to ice.

Lester was controlling water and Percy was surrounded by black flames, very much like what Lester conjured back in Bronx.

I thought Skylar didn't cast the incantation?

[Next - Chapter 16: BREAKING YOUR OWN HEART

The next chapter will mostly focus on Lester and Skylar. A SkyTer chapter, you might say. Tings are about to get more dangerous and this has to happen now. I mean, the next chapter. Anyway if you know Kelly Clarkson's song with the same title, you have a pretty good idea what the next chapter is going to be about.