Chapter 16. Connor: Conspiracy Theories

I listened to the sounds of breathing all around me, isolating them one by one, trying to find Alva's. I was still reeling with what she had told me. The memory of her face, young and vulnerable with soft brown hair falling in her silver eyes, still haunted me. I hated Ethan then. Hated how he just left us all without an explanation. Hated how he met this girl, made her fall in love with him and then hurt her. Hurt her so badly, she still wasn't over it. And then he went and got himself killed.

Turning, in my bed, I looked over at Alva. Her face was turned in my direction and by the cold light of the moon; I could make out her features.

The first thing you noticed looking at her was that pale scar, running down the side of her face. Then, you noticed the hair. Now, it was a golden brown. I hoped that was good. She looked relaxed laying there and I started to turn back again.

Then I saw that her arm was stretched out before her, grasping another hand on her own. Vanessa had entwined her fingers with Alva's and they both lay there peacefully. It was really sweet in a way.

Alva's story had been cut short by a very rude and ugly harpy who had threatened to eat us if we didn't return to our cabins soon. We had missed the campfire completely. Alva ran away again and this time I let her. She had opened up a piece of her that had been locked inside for too long, and she needed some alone time. I had walked back to the cabin alone, barely answering Travis when he demanded to know where I had been. I did notice the lipstick smeared on his shirt though and fell asleep smirking.

I would learn the full story soon, no doubt about it.

The rest of the day had been annoyingly dull. Travis snuck off every few hours, undoubtedly to meet Katie. Although, "meet" is too polite a word for it. Alva avoided me and I had to drag myself through camp activities alone.

It was dinner time now and I had about enough. I needed to do something fun and I needed to do it now. I looked around the cabin, searching for inspiration. I had a few pipe bombs somewhere here, that'd make quite an interesting distraction. Shaving cream, nah, too boring. Hair curlers, good for a prank on Chiron, I thought, smirking. Then, I shook my head; he's way too tensed up now.

That's when I heard it.

A low voice saying something inscrutable and higher voice saying something in return. Then, I heard laughter. Grinning, I swept a look around the room again. Katie and Travis. Perfect timing. I needed to work fast but I'm used to that. After all, everything I needed was already here.

Two minutes, a bucketful of shaving cream and lots of strings later, I was ready and very, very excited. Percy had always said to never provide Travis and me with shaving cream. Only this time, Travis was only the receiving end and not some poor, not-so-innocent camper.

The door opened and my grin grew wider. Take that, Travis!

The opened door tugged on a really long string wound around a bed post which in turn pulled a bucket filled with shaving cream placed strategically over the door. There was a huge crash after which Travis and Katie stood in the doorway, dripping with cream.

"Gotcha!" I whooped, triumphant. However, all traces of euphoria trickled out of me when I saw who really was at the doorway.

It wasn't Travis. Or even Katie. Not even close.

"You freaking idiot!" shrieked a very angry Vanessa and I winced, not meeting her gaze. "What-why-who-" She sputtered angrily. Little Vanessa was so livid she couldn't even speak. I shuddered to think what the other person was going to do to me.

Vanessa gave up on expressing exactly how angry I made her and stomped off to clean up. I sneaked a look at her companion who was still standing quietly at the doorway, spattered with shaving cream.

Alva looked at me steadily. She didn't seem too angry and I relaxed slightly. She swept a hand over her face and came off with a handful of cream.

"I guess," she began, her voice slow and uncertain. "I did owe you for blasting you at the infirmary." I stared at her. She met my eyes, her own twinkling merrily. Then, we both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Vanessa had reappeared, all cleaned up. "Alva, why don't you go change?" Alva just shook her head in answer, breathless with laughter. Vanessa looked from me to Alva, stupefied.

"What in Hades happened here?" Nico had joined our little reunion, looking around incredulously. Alva was leaning on a bed post and I had slumped onto the floor a little while ago. The entrance looked like a shaving cream bomb had exploded there, which wasn't too far from the truth. When neither of us answered, Vanessa rolled her eyes and prodded me with a toe.

"This genius here decided to drop a bucket of something white and sticky on me and Alva for no apparent reason." Nico followed the movement of her feet with his eyes. I saw something very much like jealousy flash in them and smirked. Our resident Death Boy has gone all Romeo on us.

"Sorry," I said to no one in particular. "I thought you guys were Travis." As an afterthought, I added, "and Katie." Vanessa stared at me.

"Do we look like Travis? Or Katie for that matter?" I cringed at this huge flaw in my excuse.

"Well, you see," I swallowed, seeing another figure appear behind Nico. "I-didn't-exactly-see-you," I rushed. "I just heard you."

"Do we sound like Travis and Katie?" Vanessa demanded, exasperated.

I shrugged. "You do actually." Alva caught my eye and we broke into laughter again. That was why Annabeth stepped into the doorway to the sight of two people laughing on the ground, one covered in shaving cream. She stared at our audience questioningly. When no one explained, she shrugged.

"Capture the Flag starts in ten minutes," Annabeth announced. With one last critical look at us, she turned and left, blonde curls glowing in the evening light.

Annabeth's abrupt arrival and departure had sobered us up quite a bit. I remembered that this was the first time we were playing Capture the Flag after Percy's disappearance and felt sorry for her. It's a pity Chiron wouldn't let Alva and the others leave earlier. Although, I didn't necessarily want her to go, Percy was still missing and only the three of them could find him.

Sighing, we all set of in separate directions: Alva to the bathroom, me towards the Pavilion to gather up my siblings, Nico and Vanessa to the forest. Hermes cabin had formed an alliance with Athena, so had Hades, Apollo, Aphrodite, Nemesis, Eris and a bunch of other cabins. We now had so many it was getting a little hard to keep track of who was whose kid. Same goes with the cabins. Camp now looked like a medieval kingdom or something.

A half hour later, all the campers, satyrs and dryads had gathered at the forest and Chiron was given his customary no-intentional-maiming speech which everyone ignored, as usual.

I was standing beside Travis, who appeared to be glued to Katie's lips. Demeter had formed an alliance with Ares for the first time. I had no idea how Clarisse did it but I knew it wasn't good for us. Rolling my eyes, I physically pulled Travis and Katie apart. They separated with a noise like a plunger being pulled out of a sink. I resisted the urge to puke.

"Gods, guys, it's only for an hour not eternity." I managed to get in between them so they wouldn't start making out again. Travis danced away from me and called out to Katie.

"Ignore the voices, my sweet! They are only jealous of our love!" I groaned. Horrible lines. Just plain horrible. Grabbing the back of Travis's shirt I dragged him over to where the rest of our side was standing.

"The both of you are really disgusting, you know that?" My words had no effect. Travis stared gloomily over to the where Katie was standing. "Hey, dude! Snap out of it already." I shook him roughly. He blinked and glared at me.

"You're just jealous." He sneered while I wondered if love really does make you crazy.

"Like hell," I answered. He shoved me, I shoved back. Travis stumbled, cursing. "Idiot!" I taunted.

"I'll let you go this time," he taunted back and I snorted.

Travis walked off to get some armor and I looked around. Alva was standing a little apart from Vanessa and Nico who were chatting and laughing merrily. At least, Vanessa was merry. Nico was just talking. I looked around again and saw Annabeth standing off to one side all alone. For a moment, I missed the sight of her arguing with Percy, or discussing strategy with him or just being there. When they were together it meant that all was right with the world. Right now, there were too many things that just didn't make sense.

I walked up to her, forcing a smile.

"Sup?" I called. Annabeth shrugged. She looked impassive just standing there surrounded by bustling campers.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, being nosy as usual. "There is a plan right?" I felt uncertain. We had no idea exactly how was Annabeth feeling. She wasn't exactly the touchy-feely-huggy type.

"Athena always has a plan." Annabeth replied, true to form. My shoulders slumped with relief and I grinned.

"Can you give me a hint? Just a clue? C'mon, please?" Travis appeared out of nowhere and joined in the groveling. It was a little of ritual ours. We'd beg and beg and beg for a hint just to test Annabeth's patience. She never gave in. Not even once. She stood there now with her cold gray eyes and smug smile.

"Wait and see guys. Wait and see." We both grinned. And we would, no doubt about it.

Just then, Chiron blew the horn and we were off. Campers rushed forward, yelling. From the other side of the creek, we heard the rest of them do the same. Annabeth and Travis had both disappeared from my side. I rolled my eyes. So much for teamwork.

The first quarter of the game passed without incident. I passed into enemy territory, getting my jeans soaked in the creek and narrowly escaped being taken prisoner by a group of Aphrodite kids armed with makeup and tight clothes.

"You missed!" I yelled over my shoulder as I left them in the creek, their clothes muddy and hair soaked, shrieking. Grinning, I went on. It was always fun to do that. I had lost count of the number of times Travis and I pranked Aphrodite and Ares. Something about those two cabins just screamed, 'Prank me!'.

I stumbled into a particularly vicious patch of bushes and groaned. I hate plants. Really, really hate plants.

"Looks like you need help," a voice whispered throatily. I turned around as far as the bushes from hell allowed me to. A figure stood that. It seemed impossible but she looked menacing even with the 'I'm-a-Barbie-wannabe look' . Jenna St Croix. Wonderful.

"What now, Jenna?" She smiled and I resisted the urge to run away screaming. Did she hear her siblings' shrieking? I squinted at her through the swimming light that filtered through the leaves. Nope, she wasn't carrying her permanent makeup kit so she's not here for revenge.

As though, she heard me, Jenna went on. "I'm here to fulfill my end of the bargain. You know, in return for that little favor you and your insufferable brother did for me." She stroked my arm gently and I leaned back, revolted.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" I remembered the favor, though I regretted it now, but I sure as hell didn't remember any bargain. This could be a trick though. She was on the opposite side. I narrowed my eyes the same time Jenna rolled hers.

"Hermes boys. Sooooo paranoid. Look there and you'll see what I'm talking about." Like an obedient puppy, I looked. And cursed. Alva was dueling ferociously with two Ares kids who had ganged up on her. I watched as one of the Ares kids laughed as Alva dodged two simultaneous slashes from them. I struggled against Jenna's grip and the bushes from hell.

"Let me go, Jenna.' I sounded like a kid. I cursed and tried again. "Damn it!" Jenna laughed and I glared at her.

"Go. I'll help you get what you want." Her grip on me vanished and I could move again. I looked down, surprised. The bushes from hell had disappeared. Just like that. I met Jenna's gaze. Her eyes glittered with anticipation and something else, something darker. In the fading light, I could have sworn her eyes flashed green. Shaking myself, I rushed off to help Alva. As I ran, I could still see Jenna's face in my mind. What was she going to do?

I sped up and leapt into the fray. My sudden appearance caught Alva's opponents by surprise. I swept the legs out beneath the first one. He slashed my leg and I hissed as the skin split open. Blood poured down my leg and I gritted my teeth. Damn, that hurt like Hades.

With one deft move, I knocked him out with the hilt of my sword. Limping, I turned and saw that Alva had already taken care of the other camper.

"Ambushed?" I asked, panting. She nodded eyes on my leg. "Assholes," I cursed.

Alva crouched down and touched my leg, softly. "It's bad," she said. I winced and drew my leg back slightly. Shaking my head, I laughed.

"This? Are you kidding me? You should have seen that time when Travis and I got ambushed by the Ares cabin. We were in the infirmary for weeks!" Actually, it was days but that hardly mattered. I didn't want to look weak so I dared to put some weight on it. Blood spurted out. "Shit," I said and sprawled to the ground beside Alva. So much for not weak. Alva laughed.

"Not bad, huh?" I think he hit a tendon or something." I groaned. Whatever that was, it wasn't good. Alva pulled out a knife from her boot. My eyes widened. "Whoa. There's no need for that, I'm fine." I tried to get up and ended up face first on the ground again.

"Stay still," Alva said, her voice as calm as ever. She grasped my leg firmly and slipped the knife in between my jeans and my leg. I shivered; the knife was as cold as ice. With one deft movement, she cut off the material near my wound. I sneaked a look at it and groaned again.

"Shit," I cursed. Alva nodded in agreement. The Ares camper had nearly sliced off a part of my calf. "My poor leg," I groaned. "Get better soon and I promise to give you a long holiday. A really long holiday." I patted my leg reassuringly.

"It'll need one," Alva said, rolling her eyes. I grinned slightly. Did she think I was funny? I hoped so. "Here." She popped something in my mouth and I tasted marshmallows, gummy bears and melted chocolate. Ambrosia. Immediately, I felt better.

"Where did you get that?" I asked. It came out as 'fer douch ge zat?' I swallowed and tried again. Alva met my eyes for the first time. Her scar jumped out at me as usual and her silver eyes shone as brightly as stars under her jet black hair. I felt my heart skip a few beats when she smiled.

"Nicked it," she whispered. I laughed. Now who said we weren't alike? A little more ambrosia later, my leg has stopped bleeding. I started to get up but Alva stopped me. "Wait." She looked at me, her gaze penetrating. "I need you to do something for me." My mouth dried up.

"Anything." I said, hoarsely. She nodded.

"Look away and pretend that nothing's happening." She said, her gaze still on mine. I stared at her. The look on her face was pleading. I asked myself, do I trust her? Alva rubbed her scar, nervously. Yes, I decided. I did. Completely. So I looked away and thought very hard about everything but what was happening. It didn't work.

I felt Alva touch my leg softly. I hoped she didn't notice the goose bumps there. I heard her whisper something softly. My leg heated up for a moment and then, nothing. I opened my eyes. Alva had stood up and was looking down at me strangely. She was fingering her scar again.

"C'mon," was all she said. I looked down at my leg. All traces of the nasty wound were gone. I looked up at Alva, stupefied. She met my gaze, face blank. I heaved myself up easily and stared down at my leg in awe.

"Wow." How did she do that? What was that? When I looked up again, Alva had turned away, her shoulders high and tense.

"Alva," I said. She turned her head slightly. What I could see of her face was as tense as her shoulders. "Thank you." She relaxed and I saw her mouth fall open slightly. She turned to look at me, eyes bright. I smiled, trying to dry my sweaty palms on my ruined jeans.

"About last night, Alva… I just wanted to say that," I too in a deep breath. This was it. This was the perfect moment. "I just wanted to say that-"

I was rudely cut off by a shrill scream. Alva and I looked down. We were at the top of a low hill, at the edge of a clearing. Below us was a kind of valley where all the campers seemed to have converged while Alva and I were talking. I could see Annabeth on the other side, a red flag raised up high in victory and a Yankees cap in the other. A part of my mind whispered, 'so that's her plan' while the rest kept looking. Instead of her usual smug expression, Annabeth looked horrified. I followed her gaze to the other end of the valley and cursed.

Vanessa was sprawled on the ground, her ankle twisted at an angle that definitlely was not natural. She screamed again, the scream Alva and I heard before. She stared helplessly at before her. At first glance it looked like huge ugly red blobs the sizes of wild boars were pouring out of the ground. Green acid spluttered from the slits in their mouths and they waved pincers about threateningly.

"Myremekes!" Annabeth shouted. "Run! There are too many! Retreat, now!" Chiron blew his horn, the clear 'oom' echoed around the camp. Campers scrambled wildly up the hill. A few Apollo campers began shooting at the ants, their golden arrows whizzing throgh the air and raining down on the monsters, but it only seemed to make them mad.

They advanced faster than before. Vanessa screamed again, scrambling back wildly. I stared at her, helpless. She tried to stand only to be pushed down by another camper rushing past.

"Shit!" I cursed. "Get up, Vanessa! Now!" I began running down the hill. Alva was already half way there, sword drawn. One of the Myremekes reared up before her, letting out a piercing shriek.

"No!" I heard Nico shout out hoarsely. He was beside Annabeth, campers rushing before them. There was no way he could get there. No way could I get there. Only one person could help her now.

"Alva, hurry, damn it," I hissed. I craned my head over the crowd of campers which was now rapidly thinning. The rest of them were watching Vanessa, too horrified to anything. Suddenly, a voice rose over all others and silence fell in the valley.

"Επιστροφή στηνκούφιασπίτι σας! Αφήστε μας στην ειρήνη!Απωθούν! Προστατέψτε τον! Στο όνομα της Εκάτης" Alva stood before Vanessa, sword stretched out before her. Light flashed like lightning in the valley. Before our eyes, a dome-like structure appeared and pushed back the Myremekes. They went squealing and screeching back into the hole. Alva's arms dropped like they were made of stone. She swayed on her feet, her face pale and sweaty. Vanessa covered behind her. No one moved. It was like the spell had affected us too. I stared at Alva. Whoever her godly parent was, they were powerful. My eyes roamed over the valley, finding Jenna looking right at me.

She was smirking. Pointing at Alva, she mouthed, "Told you I'd help." I could only stare at her. Her eyes were green, I realized. Bright, glowing green.

It was lunch. Travis and I were staring at Jenna, dumbfounded.

"Okay," I said, slowly. "Let me get this straight. You want us to spray a few paths in the forest with shiny paint. Like really, really shiny paint." Jenna smiled, that oh-I'm-just-a-dumb-blonde smile of hers.

"Yes, please." She fluttered her eyelashes. Excuse me, while I go puke.

"And why exactly do you want us to that?" Travis demanded. We were alternating between staring at her and sneaking glances at the Pavilion to make sure there was no one watching us. A deal like this could hardly be good for our reputation.

"Because you can," she replied in that same syrupy sweet voice. "Plus, if you don't," her voice turned menacing. "Chiron is going to find out who exactly "redecorated" the Demeter cabin." She smirked. "I'm guessing a certain Katherine won't be so happy with that, will she Travis?" Travis looked horrified.

"Her name's Katie," I said scathingly. "And fine, we'll do it." Travis shot me a grateful look and I rolled my eyes.

Little did I know, how much trouble was that going to cause.

Myremekes. Shiny paint. Jenna.

I stared at Travis who seemed to have had the same revelation. Shit. This is our fault. This whole mess is our fault. More specifically, my fault. I agreed to do it. Damn, damn, damn! Why? Why am I so gods damn stupid?

Alva was still swaying on her feet weakly. She met my eyes, her silver orbs dim.

"Someone, help her, she's going to faint!" Vanessa called. I stared at her uncomprehendingly. Vanessa was clutching at her ankle, looking around helplessly. "Nico! Connor! Annabeth! Somebody! Help her, now!" She turned and look right at me, blue eyes bright, so different from Alva's and yet just as intense. I lurched forward, speeding faster and faster, thanking Dad for being an athlete. I got there just as Alva's legs crumpled beneath her.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice quavering.

"Sorry for what?" I demanded. Who the heck apologizes for this?

Alva was staring right up at the space above her head. I followed her gaze. And nearly dropped her.

A symbol glowed brightly over her head, turning in slow circles. Three entwined torches, glowing with Greek fire. A sign we had never seen on a demigod but recognized nonetheless.

The symbol of Hecate. Alva was a child of Hecate. I groaned mentally.

Great, more trouble.

AN: I hoped you guys enjoyed that! Why was Alva sorry? Why does Hecate equal to trouble? All in the next chapter! Review and stay tuned! Oh and before I forget:

Επιστροφή στην κούφια σπίτι σας! Αφήστε μας στην ειρήνη!Απωθούν! Προστατέψτε τον! Στο όνομα της Εκάτης

(Return to your hollow home! Leave us in peace! Repel! Protect! In the name of Hecate!)