A/N Sorry for the continued non-kissing. Well, not really. ;-) But I will eventually get a kiss in there. First, however... Also, I'm not sure what I did to this chapter. Just please don't hate me after you read it, okay?

When Will woke up the next morning, he was in Cabin 13 again. This time, however, he wasn't in the ruby bed with Nico; he was sprawled across the moon stone one. Nico was still snoring soundly in his own pile of blankets, and when Will drew back one velvet curtain, he could see the sun just peeking up over the edge of the horizon. A bird chirped nearby, and he could just about make out two figures sneaking out of the Aphrodite cabin and into the Hermes one. A light was burning in the Athena cabin- someone had clearly been working all night. He hoped it wasn't Malcolm. He got really clumsy when he was tired, and dealing with second degree burns wasn't on Will's list of things he wanted to do today...

As he watched, the light flickered out. Good. Whoever it was had decided to at least get some sleep in the two and a half hours before the breakfast conch.

Something scuttled across the outside of the window sill, and Will recoiled, then took a closer look. The skeleton of a small mouse was sitting by the glass, nibbling on a small piece of... cheese? Mushroom? Absently wondering how many skeletal creatures were lodged around the Hades Cabin, Will walked over to the cupboard and looked inside. There were a few small piles of bone, a book (Danté's Inferno), and , at the back, a small collection of figurines that he recognised as mythomagic idols. Busy as he was examining Nico's possessions, he did not notice the two figure creeping from the Athena cabin towards Ares and Nemesis, paper clutched in their hands.

Nico snorted loudly. Will pondered letting him sleep for a while, but...

Nah.

After Nico had threatened Will's life in several, colourful ways, summoned a large pile of assorted bones, sent them away again, and collapsed onto a couch, Will discovered that he needn't have bothered. Whatever the Stoll brothers did in their cabin, the Aphrodite kids did not appreciate it. The entire camp (possibly excluding the Hypnos cabin) woke to the horrified screams of twenty odd angry people.

At breakfast, over three quarters of their cabin had exotic, blue hair. The brothers did not show up.

"Will. Will!"

"Hmmm?" Will had been staring at Drew's ponytail, and wondering why the Nemesis cabin was glaring at him. He had completely missed whatever it was that had been said to him.

"I said," repeated a vexed Nico, "that we are going to go canoeing." He sat back and basked in Will's stunned expression.

"I thought you'd enjoy it."

"Can- Canoeing?" Will splattered, "Nico, I can't-"

"You can and you will. I'm getting a picnic, and then we're going to find somewhere to eat it."

Nico set his jaw.

I'm fighting a losing battle here, Will thought, and agreed with the other boy.

Things did not, however, go as planned. No sooner had the two split up; Nico to get the picnic from his cabin, and Will to get a medi-kit from the infirmary, then their plans were flipped over.

Will felt a hand grab him from behind, then someone put a hand over his mouth: making him unable to cry for help as he was dragged into the forest.

After maybe ten minutes of walking (being dragged), he was thrown roughly against a cliff face. His head connected with the rough rock wall, and he saw stars. When his vision cleared, he saw three people looming over him.

"Hi, Benji, Sy, Darla." Talking hurt his head. "Is there a reason for your- oof!" Will doubled over as Benji rammed a fist into his stomach. The Ares boy was a strong.

Then Darla spoke up. The Nemesis girl had a way with words, and a thirst for vengeance. Four of her siblings had been among the dead in the fight against Rome. "We were in the Athena cabin this morning." Her voice was slightly rough. "Guess what we found?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Will answered anyway. "I don't know. What's it to do with me?" Benji aimed a kick at him and he shrank away.

Darla continued.

"We found notes on the Roman war. We found proof that your boyfriend" -Will almost protested that Nico wasn't his boyfriend (yet), but thought better of it- "knew about both camps."

"Yes, but everyone knew that al-" Will broke off when Benji's boot caught him in the ribs. Darla raised her voice:

"We found proof that Nico could have stopped the war if he'd shared the information. Underlined. In red ink. He could have saved lives."

Will felt his ribs gingerly. They didn't seem broken.

"He's a traitor, and he must be punished." Darla's voice was like ice. "We start with you."

Will gaped at her. "Why are you punishing me?"

Sy spoke up for the first time. "It's a warning for him. And it will be punishment for you both, you for trusting him."

Will opened his mouth to object, but then the two Ares boys dragged him into a cave in the cliff face, and the dark swallowed him.

"Traitor." A blow to his midriff.

"Traitor." A foot caught his cheek and he tasted blood.

Focus on that. Focus on this. Not the dark. The blood.

"Traitor." He curled into a ball as blows continued to rain down on his back and shoulders.

He had thought that most people liked him. He'd never expected that anything like this would happen.

"Traitor." A fierce blow to his chest: he felt a rib snap.

Tears were running down his face, whether from the dark or the pain, or both, he wasn't sure.

"Traitor." A powerful kick caught him just above his right ear, and he felt his conscious leaving him.

Traitor, traitor, traitor...

The last thing he saw before he faded away was a skeletal hand pushing out of the earth next to his face... but then he blacked out.

A/N As I said, please don't hate me! I don't know what happened there...

Reviews appreciated. Will probably update tomorrow night.

~Fi